This
cruise is the first we've done to Alaska of ten days duration. As a
result, the line feels
obligated
to come up with a few more port stops than are experienced in a
one-week voyage.
We'll be hitting all the basics; a glacier, Juneau, Skagway, and Ketchikan. The two additions they've come up with are pretty cool.
Tomorrow, our very first stop will be at Sitka. It's very cute little place with a very Russian history. It used to be the capital city. Helen and I have been cruising up this way over a dozen times, and have only been there twice, on our 1st and 3rd voyages. We've done annual trips here with good friends for at least a decade, and they still haven't visited Sitka.
I wonder how it will have changed.
The other added stop with be in Canada at the city of Victoria. It's a little funny, as we used to live there. It is the place of my birth. On every other Alaskan cruise, Juneau is the biggest city. Victoria dwarfs it.
It will be strange to visit Victoria as tourists from a cruise ship.
This ship has the best ice cream. There is one poor bastard in the kitchen who makes all that they serve. Of course, they have the usual types, but nothing is better than the ginger.
If any evening rolls around where I just can't face a big plate of perfect food, I can go to the big sushi section at the buffet dining area. Nothing wild there, mind you, but infinite amounts of decent maki and basic nigiri. Quite near the ice cream, actually.
There are the usual pools and hot tubs onboard, but the indoor pool is special. It is heated almost to hot-tub level, is salty, and has a bunch of powerful jets and nozzles. Helen wants to frolic there every day. Now, if my ship-provided bath robe were only a few sizes larger. Helen's is identical, and fits to a tee. Mine is a mini skirt.
They have superior treadmills in the gym, with one strange flaw. While you run, there are a few entertainment options to try and keep your brain alive. You can play music, watch TV, or do my favourite.
There is a lovely scenic video of a route around a sandy lake in what seems to be California. As you work out, you are presented with what seems to be a point-of-view of a person heading down a trail. The weirdness is that the video is in no way synchronized to your pace. At a walking speed, the video is quite delightful. If running, it is a tad comical as you find yourself being passed by strollers, and by tiny puppies.
The fitness and spa department is all strangely contracted out on this ship, and not run by the cruise line at all, and is pretty lame. Doing something like that is usually a way to pay the staff even less than on other lines. It shows. The fitness people seem very un-motivated. The setup is even weird. Most ships have a spa desk manned with uniformed, professional, and perky staff. Been here almost a week, and through that area every day and I don't have a clue where one would go to book a haircut or massage. On board ships I sometimes get barber shaves, depending on my mood and the price. Nobody here to ask.
It is physically a very attractive vessel. Our most recent cruises have been with Princess, and although the ships were actually very new, every design choice seemed to have been made with our parents' generation's tastes in mind. Beige prevailed. This ship looks modern in every aspect.
We have been on about 20 cruises, of lengths of 3, 4, 7, 14, and 15 days duration. 3 and 4 day trips are just too short. A week is the standard, but is also just short of satisfying. Two weeks or more are great, but somewhere near the end a heavy and weary feeling starts to settle in.
We'll be hitting all the basics; a glacier, Juneau, Skagway, and Ketchikan. The two additions they've come up with are pretty cool.
Tomorrow, our very first stop will be at Sitka. It's very cute little place with a very Russian history. It used to be the capital city. Helen and I have been cruising up this way over a dozen times, and have only been there twice, on our 1st and 3rd voyages. We've done annual trips here with good friends for at least a decade, and they still haven't visited Sitka.
I wonder how it will have changed.
The other added stop with be in Canada at the city of Victoria. It's a little funny, as we used to live there. It is the place of my birth. On every other Alaskan cruise, Juneau is the biggest city. Victoria dwarfs it.
It will be strange to visit Victoria as tourists from a cruise ship.
This ship has the best ice cream. There is one poor bastard in the kitchen who makes all that they serve. Of course, they have the usual types, but nothing is better than the ginger.
If any evening rolls around where I just can't face a big plate of perfect food, I can go to the big sushi section at the buffet dining area. Nothing wild there, mind you, but infinite amounts of decent maki and basic nigiri. Quite near the ice cream, actually.
There are the usual pools and hot tubs onboard, but the indoor pool is special. It is heated almost to hot-tub level, is salty, and has a bunch of powerful jets and nozzles. Helen wants to frolic there every day. Now, if my ship-provided bath robe were only a few sizes larger. Helen's is identical, and fits to a tee. Mine is a mini skirt.
They have superior treadmills in the gym, with one strange flaw. While you run, there are a few entertainment options to try and keep your brain alive. You can play music, watch TV, or do my favourite.
There is a lovely scenic video of a route around a sandy lake in what seems to be California. As you work out, you are presented with what seems to be a point-of-view of a person heading down a trail. The weirdness is that the video is in no way synchronized to your pace. At a walking speed, the video is quite delightful. If running, it is a tad comical as you find yourself being passed by strollers, and by tiny puppies.
The fitness and spa department is all strangely contracted out on this ship, and not run by the cruise line at all, and is pretty lame. Doing something like that is usually a way to pay the staff even less than on other lines. It shows. The fitness people seem very un-motivated. The setup is even weird. Most ships have a spa desk manned with uniformed, professional, and perky staff. Been here almost a week, and through that area every day and I don't have a clue where one would go to book a haircut or massage. On board ships I sometimes get barber shaves, depending on my mood and the price. Nobody here to ask.
It is physically a very attractive vessel. Our most recent cruises have been with Princess, and although the ships were actually very new, every design choice seemed to have been made with our parents' generation's tastes in mind. Beige prevailed. This ship looks modern in every aspect.
We have been on about 20 cruises, of lengths of 3, 4, 7, 14, and 15 days duration. 3 and 4 day trips are just too short. A week is the standard, but is also just short of satisfying. Two weeks or more are great, but somewhere near the end a heavy and weary feeling starts to settle in.
This
cruise is 10 days, and I predict it will be the perfect duration.
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