mjb1127

Willem's Pancake House

We've been missing the Boardwalk Donuts so I got room service breakfast yesterday before our excursion and ordered a chocolate donut @OCSC Mike! This was the best donut I've ever had on a cruise ship. It was fresh, soft and still a little warm but with that harder chocolate on top. Delish!! Although I wouldn't have used the room service if I had gotten Jamaican time correct.

Oh, @Ampurp85 , I think you like these too?

20240327_214855.mp4 (Video with sound)

Wonderland for dinner

Back to the ship!
 

You don't mention what you are looking for.
If you just want a hotel for the night and nothing more, then staying in Webster or League City is probably the best balance between price, ease of access to Galveston and safety.
If you're looking for a place that will add to your vacation,  I'd suggest the Boardwalk hotel in Kemah, the Courtyard by Marriott NASA Clear Lake or Moody Gardens in Galveston. 

MDR - I have no clue when Hubby ventured in 😂

Central Park

Overlook

There is a website called Today tix for broadway shows. You might be able to get discounted tickets

These male Magnificent Frigatebirds are mostly likely younger males who have matured enough to have the inflatable red chest.  So impressed with their new capability these young male birds inflate their chest and take flight only to discover how awkward it is to fly with a fully inflated chest. 
 

Older males who have been around the block a few times probably know better.
With that it was time to head back to the ship.

 

As we continued along the trail we came to a beach albeit a rocky one.


Sea Lion family.


Mangrove Finch



A young Booby.

Another male Magnificent Frigatebird showing off his chest.

A Blue Footed Booby near a nest.

North Seymour had many Blue Footed Boobies.  Along our trail were three sets of Boobies who appeared to going through mating rituals.


"Look at my blue feet!"


They were so close we had to walk around them to maintain some distance.  Absolutely no fear of us.



Pictures don't do this justice, you have to experience it right in front of you.

Check out those blue feet!

This guy had a slight turquoise hue to his feet which he continued to lift up and down to make sure she saw them.

Quite the moves.


She must have been impressed because it looks like success!

At the same as this tour an optional complimentary Sea Kayak excursion from our ship was exploring the coast.

More variations of finch.


A Yellow Warbler.




Researchers have discovered that the finch can evolve with one generation.  Pretty remarkable.

A young Booby close to our trail watches us with curiosity.

If it's nesting in the trees it must be a Red Footed Booby chick.

Who brought their pet dog?  Oops, just another Galapagos Sea Lion.

With that it was getting close to sunset and time to return to the ship.


 

Our guide takes us in the shallow tidal pool among the mangroves. 
What pictures can't portray are the sounds of the various birds in the mangroves calling out to each other.

A number of Red Footed Boobies are at various heights in the mangroves.  It was basically like a Booby condo.  




Can you find the Booby in the mangroves?

Our third excursion of the day was a nature walk starting with a wet landing on the beach of Genovesa.  
Sea Lions were resting on the beach when we arrived and they completely ignored us.

A pair of Swallow-tailed Gulls.  The red ring around the eyes is only present during mating season.  



A young Frigatebird waits on the nest for a parent to return with food.

Along the beach more Sea Lions are resting.  This is a male Sea Lion along with... 

... A female Sea Lion nursing a pup.



A Nazca Booby with a chick.

Another group from our ship is greeted by a very playful Sea Lion pup who was zooming around the sheltered tidal pool and posing for pictures.

A Lava Gull was checking us out.

Another Lava Gull.

A juvenile Frigatebird.


A female Great Frigatebird

An adult male Great Frigatebird.


A Lava Heron.

At 4:30pm we had the mandatory safety briefing.  We had been instructed a number of times to watch the safety briefing on our cabin TV's and acknowledge the video on the cabin TV.   After the safety drill we all gathered in the Explorers Lounge on deck four for our first orientation talk.  

After the talk some groups were asked to meet in the marina on deck 3 to secure snorkeling equipment.  I headed up to deck 8 forward to see Kicker Rock up close as we had been sailing slowly in this direction since the start of the safety briefing.
Sunset was taking place and a National Geographic ship had completed their sail past Kicker Rock.





With the naked eye you could easily spot hundreds of birds flying around or nesting on the rocks.





With that it was my turn to visit the marina to get my snorkel gear.

Basic internet is included and the Silver Origin has Starlink internet service.

A look back at the harbor.

Kicker Rock in the distance.

How the island looks from the sea,

At 3:30pm our suites were ready.
I'm staying in a Classic Balcony cabin.   Walking into the cabin the bathroom is on the left and a walk in closet is on the right.





The bathroom.

A sliding mirror panel allows you to see through the balcony door to the sea or it can be closed for privacy.

This cabin connects to the suite forward and the connecting door is in the walk in closet which can be closed off with a set of sliding mirror doors.



The balcony.



A bottle of Prosecco was waiting for me on ice. 

My wife and I did the land portion of this land/cruise portion first. We finished up Denali and got to the Port in Seward on Friday, September 1st. Early on the motor coach the "adventure guide" informed us that she was just notified that the Radiance had a "propulsion system issue" that they were working on and our cruise might be delayed. We finally got to Seward about 5:30 and boarded the ship with no problems nor mention of any ship related problems. Once in our cabin, the captain made an announcement that the problem wasn't fixed, the ship had to go to dry dock and the cruise was cancelled. He did mention that we would receive a letter detailing the reimbursement packages and comps. We quickly headed to the conference room where four staff members were assisting guests with return flights home through Royal's Air/Sea. Within 1.5 hrs I received an email with our flight arrangements for Saturday night. So we headed to the nearest bar for a few complementary drinks then off to dinner. Saturday we took the last shuttle bus back to the Anchorage airport and caught our flight home later that night. 
Are we disappointed, yes of course. Butthese things happen and it was out of our control. We did get to see Denali and a few of the small towns around Denali. Didn't see Mt. Denali because of the clouds nor did we see any wild life but we really enjoyed that national park. We were totally satisfied with the way the captain, his staff and crew quickly reacted to this problem. Very professional, we can't complain. We look at it this way, we travelled to Alaska and got to have dinner and a night on the Radiance of The Seas. By the way, she's a beautiful ship for her age, just a "little" problem with her propulsion system.
rjac
😎
 

A WJ post for @OCSC Mike

Some final thoughts…Itinerary 
All 4 of us loved this itinerary!! Completely loved it! Not one single complaint other than we wished we had longer at certain locations. 
We all had different favourite ports this sailing for different reasons. My favourite was Boston, followed closely by Bar Harbor, Portland, Saint John, and then Halifax. My top “Wow! I am speechless” port was probably at the sea caves in St Martins. My favourite eating port was probably a toss up between Boston and Portland. 
Hubby really loved Bar Harbor. That was his favourite. And he and the girls really loved Peggy’s Cove. D17 is a city girl like me, so one of her favourites was also Boston. D15 being a nature girl, loved Cadillac Mountain, the sea caves, and yesterday at Peggy’s cove. 
I would 100% do this itinerary again. And I would 100% do it again on a non-Oasis/QN class ship. Reason being that because it is so port intensive, and you are literally out all day in port, the evenings you just want to chill. I would have not liked to have to dress up for dinner, and catch some show at the theatre, Aqua Theater, or whatever each evening.
This sailing just reaffirms our decision to do the Western Med on Voyager next year instead of Oasis. The small ships have less entertainment, but for port intensive itineraries, I like that. It takes away the pressure to have to do something, or feel like you are missing something. Most nights all 4 of us just had dinner and came back to the room to relax and process the day. It was different than our usual cruising routine, but perfect for the type of sailing that this was. 

Day 9 - Sea Day
Last day of the cruise today, but first sea day that it’s actually nice out.

Temps are not warm, about 18°C, not sure what that is in Fahrenheit, but Hubby is still out there flowriding. I had breakfast in Chops again, and now just relaxing and trying to find the will to gather up my things to start packing. 
 

Random photos from our walk along the Halifax Waterfront. 

After lunch, we made our way to the Maritime Museum. My main objective here was to visit the Titanic exhibit. There was a family pass here for $24 (2 adults and 2 kids). Overall good value. We spent about 2 hours here. 
 

After the tour ended we walked along the Halifax Waterfront towards the Maritime Museum. This is a really nice area with restaurants, coffee shops, and lots of photo op areas. We got lunch here. It was once again, delicious!