Japan & Alaska 2023

     Westerdam was crossing the Gulf of Alaska from Kodiak to Sitka, Alaska. On Baranof Island in the Alexander Archipelago. Baranof Island is just to the west of the Tongass National Forest. At noon the ship was about half way to Sitka.      This morning was cloudy, temperature 4 C and wind WSW 23 km per hour. The ship’s course this morning was 98.3° at 15 knots.      We had breakfast in Lido before going for lattes in the Crow’s Nest to meet Kathy and Dennis for a game of Five Crowns before Andy Fletcher’s final lecture “ What the Scientists Think about It All ” at 11 a.m.   When we returned to the stateroom Judy had left a message asking to meet them for dinner tonight.     After the lecture we walked on the Promenade Deck for almost as hour, catching up to and chatting with Pat and Pete for a while.   At 2 p.m was this cruise’s Ask the Captain in the theatre that was well attended. As like last cruise there was a 30 m...

     Sunrise was around 5:30 a.m. Westerdam was docked at Pier 2 on Chiniak Bay by 8 a.m.   U.S. Immigration and Border Control boarded and set up in the theatre for the face to face passport inspection for the whole ship. We had group #15 part of the 9:30 to 10 a.m. schedule.    We had breakfast in the dining room looking out on the calm waters of Chiniak Bay, a nice change from the rough waters we experienced getting here. There were   patches of blue sky after an early morning rain. Morning temperature was 4° C and very little wind. Some group tours were starting to leave around 9:30 a.m. in school buses.   The school buses needed to return by 1:30 p.m. to be available to take the school children home.     Our number was called shortly before 10 a.m. Passengers were seated in the theatre for about 25 minutes until directed to get in the line for one of five   Immigration and Border Control officers. Just a quick question or two, ...

April 29    There was another time change this morning at 2 a.m. Officially the International Dateline has been crossed. All passengers received in their hall mailboxes this morning, a personal certificate acknowledging that they had crossed the International Dateline.      We still could feel the motion of the ship and hear the ship creaking throughout the night. So not a great sleep and we were a bit tired today. Temperature at 8 a.m. was +4° C, mostly cloudy, humidity 85%   and windy NNW 47 km per hour. Course NE 55.6° at 20 knots.    The line for the Kodiak, Alaska, immigration passport inspection group numbers formed before 6 a.m.   Since the last port was in Japan, the ship is officially entering the United States on May 2. Everyone – passengers and crew – need to go through face-to-face passport inspection then. The group numbers control the number of people flowing through the process at half hour intervals. We have the 9:30 to 10 a.m...

April 26   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.      At 8 a.m. the temperature was 17° C, raining and wind SE 49 knots (or 89 km per hour). The outdoor areas are out of bounds. The course is 75.5 degrees East. On the walk to breakfast the ship’s rolling made you walk slightly side to side as you moved forward. We shared a table at breakfast with Paul and Chris from Brisbane, Australia and Dottie from Texas.     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...