DAY 113 - WELCOME TO SEWARD

Enjoyed A Wonderful Dinner At Silk Road With Friends Joe and Maria ✔     Fantastic Day In Seward, Alaska ✔ Thoroughly Enjoyed The SeaLife Center  ✔ 


Before we begin, we wanted to mention how friendly the local people we met both in Dutch Harbor and Kodiak.  Unlike some of the larger cities such as Ketchikan and Juneau, many of the people you meet in the stores live in Dutch Harbor and Kodiak all year round.  In some of the larger cities, most of the people you meet in those stores either come from places such as the West Coast of the United States and are only in Alaska for the tourist season or for those working in those large chain Jewelry Stores when the season in Alaska is over they are transferred to stores in the Caribbean.  Every and we mean every, person we met in Kodiak was extremely friendly and helpful and we enjoyed several nice conversations with them.  There is no question that they had a very harsh winter in terms of the cold weather and for most cold weather meant very high heating bills.  We were thrilled to visit Dutch Harbor and Kodiak in spite of the cool weather as these are much more genuine Alaska towns that are far less touristy if you will than places such as Juneau and Ketchikan.


We would like to call out the Front Desk, Concierge, Back Office Personnel Including the Clearance Officer, Phone Operators and the Accounting Department.


The Front Desk is a very busy area.  At the front desk you will find three major areas as you look straight ahead at the Desk.  


There is Concierge which is staffed by a Concierge and a Chief Concierge.  These two people take care of a wide range of items.  It actually begins with the embarkation process as their responsibilities include tracking down any and all luggage should it not arrive to the ship.  They also assist with wheelchairs for those guests or visitors requiring their use and will also help to escort some people up to the ship.  They also are the ones you see should you need to upgrade or change rooms, as well as the ones who do the assignments luggage tags and the assigned departure for guests for the end of each cruise as well as coordinating with Crystal's luggage shipping vendor for those guests wanting to shop their luggage home.
They also help make recommendation on a wide range of items for guest in port such as restaurants and they will make reservations for places including restaurants.  Unlike a land based hotel where the concierge works with the same land based people each and every day they must use a wide range of sources to assist the guests with help ashore.  


Then there are the people who work the front desk.  They are a point of contact for many guests and they really have to know so much about a wide range of area all around the ship.  If someone has some type of issue they likely will contact the front desk.  If they need a copy of their bill, or have a billing question, or need to reach someone in another department, or need some information about something in port or need copies of some newspapers these are examples of assistance the front desk provides to the guests.  


Next to them is the Shore Excursion Department.  They take care of processing shore excursion reservations as well as cancellations for guests,  appear on the Crystal Television Station to provide information about each tour in an upcoming port but to also provide some information on what guests can do on their own, and they are either out on shore on each day when tours are conducted and/or on the designated area on the ship where guests first go to before it is time to go to the gangway or to the tender area to go off the ship for a tour.  They also answer any questions that guests have, ensure that guests know which bus to go to and they are often on the pier for the arrivals of the tours.  They are the interface with the tour operator on any issues and they also assist with private tours booked with Crystal.  


The Clearance officer and their people have to figure out what documentation Crystal has to provide for an upcoming port in order to expeditiously clear the ship and the guests and the crew so that when the ship arrives to a port of call that both passengers and crew can get off the ship shortly after the ship arrives.  What complicates their positions is that often the rules change and they must figure out the new rules and then ensure that Crystal is in compliance.


There are normally two operators who take care of a variety of items including assisting guests who want to get a hold of fellow guests but also members of the crew.  Like the front desk personnel, they are often the get-go people and they have to know a great deal about how things on the ship work so they can answer the question(s) that guests have.


The accounting group does the bills for each guest and also takes care of a variety of items for the crew related to accounting and billing.  With thousands and thousands of transactions each day and tight deadlines for guests disembarking at the end of a voyage they their jobs must be done efficiently and 100% accuracy is key.


We have found these personnel to be extremely helpful and as they gain experience in their positions to be both resourceful and knowledgeable and to be highly professional in all of their dealing with us.  They too amaze us by learning our names so quickly and usually they have learned our names before we have learned each of their names.  For many of these people there are nice career paths for them such as starting at the Front Desk and then in time moving to other positions such as being the Concierge.  Often one has to have a very strong educational and/or work experience in Hospitality Services in order to start at the front desk and without this background they might begin in other area such as in a lounge, as a waiter or as a stewardess.  They are very customer focused and we have found them to be very kind and very helpful.

Although we dined at Silk Road last evening, these are the dinner menus from last nights dinner.

Last evening we dined in Silk Road with Joe and Maria Kita.  We have known Joe and Maria since 2007 and have sailed on several cruises with them.  Joe and Maria teach the morning Yoga Class and in the afternoon Maria teaches another Yoga Class while Joe teaches Memoir Writing.


The four of us truly enjoy Silk Road and when the four of us get-together for dinner, there is no question that Silk Road is the choice for dining.  We love the sushi and sashimi and of course many of the other items that are on the menu.


We had a terrific time at Silk Road  We were seated by Headwaiter Sigi and Specialty Restaurant Maitre d' Antonio came by a couple of times to check up on us.  Our waiter was Alberto who we have each time we dine there and he was assisted by Ural.  

This was a special appetizer from the Chef of Silk Road

This appetizer was White Fish Nobu Style, Yello Tail Sashimi and Tuna Sashimi

Another special from the Chef which was Lobster Tempura.

Now some might say isn't that enough before the entree comes.  Well, not for us.  

Recognizing how much Sushi and Sashimi we order we thought it best for each of us to order our respective items because we didn't think there would be a platter large enough for all of the items.  Yes, we know they would have prepared on platter of sashimi and one platter of sushi but it was more fun to see what everyone would end up with.

We knew it would be a lot because when before we even got into the dining room, Joe kept reminding us that he and Maria didn't have any lunch yesterday.  

Translation = "We are going to be ordering a lot of sushi and sashimi."

The two of us shared this platter of Sushi and Sashimi.  Throughout this cruise we actually have cut down on the amount of sushi and sashimi we order.  In fairness, Keith has all of the Sashimi and Anne Marie mainly has the one roll.  She also enjoys Tempura which comes later in the meal.

The four of us also shared a Dragon Roll which we failed to take a photo of last night but have posted photos of it in previous Blogs.

This is the Platter of Sushi and Sashimi that Joe and Maria enjoyed.

For our next course Keith had the Mushroom Salad.  This is a very tasty salad and the mushrooms are come warm.

While Keith enjoyed the Salad, Anne Marie enjoyed the Spring Rolls

We each had Hot Soba Noodles served with a broth and instead of Tempura we had three Steamed Scallops.

 For dessert Anne Marie had one scoop of sherbet and Keith had a fruit plate.


On top of the wonderful food we enjoyed a wonderful conversation with Joe and Maria.  We had a lot of great laughs.  We reminisced about past World Cruises including special moments that we shared, spoke about what each of us did in some of the recent ports such as Japan, and talked about some of the ports that Joe and Maria visited on last years World Cruise after we disembarked the ship in Singapore.  


Keith would really like to take Joe's Memoir Writing Class sometime in the future and hopefully we can fit that into the schedule.  The challenge right now is not enough time in the day for that given that we write our Blog.  We would also like to take some of the Yoga Classes and Pilates Classes.  


We departed Kodiak later than expected.  We believe the delay may have been due to getting the final Tender into its position on the ship but we have not yet confirmed this with anyone.  Regardless, we made it to Seward on time.


We slept very well last evening and it was great not to forward the clocks one hour.  Keith was back up at the Fitness Center very early and enjoyed a great workout.  Brian was already working out and Keith and Brian chatted for a little while.


Anne Marie worked out in the morning as well.  We had breakfast in our room as we got ready to visit Seward.


During Captain Glenn's talk from the bridge this morning he noted that we may see some sun in Seward and that the weather in Seward looked promising.  As usual, the Captain was correct.  Captain Glenn's thought for the day follows.


"Try and Fail but don't fail to try."


This is only our second time to Seward and our first time to visit the town.  When we arrived here the first time it was on a cruise that ended in Seward and from there we were taken to Anchorage where we spent a night before flying home.


Springtime In Seward


This is Mt. Marathon.  On July 4 of each year there is a race up and down the mountain.  The record run is about one hour.

We took one of the first shuttles (bus) from the ship into downtown Seward.  The drive didn't take very long and we were the only ones on the bus.  The driver lives in Anchorage.  She dropped us off in front of the SeaLife Center Aquarium  We had wanted to see the Aquarium so  that was perfect and then we paid the admission and took a self guided tour of the Aquarium.  As it was before 9:00 AM we were one of the few people there and with so many staff they helped to answer all of the questions we had.

Keith walked outside the Sealife Center and took the photo above and then saw a sea animal and quickly snapped this photo.

Returning to the Sea Center Keith took these photos of the Harbor Seals.

The next couple of photos are of Sea Lions.

We now know how they got their names.  The sounded like Lions.  They thought it was time to be fed.

After we finished the tour of the SeaLife Center we walked around the town.  In the immediate vicinity there were stores, restaurants, some churches and some  homes.

We also ran into fellow passenger Dwight who has also been on board for the full World Cruise and we asked him if he wanted to join us for a walk.  After a few minutes we all decided that rather than take the shuttle back to the ship that we would all just take a nice long walk back to the ship so that we could take in all of the scenery of this very charming town.  It also gave us a great opportunity for the three of us to talk.

This was a Bed and Breakfast and it overlooked Resurrection Bay.

This trail runs parallel with the Bay. This was a trail that connected a point 50 miles north of Seward Alaska where a forerunner of the Alaska Railroad ended, through Iditarod, Alaska and then to Nome.  The trial was about 1,150 miles long.

We were going to walk on the path all the way to the ship but there were portions that we too icy so instead we walked on Ballaine Boulevard which ran parallel to the trail.  We mainly had to walk on the shoulder of the road but there were very few vehicles.

Several dump trucks were dumping the snow on this pile.

This rock commemorated the founder of Seward.

One of a several photos taken by Keith as we walked back to the ship.

Anne Marie with Dwight.

We walked by several charming homes.  The views of the Bay were breathtaking.

Interesting Place appropriately called the Train Wreck.

All in all we enjoyed a wonderful time in Seward.  While it was likely in the high 30's during our walk it was a beautiful day and with all of the clothing we had worn the cold was not a problem.


We also wanted to note that all of the locals we met were very warm and friendly. Even the motorists yielded to us as we crossed various streets.


Once on back the ship, we enjoyed another nice salad entree.  Speaking of food, we saw several pallets of food being delivered to the ship.


In the afternoon, Anne Marie did some packing.  Yes, it is time to begin that process.  She also walked and did some reading and writing.  Keith also read and wrote and helped Anne Marie with some packing.


This evening we will dine in the Crystal Dining Room and we look forward to dining there.


TODAY'S THOUGHT FOR THE DAY......


"Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.” –Steve Jobs

Keith and Anne Marie