Alaska Trip Diary 2016 Day 4: Sea Day
Day 1 (Saturday, May 28): Chicago O'Hell
Day 2 (Sunday, May 29): Vancouver, Better Late Than Never
Day 3 (Monday, May 30): Embarkation Day!
Tuesday, May 31, 2016: Sea Day
No Northern Lights for me - I was asleep before it was full dark. On the other hand, I was awake by 6:30 and lounged in bed watching the forested islands, Malcom Island, and Vancouver Island glide by. The bridge report was "calm, rippled seas" and I had to sit very still and concentrate to feel that the ship was moving.
I ended up napping part of the morning away until 10:30. Heh. So much for an early start, but if you can't sleep in on a sea day, when can you? On the other hand, by the time I'd gotten myself organized for the day, I'd missed all the breakfast hours, so I ate the Madeleines I'd bought at the Starbucks in Chicago O'Hell on Sunday. Luckily, they were still good, and I had the Cruise Critic meet and greet at 11:00.
One rather irksome issue was that I couldn't hear shipwide announcements inside my cabin. That was probably meant to not be annoying, but they weren't all that frequent, and I'd rather have known things that were going on.
The meet and greet was cookies, an introduction to the hospitality staff, and get to know you Bingo in Las Ramblas. Up on Deck 12 as we sailed out from Queen Charlotte Strait into Hecate Strait, on more open water, I was starting to feel the motion a little more. Seas were still just ripples, but very rapid, and they were hitting us broadside. I started getting dizzy (that's how seasickness affects me for some reason - no nausea, just dizziness) so I went back to my cabin to take a Meclizine before the Latitudes cocktail party.
I did notice the sewage smell in the forward and aft stairs, but it wasn't too bad. Bad was the concentrated stench of cigarette smoke that permeated Deck 7 and filtered down into Deck 6 in the atrium. The sewage smell wasn't as bad in the Stardust Lounge today.
The Latitudes party was a lot of fun. Of course, it was mostly a sales pitch for Cruise Next, but although tempting, I couldn't commit to when or if I'd have the chance for another cruise. Still, I had the non-alcoholic drink option (some kind of sherbet punch that was really good) and little shrimp canapes - very tasty, and cheered for the winners of the various raffles. (No luck for me, alas.) The captain was funny and engaging and told a number of jokes. My favorite:
"What are the differences between a boat and a ship? Size is one, but also, on a ship, you have a licensed captain. On a boat, you have a frustrated husband."
I tried out the pasta station in Moderno for lunch, and had penne marinara. Very tasty and properly al dente. The shielded area of Topsiders was a pleasant temperature even without my jacket. Too bad I was still woozy from those miniscule little rolls of the waves, and I had my first specialty dinner in Moderno Churrascaria planned for this evening. The seas were still mild, but those small waves were causing us to make a jerky side-to-side motion that really bothered my head. Nobody was in the main pool this afternoon, but quite a few were in the hot tubs.
The sea was slate gray, the sky overcast, and only a few white caps were visible, but the low waves were coming at us directly broadside, which was probably why I was feeling it so much.
The view of our wake trail from the Great Outdoors, aft.
I felt better after my pasta lunch and sipping a sprite. Watched steam gushing from the hot tubs and several passengers improvising a polar bear (well, it wasn't that cold, maybe seal?) plunge from pools to hot tubs and back, which was funny.
My reaction to Meclizine is the same as it was on my Bermuda cruise in 2009. It makes the dizziness less, but also...zzzz...that's one way to get through uncomfortable sailing conditions. Napped, then lounged in my room until it was time to get dressed for dinner at Moderno. I wore my black and white dress and heels for Norwegian Night Out, hoping maybe I'd be presentable enough for a picture worth buying this time.
Moderno was very good, if not the foodgasm I had in the churrascaria I visited in Miami, but part of that was the motion of Deck 11.
The lamb chop was very good, but extremely fatty so there were only a few mouthfuls of meat to be had. The beef short ribs were only okay, and someone got a little overzealous with the rosemary. Bacon wrapped chicken breast was actually one of my favorites - tender and juicy, perfectly seasoned. The beef sirloin and beef filet were beautifully cooked, but over-peppercorned for my taste. The sides were buttered rice, garlic mashed potatoes, and a Brazilian "bean stew" similar to American chili that I really liked. For dessert, my options were mango rice pudding, coconut flan, or papaya vanilla cream.
Welp, I'm allergic to two out of the three, so papaya cream it was! I'd never tried papaya before, but really liked it. It was very light and refreshing, especially after all that meat.
I wandered the ship a little afterwards and caught the tail end of the evening's variety show in Stardust theater. It was quite good, but I didn't think I'd be up for staying up late for the later showing. Back in my cabin, I checked the forecast for Ketchikan (53 degrees and rainy, oh joy!) and found a penguin towel animal bearing the reminder to set my clock back one hour. Curled up to conclude a delightfully lazy sea day.
Day 2 (Sunday, May 29): Vancouver, Better Late Than Never
Day 3 (Monday, May 30): Embarkation Day!
Tuesday, May 31, 2016: Sea Day
No Northern Lights for me - I was asleep before it was full dark. On the other hand, I was awake by 6:30 and lounged in bed watching the forested islands, Malcom Island, and Vancouver Island glide by. The bridge report was "calm, rippled seas" and I had to sit very still and concentrate to feel that the ship was moving.
I ended up napping part of the morning away until 10:30. Heh. So much for an early start, but if you can't sleep in on a sea day, when can you? On the other hand, by the time I'd gotten myself organized for the day, I'd missed all the breakfast hours, so I ate the Madeleines I'd bought at the Starbucks in Chicago O'Hell on Sunday. Luckily, they were still good, and I had the Cruise Critic meet and greet at 11:00.
One rather irksome issue was that I couldn't hear shipwide announcements inside my cabin. That was probably meant to not be annoying, but they weren't all that frequent, and I'd rather have known things that were going on.
The meet and greet was cookies, an introduction to the hospitality staff, and get to know you Bingo in Las Ramblas. Up on Deck 12 as we sailed out from Queen Charlotte Strait into Hecate Strait, on more open water, I was starting to feel the motion a little more. Seas were still just ripples, but very rapid, and they were hitting us broadside. I started getting dizzy (that's how seasickness affects me for some reason - no nausea, just dizziness) so I went back to my cabin to take a Meclizine before the Latitudes cocktail party.
I did notice the sewage smell in the forward and aft stairs, but it wasn't too bad. Bad was the concentrated stench of cigarette smoke that permeated Deck 7 and filtered down into Deck 6 in the atrium. The sewage smell wasn't as bad in the Stardust Lounge today.
The Latitudes party was a lot of fun. Of course, it was mostly a sales pitch for Cruise Next, but although tempting, I couldn't commit to when or if I'd have the chance for another cruise. Still, I had the non-alcoholic drink option (some kind of sherbet punch that was really good) and little shrimp canapes - very tasty, and cheered for the winners of the various raffles. (No luck for me, alas.) The captain was funny and engaging and told a number of jokes. My favorite:
"What are the differences between a boat and a ship? Size is one, but also, on a ship, you have a licensed captain. On a boat, you have a frustrated husband."
I tried out the pasta station in Moderno for lunch, and had penne marinara. Very tasty and properly al dente. The shielded area of Topsiders was a pleasant temperature even without my jacket. Too bad I was still woozy from those miniscule little rolls of the waves, and I had my first specialty dinner in Moderno Churrascaria planned for this evening. The seas were still mild, but those small waves were causing us to make a jerky side-to-side motion that really bothered my head. Nobody was in the main pool this afternoon, but quite a few were in the hot tubs.
The sea was slate gray, the sky overcast, and only a few white caps were visible, but the low waves were coming at us directly broadside, which was probably why I was feeling it so much.
The view of our wake trail from the Great Outdoors, aft.
I felt better after my pasta lunch and sipping a sprite. Watched steam gushing from the hot tubs and several passengers improvising a polar bear (well, it wasn't that cold, maybe seal?) plunge from pools to hot tubs and back, which was funny.
My reaction to Meclizine is the same as it was on my Bermuda cruise in 2009. It makes the dizziness less, but also...zzzz...that's one way to get through uncomfortable sailing conditions. Napped, then lounged in my room until it was time to get dressed for dinner at Moderno. I wore my black and white dress and heels for Norwegian Night Out, hoping maybe I'd be presentable enough for a picture worth buying this time.
Moderno was very good, if not the foodgasm I had in the churrascaria I visited in Miami, but part of that was the motion of Deck 11.
The lamb chop was very good, but extremely fatty so there were only a few mouthfuls of meat to be had. The beef short ribs were only okay, and someone got a little overzealous with the rosemary. Bacon wrapped chicken breast was actually one of my favorites - tender and juicy, perfectly seasoned. The beef sirloin and beef filet were beautifully cooked, but over-peppercorned for my taste. The sides were buttered rice, garlic mashed potatoes, and a Brazilian "bean stew" similar to American chili that I really liked. For dessert, my options were mango rice pudding, coconut flan, or papaya vanilla cream.
Welp, I'm allergic to two out of the three, so papaya cream it was! I'd never tried papaya before, but really liked it. It was very light and refreshing, especially after all that meat.
I wandered the ship a little afterwards and caught the tail end of the evening's variety show in Stardust theater. It was quite good, but I didn't think I'd be up for staying up late for the later showing. Back in my cabin, I checked the forecast for Ketchikan (53 degrees and rainy, oh joy!) and found a penguin towel animal bearing the reminder to set my clock back one hour. Curled up to conclude a delightfully lazy sea day.