Our visit to Petropavlovsk was mostly a bust today except for learning that the Kamchatka Peninsula looks like a remarkably beautiful, rugged (but cold) place, at least from a distance. It was a cold day in the mid-20’s F at this latitude (53º N) and a little windy; but we were blessed with bright sunshine and a beautiful blue sky. Hopes were high that those who had snagged the very limited number of shore excursion tickets would have a wonderful visit. Unfortunately, it wasn’t possible for any of us to go ashore today and experience Petropavlovsk firsthand.
We’re not sure exactly what went wrong, so we can only report the facts. Crystal Serenity arrived to our anchoring position off Petropavlovsk, as scheduled, at 2:00 pm, after a long trip from Korsakov. A boatload of Russian officials arrived on board by tugboat. Knowing how long this Russian approval process would take, shore excursions were not scheduled to begin until between 4:00 and 5:00 pm.
We did see one of the ship’s tender boats lowered into the water for a trip to the docking location on shore, apparently to check it out; but then nothing happened until later, when Captain Vorland announced that he was cancelling all trips ashore. He said that local officials had assigned us a tender docking location with floating pontoons that were apparently pitching and rolling about three feet up and down. The tender crews could not tie up into a safe location for unloading cruise ship passengers. Further he said local officials were unable to reassign us to a safer location without approval from the Russian Navy, which would take too long to get. The situation had too much potential for a calamity. He said that, as much as anybody else on board, he wanted to go ashore at Petropavlovsk; but he didn’t want to risk anybody’s life in these circumstances. Under those circumstances, we think he made the right decision.
Of course, cold war conspiracy theories are floating around among passengers. It almost seemed like Russian officials were discouraging us from exploring Kamchatka. Petropavlovsk was, and still is, a very important Russian nuclear submarine base for their Pacific fleet. One person theorized that the Russians might be deploying a new model of submarine and don’t want anyone to see it. We did read that, since the end of World War II, foreign travel to Petropavlovsk was forbidden up until 1991.
Kamchatka is a 900-mile-long peninsula, roughly the size of California, with less than 400,000 residents. The Sea of Okhotsk borders Kamchatka on the west, and the Bering Sea (officially part of the North Pacific) is to the east. The peninsula is not accessible by road to the “outside world.” Kamchatka is definitely mountainous but is stunning, especially in the full sun that we enjoyed today. It’s also part of the “Ring of Fire” as the string of volcanoes that circle the Pacific Ocean are branded. In fact, we read that there are more than 200 volcanoes on Kamchatka, with at least 30 of them active. During our research we found that the highest volcano on Kamchatka is Klyuchevskaya Sopka (15,584 feet), claimed as the largest active volcano in the Northern Hemisphere.
Our destination, Petropavlovsk, is the administrative capital and largest city on Kamcahtka. The city faces Avacha Bay and is surrounded by snow-capped mountains, including two tall volcanoes. Population is listed as 180,000. The city name was given by the Danish-born Russian explorer Vitus Bering, who first founded the city in 1740. He named it after his two sailing ships: St. Peter and St. Paul, translated into Russian). We were told that the city is nine time zones away from Moscow. That’s about all we know about the city, since nobody from the ship (including us) set foot there.
Here are some of the photos we took of Kamchatka Island and the city of Petropavlovsk from our ship:
It’s been awhile since we’ve had much free time. Of the past 18 days, we’ve only had four sea days; the other 14 we’ve stayed busy in ports from China to Russia, including South Korea and Japan. However, between now and Dutch Harbor, Alaska, we’ll have three relaxing days at sea. There won’t be any lounging around the swimming pool, though, as it’s too cold and windy to go outdoors for any length of time.
For a long time our clocks have been 12 or 13 hours earlier than our local time at home (to be the same as the ports we were visiting). Now, time zone changes are coming hot & heavy, as we set clocks forward. One night (between Otaru, Japan and Korsakov, Russia) we had to move the time forward 2 hours before going to bed. Time zone changed again before Petropavlovsk. After leaving Petropavlovsk, we’re starting to head eastbound, so we’ll be moving clocks even more before reaching Dutch Harbor.
Even more confusing will be crossing the International Dateline. We will actually have two sea days dated April 21st, as we regain the day we lost when we crossed the dateline westbound back in February. This will be an 8-day week for us, with two Thursdays.
Even more confusing will be crossing the International Dateline. We will actually have two sea days dated April 21st, as we regain the day we lost when we crossed the dateline westbound back in February. This will be an 8-day week for us, with two Thursdays.
Nightly
entertainment has continued at a
high level for the past six days:
April 15: String Idols,
violin duo from Tokyo
April 16: Tempei Arakawa,
World-class juggler and a member of Cirque du Soleil since 2012
April 17: Pianotainment,
Fast-paced, four-handed show-piano – two very entertaining German piano players
April 18: Michael Bacala,
a high-energy Polish violinist who performed music from around the world
April 19: Swingin’ in the
Stardust – A Celebration of the Big Bands, Galaxy Orrchestra, Sara Hayes, and
the Ambassador Hosts
April 20: World Cruise
Theme Event – From Russia with Love. Once again, 27 performers on stage,
featuring the singers and dancers, but including Galaxy Orchestra, Astoria
Strings, Glenn Amer, Sarah Hayes, Jonathon Hawkins, Beverly Durand, Curtis
Collins, Michael Bacala, and Pianotainment.
A highlight of a Crystal Cruise for us is the high caliber of Special Interest Lecturers on board, as part of the Enrichment program. This segment of the World Cruise is especially good. Just in the past few days, we’ve attended sessions with General Anthony Zinni (USMC, Ret) who retired after commanding the U.S. Central Command; Boris Notkin who was introduced as “Russia’s most popular, and most respected, broadcast journalist of the past 20 years and a pioneer introducing open journalism in Russia”; and David Davenport (15-year president of Pepperdine University, and current research fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. All three of these men are highly intelligent, perceptive, thought-provoking, and excellent speakers.
If all goes well, we’ll be
back in the USA at Dutch Harbor, Alaska this upcoming Saturday, April 23.
Jim & Ginny
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