campisfortis

My family likes the New York Pizza pizza, even though we are from Detroit. We are also big fans of the Dive-In burgers, I always order mine medium (so custom made). I do not recall anytime that I was disappointed. On the other hand, I am not such a fan of the deli sandwiches on the Koningsdam.

On the Koningsdam last fall, I do recall seeing some obviously pre-made Dive-In burgers sitting for easy pickup, I did not take any of those and custom ordered mine at the window, as always.

The world wonders.

In San Diego, I would get an Uber. Its only about 10 minutes to the airport.

I recommend Rome Cabs. On time, fair price, no problem.

I have only been to Alaska once, but I have been on about a dozen cruises. While I have experienced some minor issues, to me, all of them have been enjoyable vacations.

White Railway in Skagway is lots of fun, I do recommend it.

Do not plan to arrive in Vancouver the same day the ship sails. I like to book a hotel with a view of the port, then you can get up early, drink coffee and watch the ship arrive (maybe 7AM).

If you moderate drinkers, you can do okay without a drink package. Ship tap water is fine, standard drinks are around $8 US, there are various happy hours times. Some cruise lines have free soda, others do not. Some ships have self laundry available.

I do not book excursions all all stops, but I do tend to book thru the cruise line. Be aware that the ship will not leave without you if you are on one of their excursions, but they might if you cannot make it back to the ship on time otherwise. Mostly that is not a problem, but you do not want to be the person running down the dock as the ship is leaving.

Alaska weather can vary, and the best defense for that is to bring layers, do not forget waterproof gear.I one time I went to Alaska the weather was good with highs in the 60s (18-19 c.), but Alaska can be stormy and cold.

Cruise Critic is great resource. Do not be discouraged by the occasional nay-sayer. Cruising is a great way to travel, each day you can be in a different place and you only have to pack / unpack once.

Room service is available 24 hours a day at no charge. In addition to the standard room service menu, during the main dining room dinner hours you can order whatever is on the menu for dinner that day.

Our last cruise was on the Eurodam last April and we all enjoyed the B.B. King Blues Club band, I am sure they do not work for free.

Don't forget 24-hour room service, and during dinner hours you can order items on the MDR menu. So if you have early fixed dinning and miss your time, you can enjoy the same meal a bit later in your cabin.

It may be "no charge" but the TA, or whoever, still needs to take the time to enter the information, and assume whatever small exposure to liability there is in case of a SNAFU.

It may only take 10 minutes, but a whole working day can be consumed by dozens of these small tasks, and unless you are working for free, that can be a real problem.

That being said, I am all for "doing it for yourself". I love the freedom and power modern technology provides to travelers.

Here is another vote for Dive-In. When you place your order, they give you one of those buzzing things you get from a restaurant when you are waiting for your table. While you are waiting for your burger/hot dog to be cooked, either go to the Lido Bar or ask a waiter for you favorite beverage (or daily special, your choice), find a seat at a table and enjoy the pleasurable buzz of the first meal aboard.

That is what Rob Lowe would do. Grumpy Rob Lowe would crowd around the order window, complaining about how it takes ten minutes to prep his Cannonball burger, when he got his burger, he would find a table and then get a drink and by the time he got his drink, his burger would be cold, and later, he would post in Cruise Critic that he was on the worst cruise ever.

My favorite is the Canonball, sometimes with and sometimes without the onions. And I agree that the Dive-In, along with the B.B. King Blues Club are the two best things to come to HAL in years. Alas, for the OP, B.B. King doesn't play on the Veendam. But the Veendam does have the nifty giant outdoor LED screen at the Retreat, which is the third best thing to come to HAL in recent years (Koningsdam is not considered eligible for inclusion on the list, as it is not actually completed.) Apparently you are not allowed to have all three on the same ship.

How was the cruise? Any tips for the ports? We leave Quebec City on Sunday on this cruise and then hit all the same ports on our way back. So anything we miss on our way to Boston we will catch on our way back to Quebec City:). Only wish we had more time in Boston:(

Two words... Lobster roll.

We never tip for room service, maybe that is why on our last trip they would never ever pick up the trays, even hours after we called for a tray pickup.

Our room stewards did pick up the trays and we do tip them at the end of a voyage (as well as our waiters when we have fixed dinning). Otherwise, I figure $23 dollars a day is enough (think about it, if you are paying $200-400 day per cabin for your fare, isn't that enough)? How much do you tip when you stay at a hotel?

We have been on multiple cruises, and our next cruise will be on the Eurodam. All of our previous cruises have had passenger accessible laundry rooms. The Eurodam, of course does not. I have seen multiple threads extolling the virtues of the unlimited laundry services, and I am looking forward to giving HAL a laundry bag every couple of days.

On ships like the Eurodam, what do you do for occasional pressing? Say when I unpack my wrinkled dress shirt or jacket, and I want to wear it the next evening? Can they reliably do same-day pressing?

My MIL will be traveling with us, and she likes to iron her own clothes. Can we ask HAL for an Iron, or can she bring a travel iron onboard?

Just make sure you don't miss the lifeboat drill.

We booked with HAL online for two adjacent Veranda's (VC) on the Eurodam 16 day Med cruise this April. Because ther are some V cabins which I would consider less desirable than our VC, I indicated that we were not flexible about our stateroom choice. I also wanted to make sure we would stay together (they are not connecting cabins, but the idea is that we will ask to have the door between the verandas left open).

Recently, I have seen some people get some really good upsell offers. Since we have indicated that we are not flexible in our cabin choice, does that mean we are not eligible? If I could arrange for a good price on a Signature suite, I would be a hero (my wife is a bit grumbly because she is used to the bigger Veranda's on "S" and "R" classes).

We are only 40 days out. What are my chances? Should I reach out to HAL, or am I wasting my time?

I wonder why she did not take them up on the offer? But then I am not aware of the issues people had with what she was doing.

I am currently ports.cruisett.com.

That gives you the ships, the total number of passengers, and the times. You can search by port or by ship. It does not use drop downs, but uses the mouse "hover-over" feature.

When you look at a particular ship, you can select by month, and it will show the ports, the arrival and departure times for that particular ship, and who else is in port. If you mouse hover over the other ships, it will show the arrival and departure time for that ship.

If you are hard-core you can copy/past the results into Excel very easily, at least I can on my PC. Then you can add it to your trip planning Excel spreadsheet. I am not the only one who has does this, right?

I think Halfacts is great but Joanie site was great too. If somebody is willing to continue Joanie's work, I would encourage Joanie to allow a transfer of her images and other data from her website. That should still be possible, particularly if she has only disabled her site, not deleted the content.

I work in IT and while I do not have the specific skills to transfer the data and set up a new site, I know people who do and I would be glad to help facilitate this effort.

Internet bullies be damned.

I say "me too" to most of the above and will add

- The different Eggs Benedict variations available every morning in the Lido.

Thank-you for the updated list. By my math, with a three star 25% discount means a seven bottle Navigator package costs about $25 a bottle.

You know we always complain about the stuff on the ship which seems to be over-priced, it is just human nature, but then you get upset, and it is not good to be upset on vacation, or even while planning one.

So I have a suggestion, next time you get annoyed that HAL is charging a 300% markup (or whatever) on your favorite wine. Think about one thing we get from HAL at no extra charge - maybe the twenty-four hour room service, ocean views, entertainment you can walk to, or walk away from.

And most of all, remember the pure joy of being on a ship at sea, a ship which looks and feels like a ship, a ship on which you can experience the limitless expanse of sea and sky, hear the waves, feel the breeze, the gentle rocking of the waves, and surrender to the age-old human yearning for the sea.

Nice work.

I noticed that our next trip will literally next door the cabin in your video. I am curious, did you like the location? Did you have any issues with engine vibration, or having a shower instead of a shower/tub?

"Jeremy, close an app". You may recall the T-Mobile campaign touting their new plan with international data at no surcharge. They call it their Simple Choice Plan $80 month (with two lines), 500MB per line. Check their webpage for details. I think you would be safe while ashore, but I do not know about the effects on-ship.

** Full disclosure - I do not work for T-Mobile, but I do work for a sister company. **

We are booked on the Eurodam with a departure from Civi on Palm Sunday this year. We would love to see the Pope before we hop on the Cab to the port. I have tried to determine, without success, the time line of the events in St. Peters Square that morning. I was hoping that there would be a blessing of the Palms in the morning. I have seen some indication of this, but also suggestions that there will be a Palm Sunday mass mid-afternoon. That is, of course, too late for us.

I already know to get a seat you have to get tickets, and that the tickets are free. I also understand that the square will be very crowded and the pope will look tiny. That is fine with us, we would be happy just to be there, if we have to bail early, and if we can barely see the Pope, so be it.

Our idea is leave Rome (using Rome Cabs) to go to the port at Noon. Does anybody have any advice or knowledge if there will be a Papal appearance before, say 11AM on Palm Sunday?

Interesting, I have increased my support for the Susan G Komen Foundation, specifically because they were attacked by the PP mafia for daring to stop donating to PP. I have no respect for PP. The US is supposed to be a free country and nobody should be blackballed the way the Susan G. Komen foundation was.

Regardless of that dispute, it does make sense for HAL to "mix it up" a bit on their donations and I plan to participate in the "On Deck for a Cause" on my next cruise.

Hmm. But I hope this schedule is still accurate as we sail on the Eurodam April 13th.

B.B. King’s Blues Club Schedule

ms Westerdam: October 19, 2013 - April 5, 2014

ms Zuiderdam: November 18, 2013 - March 17, 2014

ms Eurodam: Through December 8, 2013. Returning March 23, 2014

ms Noordam: Opening December 16, 2013

ms Nieuw Amsterdam: Opening April 6, 2014

Despite my comments above, I am sure I will enjoy it.