The Alaskan Jewel! Welcome Aboard….You don’t Exist!

[jenseib]

Great family portraits too funny Skip wanting to take nice family photos with a stained shirt...

That apple crumble looked magnificent

Beautiful water pictures from your verandah

Skip is not into clothing at all. The other night we went to a nice restaurant with my family and i told him he could not wear jeans. He asked if he could at least wear black jeans...Um no...and you don't own any black jeans. LOL.

The family pictures turned out sooooo good! I am a fan of Cirque shows so I am sure that I'd have loved the one on the ship.

I know you guys would have loved it. And being on a moving ship and doing all those stunts was just amazing.

That scenery is absolutely stunning. What a shame that dinner at Moderno was not as good as you had hoped. We have a Brazilian steakhouse near where we live and this is one of our favourite restaurants. The show does not sound like something I would have enjoyed either.

What a pain that your account was wrong and that they never let you know that the clocks had gone forward. Good job that you did ask for the time. Lunch looked lovely and it looks like you had a nice relaxing day.

Corinna

I hear from so many that those Brazilian steakhouses are wonderful. I just really think NCL either needs to retrain these people or they are purposely telling them not to bring certain meats out unless asked for.

 

[jenseib]

Day 8, Aug. 7, 2015, Friday


Today’s Freestyle Daily.


daily7.1 by Jenseib, on Flickr


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daily7.4 by Jenseib, on Flickr


Today we were going to Victoria, BC, Canada, but not till much later. I believe our arrival was scheduled for 5 PM. Originally we were supposed to arrive at 2 or 3 (I can’t remember off the top of my head) but a few weeks before we sailed NCL did a lot of itinerary changes and this was one of them. For me it really didn’t matter, but I know some people were pretty upset.


It was another foggy day.


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I headed up for some breakfast.


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After I finished that I just walked around a bit.


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I decided I would go check out our pictures and buy a package. Claire and I had been looking at them off and on throughout the cruise and had some favorites but now that we had our family pictures taken last night I wanted to get the package picked out. I went in and asked if there were any specials for suite guests as I was told I would receive something in our room and it never showed up. These people could not understand what I was asking. I said over and over that I was told I would receive a packet from the photographers on the first day as there was an issue with our reservation. The girl looked up stuff and then went in back for a while. She then gave the task to a guy who took forever looking too. Finally he says I will just over ride it and started ringing up my package. I was buying 20 prints and a usb flash drive with my pictures on it. The usb is $10 more with the print package. He gives me the total and it’s $10. Hunh? I was honest and said no that doesn’t sound right at all. I wanted to know if there was a discount…and he thought I had prebought a package and the whole time they were looking for my package voucher. Oh good lord. I just gave up. I told him I did not prepay for anything and he charged me the right amount and that I could pick my usb up later.


They did have some cute frames here for sale and I was close to buying one that lit up. It was really cool, but with them being such idiots I just decided I wasn’t going to waste any more time or money here.

vic12 by Jenseib, on Flickr

I went back outside and the ship was blowing the fog horn every so often and I kept trying to capture it on video…well the sound part.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9qPBljscS4


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tC5DyKnrgY&feature=youtu.be

vic13 by Jenseib, on Flickr


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I then went and checked out our account again to be sure that everything was credited correctly and that the drinks were not showing up again and all was now right….finally!


Back to the room I went to get the rest of my family.


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We got them some breakfast and then took a walk out by the pool area.


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Today was pretty warm and people were already in the pool.


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Claire decided she wanted to swim so I took her back to the room and got her changed into her suite and off she went to the pool.


Soon it was time for a beverage for me.


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Claire was enjoying the pool.


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Skip and I found loungers and just sat back and relaxed. We spotted the kids club walking by as we sat.


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We noticed soon Claire was hanging with a friend and they were going down the slide together.


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At first they were going down separately but after a bit Skip noticed that the friend would go down and soon after Claire would dive right behind her. When we asked her what she was doing a little bit later she said she would grab her friends ankles’ and they would go down together and with the both of them going down like that they would go faster and not get stuck. Crazy kids!


We had music playing too. It was nice, but a little too loud for my liking at the pool.



Up next….a poolside lunch.

 

[canyoncam]

Well you just continued to have a nice trip!!!

I would do the Klondike excursion and though I am not a dog person I am a Matt person so that interests me!

Too funny about the family running late.

I agree men are usually funnier comedians.

The family photos look great!

What a nice pool day.

But that dealing with the account is driving me crazy just reading about it.

 

[dolphingirl47]

How strange that they did not understand what you meant at the photo shop. I am glad that you still managed to get a package. I would have been a little disappointed getting into Victoria so late as it is a pretty little town and worth a look. Still, it looks like you have a lovely relaxing day.

Corinna

 

[jenseib]

Well you just continued to have a nice trip!!!

I would do the Klondike excursion and though I am not a dog person I am a Matt person so that interests me!

Too funny about the family running late.

I agree men are usually funnier comedians.

The family photos look great!

What a nice pool day.

But that dealing with the account is driving me crazy just reading about it.

It really was a great trip, even with the bumps.
I was a Matt person too!
The account issues were just crazy and should not ever happen to anyone!!!

How strange that they did not understand what you meant at the photo shop. I am glad that you still managed to get a package. I would have been a little disappointed getting into Victoria so late as it is a pretty little town and worth a look. Still, it looks like you have a lovely relaxing day.

Corinna

I swear they were idiots working at the photo shop. Of course the one gal who told me she would drop off stuff later wasn't anywhere to be found at that time either.
I would like to go back to Victoria and have a better plan of action next time. This time was more of a spur of the moment decision since we had not booked anything ahead of time. I now have a better idea of what to expect there next time and what I would like to do.

 

[jenseib]

I noticed they were setting up a poolside buffet so I went over to take a look.


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And I took pictures of all the different fruit carvings.


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I thought this next one was so cute.


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I scoped out what was being cooked so I could report it back to Skip.


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In the meantime Claire was having a blast.


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I guess now we have switched to going down backwards.


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Once the food was ready I headed back and got a plate full.


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And Skip did too.


This was my attempt of me getting the view from my chair.


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It had cleared up but it was so eerie as we would be very clear and sunny and then sail right back into thick fog. At least the sun was warm.


The band was playing Wipe Out. I don’t think I ever heard a version WITHOUT drums. LOL.


https://youtu.be/Eu4rW7iIqJg


I got up from my chair to take a look out at what we were now passing.


You could see we were about to head into more fog.


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A look back.


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A look forward.


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As you can see I played with settings and took tons of pictures.


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We were now entering the fog and you can kind of see the mist with this setting.


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https://youtu.be/5hc4GfVm-B0


Up next…Pool time, Snacks and Arriving in Victoria.

 

[TestingH2O]

Those fruit carvings are lovely!

 

[chartle]

thats one monster paella

 

[bcwife76]

That buffet was a nice touch! Those fruit carvings were cool and all that food looked so yummy!

 

[dolphingirl47]

Those fruit carvings are amazing. I am not too sure about some of the offerings on the buffet though. I rather prefer for my food not to look at me.

Corinna

 

[cruisehopeful]

You've done an amazing job of keeping positive and in vacation mode with all of the mishaps. From other reports I've read, especially on CC, most people wouldn't have posted such a positive trip report. You are setting a really nice example for your daughter.

 

[Pinkocto]

How lovely it was nice enough out for Claire to enjoy the pool! Those fruit carvings are so cool. Sounds like the photograph people should not be working that particular area...

 

[jenseib]

Those fruit carvings are lovely!

they were super cool

thats one monster paella

Yes it was!

That buffet was a nice touch! Those fruit carvings were cool and all that food looked so yummy!

It was pretty good

Those fruit carvings are amazing. I am not too sure about some of the offerings on the buffet though. I rather prefer for my food not to look at me.

Corinna

hahaha. I picked the stuff I liked out and didn't eat anything that was staring at me.

You've done an amazing job of keeping positive and in vacation mode with all of the mishaps. From other reports I've read, especially on CC, most people wouldn't have posted such a positive trip report. You are setting a really nice example for your daughter.

That first day was the hardest but I just had to keep telling myself that this is not normal and also that we spent a lot of money on this trip so we better make the best of it. I just decided to look past it and laugh it off. I didn't want to bring the other 2 down with me and nothing was going to change what had happened. I have read those kind of reports too where these kind of issues would ruin an entire cruise but I am one who thinks if you get past th bad you can still have a good time and we really did.....even as stole aways. hahaha

 

[jenseib]

Back to my pool chair I went and we just relaxed and watched Claire do the slide over and over and over with her friend. The band was playing some Disney songs. Of course I had to record a little bit.

I noticed there was a towel stand so I took a picture from my chair.


vic55 by Jenseib, on Flickr


A DJ had now replaced the band.


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Skip and I decided to move our location so we could see Claire better at the slide.


This was our view out to sea.


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And Claire waiting to slide.


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Her legs were really read and she was getting a little bit of a sunburn combined with them getting rubbed pretty hard each time she went down the slide.


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After a bit we headed downstairs to the pool deck to get some drinks and Claire was done playing with her friends. She told us she had to go to the bathroom and when she came back she was in pain. She had slipped in the bathroom and whacked her arm between the wrist and elbow on the counter. Kind of like the shin of the arm…yes I am sure it has its own name, but I don’t know it. LOL. She was in a lot of pain, plus she was tired out from all the water fun and lack of sleep so I think it hurt twice as bad because of that. There was a lot of whining.


As we sat there they announced they were going to do something they don’t normally do on Alaskan cruises….Pool Olympics. This is something they do on their Caribbean itineraries but because today was such a beautiful and warm day they decided to do it.

It was for adults only and it was several silly games. It was a bit funny to watch.


vic61 by Jenseib, on Flickr


They ended it with water ballet routines by both teams and it was pretty funny as most were strangers to each other and they had to coordinate a quick routine and perform it. Both actually did pretty good.


Claire and I then headed off to find some snacks.


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Those pretzels are really good but I sure wish they offered some hot fake cheese to dip them in.


I then went up and got us some drinks. Claire had a bartender make her a coke with lots of cherries the day before, so now this was her new favorite and she got another cherry filled coke. I went for an amaretto sour.


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I picked Skip up a Bud Light and I didn’t know he had just ordered one from a roving bartender, so he was 2 fisting the beer.


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She’s still in pain….the poor thing.


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The kids club came out and did some dancing to some songs. I believe the “watch me whip” song was pretty new around then and a favorite and that is one they had dance moves too.


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Claire said she knew most of the kids…and pointed out the one boy who was often getting into trouble. Hahahaha.


It was time for me to head back to the room and pack. I can’t remember what Skip and Claire did but I know they ended up back in the room pretty fast and WATCHED me pack. Of course Skip gave me instructions on how he thought it would all best fit and I gave him the evil eye and said when he started doing laundry or packing his clothes to go on a trip then I would start taking his advice.


The snacks of the day had been left out.


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After the packing was done we just relaxed.


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We were getting close and all of a sudden we had cell reception. Skip quick called his brother. We had not expected reception in Victoria.


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It wasn’t long and his called dropped. We realized we had been bordering the US while sailing in and we were picking up a US signal.


We were now coming into Victoria.


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There were seagulls flying all over and I got this cool shot of one in midflight.


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Many were out to greet us.


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There was all sorts of activity going on in the water.


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Up next...Victoria

 

[cruisehopeful]

There were seagulls flying all over and I got this cool shot of one in midflight.


seagul1 by Jenseib, on Flickr

Amazing photo!!!

 

[dolphingirl47]

That seagull photo is absolutely stunning.

Corinna

 

[bcwife76]

Oh poor Claire, hopefully her arm didn't hurt for too long! Glad it was nice and sunny for your arrival in Victoria, though I know you weren't in port for very long I believe.

 

[rndmr2]

Nice update, glad you had such beautiful weather on those last couple days and could get some time out on the pool deck.

Sorry Claire hurt her arm, hope it got better quickly..

I loved those pretzel rolls. I would have been looking for/hoping for some cheese to dip them in too, although if I couldn't find any, mustard would do. I grew up using mustard on soft pretzels. (they make awesome ones in Philadelphia where I grew up)

Victoria looks like a beautiful port so far.

 

[jenseib]

Amazing photo!!!

Thanks

That seagull photo is absolutely stunning.

Corinna

thanks. I thought it was so cool!

Oh poor Claire, hopefully her arm didn't hurt for too long! Glad it was nice and sunny for your arrival in Victoria, though I know you weren't in port for very long I believe.

Well she is 10...so of course it hurt for days and she was close to death at times.

Nice update, glad you had such beautiful weather on those last couple days and could get some time out on the pool deck.

Sorry Claire hurt her arm, hope it got better quickly..

I loved those pretzel rolls. I would have been looking for/hoping for some cheese to dip them in too, although if I couldn't find any, mustard would do. I grew up using mustard on soft pretzels. (they make awesome ones in Philadelphia where I grew up)

Victoria looks like a beautiful port so far.

We had such fabulous weather. I can't complain about any of the bad days because for the most part it was beautiful for Alaska.

I don't do mustard with pretzels but I know many do. I like me some goo fake cheese...just on the verge of being classified as plastic. hahahaha

 

[jenseib]

I really liked this shot as we were coming up to the dock.


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As you can see it was just a beautiful day.


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Seagulls everywhere.


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I swear this building looks like a bowling alley to me.


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Getting tied up now!


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The official welcoming committee were on their way.


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Another dead looking jelly fish…I could be totally wrong and it could be something else, but I saw a lot of these this cruise.


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As we pulled into dock we were going to different decks to get different views.


This sea gull totally cracked me up. Look at his “hair”.


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Evidently the geese cleared us and were on their way back to where ever they came from.


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We had an excursion planned for today, believe it or not. All week they had a channel on the TV that played snippet and advertisements for the different excursions offered. As the days went past and ports were visited those ports would no longer play, so for the last 2 days we had been watching excursions for Victoria only…..well Skip was. This for some reason was one of his favorite channels and he watched it all the time. He had decided yesterday that he would like to do the horse carriage ride through town. Originally I had kind of hope to go to Butchart Gardens, but since I had really picked all the excursions for this trip, I decided I would go with what he wanted.

So earlier this morning we went and inquired about getting the horse carriage ride and sure enough they had openings. The tickets said to meet somewhere on the ship again, and after the fiasco of how that worked in Juneau we asked if we could just get off the ship ourselves and find the person directing us where to go….yep, just don’t be late. Well we knew most likely we would be there before the people getting off the ship with the group would, so that is exactly what we did.


Since we are in a suite we used that perk today and headed up to meet with Florentina and she escorted us and some others off the ship.


We went through a back elevator today….I think this is one the staff typically uses.


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And soon we were off the ship. Now they kept making announcements to have your passports ready when you get off, but nowhere did anyone ever ask to look at them.


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They had a few characters along the ship as we made our way out.


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Isn’t he creepy looking? We assumed he is Bigfoot.


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We were filtered through the building before going outside again to where all the taxis, buses and excursions were meeting.


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A few people dressed in costume around the area.


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We went looking for where the carriage rides were to meet and Skip recognized the guy from the tv channel. He was all excited like he was a celebrity. LOL. The guy pointed us the way and told us it would be about 10-15 minutes yet.


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There were a lot of taxis and buses lined up. That bad thing about this port is that it is basically not near anything. To see or do much of anything you really have to take a bus or taxi into town.


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We saw we could board the carriage now and headed that way. We were not in the “know”. But others obviously were. Many who were already on the carriage were sitting in the left side…as in one person per family in a row to themselves. The guy directed us to all sit together in one row. I was on the right edge, but I found out later that most of the “good” stuff was better seen from the left side. The bad thing about this is that the majority of my pictures are horrible. I have heads and arms and shoulders in most of them…if I am lucky not to be blocked completely.


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Our guide was very nice and you could see she loved horses. She told us she would be talking to the horses throughout the ride, so not to think she was crazy, but they needed talking to for instructions and reinforcements. It sounded like some days they are a little stubborn if they are not given enough love.


Soon we were clopping our way out of the port area.


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A few other horses.


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Up next….A ride through Victoria!