Today we are sailing from Anchorage to Dutch Harbour! We are hoping to get to Dutch Harbour tomorrow and things so far are looking good! At about 2000 passengers and 900 crew, the Noordam is the biggest ship that visits Dutch Harbour. It has visited twice a year for the last two years. Once when doing the Arctic Circle cruise during the summer solstice and then once when doing this Fire and Ice cruise. The dock at Dutch Harbour is exposed to the sea, so half the port visits are often missed due to the weather! Lets keep our fingers crossed for tomorrow!
In the meantime, there is now a Knitters Group at 10am each day which I am happy about! It is very interesting – there are about 10 ladies that attend the group – 5 are from North/South Carolina and only 2 know each other! There are 4 ladies from Washington State and me, the Canuck! We have some really interesting discussions about knitting vs. crocheting! One lady who does glass kiln work showed some of her designs and I thought (from a distance) they were quilts! I was amazed at her work!
From a Celiac standpoint, when we have days at sea, I eat lunch in the Main Dining Room and like each dinner, I order the night before. I find the lunch options for those with Celiac Disease a bit challenging at times, so I like to make up my lunch choices based on what HAL offers. Today, out of respect for the slightly chilly environment, I had macaroni and cheese! Yum! They make a VERY GOOD 4 cheese mac & cheese on board!
Tonight is the Masquerade Ball! I have been busy making a mask for myself (and Andrew) in the Art area on Deck 10, behind the Crows Nest on the starboard side. We were aware of this ball coming up and the mask sessions started 2 days ago where I painted my mask PURPLE! When we were in Walmart yesterday, I picked up some extra purple features to go with the black ones from the ship! Andrew has a blue mask – I will post a picture of his later…
For dinner I had some local Alaska salmon which was on some excellent risotto! An amazing meal! The salmon was cooked just perfectly – flaky but not over steamed! We then attended the Masquerade Ball on the World Stage, however my pictures, despite my snazzy new cell phone, did not work out as they were too shaky from being in the bow!