HRodenberger's Blog: North to Alaska, Again

It seemed like the summer was slipping away, politics were heating up, and we needed a break, so I booked an Alaska cruise on short notice with my favorite line, Holland America.

In the Covid era several countries (and companies) have developed digital methods to track visitors and control for disease transmission. When we went to Greece last year, we had to fill out forms (on line) attesting to our negative Covid tests. Not just for Greece but also for England which was a short stopover. Then we needed to have a negative test just before boarding the ship.

For this trip we needed to download and complete the form on the ArriveCAN app. We have a short stop in Victoria to satisfy the requirements of the PVSA. Probably no one will get off the ship during that brief stop, but we all needed to fill out the form in order to board in Seattle.

The PVSA (Passenger Vessel Services Act) was passed in 1886 (yes, you read that right) to protect the US maritime industry of those days against foreign competition by requiring foreign flagged vessels to stop in a foreign port if transporting passengers between US ports. As with many government programs, the intent was good at the time, but the situation has changed dramatically over the intervening 136 years. Now it ends up costing cruise companies and their customers plenty of unnecessary bucks while protecting a nonexistent industry.

But, back to our cruise. We needed a negative Covid test taken no more than 72 hours before boarding. I checked around and nobody provides travel Covid tests free anymore. The best price I could find was $128 (plus tax?), but in the fine print on the Holland America check in papers was a note that, if you didn't have a negative test, you could get one at the dock for $60. That was a no brainer, so booked reservations.

We got packed up and headed down to Pier 91 in Seattle Sunday morning. I made the testing appointments well in advance of our boarding time because I didn't know how long the results would take.

I must say the process is well organized. We parked the car, took the shuttle from the parking area to the dock, went to the testing tent, got our results in 15 minutes or so and entered the terminal building to go through the boarding drill. All together that took about 45 minutes.

Our line to enter the boarding building was short. The other line, for the Discovery Princess, stretched back under the awning. Both lines advanced quickly (as lines go) with well-organized steps along the way. We checked our bags first, went through passport and boarding pass checks, through the metal detectors, had mug shots taken and were crossing the boarding platform in short order.

This shot is looking NE across Pier 91 with the Magnolia bridge (one of three to Magnolia) and Queen Anne hill in the background.

Below is the boarding platform with Harbor Island in the background, across Elliott Bay. The aft end of the Discovery Princess takes up a good part of the scene. The green crane is supporting a work deck with a couple of painters working on the upper decks of the Westerdam. Baggage is being loaded farther down the dock. The ramp in the lower near foreground is for returning employees.

We settled into our stateroom, wished ourselves Bon Voyage and watched the sunset over Vancouver Island and then went to dinner in the dining room.

Incidentally, that sun was the last we have seen. During the night Sunday night, the ship's horn began sounding to warn smaller boats in the fog of our approach. We've heard the horn all day today. It began raining during the night and that has stuck around also. I walked three miles on deck today then another mile with Iko, all in the rain. A lot of the deck is protected but it was wet everywhere from the blowing rain.

I've seen several nice flower arrangements. These were in the Explorers' Lounge. The stems are encased in larger replicas of test tubes filled with water.