BGG@SEA 2018 — Alaska!

The 2018 BGG@SEA cruise to Alaska was so popular that BGG decided to run two back-to-back one-week cruises during the dates June 22-June 29, 2018, and June 29-July 6, 2018. My husband Snoozefest and I went on the first week's cruise since we had planned to meet up with our Australian friends Peter Hawes and his S.O. Dominika, whom we had visited and traveled with at the end of 2014. We all signed up for the first week together. (Ironically, I have no photos of them since they were on a different meal plan — more on that below — and were too late in signing up for the BGG excursions; we did manage breakfast, lunch, and a couple of games together, though.) Also, my husband and I had planned to go to the Gulf Games convention in New Orleans, leaving for that trip only a few days after returning from the cruise, so the first week was just better for us. This was our first cruise!

There were 262 BGGers for the first week's cruise and 224 for the second week. The cruise left from the Seattle port with the following planned stops: Juneau, Alaska; Skagway, Alaska; Tracy Arm Fjords/Sawyer Glacier (although we were rerouted; details further below); and Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.

Photo from plane, flying into Seattle

For gamers who were in Seattle on Thursday, June 21, and stayed at (or stopped by) the Hyatt Place Seattle/Downtown, there was gaming off the hotel lobby. Although we did get into Seattle on Thursday, it was rather late (for us anyway), so we just stopped by for a quick chat, then headed up to our room. We disembarked the next day, Friday, June 22. Before leaving, my husband and I walked to the Pike Place Market area and bought some crumpets and scones at The Crumpet Shop. (Highly recommended, but get there early because they can run out...and expect a long line.)

The Seattle Space Needle, view from my hotel window

The cruise ship was Explorer of the Seas by Royal Caribbean, with Captain Mal at the helm (that would be Mal Bardsnes, sadly not Mal Reynolds). Price tiers for double occupancy were as follows:

• Interior cabins from $2,700
• Balconies from $4,500
• Suites starting at $6,300

This included taxes, fees, port expenses of $191.61 per person, pre-paid gratuities of $94.50 per person (or $115.50 for suites), and $100 onboard credit per stateroom.

It also included dining with other BGG@SEA group members every night (if desired), a welcome reception, access to overflow gaming space in the Main Dining Room on days 2, 3, and 6 from 7:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m., access to BGG@SEA exclusive group shore excursions, a farewell reception, a commemorative BGG@SEA 2018 badge (color-coded to participation level) in a neck wallet, and a draw-string bag.

Gaming access prices per person were as follows:

• Adult (12+) game room badge $150
• Child (4-11) game room badge $75

A game room badge allowed a person to get into the traditional BGG@SEA gaming area in the dedicated convention space (located on deck 2). BGG decided to separate this charge in case family members wanted to go on the cruise but did not want to game; this way they didn't have to pay for a badge they weren't going to use. Game badges also included one game request (via traditional GeekList in advance of the cruise) to be added to the BGG@SEA Library from the full BGG Library, as well as the ability to check out one game at a time from the BGG@SEA Library to play elsewhere on the ship. (There was no need to check out games played in the convention space.)

Explorer of the Seas was built in 2000 and last refurbished in 2015. It is scheduled for more refurbishing in 2018 as follows:

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On Sports Deck 13, Royal Caribbean's signature waterslides Cyclone and Typhoon will be installed next to the FlowRider simulator and on Spa Deck 12, a new Slashaway Bay kids aqua park will be added. (This is an interactive water play area with cannons and geysers, replacing the Outdoor Youth Area.) Explorer of the Seas is one of the Voyager-class Royal Caribbean ships, which also includes Adventure, Mariner, Navigator and Voyager. Explorer of the Seas has a total of 1,557 staterooms for 3,114 passengers (max capacity is 3,840 guests), served by 1,180 crew/staff. The ship has 14 passenger accessible decks, 15 lounges and bars, 4 swimming pools, 7 jacuzzis, and 14 elevators. Check out the official deck map for an idea of how the ship was laid out.

Passenger elevators were in two areas of the ship. Although 14 may seem like a lot of elevators, not all are available to passengers, and more importantly during high movement times (boarding the ship, disembarking for excursions, meal times, etc.) the elevators were jam-packed. The first time going to our stateroom we tried three times to get on an elevator before deciding to take the stairs up to our tenth deck suite. (We boarded the ship on the second deck, so this was quite the haul.) Unfortunately, once we got to our room, we had trouble with our room keys (note: they had lost our original sea pass/room keys and had to make new ones before we even boarded the ship) – it took two more trips down to the fifth deck to get in line for customer service and back up those stairs again before someone was sent to take apart the entire door mechanism, replace some parts, and get it working. For our trouble, we did receive a bottle of wine and an upgraded dinner for the two of us (more on this later). The upside was that with all the stair climbing, I didn't gain any weight on the cruise! Yay!

The ship is huge, which might be one reason we ended up at further docks at ports. Also, there were other cruise ships at closer docks; possibly they arrived earlier and received a better position. There were shuttles to town at an extra charge, but we just walked (average about a mile each way at each stop).

Ship in port at Juneau - further from the other docks

This was not one of the fancy all-inclusive cruises. However, the price was lower because of this. One of the reasons BGG chose this cruise was so that families and those on a budget might be able to better afford the trip (another consideration being the size of the convention/meeting space). As such, the food was just average/good. There were premium restaurants available at an extra charge (about $5 to $30 per person). We joined a group of friends at the Italian restaurant with our free upgrades — the food there was very good. Ben and Jerry's ice cream was available at an extra charge (but soft serve was free). There were also extra charges for drink packages and internet access. (If you didn't purchase the internet package, you had to buy access per day – I think it was around $15.)

Regarding dinners, there were a couple of options: My Time Dining and Main Dining. Since this was my first cruise, I hadn't realized there was actually a choice. If you went with the default, Main Dining, you were assigned a table for dinner every night with other BGGers (same table and people for the duration). My Time Dining gave you more time flexibility; you just had to make your own arrangements, e.g., if you wanted to sit with other My Time Dining friends. The cruise had two formal dress dinner nights. The food was a bit better than usual on these evenings (for example, one night they had a soufflé for the recommended desert). On our cruise, there were a lot of staff from India. This worked to our advantage since our waiter, finding out that we love Indian food, brought out several dishes from the staff dinners each night for us. The rest of our table was pretty thrilled as well. (Sometimes we even shared with neighboring tables.) This was some of the best food we had on the cruise.

Once everyone was on board the ship, there was a mandatory guest assembly drill. The purpose was to help passengers to familiarize themselves with the safety protocol, i.e., by gathering in their assigned meeting places in the event of an emergency.

Schedule (first week; second week was similar)

Some of the BGG group just before boarding the Explorer of the Seas (pictured in background)

Welcome Reception

BGG@SEA attendees were invited to a welcome reception on the first day of the cruise. Hot and cold canapés were served and there was an open bar. Jeff Anderson made some announcements, then told everyone that it was his wife Kristine's birthday. He had arranged for a keyboard and mic – and some fancy blue and gold lights – so that he could sing Billy Joel's "She's Got a Way" to her. It was very sweet.

Jeff Anderson sang to his wife Kristine for her birthday

Stronghold Games, as a sponsor, gave one game to every stateroom: a copy of Rogue Agent, given out at the welcome reception. Also, if you signed up for excursions, you received an additional game per excursion, cleverly themed to match:

• Mendenhall Glacier and Salmon Bake (gold mine nearby): Gold Fever
• White Pass Railway Tour: SteamRollers
• Butchart Gardens & Gourmet Picnic: Cottage Garden

Game information provided by Stephen Buonocore, CEO of Stronghold Games.

We signed up for all three BGG excursions, so we received four games! Yay! It was a bit tricky getting them home on the plane, though, as we brought carry-on bags only. We actually gave one to friends in the Seattle area when we met up with them for lunch after the cruise...

Game Room

One of the best things BGG@SEA has over other cruises is that during the "sea days", you can play games! Although there are plenty of ship activities, nothing beats friends and board games (in my opinion).

There were over five hundred games and expansions in the BGG@SEA library. Some people brought a few games of their own as well. As far as organized events go, Jeff Anderson arranged a Poker tournament and a Duplicate Tichu tournament. Jeff also ran a series of games called "The 504 Experiment". I played in the Duplicate Tichu tournament, a type of tournament that I had never tried before, and I think it lasted about three hours. It was run like a Duplicate Bridge tournament: Each table played with fixed hands that would be scored against other teams playing those same hands. There was a bit too much accounting for my tastes, but I'm glad I tried it. I much prefer regular Tichu tournaments, even though they tend to be much longer. By the way, Jeff and his sister came in first... hmm. (My partner and I came in second.)

Fun Fact (courtesy of Jeff Anderson): During the second cruise week, one of the couples got engaged! If you know the couple, maybe you could post some details in the comments?

Special Guests

There were several notables from the gaming world on the cruises, including game designer Alan Moon (both weeks), game designer Peter Hawes (first week), Stronghold Games publisher Stephen Buonocore (first week), Gloomhaven designer Isaac Childres (first week), and Watch It Played YouTuber Rodney Smith (first week).

It's good to be the king! Scott Alden (Aldie) seated, L to R: Stephen Buonocore, Janet Moon, Alan Moon, Jeff Anderson

Ship Activities

There were quite a lot of ship activities, far too many to list, but here are a few: Bingo, ice skating show, open ice skating, rock climbing wall, FlowRider (boogie boarding), mini-golf, comedy shows, movies, dancing, and seminars (although usually combined with selling).

If you wanted to work out, there was a nice fitness center, plus a running area marked on the deck. (I think it was a one-mile track.) There was also a spa but it was quite expensive. I won a $250 gift certificate for the spa by attending one of the many raffle drawings (this one was part of a spa tour). My husband and I signed up for a 75-minute couples massage. It used up the certificate, our $100 ship credit (included with BGG@SEA), plus $100 more! They tacked on a 20% gratuity, which I would not have given since I was quite unhappy with the massage and my masseuse. Not only that, before we could leave, the two masseuses cornered us for a hard sell of their products — as in they trapped us against the back wall of the room, blocking the only exit, made us sit down (they were standing), told us about their products, then when we declined, asked us why we didn't want to buy products that would make us feel better…and I quote, "Don't you want to feel good?" When I told them we were flying home with only carry-on luggage, they told us, "No problem, we can ship the products to you." So kind of them.

We went to only one show, the ice skating show "Spirits of the Seasons". I don't know if it was a particularly bad night, but the skaters fell at least six times (of those I saw – you couldn't watch everyone since they would spread out on the ice). And no, it wasn't because of ship movement – we had a pretty steady ride. Another couple who went at a different time said they saw only three falls. Well, at least it was entertaining.

On three of the nights, we were treated to a cute towel animal, placed on our bed as part of the turndown service. For some reason, I looked forward to these silly things.

Every evening (also with the turndown service) the Cruise Compass newsletter was delivered. It was a good idea to read this pretty carefully. It contained the schedule, including eating times and dinner dress code, for the next day. Below are copies of the Cruise Compass for the first day of the cruise.

Click to enlarge!

Juneau, Alaska

After a full day of cruising (and board gaming!), we arrived at our first stop: Juneau, Alaska. Since we had time before our excursion, we decided to walk around town a little, then check out the Alaska State Museum. One thing about this cruise (and probably many other cruises) is that there is a lot of advertising and up-selling (e.g., for future cruises). Mostly this turned us off, but there is one slightly positive note — many of the jewelry stores gave out free charms and other inexpensive jewelry. If you are so inclined, you can stop by the stores listed on a coupon sheet, included in your Cruise Compass, and receive an inexpensive charm, necklace, ring, or other small trinket at each store you visit. The drawback is that you will likely have to listen to some spiel and up-selling; some even make you try on a piece of expensive jewelry before you receive your "free charm". Most were not too bad, but a couple were hard sells where you would basically have to be rude in order to extract yourself from their virtual grip. I did, however, gain quite a collection of souvenirs.

My collection of souvenirs from various jewelry stores in Juneau and Skagway

One interesting type of jewelry that I was slightly tempted to buy was something made with gold quartz. Gold quartz can be found in the Juneau gold belt.

Fun Fact from Wikipedia: "The Juneau gold belt is located in the southeastern portion of the U.S. state of Alaska. This belt is approximately 100 miles (160 km) in length, north/northwest-trending, and extends from Berners Bay southeastward to Windham Bay, 60 miles (97 km) southeast of Juneau, and includes Douglas Island. The belt contains over 200 gold-quartz-vein deposits with production nearing 7,000,000 ounces (200,000,000 g) of gold. More than three-quarters of Alaska's lode gold was mined from the Juneau gold belt."

Gold quartz in pendants, Milano, Juneau

One of the better places to spend some time in Juneau is at the Alaska State Museum, otherwise known as SLAM (State Library, Archives, and Museum). Rebuilt in 2016, the new $140 million building contains four times the floor space as the old museum, including a gift shop, museum galleries, cafeteria, auditorium, classroom, reading room, research room, historical library, and state archives. It is a great place to learn about Alaska's history and cultures.

Photo taken at the Alaska State Museum

Fun Fact: Woolly Mammoths – this is what the label in the above photo says, "Mammoths came to North America from Asia, over the Bering Land Bridge, when the oceans were lower because water was locked in glacial ice. Alaska Native traditions recount the hunting of mammoths in Alaska, but thus far, no definitive physical evidence has been discovered. At the Swan Point site in Interior Alaska, one of the oldest sites in Alaska, evidence shows that people and mammoths coexisted there 14,000 years ago. Juvenile mammoth ribs were found there together with stone tools. At several sites in interior and northern Alaska, dating from 14,000 to 300 years ago, tools were found made from mammoth ivory and bone — but these materials were gathered from the surrounding landscape long after mammoths became extinct. Mammoths died out of the Alaska mainland around 14,000 years ago, but survived until around 6,500 years ago on St. Paul Island in the Bering Sea. Mammoth tusks Collected by Martin Matuska at Livengood, near Fairbanks, where many specimens of ice-age megafauna were discovered during placer mining"

Next we walked back to the ship dock to meet up with the BGG group for our first excursion: Mendenhall Glacier and Salmon Bake. We took buses to the Mendenhall Glacier. They allowed us about an hour, so we took the half-hour trail to the glacier. (It was going to be tight, so we walked fast.) The glacier is retreating so quickly that in a few years they will have to move the visitor center, which is already about a mile from the glacier. Check out the Huffington Post article and time lapse video over the last eight years showing the retreat: "Since installing a camera at Mendenhall in 2007, Extreme Ice Survey says the glacier has retreated more than 1,830 feet — about one-third of a mile. Its abnormally fast retreat and deflation shows the effects of climate change in action..."

The trail was easy to walk and in good condition. It was also very pretty, with a scenic point along the way.

Mendenhall Glacier

After returning to the buses, we were brought to Gold Creek (rainforest and creek area) for a Salmon Bake. (I actually don't eat seafood, but they had chicken as well.) The food was really good; people seemed to really enjoy the salmon too, go figure. I loved the cheesy scalloped potatoes (had a huge helping!) and corn bread. The blueberry cake was also quite yummy. Here's the description from the Alaska Channel website:

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You'll also, no doubt, smell your feast being prepared: Alaskan-caught wild salmon grilling over an open, alder wood fire. The all-you-can-eat meal — served under translucent domes, in case of soft rain — includes baked "cheechako" chicken ("cheechako" is slang for "newcomers"), Gold Rush potatoes, baked beans, wild rice pilaf, fresh salads and corn bread. Wash it down with lemonade, coffee or tea — or pay a few dollars extra for beer and wine, including some locally made ales.

As though blueberry cake weren't enough for dessert, you can finish off your meal with perhaps the greatest, yet simplest, delicacy of outdoor dining: roasted marshmallows, which you can prepare yourself over the crackling campfire. The lush scenery of Southeast Alaska's rain forest is another wonderful after-meal complement, along with the folk music performed by local musicians. After dessert, browse for gold panning kits and other mementos in the trading post.

Making smores at the Salmon Bake

Skagway, Alaska

From Juneau, we headed to our next port in Skagway, Alaska. Our excursion, the White Pass Railway Tour, didn't leave until 12:40 p.m., so we had time to walk around (visiting a few more jewelry stores), then pick up something for lunch to bring on the train. Skagway really is a throwback to the past. It looks similar to how it looked one hundred years ago, and in fact many of the original buildings are still standing. Take a look at the following photos of McCabe College (Skagway Museum) and the Arctic Brotherhood Hall, then check out the 100+ year old photos of the same buildings (just do a search) on the Klondike Gold Rush website.

Skagway Museum, Skagway, Alaska

Fun Fact: The Skagway Museum above is one of the best museums in a town filled with museums (not exaggerating). Constructed in 1899 by the Methodist Church, it was originally McCabe College, Alaska's first higher education institution. It was the first building in Alaska to be built of granite. After only a couple of years, the school was closed in 1901 and sold to the federal government to be used as a U.S. district court and jail. In 1956, the building was purchased by the city of Skagway. In 2000, an addition was put on the building. Today it houses the city hall, jail, and museum, the latter of which takes up the entire first floor. The museum contains much of the local history, including native Alaskan baskets, beadwork, and carvings as well as the Klondike Gold rush. One of the main attractions is the small pistol that the famous Gold Rush era con artist Soapy Smith kept up his sleeve.

Arctic Brotherhood Hall (AB Hall), Skagway, Alaska

Fun Fact: The Arctic Brotherhood Hall, or AB Hall, was constructed in the summer of 1899. The facade was added in 1900 using 8,883 pieces of driftwood from Skagway Bay. These were removed over the 2004-2005 winter for restoration, although about 40% had to be replaced as they had rotted. It used to be a fraternal hall for the local chapter of the Brotherhood; it is currently a visitor center and gift shop.

For lunch, we went to an excellent Thai restaurant, Starfire. (Yeah, I too was surprised to find this little gem here.) They are known for their Drunken Noodles dish, but it is usually served only for dinner. After some begging and my best sad face, the chef said he would cook us our two orders to-go. Woo-hoo! It did live up to its reputation — and the serving sizes were pretty huge.

The 3.5 hour ride on the White Pass Railroad was absolutely breathtaking. The train cars we were in had tables, so we could play games; I think I played only one though as there was just too much spectacular scenery to see. Below are a few of the photos I shot along the way.

White Pass Railway Tour, glacier on top of mountain

White Pass Railway Tour, train going around turn

White Pass Railway Tour, stream and a whole lot of pretty

Not the Tracy Arm Fjord and Sawyer Glacier

After leaving Skagway, the ship headed (overnight) to the Tracy Arm Fjord. The original plan was to stop at the Sawyer Glacier down the Tracy Arm Fjord in the morning and do some turns in the water in front of the glacier for an hour or so. However, we were rerouted to the Endicott Arm and the Dawes Glacier. The Cruise Compass, received the night before, noted "that there has been a lot of ice flow at Sawyer Glacier in Tracy Arm. With this limiting how close we can get to the Glacier in Tracy Arm and the safety of the ship with the floating pieces of ice, Captain Mal will make the decision upon arrival whether to take the option to go to Dawes Glacier at Endicott Arm which is close by. In previous cruises this has been the better option and Captain Mal has navigated the Explorer of the Seas less than half a Nautical mile [.575 miles] to Dawes Glacier giving you a stunning photo opportunity." Hmm. As I told my husband the night before, I had a feeling that we were going to be seeing the latter glacier. In Seattle, I talked with someone who was on another cruise at the same time, different ship, who saw the Sawyer Glacier. My guess is they usually go down to the Dawes Glacier – possibly because of ice flows but also maybe because there are other ships going to that location. (The second week also went to Dawes.)

Here's a pretty spectacular video of the Sawyer glacier on July 6, 2018 (the last day of the second cruise, well after they left the area):

We didn't get to see any spectacular calving, but it was still stunningly beautiful.

Iceburg, glacier ice flow from Dawes Glacier, Endicott Arm, Alaska

Glacier ice flow and the Dawes Glacier, Endicott Arm, Alaska

Near Dawes Glacier, Endicott Arm, Alaska

Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

From the glacier, we started towards our next destination: Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. There was another full day of cruising before we reached our destination on the seventh day. Around 9:30 a.m. we headed to the meeting place just off the ship, for our 10:00 a.m. excursion (4+ hours). We took buses through the city of Victoria to the Butchart Gardens (our bus driver gave us a sort of tour, pointing out the sights as he drove). The first thing we did was have lunch — a gourmet picnic! Each of us were given a huge basket full of food, which was way too much to eat. It was quite good. (There was seafood in main dish; I didn't eat it but there was so much food that I didn't care.)

Butchart Gardens picnic Victoria, Canada; L to R: Ravindra Prasad, Ken and Robin Hill, Mary W. and Lorna W., Steven and Linda Pedlow

The famous Sunken Garden was a former limestone quarry in Jennie Butchart's backyard. She and her husband, Robert, moved to Vancouver Island in 1904 in order to build a cement plant on a rich limestone deposit. Once the limestone was exhausted (circa 1912), Jennie made plans to transform the giant hole into a beautiful garden. According to the Butchart Gardens website, the Sunken Garden took nine years to build; it contains five acres of gardens with 151 flower beds with 65,000 bulbs planted for Spring. Today the Butchart Gardens is a National Historic Site of Canada.

Famous Sunken Garden, Butchart Gardens, Victoria, BC, Canada

Flowers, Butchart Gardens, Victoria, BC, Canada

After the excursion, the bus returned us to town. We asked to be left off across from the Fairmont Empress (an upscale 1908 hotel), near the British Columbia Parliament Buildings. After a quick peek inside the Fairmont Empress, one couple decided to tour the Parliament, another took a pedicab to a shopping area, while others went to the Royal BC Museum. (My husband and I were in the latter group.) The museum had an awesome special exhibition — Egypt: Time of the Pharaohs — that I was particularly interested in. We also took a stroll through some of the regular collections before walking back to the ship.

Sarcophagus, Egypt: Time of the Pharaohs, Royal BC Museum, Victoria, Canada

Ice Skating and Farewell Reception

When the ice isn't being used for performances, they open up the rink for skating. We went on the last day, just before the farewell reception. Because of safety, they make you wear a helmet and you can't do any tricks (i.e., no jumps). I grew up ice skating, so it was fun to relive my ice skating days (minus jumps). We skated for about 45 minutes or so. With the helmet on and all the skating, my hair was soaked by the time I left (plus I think I was a bit dehydrated). We just stopped in at the farewell reception to say goodbye to some people before heading up to our room to pack; we wanted to get off the ship soon after we docked in the morning, around 7:00 a.m.

The farewell reception was similar to the welcome reception, with hot and cold canapés being served and an open bar. Jeff Anderson announced the next BGG@SEA, planned for August 24-31, 2019. The cruise starts in Miami, FL, and will include St. Maarten, Puerto Rico, and Haiti. It will be on the newest and largest cruise ship in the world: the Symphony of the Seas — a sister ship to the Harmony of the Seas from BGG@SEA 2017. BGG will start taking deposits in late August 2018.

Michelle Alden and Jon Theys

with my Duplicate Tichu tournament partner Peter Hendee in the background

Final Thoughts

For families, this is a fantastic opportunity. There are lots of activities for kids on the ship. The tiered pricing system helps make it affordable. It's also a great way to see other places — the ship is basically your own floating hotel — and to get to know other board gamers (especially if you do the Main Dining). Of course there's plenty of time to play board games, especially on "at sea" days.

A special thanks to Jeff Anderson for providing statistics on the 2018 cruise as well as information about next year's cruise.

BGG@SEA 2018 — Alaska!

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BGG@SEA 2018 — Alaska!

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