Jen and Jerry's Excellent Adventure

The sea days have abruptly come to an end and now come many days in a row in ports in Japan. Yesterday noon was a special luncheon for people on the full 77-day voyage. Free wine with the meal and a special menu. The head engineer was the host at our table and was very informative. One piece was that almost nobody is allowed down with the engines because of security concerns since 9/11. This is the reason tours are no longer offered to that area of the ship. The evening started with a huge party for Oceania Club members (their loyalty club). This means almost everyone on the ship is invited. We have built up to their Platinum level with our two extended trips. We get some nice perks, most notably a complimentary cruise of up to 14 days. They stress the word complimentary as opposed to free as there are a number of costs associated with the “free” cruise but it is still a very nice perk. The party honored people receiving their pins for the Platinum level which includ...

Today is day 3 of 6 sea days, for being ship-bound, as we traverse a long stretch of water to get to northern Japan. Most of our trajectory is through open water so we have all the Dramamine moments you’ve ever longed for. In fact, the reception desk hands them out to anyone in need. Luckily, Jerry and I have not required them. Yet. All morning I’ve been thinking about how to describe the nearly incessant ship’s movement to you. A sideways sloshing with no pattern nor predictability, Riding a horse in slow motion that is jumping over a stretched-out set of hurdles, sometimes clipping a hurdle and stumbling, sometimes knocking a hurdle and awkwardly regaining balance, Walking a narrow hallway with a railing on one side and finding myself with my feet near the opposite wall as my handholds, drunkenly grinning as someone tries to come toward me with mirrored effects, Waking in the night to a THUD somewhere and trying to discern if it’s 1) important, 2) in our room, 3) in the hallway, and ...

Crossing the International Date Line Today’s information is too complex to share. We just crossed the international date line. We crossed it going west in the middle of the night. You worry at this time of year about ghouls and goblins causing havoc in the middle of the night. Can they do better than stealing an entire day? We went to bed on the 18 th of October and after a few hours of bouncy sleep we woke up on October 20 th . In fact, if we getthis posted fast enough you will get to read our entry for October 20th while you are still on the 19th (Nicole did not get it posted fast enough.... can you go back over the line and bring back a day or two for me to try again?). Talk about Wizardry. One little-known fact is that every day from 10-11:59 UTC (Coordinated Universal Time) there are three different calendar dates in use simultaneously on Earth. This could be a travel planning nightmare for those who are unaware. Please note the order of letters in the abbreviation for Coordin...

We are arriving in Kodiak at 8:00 AM on a Sunday. We will be the last cruise ship of the season as we were for Seward. We have moved further west, sunrise is 8:42 so having breakfast at 8:00 with cloud cover meant very dark outside while eating. It also means we do not expect much from the town. We learned it has a maritime climate which means that the bays don’t freeze, and in the summer, 70 degrees is considered hot. Because it is located on the Ring of Fire, it is susceptible to earthquakes. Many in Kodiak have a second home in Hawaii. Kodiak Marina The city of Kodiak is on an island—the second largest island in the USA, second only to the big island of Hawaii. It seems to be the Moab of the North due to the outdoor adventures offered here. We had low expectations of what we might see here after the season shutdown in Seward. Oh my were we surprised!!! Yes, some of the main shops were closed (it was Sunday), but they were in full welcome as they sought to teach as much as they could...

Oh, the glaciers we’ve glimpsed! God’s grandeur—and reservoir of water—is evident, albeit shrinking. We’ve been cruising from the more sheltered waters of Ketchikan into the open ocean. The rocking of our study, streamlined ship reminds us that the winds and the waves win and our ship’s job is to navigate through them while warning passengers to hold onto railings in halls and on stairs and to keep fingers safe around doors. At every level of the ship is a central hall with two elevators. Between them is a stand. We can always tell when the waves will rock by looking at this little stand—lots of airplane “barf bags” are spread out on them for anyone to discreetly take into our rooms. Thankfully, our sail into Seward was in the daylight (morning light comes a bit later up here) so that we could join our fellow passengers in gawking at the splendor of the cradled glaciers within the vast Kenai Mountains. www.anchorage.net tells me that there are over 40 glaciers in this area; our photos ...

On the way from Canada to Alaska, we cruised through Seymour Narrows . Click the link for Google Earth to show you. Most of this channel is about 820 yards wide and the channel currents can get treacherous, described by early ship captains in 1800s as “one of the vilest stretches of water in the world.” One of the contributing factors to the treachery was removed in 1958 when Ripple Rock, a submerged twin-peaked mountain, was blown up. This event was newsworthy enough that it was broadcast on Canadian TV  (YouTube link to event). On the very southern tip of Alaska’s Inside Passage, Ketchikan is a must-see with the most totem poles in the state. For the two of us, however, we went out of town rather than in. Our ship anchored immediately next to a ship that is a relative in the Norwegian Cruise Line fleet, the Norwegian Bliss. She is capable of holding 4004 passengers with 1700 crew compared to us, her very small cousin, Regatta, with room for 680 passengers (“guests”) and 400 crew....

 Astoria is about as far north as you can get in Oregon and Victoria is about as far south as you can get in Canada, so it is just an overnight by boat to go from one to the other.  We arrived at our scheduled time and were informed that the Victoria marathon was being run right past our pier.  This is bad for sight-seeing transportation.  All ship tours were delayed until 2:30 as were the shuttles into town (provided by the city for a price). Since we were cleared to go ashore at 10:00 we decided to walk into town. The route in followed the runners for a mile or so.  Having attended our first marathon in the Quad Cities two days before commencing this trip we watched the suddenly familiar encouragement offered to runners from spectators, the large milling crowd near the finish line, the constant patter of the announcer welcoming runners to the finish line, often by name, and by time.  One sign read “You’re running better than our government”.  Some ...