{"id":325,"date":"2023-12-15T14:41:04","date_gmt":"2023-12-15T21:41:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fred.dannyshih.net\/?p=325"},"modified":"2023-12-15T14:41:05","modified_gmt":"2023-12-15T21:41:05","slug":"2023-october-cruise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fred.dannyshih.net\/?p=325","title":{"rendered":"2023 October Cruise"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Westerdam<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Captain: Souter van Hoogdalem<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cruise Director: Nick J. Hollevoet<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Service Crew:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  Dining; Duryat and Iman<\/p>\n\n\n\n

State room 4101; Juko and Fathuri<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
We\u2018ve been on many \u201cdam\u201d ships through the years. With Westerdam, our favorite, at least three times so far. The ship is old but been timely renovated and upgraded. Crew members from the captain down to the cruise director to service crew such as waiters and room stewards have all been changed as well. For us, therefor, it is a new adventure every time we come onboard.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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10-01-2023

It is a 14-day trip, and the ship is only a little more than half full. That suits us fine. Passengers are mostly old and in poor heaith, which also fits
in well with us. In fact, being able to walk freely without using a walker or stick may even make us feeling somewhat superior among our sickly shipmates.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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10-02-2023 Mon

We are heading north to Juneau and sailing through the relatively calm water of the inner channel. Nevertheless, slight wavering of the ship is inevitable. I barely notice it, but for Betty, it is enough to induce uncontrolable imbalance and upset stomach. So much so, she must undertake various anti-seasick measures such as chewing green apples, using special wrist bands or tiny behind-the-ear buttons. Once we are out in the ocean going southeast toward Japan, she definitely will need medication to survive the more violent trans-Pacific water upheavals.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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10-04-2023 wed

Juneau is the capital city of Alaska, and the second largest city in size in the USA. That was not the impression we got when we arrived. The main street was only about one mile long and, from end to end, there seemed to be nothing but jewelry stores. On our arrival, we totally overwhelmed the downtown area, and could hardly find a local native on the street to ask for directions. Fortunately, the city library is right by the
cruise ship terminal. We love the local library when we come to a new place because that\u2019s where we may have the safest internet services, the most reliable local information, and the cleanest toilet facility.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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10-05-2023 Thu

It\u2019s the 3rd sea day after Juneau and a rough one. Fighting 18-foot waves, the ship swayed widely, groaning in bone-grinding agony. When the waves hit the ship head-on, the groaning became thunderous booms. For Betty, that meant seasick nightmare and time to take medication.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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10-06-2023 Fri

On Captain\u2019s night, instead of letting people asking him stupid questions, the Captain starts by giving a detailed description on ship operation, from engine maintenance to control room setup, which is actually very informative and educational. The captain also takes the opportunity to honor loyal passengers with extended histories aboard Holland Cruise Lines. Those on top of the list, with over a thousand total cruise days, are recognized and given plagues. It is reported that more and more people choose to reside on cruise ships, because the cost is affortable, actually comparable to living in New York City.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
There are two popular speakers onboard giving regular talks every day. One is Nick the cruise director on overall topics and another is Dr. Kam on topics of Japan. Nick is originally from Belgium, excellent speaker, particularly adapt in utilizing high tech in \u201cexc-talks\u201d such as on Arctic animals and Alaska histories. Dr. Kam has been known to us for his Tai Chi video in the past. He is now concentrated on topics involving Japanese history, culture etc.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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10-07-2023 Sat

Deck 3 has a walkway circle. Three laps around the ship add up to about one mile. As up there it is always windy, shaky and slippery, people on deck walk like drunks \u2014- never in a straight line. It takes me half an hour every day to cover that 3-lap mile, rain or shine, for my daily exercise.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\uff0e<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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10-09-2023 Mon

As we gain one hour every time we travel west by one time zone, would we be getting younger if we keep going west? Well, we have just crossed the International Date Line, thereby losing one full day on record. In other words, to cancel the time gains, the day 10-08 is now skipped. No gain, no pain, no problem!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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10-10-2023 Tue

The crow\u2019s nest on desk 10 is my favorite hideout. It is located at the tower in the forefront of the ship, with a 180 degree viewing lookout points. People there playing games, reading, or just doing their own things. Mom rarely shows up because supposedly this location sway the most and could cause the worst seasick for her. For me I just love it here and I spend hours sitting in front of my iPad, writing my reports or communicating with the outside world or just relax doing nothing.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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10-12-2023 Thu

Arriving in Kushiro

Supposedly, as a well known city, Juneau is on the map, large and small, and serves as a landmark for Alaska, while Kushiro is just the opposit and a little obscured off-shore island in Japan. In reality, as mentioned earlier, Juneau is hardly impressive, with only a mile-long main street and not much else. On the other hand, this obscured Kushiro is surprisedly noticable. First of all, it is sparkling clean. Even in Japan, where cleaness is a national norm, Kusiro stands out. As usual, I visited the city library. And as expected, everything is super clean. Then I went to the rest room. In front of me, labled as a toilet room, is a pure white elaberate facility. A crystal clean paradise. So clean, in fact, it is intimitating. I was scared I might contaminate it if I walk in, let alone to pee and poo in there. \uff07<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Westerdam Captain: Souter van Hoogdalem Cruise Director: Nick J. Hollevoet Service Crew:   Dining; Duryat and Iman State room 4101; Juko and Fathuri \uff0e<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-325","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cruise"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fred.dannyshih.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/325","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fred.dannyshih.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fred.dannyshih.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fred.dannyshih.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fred.dannyshih.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=325"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/fred.dannyshih.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/325\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":326,"href":"https:\/\/fred.dannyshih.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/325\/revisions\/326"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fred.dannyshih.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=325"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fred.dannyshih.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=325"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fred.dannyshih.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=325"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}