Third and Fourth Days

Ketchican and rain seem to be strongly connected evidenced by the fact
that no one was surprised that it was raining when we arrived there.  Harry
and I grabbed our rain gear and two umbrellas, headed out for a walking
tour of the part of town that is nearest the pier, and eventually reached the
Totem Cultural Center.

We looked in a few of the stores, mostly t-shirt and jewelry stores designed 

to capture the quick tourist dollar. One of the best of a struggling batch of 

retailers might be KetchiCandies where the pervasive smell of warm 

chocolate is enough to recommend it.

While we were exploring Ketchican, Mum stayed in our stateroom where 

she was warm, dry and comfortable.

We attended an afternoon lecture about some of the communities we'll 

visit in the Inside Passage, Hoonah, Sitka and Juneau. Hoonah, a small 

native village is the stop on the fourth day out.

In the evening, after our delectable meal in the Toscana, we enjoyed the 

Boogie Nights show that included a very funny comedian named Tom 

Drake. Our theory that we will sleep better if we stay up for at least two 

hours after a big meal has yet to be proven.  We'll test that theory again 

in the next few nights.

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Today is Wednesday, August 17th and we are bound for Hoonah. If we 

want to go to shore we'll need to take a tender to get there. None of us 

is enthused even though the sun is shining.

At breakfast today we sat with Terry and Barbara, a retired school 

administrator and a teacher who have traveled on thirty cruise tours. We 

learned a lot. Harry said that he missed conversing with other passengers 

on this cruise. We think that fewer long conversations with other passengers 

happen when you travel as a trio rather than as a couple, probably because 

many tables accommodate just four people. We happened to be at a table for 

six today.

Harry has gone for another walk around the ship's outer spaces 

and Mum and I have migrated to the Horizon Room that is full of people 

with their cameras and binoculars. Here's the rule…if you see people 

jumping up and going closer to the windows, you do the same. I saw the 

whale that way but didn't get Mum's chair to the window quickly enough 

for her to see them this time.

Right now we appear to be playing "chicken" with two fishing boats in the 

strait. The bridge has sounded the horns twice. Too close. Our ship tried to 

manoeuver around the two fishing boats and ending up heading close to 

shore. Now they have dropped anchor about a hundred yards from an 

unoccupied shore. Harry tells us that they are dropping the tenders so as

to transport those who want to go ashore at Hoonah, around the corner.

Just heard this .."Code Mike" "Code Mike on Deck 9" .. I'm going to ask
what it means when they announce that on the speaker system. Within half
a minute, everything is seemingly back to normal. Just asked  about "Code Mike"
It's a call for medical help.  When Harry rejoined us, I told him that he should
come right back to us if that alarm is called because we don't want to worry
about him.

On Our Way

We had priority embarkation on the Regatta at the Canada Place pier in 

Vancouver. Once past the line at USA Customs & the check-in line 

where we got our Oceania ID & room cards, we were steered toward 

the Terrace Restaurant to enjoy our first meal on the Regatta. Around 

3PM we were able to go to our stateroom where we sat on the sunny 

verandah and watched other passengers board.

At 5 PM when everyone was on board, we had to grab our life jackets 

and head to our assigned muster station which in our case was the Regatta 

Lounge where evening entertainment usually happens. Crew with numbered 

signs herded passengers and took attendance then guided us to the lifeboats. 

About a dozen passengers failed to show up for the practice. I wonder what 

happens to them? You'll be happy to know that as we are with Mum who is 

riding in her transporter/wheelchair we'll be in the first line to board the life 

boats if anything should happen. 

We've learned that there are a few impediments to wheelchairs, mostly at the 

thresholds or small ramps between decks and hallways. A person in a 

wheelchair would be better to have someone pushing or pulling them 

over these spots, as Mum does. 

Once settled we headed to the large windows in the Horizon Room to 

watch the departure from Vancouver, under the Lion's Gate Bridge and 

out into the bay. As we watched, we visited with couples on either side 

of us, both of whom had been on this ship previously, same as us. 

And once in the strait, we gave Mum a tour of the ship. 

We packed it in early and slept well. We worried needlessly about Mum 

getting up at night on her own. Turns out, we all had to get up in the night 

so it was a coordinated event.

-------------------------

We spent time in the lovely library yesterday and today. Mum and I have 

already finished one book each.

Harry went for a workout and a jog around the 9th level short track. He's 

also been using the stairs at every opportunity. 

Today, our second day out, we attended a lecture on the biology of the ocean. 

Even though Mum snoozed quietly through some of it, we found it to be very 

informative.  In the late afternoon, we went for high tea featuring scones with 

fresh preserves and clotted cream. Tonight we're going to skip the Captain's 

welcome reception complete with hors d'oeuvres and cocktails. Instead, we're 

sipping wine in our room and relaxing before dinner.  We're thinking it would 

be a good idea to attend the show tonight as we napped between chapters this 

afternoon.

Tomorrow - Ketchican, Alaska.

Cruise Ship Terminal

Today we scouted the embarkation point, Canada Place.

Cruise Cam
http://www.northvancouver.com/webcams/cruisecam/



Alaska : Places to See, Things to Do, Food to Eat

Apparently, one trip to Alaska is not enough.

We're looking forward to a trip up the Inside Passage so that we can
enjoy the legendary scenery.  We weren't thinking so much about the food
until we read Adventure Your Way Across Alaska ,  a new CNN special
travel feature with good information about where to eat. We better have a
plan for working out because it seems as though this trip will be about food :)

Food, Glorious Food On Board

We booked four restaurant reservations today. This is the first year that

passengers have been able to make reservations in advance of boarding.
There are five restaurant choices on the Regatta. Three of the five restaurants
do not require advance reservations, two do. Since we are staying in the A1
concierge level of the ship, we are guaranteed, at minimum, two meals

in each of the intimate high end restaurants, the Polo Grill and the Toscana.

Even tho' we had a total of two guaranteed reservations on our last cruise, we
ended up eating in those two restaurants four or five times. It was fairly easy to
get last minute reservations because our fellow travellers had so many other good
choices including the Grand Dining Room and the Terrace that can accommodate
dining without reservations.

We decided to make all reservations for 6:30 PM as opposed to 7:30 or 8:30 so
that we can digest before going to bed.  We also tried to book those times
during at-sea days but some of those days had no space left at 6:30 so we just
selected other days.


Three of the five ship restaurants require that you wear country club
casual/no jeans. Two others are very casual. Sometimes the extra casual 
atmosphere combined with delicious food is the favoured combination. 


Here are the menus for the five restaurants on our ship, all designed by French 
chef Jacques Pépin :
Polo Grill Menu
Toscana Menu
Grand Dining Room Dinner Menu
Grand Dining Room Lunch Menu
Waves Lunch Menu

Oh, Oh! Rough Waters

We once traveled from Miami to Los Angeles via Cartegena, Columbia which
necessitated crossing the Gulf Of Mexico, right across the path of the Trade
Winds. During the two or three days that we spent out of the lee of Cuba, our
ship rocked.

Harry and I seemed not to be inclined to seasickness. I actually liked the back
and forth motion, especially at night.  We did notice a drop in the numbers of
passengers who showed up at the buffets and for some of the events.  The
effect of the wind on us might be evident in this short video of the waves hitting
our verandah (our exact stateroom view taken by another passenger at another
time).

Today there is an article in the Cruise Critic collection about the World's
Roughest Waters. Sure enough, the list includes the Caribbean at certain
times of the year and (oh, no) Alaska, which is where we are going next.

I'll be okay in rough water. Harry will probably be okay, but I'm not too
sure about Mum. We may have to make some changes in our shipboard routines.

Looking Ahead

We would love to take advantage of some of the bargains on Oceania for the
coming winter but we're not 100% sure when treatments will allow Harry to
travel.

Right now he's having hormone therapy for his prostate cancer which means
an injection every three months, but when that ends and he is examined this
coming November, he may be facing radiation. We just don't know.

If we could... we agree that we'd love to take the Oceania cruise from 
Beijing to Bangkok during our winter in Winnipeg.

Ironically, until the health picture is clearer, we can't make travel plans that
are near or that are far in advance.  Maybe we can pick the next trip in
November after Harry's 1st year check up with the urologist/surgeon.

Still, it's Alaska in 2011. Hopefully it will be Beijing in 2013 or sooner.