We headed to Seattle to board the Norwegian Encore for an Alaskan cruise. We had a great afternoon of our arrival sampling beers from a couple breweries.
Then we headed to Elliot's to meet up with Christine and her husband Dale for a 3 hour wonderful catch up dinner.
Then it was time to board the Norwegian Encore. The process went very well including the mandatory COVID testing at the port. At boarding, we headed to our muster station to get checked off. Then, we went to American Diner. I love the lobster sliders.
For dinner we went to the Italian restaurant Onda. We had the polenta and mushrooms and octopus for the appetizer. Delicious. For pasta, Glenn had the short rib ravioli and I had the bolognese. Both were good, but I thought the bolognese was slightly better. We had outside on the waterfront and it kept getting colder throughout our dinner. The ravioli cooled off faster than the bolognese. For entree, we both get the fried veal chop with a bright lemony arugula salad. It was so good but HUGE. We moved inside for dessert because an even colder fog rolled in. I had the butterscotch pudding and Glenn had the cheesecake. The cheesecake was very good. The highlight of the pudding was the salted caramel sauce.
The bartenders at the Observation Lounge are so much fun. This is Paul's first contract ever. His wife is the hostess in the Haven. Febri could be Lovely's sister. She looks a lot like her and has the same fun energy. Giselle is great - a little quieter. Both Febri and Giselle know Lovely and were with her on the initial crossing on the Joy. They think she may be assigned to the Bliss. She went back because she didn't like sailing without her husband. Kurt is really tall and the only non-Filipino. He's from St Lucia and really nice.
We went to back to the Observation Lounge after dinner to hear the piano player. She's pretty good. The bartenders at the Observation Lounge kept talking about how Glenn looked like Mark, the head of Food and Beverage. See for yourself:
Day 2 - Sea Day
We had a very relaxing Sea Day enjoying the Observation Lounge. The highlight was seeing Choir of Man again. They made some adaptations due to COVID, but the show is still very good.
Day 3 - Icy Strait Point
Lovely morning of scenic cruising on our way to Icy Strait Point. We saw a lot of whales spouting around us and one tail very far away. Giselle - the bartender - has a bar waiter bring us waters wherever we are sitting.
We spent most of the morning in the Observation Lounge watching for whales. Lunch was at The Local. I had a really good chicken salad sandwich. Glenn was disappointed by the chili dog, but the wings and casaer salad were decent. After lunch, we walked around the waterfront since the weather was really nice - about 60 degrees. Then we headed to the balcony as we pulled into port.
We decided not to get off since there's not much there. We enjoyed people watching from the balcony. We could see the people riding down the zip line.
We went to Manhattan Room main dining room for dinner. It was really good. I had a good French Onion soup and beet salad. Glenn enjoyed the Asian spare ribs and mozzarella ravioli with lobster cream sauce.
The pear salad was good but my Mom would call it weeds. Glenn had the chicken Madeira and I had the bang bang chicken and shrimp - it was kind of like a curry.
After dinner, we went to the magic show. The magician had appeared on Penn and Teller Fool Us. Glenn gave the show a 7. The jokes were a little tired and very 80s. It was a lot of card tricks.
We headed to the Atrium to listen to the band. They were pretty good. After that we headed to the Observation Lounge and it was hilarious and rowdy. There was a more serious piano player - Alexa- on the right side and a rowdy group at the bar. The funniest part was the people at the bar started chatting One more Song when she still had 30 minutes left in her set. Then, the bartender made everyone shots and a cheers to Alexa.... As she was in the middle of singing a slow, sad song from Les Miserables. It ended with Piano Man. It was great.
Day 4 - Skagway
Very fun day yesterday in Skagway, Alaska. We had halibut and reindeer sausage at the charming Olivia's Bistro. They have a little garden where they grew many of the vegetables they serve.
Then, we enjoyed the beer garden at Klondike Brewing. The blonde coffee stout was my favorite.
On to Skagway Brewing Company. It's wonderful to see how much it's grown since our last visit in 2017. I love their Spruce Tip Blonde Ale. I also really like their rhubarb gin cocktail made with Uncle Val's Botanical gin.
We stopped at Skagway Fish Company for oysters and smoked salmon spread.
Masks were required in Skagway. The restaurants and brewery had us sign in with names and phone numbers for contract tracing.
We had delicious Indian from the buffet for dinner and called it an early night.
Day 5 - Juneau / Dawes Glacier
It was super rainy in Juneau so we set up camp along the windows in the Observation Lounge. I think we were there from 8 am - 6:30 pm. I read a book and a half.
We had scenic cruising from 5 pm - 8 ok through Endicott Arm ending at Dawes Glacier. Once we got to the glacier, people were all over us. I thought one lady was going to sit in Glenn's lap. We got up and went down to Deck 8 right outside of Ocean Blue for a great view. Glenn even spotted some seals on an iceberg and calving.
For dinner, we went to Manhattan Room. The broccoli soup and spicy corn soup were delicious. Glenn had a delicious Asian pork dish he said reminded him of Chinatown in Boston. I had a great short rib pasta. After dinner, we went to see Harvey and Rowena at the A List bar just outside Cagney's. Then, we went to the main theater for a Beatles show. It needs a little work. The costume / beard changes took a long time.
After the show, we went to Observation Lounge for a night cap.
Day 6 - Ketchikan
We had great weather in Ketchikan. Norwegian docks at a new area called Ward Cove.
We had to wait about 30 minutes to board the shuttle to downtown Ketchikan. The ride was about 20 minutes.
We walked around and visited 55 North - a great local coffee shop recommended by Diane's daughter Erin. We tried to meet up with her but she had to work.
We then walked down to Artic bar with an outdoor deck to try a couple beers.
Then, we headed to Bar Harbor Ale House. That place was terrific. They had a choose your own platter with different seafood and meats and sides.
We tried Alaska Spot Prawns. We had never had them. They are very small and are very tender and sweet almost like lobster. We also had the smoked salmon and brisket. Both were very good. For sides, we got onion rings, mac and cheese, and coleslaw. It was a great stop.
We headed back to the ship to hang out at the Observation Lounge during sailaway. We went to Cellars for a pre-dinner glass of wine and the to Ocean Blue.
Our meal at Ocean Blue was great. Glenn had the scallops/short ribs app and the halibut. I had tuna tartare with avocado and the Hong Kong style snapper. We both had the beer salad. Glenn had mushroom risotto and brussel sprouts for his side. I had mac and cheese and creamed spinach. The best bites were the scallops, halibut, and brussel sprouts. Glenn liked the cheesecake dessert and I thought the key lime tart was pretty good.
We went to A List for an after dinner cocktail and then to Observation Lounge.
Day 7 - Sea Day
We started the day in our beloved Observation Lounge.
Then, we went to a lot of panels. We heard from the onboard guest performers what life is like performing on cruise ships while we ate our pub lunch.
We went to the Captain's talk with the Chief Engineer. The Captain had led the "mission" as he called it to sail the crew back to the Philippines from Europe during the COVID suspension. I asked the Chief Engineer about the changes in fuels and he seem excited about upcoming developments in alternative fuel sources for cruise ships.
The Magician had a class on magic and taught us a few tricks. He was very complimentary of being on the Penn and Teller Fool Us show. He also emphasized how important it was to practice the magic tricks.
Then we walked around the Waterfront enjoying the balmy weather and Sea Day views.
We had a nice dinner at Savor and then went to see Choir of Man one more time. We love that they still passed out beer to the audience for the initial Cheers!
We took the Celebrity transfer to the airport. We were all checked in and through security 4 hours before our flight so we enjoyed the beautiful Delta Sky Club at the Seattle airport.
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