Alaska! Eddie’s Cruise Journal- Days 1 & 2

I recently returned from a cruise of Alaska's inside passage with a group of lite rock listeners. We cruised on board the  Norwegian Jewel, which left from Seattle on Saturday, July 14th .  Here is... the first part of a  journal I kept of our vacation....

Day #1:  This vacation began with a typical workday wake-up time of just after 3a.m.  We were  on the way early to the Hartford, CT airport for a 5:26a.m. flight to Newark (We had dropped our kids off with family in CT. Friday night.)

I hadn't flown in several years, and I was unfamiliar with some of the rules for carry-on items.  After the full-body x-ray and pat-down, my tube of tooth paste was found to be over-sized and a possible threat to national safety, and I had to leave it with security.

Upon arrival in Newark, we noticed the airline had changed our flight to one later in the morning without telling us, and, after trying to change it back -without success- to ensure we would make it to the ship on-time, we decided to live with it.

The five hour flight to Seattle was packed, with me in the middle seat.  Good luck, so far.

The man sitting next to me was a waiter on the Norwegian Pearl, the sister ship to The Jewel, and he gave us an accurate rundown of all the food we could expect to (over)eat in the next week!

After a lost luggage scare with Beth's bag at the Seattle Airport, we took the Norwegian tour shuttle to the the pier, passing many of Seattle's attractions, like the Space Needle, along the way.

We made our way through a second security check-in to board the ship and then checked in and found our way to our cabin, a windowed stateroom, mid-ship on the starboard side. I learned all these terms as the week went on.  I also learned how fortunate we were to have a cabin with a window!

We joined many of the passengers on the top outside deck to watch our departure from Seattle....Bon Voyage!

The first couple hours of a departing cruise are a huge celebration with passengers (and crew) out dancing and partying on the top decks; pools & hot tubs full to capacity and everyone excited about the fun-filled adventure that lies ahead.  We quickly realized  that the seasoned travelers were the ones who knew to start their Alaska cruise in the pool, because  it soon would be too cool for us to consider using the pool again.

After walking around the decks and becoming familiar with the ship, we returned to the outside party, which by now had settled down considerably and the temperature had dropped and cool winds had picked up dramatically.  We headed to an inside bar for happy hour, where we talked with another couple who were celebrating their 50th cruise...and us just our first!

Our bartender, a longtime cruise employee from Indonesia, told us about his family back at home and his plans to leave the cruise biz after he could finish paying for his two sons' college education.

We had dinner in one of the ship's sit-down restaurants (more on the food later) and returned for our cabin at about 10p.m. (1 a.m. our time) to finish a very long day of travel!

Day #2  Sunday, July 15th

We slept long and well after Saturday's long day of travel.  Sunday was to be a day at sea, with a relaxed schedule.

Sunday was also a day of rough seas, with waves of 7 to 12 feet.   You could feel the ship buck and shift beneath your feet, and  you could see others having as much trouble walking as you were.  I was very glad to have gotten the seasickness patch (scopolamine) prescribed before cruising. The primary reason I never cruised before was my propensity for seasickness on several day trips and deep sea fishing excursions I had taken in the past.  I had been really sea sick a couple of times in my life and it's not the feeling I wanted to experience again.  My pharmacist promised that the patch was an easy and reliable way to avoid the problem.  You place a small patch behind your ear every three days.  It worked for me  - I didn't get sea sick the entire cruise.

Staying on board  Sunday allowed us time to start sampling some of the ship's fine restaurants.  The Jewel has ten different eating facilities, plus an outdoor bar-b-q and a sushi bar.  Several of the restaurants are included with the cruise and the other half charge a fixed per person price of $10 to $25 extra.

We ate dinner with some of listeners from the Lite Rock group and we had a great time!  Many of them had gone to see an on-board show earlier in the day and they had good reviews.  I didn't see any shows but I did take two naps to catch up on some sleep.