Friday, November 2, 2012
Friday, May 25, 2012
Diamond Princess
This is a collection of pictures of formal nights and activities on board the Diamond...
Captain's Circle Cocktail Party......
Charlie didn't want dinner anyways!!!!
Our wonderful dinner table...
Elite/Platinum Lounge in Skywalkers
Our balcony....upper deck, right side
We clean up real good!!!
Heather and Brian, Meredith and Bob, Kathleen and Carlos, Gretchen and Joe, Rita and Gary, Joyce and Tom and us.....lunch on the last day.
Gretchen...will you please try to control Joe!!!....Bob..behave!!!
Charlie with his smile...
Happy Birthday to Chris....many more!!!
Last night cruising down the Inside Passage
Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Captain's Circle Cocktail Party......
Our wonderful dinner table...
Elite/Platinum Lounge in Skywalkers
Our balcony....upper deck, right side
We clean up real good!!!
Heather and Brian, Meredith and Bob, Kathleen and Carlos, Gretchen and Joe, Rita and Gary, Joyce and Tom and us.....lunch on the last day.
Gretchen...will you please try to control Joe!!!....Bob..behave!!!
Charlie with his smile...
Happy Birthday to Chris....many more!!!
Last night cruising down the Inside Passage
Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Random thoughts
This has been a wonderful cruise.....we missed Rich and Delia but we met some great people that we will be sailing with again. Our dining group was really something special!!! So many of our new friends will be sailing with us on the Royal Princess next year.
Singapore was a beautiful city. We enjoyed our time there. Unfortunately, it was extremely hot and humid!!!!! also...very expensive!!!!!!
Thailand was very interesting. We had a great tour in Bangkok.
Vietnam...could have done without Ho Chi Minh City....not a very good tour and also a dirty, crowded city. Nha Trang was better. Really enjoyed visiting the kids at the orphanage. Don't think I would ever want to visit Vietnam again.
Hong Kong.....We had a great day with Jamie. I had been worried about all the walking on such a long day but we made it!! I'm glad there were only the 4 off us...we could move fast and saw so much.
China....didn't see much in Shanghai but had a fantastic time on our land tour. I felt real bad about the mess created by the Shanghai guide...I was so worried about being off on our own but everything worked perfectly. Beijing Discovery Tours (Jeff) did a great job with all the arrangements. Seeing the Tera Cotta Warriors, the Forbidden City, the Great Wall...WOW!!!!!
Muroran......a lot better than expected. We had a really good day. The show the Japanese kids put on at sailaway was very nice.
Seward....should have know better..it was too cold for a Fjords cruise. Also people were not considerate so were taking up extra seats inside so we had difficulty finding a place to sit inside.....on top of that, sea sick bags were being passed out and USED!!!!! Not very enticing before lunch was served!!!!! Needless to say, we passed on lunch.
Hubbard Glacier.....to me this was nowhere near as impressive as Glacier Bay but we had another great day.
Juneau.....would have been better if we found the rental car but we had a fun day anyways.
Ketchikan...can't believe...another day in Ketchikan without rain!!! Loved walking Creek Street.
I liked the Diamond Princess. I did miss the International Cafe. Our waiter (Jeffrey) and our assistant waiter (Charlie) were about the best we ever had. The food in the dining room was very good. We had dinner one night at the Sterling Steak House and while the steak was excellent, the rest of the meal was pretty ordinary. Our cabin steward(John) was also very good. He went out of his way to get me a big bag of candy to bring to the orphanage we visited in Thailand...he kept us in wine glasses and anything else we needed.
The six sea days between Russia and Alaska seemed very long. I could not find any Mah Jongg games.....there were plenty CHINESE Mah Jongg games being played but none the American way. The lectures were OK...not great but OK. This is one area that could have been better.....there really wasn't that much offered on sea days especially since the weather turned very cold limiting outside activities....we even had a little snow!
Goodbye till next time.......
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Singapore was a beautiful city. We enjoyed our time there. Unfortunately, it was extremely hot and humid!!!!! also...very expensive!!!!!!
Thailand was very interesting. We had a great tour in Bangkok.
Vietnam...could have done without Ho Chi Minh City....not a very good tour and also a dirty, crowded city. Nha Trang was better. Really enjoyed visiting the kids at the orphanage. Don't think I would ever want to visit Vietnam again.
Hong Kong.....We had a great day with Jamie. I had been worried about all the walking on such a long day but we made it!! I'm glad there were only the 4 off us...we could move fast and saw so much.
China....didn't see much in Shanghai but had a fantastic time on our land tour. I felt real bad about the mess created by the Shanghai guide...I was so worried about being off on our own but everything worked perfectly. Beijing Discovery Tours (Jeff) did a great job with all the arrangements. Seeing the Tera Cotta Warriors, the Forbidden City, the Great Wall...WOW!!!!!
Muroran......a lot better than expected. We had a really good day. The show the Japanese kids put on at sailaway was very nice.
Seward....should have know better..it was too cold for a Fjords cruise. Also people were not considerate so were taking up extra seats inside so we had difficulty finding a place to sit inside.....on top of that, sea sick bags were being passed out and USED!!!!! Not very enticing before lunch was served!!!!! Needless to say, we passed on lunch.
Hubbard Glacier.....to me this was nowhere near as impressive as Glacier Bay but we had another great day.
Juneau.....would have been better if we found the rental car but we had a fun day anyways.
Ketchikan...can't believe...another day in Ketchikan without rain!!! Loved walking Creek Street.
I liked the Diamond Princess. I did miss the International Cafe. Our waiter (Jeffrey) and our assistant waiter (Charlie) were about the best we ever had. The food in the dining room was very good. We had dinner one night at the Sterling Steak House and while the steak was excellent, the rest of the meal was pretty ordinary. Our cabin steward(John) was also very good. He went out of his way to get me a big bag of candy to bring to the orphanage we visited in Thailand...he kept us in wine glasses and anything else we needed.
The six sea days between Russia and Alaska seemed very long. I could not find any Mah Jongg games.....there were plenty CHINESE Mah Jongg games being played but none the American way. The lectures were OK...not great but OK. This is one area that could have been better.....there really wasn't that much offered on sea days especially since the weather turned very cold limiting outside activities....we even had a little snow!
Goodbye till next time.......
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Vancouver
Saturday, May 19th
Today we end our adventure....Up early to hit the Horizon Court at 6AM. Spent most of yesterday packing. It's sad that this wonderful trip is over but now I just want to get home!!!
Canada Place from our balcony.....
Waiting in Club Fusion for "Gold 4"....
Rest stop on the way to Seattle.
Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Today we end our adventure....Up early to hit the Horizon Court at 6AM. Spent most of yesterday packing. It's sad that this wonderful trip is over but now I just want to get home!!!
Canada Place from our balcony.....
Waiting in Club Fusion for "Gold 4"....
Rest stop on the way to Seattle.
Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Saturday, May 19, 2012
Ketchikan
Thursday, May 17th
Nothing planned for here.....Charlie wants to visit Creek Street, the "Red Light" street. This is a fun town to just walk around.
Tug that helped us dock
Holland America ship following us in
View from our balcony.
The day did not start out good.....we were going to help Kathleen, Carlos, Gretchen and Joe take stuff to FedEx to mail home.....we were stopped at the gangplank only to find out Customs would not allow them to take stuff off without prior permission!!!! Needless to say...we had some unhappy people. Change in plan...off to buy an extra suitcase...
Charlie and Sarah........
Kathleen sure does like to shop!!!!!
After that emergency..it was off to explore the town. Ketchikan is infamous for a lot of rain. We were lucky...NO RAIN. The weather was chilly but not bad. We had a fun day exploring Creek Street.
Married Man's Trail...once just a muddy path along the creek that men would use to discreetly visit the "working houses" along Creek Street instead of being "caught" walking in the front doors.
Dolly Arthur's "House of Ill Repute". Creek has always been an active salmon spawning creek and Creek Street has a very famous saying.......it's where more men than fish went upstream to spawn!!!!!
Funicular up to Cape Fox Lodge
Charlie's sad...his beer is almost gone
Spectacular view.....
Council of the Clans Totem Circle outside of the Cape Fox Lodge. Created and carved by Lee Wallace. Lee is of the Eagle clan, a Tingit, Haida and Tsimshian Native Alaskan. The totem circle is representative of the culture of the Northwest Coast peoples.
This was the last stop on our long but good cruise. Tomorrow will be a miserable day.....packing!!!!! Now I just want to be home and in my own bed....
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Nothing planned for here.....Charlie wants to visit Creek Street, the "Red Light" street. This is a fun town to just walk around.
Tug that helped us dock
Holland America ship following us in
View from our balcony.
The day did not start out good.....we were going to help Kathleen, Carlos, Gretchen and Joe take stuff to FedEx to mail home.....we were stopped at the gangplank only to find out Customs would not allow them to take stuff off without prior permission!!!! Needless to say...we had some unhappy people. Change in plan...off to buy an extra suitcase...
Charlie and Sarah........
Kathleen sure does like to shop!!!!!
After that emergency..it was off to explore the town. Ketchikan is infamous for a lot of rain. We were lucky...NO RAIN. The weather was chilly but not bad. We had a fun day exploring Creek Street.
Married Man's Trail...once just a muddy path along the creek that men would use to discreetly visit the "working houses" along Creek Street instead of being "caught" walking in the front doors.
Dolly Arthur's "House of Ill Repute". Creek has always been an active salmon spawning creek and Creek Street has a very famous saying.......it's where more men than fish went upstream to spawn!!!!!
Funicular up to Cape Fox Lodge
Charlie's sad...his beer is almost gone
Spectacular view.....
Council of the Clans Totem Circle outside of the Cape Fox Lodge. Created and carved by Lee Wallace. Lee is of the Eagle clan, a Tingit, Haida and Tsimshian Native Alaskan. The totem circle is representative of the culture of the Northwest Coast peoples.
This was the last stop on our long but good cruise. Tomorrow will be a miserable day.....packing!!!!! Now I just want to be home and in my own bed....
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Thursday, May 17, 2012
Juneau
Wednesday, May 16th
Today, we have rented a car from "RentAwreck".......unfortunately, I had the wrong address, so after walking around town for over an hour and getting very poor directions from the rental company...I called and cancelled the car!!! Our time was really limited in this port so if we had continued to the car rental, we would only have had around 4 hours to explore.
Instead, we decided to just look around this neat little town and have lunch at the Red Dog Saloon...
Bear chasing a miner up a pole....
Charlie enjoying an Alaskan Amber....
View from our balcony looking towards town.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Today, we have rented a car from "RentAwreck".......unfortunately, I had the wrong address, so after walking around town for over an hour and getting very poor directions from the rental company...I called and cancelled the car!!! Our time was really limited in this port so if we had continued to the car rental, we would only have had around 4 hours to explore.
Instead, we decided to just look around this neat little town and have lunch at the Red Dog Saloon...
Bear chasing a miner up a pole....
Charlie enjoying an Alaskan Amber....
View from our balcony looking towards town.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Cruising Yakutat Bay....Hubbard Glacier
Tuesday, May 15th
Today we will cruise Yakutat Bay to view Hubbard Glacier. We should have beautiful views from our AFT balcony. Hopefully, we will have a sunny clear not TOO cold day.....
Our tablemates will be joining us for wine and cheese as we approach the glacier.
Charlie and Gretchen
Me and CB
Hubbard Glacer
Joe and Gretchen Rezash
Hubbard Glacer
Charlie with Kathleen and Carlos Alvarez
Tom Sierzega and Chris Balch
We really had a great day cruising Yatakut Bay. The weather was great as was the company! Hubbard Glacier does not compare to Glacier Bay but it was still a great day!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Today we will cruise Yakutat Bay to view Hubbard Glacier. We should have beautiful views from our AFT balcony. Hopefully, we will have a sunny clear not TOO cold day.....
Our tablemates will be joining us for wine and cheese as we approach the glacier.
Charlie and Gretchen
Me and CB
Hubbard Glacer
Joe and Gretchen Rezash
Hubbard Glacer
Charlie with Kathleen and Carlos Alvarez
Tom Sierzega and Chris Balch
We really had a great day cruising Yatakut Bay. The weather was great as was the company! Hubbard Glacier does not compare to Glacier Bay but it was still a great day!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Seward
Monday, May 14th
After 6 sea days we are finally on land!!!!!...and what have we done!!!! Today we have booked a full day Kenai Fjords National Park Cruise thru Princess. This is the only cruise line tour we are taking but it was the only way to do it because of time constraints.
Kenai Fjords National Park is home to some of the most pristine, rugged, breathtaking glacial vista in North America. The Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge is comprised of more than 2,500 islands, islets, spires, rocks and headlands, and protects the habitat for 40 million nesting seabirds, as well as marine mammals and other wildlife. Possible sightings include Steller sea lions, harbor seals, horned and tufted puffins, bald eagles, and orca or humpback whale.
Early morning..docked in Seward
Cruising Resurrection Bay
Sea Otter enjoying a swim
Charlie freezing......
Stellar Sea Lions
Mountain goat....
GORGEOUS....SPECTACULAR
Humpback Whale coming up for air
Holgate Glacier
Back on the ship after a long COLD day......
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
After 6 sea days we are finally on land!!!!!...and what have we done!!!! Today we have booked a full day Kenai Fjords National Park Cruise thru Princess. This is the only cruise line tour we are taking but it was the only way to do it because of time constraints.
Kenai Fjords National Park is home to some of the most pristine, rugged, breathtaking glacial vista in North America. The Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge is comprised of more than 2,500 islands, islets, spires, rocks and headlands, and protects the habitat for 40 million nesting seabirds, as well as marine mammals and other wildlife. Possible sightings include Steller sea lions, harbor seals, horned and tufted puffins, bald eagles, and orca or humpback whale.
Early morning..docked in Seward
Cruising Resurrection Bay
Sea Otter enjoying a swim
Charlie freezing......
Stellar Sea Lions
Mountain goat....
GORGEOUS....SPECTACULAR
Humpback Whale coming up for air
Holgate Glacier
Back on the ship after a long COLD day......
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Muroran Japan
Tuesday, May 8th
Today, we have a full day tour to Muroran arranged by Chris Balch. The tour will include Ainu Museum, Hell Valley, buffet lunch at Noboribetsu Manseikaku and the Mt. Use Ropeway.
Japan does not make it easy to enter their country....a few days ago, we had to go through their immigration and we were all fingerprinted. This morning, before we leave the ship, we have to go through a thermo-scanning inspection. Also, due to Japanese Radio Communication Regulations, there will be NO internet available while we are in Japanese territorial waters.
I really didn't think this day would be very exciting but we ended up having a very nice day.
We were greeted by locals as we left the ship.......
Our first stop of the day was the Ainu Museum which is actually an Ainu settlement which was moved and restored in 1965 to form this outdoor museum to preserve and exhibit the Ainu cultural assets. The Ainu, the indigenous people of Hokkaido with their own culture and language, had lived in Hokkaido before these areas were developed by Japanese and Russian settlers.
Traditional Ainu folk dance performance
Now I have seen everything!!!!!! A HEATED toilet seat!!!!!!
Our next stop was at Jigokudani...AKA Hell's Valley. Yellow grey volcanic gas seeps from the surface of the rocks....makes the whole place smell strongly of sulfur and gives it an image like that of "Hell". The valley is a 450 meter diameter mouth of a volcano that produces 3,000 liters of hot water/minute to the Noboribetsu Hot Springs.
After a nice lunch, we were off to our last stop of the day...the Mount Usu Ropeway. Mount Usu is an active stratovolcano in the Shikolsu-Toya National Park that has erupted 4 times in the last 100 years....the last eruption was in 2001.
The cable car takes you to just below the mouth of the volcano.
The view was spectacular!!!!!!
The view of Lake Toya that was created as a result of flowing lava.
On return to the ship, we viewed a ceremony honoring the relationship between the Dianmond Princess and the city of Muroran.
Captain Dino Sagani and the Mayor of Muroran.
Me and the Captain.......
The children of Muroran put on a nice dance performance to bid us goodbye.....
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Today, we have a full day tour to Muroran arranged by Chris Balch. The tour will include Ainu Museum, Hell Valley, buffet lunch at Noboribetsu Manseikaku and the Mt. Use Ropeway.
Japan does not make it easy to enter their country....a few days ago, we had to go through their immigration and we were all fingerprinted. This morning, before we leave the ship, we have to go through a thermo-scanning inspection. Also, due to Japanese Radio Communication Regulations, there will be NO internet available while we are in Japanese territorial waters.
I really didn't think this day would be very exciting but we ended up having a very nice day.
We were greeted by locals as we left the ship.......
Our first stop of the day was the Ainu Museum which is actually an Ainu settlement which was moved and restored in 1965 to form this outdoor museum to preserve and exhibit the Ainu cultural assets. The Ainu, the indigenous people of Hokkaido with their own culture and language, had lived in Hokkaido before these areas were developed by Japanese and Russian settlers.
Traditional Ainu folk dance performance
Now I have seen everything!!!!!! A HEATED toilet seat!!!!!!
Our next stop was at Jigokudani...AKA Hell's Valley. Yellow grey volcanic gas seeps from the surface of the rocks....makes the whole place smell strongly of sulfur and gives it an image like that of "Hell". The valley is a 450 meter diameter mouth of a volcano that produces 3,000 liters of hot water/minute to the Noboribetsu Hot Springs.
After a nice lunch, we were off to our last stop of the day...the Mount Usu Ropeway. Mount Usu is an active stratovolcano in the Shikolsu-Toya National Park that has erupted 4 times in the last 100 years....the last eruption was in 2001.
The cable car takes you to just below the mouth of the volcano.
The view was spectacular!!!!!!
The view of Lake Toya that was created as a result of flowing lava.
On return to the ship, we viewed a ceremony honoring the relationship between the Dianmond Princess and the city of Muroran.
Captain Dino Sagani and the Mayor of Muroran.
Me and the Captain.......
The children of Muroran put on a nice dance performance to bid us goodbye.....
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
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