North to Alaska
By Judith Kellogg, Kauai Oahu Chargee de Presse

On a sparkling San Francisco afternoon in May, the luxurious Crystal Harmony set sail for Alaska with twenty members of the Honolulu and Kauai/Oahu Bailliages, including Bailli Provincial Robert Lee with wife Bertie, Chambellan Provincial Laurence Vogel with wife Anna Lise, and Conseiller Culinaire Provincial Kusuma Couray. As we sept under the Golden Gate Bridge, the theme from "North to Alaska" playing throughout the ship, we raised our glasses in anticipation of twelve glorious days together. The permanent Chaine display at the entrance of the main dining room assured us that we were in Chaine-friendly territory, and Captain Egil Giske went out of his way to make sure we felt pampered, including providing an elegant welcoming cocktail party exclusively for our group.

This cruise provided all the usual enticements one expects, combining an endless array of onboard activities and entertainment with Alaska's spectacular scenery, on shore visits to picturesque, history-laden towns, and encounters with diverse cultures. But in addition to all that, this journey became the quintessential Chaine experience — a leisurely succession of gourmet meals, a gorgeous and ever changing setting, and the opportunity to experience the warm camaraderie that the passing days together afforded.

Honolulu Bailli Fred Hellekes masterminded our splendid experience, from pre-trip planning to brilliant special touches on board ship. His Napa contacts made sure that each Chaine member had a case of fine wine or champagne, so for the gourmet meals and our in-cabin pre-dinner parties, we were happy travelers (and no one had to drive home!). Fred orchestrated elaborate dinners for us in the specialty restaurants, the Italian Prego, and Japanese Kyoto. And with the Crystal Harmony's superlative staff, he planned several dinner menus exclusively for our group that would make any Chaine aficionado proud — no one complained of a shortage of lobster tails or foie gras!

Of special interest to our group was the private gallery tour that Fred arranged so that we could see how all the seamless flow of fine cuisine and personalized attention materialized. One comes to take for granted everything from the ice cream to the freshly caught wild salmon, so one rarely appreciates the well oiled machine needed to coordinate the contents of up to six hundred palettes of food that are loaded onto the ship at the home port, plus the fresh goods acquired at each landing — all this besides overseeing the fifty to sixty thousand bottles of wine on store, the fresh linens, the fine china, and all that appears magically at the table day after day. As we moved through the sparkling stainless steel kitchen, Food and Beverage Manager Johannes Lorenz and Executive Chef Manfred Schaller mesmerized us with telling facts that showcase the massiveness of the operation, such as the $300,000 worth of meat in the lockers or the 250,000 glasses in storage. A detail near and dear to our hearts is that 750 champagne glasses are in circulation at any one time — of which our group used more than our share. Twenty of these appeared at the culmination of our tour, where we gathered around a huge silver bowl filled with caviar, accompanied by freely flowing champagne.

These glimpses into memorable Chaine moments offer a small taste of the good times we shared. Special thanks also go to Dame Valeric Davis, who oversaw our booking details. As testimony to the success of the voyage, before we even disembarked in San Francisco, a number of us signed up for a Crystal Mediterranean cruise for next summer. Anywhere Fred Hellekes goes, we happily follow!

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