Day 19 - 31 July - Yokohama, Japan

 

We woke up this morning in one of our favorite Japanese ports: Yokohama. Thus stop is a completion port for the 21 day crossing cruise that originated in San Francisco. About 600 people disembarked here and an equal number embarked here. Judging by what we saw around the ship after we came back after our Tokyo tour, this 14 day cruise is probably going to be a cruise similar to our last year's two week cruise around French Polynesia which followed a 34 day crossing via Easter Island. There are many Japanese on board.  

We've been to Yokohama 3 previous times and have exclusively stayed in Yokohama. However, today we booked a private shore excursion to Tokyo with Cheryl & Ed from Cruise Critic.

It's about an hour drive to Tokyo on a little bus and our guide, Hiroko was good although I wish she was a bit more pro-active in painting things out. We first visited the Meiji Shrine and followed that with a visit to a shogun castle and the Emperor's Garden. It was blazing hot at 93°f. We then visited the Tsukiji Outer Market which focuses on fish and fish related meals. We found them a bit pricey but found a nice little restaurant which had noodle bowls for around $5. With the hot day a Asahi beer tasted wonderful.

Afterwards we visited the Sensoji Temple by means of the Kaminarimon Gate and a very long shopping street. We also had the opportunity to go to the top of the Asakusa Tourist Information office. From there we drove back to the Yokohama Cruise ship terminal. While the others headed back to the ship, we headed back into Yokohama in search of a cash machine which we found in a post office. Angela also found a 2020 Olympics pin there.

Back in the ship we showered and ate a little Lido dinner before watching the 9pm introduction to the cruise emceed by Lance.    

Shortly thereafter the Maasdam set sail in the dark at 10pm. It turned out some friends from a prior cruise had just boarded, so we watched the sailaway together until the pilot was discharged. We had a lot of catching up to do. We continued that updating when we introduced Ann's son to the 10:30pm Lido feeding. He took to it like a pro!

Two things that struck me today are first, how clean the large trucks are. The second this is how little graffiti is present.  

We're in Shimizu tomorrow as the first in the series of a number of Japanese and Russian ports. Stay tuned

Day 18 - 30 July - At Sea to Yokohama, Japan

Today was our last day of this segment of our cruise. All but one of the EXC presenters leave the ship tomorrow; Dr Kam is staying onboard for 14 more days to do lectures on Japanese culture & related topics.  

Today was the Maasdam towel animal zoo in the Lido pool area. They were very cute!

The 9am coffee chat was held in the Showroom at Sea and included all of the EXC presenters who fielded questions. Dr. Kam received the most questions. Following the coffee chat, Lance presented his port talk on Yokohama. Much of what he presented we have already seen on our 3 previous visits, so tomorrow we're going to Tokyo on a small private excursion.

Gloeta gave her final very entertaining presentation on Dolphins, Kelp, and Monkeys. For I think for the umpteenth straight sea day I had sushi for lunch.  

After lunch Al Trullijo presented his take on the 7 things we ought to know about the sea:

1. The earth has one big ocean with many features

2. The ocean and life in the ocean shape many of the features on the earth

3. The ocean is a major shaper of weather & climate

4. The ocean makes earth habitable 

5. The ocean supports a great deal of diversity of life and ecosystems

6. The ocean and humans are inextricably connected

7. The ocean is largely unexplored

Afterwards there was a special EXC trivia game with 25 questions submitted by the presenters. We finished in the top 1/3 of the pack. The EXC presenters were then available in the Mix Bar for a chance to say goodbye. We followed that up with out last Ephesians interdenominational bible study before enjoying a quiet dinner in the Pinnacle Grill.

Frank King was back with a new comedy show and we wrapped up our evening watching the James Bond movie, You Only Live Twice. It's set in Japan.  

All aboard time tomorrow is 9:30pm and we don't have to participate in the Emergency drill. We have an all day independent tour to Tokyo planned. Stay tuned for my report on that. We've never ventured out of Yokohama on our three previous visits because there is so much to see and do there.

Day 17 - 29 July - Kushiro, Japan

For today's blog I'd like to write a little bit differently. While our port stop here was very nice, what was really special was the community's involvement in our visit and particularly their departure celebration. When my wife and I returned from our walking tour of the city, we went through the EGG which is a glass egg shaped building that is sort of a greenhouse, but today contained volunteers that were interacting with cruise ship passengers with drawing exercises, Calligraphy, paper folding, and present wrapping. Angela chose to do paper folding and ended up with a nice souvenir. In the next building which is called the MOO there was an extensive collection of little shops selling souvenirs, candy, seafoods, and they had the fastest free WIFI we have ever used in the entire world. I was able to update 76 apps on my iPhone in under 30 minutes. But the real gem was ahead of us!

It seems that the people wanted to show their appreciation for the Maasdam's visit that they staged a huge farewell. There were probably 750 to a thousand people on the dock. Included in the group was a brass band of Jr. High age kids who played for at least 45 minutes. Other people were dressed in traditional Japanese dress. There were 'thanks for visiting' signs of various kinds and as the Maasdam slipped its mooring lines off the bollards and moved away from the dock promptly at 6pm, the large crowd waved its goodbyes to the hundreds of passengers who were lining the rail on deck 6. For me it was a very emotional sendoff to see the quantity of local people show their appreciation for our visit. The epitome of this was captured in the following picture of a young girl waving goodbye with her mother Both are dressed in matching fabric dresses. I couldn't help but shed a tear at the sight of all of this.

We previous visited this port in 2017 while on the Volendam. During the voyage, we elected to visit the cranes and historic village. So for this visit we changed our approach and planned to visit the city on foot independently. But first we had to clear immigration.  

All passengers had to go through the immigration process which included filling out a customs form (one per family) and individual arrival cards, get your key card scanned and punched, and then present yourself to the immigration officer in the Explorations Cafe. In order to bring some order to the process, passengers were divided up into groups and assigned a number from 1 to x. We were given number 4. While the ship arrived promptly at 8am, the immigration process didn't start until 9:30am ish. Each group took approximately 1/2 hour and our number was called at 10:50am and we were through the process by 11:20am and off the ship by 11:30am. There was a local official at the gangway with a sign indicating no fruits or vegetables could be taken off the ship.  

On shore there was a produce vendor and a few other local vendors along with an information booth with maps. We walked along the Kushiro River waterfront and turn left walking by city hall, a bowling alley, Saiwaicho Park with a steam locomotive on display, toured the Kushiro Tancho Market with its extensive display of live crabs and other seafood for sale along with a ramen bar. But the gem was the Kushiro WASHOU Market. It's a large covered primarily seafood market known for the Kattedon or rice bowls that one purchases and then purchases raw fish or veggies or other items to go with the rice. A typical bowl was around $9US. We found that to not be filling enough so we purchased 2 Bento boxes for $3 each. Besides cold rice, these boxes include other cold ingredients such as noodles, a meat item (we had grilled salmon and mackerel), egg, and potato salad.  

From the market we walked to the train station and by Grace Church. From a he station we strolled along Kita-odori Avenue and across the Nusami bridge with its beautiful 4 bronze and naked maiden sculptures. Here we found a pretty sculpture for the city and the Castle hotel which is in the shape of a castle. Walking downriver we 'chatted' with a local couple who were walking their Shiva Enu. They spoke and understood a little English but we were focused on their dog as our daughter has one.

After walking back across the bridge, we visited the EGG (Ever Green Garden) which houses a permanent display of trees and this day had volunteers doing activities I noted earlier. Next door was the MOO which I also described.

Following our emotional departure, we ate in the Lido which had a Japanese theme with lanterns and traditional dress by the wait staff. Our evening entertainment was a variety show with Ryan Ahern, pianist, and Jennifer Singer, vocalist. Both were excellent. Dr. Kam gave his Evening Insight lecture on the four principal religions of Japan. He focused on Buddhism and Shintoism which are the predominant religions there.

Tomorrow is our last sea day this segment. It'll be a full day I'm sure. I leave you with this picture.

Day 16 - 28 July - At Sea to Kushiro, Japan - Day 2

After leading the interdenominational service at 8am, we enjoyed another coffee chat session, this time with Lottie Davies, the EXC photographer. Lance followed with his port talk on Kushiro which was packed as was Al Trullijo's presentation on sand. He's collected over 500 samples of sand from around the world.

After lunch Racheal Moreno demonstrated carving miniature totems. Dr. Kam was back with his very engaging presentation on Japanese etiquette. It was standing room only as well. Angela led the interdenominational Bible study which went well for her.

We've been unable to get our cabin heat below 70°, so our stateroom attendant reported it and I was in the room when the HAL representative verified the 73.5°f temperature and the inability to lower it. While we were at dinner, supposedly someone came by to fix it, but it's no better. So I have to follow up on this.

Speaking of dinner, we ate in the main dining room for Gala night. I had to return my main course lobster as it was slimy and mushy like mashed potatoes. The replacement was terrific.

The Filharmonics were back with another great show of a cappella music. We also learned from Facebook that one of our favorite entertainer groups are joining the ship in Yokohama for the next segment. 

Jason Kelly presented a very technical talk on the Sendai (Tohoku 3/11/11) Earthquake in Japan. It's in the top 5 earthquakes in the last 75 years. It was chocolate night and there was lots of treats to be enjoyed, although I didn't partake as I need to watch my sugar intake. Al Trullijo shared a very funny travel story about almost missing the boat in Rio.  

All through the day and evening the fog persisted for the second day.  And with that came the every 2 minute blast of the ship's horn.

We wrapped up our night sharing travel stories with Erik and Marilyn over some light snacks at what I call affectionately the '10:30pm feeding'. Our clocks were set back another hour and we looked forward to clearing immigration the next day in Kushiro.

Day 15 - 27 July - At Sea to Kushiro, Japan - Day 1

Throughout the day and evening we were surrounded by fog and virtually zero visibility. So all activity was focused upon activities on the ship. Because it was a Mariner's Award day, a large block of time was devoted to that activity and the following lunch in the main dining room. I have to say that the salmon lunch menu item was spectacular and all at our table really liked it. We also received our Ship commemorative tiles at that lunch. But I'm getting ahead of myself!

The morning started with a coffee chat with Dr. Kam that was very well attended. That lead into the Mariner event I previously described. At 3 o'clock Dr. Kam presented a history of Japan in 1 hour (15 minutes overtime). That lead into our sea day interdenominational Bible study. We at the Guest Chef's dinner which was a Japanese themed dinner and very good. Our table mates were from Cashmere, WA. We had lots of great conversation. These dinners typically last 2-3 hours so we missed the evening programming, but I was able to attended the late performance by the guitarist, Mark Hussey who performed 1/2 of his concert solo and concluded with Hallelujah. Angela watched the Marvel movie. I finished up my night with final preparations of my sermon for the interdenominational service tomorrow.

 

Day 14 - 26 July - Petropavlovsk Kamchatka Russia

What a fabulous day! Great weather, a sneak peek at the commemorative plaque, bears, sled dogs, volcanoes spewing and others remaining dormant, a cultural show, statues, the 3 Brothers, and Russian Nuclear submarines! Is your appetite whetted?

Just before 6am, the Maasdam pretty silently slid into its berth in this remote port of Petropavlovsk on the SE part of the Kamchatka peninsula. The area has only been open to outsiders for the past ten years or so and is home to the Russian eastern region nuclear submarine fleet. Would we see one?

After a leisurely breakfast we picked up our passports and happened to run into Florian, our hotel director. He indicated that the Russian immigration authorities worked with them and first processed the passports of the independent guests and those who didn't need a Visa. That really helped! He also indicated that they would not let the crew off and that the port agent alerted them that the immigration process in Korsakov on the next leg might be challenging and Vladivostok should be easy.

Our little independent group of 10 met at 10am in the 6th floor atrium and left the ship together. Russian immigration authorities examined our passports for our picture and presence of the immigration stamp which for us was on the bear page. They didn't care to see our tour voucher. We could have skipped the tour and wandered around but it was a fair hike out of the port area to anything significant.

There was a nice gift shop in the terminal where we purchased a few things and got a sneak peek at the commemorative plaque that is presented to the ship when it first visits a port. We then met our guide, Sasha, and boarded our Mercedes van where everyone had a window seat. It was about an hour drive out and we stopped at a monument that marks the peninsula as 'where Russia begins'. This refers to the fact that the Kamchatka peninsula is the most eastern time zone in Russia.

Our destination turned out to be a farm which raises dogs for dog sled teams. They also have a pet brown bear that is ten years old and was orphaned at an early age. It was quite playful with its handler.

We also watched and participated in a cultural show. It was impressive how the Kamchatkan native peoples and their dress are so similar to the Alaskan natives and their dress. After the show, we were treated to a traditional soup and bread lunch before spending time being friendly with some of the dogs and viewing a pet eagle. It, too, was injured and couldn't be put back into the wild. All too soon, we reboarded our van for the trip back to the ship.

Along the way back we stopped at a beverage store where local beer in a soda sized bottle was $1.08. And it was good.

We were also able to stop at a collection of monuments to Peter and Paul (the city's namesakes), Lenin, and the first governor. But the real treat was to be able to photograph two Russian nuclear submarines that were in port for a Naval festival. Very cool!

We were back on the ship right at 4pm and got nice seats in the Crow's Nest for the sailaway which didn't occur until after 7pm as we had to wait for a tour group. The Maasdam quietly slipped sideways into the channel and headed out of the harbor. Many people were outside on deck to see the submarines, but our earlier view was much better. In the sail out of the harbor we passed by a rock formation called the 3 brothers and they were well photographed by the passengers. We also observed many people camping on the beaches on our port side.

We skipped the early entertainment at 7:30 but really enjoyed Jennifer Singer, a soloist from California, perform at the 9:30pm show. Afterwards we stayed up to watch the Indonesian crew show which was once again excellent.

All in all, it was a very nice day. We have two sea days ahead of us with tomorrow's schedule being pretty light due to Mariner events and the Celebrity Chef's dinner. Stay tuned!

Day 13 - 25 July - At Sea to Russia - Day 3

Overnight we lost July 24, 2019; for this cruise July 24, 2019 never existed. Plus we gained an hour so the net loss was only 23 hours. Put another way, from today's perspective, yesterday was really the day before yesterday. Does that sound confusing?

In any event this was a pretty relaxed day. I wonder if the cruise line scheduled it this way so people would be rested up for our first Russian port visit tomorrow.  

Like most sea days, we started with a coffee chat at 9 where Lance, our Cruise and Travel Director was interviewed by Gloeta. We learned that 900 guests are going out on Tours as that's the only way one can go ashore without a visa or hold a passport from a nation that Russia doesn't require a Visa. Immediately following the coffee chat, Lance presented a port talk on Petropavlovsk which was standing room only. He found this surprising since 900 are on excursions and one can't leave the excursion and wander around either before or after. There's this thing about being in a port city that is home to the Russian eastern submarine fleet! But we're all curious about this first Russian port of call.

Jason Kelly followed up with a humorous presentation on Zodiacs which included pictures of our voyage on them earlier this year in the Maldives. And so ended the presentations for the day until the nightly entertainment and Evening Insight.

At lunch and again up in the Crow's Nest we were treated to whales and Dall porpoises on multiple occasions! And then there was the mountain range and very large volcano that presented themselves off our starboard side.

Unfortunately, today we learned that we cannot keep our present stateroom and will need to move on August 28 at the start of our last 42 day segment.

There was no programming of interest in the afternoon so it was spent whale and dolphin watching plus the beautiful Russian coastline and volcanoes. The picture below shows one, Mt. Kronotsky which is sometimes referred to as Russia's Mt. Fuji due to its symmetrical shape.

The evening entertainment was Ryan Ahern, a terrific pianist from Las Vegas. Next was Al Trullijo's excellent Evening Insight presentation on echolocation of whales & dolphins. Afterwards we watched an old Sean Connery movie, The Russia House.

Later on at 11:30 local time we saw what seemed to be volcanic activity from a distant hill. It's on the right in the picture.

Today our passports were collected for an early inspection by the Russian immigration personnel. The ship arrives at 6am and supposedly we get them back by 9am. And we gain another hour tonight.

Day 12 - 23 July - At Sea to Russia - Day 2

The calm waters were back and the low clouds persisted throughout the day. At noon we encountered fog and as soon as the Captain gave his noon update, the every two minute fog horn started blowing. Sometime in the afternoon it stopped. In the evening the skies lightened up during the Orange party and we were treated to an orange sunset. We also left the shallow waters above the continental shelf and are now traversing water that is 11-12 thousand feet deep.

Critter wise, at dinner and afterwards we saw several instances of the porpoises or dolphins that just leave a wake on the surface. During the Orange party we observed a pod of whales (likely minke, but the naturalist couldn't identify them concretely).

The schedule today was pretty light and included Al Trullijo being interviewed at the 9am coffee chat; Lottie Davies showing great pictures from the north; an Ask the Captain session right after lunch; a presentation by Al Trullijo on Latitude and Longitude & Why we lose Tomorrow; Gloeta on Animals that Glow in the Dark. My wife attended the sushi making demo that conflicted with Ask the Captain. After a Lido dinner with Matthias, a Coptic bishop, Jason Kelly provided an Evening Insight talk on Killer Whales, the Wolves of the Sea.

One interesting factoid came from Al Trullijo's coffee chat. The presenters have the option of receiving a daily stipend and staying in a crew cabin or they can receive no stipend but stay in a passenger cabin AND bring a guest. Al has his wife with him on this cruise.

BBC Earth II was shown on the Main Stage but we skipped it as we have seen it several times. Our evening was concluded by attending the Orange party in which everyone is encouraged to wear orange which is the national color of the Netherlands.

Me, Kay (EXC staff), and Angela

Tonight we gain an hour and lose a day because we have crossed the international date line. Some may wonder why we gain an hour a day for so many consecutive days, and it's largely because Alaska spans 4-5 time zones but we only were in one of them so we have to catch up before reaching Petropavlovsk, Russia.

                        Sun setting after 11pm

Also those of us on HAL or independent excursions or those with a Russian visa or who are from visa free countries need to surrender our passports tomorrow for inspection during the clearance process a couple days from now.

So tomorrow my posting will actually be the day after tomorrow. Stay tuned! And don't lose any sleep over our time changes.

Day 11 - 22 July - At Sea to Russia - Day 1

Overnight the seas were a bit rougher and there were at least two instances during our sleep time when the Maasdam came down on a good sized wave. Throughout the day the seas calmed a bit so there wasn't nearly as much motion on the ship. The Lido pool was closed and it was a bit chilly to go out on deck. We didn't see the sun and the low level clouds persisted all day.

The 9am coffee chat was with Naomi, our Japanese guest chef from Seattle. She gave her background and credentials and was interesting to listen to. On the main stage Al Trullijo followed with his excellent presentation on Extreme Waves. Gloeta followed him with her energetic presentation on Volcanoes. After lunch there was dead time for me as I wasn't interested in constructing bead earrings. But my wife was all over that. So I read my first book during that time which was a novel about the first few days of the formation of Israel.

Jason Kelly presented the only afternoon talk which was on Russia's attempts to claim the Nirth Pole. It was Gala night but we ate in the Lido buffet with a couple from Woodinville. An a cappella group, The Filharmonic performed on the Main Stage and they were very good! The 5 guys are Filipino and sing in the tradition of Pentatonix. Rachel Moreno then gave her family history in the Evening Insight time.

We wrapped up the evening watching the movie 'Over Alaska' produced by KCTS in Seattle. It was dated a bit (a 2001 film) but still grand! I wish it would have been shown at the beginning of the voyage to introduce the passengers to the grandeur of Alaska. Afterwards we went to the 10:30pm feeding for a little late meal and conversation with friends from California. We gain another hour tonight as we head east.    

I should note that there are many other activities during the day, but the ones I report on are the ones I or we participate it.

There's a cool event tomorrow night, but you'll have to wait for it in tomorrow's blog.

Day 10 - 21 July - Almost Nome

After a good sleep, we arrived outside the harbor at Nome around 7am. The rear thrusters were really working and the tenders were deployed. Captain Arno came on several times about the sea conditions and that even with full thruster and propeller power the ship could not maintain its position. I led the 8am interdenominational service thinking that there was no hurry to get off the ship early on a Sunday morning.

Several tenders with Shore Excursions participants were sent ashore but told to wait at the dock. It would have been a real challenge if independent travelers were to have been sent ashore and they left the dock area. Around 9:30am the Captain announced on the PA system that due to the swell conditions and predicted worsening conditions that he was cancelling the port stop. The passengers on shore were retrieved and the tenders were retrieved and stowed. He further announced that we would wait for the guest entertainers who were scheduled to board here to be brought out to the ship by pilot boat.

This we did and two trips were made to bring them out to the ship and transfer entertainers from the ship to shore. I watched the loading and unloading process, and the little tender boat was bobbing like a cork and found it difficult to remain against the tender platform. Once we had the entertainers on board we set a course for our Russian port which is 3 sea days away.  

The day's schedule was modified to take into account this day becoming a sea day. We had a couple lectures on Sharks by Gloeta and Tlingit sea transportation by Rachel plus an Evening Insight presentation on 'Where is the Tropics' by Jason Kelley. There was a Majority Rules Game Show and a Captain Marvel movie as well as a Disney Bears movie. We didn't watch either.

We ended our day attending Jason Kelley's Evening Insight presentation on how an ancient librarian, Eratosthenes, computed the circumference of the earth. There's a cool YouTube video on how it's done if you are interested. Also, in Nome we were 100 miles south of the Arctic.

It's now 3 sea days until we reach our first Russian port. Stay tuned.

Day 09 - 20 July - At Sea to Nome

Overnight the seas were a bit rougher but not so much that it was uncomfortable for us. After all, it is the Bering Sea.   

The EXC program on this segment of the voyage is being very well received. All of the programs and sessions are very well attended. It's not uncommon to have to arrive at the venue location at least 1/2 an hour to 45 minutes before the start time in order to get a choice seat. The lecturers are very engaging with very appropriate topics.

Today's morning coffee chat was with Rachel Moreno, a Tlingit native and presenter. Lance followed with an excellent presentation on Nome where we learned that the city is pulling out the stops for our visit. I'll share those items in tomorrow's blog. Rachel then presented a talk on the natives of Nome.

Naomi Kakiuchi, guest chef, demonstrated marinated salmon skewers and somen (noodles). Jason Kelly presented an interesting talk on the 5 kinds of Pacific salmon and naturalist Gloeta was supposed to talk on the tundra, but focused her time on speaking about bears, moose, caribou, and musk oxen which are all animals found in the Nome area. She was really engaging and used a couple of guys from the audience to full potential as props for her talk.

After dinner in the Lido, Al Trullijo gave an Evening Insight presentation on Pillow Lava. Tony Pace entertained us with more song impersonations. This was followed by Master Kam sharing about Hong King and China in the Voyager or bedtime story time.

Throughout the day we traveled at 18 knots or better in very low cloud conditions. For much of the day the Lido pool was closed off with a cargo net as it was sloshing quite heavily. While it's still light at 10:15pm, the visibility is less than a mile with the ever lowering clouds. But I've not heard the fog horn just yet.

We're projected to arrive in Nome at 8am and it'll be our first tender port. Stay tuned.

 

Day 08 - 19 July - Dutch Harbor

Before I describe our day, let me say that this was one of if not the best Alaskan Port we have visited so far. It has the full on vibe of the 'true' Alaska without the 'in your face' souvenir, diamond, and jewelry shops like are found in Ketchikan, Juneau, or Skagway. There are fish processing operations everywhere with the resultant fragrances of 'ewe de fish'. Eagles abound, people are super friendly, there are no traffic lights, vehicles suffer from the ravages of exposure to salt, those that aren't are coated with a layer of fine mud, and there are no fast food restaurants. It can be a harsh climate, but those who live here embrace it with a passion not unlike young lovers. While there are no native trees here, the hills are coated in a covering of a brilliant green only broken up by majestic rock formations or the heat from volcanic activity. This is the Alaska I love.

The Maasdam arrived in Dutch Harbor right on time, rotated counter clockwise, and slowly slipped into its berth. It was really good to not have to tender here. The port provided the now typical shuttle buses in the form of school buses driven by friendly and welcoming drivers. We were on the second bus around 8:30pm which dropped us off at the Aleutian National WWII museum where the real story of how thecAleutian native peoples were treated far more harshly than their Japanese counterparts in the lower 48. Many of them could not return to their ancestral homelands and the subsistence economy was gone forever. Also the Japanese landed on and captured one of the outer islands in the Aleutian chain and bombed Dutch Harbor. American soldiers then had to retake the island and virtually all the Japanese soldiers not killed in the fight committed suicide rather than surrender.

After that somber visit we walked across the street and visited the open house at the fire station where we chatted with the fire cadets and the Captain. That was an uplifting time. He indicated we are the biggest cruise ship to visit this season and that the busiest time for them was January to April when the fishing/crabbing season is open. We then walked to the Safeway which was about 1/2 mile away and location of the final shuttle stop. We provisioned up with some bandages which I need to have on hand due to my needing to be on an anti coagulant which can cause me to bleed easily. We continued our walk to the local hotel which housed the visitor center and some local crafts people. Across the street was an office supply store where I purchased some blank name tags for future meet & greets as I forgot to bring blank ones from my home supply. Just down the street was the general store called Alaska Fish Supply which was an Ace Hardware, grocery store, and marine supplies store. It was cool to see all the fishing related merchandise, but I passed on getting a Deadliest Catch shirt. But they did have a big bag of licorice to help us make the crossing in a few days.

We found the Museum of the Aleutians which housed an extensive collection of native Aleutian historical artifacts. High on our list to visit was the historic Russian Orthodox Church, but it would be another 2+ mile walk there. Along the way we saw eagles, otters, a wrecked fishing boat, & many municipal buildings. The church wasn't open so we could only view it from the outside along with its graveyard.

Nearby was a pizza/Asian restaurant called the Dutch Harbor Cafe where I enjoyed chicken Pad Thai and Angela had seafood fried rice. We then walked down to the local library and post office before walking back to the Safeway where we took the shuttle back to the ship.

While it was nice to have a shuttle to/from the Safeway store, it would have been nice to have one that ran to the town of Unalaska where the church was. A number of passengers did either rent cars or hire taxis ($80/hour). My wife and I logged 8.2 miles walking. But since the weather was so nice we didn't mind walking, plus it gave us lots of opportunities to see eagles.

All guests and crew were on board well before 5:30, so we departed just after 5:30pm and the Captain set a northerly course across the Bering Sea (think Deadliest Catch and harsh waters) for Nome. This port is so far north that the Captain and his officers and bridge crew had to take special additional training earlier in the summer for sailing in potentially iceberg infested waters. None are expected this early, but the preparations are appreciated by this passenger. As soon as we cleared the harbor, low level clouds filled the sky and are still there as I write this at 10:30pm in very lighted conditions. More of the same weather is expected tomorrow.

Lunch was so filling I just ate two shrimp and some fruit salad for dinner. The evening show was an English acoustic guitarist, Mark Hussey, who was really good. We wrapped up the day's activities with a lively and quirky Evening Insight program presented by Jason Kelly on 'Venery' or what do we call groups of things like a 'murder of crows' or 'pride of lions. He gave a lot of historical background which was really interesting.

It's a sea day tomorrow with a full set of EXC programming. EXC means EXploration Central. This form of programming has been successful enough on the Maasdam, and it's being rolled out to the rest of the fleet. I highly recommend taking one of the Maasdam's two week EXC cruises out of Vancouver, BC next summer. Heck, you might even find us on one.

Day 07 - 18 July - At Sea to Dutch Harbor

It was a cold and cloudy sailing day today across the Gulf of Alaska and within sighting distance of the Aleutian Island chain. While I wore a short sleeved shirt, it was definitely brisk outside on deck 6 where I walk back and forth from front to back on the ship to reach our state room or venues.

Program wise it was an easier day schedule wise. After meeting with another couple at the morning sea day interdenominational bible study we listened to an interesting coffee chat by a President's Club passenger who described going around the world over a 10 year span using non motorized methods such as swimming, biking, kayaking, sailing, etc.  

Jason Kelly presented a lecture on two major Alaskan earthquakes: the '64 quake near Anchorage and a smaller '58 quake in SE Alaska. His presentation was excellent.

In his lunch briefing the Captain announced that we wouldn't have to tender in Dutch Harbor. 

HAL put on a special reception for the 250ish Seattle boarding passengers just after lunch. Captain Arno gave a short speech and there were refreshments and a chance for conversation. I had a brief chat with the Captain and he sketched the challenges in getting the permissions to use the Zodiacs in American waters. He was optimistic it'll be available for next season.

In a separate chat with Florian, he's going to attempt to get permission for us to stay in our present stateroom for the entire voyage. For the first time this voyage I took a little official nap (I'm noted for taking unofficial ones). I woke up in time to see the 3pm showing of Mystery.Alaska which is a 1999 movie about a small Alaskan town's hockey team that invites the NY Rangers to come play.  

After a Lido dinner we attended Al Trujillo's Evening Insight presentation on Flotsam & Jetsum before watching Frank King, a comedienne we've seen before several times. He really milks the audience for great joke material.

Goleta shared her 3 most embarrassing travel stories and then invited us to 'talk among ourselves' before asking the audience to share theirs.

At 10pm the sun was still high in the sky. Tomorrow is a port I've wanted to visit for a long time, Unalaska or Dutch Harbor.

Day 06 - 17 July - Kodiak, Alaska

Shortly after 7am, the Maasdam glided into the wet but flat Kodiak harbor and did a slow counterclockwise pirouette before doing its slow sidestep into its berth at the Maersk berth. Later a Matson Line container ship (Matson Kodiak) would sail in and dock in front of us at the Matson terminal.

Today in Kodiak was about as fine a day as one could have. There was a free Walmart shuttle from the gangway to the front door of the WalMart located about 5 miles away. We provisioned up with more Coke Zero to last us most of the rest of the voyage.

After dropping our purchases off in our stateroom, we then hopped on the town shuttle which dropped us off at the visitor's center where we found a local fellow, Bill, who was selling excursions on his little tour boat for $75 per person. It was a nice 2 hour tour with 5 other people and we had Captain John. We saw sea otters, puffins, sea lions, and really nice scenery.

We walked to McDonalds for a quick lunch and some WIFI as the 3g Verizon was super slow. We met Erik & Marilyn there who were doing the same while looking for geocaches. They were successful. We walked up the hill to the library where I printed out copies of our Russian entry documents which we need to give to the Maasdam front desk. We then explored the Alutiiq native museum, the Holy Resurrection Orthodox Church, and the excellent Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge Center. This land preserve covers 2/3's of Kodiak Island and is home to the state's largest population of brown bears known as Kodiak bears. They are huge!

We finished our day in Kodiak by walking back the mile to the ship arriving there 15 minutes before the 5:30pm all aboard time. The final city shuttle bus arrived just before 5:30pm; the gangway was taken down by forklift and stowed for the next use. About 29 cruise ships visit Kodiak each year primarily during the spring and fall repositionings from Asia.

Promptly at 5:45 the mooring lines were released, the bow and stern thrusters engaged, and we moved sideways out into the shipping channel and began our journey to Dutch Harbor. Captain Jutten made an announcement apologizing that due to the US Coast Guard use of our proposed berth in Dutch Harbor, we will have to tender. Later we received a letter that we 4 & 5 star Mariners can meet in the Wajang Theatre with refreshments. I suspect there will be some sort of tender ticket distribution system for the other passengers.

After watching the sailaway, we ate dinner in the Lido with Roger & Caroline. On the way out I saw more sea lions and a pod of orcas. The evening entertainment was the BBC film Alaska in Concert which was accompanied by live music. It was really good, but I'm biased due to my Alaskan heritage. Gloeta gave another high energy EXC Insight talk, this time on crabs. We wrapped up the night watching the movie, Breakthrough, which was really good.

After departing Kodiak we sailed for 5 - 6 hours along the island coast and during the night will pass through the Aleutian chain into the Bering Sea. Tomorrow is a sea day that's not as packed as yesterday, so I hope to do more wildlife watching. Stay tuned.

Day 05 - 16 July - Crossing the Gulf of Alaska

Our morning started with a 9am coffee chat with Lance and Jason Kelly, one of the naturalists. The major takeaway was that in 2020 the Maasdam will be sailing two week cruises out of Vancouver. The itineraries haven't been announced but they will likely be the smaller ports and the Zodiacs will likely have their US Coast Guard approvals to operate. Alaska is an excellent venue for them.

The rest of the day was spent in a variety of EXC events. First up was a short excursions port talk on our remaining ports of call including a stern warning about visiting Russia and the ports there. Lance followed that presentation with his detailed presentation on the Kodiak and Dutch Harbor ports and another warning about the Visa requirements when visiting Russia. For lunch we sat with Master Kam and his wife and renewed our acquaintance.  

Naomi Kakiuchi, the Asian guest chef from Seattle, presented making spring rolls and Japanese fried rice. Her spring rolls were to be available at the sip and savor later in the afternoon. As one of the more unusual EXC events, Rachel Moreno showed how to cut out and make Alaskan summer parkas (Kuspuk ) which I may have to try making. While Angela went to the 3pm movie, The Miracle, I attended Lottie Davies' EXC landscape photography session and later chatted with her. She was the guest EXC photographer on the South America to Papeete leg of the Maasdam's voyage which we were on.

Today was gala night, but we elected to enjoy a dinner in the Canaletto dining room (Italian Cuisine). It wasn't crowded and we were easily able to get to the Main Stage early to get a good seat for Savannah Jack. It was really good! Rachel Moreno presented an Evening Insight talk on the Alaska Native Peoples, and Jason Kelley gave a really good Voyager talk about 'What possibly could go wrong?' We heard this story on our Sri Lankan voyage, but it was worth hearing again! Afterwards we chatted with Jill and Joe until the Crow's Nest loud music drove us out.

Coming back to the room there was a written notice about the Russian Visa requirements.

Tomorrow we're in Kodiak and have nothing specific planned. Stay tuned.

Day 04 - 15 July - Sitka

Most nights we sleep soundly through the night. But this was not one of them! At around 3:45am the first stage emergency alarm went off and at that hour it's loud enough to wake the dead. After the initial announcement, the Captain came on the PA system with progress reports. It seems that there was an overheated electrical motor that tripped the fire alarm. After getting it checked out and getting cleared, Captain Arno made the final all clear announcement and we could sleep the rest of the night. Later during the sail away he profusely apologized for waking us all up, but emphasized how important safety was.

Our arrival at the cruise terminal in Sitka was announced by the sounds of whirring of the motors of the mooring line machinery two decks below us. Then there were the strong vibrations from the thrusters. But there's no thud of the ship hitting the dock as the approach is carefully orchestrated to smoothly and slowly kiss the dock ever so lightly. That meant it was time to roll over and nod off as we didn't have to get up for an early morning shore excursion!  We're not early risers.

After a Lido breakfast we made our way to the town-provided shuttle buses for the 5 mile ride into town. We've been here many times, so we just walked around shopping and sampling local food such as reindeer hot dogs, clam chowder and salmon tacos. We ate at one place with some local ladies, one of whom was a student of one of my college roommates. It's a small world. From Castle Hill we could see the Crystal Symphony which was at anchor in the bay and their guests were tendering in. We also revisited the Miner's statute located in front of the Alaska Pioneers home. I wonder if I qualify?  

Angela also watched the Russian Dance show while I walked some more around town (I saw the show last visit) and visited the Bishop's House.  

During the walk around we met the Russian pair that we've sailed with on 2-3 other cruises and those who sailed on them with us will remember them as the couple who played very serious table tennis. It turns out they are father/daughter and live in St. Martens. It was fun to get to know them a bit better.

Some light sprinkles began to fall around 2:30pm so we made our way back to the shuttle bus and caught a ride back to the cruise port where we shopped and enjoyed a crab cocktail and watched a recently dry docked fishing boat get its hull cleaned.  

Back on board we went to the Crow's Nest to watch the sail away which started about 4:45pm after the last 4 guests arrived 10 minutes late. They all received a lecture from the security officer as they boarded.

During the sail away I spotted some splashing in the distance which with the aid of my binoculars determined to be dolphins or porpoises who were leaping entirely out of the water. This went on for at least a half an hour! Following a quick Lido dinner we attended Pete Neighbours' excellent jazz clarinet performance and Gloeta's high energy Evening Insight presentation on Sponges and Jellyfish. We wrapped up our evening watching the movie 'Free Solo' about a fellow who climbed El Capitan without ropes.

Tomorrow is a sea day and the schedule is totally packed with EXC lectures and events. Stay tuned. This cruise is approaching the quality of the inaugural EXC cruise we took last year from Ft. Lauderdale to Papeete.

Day 03 - 14 July - Ketchikan

As a person born in Alaska, it's really poignant to return to the state of my birth. It's even better to be writing my blog while cruising along the coast line and enjoying the spectacular scenery. Tonight the view is of the low hills which are heavily forested and the seas are totally flat. There's a gentle hum and harmonic vibrations from the ship's propulsion system that's very soothing to me. The gentle white wake is breaking off the bow and and it slowly fans off alongside and behind us. But I digress.

Ketchikan is a city we have visited many times before and not all by cruise ship. We arrived on time and were docked at 8am sandwiched between the Carnival Legend and the Celebrity Odyssey. It was fun to watch the 'parallel parking' procedure. Also in port was the Radiance of the Seas and the Azamara Quest. That made for a lot of passengers roaming the streets and using the passenger services. Since it was Sunday, we attended the interdenominational service before disembarking at 9am.  

Off the gangway which was set up on Deck 5, I had a brief chat with Lance, our Cruise & Travel Director and he reminded me that we last traveled together on the inaugural voyage of the Nieuw Statendam last December. Today our plan was to do a 10k volksmarch. (6.2 miles). We met up with our group and about 15 of us started the walk which took us across the creek and up the hills above the business district. We had a good eagle sighting and passed by a salmon hatchery and the Totem Museum. Totem, by the way, means remembrance and it was a way for the native peoples to remember their history.

At the end of the first 5k, 5 of us did the second 5K which was much flatter and took us out north towards the airport. When that was finished, my wife and I caught the WalMart free shuttle to purchase an electronic toothbrush and some diet soda. We also took the opportunity to eat a Subway sandwich at the in-store location. The shuttle went back to the ship where we dropped off our purchases and headed back out for more shopping. But nothing was purchased! We reboarded the ship at 4:15 and there were 70 people still needing to board by 4:30pm.

4:30pm came and went and finally a HAL shore excursion bus showed up at 5pm. A number of people learned the value of taking a HAL shore excursion because the ship will wait for them! Immediately after the last person boarded, the gangplank was whisked away, and the ship quickly slipped silently away from the dock and began its northbound journey towards Sitka.

We enjoyed a very nice dinner in the Rotterdam dining room with a couple that we had never met before, but who were friends of mutual friends of ours. We were impressed with the meal. I had the Salmon. I'm sure we'll spend some more time with them as they are sailing to Sydney with us and they'll continue on to their home in New Zealand.

The evening entertainment was Tony Pace, an energetic cover singer of top songs from the various decades. I especially liked his renditions of Broadway show tunes from Les Miserables and Phantom of the Opera.

Al Trujillo gave a good evening insight presentation on Gold in Alaska. And my evening was capped off with the 10:30pm presentation of the Philipino crew show while my wife watched the movie, The Upside.

The weather today was spectacular for this area, but might be a bit more challenging in Sitka tomorrow. By the way, I walked 11.66 miles today. It's not a record for me, but is respectable.

Day 02 - 13 July - Up the Inside Passage

It was a quiet and smooth night sailing up the east coast of Vancouver Island. We're really liking our inside stateroom as does our neighbor, Larry.

Our day started with breakfast cooked by cooks who were on our February, 2019 cruise to Sri Lanka. The 9am coffee chat featured Lance and Gloeta , one of the EXC presenters we haven't seen yet. Jason did

 a really nice presentation on the three types of bears found in Alaska: black, grizzly, and polar.

Our Cruise Critic internet group had a small meet and greet in the Mix where we were able to meet a few new friends and re-acquaint ourselves with old friends. I ended up missing the port talk on Sitka and Ketchikan, but I've been both places many times previously.

Eating lunch with friends in the Lido pool area included entertainment by passing whales and dolphins or porpoises (not a clear enough view to properly identify them). Al Trujillo then gave a great presentation on the geology of Alaska.

It was a lovely late afternoon time to watch the waves go by from the Crow's Nest and we met a couple from Hermiston, Oregon. Time got away from us so we squeezed in a quick Lido buffet dinner before attending Gloeta's Evening Insight presentation on 'The Amazing Lives of Puffins, Pinnipeds, and Porpoises.' She's an energetic presenter to say the least.  

Savanna Jack, a tribute group did hit songs from the 70's & 80's AZ the evening entertainment. They are an enthusiastic group that debuted on this ship back in February when we were on board. Afterwards, we wrapped up the night watching a cheesy movie called 'Alaska' about two kids who rescue their dad in the Alaskan wilderness with the aim of a juvenile polar bear. It was really hard to not like the bear!

Tonight our clocks are set back an hour to correspond with Alaska time.

Tomorrow we're make our first port call in Ketchikan and plan to do a Volksmarch and collect some stamps for our National parks book plus dinner with new friends that we haven't met yet.

Stay tuned!

Day 01 - 12 July - Seattle Boarding

It was a great day to finally board the Maasdam after waiting many months for the cruise to begin. It was blue skies with only wisps of clouds and no damage from the mild earthquake that occurred this morning NE of Seattle. Our friend, Doug, who is living in our home while we are gone, drove us down to Pier 66 where the Maasdam was moored. Normally Holland America ships depart from Pier 91, but two mega ships, Ovation of the Seas and the Odyssey were using that facility today.

We arrived around 11:15am and there was virtually no traffic plus it was our first time to see the waterfront area with the former Alaska Way Viaduct gone. It really changes the character of the waterfront. We quickly checked in and immediately walked up the ramp to board the ship, I presented my key card and the security officer asked for it again. It seemed that my wife's picture was associated my key card and vice versa. They let us board but requested that we get new pictures taken and associated with the correct card. This we did after dropping our luggage off at the room.

For the first 32 days of this voyage we are in stateroom 417 which is an inside room in the aft section of the ship on the walking or lower Promenade Deck. If we leave our door open, we have a direct view of the ocean without paying for an ocean view,

We ate a quick sushi lunch in the Lido buffet on Deck 11 and met Brent & Mary (Woodinville Cruisers on the Cruise Critic message board that I follow). We also met Lance who was the EXC presenter on our previous cruise to Sri Lanka and Florian, our previous Hotel Director, Holland has changed titles and responsibilities around so Lance is now Cruise & Travel Director.

We typically decorate our door and for this cruise, we are going to decorate our door with postcards from the cities we visit. So we disembarked the ship in search of a Seattle postcard which we found just south of the aquarium in a souvenir store, On our way back to the ship we encountered a fellow who was "fishing" with a magnet on a rope. We spoke with him and he indicated that he had found bicycles, wheel chairs, and all sorts of miscellaneous items using his magnet on a rope, He showed us a nice leatherman multi tool and a hammer he found using this method on previous searches. The Seattle waterfront wasn't productive for him, so he was driving across town to try his luck at Green Lake.

Back on board we walked around and discovered a Mariner party for which we hadn't received an invitation. Because of our 5 Star status they let us in and soon we were joined by Jill & Joe and Larry all of whom we've cruised with previously including last year's terrific Easter Island cruise on this same ship.

Today's passenger emergency drill was only held for Seattle embarking passengers so it went very fast, There were only 250 or so of us. It's really nice to have a stateroom on the same deck as our lifeboat and drill location!

Several years ago we took a 7 day Alaska cruise on the Oosterdam and enjoyed a nice dinner in the Pinnacle Grill while cruising up the Puget Sound along Whidbey Island. So we decided to keep up the tradition and booked a reservation for 5:30pm. The ship was supposed to leave at 4pm, but was delayed due to a workman who needed to finish a repair. We finally left after 4:30pm and followed the two mega ships in a procession northbound up the Sound.

Dinner was lovely and our favorite wine steward, Marlind, served us The menu is new from our Sri Lanka trip from last February and the Alaska King Crab legs and ribeye steak was wonderful. We both had jumbo shrimp appetizers and my wedge salad was wonderful. I skipped dessert but Angela enjoyed Tres Leches cake,

The evening entertainment was a comedienne, Brian Bradley, who was funny and clean. Afterwards, we went to the oceanography lecture on how do we know how deep is the ocean, by Al Trujillo, who presented on prior voyages and is quite good. We also met the EXC guide, Kay, who commented to me that she thought it was just yesterday that we got off the ship when we hadn't seen her in 9 months when she left the ship in Papeete. She's really good at what she does. We also learned that another of our favorite lecturers on Asian topics is on board and will be presenting.

Angela stayed in the Wajang theatre to watch the gunfighter movie, The Old Man and the Gun, but I elected to leave and update my blog.  

Overall, the ship continues to sparkle and we are looking forward to 74 days on board especially since some of our favorite crew are on this voyage,

Stay tuned for more. We're sailing north tomorrow up the inside passage between Vancouver Island and the mainland, and this is the first time my wife and I have sailed this route. Typically we sail up the outside of Vancouver Island and that's what the mega ships did today, Theoretically, the whale and dolphin watching should be good. I'll report back on that and I brought my good zoom camera so I'm ready for some action photos.