Alaska Cruise - Day 5 - Skagway

In Skagway, several of our group did an independent shore excursion with the Husky Sled rides. Holland America offers the same tour in Juneau, but we had other plans in Juneau so we found a vendor that provided a similar tour to the one in Juneau, but was an hour longer and for the same price. i didn't go on the tour but heard it was well received.

I took our youngest and walked into town with another member of our group to go to SE Alaska's greatest playground - I think I can boast that after seeing playgrounds in Juneau and Ketchikan. The Mollie Walsh Park and playground on 6th Ave, just east of Broadway has a whimsical forest theme as well as soft recycled tire bits for a ground cover. This just makes kids bounce up much quicker when they fall, but a lot less tears. There are also very nice restrooms next to the playground.

A few blocks south is the Skagway Brewing Company who's claim to fame is Spruce Tip Blonde. Don't expect a life changing experirence, the beer is good but not leaps and bounds better than most other blondes I have come across. The brewery is in a very large building and has a good sized beer and food menu, game room, and outdoor patio (didn't make it to that). Service is good and overall its a busy place. They know their summertime clientele comes in the form of tourists from outside Skagway. I would have liked to check out Klondike brewing company but never made it over there so I'll save for the next Alaska trip.

After finishing up our beer tasting, we met up with the rest of the group and walked back to the ship. Being the last ship in port that morning, we were the first one out and the view was impressive leaving Skagway especially from the aft decks of the Amsterdam and the dining room. I had forgot just how spectacular the scenery is on this leg of the 7 day RT Seattle Alaska itinerary, and what Skagway may fall short in culture compared to Sitka, it makes up for sheer scenery. In the past, I have hike to Lower and Upper Dewey Lake in Skagway which are spectacular, yet difficult hikes, but with the weather being threataning rain I didn' attempt that today. The sailway more than made up for it however and I'll be sure make it a priority to park my self on the aft decks next time I sail from Skagway.

A few thoughts about the ship.  For being nearly 20 years old, this is a very well taken care of ship and the crew takes a tremndous amount of pride in that fact.

• The tile grout in the bathroom is nearly immaculate
• Public bathrooms are large and kept clean, and are some of the most luxurious I have seen on a mainstream cruise ship.
• They vacuum the ceiling "carpet" - no joke.
• The deck chairs on the lower promenade deck are older wooden ones with metal fixtures - we didn't come across one that wasn't in good working order or had broken slats. I'm sure they get replaced from time to time, but you couldn't tell.
• Finding rust spots bigger than a coin is nearly impossible, and those spots we could find are isolated.

So I've got some pictures below, but I also found a very old Holland America travel video that, while dated, I think accurtely describes just how special the Amsterdam is - and how it was designed for passengers looking for a "more".

Alaska Cruise - Day 4 Juneau

After Tracy Arm this morning, we docked at the third dock in Juneau (fortunately not the AJ dock which is a significant walk into town).  The rest of my family went to the Mt. Roberts tram while I took off with intentions to jog to the trailhead for Mt Roberts and hike to the upper tram station.  The path I have taken before starts at Nelson and 6th Streets, however I don't recommend this trail and neither does the city of Juneau as it's not maintained anymore, overgrown, and badly eroded.  I anticipate that in 2 years or less it will be very challenging to follow. It's also been nearly completely overtaken by Devil's Club in many places and needles and their accompanying rash are not a souvenir you want from Juneau.  The official trailhead is a bit north in the next valley and is a longer walk/run/hike/ ride to the trailhead.

Once the trail I took regained routing with the original trail, a lot of memories came back.  It's steep with lots of roots and few views along the way. Living in Colorado affords me with extra hemoglobin to help at low altitudes and sure enough it was tested.  Make no mistake, this is a strenuous hike. If you choose to hike it, take plenty of water, a buddy, and a clean shirt. It was mild today but I was sweating buckets. It took me about 40 mins to climb from the trailhead to the top which is about 1.5 miles and maybe 1400ft of gain.  The trailhead I took starts around 200' in elevation. At the top, there is a restaurant, bar, gift shops, interpretive center, and of course the tram station. A gift purchase of $10 or more gets you a free ride down, or you'll need to buy a $10 ticket. There are other trails at the top that I hoped to continue hiking, but the weather was iffy and we needed to get back for early seating.

Dinner was sparsely attended which made for attentive service and nice viewing of the Westerdam's departure.  A bit after dinner, I ventured into Juneau to the Devil's Club Brewery to enjoy a sampler. The beer was good to very good and the brewery was hopping.  However, if you plan to go, there is an Alaskan law that states breweries cannot serve more than 36oz and must close at 8pm. I was hurried out a bit but did enjoy the beer.

Tomorrow is Skagway and will be a bit of a lower key day (thankfully).  I took a video this evening detailing how to access the forward decks on the Amsterdam which I'll upload to YouTube after returning home.

Alaska Cruise - Day 3 and 4, Ketchikan (cont'd) Tracy Arm, and Juneau

Yesterday afternoon in Ketchikan, I went for a jog/hike on the Rainbird trail and then back through town (by a Safeway which is 3/4th of a mile from the ship), with a stop in the Bawden Street Brewery.  Being from Colorado and a home brewer, I have to say their beer was fair at best but the spot is nice. At 345, the captain released the lines, hit reverse, spun us very quickly and we were on our way to Tracy Arm and Juneau. As we left, we discovered the Amsterdam's informal bridge observation area which I'll provide a video on how to get there later.

This morning we woke to mostly cloudy skies as we entered Tracy Arm but the lighting was perfect for some very ethereal photos of the fjord.  I'll let the pictures so the talking. We made it pretty far in but not quite to the glacier view spot because a Princess ship was further in and needed room to turn around.  

We've just docked in Juneau and will be heading out for a hike up Mt Roberts and a free more brewery visits.

More Amsterdam/Alaska Tips

• The women's restroom on deck 5 aft, starboard side is quite impressive.  I've not been in it, however, the reactions by women walking in are entertaining and range from "holy s…" to "that's the nicest bathroom I've seen in a while"
• Regardless of which glacier or fjord you see, they are all one-way routes meaning you get just as good of a view when leaving.  Avoid the crowds and wind and watch from the aft outer decks as you sail out.
• Some of the best views on the Amsterdam are from the Lido "bump out" edges which are booth tables that seat 8.

Very Delayed Eurodam Trip Review

It's been nearly 6 months since our voyage on the Eurodam but I finally was able to get the video together and it's almost 20 mins long!  Maybe too long.  Anyways, I've added it to this post as well as a link to some of our very useful travel gadgets we used onboard.

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Briefly, here's our top and bottom 3 of our trip:
Bottom 3:

1. Couldn't get food at a restaurant at all hours - yes there is room service, but it requires waiting.
2. At NY Pizza, all you could get was a full pizza and you had to wait - it would be great if they had slices ready at all times.
3. Music with lyrics, at all times, in all lounges.  I feel like they could have kept it off or just light classical like HAL used to have

Top 3:

1. Very tastefully decorated ship - perhaps one of the best in the fleet.
2. Food was very good.
3. Gallery bar - we loved it!!  Great concept with games and sports on TV.

Have you sailed on the Eurodam, what are your thoughts about her?  I'm glad she'll be on the west coast for the foreseeable future.

Here's our video of our trip.

Eurodam Coastal Trip Review - Activities and Food

Activities on board adhered the typical HAL guiding principles of daytime enrichment and informal entertainment followed by nighttime performance and music entertainment with the occasional educational skew.  Unlike several other cruise lines, you won't find an army of cruise director foot soldiers; I only ever really heard from the main Cruise Director once per day.

Specifically, the big headliners during the day time were enrichment talks branded as part of the EXC program which were informative and generally enjoyable to go to, although not greatly attended.  That could have been more of a reflection on the itinerary than anything else.  I'm not a huge fan of the Microsoft courses as they seem to be relatively basic and a bit of a sales gimmick to get folks to see how much the new version of Windows can do.  I didn't get much out of the one I attended on photo editing as I'm already fairly well versed with Microsoft products.  For some it's probably great.  I wish they would have some "advanced" courses maybe in programming or advanced photo and video editing.  The partnership between HAL and Microsoft seems to be getting a bit long in the tooth and I'm not sure either partner sees the program as a benefit anymore.

America's Test Kitchen cooking demos were refreshing and informative  They serve as less of a cooking class and more of a cooking optimization course with the focus on really perfecting staple cooking techniques and helping aspiring home chefs find shortcuts and hacks to save time and money in the kitchen.  I highly recommend these courses.  Additionally, the on-demand TV system in cabins have several seasons of the America's Test Kitchen show in a DVR format that can be watched at anytime.

The big 3 evening entertainment aspects were comprised of orchestrated chamber performances in the Lincoln Center Stage venue, rock and roll and blues in either the Billboard Onboard area or the Queen's Lounge/America's Test Kitchen venue, and showcases or entertainers in the Mainstage lounge.  Everything was quite good, although I really liked the live music and dueling pianos (they looked like twins!), and the whole setup adjacent to the Casino really activated the space.

Eggs Benedict - a HAL classic

East meets west late night snack?

A delicious breakfast

Food is so subjective but the buffet food was always good, lines weren't bad, however there seemed to be limited variety with an asian/exotic station, a carving station, a desert station, and a salad bar pretty much every day for lunch and dinner.  The DiveIn burger bar was efficient and good.  I didn't try the NY slice pizza bar since you received a whole pizza and had to wait - I suppose other lines have spoiled me with the instant slice always hot and ready.

Drinks seemed to be a bit expensive however there were buy one, get one for $2 specials.  On the last day I could have sworn I heard a waiter advertising "buy 3 beers, get 3 free" which seemed to be too good to be true.

Norwegian Pearl in San Diego

A parting view of the Eurodam in San Diego

One more post to go with top and bottom 5 thoughts on the voyage.  I'll also be working to get a video up soon.

Eurodam Coastal Trip Review - Astoria

As I mentioned in the first post, the ship started in Vancouver and ended in San Diego and had a port call in Astoria.  I’ve already touched on Vancouver and didn’t have much time in San Diego, so I’ll be focusing this section entirely on Astoria.

If you enjoy reading about history and unique geographic locations, I recommend you read Astoria by Peter Stark, its a fascinating true story about the origins of this port town and the dual exploratory parties that embarked to establish a settlement and a Pacific rim fur trading empire centered in Astoria.  I’m glad I had read the portion about the marine navigational challenges before we arrived because sailing into the port was a bit of an adventure.

Cape Disappointment on the Washington state side.

At 11am on Thursday, October 18th, Captain John Scott came on the public address system to advise us that we had a pilot aboard and were on the final approach to the Columbia Bar which is where the Columbia River interfaces with the Pacific Ocean .  He conveyed that due to the unique navigational challenges and clearances in this channel (narrow channel, lots of sediment leading to shallow spots), the Eurodam would need to retract her stabilizers for 30 minutes or so while she sailed into the channel to avoid potential for damage.  For those that haven’t looked at a detailed map of Astoria, it lies just inside the mouth of the Columbia River.

Bathymetry of the Columbia Bar and Astoria harbor

The river is wide at this location and flows at up to 8 knots, however due to its width, there are several barely submerged sand bars.  The Astoria Megler bridge, situated just east of the main dock in town, has two piers that obstruct the river further making it a very narrow passage.  The Eurodam would need to navigate the river bar, the built jetties, hidden sand bars, an 8 knot river contraflow, and when we arrived, a tide that was going out before coming aside at the only cruise pier in town, just west of the bridge.  For about 30 minutes as we approached the mouth, the Eurodam, sailing without stabilizers began rolling up to 15 degrees.  The weather was not adverse, this was just the wild Pacific and the somewhat tamed Columbia River (multiple dams upriver) commanding respect from everyone on this ship.  Although we rocked pretty good for about 30 minutes, we then arrived in the inner harbor where things calmed and the ship was along side by noon.

It's hard to capture the 10-15 degree list of the ship entering the channel without stabilizers

Looking NE - approaching the pier with the US 101 Astoria Megler Bridge and causeway in view

My personal to do list in Astoria was to jog through some of the neighborhoods just south of the dock, up to the Astoria Column, swing by the “Goonies House” and back to downtown to stop by some of the microbreweries.  So on this 60 degree cloudy afternoon, off I went from the Eurodam along the wide paved port trail towards town, and made my way up the hill immediately adjacent to the port and US 101.  I ran up a few narrow rock strewn paths and eventually was at the top of a hill side neighborhood with several unique houses and some beautiful northwest gardens.  Following a preplanned route, and keeping an eye for vista points, I eventually made my way to Clatsop Commuity College.  From the east parking lot of the college, I made my way up a 0.2 mile, steep dirt trail to the grassy meadow below the Astoria Column.  

West Astoria - the downtown is just to the left around the hill.

Astoria Megler Bridge - looking NE

Some semi official paths up the hillside in Astoria

Wildlife was not far away

Gosh, what a view.

Another formally informal public trail.

The Astoria Column in the distance

A street scene just uphill from downtown.

The trail up from Clatsop College

The bluff 

Several more huffs (I admit I was walking at this point), and I made it to the top of the bluff and took in the 270 degree view to the north, west, and south, and the magnificence of the Astoria Column with its exterior fresco that spirals up the column providing a quick yet thorough visual history of the city.  164 steps later and I made it to the top to even more impressive views - however the Eurodam was hidden by the hill that had been the starting point for my jog.  If you go, it's a free trek to the top however if you drove you will need to pay a small fee for parking.  There are restrooms just southeast of the of the column and a small gift shop as well.

At the base of the Astoria Column

A bronze relieve of the surrounding geography

There were maybe 5 or 6 landings where you could let others pass and catch your breath.

The Astoria Column provides impressive vistas in all directions and was a real treat as the clouds were clearing over the Columbia River, creating a visual cornucopia of greens, yellows, and oranges on the forested hillsides of Washington state, on the north side of the Columbia River.  

View to the NW

View W

View N

View S

Heading back down, this time I took the 0.9 Cathedral Tree woodland trail from the northeast side of the site which put me into northeast Astoria.  Following my prescribed route, I made my way over near the "Goonies" house (from the 1980s movie) only to find several nasty signs about no visiting and no pictures.  Bummer!  By the looks of it it was either in disrepair or being updated.

One last view from the bluff towards town.

Well that's a bummer.

The Goonie's House - if you go, please only take pictures from afar.

Anyways, I then set back toward downtown on the waterfront path which runs from the far eastern limit of town all the way to downtown and beyond to the cruise dock and even further.  During summer months, Astoria has a trolley that runs on some old railroad tracks that run along the waterfront.  There was no trolley today but it was a nice jog with the sun coming out and the leaves on the trees in a mosaic of colors.  In the distance I heard the barking of a few sea-lions; obviously it was a smaller group than the one in San Francisco but a nice audible treat combined with the other smells and sounds associated with a seaport.

The very nice waterfront path and adjacent trolley tracks.

A nice neighborhood on a pond near the waterfront.

As a fan of microbrews, it was a nice way to end my sojourn in the downtown area with 5 downtown breweries of which I visited 3.  Well, really I visited 2 breweries and a cidery that was next to a brewery that I stumbled into.  The Fort George Brewery was first and is just north of the site of the original settlement in Astoria.  There is a historical marker here and some green paint at odd angles in the road indicate the fort’s original boundary.  The beer at Fort George was good and I would go back, they also served food and had a nice outdoor area as well as a wintergarden style patio.  The next brewery was 2 blocks away and I ended up going to cidery in the same location.  The brewery, Reach Break Brewing, and cidery, Reveille Ciderworks share an open lot that has several picnic tables and spots for some food trucks.  It’s a nice setting and I’ll be sure to go back to this location next year (more about that later) as the cider was good and the owner talked a bit about how Astoria was changing for the better.  My last stop was Buoy Beer about 5 blocks away located on the waterfront in a structure over the water.  This location has 2 bars with a nice selection of beer and food.

First up, Fort George Brewery

Historical marker just south of Fort George Brewery

Reveille Cidery and Reach Break Brewery's shared outdoor area.

A nice place to stop, enjoy a pint, and take it all in.

Buoy Beer List

Finally, after having perhaps a bit too much beer, I made my way back to the port on the waterfront trail.  The Eurodam was certainly a nice sight and I was ready to hop in a hottub near the Seaview pool and put my feet up. 

Waterfront trail back to the Eurodam

Under the Astoria Megler Bridge

The port access path.  There are usually vendors near the terminal selling a variety of locally made souvineers

My approximate route

Next September, Princess Cruises is sending my favorite Princess ship on the Vancouver, Astoria, Los Angeles run.  This will be interesting however because little Astoria will be inundated with THREE ships that day.  Believe it or not, the Coral Princess and one other ship will be tendering passengers in closer to downtown.  I’m hoping for some great photos of all the ships when I go.  

A few more posts to come in the coming days.