September 30 – AT SEA

Maria making my Navigator

Weather – 10º, warmer on the pool deck, but not

bar menu

warm enough even in the sun to sit out…wind speed grew as the day went on

Steps – 9,513

Latitude – Calgary 51º, at sea 48º

We moved our clocks back yet again last night. It seems as though we will be gaining an hour each night and maybe even one night will go back 2 hours before we get to Japan on Thursday.

Chris won BINGO for the second time this cruise! He had to split the pot with another person, so not as much money...but a win is a win!

Tonight’s dinner menu included the famed miso glazed sea bass. This dish is always on the menu in the specialty Asian restaurant onboard, but only once a cruise in the main dining room. I actually tried to make this at home with the ship’s recipe…it was good, but not nearly as good as onboard. Somehow the miso glaze makes the sea bass extremely moist and tender, no need for a knife, it just flakes into large, delicious chunks.

Chris and I are pretty predictable when it comes to our drink order. Chris gets an Italian Getaway – prosecco (or any kind of bubbly), grapefruit juice and Campari. I get a French 75 – champagne, gin, lemon (the ship uses sweet/sour mix which

bar menu

bar menu

sometimes makes it a bit too sweet for me) with a sugar rim. A French 75 is one of my fav cocktails, but I also like to try others. Here’s the thing…when the bartender remembers your order after the first time, you don’t with their attention to detail. Because of this, your very first drink order is extremely important! Get this one wrong and you may have to drink a crappy drink for the remainder of the cruise.

I’m kidding of course…we don’t usually

like I'm rowing in the ocean

have a second pre-dinner drink, but last night we had a late reservation, so I tried a Navigator cocktail. Regent had a cocktail named for each of its ships…the Navigator is their oldest and smallest ship it was also the first one we sailed on in 2011. The Navigator cocktail – gin, lemon, St. Germaine…yum.

dessert

The weather/sea report for tonight suggests it’s going to be another exciting one – swells of up to 8 meters.

I wished my mom a happy birthday! Her birthday is really Sept 29, but that is today where she is.

September 29 – AT SEA

pedi with a view

Weather – 10º, mostly sunny

Steps – 5,440

Latitude – Calgary 51º, us in the middle of the ocean 49º

Last night’s sleep was glorious. Little in the way of bumping and less in the way of noise. We gained an hour (lost a day), so I was up with plenty of time before my 9:00 pedicure. We have a bit of shipboard credit this cruise (not as much as on the Iceland cruise, but some.) I thought a good way to use it was on a pedicure. Chris is chipping away a bit at it each time he goes to BINGO too.

he's looking for a ship job

It was lovely to sit, looking out at the sea while my toes were worked on. Luz, my nail tech did a lovely job on my feet but left A LOT to be desired in the gossip dept. Typically, when I get a pedi on the ship something that adds to the enjoyment is insider info. Not so much gossip, but info the on ship that I’d never have known. Did you know…that there’s an ATM in the crew area? I learned that on a previous cruise.

our usuals

A Sunday sea day brought out the ship’s gala brunch – a first for us. Apparently, these are only done on the new ships (for some reason we mostly choose itineraries on the older ships) and when a Sunday
falls on a sea day. This certainly was a production! Bustling buffets are not so much my style, but Chris liked it. There definitely was a huge selection and what we ate was very good, I’m just not so much into crowds. The brunch ran from 10-1, we got there around 11:30 and it was not too crowded, by the time we left at 12:30 it was a bit of a zoo. 

We sat for a bit in the Observation Lounge for a post lunch spritz and read. The
Observation Lounge is on a high deck right at the front of the boat with windows all around so all you can see is the sea and horizon – it is lovely.

Back at the room for the rest of the afternoon and the balcony door was at it again…grrrrr. Eventually Chris realized that the weather stripping needed some TLC, he fixed it…not just a pretty face, my husband!!

September 28 – AT SEA

watch thinks there's a 28th

Last night we crossed the date line which means we will not be experiencing Sept 28! We went to bed on Sept 27 and woke up on Sept 29.

I can’t quite wrap my head around the whole losing a day thing. I get that we’re travelling west, and are crossing multiple time zones, but the date thing…stymies me.

Somehow though, my watch recorded 83 steps on Sept 28?!?

September 27 – AT SEA

Weather – 10º, mostly sunny, very windy

Steps – 5,800

Latitude – Calgary 51º, at sea 52º

WOW, WOW, WOW!!! We rocked and rolled all night long! It was a very bumpy ride all night and until late afternoon today. Our room this cruise is at the front of the boat, and we definitely hear and feel more of the slapping and banging when the boat comes down onto a wave.

The top wind speed I saw on the TV’s navigation info was 90Km! WOW. The

NICE!

swells were also 8m or 24 feet…that’s a lot!

This made for a very noisy sleep. Our balcony door was howling again. We got it fixed again in the morning, but that didn’t help the night much. Basically, they’ve weather stripped all around our balcony door. This stops the vast majority of the sound, but as soon as we use the door, the stripping rips off, and the problem persists.

It was far too windy to be out for most of the day, so no big deal. It’ll have to be fixed better for when the weather warms and I want to be outside. The noise could also be because of the brutal wind. We didn’t hear this earlier in the cruise. We’ll see.

By the time the afternoon rolled around I was feeling a bit queasy and had a bit of a headache. However, as the seas quieted, so did my stomach.

dessert...mille-feuilles

The day unfolded as the next 4 should…eating, drinking,  blogging, reading,  gyming, BINGOing, napping…REPEAT!

Last night we gained 2 hours – ALRIGHT! We will continue to gain time until Japan. However…tomorrow we will lose an ENTIRE day! Today is Sept 27, tomorrow will be Sept 29!

Eating highlight today was tonight's dessert... mille-feuilles – a light multi layered pastry filled with cream topped with passion fruit dots, accompanied by another sauce…this time it was mango - YUM.

September 26 – Dutch Harbor, Alaska

good morning Dutch Harbor

Weather

refrigerated containers EVERYWHERE

– 10º, warm when out of the
wind and the clouds disappeared

Steps – 12,644

11 hours 47 min of daylight

Latitude – Calgary 51º, Dutch Harbor 54º

Norwegian Rat Saloon

Dutch Harbor (and the city Unalaska - pop 4,254) is one of the few ports where there are no organized excursions. We stopped here to fuel up before setting off for 5 says at sea until we get to Japan. We are in the Aleutian chain of islands and are actually further west right now than Hawaii! Unalaska is the main population centre for the Aleutians.

We have moved so far west and haven’t yet set our clocks back that sunrise wasn’t until about 9:00. This meant that we were able to catch the sunrise.

more containers

Dutch Harbor is the main port for the Bering Sea king crab fishery and is where the Deadliest Catch TV show is based. I think I’ve seen bits and pieces of a few episodes, but no real details about the show. Apparently, the pub “The Norwegian Rat Saloon” where we had a local pint (of course) is in a few episodes when the captains come together. We chatted with a couple who watch the show and had a taxi take them to check out the boats.

Dutch Harbor has been the largest fisheries port in the US, in terms of volume c

would put a person off drinking pop!

aught, for nearly every year since 1981. There were refrigerated containers

EVERYWHERE!!

A visit to the “Norwegian Rat Saloon” was the extent of our excursion today. From the ship it was about a 30 min walk. This place was basic, but typical. I had hopped for some local fish, but they were out of halibut, but we had shrimp…not sure if it was local – no crab. We took a long way back for about an hour walk.

We topped off today’s excitement with a trip to the local Safeway. Safeways

lots of boats

seem to be the main grocery in Alaska.

Russian Orthodox Church

We saw 12 packs of coke for 15.50USD and rotisserie chickens for 19USD! Milk, eggs, and produce were about the same, but in USD. On the menu at the Norwegian Rat Saloon, they had halibut strips and chicken strips…they were the same price…not sure what it is about chicken and coke up here?!?

some old brick building

At this point we thought the day’s excitement was behind us…nope…finally some…WHALES!!!!!!! We had seen a bit of whale ‘activity’ on our walk today. The road we walked on was right along the bay, so we had a good view if anything was going on. I say ‘activity’ and not actual whales at this point, because all we can see is their spouting – this along is pretty cool!

About half an hour after we set sail, we got a ‘bing-bang-bong’ this signals that someone from the ship is about to make an announcement. There are minimal announcements made, so when we hear

cool water shot

the ‘bing-bang-bong’, it’s important. This was the most important announcement of

a 2-er is luck I know

all…WHALES are around. They sure were!! We were napping, so we quickly got dressed and were about to head to the top desks, when we realized that they were right outside out balcony. We stood there mesmerized for about half an hour watching spouts, a few flukes and one whale that was super close. This made my cruise!!!

Although we're still in the US, we had absolutely no cell today - interesting.

EXTRA KODIAK PHOTOS

We took so many photos in Kodiak, that I thought when the Wi-Fi was good, I'd better take advantage... 

  

September 25 – AT SEA

    winners!!!

Weather – 8º, must have been a wind chill on the outside decks, we considered a hot tub, but nope

Steps – 5,872

11 hours 53 min of daylight

Chris and I woke up this morning thankful to have had any sleep. When we returned to the room last night there was a super loud whistling sound coming from our balcony door. Try as we might, we couldn’t fix it. After a call to maintenance a guy was quickly to our room and the sound fixed-ish within 10 minutes. It wasn’t perfect, but it was a million times better. They were supposed to return today for a more permanent fix. We thought they must have been in the room when we were away as the sound is thankfully gone. Apparently not. When I tried to go back out on the balcony, I ripped the temporary fix right off! Oops!

The morning was spent with room service, blogging, fighting with the Wi-Fi (I NEVER win), Chris at BINGO and me at the gym.

The evenings entertainment was a comedian/magician. He was fine. The thing about the cruise entertainment is that if they aren’t great, you’ve only committed 45 min. However, if they are good, you only get to see them for the same 45 min.

The highlight of the day was winning GUESS THAT TUNE…again! This time we only had 9/15 correct guesses, but that was all it took to win. There were some doozies tonight. The songs were in groups of 3 by themes – one theme was INSTRUMENTAL! We actually got 1/3 on that category.

September 24 – Kodiak, Alaska - PART 2

Kodiak Island Brewing Co

The WIFI has not been great today, hence the part 2...

crab traps

After the 2-hour wander through the forest, we were back on the school bus and back to the port. We didn’t go back into the ship but got on the shuttle that took us to the commercial area of Kodiak. We found The Kodiak Island Brewing Company where we had a flight of 3 beers. The most interesting on of these was a sour made with spruce tips! Super interesting. Next, we wandered across the street to Double Shovel Kodiak Cidery where we split a flight of ciders – the most interesting one here was a jalapeño cider.

We were the only ones in the cidery, so we chatted with the woman working

dinner view

there. Super interesting to hear about life in Alaska.

Double Shovel Cidery

September 24 – Kodiak, Alaska

Weather – 10º, cloudy, but actually saw a shadow!

Steps – 14,150

12 hours 14 min of daylight

Another day filled to the brim with nature. We spent a couple of hours in Fort Abercrombie State Park walking through the forest along the ocean. The park was a 15 min drive from the port – we rode a school bus. The driver dropped us off, did her afterschool pickups and came back to get us.

Fort Abercrombie State Park is of course a forest, but there are also several bunkers that were built on cliffs during World War II as part of America’s coastal

moss covered forest

defense system.

This spruce trees in this forest are absolutely COVERED with moss. I could not get enough of it! It almost didn’t look real. In some parts of the forest, it was hard to find parts NOT covered in moss.

We walked in and out of looping trails to and from bluffs overlooking the Gulf of Alaska. We climbed up and then down again. There were occasional open meadows and at one point we walked along the beach looking at massive kelps.

There is a military museum here, but it wasn’t open today. There’s also an area f

or camping.

The activity level for this tour was described as strenuous…yup…there was lots

boardwalks here and there

of climbing.

September 23 – Seward, Alaska

puppy!

Weather – 8º, some rain

Steps – 11,899

Seward

16 hours 3 min of daylight

Latitude – Calgary 51º, Seward 60º

Today we visited the Ididaride Dog Kennel. I was really looking forward to today’s tour. Originally, I wasn’t so sure about how these dogs were being used. I’m not usually one for animal focused entertainment. However, for this tour I did some research, talked to some people whose knowledge of dog ‘issues’ I valued. I felt OK with how the dogs spent their lives and went ahead with this tour. It was really well done.

This is NOT the time of year to visit Alaska to see the dog sleds on snow…there is no snow, at least none on close to the bottom of the mountains. However, they

our team with Cybil

have specially designed wheeled sleds that emulate the real thing. During the summer the dogs

our team

are trained on these wheeled sleds for the Iditarod – a 1,000-mile race that takes place in March each year.

The kennel was only about a 15 min drive from where the boat was docked in Seward and we spent about 2 hours there hanging with the dogs and learning about the race.

These dogs (the actual dogs that race the Ididarod) are Alaskan huskies, but don’t look like the dogs most people think of when they

think of Alaskan huskies. We learned that the ones we think of as Alaskan huskies
have been bread for their looks. Apparently, these dogs are how they look without selective breading for looks. They are still pretty darn cute!

Iditarod map

We learned about the Iditarod race and a little about the dogs before we were divided into groups of 8 for each team of 14 dogs. It took a bit of time for Cybil, our guide to hitch all of our dogs, but then we were ready.

geared up for the race

lunch spot

I was co-musher and stood on the back of the sled – Cybil told me to hold on but “don’t worry if you fall off I’ll stop for
you”…whaaaat? It was super bumpy and I was holding on for dear life…there was only one time when I almost fell off. Then there was the steering mechanism that Cybil as using at the back that got me in the kidney a couple of times – I didn’t care…it was a blast.

random wall in Seward

We rode 2 miles through the forest for about 10 minutes. We learned about voice

Alaskan craft beer taps

commands for stop, go, left, right…the dogs were amazing.

When we got back, we had some time with the puppies, that was a whole other thrill. 

One thing to note, is that along the dog sled trail someone from the kennel took a video. I thought “how much is that going to cost”, guess what…NOTHING. They just airdropped it to us!!!

cool, moss covered tree

Seward is small enough (pop 2,000) that it’s easy to get around on foot. After the dogs visit, we were back in town and decided to find a place for lunch.

more dogs

We had another Alaskan micro-brewery beer. That’s 3 micro-brewers beers in as many Alaskan towns. Let’s see if we can keep that streak alive tomorrow!!

We also had Alaskan crab dip. I think I said yesterday I was determined to have Alaskan salmon as much as possible – I’ve altered that goal to be as much Alaskan sea food as possible…dinner tonight was salmon.

After lunch we visited the Alaska SeaLife Center and learned how marine mammals who have been abandoned, stranded or injured are rehabilitated. We

ended our time here visiting the aquarium seeing puffins, sea lions, starfish, and
many other sea creatures.

on the trail

Our very busy day continued back at the boat and a pre-dinner Lionel Richie tribute show. One of the ship’s guest entertainers is a Vegas lounge singer. I saw his first show a few nights back and was super excited to see his Richie show. He was great!

good morning Seward!

 Things are continuing to look up on the modern music front – that is if you consider “Dancing on the Ceiling”, from 1996 or 1977’s “Brickhouse”

so small

MODERN! I still haven’t heard “Lady in Red” which BTW is also from 1986 – a perfectly fine song when not heard EVERY SINGLE NIGHT!!!

The after dinner show was a comedian, who wasn’t so great – I guess you win some, and loose some. 

PS...I tried to upload the video from the dog visit. I think it worked, but the ship's wifi block video viewing, maybe uploading too.