This is my first kind of trip report ever online, but I thought some may enjoy hearing of our cruise on the Navigator as I have enjoyed reading the great voyage the Fun 3 cruisers have been having!
My wife, Charlotte and I (Christoph) are in SFO, flew in yesterday from Florida and we are staying at the Argonaut hotel by Fisherman's Warf. We had stayed up late the night before, packing and taking care of last minute arrangements for our kitties (We have three bengals that my parents are taking care of, those are our kids) :) Unfortunately my folks were unable to make it on this cruise but they are going on the same one next year.
Although we have been to the area of Fisherman's Warf many times before, we absolutely love the atmosphere and history to be found. We walked around and enjoyed the sights, it was very windy but a wonderful 55 degrees and sunny. A light jacket was all we needed. We had dinner at Scoma's and, a tradition of ours, enjoyed a couple Irish coffee's at Buena Vista Cafe as we watched the cable cars go by. We absolutely love our hotel, it's great!
Woke up this morning refreshed and excited for what Charlotte and I are considering our second honeymoon. We got married over five years ago and sailed on the Paul Gauguin on our honeymoon. We are getting ready to head out to Pier 35 for our Passage to Alaska!

Have a great trip! Excited that your kitties are going on the same one next year. I don't know if my cat would like sailing (just kidding, I know what you meant).

Welcome! So looking forward to your reports - we love seamail!

Rachel, you are right. Should have worded that differently, I did mean my parents are booked for next years repositioning cruise to Alaska. Although our kitties do love water!

Christoph, Hope you and Charlotte enjoy your 2nd honeymoon on the Navigator in Alaska. I look forward to your seamail. :bv:

Have a wonderful cruise and look forward to receiving sea mail from you! :bv:

Just a quick update. Embarkation was a breeze. Got to Pier 35 at about 1:30 pm and were on board and checked-in by 1:45 pm. By far one of the fastest and easiest embarkation we have had. Friendly and attentive staff, we had a quick lunch at La Veranda and we are now in our cabin unpacking. Muster drill is set for 5:15 pm and sail away at 6:00 pm.
Thanks for following!

Bon Voyage, Christoph! Sounds like you got pretty lucky with the SF weather, it is often pretty cold and damp down there by the Wharf. Enjoy your cruise.
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Helen

Nice to hear you got on quickly and all is well. Hope you have a great cruise and post while aboard!

Patricia and I, along with John and Barbara Kies, are on the Navigator from 8/23 to 9/3, Vancouver to San Fran via Alaska. We were expecting the Captain to be Daniel Green but got Ubaldo instead. CD is Ray the "puppet man". Lots of crew friends "missing". Sitka tomorrow.

Hoping the 4 of you will have a wonderful time with lots of animal sightings for Patricia. Do you plan to behave yourselves? No need to answer. Only wishing you a fun time with many laughs.
Is Seth among the missing?

Thx for checking in and wishing you a wonderful cruise, David. Do say HI to Barbara for me.

Would like to know who among the familiar crew are onboard?

Continue to check in frequently.

Hi David,

Sincere wishes for a terrific Alaska Regent sailing with Patricia and your friends. Look forward to hearing all about it during our Spirit Spring crossing next April.

have a terrific time

Seth is missing (vacation) "Elvis" has left the building, Dennis is now on Mariner.
Dinner last night in CR. Barbara had a wonderful prime rib, Patricia had duck, I had lobster with asparagus and John had fresh fish. (as always)
Still heading for Sitka, arrive at noon.

David, thanks for the staff update. Hope Seth and Elvis show up early November.

Your CR dinner last night sounds delicious!!

Keep posting!!

I think we have tow friends on that cruise Dee & Harper Estes from Midland Texas. If you meet them say hello from Russell & Susan Hall

Sea Otter Quest today and we did see otters, lots of the suckers! (Rafts). A few humpbacks and a couple of bald eagles. I found it boring but Patricia was in her element. Yesterday she spotted al least 50 dolphins in our wake. Tonight's entertainment is a banjo picker. Hmmn!

Heading for Hubbard Glacier this am BUT Navigator just started to sound the foghorn! Not a good sign but we continue to be optimistic.

Hi David, thanks for the on board reports. Have y'all tried the new Setti Mare yet? Thoughts pls.

btw, u were nominated as Spirit Spring crossing CC Trivia Team Captain--your members now include bsrkent (Steve & Barb), RachelG (Rachel & George), Orange County Murphy (Paul & Colleen)

Enjoying your reports. Is there an animal of choice today or is this a sea day/glacial viewing day? That foghorn can be such a nuisance, especially nighttime.
Happy Patricia is attracting so many animals. Those otters probably did the backstroke simply to be able to wave to her. Any bears yet?
You simply MUST take her to the Antarctic very soon.

Arrived at Hubbard Glacier at about 10:30 AM. Completely "fogged in"! Terry Breen takes 2 1/2 hours commentating on what we would see if there was no fog. (Bless her!). Captain comes on and says "no luck. we're leaving". After lunch and 2 bottles of red wine later he says" fog is lifting so we're turning around and going back". (Bless him). we are now approaching the glacier again and Terry is now hoarse.

Now a beautiful day at Hubbard Glacier. Unfortunatelt a Royal Caribbean ship, "The Something of the Seas" got there first and refused to move!
Now moving South to Hoonah.
Betty: I am the "animal of the day"
Susan Hall: Found the Estes and passed on your good wishes.
Just found out that Susan Walsh is on board. Will look out for her!

Too funny, David. Sorry about the fog and "The Seas" issues with Hubbard Glacier..... but sea days are great.

Continue to enjoy your cruise and thanks for posting!

Susan W is terrific

The ship was no doubt "Overpopulation of the Seas!"

Ted,
Actually it was Radiance of the Seas. Maybe that is why the sun came out and shone so brightly. Today we are in Hoonah, which also started out very hazy and overcast. However the fog lifted and it is a beautiful day with stunning scenery. My husband and son went halibut fishing and were successful so we have fresh halibut tonight for dinner. They brought it onboard and the chef is preparing this evening for us.

Diane,
I was thinking of our trip to Churchill today as the locals said the only way in and out of Hoonah is by ferry or airplane, just as was on our trip. That was a fantastic trip wasn't it?

[quote,
Diane,
I was thinking of our trip to Churchill today as the locals said the only way in and out of Hoonah is by ferry or airplane, just as was on our trip. That was a fantastic trip wasn't it?

Churchill ranks as one of our top destinations....What a blast it was!!!
All those fantastic polar bears.
Do you think the Gypsy Cafe remembers us? I sure remember those Bear Claws....and the school bus ride ....and the horizontal snow and last, but not least, the great people we traveled with.

One word describes Hoonah..."Fantastic"!
In keeping with our quest we went whale watching. By far the best Regent tour I have ever made.The "wow" factor was off the scale. After a dismal and foggy start we found clear open water and an overabundance of humpback whales; probably 50-100 whales in 1 1/2 hours. Flukes by the minute. If only I could remember how to download photos!

Glad you got to see so many whales--sounds very exciting.

Sorry about Hubbard Glacier. I have been there 3 times, and have only seen it clearly one time. Once was completely fogged in with sleet/snow falling and winds howling. Other time was just foggy. So I think that is common. Too bad "overpopulation of the seas" wouldn't get its big booty out of the way to let other people have a look.

YAY for fresh caught halibut. Way to go, John! Alice and I grilled up some 'not-so-fresh caught' on Saturday night for first time this season. It's been very expensive this year.

David - if you send me a few pictures, I can post for you. Or you can go to Photobucket, upload your photos and the site will give you the url to use to post. Karen has a LCT post that tells how to do it.
Halibut - my favorite fish. Don't think I've ever had fresh. Sounds wonderful.

A new case of smoked salmon from Ketchikan arrived in the mail today! I called them on Friday to place the order. On MOOSE, we were advised by Crystal that if we wanted to buy salmon the place to go was Salmon Etc. --- it's right there close to the pier on Mission St. -- she was coming out of the store as we were heading down the street after returning from our dry-suit snorkeling excursion. As repeat customers, you get a good discount. If you're into smoked salmon, stop in on Wednesday. They will ship it to your house. YUM!

All we can see on the Skagway webcam today is that "Rhapsody of the Seas" and a tiny piece of the bridge of whatever ship is in front of it. Doesn't look like the Nav or Silver Shadow, so I think it's the Radiance of the Seas. Hope you all had a great day even though it looks like it's a bit rainy.

Yes there are two RCL ships in port today. We are on the middle pier and the Shadow is on the far pier. Another small ship just pulled in. We had more fresh halibut today for lunch. It was delicious. Based on the cost of fishing I would say ours was about $100 per pound, but the experience was worth it. The locals say they have not had much salmon here this year.

Yes Pat I agree Churchill was an all time favorite and Gypsy's was a blast. Loved all the pastries.

The weather was cloudy much of the day but it was beautiful most of the train ride up the White Pass. The train commentator was excellent and provided some interesting information about the gold rush and Skagway's earlier days. The wind has picked up this afternoon and the captain has decided to delay sail away until the wind dies down. The Silver Shadow sailed out earlier but the two RCL ships are hanging in along with us.

Forgot to mention that yesterday as we sailed out of Hoonah there were whales all around the ship for about 45 minutes. Terry Breen said it was the most spectacular show she had seen in her many years in Alaska.

If Terry Breen was impressed it had to have been quite spectacular! How wonderful for everyone! Gotta love it when nature puts on a show.
Looks like many ships in Juneau today and drizzly. Hope any excursions you all planned go well.

Kim,
Unfortunately due to number of ships we are having to tender today. We just pulled next to the massive Norwegian Jewel. At the moment it is quite gray and drizzling. We are going on a whale quest so I hope mother nature has a change of course for the day.

The Sapphire Princess just pulled in next to a large Celebrity ship. Juneau is going to be really crowded with all these big ships.

Finally find you from the bridge cam of the Sapphire Princess that just pulled in. I think it's you.