Alaska

Northern Light Show!

Secretly I got up in the middle of the night and look what I saw! It is a good thing I cannot sleep through the night sometimes…

Anchorage Port

We have had a VERY lucky experience! Very rarely do cruise ships DOCK in Anchorage! For the Don Young Port of Alaska, which is just north of downtown Anchorage, due to the extreme tidal fluctuations and heavy commercial freight traffic, only specialized ships (some Holland America and exploration vessels) can dock at the port. The mega-cruise ships stop instead at the deep water ports of Seward or Whittier and then bus or use the train to transfer passengers to Anchorage. These mega-cruise ship ports are also easier for the cruise ships to get to from the glacier areas of Alaska as they are on the east side of the peninsula where Anchorage is at the end on the other side. Also, cruise ships offer “land” components when the cruise ends in Alaska such as to the Denali National Park.

At the Don Young Port of Alaska, we were able to get off at Anchorage and either be bussed into the city (on Princess busses!) or to get onto an Excursion bus. We were on the Anchorage Highlights and Alaskan Air Museum tour.

Alaska Aviation History Overview

I was really interested in this tour as it included the Alaskan Air Museum and I have watched some shows on the history of aviation in Alaska along with spending A LOT of time in airports to get from Vancouver to Dutch Harbour, which took 2 days each way, via Seattle and Anchorage. In Alaska, there are communities that are fairly remote and frozen a good percentage of the year! For most of these places, the only way to reach them is by air – similar to northern Canada. Food, medical supplies, people, basically EVERYTHING need to be flown in. Most have a gravel runway or in the winter, ice packed runways where planes can land on wheels. For towns near the water, there are float planes that can fly in which land on their pontoons (or skis depending on the season) to deliver goods too. The “bush” pilots who fly these routes are a rare bunch but they know Alaska well and the challenges that come with flying up here.

The next interesting fact about Anchorage Airport, which I did not know about until my trip to Dutch Harbour in February, 1995, is the sheer number of cargo planes that land in Anchorage for a fuel stop. Flights from Asia to New York carrying cargo – such as a 747 freighter, cannot make the trip without touching down for fuel. If you look at the great circle mapper, the flight patch from Asia to Toronto/Chicago and the eastern USA makes an arch over Alaska and down over Canada to the destination. Guess what airport is on the way? Anchorage! Great stop to pick up some fuel! Only issue – the airport can have some very “interesting” conditions when it comes to snow! I have been to a lot of airports around the world, however back in 1995 I do not think I had been at any airport, including Frankfurt and Heathrow, that had more 747’s (aka Queen of the Skies) taxiing around than I saw in Anchorage the days I spent at ANC airport!

I am not going to bore you with stats or anything – you can look them up yourself…. LOTS of 747’s! In fact we saw one land and taxi in while we were on the bus heading to the Alaska Air Museum!

The bus did drive quickly through downtown Anchorage on the way to the Anchorage Airport. The Anchorage Airport looks to have grown up in the last 30 years since I was last hear as that seems to be a new control tower! Needless to say, we did not end up at the airport (sad) but instead at the Alaska Air Museum, which funny enough was accessed from an active “taxiway” which I thought the bus driver was kidding when he said that (security is a bit different in the USA than in Canada it seems) but no, we were crossing the taxiway for all the float planes at Lake Hood which is right next to the Anchorage Airport!

Lake Hood Float Plane Aerodrome

We arrived safely the Alaska Air Museum which is on the edge of Lake Hood. The Lake Hood Float Plane Base has the largest number of Sea Planes in North America at over 1500 registered to this base. They THINK they are the busiest float plane base, however knowing Vancouver and the Coal Harbour Aerodrome along with Harbour Air being the largest seaplane operation in the world, I can confirm that Vancouver, with 200-300 seaplane flights a day on average, is a bit busier than Lake Hood at 190 flights on average.

We were dropped off at the Alaska Aviation Museum where the majority of the bus tour was able to enter and to hear the docent talk about the history of Alaskan Aviation. Unfortunately, the slow people like myself getting off the bus and needing our mobility devices too a bit more time to get into the building and we missed half the presentation! That was frustrating – someone even asked him to start over and he would not as he said the “tour was all there”.

Now we are outside of the museum, however still in museum grounds and they have one of the Alaska Airlines 737-200 Combi cargo and passenger planes that used to fly around Alaska and what I took from Anchorage to Dutch Harbour on a flight I will never forget! Unfortunately, it was not accessible, so Andrew went up and took pictures for me while I sat on my walker and explained to another lady in a wheelchair what was inside as I remember it and what it was like to fly in the plane. Too bad for a tour that Holland America sold as Accessible, it was not fully accessible! So easy to do!

Here are Andrew’s pictures from my phone of the interior! In the first picture, where the docent is talking on the left and people are standing at the back, that is where the cargo flew on the plane (behind the pilots). It was secured to the floor and then there was a net covering the cargo and then the seats you see in the picture on the right (ignore the tables and lights – no idea why they are there!) were secured to the floor, depending on the cargo/passenger ratio.

Test

This plane is similar to the flying water bombers (but much smaller) that used to live on Sproat Lake!

Now we have walked around the compound of planes, and can see the Lake Hood Control Tower which is staffed during summer, we entered into the “workshop” for the volunteers at the Aviation Museum.

After hanging out in the Alaska Air Museum store to acquire a shirt, we were back on the bus to be dropped in downtown Anchorage! Lynda was on a mission – Walmart – for a couple of items that she needs for the cruise! We went into an office building and were given a number for Yellow Cabs in Anchorage, however after 2 calls no one showed up so we switched to Uber! Arriving at Walmart, I was able to pick up my online order and then for a couple of items that were “not in stock” I was able to purchase similar items that were suitable. I had wanted some pens, however they were in a locked case and after calling for customer service three times for assistance and waiting for a total of 30 minutes, we gave up – no purple pens for Lynda today! Back in the Uber we asked the gentleman to take us to the port where the Noordam was docked. I saw no need to go back into downtown to get on one of the busses (they did have wheelchair lifts) just to be driven to the port. I was wrong. The only people allowed to drop passengers from the Noordam were the Princess busses! The Uber then took us back to downtown (which we had already passed) and to the waiting busses! Shortly soon after we were at the Don Young Port and getting ready to board the Noordam… but wait!

We were back at the ship in good time so we could get ready for dinner as tonight we were going to the Pinnacle Grill which had been turned into Morimoto’s Restaurant for the evening. I LOVE Morimoto’s Restaurant as it has my favourite dish Angry Lobster!

As we got to the Pinnacle Grill, there was a bit of a commotion as we were lead to our table by the window and we soon found out why…

Celiac Saga ends with a Surprise Visit!

The waiter whispered to me that Chef Willem wants to meet with me. I thought oh no, what have I done now! I know I sent in the feedback a few days earlier and Patricia told me that it made her job easier, so I thought the goal was accomplished. The ship had also delivered a bag of Tate’s GF Chocolate Chip cookies to my room already which was really nice. Perhaps Chef Willem does not like how I order my gluten free food? I am sure Andrew had some thoughts of what had I gotten up to also, but I will leave his thoughts to him! Chef Willem appeared and he was SO EXCITED to tell me that he had gone shopping at Walmart in Anchorage! I thought that was interesting as I had seen some HAL staff in the store, but thought they were just there on personal shopping missions… Then the truth came out…

He thanked me for writing what I did and apologized as he got onto the Noordam in Vancouver and found that the stock of gluten free food was almost non-existent! He said that is why I was having so many problems finding gluten free snacks (cookies) on the ship along with GF muffins in the morning. We talked about the following points:

1. The “vegan” issue from the Seattle to Sydney cruise last year (so many vegans on board that the Chef had to buy all the milk alternatives he could find in Honolulu and Kahului, Maui!
2. There are “just under 20 Celiac” on the ship (makes sense with 2000 passengers) however only 5 preregistered in advance (including me)
3. The whole “gluten free lifestyle” vs people who need gluten free food for medical reasons such as Celiac Disease and predicting what a diverse group of passengers are going to request on a cruise.
4. How his daughter is gluten free and he knows what she likes and he hopes I like the same snack foods!

Fascinating discussion! He was still pretty excited and he then got out his cell phone and started showing me what he had bought which were all gluten free – Chips Ahoy, Oreo, muffin mixes, cookie mixes etc. He then said that if I did like any of this food, he could send it to his daughter! I told them that we did not have Chips Ahoy in Canada – either version but we do have the Oreo’s! I thanked him for helping me out and going shopping however it did not completely register until we got back to our room after dinner and we saw this on our bed! The cookies that he showed me on his phone! I am impressed!

As both of us were full from the dinner, we just put the care packages aside and went to bed! I have 3 more weeks to delve into these lovely packages! We are now off to sea for the day and will be in Dutch Harbour on Sept 17th!

Coming into Kodiak, we were scheduled to tender as another ship was at the dock. The port is not large! Tendering once on a cruise is not that bad! I have had lots of fun tendering on Holland America in the past, however now they have a little elevator to go from the A deck to the B deck where you board the tender it is simple! WAY easier going up and down stairs like on previous voyages…

It was a beautiful short tender ride into the Kodiak harbour where lets say the gang plank UP to the dock was a BIT steep! Also, if I did not stay in a very narrow lane going up the right side, there were inverted triangle bars (for safety purposes in winter) going across the gang plank beside me, for people going down to prevent sliding!

We met our tour (A Walk Through Kodiak Harbour) at the end of the dock. It was being led by a long time fisherman who has now retired, named Toby. He knew so much about the fishing industry he was bursting with information! Our first stop was the plaque for the Good Friday Earthquake on March 27th, 1964 which was 9.2 magnitude and lasted 4 minutes. One of the strongest quakes that has hit North America.

We then moved along to the restored boat, Thelma C, which was a typical wooden boat built for fishing out of Kodiak. Toby told us a story about when the earthquake hit, a lot of fishing boats were destroyed, so the Alaska government gave the owner of every fishing boat money to get a new one! All of a sudden, the boat builders, primarily located in the Seattle area, had a LOT of work on their hands to build boats! Many boats similar to the Thelma C were built and then sailed up the BC and Alaska Coasts to Kodiak so that fishing could resume. While visiting the Thelma C, there were some sea lions playing in the bay – well really not playing – looking dead! Most people thought they were statues! Yeah right! Seen these blubber boys before – they are just conserving energy and they will sing and move!

Next we moved to the docks behind us – which was very interesting if you have spent time on docks like I have! First there was a concrete (see Dad got it right!) ramp to launch a boat which I thought was fascinating as most boats I would have thought are too big to tow and thus launch! Then next to it, Toby explained, was a boat tied up for “dry dock”. For most people in the tour – this went right over their heads and their eyes glassed over! Basically, the fishing boat ties up beside the dock at high tide and wraps its lines around specific poles that while attached to the dock, allow the boat to be secure yet “ride” the tide down until it is sitting on the clay bottom.

Just before the boat is on the clay bottom they do put some supporting logs under the hull so they can do the planned maintenance. Pretty interesting process instead of having to lift a boat out of water into a dry dock! He said it can be a challenge to book times for emergency repairs in dry dock! I fully understood what Toby was talking about… again, others were confused!

We then went down to the docks to look at the different fishing boats and Toby explained what each one was (seiner vs troller) and the types of fish they catch at different times of the year. Lots of fishermen passed us while we were on the docks who knew Toby and they were making some funny comments to him! Toby then took us back up to the main Kodiak dock and to the Kodiak Fisherman’s’ Memorial which has plaques for boats/souls lost at sea. It was interesting to hear Toby talk about it as a life long Kodiak resident, as he knew most of these people and this must be a hard part of the tour for him! To conclude the tour, he showed us the lifesaving suits that the fishermen have on board which allow them to survive some time in the sea if they do not make it into the survival boat.

After that, Andrew and I walked around Kodiak for a bit. It was Sunday and some stores were closed. The front part of the town was NOT very accessible (stairs) however when there is a store I want to get to, I generally can find a way to get there! We went around a building and down a lane and the store appeared along with a craft fair! Needless to say Andrew was patient while I did some “browsing” and poking around. Eventually we started walking back to where the tenders were located, and as I knew the tide was going down, I was SURE LOOKING FORWARD to going down the gangplank to the tender dock with bumpy right side! On our way to the tenders, there were a bunch of people gathered by the shore, so I 4 wheel drove over to check out what was happening! Look at the performance I saw!

This Alaskan fresh air is really tiring! Holy smokes! Once back on the ship we had a short SNAPPY NAP as Neil Dirom used to say and then we got going to dinner where again, we had a delicious meal, however something unexpected arrived for me for dessert, which looking back now makes sense! I had ordered vanilla ice cream… This is what showed up!

Hmm. I had not asked for the Flour-less Lava Cake… It looks like the chef sent me a gluten free item! Things are looking up! Perhaps tomorrow I should go get some cookies and see if they are now “in stock” once we get back from our tour in Anchorage!

Today I want to start honoring the people impacted by 9/11.

On September 11th, 2001 I was at home on disability after my accident and for some unknown reason up really early in the morning. I sat on my sofa watching TV when the first building was hit in New York. I was shocked because I regularly flew United Airlines. Then the second plane hit the World Trade Center. The Pentagon was struck, and one was forced to the ground in Pennsylvania.

I grabbed my laptop. As it was early in the morning on the west coast, I checked to see if any of my co-workers were online. Tammy was—she was on Long Island in New York. She did not really know what had happened, so I told her. She began plans to drive back to Canada, which she ended up doing. I cannot remember if she drove to Toronto or Montreal. Nevertheless, she was able to get back to Canada and fly home to Vancouver.

Next I watched what was happening in New York, and with fascination, the ATC directed planes to land without explanation. Imagine flying from Tokyo to Chicago, arc over Alaska, then being rerouted for an emergency you cannot learn about. Moreover, over 8,500 passengers ended up in Vancouver on September 11, causing a ground response that had never been planned for.

Ultimately, here is the memorial that was built in New York City, which I am yet to see!

Hubbard Glacier

Hubbard Glacier (Tlingít: Sít’ Tlein) is a glacier in eastern Alaska. It lies in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve and in Kluane National Park and Reserve in Yukon, Canada. It is named after Gardiner Hubbard. This tidewater glacier is North America’s largest.

It stretches 76 miles long and has a face about 7 miles wide. From the bow of the ship, you can see it as in the photo below. It rises about 350 to 400 feet above the water. Hundreds of feet stay hidden below the surface. Unlike most glaciers, it continues to thicken and advance. That is why some call it the Galloping Glacier.

Getting closer to the glacier now – this is the right side (east) of the Hubbard Glacier.

Now for some more information about what we are seeing! First, the crowd on the bow – right now I am on the 6th deck (where our stateroom is) where they have opened up out front. Then moved down to the 4th where I could access the bow again (still wearing shorts and a tshirt) to take some more pictures! Lastly, I joined Andrew on our balcony to view the BLUE icebergs floating by!

We sat on the balcony for a while, and I did put a jacket on. We heard the loud cracking sounds the glacier made. We watched chunks of ice crash into the sea below. Unfortunately none of those photos worked out! I asked the naturalist on board what causes the blue in the ice that we saw floating. She said the deep blue color is caused by the weight of the ice, which pushes the air out. The ice then absorbs red and yellow light and displays the deep teal blue. Here is a video of the Hubbard Glacier calving that I found which was pretty similar to what we saw – https://youtu.be/l1hpp-ZwU5c

Do you know what a growler is? No it is not a dog making a noise! A growler is a chunk of ice smaller than an iceberg! Learned something new today! However they can still damage ships and they need to stay away from them.

After all that excitement and fresh air, I was looking for a snack. Gluten free cookies on the Lido deck were my target! I was told that the cookies are in the Stores department and they would order some and come back later. Not impressed, as this was about the third time this has happened to me over the last 3 days, I pressed onwards to our room to keep winding my wool.

Two hours later I sent Andrew to acquire some GF Tates cookies. No go. They said the same thing to Andrew! They need to be ordered from the Stores and will be brought up. Okay, I get the message. No cookies for moi but strange, only four days into a journey!

We dined at the Canteletto Restaurant this evening. The Canteletto was created on HAL ships, but it is part of the Lido Restaurant and private. There are about ten tables and it serves Italian food. The dinner was very good and I enjoyed it! I had a beet salad, a shrimp skewer, and Alaska halibut with artichokes. I finished with sorbet. However, as were were in the Lido area, I was not surprised when the waitress whispered they have no GF chocolate cookies! I just smiled and said it was okay.

Andrew had his normal meat dinner, and he enjoyed affogato al caffè for dessert!

Leaving the Canteletto, I walked past the gluten free area of the Lido and asked for 2 GF chocolate chip cookies. Guess what the answer was? “We need to get more from the Stores”. I said thanks and we retired to our stateroom.

Holland America has a lovely app named Navigator. It shows where we should be and what is offered on the ship each day. It also has an excellent feature called Feedback. Unknown to Andrew, I provided feedback to the Chef on gluten-free offerings and snacks. The meals, other than the muffin mix-up the first day, have been phenomenal! However, getting a snack when hungry has been like pulling teeth! Also, there was a problem with gluten free muffins this morning. I wrote to Chef Willem, who is the same chef on the Noordam as was on our sailing from Seattle to Sydney. As a person with Celiac Disease, I pre-register with the Special Services form so they know I will be on board. We used to have to list what our favourite foods were, but that has not been done in the last 2 decades. Basically, this tells HAL in advance of my dietary needs and they will need to provide Celiac Safe food.

I kept my feedback light and helpful however it also acknowledged safety and cross-contact concerns. For example, making gluten-free items in a pastry shop the size of a stateroom due to gluten flour being used, is not safe. The gluten flour would be everywhere!

I had no idea what would happen, but I thought HAL should know there is someone aboard who sails regularly and I am experiencing a different level of service than on prior cruises. I also noted there is a difference between the “lifestyle” gluten-free diners and those diagnosed with a medical condition.

Then I went to bed, really expecting a note in the morning saying thanks for your feedback, we will take it under advisement or something like that. Lets see what happened! Stay tuned!

Our next port is Sitka, Alaska (Tlingit: Sheetʼká) where we docked outside of town, which required a 15 minute shuttle ride to”downtown”. The Noordam looked pretty great port and we got off in good time as we had a walking tour booked in Sitka today.

Once we went down the gangplank onto the dock, it is obvious that Sitka now really likes the Cruise Ship industry! Compared to the last time we were here – there is a new building at the port to welcome visitors and be a transportation hub for the tour departures! Very nice!

There were busses ready to take people to town and also a shuttle that could take 3 scooters (and me) at a time which was aweseome!

We soon found our tour at the bus drop off area downtown and off we went walking along the shore and talking about living in Alaska, how workers come up to Sitka from April to Septebmer (cruise season) and are put up in apartments (there is couples accommodation and then singles accommodation) for the season as part of their wage. They work when cruise ships are in town – doing tours, driving busses, working in stores etc. The population is about 8,000 people on average, with it increasing by about 2,000 people during the tourist season. Again, like many Alaskan communities, it was originally settled by the Russians and you can see their influence during our tour. There is a fairly big US Coast Guard Service (along with ships) based in Sitka that provide emergency sea rescues if needed. The other interesting fact we learned is that the Alaskan State Trooper Acadamy is located in Sitka! Here is more information on that training and what they do: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alaska_State_Trooper_Academy

It was recommended to Andrew that we go to the “Sitka Burgers and Crab Shack” for a good meal. Now I do not do burgers but I can do crab if cooked properly! Holy SMOKES! Tourist pricing times 5! ONE King Crab leg is $42 USD! No thanks! Andrew and I settled on some gluten free chips instead for $5 plus some drinks…. Check out the pictures below!

After that lovely break, we decided to walk back to where the shuttle was to the Noordam. Along the way though Lynda had seen a store that she wanted to visit as it had stickers in it! Wow – what a beautiful display! A few stickers and a shirt later, we were back at the shuttle stop and loading up to head back to the Noordam! Again, tried to shop at the pier where the Noordam was located – stores were either closed for the season or almost out of stock! There were some really good sales on however I really did not need any neon coloured shirts so we passed and just walked back and got on the Noordam to enjoy the evening!

Tomorrow is a day at sea and also September 11th and the 25th Anniversary of 9-11. I will have to dig up some pictures that I have from back when Vancouver International Airport (YVR) hosted a ton of people (more than any other Canadian Airport, including Gander) when the flights flying from Asia, over the Pacific, towards Canada and the USA were suddently told to land at YVR – with no explanation!

Today we get to get off the ship! Yahoo! We have lots of days at sea with some port days thrown in for fun! Today is a port day in Ketchikan where we are taking an “accessible” boat excursion to Mystic Fjord. Let’s go!

Mystic Fjord

Andrew and I have been to Ketchikan previously and I thoroughly enjoyed this port previously. This time, as there is an accessible boat tour, we are going to do that first. Not many tour boats are accessible so I was a bit apprehensive about this one, however pleasantly surprised to find that there was a huge ramp up to the boat, and while there was not any wheelchair parking per se, there was a very narrow accessible washroom too that my walker, in semi collapsed position, fit into. Additionally, the seats were comfortable, and cloths were provided to de-fog the windows for our voyage up the fjord.

We finished the excursion and found the ramp back to the top dock much easier, as the tide had receded while we were away. Then, Andrew headed to the Noordam to rest, leaving Lynda to wander and see what she could discover.

Let’s Explore Ketchikan

Knowing a bit about Ketchikan history, including its underground liquor trade during Prohibition, I headed to the boardwalk. As I moved along, I passed the Fire Hall with its ready equipment and a historic fire engine on display. I was taking some pictures of the boardwalk area when I started getting pelted by rain – HUGE rain drops! Then, I sheltered under a store awning and called my mother to report we had arrived in Ketchikan.

I had a nice stroll along Creek Street and saw the various stores winding down for the Cruise Ship season. We are one of the last boats visiting the port this month. One thing that is great when it rains is the smell of rain makes things seem “fresh” until I got to the bridge you can see above in the “More of Creek Street” photo on bottom right. When I crossed that bridge there was a very specific smell that I have encountered a couple of times in my life – dead salmon in the creek after they have spawned! Lovely! That said, the smell-a-thon memory was VERY QUICKLY in the past when I saw a certain sign on the building across the bridge to the left…

Needless to say, I ended up in a WONDERFUL yarn and fabric store named Fabulous Fiber Arts! Oh my goodness I was in heaven and so giddy the lady in the store I think was concerned about my sanity as I was so excited to see REAL wool! I am going to try and keep my gushing to a minimum however I did find some FABULOUS blue/purple/green sock weight wool (unfortunately not from Alaska but Turkey) and I am now set for my cruise! I even had a bag to carry my stash of 7 skeins of wool back to the ship in which was awesome!

Typical Andrew – he was not too impressed with my shopping adventure – it just does not register! The good thing for Andrew is that as we are in the USA or close to shore is they are playing American Football games on TV so he has been able to watch some good games including the Seattle one to start the season and then the one played in Melbourne, Australia!

Now back in our stateroom, it is time to wind some wool! The Knitting Group is at 10am each morning and I got to be ready to stitch and bitch! Tomorrow we relocate from the bar area outside Pinnacle Grill to a conference room due to ceiling leaks! Oh wait, no Knitting Group tomorrow – we are in Sitka! See you tomorrow!

We got up to a beautiful morning cruising between Vancouver Island and the BC Coast up past Haida Gwaii. We had breakfast in the room, which I had ordered the night before. I generally have the same breakfast everyday to make it easy on the staff to keep my gluten free dining safe. SOMETHING happened in the translation though and again I was served muffins that were not gluten free. Been there and done this before and I can “feel” when the muffins are not gluten free. Also they do not have paper cups on them which is indicative of the brand that Holland America now carries (Bio). Unfortunately they no longer stock Kinnikinnick brand products since the company was sold.

I proceeded to phone Room Service to see if I could get some gluten free muffins and Patricia answered the phone! I know Patricia from our cruise from Seattle to Sydney – she was the lady who took Room Service orders on that cruise too and helped me with my gluten free dining when I needed something I had not already pre-ordered. What a lovely surprise! She was very tentative on the phone – “are you the Miss Lynda who went to Sydney last year?” she said to me? I remember this order and the gluten free muffins! I will send some to you right away! And so they arrived with apologies from Tama, who is her manager. Problem solved!

Next on the list – relax and get my nails done! I now have fire engine red toenails and french manicure finger nails – however I ditched the usual baby pink for baby purple/mauve instead! Very cool!

Now, as my mother will attest, I often volunteer to run the Cruise Critic group’s Meet and Greet on the ship on the first day. Again, that is what I am doing at 2pm today! I have a secret though – this group has been VERY talkative during the year leading up to the cruise and one of the points of discussion have been Nanaimo Bars! One lady, lets call her Tutu was really intrigued by them so I posted a video of Todd Maffin, who is an ex-CBC personality and now decent Canadian (along with his wife Jocelyn who I know through the Spinal Cord Injury of BC Association) talking about Nanaimo Bars which is kind of funny… Here it is for your amusement!

Having Celiac Disease I am NOT someone to bring gluten snacks to a group when I cannot enjoy them too! So I acquired some Wendels GF Nanaimo Bars (2 boxes) from Save on Foods and brought them to the ship for the meeting! Everything was going great – I delivered them to the dining room in their sealed box so they could be cut up (following the Health and Safety laws which I did not bring in home made products) and served half way through the meeting. Only fly in the ointment – Andrew was still not feeling well so he was not at the meeting to “assist” me!

The meeting went really well – about 45 people showed up which was a fair crowd in the Rolling Stone Lounge and we all introduced ourselves and we played some fun games. At the end I gave out some Canadian themed prizes and announced we all had Nanaimo Bars to share at the back – however they were not there! Oh no! They never arrived! I had to apologize and tell people I had brought everyone Nanaimo bars but they had not been delivered…

Needless to say, an hour later the Noordam staff found the Nanaimo Bars in the kitchen, untouched and there was a HUGE miss-communication issue where they were not delivered to the meeting. They then offered to cut them up and deliver the Nanaimo Bars to the rooms of the guests that had attended the meeting – if I could put one together! That I did and they were supposed to deliver the GF Nanaimo Bars to the staterooms that night with a card apologizing for missing the meeting.

Here are some photos I took during the day cruising up the coast of BC!