15 September 2017; Juneau, Alaska.

We raised anchor at 05.45 when daylight was slowly approaching from the East. Winter is coming and the summer days where the ship was in 20 hrs. of daylight while in this area are gone, gone until next summer. The ship had dropped anchor on a bank made up of shingle, pebbles, mud and rock and when the anchor came up, the chain was nice and clean but we had about 1000 pounds of thick grey clay wrapped around the anchor. An indication that this was an excellent anchor spot to hold the ship in position even if there would have been a lot more wind than we had during the night.

One spot of grey, the bank surrounded by black, deeper water at the south side of Stephens Passage. Juneau is about 10 miles to the North.

By 07.00 we started the approach to the dock in Juneau and as we were the first ship in, we could just slide into the new dock at the Alaska Steam. This one was completed last year and now goes up and down with the tide. The locals have kept the old names for the docks although those cannot be reached anymore as the new floating docks lay in front of it.  Until the 1980’s the Juneau waterfront had three docks for specific use. 1.  The USCG dock to the west; 2. The Alaska Steamship dock on the town’s water front, where until 1964 the passenger ships of Alaska Steam used to dock and 3. next to it the ferry terminal which had the great advantage of having a car ramp for the cars and campers.  The USCG dock is still there and in full use, Alaska Steam became the main dock for cruise ships but was joined by the Ferry dock, when the Alaska State ferry terminal moved to Auke Bay. Auke Bay is located on the west side of Juneau on the other side of the mountain ridge. Here it had room to expand and it reduced congestion in downtown. This dock was renamed to Cruise Terminal and all the ships tried to get that spot as it meant that you did not have to shift the gangway for tidal changes.  We could just put the ships gangway on the car ramp and it followed the tide.

Ocean Liner Row in Juneau with the ms Volendam behind the ms Amsterdam and a Princess ship at Franklin Dock in the background.

With the expansion of the cruise industry and the size of the ships, then Franklin dock (on Franklin Street) and the A.J dock were added. Those two docks went up and down with the tide leaving the Alaska Steam a bit of a poor relation. Finally, last year Alaska steam and the cruise terminal were also upgraded with a large new dock but the west end is still called the Alaska Steam and the East end is still called the Cruise Terminal. Franklin dock is normally assigned to Princess and later in the day one of the Princess biggies came in and docked there; no doubt making the shop keepers at that end very happy.  We did not stay alone at our dock, later on in the morning the ms Volendam joined us and thus we had two of the four ships of the R class together.

The R class is not identical but they are near sisters with the Volendam and Zaandam nearly identical and the Rotterdam and Amsterdam quite similar. When you walk around inside there is not much difference in the lay out but outside it is quite visible. Rotterdam and Amsterdam have double funnels, a tribute to the old Rotterdam of 1958, and the ZADM and VODM both have a single funnel. The Rotterdam has heavier engines and can make 25 knots and the Amsterdam was the first Azi-pod ship in the company.

How about a this for a closing down sale !!! We will have to see what will be here next year.

As we are in the last days of the season, the closing down sales have started and all the shops are tempting guests in with discounts of up to 50%. I always question that as I was in a leather shop where I recognized some jackets which clearly came from Turkey and although reduced from $ 800,— to $ 400, there was still a markup of about $ 100. (Believe me I know, I have been dragged by my wife around all the leather shops of Kusadasi and introduced to the system of saving money by spending it because it is a bargain) However I did manage a bargain as well, the windbreakers were 75% off, and that I could not let go. The ms Amsterdam is going into wet dock in Seattle in 10 days and gambling on sunny, dry and warm weather in Seattle is too much to ask. It was a pity that the real good stuff was not reduced but will go in hibernation for a next season of eager shoppers.

The ms Amsterdam left at 21.30 heading for its next call, Icy Point in Icy Strait. They just built a dock there so we can now dock as we are the only ship in port. We will be docked by 7 am. and the forecast is a bit gloomy. Glacier Bay is just around the corner and the proximity of the ice will make it a chilly day if there is no sun to warm things up.