Alaska Cruise Part 3 "The Invasion"

One of the things I most enjoy on cruises is the entertainment, even when it is a bit amateurish or hokey.  But, noone could have been prepared for the night invasion of "Nickelodeon".

The Welcome Aboard Entertainment was hosted by the Cruise Director who prompted the audience to call out where they were from Ad Nauseum and then...finally...we thought there were no unnamed places left in the planet and would finally be treated to some entertainment.  Noooooo......here come the Nickelodeon characters!  I recognized SpongePants but there was some other pink, star-shaped tubbie there too.

I decry this invasion of adult space!   I flounced up off my seat and left to go to the Bar, thinking that they wouldn't dare let Nickelodeon characters in the bar!

Wrong again, Sooo-Eeeee.  After the Bingo game--an activity for ADULTS only involving gambling and drinks in the Bar, the next entertainment group began to set up and ----HORRORS--it is SpongePants and his pink starfish sidekick again!

And, they added another character named Dora.  Now it is time for stiff letter of protest!  Not only did our little group summarily depart the bar with drinks in hand, half the bar got up and left!  Take THAT on your bottom line, NCL!  Maybe you can make your money off apple juice in sippy cups!

End of Rant.

Next stop:  Juneau.  It looked like this:

Yes, that's right--complete white out!  You could hardly see the faintest outline of the port.  Here is the irony; it was THIS day that was chosen to clean the windows!

Take a look at the squeegee he is using!  We thought we might take up a collection for a "Big Boy Squeegee".

Pity the poor souls who purchased expensive shore excursions.  We saw them return to the ship cold, wet, grumpy and shivering.  It was the only port where none of us bought an excursion.

That night was Chocolate Night.   It was festive and fun, of course, but I have already reviewed the food.  Some of the chocolate desserts suffered the same lack of character as other dishes but the displays were lovely and appetizing.

The chocolate eagle looked good enough to relocate back to the room.

My personal favorite was huge, sweet, ripe strawberries dipped in a chocolate shell.

Here is Marilyn  and her favorite was ....everything!  Yes, we did a bit of a photo setup here--Mare is a good sport!

Next up is the Star of the Cruise--The inside passage to see the glaciers.

Here is a map of Tracy's Arm a fjord near Juneau.   I got this from Google.

We passed many iceberg's which I am told are chunks from Sawyer's Glacier.

It was beautiful even though the weather was cloudy and drizzly.  There were many Ahhh and Oooh's despite the crummy weather.

Most people stayed inside the bar area and watched the passage though the narrow channel from the comfort of their bar seat and a cocktail.

I left my drink occasionally to go outside for a photo.

Here is the glacier:  note the blue ice.  Without the light the sun would have provided, our photos were less than spectacular.

The experience of BEING among the massive steep walls, passing another cruise ship in the narrow passage and seeing icebergs sweep past was exciting.

Alaska Cruise Part 2

OK so what does one do on a cruise ship on an "At Sea" Day?

Here is the reality.  One of our group was kinda seasick and down for the count most of the day.  A second member was "a little queasy" but not completely down.

The remaining three checked out the ship activities.  One of the many activities we took part in were the Trivia Games--ie naming TV programs from a musical sound clip, naming famous landmarks and birds etc.  People were divided into teams and the winners got complimentary bar drinks. 

One of the more sinister games was "The Weakest Link".   All of us entered our names; two of us were picked out of a hat--me and Mare!  Oh Noooo...That was the birth of my new name--Soo-EEE.  The ship staff spoke OK English but when my name was called, it sounded like she was calling pigs to slop and everyone foreverafter called me "Soo-EEE".  The audience cried "Soo-EEE" as I took my place at the podium.

Here comes the first question.... and  I have no idea what this woman just said.  She is Philipino and has a marked accent.   I heard "ScoobyDo".  I was not permitted to watch cartoons as a child, but I thought ScoobyDo was a dog and answered "Bone".  WRONG!  Second round question:  I understood No part of the question.  I don't have an ear for accents.  In fact, I sometimes don't hear English so good.  Needless to say, I was the first one voted out as the Weakest Link.  Goodbye, Soo-EEE.

Well, at least our other member, Mare, was able to understand and answer questions--she actually WON the game!  Yay Mare, you saved our group reputation!

I must note here that at NO time did any of us not have drink in hand.

We also played Bingo.  You cannot progress past  age 50 without playing serious Bingo.  However, this was the biggest RipOff ever!  We each paid $35-50 for about 20 total minutes of play.  Granted, the pot was huge!  But, the important part of Bingo is the journey--the destination can only be reached by a very select few.

This was the day we learned about the existence of what was to become our Private Bar.  While trying to gather up poker chips from TwinkleToes/Mario, we learned of a remote bar behind a specialty restaurant.  We came to regard it as our own special bar with our own beloved bar server-Arturo-and played many games of Texas Hold 'Em and drank many drinks at that bar.  There is something edgy about 5 females playing Texas Hold 'Em and drinking, don't you agree?

Let's retire the At Sea day and go on to our first port stop, Ketchikan!  All seasick persons have recovered.  The weather is lovely in Ketchikan, though it would deterioate later in the day.  Here is an early morning look at folks gathering for their shore excursions.

Our group had chosen two excursions:  the Alaskan Coastal Expedition (in the Zodiaks) and the Plane/Alaskan Crab Feast.

By the way, if anyone is planning to take an Alaska cruise, choose your excursions way ahead of time.  They book fast.

Theresa, Mary and Sue went on the Coastal Excursion at 8am and dressed for Cold, Wet conditions!

Mary drew the short straw and was enlisted to drive the Zodiak.   Mary is not thrilled.

We were supposed to see wildlife BUT the only things we encountered were eagles...

and the wild salmon dip we were served after the excusion. 

Here is a cool photo of the ship from our Zodiac as the day turned cooler and more threatening.

So, what are the girls to do?

Answer:   Find a bar in Ketchikan, that's what.  Our shuttle driver, a college kid majoring in Nutrition, suggested the Arctic Bear and that's where we ended up!

In this photo, we are with our bartender holding the Bar mascots--polar bears in mating positions.  There is probably not much else  fun to do in Alaska if you are a polar bear.

While we were whooping it up in the bar and making polar bear jokes, Sharon and Mare were flying to a Crab Feast.

From all accounts, the crab was fresh, plentiful and delicious!

We left Ketchikan tired but pleased with our shore experiences.

Alaska Cruise Part I "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun"

RiversEdge RV Park, Rio Dell, CA

It is time to leave northern California and my sister.   I have nested  long enough in her driveway.  Next year, I will be parking a trailer on my sister’s RV park down the road in Rio Dell.  The little yellow square is my spot up on the terrace ledge overlooking the river and across at the fossil cliffs.   Rezzie, please Sis?

I have been remiss in not keeping up with my blog but I have a good excuse. 

NCL Jewell to Alaska

I was on the BIG BOAT with 4 other wild and crazy women!   Of course, I refer to our planned cruise to Alaska.  It was a boatload of fun, helped along by outstanding weather, our own private bar on the ship and funloving sailing companions, including the most relaxed staff I have ever run into on any cruise.   

Here is a little slideshow video of the girls having fun!  Girls Just Wanna Have Fun!

"Thriller" Dance Lesson with Twinkletoes

Here are a few favorites:  first is Mario, our Master of Dance Lessons, who provided many different styles of dance tutorials.  This one is the “Thriller” one where we were schooled in how to do the zombie Thriller dance routine.

As you can see, I am right WITH him!  It was a lot fun and my companions had many giggles watching the class learn the choreography.  My sister took many photos but I made her delete most of them.

Left to right:  my sister, Sharon, Marilyn, Theresa, ME, Arturo and Mary

My second favorite staff was Arturo, our private bar server in our private bar.  I’m not kidding; nobody on the ship knew about this bar; TwinkleToes told us to go there to play Texas  Hold ‘Em after he found us some poker chips.  We did not have enough chips so we supplemented out pots with different colored sweetener packs and salt water taffy.

We tipped Arturo in Salt Water Taffy each time he fetched extra special cocktails and on the final night, gave him a pound bag of his own.

But, I digress.  Here is a brief recounting of the highlights of our cruise.   It will have to be in at least two parts.

The day before the cruise, all traveling females gathered in Seattle at the Downtown Executive Inn, which was notable in its “tinyness”—the room was so small that two people could not pass each other at any point.  It reminded me of the RV Shuffle; where the aisle is so narrow that only one person walks while the other must stand aside and wait their turn.  The hotel also had no parking.   Of course, the price wasn’t tiny since were only steps away from Pike’s Market. 

   

Walking to Pike's Market

Awesome Gourmet Popcorn Selection

Mare and Sharon sample popcorn

Enroute to Pike’s, we found a gourmet Popcorn store where popcorn was sampled before purchase.   This was serious  popcorn with nuts and chocolates added-Oh My!

Sisters Sharon & Susan at Lowell's Seafood

We went to the Market for a seafood lunch overlooking the Bay

and then returned to an all-girl Celebratory Champagne Toast in our tiny room.  

Unfortunately, I was late for the Toast because I was desparately shopping at the downtown Target purchasing a second digital camera.  Despite having ordered extra batteries for my camera, I left the charger at home plugged into the wall.  One cannot buy a charger anywhere except online.  (I returned the camera to Target for a full refund upon my return to Eureka.  Thanks, Target!)  But, my friends saved me some champagne and I made up for my lack of liquor on board at dinner which we all walked to (some in a straight line) and had a great time with a Performing Waitress (true!).

Next morning, I took a hike in search of the car which was in an adjacent garage with no direct access to the Tiny Executive Inn (what a circus parking was!) .  We piled luggage stuff and bodies inside and headed for the Pier 66 a mile away.

 

“Freestyle” Cruising on NCL’s Jewell means never being late for your assigned dinner seating or entertainment.  No schedules—no dressy up clothing.  Wonderful Idea!

Getting on ship was pretty much a breeze; here I have snagged my first sailor.

From the Garden Cafe where we had our first meal before departure and enjoyed a stunning view of the city skyline...

...and our luggage

Note on FOOD:  The food was fine but, as we were to learn, the food on the cruise had “ups and downs” and, by midweek, we were ordering chocolate ice cream for dessert rather than the Chef’s suggestions.  Generally, the food lacked character and intensity; it seemed like the Chef was conserving on taste additives (the chocolate dessert LOOKED chocolatety but lacked an identifiable chocolate taste).   And, my usually forgiving sister returned two entrees to the kitchen because they were undercooked!  Blindfolded, one would have been hard pressed to identify some menu items .    

Where was Chef Ramsey?  

I vote for a new Ramsey makeover TV series for NCL:  Hell's Cruise!

But, again I digress. 

 

Finally, the announcement came that the luggage was onboard!  Holy Excitement-we can finally unpack and relax!   

We girls have two rooms just a few doors away from each other; one of them has a balcony where we had room service each morning of coffee, chocolate croissants and fresh fruit.  Our sweet cabin steward brought us extra chairs for the balcony so all five us us could sit outdoors.

 

Mare,who is a sleeper-inner, and I share the DarkRoom Inside Cabin .  This room was BLACK Dark even in the daytime!

The room TV's  have a camera station where one can see the bow of the ship (and weather) at all times.   Here are Sharon and Mare doing their Vanna White impressions.

Our sweet cabin steward made us towel animals daily; this was my favorite--a towel monkey hanging from the ceiling.  It was a daily delight going back to a freshly-made up cabin and your new towel animal!

Miraculously, all female gear was unpacked and stored without difficulty in the small cabins and soon it was departure time!   

We gathered in the Top Floor bar for spectacular views of Seattle and the port and...

Whoops!  Ship is moving-it's time to order Bon Voyage cocktails!

Mary and Theresa Toast our Bon Voyage

Many cocktails later, some of us  (Mare) were chair  dancing to the music...

 

Later, a Peek-A-Boo lounge chair to rest one’s body!

One should hesitate to ask too many questions about this chair design.  (And, yes, I did have to sprawl on the floor to get this photo but many cocktails later, noone seemed to notice.)

After sampling nearly the entire drink menu among us, we choseThe Favorite #1 cocktail choice, a coconut-rimmed libation (GoGo CoCo Nuts).

We had our first formal dinner in the big dining room served by eager and attentive young men who ceremoniously handed us menus and placed linens on our lap.  Whoooeeeee!

This Dining Room was at the rear (aft) of the ship (we had to look up ship terms in port on my smartphone Wikipedia)... it cost $55 for 110 minutes of internet time on the ship.

We dined to an amazing sunset!  

Tomorrow, we will be At Sea all day and will have to read Ship's Activities left by our towel animal and choose from the many scheduled entertainment activities.