April 26, 27, 28 #1 & 28 #2, 2023 Sea Days #1 to #4
At 2 a.m. this morning, the first of six or seven clock changes occurred because this cruise will be crossing many time zones including the International Dateline, in a few days.
Today was to have been the final Japanese port, however, three days ago the captain advised the ship that those passengers continuing to Seattle would not have the planned stop in Kushiro on Japan’s northern island of Hokkaidō. There was a fierce storm predicted due to a low pressure trough making its way through China, the Sea of Japan, northern Japan and into the Pacific Ocean. This is the first Sea Day of seven. The next port is planned to be Kodiak, Alaska, on May 2.
There are staterooms as high as Deck 10. We are much lower on Deck 1 about a quarter of the distance from the front of the ship. Even though our stateroom was low, we could feel the motion of the ship.
There was a Cruise Critic Meet & Greet in the Hudson Room this morning. There are about 100 passengers who follow Cruise Critic on this cruise and who registered for the event who were on the Japan cruise plus an additional 19 who just boarded on Monday. There were about 70 who attended. We met Joyce from San Diego and Gene & Deb from outside of Minneapolis. The host was Alan from Calgary.
Feeling a touch queasy, we did go to lunch in the dining room joining Ken and Darlene from Lake Tahoe and Dale. Andy Fletcher‘s 2 p.m. lecture The Universe is Much Stranger than You Can Imagine was fascinating.
Negotiating the ship in the rolling seas was tiring, so we both had an afternoon nap. When we awoke, the ship was rolling even more than earlier. Tonight’s attire was dressy. It is not like the formal nights of our first cruises. There are very few women wearing gowns or men wearing tuxedos. Now men wear dress pants and long sleeve dress shirts, with maybe a sports jacket and women wear a dressy top and dress pants or a skirt and maybe you see a cocktail dress. There is a special printed menu. We sat with Joyce and Karen form Sacramento, California; Sandy from Minneapolis and Mark from Australia. Since we didn’t go to the dining room until after 6 we missed the 7 p.m. Ballroom dance hour. I messaged Pat and Pete and they also missed the ballroom dancing tonight. With the movement of the ship, dancing would have been very challenging.
After dinner the ship was still rolling. It felt like being on a moderate roller coaster that just will not stop rocking and changing direction, suddenly thumping and throwing you off balance. The most comfortable place is either sitting or lying down. We may need to give in and get some Dramamine.
We did not make any effort to walk distances today. Total steps were 3,578
April 27
Again this morning at 2 a.m. another clock change occurred - another hour forward. We still could feel the motion of the ship throughout the night. It seemed pretty rough. We are glad that we were not tempted by an offer two days before this cruise started. It was for an upgrade to a verandah stateroom for only $189 US each. Verandah staterooms are on Decks 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 10. The higher up on the ship and the further away from midship you go, the more you feel the motion of the ship. Our stateroom is lower and a bit forward of midship. The motion of ship going to the theatre or the dining room, just one deck up, makes most people walk drunkenly, grasping for the railings. It is more difficult to walk straight on this deck, let alone on the higher decks.
It has been raining, so the Promenade Deck is closed off and the outside areas of Decks 9, 10 and 11 are also closed. If you feel like tackling a stroll the options are to walk the halls or go to the treadmills in the gym.
Today is our 100th cruising day on Holland America ships. Our first cruise on a Holland America ship was in 2001 to Alaska. Other Holland America cruises were 2009 in the Baltic Sea, 2017 the Norway coast to its northern top, 2017 to Chile, Antarctica & Argentina and 2019 to Hawaii and French Polynesia.
The storm has forced a more southerly route to Kodiak, Alaska. The crossing of the International Date is delayed since the official Line is further east. The original route would have been cruising closer to the Bering Sea, along Japan’s Habomai islands & Shikotan island and crossing the International Dateline. We might have been on an easterly course going south of the Russian federal subject of Kamchatka Krai (Kamchatka Peninsula) cruising toward Alaska. There is a chain of 14 large volcanic islands and 55 smaller islands known collectively as the Aleutian Islands. Starting with Russia’s two Kormandorsky Islands (Bering & Medny) then Alaska’s Near Islands, Rat Islands, Andreanof Islands, Fox Islands and Krenitzin Islands. The International Dateline crossing should be in two days.
After a light breakfast we attended Andy Fletcher’s first of three lectures about Alfred Einstein. Part 2 was at 1 p.m. and part 3 is scheduled for tomorrow afternoon.
At the captain’s daily noon announcement he explained that there was an unexpected secondary swell during the night that contributed to even more rolling. The wind was also stronger at 60 knots which is approximately 112 kilometres per hour or Gale Force 11. Gale Force 12 is a hurricane. The waves are five to six meters high and may stay this way for the next few days. Another storm is on the way, but winds will be from the stern which could give slightly more roll to the ship, but gentler. The current course is avoiding ten meter high waves at the centre of the storm. There are 2,566 nautical miles to Kodiak. The ship’s position at noon was North 37°49 and East 155°14.
We went to Andy Fletcher’s second lecture about Alfred Einstein. We stopped at Guest Services for motion sickness pills, before climbing up to the Lido buffet on Deck 9 for lunch. Looking out the window as we departed the theatre from the Deck 1 exit, the ship was in a light fog. The waves were white capped. By the time we finished playing games of Five Crowns with Pat and Pete on Deck 10 in the Crow’s Nest, the waves seemed smaller and the rockiness was a bit less noticeable. We all agreed that we would miss ballroom dancing tonight and hope tomorrow was more suitable for dancing.
Since neither of us was ready for a big dinner, we opted to climb down to the Lido on Deck 9 and to eat dinner at the buffet.
Tonight’s entertainment was Mentalist, Brent Webb from Las Vegas. Returning form the theatre the walk was steadier.
We managed a few mire steps that yesterday - 4662
April 28 #1
There was another time change at 2 a.m. this morning. The motion sickness medicine helped with sleeping. We could feel a gentler motion of the ship throughout the night. The ship is keeping an average speed of 20 knots (about 37 km/hr). This morning’s course is 82.5 East. The waves are about four meters high with white caps.
We slept in until 8:30 a.m. today. Temperature was 11 ° C, mainly sunny with scattered clouds, wind WNW 47 km per hour. Our position is roughly East 172° and North 40°. The International Dateline is 180° which is halfway around the world from the Greenwich 0° meridian named for its location at Greenwich, England.
We had breakfast by ourselves in the dining room. The captain announced that beginning at 9:30 a.m. there would be a Safety Drill for some of the crew and that the commands broadcast would be for the crew, no action was required by the guests. Once finished breakfast, we walked the halls since the Promenade Deck was closed during the lifeboat drill. We logged about 3,200 steps as we worked our way from Deck 2 to 10. It was much easier walking around the ship today.
On Deck 10 in the Crow’s Nest, there are two maps, where at 3 p.m. one of the navigation team explains the location of the ship on each of the sea days. The ship is within a few hundred nautical miles of a north/south chain of underwater mountains known as the Emperor Seamount Chain. They are an extension of volcanic features with the much further south Hawaiian islands and trail from them roughly to the north west.
Back at our stateroom there was a towel elephant waiting for us. We sent some laundry to be washed which should be back within two days.
Rachel the cruise director gave a talk about whales at 11 a.m. We were not hungry and decided to work in a nap before the 2 p.m. Andy Fletcher’s lecture was about Quantum Mechanics and how it seems confusing, but the math works.
The captain’s noon message warned that after midnight the ride will get rougher. The waves were about four meters, but the predicted low pressure system could produce six meter high waves. He also mentioned that the outside decks are open, after two days being off limits. He also mentioned that tomorrow we cross the International Dateline and get another April 28th.
At 3 p.m. each day in Deck 10’s Crow’s Nest lounge two navigation crew members plot the noon position of the ship with a pin on a map. There are usually several people there to keep the crew members busy answering questions for half an hour. We met Pat and Pete there for some games of Five Crowns before dinner. We met Judy and Doug for dinner in the main dining room. Service was quicker today and we were done in less than 90 minutes. With just a gentle rocking to contend with for dancing, we joined Pat and Pete and five other couples for ballroom dancing.
Tonight’s show was Dennis Daye, a pianist who also includes a trumpet and an accordion. He was also entertaining on the previous cruise.
We managed 10,004 steps today including 25 flights of stairs.
Today was the fourth day in a row with an overnight time change. It was also the day that the International Dateline was crossed, giving us another April 28 - at least regarding time on the ship. Today’s course is northeast 53.3° toward Kodiak in four more days.
This morning the cloud was back, temperature 10° C and wind SW 48 km per hour. At breakfast we joined John & Sharon from Florida and Lisa & Malcolm from Perth, Australia. After breakfast we went to Coffee with Rachel in the Rolling Stone Lounge where the Executive Chef, Thomas Schumann, was her guest. At 10 a.m. Andy Fletcher’s lecture was about Chaos Theory.
Back to the stateroom we found the nicely folded laundry and a cute towel frog. There was also a notice about Entry Immigration Inspection for entry into the United States at Kodiak, Alaska. There was a Customs Declaration form to complete plus instructions for getting a face-to-face passport inspection group number in the morning. Passengers can start at 6 a.m. tomorrow to pick-up their numbers in the Atrium by Guest Services which could mean that a line of people chatting by our door would be lining up at 5:30 a.m. tomorrow morning as happened on the last cruise for the Korean entry. Approximately 260 people will be seen, at Kodiak, every 30 minutes according to the schedule, starting at 8 a. m, with the people on excursions going first.
We decided to walk in the halls when we saw that it was raining and Deck 3 was wet. We had a quick lunch in Lido, before getting a coffee in the Crow’s Nest and going back to the theatre for Andy Fletcher’s lecture about climate Change and the effect of Chaos Theory on trying to make predictions.
By 2 p.m. the course had changed slightly to northeast 57.5°.
Later in the afternoon we met Pat and Pete in the Crow’s Nest for games of Five Crown before dinner. Both couples decided not to go to the 7 p.m. Ballroom Dance Hour this evening.
After dinner we watched Canadian comedian Scott Cotter then went up to Lido for tea and cake. Larry went to Casino for awhile.
Total Steps 12,698 Flights 42
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