June 16, 2026 boarding Koningsdam

   Our luggage was in the hall by 6:30 a.m for transfer to the ship. Hotel checkout was 10 a.m.  Speaking with one of the other women in our group yesterday, we have packed light. She has done laundry twice so far at self laundry in the hotels.  She and her husband struggled to pack under 50 pounds. Our suitcases were under 40 pounds and we occasionally hand washed  socks and underwear. We filled a bag of laundry after unpacking, and the stewards sent it to the ship’s laundry. The clean clothes should be returned in two days. One of our loyalty perks is complimentary laundry.

   The clouds hung quite low this morning, appearing to hover above the roof tops. The temperature was 6°C wind, SSW 4 km/hr and the streets were wet. 

    We walked to Café on 5th which was also a bakery.  The large croissants were still warm. There was only one small table where we sat with our coffees and watched a steady stream of locals come in before 8 a.m.

   We stayed in our hotel room until 10 a.m. checkout time reading the newspaper. Our group and two other groups were waiting in the lobby for the busses to arrive to take us to the ship, a five minute drive. We were reminded three different times of the procedure to board the ship.

     - arrive at the pier and someone came on to see our passports and check our names on a list

     -   leave the bus and take carryon etc. with you

     -   follow the security guard to the ship

     -   present your keycard to be scanned on to the ship and have your carryon scanned

     -   go the B.B. King Lounge on Deck 2 have your passport out and be photographed and checked in

     -   wait in the lounge for the presentation of the safety video and explanation of where to go for the Muster Station

     -   luggage will arrive before 3 p.m. in your room

     -   staterooms are ready and free to explore ship 

     -   be sure to watch video of safety procedure on room’s TV, then it will be unlocked to watch any of the channels that the ship receives

     -   you can remain on the ship or go out to see more of Skagway

    -   All Aboard is 7:30 p.m.

   As we entered the B.B. King Lounge sparkling wine was presented to new arrivals. The  boarding process took about 30 minutes.  Our stateroom is on Deck 11, so we climbed the stairs slowly and shed our carry-on and jackets and watched the TV video. We met our room stewards Indra and Muly. We went down to Deck 3 to the Dutch Café for lunch. It was quiet. There is only seating for about 60. Most of the other passengers who were not ashore were on Deck 9 in the much larger (a third of the ship’s length) Lido buffet restaurant.

   Other ships is port were Celebrity Edge scheduled to be in port from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.;  Royal Princess scheduled to be in port from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Virgin Voyages Brilliant Lady scheduled to be in port from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m.

    We had to go back up to our stateroom to get documents to take to Guest Services on Deck 3 to prove that we should have another $175 US credits on our account. It was easily fixed. We went down to the library on Deck 2 and both picked copies of Without a Brew, in the Sloan Krause Mystery series, by Ellie Alexander. It is an easy to read cozy mystery. We took the books up to the Crows Nest Lounge on Deck 12 to read in comfortable chairs with a view of the bay.

    At 4:15 a trio of musicians called Vivace (a pianist, a violinist and a cellist) played a 45 minute concert. A little after 5 p.m we walked to the main dining room on Deck 2 expecting a line on the “Walk-in” side and there was no wait. We joined a table for six where a couple from Edmonton and two women from Houston were being seated. We had an enjoyable meal swapping stories.

   The show at 8 pm. In the World Stage theatre was “Sing” with the ship’s company of singers. Koningsdam departed during the performance. She was heading south at 11 knots towards Juneau and before midnight turning northwest to travel to Glacier Bay.

     Toal steps  10,292

    

      Our schedule for the voyage

Arrive Depart


 Tues Jun 16 SKAGWAY, UNITED STATES 8:00pm

 Wed Jun 17 GLACIER BAY 7:00am 4:00pm

 Thu Jun 18 KETCHIKAN, ALASKA, US 11:00am 7:00pm

 Fri Jun 19 SCENIC CRUISING THE INSIDE PASSAGE

 Sat Jun 20 VANCOUVER, B.C., CANADA 7:00am 

today's cruise ships are in, low cloud
our stateroom


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