vicd1969

Sorry, wasn't clear on what I meant on further docks - i mean the pier/dock locations in ports like Juneau and Ketchikan. I do agree Seward has more things to do, hence preferably getting there by land and spending a few days there.

Last August, the Global Entry line was not available to me either. So it was a 1.5+ Hour slog through CPB in Vancouver. I felt the non-North Americans had the advantage of a faster process when the long single line diverged into lanes since there were a lot fewer of them. Glad to see that they now have kiosks to expedite the process.

A June sailing may not allow you to get that close to Harvard glacier, which is the biggest glacier located at the end of the College Fjord. That would be due to presence of ice and I think seal breeding. You probably would get to the closest view point possible before 730 PM so I say go for it with your reservation. Also, there is a 100% chance you will be dry inside the Pinnacle Grill but a much lower chance than that for outside viewing conditions. In August, the ship can get closer to the glacier to the point of photos not doing justice to how huge Harvard Glacier is to the naked eye. While not as large as Hubbard glacier, it just looks bigger because you are able to get closer to it. Harvard Glacier Photo from August 2023

Maybe an alternative - just take one cruise and spend more days on land in Alaska. As @Mercruiser mentioned, Alaska is really easy to see with a rental car. I would recommend flying into Anchorage or Fairbanks, then travelling to Denali, Homer, Seward, and then returning the car at Anchorage. Then take train to Whittier for your HAL cruise, or go earlier and stay one night in Whittier to do the boat tour of College Fjord. The northbound and southbound HAL cruises from/to Vancouver cover the same stops, except one different glacier (Hubbard southbound, College Fjord northbound). Plus, if you go southbound, you'll avoid the pleasure of 1.5 Hours+ standing in line at the US Border and Customs process outbound from Vancouver. If you do want to do two cruises, I would recommend either HAL or Princess - Celebrity and Royal Caribbean get the further docks in the Alaska ports.

Let’s say I buy the $500 gift card and use it to purchase onboard credit. I am the primary person in the cabin but have 3 others share the cabin. Would the OBC be applied to the cabin or just to myself? In other words, could the $500 be used to help pay for everyone’s gratuities in the cabin?

The destination specialty salmon dishes onboard HAL for their Alaska cruises are very good, much better value, if not outright taste, than the $80 cost of a Salmon bake. I would spend my excursion dollars on other activities.

It is for adults as well. You still have to pay taxes and port fees, along with the gratuities.

While there is a good chance your sailing's menu won't line up with the current one in the app, it does give you an idea of some common items over a week. And the "dressy" night menu are likely to be the same. The App also shows today's Lido buffet lunch and dinner offerings in addition to the MDR dinner. Your 6-day Caribbean sailing should have a similar MDR menu to the one @Crew News posted on his website https://rogerjett-photography.com/specialty-2/specifc-cruise-lido-and-mdr-menus/caribbean-7-day-main-dining-room-menus-2023-24/

Yes, I believe so with some caveats. The MDR dinner room service is free for all cabins. However, it varies from ship to ship on when you can call in your order - I think between 5 PM and 630 PM on most ships. And can only be delivered during MDR hours. The Navigator app would have that night's dinner menu to help you out. Also, extra-charge drinks like sodas and even milk ordered through room service ARE NOT included in your beverage cards/drinks package. So ordering a coke with the room service meal would cost you the $5 or so. Since your kids are teens, they can just go up to the lido, where most of the MDR options are available as well, and can bring their food down to the room. Unless they're really directionally-challenged and would get lost coming back to the cabin without you. The Neptune suite lounge also has beverages available. Others can give you a better idea of Neptune suite lounge offerings for beverages.

As for Juneau, another vote for the Mt Roberts tramway. Note how HAL has the prime docking location right by the tramway station.

Club Orange doesn’t seem worth it in value for OP since they already booked their cabin and not much room left to upgrade. Also their intent to share tables at anytime dining is the opposite of having essentially a less flexible but more intimate experience in the CO dining room. That said, I am shocked no one has yet mentioned the club orange tote bag 😉

HIA if booked more than a year in advance usually includes gratuities, as others have mentioned. If your kids don't get HIA, they would be paying about about $120 each for a 7-day Alaska sailing ($17*7). Kids don't need a separate internet package. You can log off your internet on your device and they can share the connection then with you. Drinks - if they have to drink a lot of smoothies and sodas each day then HIA may make sense. Otherwise, assume about $20-$25 / day for 3-4 beverages other than ice tea/lemonade/water. So another $175. Specialty dining - assuming they join you that's about another $55 if you dine at Pinnacle Grill. Or you can send them to the lido for dinner that night and make the specialty dinner your "date" night. Assume they'll join you for whatever excursion you take with the credit. So that's $100. Which brings to about $450 for the cost without HIA.

Oosterdam suffers in this poll because it doesn’t usually do sailings from US/Canada ports, at least over the past few years. So not as many North Americans have experienced her.

I have someone who wants to join my travel group for an upcoming July HAL cruise that leaves from Rome and visits Croatia, Montenegro, and Greece. She would be added as a third passenger on an existing booking. She is not a US citizen and with her nationality, will need to apply for a multiple entry Schengen visa. The chicken or the egg (or Catch-22) question: The visa application information from the Italian consulate says that she will need to provide documentation of her lodging in Italy (ie the Cruise reservation) and round-trip flight reservation (ie, Flight Ease booking). However, when I spoke with a TA from my travel agency that I used, she said that the person has to get her visa application in order - first before being added. Thus, this sounds a bit of a dilemma. Does anyone know what the right precedence should be for getting her on the booking?

If you've sailed on the RCCL Radiance class ships (Radiance, Brilliance, Jewel, or Serenade), then the Nieuw Amsterdam layout will be pretty familiar to you. Has about 11 usable decks, a lounge and gym in the front, with dining in the stern and 2 decks of shops, restaurants, casino, and main theater. There are usually fewer passengers for almost the same size of ship, though that may not be obvious during a full cruise during spring break.