straychicken

Ship: Independence of the Seas

Destination:  Norway

Dates:  June 29-July 6 2025

# of Nights:7

Cabin Type:  oceanview 3n

Total Price (inc. taxes & port charges, exc. gratuities): $3000

Average Price Per Night (per Person - USD):  ~$110 per person X 4 people in cabin

Other Perks:  fully refundable deposit 

We just returned from a cruise on EOS.  We had 6 pm dining.  We had a RCL excursion that wasn't scheduled to return to 730.  We asked out waiter about options for dinner.  He said if we could make to the dining room before 715 he would seat us and we would have a faster dinner.  But he couldn't do anything later because the table is needed at 8 pm.  We got back at 730.pm.as.expecred and ate in Windjammer.  

When I wanted to do this they repriced the whole itinerary.  

I am on a cruise leaving this Sunday and the first mention of anyone winning a bus on our Facebook group was earlier this week on Monday.  Everyday a few more people mentioned getting their bids.  

I am in the group still waiting.  I have four in my cabin and am guessing that would be one factor to make it less likely.  The Royal Up link has disappeared from my cruise planner but I can still see my bids on the email link.  We won't know we have lost for sure until we are on the ship.  

I booked ocean view guarantee and was assigned a cabin with a connecting door.  My travel agent was able to move us a few rooms down to a room without a connecting door in the same category.

$7.99 in February.  Now $9.99

We booked  an ocean view guarantee in January 2023 for an October 2023 cruise.  We were assigned a cabin within a couple of weeks.  

I appreciate the input. It sounds like the experience was not typical of HAL. I wonder if it was some kind of policy on the Zaandam. The kids menu was different than listed above. Also, there were only 10 kids on the ship in the 3-6 age group including our two little ones. But if they had salad fruit or vegetables available, I still can't see how substituting should have been a problem. Thanks for helping me understand that this is not what would usually happen.

What does the HAL kid's menu look like? (h/t to Roger Jett photos)

http://www.rogerjett-photography.com/here/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/HAL-Kids-Menu.pdf

 

A simple pen or pencil in mommy's purse would have sufficed since the figures and puzzles on this sample menu do not appear to be coloring exercises requiring the waiter to go up to HAL Club to get crayons. But it is too bad they could not help rustle up a pencil.

 

I suspect these children menu items were pre-plated and in typically limited supply since there is not a high number of children on many HAL cruises, this could have made a custom substitutions a bit more of a problem on the already busy first night. Think large hotel banquet dining room; not an intimate custom service small restaurant and hope there can be mutual accommodations made at first ... at least on the first night. Good to see there are some lovely menu options for children besides the typical fried chicken strips/ spaghetti options one sees on too many land-based restaurants.

This is not what our menu looked like. Each kids menu had one option for a side. There was not choice of a salad or french fries. It they had that that would have perfect.

I didn't have a pen or anything with me because I only carried by cruise card. I had no reason to have anything else. I don't think this was a first night issue, because we had the same problem when we ordered dinner later via room service.

.

Yes, we had fixed, early dining, so the waiters all learned about the children fast!

Since we had the open dining we originally made reservations for the same table at the same time each night thinking that would be similar to fixed dining, but after the first night we definitely did not want to go back.

We just cruised on the Nieuw Amsterdam with our grandkids 3 1/2 to 16...the wait staff in the MDR went over the top to make sure the littlest ones had what they wanted to eat....even PBJ! One night the littlest was tired, so the waiter made up a bed of two chairs at the table...even put some napkins over her as a blanket. They were AWESOME!

 

Yes, our kids, too, though being among only a few children on board LOVED Club HAL...one night it was too early to get there, but our grandson said, "That's OK, I can stand in line and be first in when they open!" I would never hesitate to take young children on a HAL cruise.

Wow that sounds so different from our experience. Did you have fixed dining? We booked late (about 5 weeks before sailing) and got an awesome deal but could only get open dining. If we hadn't had the same experience when we tried to order room service, I would think it was just a bad waiter. Maybe its just the way they handle things on Zaandam?

We cruised the Zaandam Northbound to Alaska on June 19. We had a great cruise (here is a link to my review http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2376460) but had one issue that would make us reluctant to cruise with HAL again until our kids are older.

On the first night I dined in the main dining room with my husband and two kids ages (3 and 6). The kids ordered from the kids menu and my daughter (age 3) wanted chicken nuggets but not fries. I asked to substitute for a fruit or vegetable and expected it to be no problem (I mean even fast food places do this now!). The waiter said no if she wants something beside fries this she needs to order something else for her main dish. I pressed a little more and after discussion with his supervisor, she did finally get a few slices of cucumber.

This was not the only issue we had at that dinner. Service was slow (waiter seemed overwhelmed) and the kids were given kids menus which were coloring pages. I asked for crayons to go with the kids menus and was told to go the kids club and get some. Why give coloring pages without crayons or expect parents to leave to go get crayons in the middle of dinner?

After that we ate most of our dinners in the buffet (which was good and we could get exactly what our kids liked). One evening we decided to order room service from the main dining room. This time both kids wanted chicken nuggets. So I asked again to substitute for fruit, broccoli, cucumbers or any other vegetable. They ended up with fries again.

We have only cruised once before. We took a 3 day Bahamas cruise and our experience in the main dining room was night and day different. When our waiter learned that our kids liked broccoli he brought some out as soon as we were seated every evening.

Why was our experience with HAL so different? It sees like such a minor thing, but I don't see why kids should have to have fries when they want something that happens to be healthier. And why no crayons? Does this happen commonly on HAL? On other ships? I mentioned it in my post cruise survey.

I should say that besides the main dining issue, my kids were treated very well. They LOVED the kids club and wanted to be there every chance they could.

The Denali National Park area was our last area to explore. Even with rain/clouds and no view of the mountain we had a great time! A couple of forum posters had warned us that Denali is not easy for families with young children and discouraged us from taking a shuttle bus into the park due to past experience with unruly kids on the shuttles. A few others were very encouraging and helped us to figure how we could go to Denali have a great time and even with a long bus ride into the park. We are very thankful for the advise and information as it helped prepare us for the long shuttle bus ride etc. I am copying some of this text from a review of tripadvisor as I originally posted it their to share out experience.

We spent Friday exploring the entrance area. We spent an hour or so at the visitor center (the kids really liked it), went to a sled dog demonstration and drove the park road. The road was initially open only to mile 13. It was closed beyond that point due to a bear that the rangers were trying to recondition to avoid humans. In the afternoon, we drove the road again and found it was open to Savage River. We thought the portion of the road from mile 13 to Savage River was particularly scenic. We decided to hike the 2 mile river loop trail. The kids really enjoyed the hike. Especially my 3 year old who loved to jump over all the streams along the way.

On Saturday we had 1 PM tickets to Eielson. We picked up snacks and supplies for the trips (particularly a loaf of bread and peanut butter). We made it to the WAC a little early and were the first in line. We had to bring a car seat for my daughter and booster seat for my son, which was a bit of a pain but not a huge deal. We took a row of seats near the front of the bus. My brother-in-law had a seat to himself as the bus was not full.

I was a worried about how the bus ride would go with the little ones. As I mentioned I had been warned that it wasn’t appropriate for them and they might cause others not to get to see wildlife. But that was not the case at all. They behaved better than some adults on the bus (who got a little excited and squealed and yellled when we had some of the closer sightings). The little ones watched DVDs, snacked, and played games and hardly made any noise. They got off the bus at most every rest stop. And they were happy to look at the animals that were spotted (particularly bears and reindeer). We spotted several grizzly bears (most were in the last stretch the road near Eielson). One was asleep by the road. Another was running in a field across the creek (or maybe river) and while watching it, we spotted a wolf that appeared to be running from the bear. That was cool to see and others on the bus (with the fancy cameras) were able to get pictures of the bear and wolves (turned out there were at least two).

At another location, we spotted a grizzly by the road and it circled our bus like a shark. It obviously was used to seeing the buses and was not afraid. We saw a large group of reindeer from the Eielson Visitors center (looked like 100+) and a moose near the park entrance. I was surprised by how fast the day went and thoroughly enjoyed it. 8 hours on the bus flew bye. The kids never complained and us adults had a great time enjoying the scenery and wildlife.

Here are some photo highlights

[/img]

Wide open spaces with rain clouds rolling in

[/img]

Moose calf near entrance

Savage River Area

The Denali National Park area was our last area to explore. Even with rain/clouds and no view of the mountain we had a great time! A couple of forum posters had warned us that Denali is not easy for family and discouraged us from taking a shuttle bus into the park due to past experience with unruly kids on the shuttles. A few others were very encouraging and helped us to figure how we could go to Denali have a great time and even with a long bus ride into the park. We are very thankful for the advise and information as it helped prepare us for the long shuttle bus ride etc. I am copying some of this text from a review of tripadvisor as I originally posted it their to share out experience.

We spent Friday exploring the entrance area. We spent an hour or so at the visitor center (the kids really liked it), went to a sled dog demonstration and drove the park road. The road was initially open only to mile 13. It was closed beyond that point due to a bear that the rangers were trying to recondition to avoid humans. In the afternoon, we drove the road again and found it was open to Savage River. We thought the portion of the road from mile 13 to Savage River was particularly scenic. We decided to hike the 2 mile river loop trail. The kids really enjoyed the hike. Especially my 3 year old who loved to jump over all the streams along the way.

On Saturday we had 1 PM tickets to Eielson. We picked up snacks and supplies for the trips (particularly a loaf of bread and peanut butter). We made it to the WAC a little early and were the first in line. We had to bring a car seat for my daughter and booster seat for my son, which was a bit of a pain but not a huge deal. We took a row of seats near the front of the bus. My brother-in-law had a seat to himself as the bus was not full.

I was a worried about how the bus ride would go with the little ones. As I mentioned I had been warned that it wasn’t appropriate for them and they might cause others not to get to see wildlife. But that was not the case at all. They behaved better than some adults on the bus (who got a little excited and squealed and yellled when we had some of the closer sightings). The little ones watched DVDs, snacked, and played games and hardly made any noise. They got off the bus at most every rest stop. And they were happy to look at the animals that were spotted (particularly bears and reindeer). We spotted several grizzly bears (most were in the last stretch the road near Eielson). One was asleep by the road. Another was running in a field across the creek (or maybe river) and while watching it, we spotted a wolf that appeared to be running from the bear. That was cool to see and others on the bus (with the fancy cameras) were able to get pictures of the bear and wolves (turned out there were at least two).

At another location, we spotted a grizzly by the road and it circled our bus like a shark. It obviously was used to seeing the buses and was not afraid. We saw a large group of reindeer from the Eielson Visitors center (looked like 100+) and a moose near the park entrance. I was surprised by how fast the day went and thoroughly enjoyed it.

Here are some photo highlights

[/img]

Wide open spaces with rain clouds rolling in

[/img]

Moose calf near entrance

Savage River Area

We saw 4 grizzlies which the bus driver said was pretty rare and one came out of the woods and walked down the entire length of the bus! Enjoy!!

We had one that slowly circled our bus. I wonder if it was the same one. It seemed totally unconcerned; like he was completely used to being around the buses. I didn't realize what was happening. I was on the opposite size of the bus and couldn't see out a window. So I went to look out the front door and the bear was right walking by the door. I just about jumped out of my skin.

Wednesday we headed to Girdwood for one and made a stop at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center on the way. Once we got settled in our ski condo we hiked the Winner's Creek trail from the top down (it is a little shorter this way). This hike has a really fun hand tram that you have to use to cross a gorge. You and one other person get into a little metal cage and then use a cable to pull yourself across. Others waiting to cross usually help. We crossed the hand tram, hiked a little ways and turned back and crossed it again.

 

To be continued...

I wish we had got a better picture of the hand tram. It was very different and a neat little activity with the family. But our photos came out a little out of focus from the motion.

The next day we checked out of our ski condo and backtracked to the Byron Glacier Trail. The Byron Glacier trail is mostly flat and parallel a nice mountain stream. The scenery is very nice and it is perfect for families. The kids and I loved playing in the snow.

[/img]

We continued on toward Denali and we knew the forecast was for deteriorating weather. There was a weather advisory predicting 3 in or rainfall over the next few days. We stopped at the turn outs from the Parks Highway and tried to get a peak of the mountain as the rain clouds rolled in

We had similar weather predicted (weather advisory expecting 3 in of rain). We were there for three nights. It ended up being cloudy for part of the time and raining some on our shuttle bus trip. But it didnt rain as much as predicted. We didn't see the mountain but we saw lots of wildlife, amazing scenery, and did some hiking. Our bus driver said that more animals are visible when it is cooler. I am sure it is spectacular in better weather but we still had a good time.

Thanks for your review! We are going on the Disney Wonder next month with our boys who are 4 and 6 - so similar ages to yours.

A couple of questions:

- where exactly was that great playground in Juneau? Or do you remember what it was called? We are also renting a car and driving to Mendenhall Glacier, and a finding a good playground would be fantatsic

- Was the nugget falls trail easy for kids to do? How long did it take you to hike it with them?

- Did you stop anywhere else in Skagway? Dog cart, Carcross?

Thanks!

The playground is pretty easy to spot. It is on the right across a little lake as you drive to Mendenhall Glacier. I think the park is called Twin Lakes. Here is a facebook page

https://www.facebook.com/Project-Playground-at-Twin-Lakes-60654337275/

To get there on the way back we turned left at a light and then turned on a road on the other side of the lake that paralleled the main highway. It is big and colorful enough that I think you will see it and be able to figure out the way there.

The Nugget Falls trail was mostly level with maybe a little ups and down. It was generally a nice wide path. We had to carry our 3 year back as she was tired from playing at the beach. I am not sure how long it took to hike there (maybe 30 min). But it is totally worth it. Plan to spend at least that much time at the beach and it is very nice and kid friendly and incredibly scenic.

Regarding Skagway, we stopped at several pull outs and at the Carcross Desert but not at the dog carts. We got kind of a late start on the drive and wanted to make sure we had time to see the Gold Rush Cemetery. It was a beautiful drive. I think it would have been nice to stop and hike there somewhere, but I am not sure if there are good trails.

We were docked with the Wonder in Skagway. There was a seal in the water close to the ship and my 3 year old was convinced that it was actually Mickey Mouse and he was going swimming. I hope you have a great time on the cruise!

Hi! I am loving your review! We'll be traveling the same itinerary next year with our 6 year old son. Any "adventurous little boy" tips would be much appreciated!!

 

Also, can you give me any additional info on the apartment you rented in Seward through VRBO? It sounds perfect! We much prefer homes/ B&Bs/ apartments to hotel rooms when traveling w our son. Did it have a washer/ dryer available? We'll be doing a 1 week land tour before the cruise and I'd love to stay somewhere in Seward where we could do some laundry.

Thanks! Katie

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The rental is at this link

https://www.vrbo.com/568180

The rental had a washer and they even supplied detergent. I booked during Fall 2015 for the following summer. I would think you should book pretty early as this one is pretty popular if you decide you like it. It was not actually in Seward so you would need to have a rental car.

For you 6-year make sure to bring rain boots and maybe a rain suit. My son enjoyed jumping in puddles in Ketchikan and while you may get lucky and have perfect weather it more likely that you will have some rainy days.

Also, bring sandals or watershoes for Mendenhall Glacier and hike to Nugget Falls. The beach area there is perfect for kids. Finally, make sure and check out the kids club on the ship. My son loved it so much and he is not the outgoing type. I hope you have a great trip!

Wednesday we headed to Girdwood for one and made a stop at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center on the way. Once we got settled in our ski condo we hiked the Winner's Creek trail from the top down (it is a little shorter this way). This hike has a really fun hand tram that you have to use to cross a gorge. You and one other person get into a little metal cage and then use a cable to pull yourself across. Others waiting to cross usually help. We crossed the hand tram, hiked a little ways and turned back and crossed it again.

To be continued...

Tuesday was another great day in Seward. The rain that was predicted never held off for most of the day through it stayed cloudy.

We did two very different hikes. The first hike 3.2 miles out and back was to Grayling Lake. It was a fairly easy hike with some elevation gain. The kids loved wading in the lake and "fishing" with their handmade fishing poles. They also liked getting to hike across the railroad.

[/img]

In the evening we drove Lowell Point Road and decided to hike to Tosina Point. The hike was fairly easy until we started the switchbacks down to the beach area. A lot of the trail from there was washed out and in the process of being repaired. It was really muddy and slippery and the condition of the trail made it difficult to avoid getting sunk up in the mud or falling. When we made it to the point it was just starting to rain. We didn't stay long because we were afraid would make the hike up the switchbacks even more messy. The point area is beautiful. The stream that enters the bay at the beach has glacial bluish gray hue. We liked how different the hike even though the condition of the trail made it difficult. We managed to make it back to the top of switchbacks and the rain stopped. Then we headed back to our rental cabin where we relaxed in the hot tub.

We arrived in Seward to a cloudy day with rain predicted. Due to logistics we had to split up. My husband stayed behind in Seward with the kids. I took a bus transfer to the Anchorage Airport to pick up our minivan and my brother in law. We stored our luggage at the Marina Motel in Seward.

My husband and kids spent the day wondering around Seward; playing at a playground and visiting the Sea Life Center. I made it to the Anchorage airport around 12:30. My brother in law and I ate lunch and bought some groceries in Anchorage then headed back to Seward. It was a lot of time on the road, but a beautiful drive.

We checked into our rental home north of Seward around 5 PM or so. This ended up being our favorite lodging of the trip. We had booked it on VRBO. It was an apartment with 2 bedrooms (one was in a loft). A large open kitchen/dining room and a deck with a hot tub (shared with the owners). The apartment was well furnished, included some pastries and cereal and milk for breakfast and toys for the kids. It was perfect for a family.

The next day we headed out and drove around checking out the sights. We ended up going to Bear Lake in search of salmon. There was some confusion on where to park but we eventually figured out how to get to the salmon stream (the directions we followed from http://www.alaska.org/detail/bear-lake are not exactly correct).

We finally found the salmon stream at stood on edge of the lake and watched them jump. We were amazed. Suddenly a moose appeared in the lake and began walking toward us. Mr. Moose seemed to want our spot, so we vacated (as any sane person would do for a moose) but snapped a few pictures as we left. This encounter really got us excited about being in Alaska and what we might see in the week ahead!

Later we headed to Exit Glacier and planned to go to the toe of the glacier. We couldn't figure out how to get to it. We went out into the alluvial plain, but it didn't seem possible to actually get to the glacier. I think the stream had changed course, cutting off the usual path. We continued on and got some up close views of the glaciers. The mountain scenery alone is worth the hike.

[/img]

That evening we had dinner at our rental apartment and headed back out for more sightseeing. We went back to Bear Lake and found a salmon structure where we saw a couple bald eagles and lots of salmon trying to jump up the artificial waterfall.

Then we drove out along Nash Road, which was very scenic.

We found our way back to our rental pretty late. With the constant daylight it was very tempting just to keep on sightseeing.

Thanks for this!!! We also live in Cincy and will be traveling on the Zaandam with our children. Did you fly out of CVG or DAY?

We live in Stamping Ground, KY and flew out of Cincinnati on Delta. We bought the tickets will Skymiles. The flights were smooth. We flew through Minneapolis both ways. The kids got to see the cockpit and see the pilots before one of the flights.

Are you leaving soon? I hope your family has a great time!

Ugh! So sorry you ran into rain! The kids are adorable, especially in their rain gear :)

Thanks! My co-worker was on a cruise leaving one week prior to ours and didn't see a drop of rain. I am guessing some rain is more common than perfect weather (though several days in a row did wear on us).

Saturday was a sea day. We spent some time on the wrap around deck and the kids played games while we took turns walking.

We also took the kids to the pool. The pool was a little cool (26 deg celcius). But the kids liked it for a while. When they got cold, we headed to the hot tub.

Once again the kids spent a lot of time in the kids club which gave us time to pack. Our week on the ship went by so fast! We thought the Zaandam was a great ship. It has been well maintained and really our only complaints were the service in the main dining room and how they handled the kids menus. We had a lot of good times on the ship and enjoyed the great scenery and ports on the inside passage.