Marc - If you want some coasters, you can have ours!

We are in Vancouver. Away all last week at a Signatures conference. One day, Monday to get paperwork finalized and ready for Totem. We also got our covid tests and the new covid booster vaccine. Really busy day.

Left home at 6.45 am today and we arrived in Vancouver and both my sister in law and I were randomly selected to be required to take an arrival covid test. No testing available at the airport. A rather lengthy form to complete online first and then a taxi to an official testing site (a drug store). Got that done.

Then I realized we forgot to pick up laundry on Monday night!! Ken has only two dress shirts. So he set off to purchase at least one more shirt.

One super thing was our room. Ken has status with Marriott and we usually get a one category upgrade. This time we got a massive suite. Dining table with 8 chairs but big enough for ten people. Large wet bar with double coffee machines, microwave. Large lounge with seating for 8 people. Two full bathrooms. One with bath and shower and one with just a shower. Large bedroom with large curved windows. PRETTY NICE. The man that bought up our bags said you must be important or very nice!! Just wish we could have shared this with others on this cruise but this was not the hotel Regent was using.

Tomorrow look forward to boarding. Been a long time since we have been on the Mariner.

Have a great cruise!

So the weather in Vancouver was wonderful. Sunny and warm it is such a beautiful city. The inside passage was stunning, then foggy, then stunning again. As I have always said the only thing consistent about Alaska weather is the inconsistentcy.

We are just docking in Ketichikan. Weather report was for strong winds and rain. Yesterday I was saying "you never know" weather is so changeable. So we are docked, seas are calm and at this point no rain or strong winds. However, I just looked out and now very light rain and wind is picking up a bit. Oh well nice thought while it lasted.

Today we are doing one of my favorite excursions. Eating TONS of fresh Dungeness Crab. I do this tour every time I come to Alaska. We will be inside, consuming delicious crab and the rain will not affect that enjoyment. I even had my little breakfast at 6.30 am so more room for the crab.

So nice to see everyone again. First night we had dinner with Tom, Marcie, Ralph and June. Last night with Mary Ellen and Jim and Maddy and Paul. Dennis my favorite waiter is onboard so that makes me very happy.

Playing trivia with Marc, Russ, June, Lori and Richard. We came in 2nd with 13 correct answers.

I need to take some pictures as the program Kim showed me seems to be working now.

SO HAPPY to find Dennis onboard. In fact a lot of wonderful staff are on this ship so it just adds so much to the cruise when you see crew you have become so fond of over the years.

Dungeness Crab. Yummy.





I love Dungeness crab and this is all you can eat. Thoroughly enjoyed by all even those who had never eaten crab before.
Definitely a very happy camper.

We had a school bus for transportation on the way to the crab fest. That was an experience as I have never been on a school bus before. Growing up in NZ they did not have school buses. We caught a standard bus to get to school.

Yesterday Juneau. Ken and I were LAZY and cancelled our whale watching cruise. The groups did see whales and had a good day. It was overcast but the seas were pretty calm so overall a good day for Juneau.

Now on our way to Hubbard Glacier. Always fun to see the Glacier I wonder if it will look different than last time we saw it. Been quite a few years. Things are going well just a tiny swell today not much movement for the ship. Will post pictures after we get to the glacier.

The Hubbard Glacier


Sailing out from the Glacier beautiful mountains

We had a pretty good day. No rain, and a bright sky. Very little ice in the water we got quite close. Always beautiful.

Nice reading your report. We are with Helen and Jerry in Canada on Navigator right now. Had two unscheduled sea days to avoid the hurricane, but also a new port, Baie Comeau in northern Quebec, and we rode school buses there too. Our driver said the kids were really excited that Navigator stopped there because they got an unscheduled day off from school as all the buses were in use.

Sorry haven't taken time to post; we are having a great trip with great friends; however, there have been some epic failures, primarily from the kitchen. First night I found that seared foie gras has been taken off the menu; waitress said something about cruelty to animals. Tournedos Rossini in Chartreuse does not have foie gras either and I have not seen any of the regular pates, parfait, or terrines on the menu. I hope this is a temporary supply chain issue and not ESG gone amok. King Crab Legs are also missing in Prime 7; I believe this is solely due to extreme cost increases for King Crab.

Most importantly, food coming out of the kitchen is inconsistent in both preparation and timing. Food that should never have even been sent out is reaching the table. For example, strawberries with greens still attached and all you have is spoon and fork. Then, there are the long waits due to both delays in kitchen and lack of wait staff (noticeable lack of head waiters in Compass Rose).

More later,

Marc

Afternoon tea at the Empress Hotel Victoria. We had a great time.



June and Ngaire at the Empress Hotel.

Marc, George has had seared foie Gras twice this week on Navigator

I love tea at the Empress in Victoria! First time I did it was after 9/11 while we were stranded waiting for US airports to reopen. Not a bad way to spend an afternoon 😀
We are on Navigator in Boston today. Only the 2 nd sunny day since we boarded!
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Helen

There was "a" king crab leg on the seafood sampler platter in Prime 7 but not the regular big serving as before. If the Foie Gras is on the Navigator and not on the Mariner it is probably a supply issue. Eventually things will get back to normal both on land and sea. Last night in Prime 7 I had a lobster tail and a filet. It was SO good. They have not run out of berries here which is remarkable at the rate I eat berries!

We met some really wonderful KLT clients on this cruise that we have not met before. This is one of the things I love about hosting cruises. Seeing old friends and making new ones!

Just posted a few more shots from the Empress Hotel.

This was taken by Ken’s brother Richard in Victoria.

About 20 Covid cases onboard; mostly passengers. Crew masked up and crew bar closed.

Marc, navigator has over 10 covid cases onboard. Crew back to wearing masks.
George had seared foie Gras again last night. It is still on the always available menu.

Major problem today on Navigator. We were supposed to disembark in NYC with an 8 am disembarkation. We are still at sea, still far away and won’t arrive until late this afternoon. They had trouble securing one of the tenders last evening in Newport

Got up in time to see us sailing under the Golden Gate Bridge. Blue sky today but a little chilly. We decided not to do a tour and a little walk in the pier was interesting.
Guy blowing HUGE bubbles, which blew a long way down the pier. Saw a “merry go round” and seals. Pictures below.

One more sea day and then this cruise is over. Enjoyed seeing so many old friends and there were some really great new guests we really enjoyed meeting as well. Still love the coffee corner and Stars Lounge. Deck 6 is great.

The bubbles float down the street.

Fabulous bubble pictures!