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Cruising on the Crystal Symphony
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Hawai'i - Big Island - 04'01
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Itinerary
In all my life I never would have believed I would own a Rolls Royce, buy a luxury villa in Monte Carlo or do a 10 day Crystal Cruise. However, Marjorie somehow found some T/A pricing that deflated the booking price to that of a normal (peon) cruise. So, with one week notice we signed up for a 10 day Alaska cruise on the Crystal Symphony. That meant we had to scramble to find shelter for our kitties, flights to/from Vancouver and Marjorie had to rearrange her part time work schedule. Fortunately it all came together and we were soon booked to mix with the rich and famous.
It was difficult to compare the Crystal cruise to the "mass market" cruises we have done so stuck to recalling our travels on Oceania. The ships are close in passenger capacity (Symphony @ 848, Nautica @ 684, Marina @ 1250). The major pluses for the Crystal Symphony were the wrap around promenade deck, a 12 to 14 page daily guide "Reflections" (most interesting!), great lecturers, big ship style atrium, liquor is included, wi-fi is included, and there was free Ben & Jerry's ice cream. Also, there was a wonderful library with a good selection of books and a full time librarian to keep things organized.
Minuses were few but here's some. Our cabin window was on the promenade deck so people walking the deck could peer into our cabin. The window was treated with a reflective coating which worked fine during the day but not so good at night. There was still one formal night for the 10 day cruise which we just ignored and did a specialty restaurant instead. Trivia was almost non-existent. It was only offered on sea days and then only once a day. It was always at 12:05 PM, which was right at lunch time. Speaking of lunch I really missed my daily surf and turf plate and chocolate milkshake. Finally, of no consequence to Marjorie or me, there was no buffet at dinner time. Instead the buffet area was converted each night into a Brazillian BBQ (you know those steak on a sword places?).
We had 757 ship mates so the ship was shy about 100 people. This probably added to the very uncrowded feeling
of the ship (high public space to passenger ratio) I don't remember a single line up.
Day 1 (Aug 10) - Traveling to Vancouver and boarding
Yesterday we took all four kitties to the Cattery kennel. Today we drove
to Christina's about 7:00 Am and Matt drove us to the airport. We had a
10:00 flight to Vancouver. and landed there about 10:30. We caught the Canada
Line train and were downtown at the Pan Pacific cruise terminal by just
before noon. We went through a cruise security process and then boarded
the ship to check-in. Crystal has the same check-in process as Oceania and
uses one of the ship's lounges instead of being processed in the terminal
building. By fluke we were docked behind the Nieuw Amsterdam which got
bashed up at the end of our Pacific coast cruise in May this year.
We were fed lunch in the main dining room instead of the buffet
which was a nice touch. While waiting for our rooms to open at 3:00, Marjorie
headed off the ship for a preplanned meeting with Lynn and Jeanne. I stayed
on the ship and read my book. Our bags were in the cabin when 3:00 PM arrived,
so I unloaded all my stuff. Marjorie arrived soon after and unloaded her
stuff. Muster was at 5:15 sailing at 6:00.
For our first dinner, we went to Silk - a free specialty
restaurant specializing in Chinese cuisine. It was good. The entertainment
was the ship's singers and dancers, so we opted for an early night.
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Days 2, 3 (Aug 11, 12) - Sailing up Vancouver Island, then day in Endicott Arm
We woke up to an overcast day for our first day at sea. It was warm and dry though. We were heading
up the inside passage to reach Endicott Arm. It was a nice day at sea - exploring the ship, playing the
first of three trivias, trying out the restaurants, and enjoying the scenery. We did well at trivia teaming up
with a British lady and her 13 year old son. We tied for the win and then lost the tie breaker. Our lecture
series started, with three lectures - one doing the natural history of Alaska, one telling myths and stories
about Alaska and one doing corporate and political security (unrelated to Alaska!). Most did a presentation
each sea day throughout the cruise. The next day was like a sea day as we never left the ship.
It was a glacier-viewing day and lectures. Also, we actually had a second round of trivia at noon, which
we once again tied for first. We won the tie breaker this time. After trivia, the captain made a call (based on the weather and seas)
at whether we would sail up Endicott Arm or Tracy Arm. The decision was Endicott Arm. After visiting
Glacier Bay (Margery Glacier), Yakatuk Bay (Hubbard Glacier) and College Fjord (various glaciers) on
previous cruises, Dawes Glacier wasn't nearly as impressive, We did the entertainment each night
(comedian/musician and standup comic) which were both really good.
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Day 4 (Aug 13) - Our first visit to Haines, Alaska
From the advance weather report we weren't expecting the best weather in Haines. Were we wrong!
We woke up to a beautiful day. It was warm and sunny all day and I was fine in shorts and a t-shirt.
We had breakfast and then headed out for the "HoHo" bus. Haines (pop. 1,700) is essentially two neighorhoods about half
a mile apart. One is an ex-military site (circa 1902) with the buildings converted into homes, condos, businesses and the other
is a newer business district with an IGA, restaurants, boutiques, etc. The bus took us around the military neighborhood
and then drove over to the commercial neighbourhood. The strangest building there was a hammer museum - yes, all you
ever wanted to know about hammers! We decided to walk back to the ship along the waterfront. We grabbed some lunch
and Marjorie decided to walk back and explore the commercial district. I was going to stay on the ship, but it was so nice
out that I did a full circuit of the military area. It was about a mile hike but very pleasant. Back on the ship Marjorie
soon showed up and we decided to do the same hike I had just done for Marjorie's sake. Once again it was lovely
walking in the warm sun. We dined at the Uma Umi restaurant which featured Japanese food. We passed on the
entertainment and did the wander the ship thing instead.
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Day 5 (Aug 14) - A fifth time in Juneau
Today was warm but overcast. This was our fifth time in Juneau, so we had seen it all (or almost all). However, they had
built a tramway (gondola) up the mountain a few years ago so we decided to try it. We had breakfast and
then took the shuttle bus to the base of the tramway. When we went to purchase our tickets, we found out we didn't
have enough money. How embarrasing! I stayed at the shuttle bus depot while Marjorie shuttled back to the ship
to get our credit card. So it was a slow start, but at least we got to try the tramway. The ride up the mountain
was only 5 minutes long, so you had to look quick. At the top there was a large building housing a souvenir shop,
an art shop, a theatre and a restaurant. We did the theatre first where a native man played the hand drum (like a
tambourine without the bells) and narrated a slide show. Then we walked part of some trails for the scenic views.
We spent some time in the shops, then headed back down the tramway and took the shuttle bus back to the ship.
Because it was overcast and we had seen Juneau before, we decided to stay on the ship for the afternoon.
We had dinner at Prego - the Italian restaurant. The entertainment was the song and dance crew so we decided
to go to the movie theatre where we saw "Red Joan". It was a decent movie.
Day 6 (Aug 15) - Back to Hoonah (Icy Strait Point)
Today we were in Icy Strait Point (now known as Hoonah). This is a fairly new port of call and we visited here
last time while on the Millenium. It would be interesting to see what changes had been made. The weather was fine -
overcast but mild. We did
breakfast and then headed out for a wander through the village. The first change is that there was a new
dock facility and we didn't have to tender in. There were some new buildings and a nature trail through the forest.
After watching a sextet of zip liners whiz through the air, we walked along the shore trying to remember what was here
(or wasn't here) before. We popped back to the ship for lunch. In the afternoon we went back ashore to explore the
new section of the village. We walked down a beach covered with inukshuks and walked a trail through the forest.
Featured in the nature trail was an adventure park with swinging bridges and other inter-tree apparatus. Back on
the ship we read until dinner time. For the first time on the cruise we tried the main dining room. It was very good.
The entertainer was a comedian and he was excellent. Instead of spouting a memorized routing, he instead interacted
with the crowd. He was very quick witted and had everyone in stitches. Time for bed.
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Day 7 (Aug 16) - Sea otters and Sitka
We arrived in Sitka to some heavy mists. We had been here once before on a beautiful sunny day,
so didn't mind the mist. Last time we had to tender in, but now, like Hoona, they had remedied this by
building a docking facility. Nice! We had booked a "Whale and Sea Otter" tour at 12:30 so
spent the morning wandering around the docking area (a ways from town). We normally book the
morning excursions but this one was full up except for the afternoon time (we were late booking). It worked
out well though as the morning group had fog and couldn't see anything while we had high clouds
with perfect visibility. We were picked up by a large tour boat that was only 1/3 full. Lots of room
with few people. During our trip to and from the large inlet we saw several humpback whales,
some Steller's sea lions, several "rafts" of sea otters and some bald eagles (in the trees).The
sea otters form uni-sex groups holding hands while attached to a kelp bed. These groups, called
rafts, can be sexed by the presence of pups. Youngsters would be in a female raft. The trip was
excellent and we felt we had seen everything we had looked forward to. The nightly entertainment
was the ship's singers and dancers so we skipped it in turn for an early night.
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Day 8 (Aug 17) - Old times in Ketchikan
Today we pulled into Ketchikan. It was a very gray day with heavy clouds. Like Juneau, Ketchikan had
been on all of our previous Alaskan cruise itineraries, so this was also our fifth visit here. We had visited the tourist
spots outside of town (totem park, seaplane tour, etc)
and walked from end to end in the town on previous visits so just had a relaxing day with nothing
planned. The town was hopping as we shared the downtown area with several other cruise
ships. We both walked around the Creek Street area in the morning. There were some nice
art shops, but we didn't buy anyting (house is full). Marjorie did a shopping forray on her own
in the afternoon, looking for a photo or painting of a sea otter. No luck!
We had
dinner in the main dining room. The evening entertainment was Latin dancing which we avoided.
We wandered the ship for a while and then turned in early.
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Days 9, 10 (Aug 18, 19) - At sea, then visiting in Victoria
Leaving Ketchikan, we had a sea day in the Inside Passage, then a day in Victoria. The sea day was
cool and cloudy, but that was OK. Marjorie did a galley tour and learned how all of our meals were
prepared. The final lectures were given from our wonderful speakers. And, of course, we had our final trivia session.
For the third time we tied for first and had to do a tie breaker (which we won). It was a nice relaxing day. The
following day we pulled into a sunny and warm Victoria. The first thing we had to do was the Canada Cutoms
thingy (on shore) as this was our first Canadian port. For the morning Marjorie and I packed a back pack
and took the ship's shuttle bus to the Empress Hotel, where we waited for the city bus to Butchart Gardens. It
was about a 1/2 hour wait and then a 1/2 hour bus ride. The gardens were beautiful. There were lots of people there,
but the gardens didn't seem crowded. We spent almost 2 hours enjoying the flowers and then called D&J to pick
us up (around 1:00 PM). They were soon there in their brand new car (very nice!!) and took us to a nearby restaurant on
the ocean front (Seahorses Cafe in Brentwood Bay). After lunch we went back to their house via Rogers Chocolates. Always have to stop there!
We had a nice visit and then they drove us back to the cruise dock in time for our dinner. It was a lovely day and
we enjoyed our visit with D&J. The entertainment was "Liar's Club" which is very good but we none-the-less
skipped in order to pack our clothes.
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Day 11 (Aug 20) - Vancouver, then home
We woke up today on a beautiful sunny day in Vancouver. We had a 1:30 flight home, so took our time.
We were off the ship as late as we could (9:00 AM) and caught the Canada Line train to the airport. We were there
in plenty of time to get lunch at (oops, I forget). Our flight was ontime and we were in Calgary by about 3:00 PM.
Christina was there to pick us up. We drove back to her place and then headed home. Once there we had to hustle out
to the kennel place to pick up our four kitties. They were glad to go home. Once again we have had a marvellous journey to Alaska.