RoyalVisit

4 hours ago, katrina915 said:

How did you like the suspension bridge? I am driving to the Yukon next month and debating about stopping here on my way back to skagway. 

We thought it was fun and it offered a good stopping point as they had a small cafe and a separate shop. Washrooms were decent too. There aren't many places to stop on the highway store or attraction wise, the best stops are scenic.

8 minutes ago, stevendom57 said:

Do you have a recommendation on the binoculars that I should buy? What were yours and were they ok?

 

I just bought inexpensive Tasco brand binoculars on Amazon that were about $20 Canadian. They worked great for our purposes and were easy to pack as they are only about the size of two or three bars of soap. There are of course more expensive higher quality but I'd be reluctant to travel with anything expensive that I might misplace or break. 

https://www.amazon.ca/gp/r.html?C=2JG4V7T7UJ2XJ&K=1AP4J7PTWB7E9&M=urn:rtn:msg:201904171710023781666858c349ecb5e23fde5170p0na&R=2W8N31MPGEU70&T=C&U=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.ca%2Fdp%2FB01EC4UXLA%2Fref%3Dpe_3034960_236394800_TE_dp_2&H=FJ3L2HX1GEHYHIH1VUAJ718GLL8A&ref_=pe_3034960_236394800_TE_dp_2

8 hours ago, Bella Traveler said:

I'm debating whether to get the half-day vs the full day tour with the difference being the long tour going up to Emerald Lake.  We are docked for 10 hours in Skagway.  I was initially planning on taking the half-day tour because I also wanted to do a little hike.  But I am willing to cancel my hike to Dewey Lake or Reid Falls if Emerald is a sight.  In your opinion, do you think Lake Emerald is a MUST considering our time is limited and I want to do a hike as well.

Emerald Lake is beautiful but it depends on how important it is for you to see it and how long you would have at that specific stop (we had about 10 minutes). We really enjoyed the full day as the scenery is marvelous but we're not hikers. I posted lots of videos of our trip on YouTube and here is the Emerald stop:

FxKHNOk

3 minutes ago, zentraveler said:

 

So we can drop off bags (with HAL I assume??) and come back later?  Would love to know if that is any option. 

 

Although from what I am reading on this thread, May is especially slow since the crew are not up to speed yet. 

Absolutely. We dropped the bags off on the ground floor with HAL (put your HAL tags on first) then we walked to Robson Street to see the Tesla showroom (we don't have a Tesla showroom in our city), went to the liquor store and dollar store near the ship and then we went back onboard. We used the SkyTrain from the airport (easy!!) and it's only a about a 5 minute walk from the Waterfront station to Canada Place where the ships are docked.

Our keys on the NA on May 11th already had the cut outs at the top for lanyards.

On our May 11th NA cruise, we dropped our bags off around 11am, returned to the ship at 1pm and it took almost 2 1/2 hours to checkin, go through security and customs.  Most of that time was spent waiting in lines and musical chairs. The Royal Princess was also embarking as well. The worst embarkation we've ever experienced but the rest of our trip was marvelous.

We enjoyed our stateroom, 6051, on HAL's Nieuw Amsterdam recently during our first Alaskan cruise from May 11th to May 18th, 2019.

The category V stateroom on Deck 6 is a balcony stateroom and is adjacent to an accessible stateroom with the larger angled balcony.

I made a video about this stateroom for future guests and it's now available on YouTube along with other videos about our cruise.

Enjoy!

Scott

The Crow's Nest was very popular and busy during our very recent NA cruise. While we had a balcony I still enjoyed sitting outside the BB Kings lounge on the bench seating there by the windows.

6 hours ago, SeaCBear said:

 

Thank you SO much for posting these great photos. My husband and I are also vegetarians, but it looks like we'll have no trouble finding delicious food on our first Holland America cruise. 

You're welcome!

The Zaandam was here in Halifax yesterday - they had a beautiful sunny day to come into port as the rest of this week has been cold and/or wet.

6 minutes ago, HMSDingy said:

Quick question, from your experience are pax on European cruises dressier on gala nights?

I'd say yes based on our one Mediterranean itinerary - fashionable but not ball gowns..

5 hours ago, shudie said:

Thanks for posting about this, I have been veggie for 30 years. 

 

Does anyone know know if there are vegetarian Indian food options on HAL? Eg. On Carnival & P&O there was Indian on the menu almost every night and the night they didn’t have on the menu, I asked and they made me dahl, roti, rice etc.

 

 

Yes they did in the Lido but I don't recall seeing an Indian options in the Main Dining Room except the tempura but I'm sure they do rotate Indian vegetarian options into the Main Dining Room menus

Some more pics and some desserts

A stuffed pasta appetizer - ricotta/spinach 

Tempura

Vegetable Jambalaya which was more in the style of a rice cake

We felt we had lots of options and they do have a separate vegetarian menu which you can pre-order from but we were more than satisfied with the main menus

We just returned from a HAL cruise to Alaska on the Nieuw Amsterdam on Sunday.  Here are a few more photos of the vegetarian dishes we had...note we both consume dairy but no meat or seafood.

The first three pasta dishes were at Canaletto....

Melazane Ripiene - eggplant roulade filled with ricotta, basil, Parmesan, wilted spinach, chunky arrabiata sauce

Maccheroni Al Ferretto Pesto Alla Trapanese Con Basilico - roasted almond, semi-dried cherry tomato, basil pesto

Sformato di Ricotta, Zucchine E Basilico - baby zucchini, ricotta and basil flan, red bell pepper sauce, roasted vegetables, portabello mushrooms

Asparagus Red Rice Cakes - we had these at the Mariner lunch so I'm not sure if they are on the main dining room menu occasionally or not...I really enjoyed this dish.  I took photos of most of the vegetarian dishes we had (we're both vegetarians) so I'll post a few more photos.

22 hours ago, dbits said:

Thanks, that's just the current answer I needed, as we will be sailing the same ship in August.

You're welcome - I still encourage people to wear what you want but in deference to the suggested dress.

We were on the Nieuw Amsterdam last week...

Day 1 - Vancouver - very warm - tshirt was perfect

Day 2 - Inside Passage - cooler, but sunny, but we needed our coats to walk on the promenade and we both had our lightweight gloves to keep the chill off our hands and we're Atlantic Canadians!

Day 3 - Juneau - much like Vancouver, we saw people wearing t-shirts and shorts, a light jacket or sweater was probably too much for the afternoon but we needed them in the evening even though the sun was out.  We did an excursion to Mendenhall Glacier in the afternoon and it was very comfortable - an average sweater was probably enough.  In the evening we took the Mount Roberts Tramway and while the sun was out and it was still comfortable, it was cooler at the top of the mountain.

Day 4 - Skagway - not as warm as Juneau but sunny and comfortable - we did an excursion to the Yukon - it was a very comfortable day throughout - lightweight jacket - gloves were not needed, windy in some areas, still in others.

Day 5 - Glacier Bay - 2 degrees Celsius in the morning, overcast, fog, raining - I was frozen out on the bow with the heaviest clotes I had including gloves and a toque but we enjoyed every minute!  It warmed up a bit as the day went on and we exited GBNP.  I actually wished I had long-johns on to keep the chill off my legs and I was wearing heavier jeans.

Day 6 - Ketchikan - comfortable but light rain/heavy mist for most of the day - we didn't need gloves but an umbrella and light rain jacket was useful.

Day 7 - basically the same as Day 2 if outside on the promenade

Day 8 - Vancouver - warm again....like day 1

My best piece of advice for an Alaskan cruise - bring binoculars!  we brought a small pair each and we had them with us the majority of the time when we were outside on the ship or in port.

I wore sneakers (with waterproof spray coating) most of the cruise except during the Gala nights and they were more than adequate - with thick socks for Glacier Bay! 

This was our first cruise to Alaska and we loved it! 

My spouse suffers from motion sickness but had no difficulties last week while we were on the Nieuw Amsterdam roundtrip Vancouver to Alaska.  We did feel some motion when the ship was further out but otherwise it was quite calm closer to land. 

We attended the Mariner Lunch on the Nieuw Amsterdam last week.  The cruise director said they had given out some bronze medallions earlier that morning.  They gave out the tiles at the end of the lunch as guests departed. 

11 hours ago, cruises42 said:

We are doing a flight to Denali from Anchorage (as an excursion). Does anyone know what company they use (I don't think it is listed in the excursion description). I was a little hesitant to book it and now I'm more nervous.

We were on the NA last week and we received a notice in our stateroom after the first Ketchikan float plane accident that all excursions on Taguan Air had been suspended.  We were not booked on a float plane excursion but the notice was distributed to all staterooms.  It was very sad to see the flags at half-mast in Ketchikan when we arrived there a few days later.

2 hours ago, terrydtx said:

We booked the Canaletto Restaurant on embarkation night from Vancouver on the Noordam. We depart Vancouver at 4:30pm and thought we would have a better view cruising up the east Vancouver Island passage in the Canaletto. Our 10 year old grandson is with us and he loves Italian food. My questions are how good has the food been recently in the Canaletto and on the Noordam will we have any scenic views from there? We booked at 5:30pm because of the 2 hour time difference from home and we are flying in that day to Vancouver, we figured our GS will be hungry early. 

We dined at Canaletto on the Nieuw Amsterdam last week and we thoroughly enjoyed it.  We had vegetarian dishes and all were delicious.  As for the view, we also departed Vancouver and the scenery is great - we particularly enjoyed watching the float planes departing and landing right next to Canada Place and also over the ship as we passed Stanley Park and went under Lions Gate Bridge.

2 hours ago, Karsten9 said:

Thank you 

Now that I'm home I just checked the "When & Where" Daily Programmes which I kept:

Friends of Bill W. met regularly in the Tasman Room and the International Service was as well

Mary Poppins Returns was on the first night in the Mainstage and Glass was shown on the third day in the afternoon and Five Feet Apart on the second last day also in the afternoon and in the Mainstage.   BBC Inside Earth a Privileged View was shown at BB Kings on the second day and BBC Inside Earth Innovation and Ingenuity on the second last day in the same location. 

That was it for movies and documentaries except for the stateroom selection.

9 minutes ago, Karsten9 said:

How did you like the cruise over all? Is there anyway to see what is playing before the cruise. Thank you. 

I've started to add some videos from the cruise here.  Still lots more to add - please excuse my poor editing and cameraman skills!

5 minutes ago, Karsten9 said:

How did you like the cruise over all? Is there anyway to see what is playing before the cruise. Thank you. 

Loved it! no complaints whatsoever - except for the security/US customs in Vancouver which took us almost 2 hours to complete (Royal Princess was also embarking the same day).  We thoroughly enjoyed our cruise.

No way to find out in advance about the onboard movies that I am aware of.  I'm sure the selection frequently changes.  One our favourite memories will be from the Lincoln Center Stage - the musicians offered a rendition of Bohemian Rhapsody (marvelous is an understatement! - standing ovation) ....also because I had only finally seen the film on the flight out to Vancouver!