We arrived at Vancouver on time and after breakfast patiently waited for our disembarkation. We booked for an airport transfer but we did not allow for the earlier arrival of another larger cruise ship with about 6000 passengers. Consequently there were not enough taxis or buses to meet the demand, for about 400 of us. We felt that we had been conned as the transfer cost 28 USD each and as we waited a freelancer was offering 15 CAN each. No one in the line was...

Volendam arrived at Sitka after an uneventful overnight crossing of the North Pacific at 5.45 am and the tenders began operation at about 7.10 am. Everyone was up for an early breakfast on a delightful sunny morning. The forecasrt was 13 c max, a pleasant change from Kodiak,so passengers were eager to get onshore. We had picked a lightweight tour and found that nearly everyone else had also. However it was a good tour especially since driver Bonnie was a rea...

Just as Captain Jereon Beijins predicted at 7am the ship was at anchor in Kodiak harbour, not being able to dock because of the presence of the ferry. Firstly we had a most efficient face to face with US Border Protection Officers who happily stamped our passorts. After lunch we had a very expensive boat ride on a working fishing boat under the guise of Marine and Wildlife Sightseeing. It was run by two ex and one serving Coast Guard personnel and t...

We left the dock at precisely 4.30pm in dense fog to commence crossing the North Pacific by the circle route, because ithat is the shortest distance usuing the curvature of tghe earth. The Captain's address forewarned of foggy cold days ahead with two to three metre seas. He also reminded us that maritime law required the ship to sound its horn every two minutes. And so it turned out , Monday morning was 1 degree C. None of the passengers even the North Ame...

We woke up finding ourself in dense fog but never the less delivered to Kushiro on time. We set out in the fog on our tour to Lake Mashu which turned ourt to be a lake in the top of a volcano in an active thermal area. Our guide warned us that Kushiro is known for its fog, with less than 5 sunny days a month, thus dampening expectations. But when we arrived at the site (2 hours later) the sun was out and the day was clear. What we did not expect was snow. I...