Holland America MS Amsterdam Travelogue - Day One

Holland America MS Amsterdam Travelogue

May 27-28, 2011 – Embarkation Seattle and day one cruising Inside Passage

The anticipation of a vacation is sometimes as exciting as the actual time away. One thing that made this departure especially fun and exciting for me was a surprise I had arranged with our friends, Rob & Christie who live in Portland. We surprised Jim at Seattle/Tacoma airport! As Jim and I made our way through the terminal and on to Baggage Claim where we were to meet our Holland America representative for our transfer from the airport to the ship, Rob & Christie were there to greet us and yell out “Hey Melvin – need a ride?” The look of surprise on Jim’s face was priceless and immediately turned to smiles and lots of hugs all around. We made our way from Sea/Tac Airport up to the Space Needle in downtown Seattle, where we enjoyed lunch with an incredible 360 degree view from the top! The restaurant rotates every 47 minutes and offers an absolutely beautiful view of Seattle and area.

We flew into Seattle under very cloudy skies and a light misty rain when we disembarked the plane. Miraculously the storm clouds vanished and gave way to the sun and blue skies. It was absolutely glorious! We could see out west to the snow capped Olympic Peninsula and mountains; but Mt. Baker and Mt. Rainer remained hidden behind the thick clouds to the east of Seattle.

Our lunch was delicious; and we enjoyed a glass of wine and toast to dear friends. Each of us ordered something different from the wide variety of offerings on the menu; and we were all happy with our respective choices. After lunch, we walked up to the observation deck of the Space Needle where we could see not only our ship, the Holland America MS Amsterdam in port, as well as Royal Caribbean’s Rhapsody of the Seas, Celebrity Infinity and Carnival Spirit. After taking a few pictures of the incredible views, Christie managed to find us a table up in the snack area where we sat and played a game of Euchre – our favorite card game – and the gals got lucky today and won! Whew hew!

Our time with Rob and Christie was over all too soon; and we all felt the same about our time together – it wasn’t enough – but we loved it. They drove us to Pier 91 and after more hugs and thank you’s, we checked in and boarded the ship. There was no one in line in front of us or behind us, for that matter – so checking in a little later definitely has its’ advantages! Many many thanks again for Rob & Christie for our surprise at the airport, delicious lunch and private car transfer to the ship!

The whistle sounded loudly at 5:00 p.m. as we left the port of Seattle and headed north through the Puget Sound and up along Vancouver Island and the Inside Passage. We had a few sprinkles on the windows as we left port; but that was it for the rain! Knock on wood! Though it remained cloudy Friday evening, we could see for miles and miles and it was beautiful.

Our cabin is a “standard” verandah cabin. There is a full couch along with our bed and plenty of closet and storage space. We enjoy our balcony with the chase lounge, chair and small table – but most of the time we are standing up to see what there is to see. Our dinner companions are a mother and daughter (Mamie and Stephanie from Texas and another couple, the Andersons – also from Texas). Our table is right next to the aft windows and we have a glorious view of the wake of the ship and where we have been during the day.

Our first day was spent at sea, getting to know where things are on the ship and meeting our dinner companions and other people along the way. The skies above were solid clouds but no rain. We passed several white lighthouses with red, tile roofs at Scarlett Point and Pine Island before leaving the Queen Charlotte Strait and heading out into the open ocean of the Queen Charlotte Sound. And yes, we did see some of those magnificent black and whites gliding smoothly through the waters along Vancouver Island! It was a small pod. Not everyone on the ship saw them; so we felt lucky to have been looking out off our balcony when they passed quickly by heading south.

We joined “Darren” the fitness guy on the ship at 7:30 in the morning to walk a mile in our quest to Trek the Deck for our precious Landon’s Rockin’ Walkers for Walk for the Cure for the Junior Diabetes Research Foundation. We wear our denim JDRF shirts every morning and walk 3 ½ times around the deck for a mile. It is enjoyable. I walk at my own pace (slow walker here!) and the others walk more briskly than I – but we are all out there! There are several dozen walkers on the ship every morning. There’s still time to sign up to sponsor us if you go to the JDRF website!

Unfortunately, towards the end of the day as we headed out into Queen Charlotte South, the seas became quite rough and it was uncomfortable – so for a good number of passengers on the Amsterdam (me included) we suffered a bit with seasickness. Jim went to dinner without me. We ordered some room service for me; and he also was very kind to make sure I had an ample supply of ginger ale and saltine crackers. Though I have still not tried it yet; on the menu for room service for “rough sea days” you can order green apples and saltine crackers. I’ve heard this is helps but haven’t indulged as of yet.

Tomorrow is Ketchikan – I’ll be in touch when we have internet service. I am finding as I did last year, that internet service is not always available. Till next time…

Travelogue No. 6 - Seattle, Washington

TRAVELOGUE NO. 6
PACIFIC COASTAL CRUISE LOS ANGELES TO VANCOUVER

THURSDAY, May 12, 2010 – Seattle, Washington

It generally rains 226 days in Seattle. The “rain” is actually more of a mist that a downpour of rain – but it is wet nonetheless. Fortunately, we arrived in Seattle on one of those rate 139 days that grace the city with not a cloud in the sky. It was about 65 degrees and absolutely glorious. We could not have had better weather. Because we have been to Seattle several times, we decided to just play tourist today and so we signed up for the “Grand City Tour of Seattle”. The tour consisted of three parts – a tour of downtown Seattle and Pike’s Place Market on motor coach – a harbor tour on The Argosy tour boat from Lake Union to the Port of Seattle – and, a visit to the Space Needle.

Pike’s Place Market is a public market down on the waterfront in Seattle. It consists of various food stands and vendors all hoping that they have the exact thing that you are looking for. It is very well known as the place where “they throw the fish” over your head at the seafood counters. It is also the home of the best tea that I’ve ever had, Market Spice Tea. Many years ago, when my parents lived here in the Seattle area, they introduced me to this fabulous cinnamon-orange spice tea. It is best if you steep it in boiling water for at least five minutes. The aromas that come out of one little tea bag are incredible. You take in a deep breath and smell the richness of the spices…and once you take one sip, if you are a tea lover, I guarantee you’ll think this is some of the best tea you’ve ever had. So, naturally, we had to go there and pick up several boxes of this fabulous tea to take home. It is especially delicious on a rainy day when you are staying inside, have a fire going in the fireplace and are enjoying a good book. Here is the website if you want to savor a little for yourself. www.marketspice.com
We enjoyed walking leisurely through the Public Market and just people watching. The produce and the seafood counters were gorgeous, full of fresh fruits, vegetables and fish caught in the morning and brought to the Market to put on display. There are small flower carts in several areas, along with this other famous Seattle drink – Starbuck’s. There are close to 600 Starbuck’s stores in the greater Seattle area. The original location is across the street from Pike’s Market.

Our tour continued as our driver took us through Pioneer Square downtown and then out to Lake Union where we boarded our tour boat, the Argosy. As we pulled away from the small pier, they announced that they had some clam chowder for purchase, so Jim went and got each of us a cup. We sat at one of the picnic type tables on the second deck right next to a window, so we had a perfect view of everything the narrator was talking about. After we finished our soup, we went out on deck. Lake Union is home for over 10 of the boats seen in the TV series The Deadliest Catch – a show about the perils of being on a fishing boat in the northwest and Alaska. It is also home to the famous houseboat used in the film “Sleepless in Seattle”.

Interestingly, that houseboat was just sold to a couple who had just seen the movie and fell in love with the movie and the houseboat so much so that they got married inside their new “home”. The houseboat sold for a mere “several” million dollars!
As we continued on our tour of Lake Union, we passed under two draw bridges and on out to the locks – where we entered and secured, then the water level began to drop and we miraculously traveled DOWN 18 feet to sea level, where the locks were opened and we continued on out into Elliott Bay and on into the Puget Sound to downtown Seattle. The small lighthouse there is in the process of being restored and, unfortunately, was all covered in white plastic. Our tour continued along the waterfront and eventually took us right past the Sapphire Princess which was proudly docked at Pier 66 downtown and almost directly below the Space Needle.

Next, we boarded the motor coach again and were taken past Safeco Field, the home of the Seattle Mariners and Qwest Field, which is home to the Seattle Seahawks. After leaving there, our next stop was the Space Needle. This was built for the Exposition in 1962 and the World’s Fair. It only takes 42 seconds to travel from ground level up to the observation deck where you will enjoy a 360 degree view of Seattle.

After the tour, we went back to the ship and cleaned up and then were off for one of the highlights of our entire trip. We met Michele, my Strategic Sale Coach from my host agency. Michele has been coaching me the past few months, and has guided me along my path as a travel agent. We had agreed to meet at Ivar’s Seafood Restaurant near Pier 57 on the waterfront. Jim and I arrived first and were standing in front of the restaurant when we noticed a gal walking briskly towards us. She had straight, long hair and was wearing sunglasses that quickly were raised above her eyes when she spotted us. I immediately raised my sunglasses as well and when she reach us, we both laughed and agreed how nice it was to meet each other after only talking on the telephone on Wednesday mornings at 9:00 a.m. for the past few months.
We were taken to a table in the middle of the restaurant where we had a beautiful view of the water and were only one dock away from the terminal for the Washington State Ferries. So, while we sat and chatted and got to know each other in person, we enjoyed all of the activity on the water as well. Jim had a pound of Alaskan king crab legs, while Michele enjoyed the halibut and I enjoyed my salmon. The clam chowder at Ivar’s is some of the best that we’ve ever had, so Jim and I both got a cup of that along with a small dinner salad with their house “Louis” (thousand island) dressing. After dinner, we all had dessert – again, each of us enjoyed something different – Jim had bread pudding, Michele had the apple/rhubarb crisp and I had crème bruleé. Unfortunately, we had to get back to the ship by 9:30 p.m., so we eventually had the say our goodbyes and go on our separate ways. But, I have to say that being able to meet someone who you have only talked to on the telephone for several months was absolutely incredible and really meant a lot to me.

We sailed out of Seattle at 10:00 p.m. It was still twilight outside, and so I stood on our balcony and took some beautiful pictures of the Space Needle as we left port. Our final stop will be in Victoria, BC tomorrow. It is only a short distance from Seattle, and so the Captain announced he would only be cruising at about 10 mph.
Thank you Seattle for such a glorious beautiful day ~ and thank you Michele for taking the time to come enjoy dinner with us. You truly made my day! Talk to you soon!