Boatdrill

The Daily Mail reported that after she was rescued she stayed in the ship's medical center and was later transferred to a hospital in Curacao.

To the OP....how does the Koningsdam (Pinnacle class) compare to the Nieuw Amsterdam (Signature class) for Alaska cruises, as far as size, and outdoor deck space ?

Just received the email from HAL. They're "making a change to our deployment" and offering the next cruise (November 17 - Thanksgiving cruise) as a replacement. I'm looking for the link for the Charters/Groups/Dry Dock thread but can't find it. Anyone have it ? Thanks.

I can only imagine what you went through, and it sounds like you handled it the best you could. For a variety of reasons, the captain and senior officers/staff all had their hands very full that night and their focus was where it was needed: the damage/flooding, and managing navigation/engines/power all at the same time, in rough weather. Please don't simplify what I'm saying as "The Captain was too busy to talk to you." That's not what I mean. Safety of life at sea is the #1 priority; all actions revolve around that. The decision was made not to communicate with passengers for several hours. That may not be ideal from the passengers' experience, but it does speak to the seriousness of what crew was dealing with. Maybe you can forgive the captain for his silence ? Again, he returned everyone back to port safely.

From what we know so far, yes. The ship returned intact with all 3000 passengers, plus crew, no muster to lifeboats was needed (weather and seas were too rough anyway) and the ship came home under her own power. Kudos to the Captain and crew for bringing everyone home safely.

I understand the concern about an age gap among your fellow passengers, and the possible lack of a lively bar scene that you're used to. Here's a suggestion that I guarantee will make your cruise even more memorable. After a few days on board, and you've had a chance to see how things work, make an appointment with the Guest Services Manager. Tell her that you're new to HAL, and want to arrange a private no-host cocktail party for passengers only from _________ (city or state where you live) as a way to get acquainted with other passengers, The ship will help you plan the date, time, best location, and even send out the invitations (they'll find the invitees through their pax list) . Make sure the invitations have your name as the people doing the inviting: "Ricky and Lucy from Atlanta invite you to a party for fellow Georgians". This will create camaraderie among people of all ages (couples and singles) who have two things in common - Georgia and the Amazon cruise. This takes the focus away from "no late night bar scene" and replaces it with meeting fascinating people with interesting backgrounds and travel experiences. People will appreciate that someone (you) made the effort to meet them.

Beautiful video ! Do you find HAL's overhead music in the Lido and outdoors irritating in the morning ? It drives me nuts. 🙂

They serve Pellegrino instead.

It depends on how much $$$ peace of mind worth to you.

By any chance have you mentioned your observations to fellow passengers ? Do they share your concerns ?

By comparison, although Disney Cruise Line uses the manning agency for their ships, a Disney representative trains the shoreside staff in home ports before the cruise season begins. Disney is very particular about how staff is to interact with their guests, so training is mandatory.

I understand your frustration. Shoreside operations employees in San Diego don't work directly for HAL. They're employees of a manning company that contracts with different cruise lines to provide shoreside operations (directional, check-in, embark, debark, etc.) around the world. Many years ago, when Stein Kruse was head of HAL, HAL used their own shoreside employees. HAL trained them and signed their paychecks. This lasted a long time, and ensured that the terminal check in experience was similar to the HAL experience onboard. Then, without warning, HAL signed with the manning agency after a cruise season was finished, effectively terminating the shoreside employees who had worked for them. Those former employees could apply with the new company if they wanted. A few did, but most did not. As for the HAL name tags, if the manning agency is working a Carnival ship. the name tags will say Carnival. If they're working a Princess ship, the tags say Princess.

Interesting, I thought Alaska was very careful about maintaining sustainable seafood ?

Your comment made me laugh. I saw the Time Bandit docked in Homer while I was on a HAL cruise. Aside from the feeling of seeing a celebrity in person, the small size of that boat was surprising. It looks bigger on TV. It's only about 100' long. As a comparison, the Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria were about 50'-60' in length respectively. I'm so glad you were on the NA and not the Time Bandit. 🙂

What kind of maintenance ?

Just curious why HAL was doing check-ins onboard, and not in the terminal ?

Thanks. I found the info from HAL Shore Ex. It's listed as 2 hours, which is probably an approximate time. https://www.hollandamerica.com/en_US/shore-excursions/ANC/44918.html

The original Crow's Nest, which was a perfect late night bar, is very missed on the mid size to larger ships. Remember when they had a DJ there for late night dancing ? Those were the days....

What is "silence disco" ?

How long is the train ride between Anchorage and Whittier ?

It'll help when it's time to board the ship. 🙂 Pack your patience, keep your sense of humor ready, and enjoy the spectacular sailaway from Vancouver.

The recent review about a Vancouver embarkation sounded awful, but also unusual. Last summer I boarded the Zuiderdam in Vancouver for an Alaska cruise over the 4th of July. We were the only ship in port that day, and embarkation went very smoothly. The Z's capacity is 1,964 guests, and the terminal handled it well. On the other hand, the Koningsdam (which is on the Vancouver/Alaska run this summer) has a capacity of 2,650 guests. If the K is the only ship in that day, it may be a strain on the terminal. If it's a double ship day, with the K and perhaps a large Princess ship, it will be very crowded, and shoreside operations staff will do the best they can. Check Vancouver's cruise ship schedule so you'll know what to expect. https://www.portvancouver.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/2023-Schedule-as-of-February-12-1.pdf

Here are the details from last year. https://www.hollandamerica.com/en_US/shore-excursions/JNU/230022.html Don't know if it's the same but IIRC, the fish is packed in ice for you and you take it back to the ship. Chef prepares it, and serves it in MDR. We saw a one or two coolers coming onboard.

Some of HAL's special promotions/fare codes are for new bookings only, so there's no going back and adding it later. The options are to wait it out (there will be more promos) or cancel the original booking and rebook under the promo you couldn't get before.

Simple fix: Call HAL and ask if they can do it for you.