August in review

Are you wondering why I took August off? Well the following will explain and give you a running view of the Princess Cruse on-board food.
This is our first cruise and my 4th trip to Alaska. We are with friends which is fun, but we all agree that the Island Princess is sub standard. Our boarding process worked well as I am in a wheel chair. We bought one before we left that folds as when I walk a lot, my hip is very painful and then I get very crabby. Basically we cut the line everywhere. We greeted our friends and soon our luggage arrived. Our cabin is outside with a great window and balcony; large from the descriptions I have heard. We are in our first port and the agent spotted the cabin just great as I am now facing land while Jim is out touring. The room is very clean and the bathroom is fine, but the pink, green orange décor with toffee colored wood is a little yuck for me.
I guess every ship has an away party. Ours was at the top of the ship and had a loud band that felt they would play their version of familiar standards. They wanted you buy some fruity drink for $9.00. We ordered a martini and gin and tonic and returned to the room and set sail watching from our private balcony. I have always heard the food on board a ship is fantastic. We are all disappointed. My appetizer the first night was lobster fish pate. No crackers or toast was served with it and it smelled very fishy. Jim wanted a red wine so I chose the fillet. I got two tough rounds of beef about ½” thick. This was accompanied by 2 broccoli tops, and a baked potato. Our drink server takes forever. It also took forever to get sour cream and butter for the potato. Dessert was the worst carrot cake I have ever tasted.
We sailed all night and the sound of lapping waves was soothing. We left the window to the balcony open. We are really enjoying the temperature. I ordered room service breakfast. I was very unimpressed with the food and presentation. I ordered fresh melon. It came in the smallest chunks that I have ever seen melon cut into. It also tasted like it was cut close to the rind. The “fresh” OJ is either Sunny D or Tang. We can’t decide as each of us is naming the least favorite fake juice we have ever tasted. My croissant was stale and they are very chintzy with the marmalade. I ordered herb tea and got some weird mixture and Chamomile. Who in this world likes Chamomile tea? Hotels and this ship are always trying to pass it off on the public. At least ¾ of the service staff is Asian and you can’t get decent green tea.
We decided to have lunch at the Sushi and International Buffet. The sushi was mostly rice rolled in sea weed with very little filling. No tuna or squid and nothing that looked fresh. The soy sauce was in a small container like they pass out pills in the hospital. No chance of dipping. I sent Jim back to the buffet for pizza and fruit. No pizza and even though the fruit was in bigger chunks, same dead taste. Jim came back with some slop on his plate that I would not have touched.
That afternoon we went to a wine tasting; $25 each for 6 1oz tastes and 6 hors d’overs. The wines were mostly good but this was followed with the selling of wine and a future tasting. Everything you go to on this ship involves wanting to sell you something. At least here they were pushing wine instead of terrible jewelry and diamonds at a high price. Do you know how many diamond mines there are in Alaska? Zero.
Tonight was Meet the Captain, Champagne (sparkling wine) Reception. Served hors d’orves and sparkling wine limited; the event was a photo op to get your $ picture pouring sparkling wine on a Champaign tree. We learned the head chef is from Germany which explains a lot about the food.
Dinner tonight was our first formal dinner. At least tonight there were no jeans and never saw an iron shorts on the men. But dinner was an all time worst. First they had a special Escargot. My favorite, it was a little over cooked, but not as bad as what followed. Next was listed as chicken with won ton soup. The two dark meat chicken wontons and the saltiest broth you can imagine. The broth was dark, not light, like most wonton soup. The main course was billed as halibut with Swiss chard. The halibut was the thinnest, over done, piece of fish you have ever seen. What little Swiss chard there was on the plate had a coating of tomato yuck that tasted like it was made by Chef Boy R Dee. The perfectly sculptured potatoes, they forgot to cook. For dessert we had bananas Foster Brenan. It tasted OK, but the chef has obviously never been to Brenan’s in New Orleans. Afterwards we went to a show. The kids were trying.
Today is Friday and I am finally getting my notes down in Jim’s computer. We pulled into the port of Ketchikan this morning. I got up early to accompany Jim down to the Burgundy Room for breakfast. Croissants, still stale, but the staff is a little more generous with the marmalade and butter. I ordered a bagel with lox and cream cheese. It came with 5 capers and 2 tomato slices. Not a great bagel, but all and all a tasty sandwich; and I was able to get green tea. I followed this with a ham and cheese omelet. Should I suggest that the chef read Julia Child’s cookbook omelet section? Or maybe they take the Asian chef that makes the tight overdone omelet for the top of sushi off the morning line. I did not detect any cheese, but there were about 3 tiny, tiny chunks of ham.
While Jim was on his tour of Ketchikan, I went to the SPA. I had a facial, $149. Then she wanted me to buy $1018 worth of product to keep this up at home. I told her that I pay people like her to give me facials so I don’t have to have product that I would not use. Then I had a massage for $159. The facility is not the greatest I’ve seen, but it is acceptable. When Jim came back the sit down dining room was closed. Back to the buffet, and the food looked worse than yesterday, so I left. We got pizza. Good thing the pizza maker is on a boat as he’d have to close shop in the competitive world. I should also mention that all those first run movies can be found on your on demand or Netflix. They are not in your local theater now and haven’t been for months, some years.
We sailed all night and were in Juneau when Jim woke me up. We had breakfast and met some people from Ohio and Boston. Then Jim left on his tour. We have the Disney Ship nearby and Jim took Marrilyn’s cell phone number in case she was it on. I know she is up here somewhere. Yesterday afternoon we got dressed early so we could do whale watching at 5:45; we saw a half dozen and then went to the theater to see a comedian. He was very funny. Then off to the dreaded dinner. I started out with game pate; it was better than the fish one. I followed this with Caesar salad. The main course I chose was venison. I have never had venison before so maybe it is supposed to be tough. It was accompanied by mashed celeriac and scalloped potatoes; a white and brown presentation. For breakfast this am I took a chance on Muesli, it was better than what I have experienced in Switzerland. Had the standard bagel and lox as I know that is good. While touring, Jim met up with Marrilyn on the glacier. She was very surprised. Later he came back and we toured downtown Ketchikan. The off ramp was very steep and it took two men to keep my wheelchair from careening down the ramp. Upon return, it was almost level. Jim had not eaten, I had room service, and we will skip that awful meal and presentation. Jim ate at the Flight Deck in Ketchikan. He had fish and chips. The fish was halibut. Our chef should look here to see what a piece of halibut should look like. The chips were the best fries I have ever tasted, even in France. I had some oyster shooters. Although not gourmet, I’d have to say this is the best meal so far. Dinner on ship was Italian night. I started with Parma ham and melon. Tiny slices of melon, one slice of toast and two pieces of ham. Not what I expected, even though my expectations run low these days. My second course was Alfredo sauce on pasta and the main course was fish Semifredo with who knows what. For dessert I chose NY cheesecake. Chef has also never been to NY, and therefore has no idea what NY cheesecake tastes like.
For breakfast this AM I had pancakes. They were good. My starter was a fruit plate with lemon ricotta. I will not complain as so far this was the best of combinations.
We are today in Skagway. Again Jim came back from his tour and took me downtown. We ate in a bar called the Red Onion and all the girls were dressed like mid century Hooter girls. I had a good pizza and Jim had great wings. We then went through town, but did not find much to buy unless it was very expensive. Tonight’s dinner was actually eatable. It started with an all cheese soufflé, very good, mostly goat cheese. Jim started with venison and something pate. Next I had a salad as the alternate was soup and I did not want to fill up on soup. Next was a palate cleanser sorbet. I liked it, but Lynn did not like the thyme in it. My main course was scallops. Ok, but I felt overdone. I asked for the gnocchi instead of potatoes and glad I did. They were fabulous little pillows of dough with asparagus and mushroom in a white sauce. For dessert I had blueberry sorbet.
Today we celebrate our anniversary. We had a champagne breakfast compliments of the travel agent. It had a split of champagne. One course was a crab soufflé with a small section of crab leg and salad. Lox and cream cheese with capers and no bagel followed. This was followed by a tray of fruit and sweet rolls.
After enjoying the glacier all morning, we went to lunch. We sat with very enjoyable people we met on the bus, but I had a fish taco that would turn of anyone to a fish taco. If we had been alone, I would have sent it back. Instead I picked around and that was it.
Another comment I have to make is on clothes. Come with everything you need. I was told that there were washers and dryers on board, but do not wait until the last day. Today we have two more nights, so we decided we would go before early dinner. There was a line. We went in during our turn and while Jim was trying to figure out how things worked, this lady jumped ahead and tried to claim the washer. I of course told her to get lost and that there was a line and we were before her. She tried every argument in the book. Needless to say she did not win. I told her she was rude, had jumped the line, but go ahead. Her husband pulled her out. Getting laundry done by the staff is $10 and higher per item. Princess Cruises nickel and dime you to death. If it was only a nickel and a dime, it probably wouldn’t bother you. Even the people we had lunch with commented on the masseuse wanting to sell you product.
Today’s wine tasting which you pay extra for they give you for “free” a glass with a value of $8.00. At our table were the people we met at breakfast from Ohio, we figured that they were trying to get rid of the “free” glasses as they wouldn’t go through a dishwasher and if you were willing to pay $8 you were pretty stupid. They have everyone selling, selling. Our lunch group felt that for the price, everything on board should be free as the cruise price is no bargain.
Tonight was the second formal night, formal night. I think I brought too many dress up clothes and not enough casual. Resort casual on the Alaska cruise seems to be jeans. Dinner ran hot and cold as usual. I started with asparagus with béarnaise sauce, very good. I then had an apricot soup, just OK. The really bad choice was the pheasant. Kris had some great looking Brussels sprouts with her dinner so I asked for an order of them. They were good. Jim then got me a lobster tail, surprisingly good. For dessert I ordered floating island. The worst I have ever tasted. We had a Robert Mondovi Cabernet Sauvignon reserve, 2005 decanted with dinner. After dinner we went to see the first comedian again. His act was not as good as the first time.
This am we went to breakfast and sat with a couple from NY, Hawaii, and Colorado Springs. I had blueberry pancakes. The pancakes are always very good. Very wavy night, I slept like a baby. The sound of the waves seems to induce sleep for me. I learned at breakfast that it did not affect all as it did me.
After breakfast we went to a demonstration by the chef. They made it a funny routine while cooking very easy things. The chef mentioned that he has everything prepared for hot fast sautéing. This could explain all the thin over done food. He also said that he is more interested in food safety than taste. Our friend Kris asked if I told him he succeeded. After the lecture you went on a tour of the kitchen, stainless steel floor to ceiling. I bought a cookbook. It really entails all the cruises, not just Alaska, but includes Alaska.
Dinner was so exciting neither Lynn or I can remember what we had as a main course; only that we did not like it. All who had the strip steak, remembered that it was tough. We did not have steak, but could only remember that we did not like it. I started with wagon wheel pasta with peas and a cream sauce. The salad came with something that looked like cat throw up in a mound. Jim got mad at me for mentioning it. I did not eat it so cannot report what it tasted like. Our dessert was baked Alaska that they paraded all over with a candle on it. It was the worst baked Alaska. Hard to ruin ice cream and cake under meringue, but they did it.
We are now packing to leave the ship as suitcases have to be ready and outside the door before dinner. We take a train all day to Denali tomorrow. The train to Denali was miserable. We had to be in a meeting place at 7:00 AM. We arrived in Denali at 6:00 PM. Dave said as we were riding along that looking at the scenery was like sitting too close to a 60” TV. I think this ride produced an eagle nest. Again, no moose bear, etc. I ate breakfast and lunch on the train. We arrived in time for dinner. We made a reservation at the King Salmon restaurant. Our fabulous meal started with tempura halibut with coconut and peach conserve, Jim had a cup of salmon chowder. Both were excellent. Next we both had salmon. I had sockeye with black salt and pepper and potatoes that tasted like the ones at Banderoles’ in Chicago. Jim had King salmon with sea salt and risotto. We both agreed mine was better; like A and A+. For dessert Jim had a Blueberry sundae. Blueberries are in season. I had bread pudding with Blueberry sauce, Yum, yum.
On the way to the tour of the day, I saw a red squirrel, my wild life sighting in Alaska. Today, we tour Denali. We got to see the top of Mt. McKinley which supposedly is only seen by 15% of the visitors. I would have traded it for a grizzly bear or a lynx. We did see a caribou on the way back, best seen through high powdered binoculars. I am officially through with scenery. We returned about 8:00 PM and went to the Base Camp for dinner. There we all shared the seafood nachos and I had seafood Mac & cheese, very rich, but tasted good.
The next AM we checked out and went to the visitors center and checked out the park sled dogs. They were funny, friendly, sleepy and definitely more interested in pulling a sled than seeing visitors. We boarded another train for Fairbanks. We ate dinner on the train, horrible. The next am we boarded another bus for a river trip. This was a great trip. We had another dog sled demo, but it was more interesting. The sled dogs were so playful. After running a “summer sled” and being let go, they all jumped in the river. Then Jim noticed a rock that all the dogs took turns peeing on. We also had a salmon processing demo and visited an Eskimo village set up to describe different stages of their lives in Alaska. We had a reindeer hot dog on the ship. They served a beef stew lunch. After this tour we chose to go to the Museum of the North, rather than fake gold mining. It was fabulous. For our last supper in Alaska we went to The Pump House. I had a good salad while Jim had the salmon soup. I ordered scallops wrapped in prosciutto. Jim had reindeer meat, better choice. It was excellent. Jim had a raspberry chocolate tart. They also had great martinis. This am we are sitting around and I am finishing this blog. We are off to Seattle and Montana. It was raining in Fairbanks, so we just had fun talking to Lynn and Rob’s cousins. Getting through the TSA was tough in Alaska; nothing like being patted down by someone that can barely speak English.
Arrived in Seattle late, repacked and took off for Whitefish Montana and our friends “cabin.” This was the penthouse of cabins. It was so beautiful it deserves to be in a magazine. The view of Whitefish Lake was spectacular. I would love to spend weeks there in the summer. We did do a day of traveling in Glacier Park and finally saw a bear. We mostly ate Sandy’s great cooking, but one night we ate at a restaurant called The Back Porch. The food was really good. I had fried chicken that tasted not fried with a wonderful coating. Really want to go back and spend more time and explore.
So that is why I did not write on my blog in August. We are back home and ready to roll as the heat is calming down. I bought 3 new cookbooks in Alaska so expect new recipes.

August

I am taking the month off from my blog.  I will be in and out.  I just came back from IN.  Nothing to write about.  I will be traveling and will keep details of good meals to report.  Have a wonderful rest of summer.