July 5, 2026 was spent on board the ship moving north. No stops. Because our first stop is Juneau, about 900 miles north of Seattle, the sailing time is about 47 hours, certainly the longest time I have ever been on a ship.

I learned two things today (without really trying). First, I had assumed that when I get to Juneau, I will be further north than ever before. But, no! Both Helsinki and St. Petersburg lie north of Juneau.

I also assumed, since the Alaska coast is pretty much due north of Seattle, that the Alaska coast would be on Pacific Daylight Time. But, again, no. Alaska (most of it) is on Alaska Daylight Time, one hour behind PDT, four hours behind Eastern.

Today was chilly and cloudy, but there was no rain. The temperature was in the mid-50s, but there was a wickedly cold wind, which made outside activities difficult. If you walk three times around the periphery of the ship, you have walked a mile, which seemed like the thing to do, until you

did it. After one go-round, I called it quits. There were a few intrepid walkers, but just a few.

The decks were pretty empty. And probably no one else at 83 did even the one lap that I did. Which reminds me. I heard some demographic facts about our cruise, and one surprised me. I thought that the majority of those on board were elderly. But it turns out that only about one in 7 is 75 or older.

Holland America is a Dutch company, and Indonesia was formerly the Dutch East Indies, so it isn’t surprising, perhaps, that many crew members are Indonesian. In fact, 50% of the crew, I was told, come from Indonesia. That would be about 450 Indonesian crew members on board. The other 450 or so crew members come from 40 different countries.

So the day was quiet, including reading much of Evelyn Waugh’s travel writing from the early 1930s, watching The Da Vinci Code on our room TV, and eating three meals.

The executive chef is not from Indonesia, but from India. I did not catch his name, but he was introduced at the Captain’s Toast tonight, and got a big round of deserved applause.

The food has been very good. Tonight, I had a salad, pan fried sole with potatoes au gratin, spinach, carrots and asparagus, with strawberries Romanoff for dessert. My breakfast this morning was scrambled eggs, baked beans and Indian potatoes. Lunch, vegetarian tacos.

About half of the passengers are part of an Evangelical group, but I have seen no MAGA hats yet. But I wonder if this is a Trump crowd. It certainly does not contain anyone who, on first glance, looks like they would be a great friend. There are many younger people, although certainly not a wild crowd. The Evangelicals are wearing name tags, and the teenage daughter of one couple seems to have a great name, Symphony Knight. Another seems not have learned how to follow instructions for dying your hair green.

At the Captain’s Toast, they were giving out champagne.

The Toast preceded a show by illusionist James Cielen, who, talented as he is, left me bored.

Monday morning, we head to Juneau. Rain, rain, rain. Wind, wind, wind. Cold, cold, cold. Where is baked Alaska when you need it?