bonvoyagebites

I'm getting on in San Diego for a quick 3-day to Vancouver. I cannot wait! Gonna be a good time. Thanks for a great sailaway. :)

Thanks for all the replies, you are all great! It seems that the simple answer is that I should have printed my docs, and I would have seen that <wink> :rolleyes:

Thanks again for all the responses. For those that are on the cruise... have a great one. For those that are not, have a great one next time you get out to sea. :)

Greetings, all. I had a new question. My Consultant person on the phone indicated that there would be 1 formal night on this itinerary, but from other things I read a little bit ago, I am wondering. Certainly if there won't be, I would rather save room in my luggage than pack a suit or suit coat for DH and the three boys... Any thoughts? (Obviously if there IS a formal night, I am glad to pack them, before anyone gets angered over non-participation of formal wear :) )

I am excited for the Amsterdam sailaway tomorrow, as well as to hear how things went in drydock... Tomorrow she starts the journey to come pick me up for my super-short cruise to Vancouver (27May-30May).. I can't wait.

Thanks for the reply, Crew news. I was hoping that perhaps we would get at least intermittent cell service, just for grins, and to hopefully update our personal travel blog without paying the $$$ for ship internet.

Bon Voyage, and calm seas to all!

Bon Voyage, all! Every time I see one of these messages, it means I am closer to getting my Bon Voyage message. I hope you all have awesome journeys!

We are taking the MS Amsterdam from San Diego to Vancouver (3 days) at the end of this month, so I am following closely for updates. :) Thanks for writing this. Quick question... does the ship stay close enough to shore to get Non-Ship cell service? Just curious. Thanks!

Thanks, everyone, for the replies.

I will go check out that thread by crewnews that you mentioned. Sounds awesome!

I am looking forward to a short ship getaway, followed by a few days in Vancouver.

In regard to the temperatures in San Diego, thanks for the tip of packing the swimsuits in carryon. I live in Phoenix, so the temperatures are doubtful to phase me much, but it makes baggage delays a non-issue for getting in the water... which is always a good thing. :)

Greetings, All.

We are scheduled to take the short little jaunt from San Diego to Vancouver for the Amsterdam to begin the Alaska season. There is not much info out there regarding this short itinerary. Has anyone taken it? What can be expected? Also, this is our first Holland America cruise, so we are excited to experience the differences between the cruise lines.

We have heard that HAL has GREAT food. Any comments on that are welcome, too. Basically, anything that we can read that helps to pass the time before our trip :) Like most of you, we are often just daydreaming about our next journey, even if it is a small one like this.

Have a great journey. Alaska is beautiful... enjoy the (almost) midnight sun. We are still enjoying the halibut (see the recipe and pics on our page - it was awesome!) we caught on our last trip up there (thanks to a foodsaver to keep it all fresh).

About time to go catch more.

I know you specifically asked for recent cruisers, but I thought I would weigh in anyway. We took a cruise on the Victory in 2012, and had a great time. We personally thought the ship looked slightly dated at the time. I read in the comments that it has dry docked since then, but even without it, we had an awesome time and found no major issues with the ship. We had a super busy itinerary, with a lot of great islands. Since that cruise we have been on bigger and more elegant ships, but IMHO the bigger and more elegant ships really didn't matter to us. We were just glad to be on vacation and well taken care of. Enjoy your trip!

Have an awesome trip, everyone! I am really excited for our upcoming trip! Living vicariously through all of you until then.

We are taking the same itinerary on May 27th on the Amsterdam. Really looking forward to it. Since this is a once a year itinerary, there isn't much info available and not many reviews. Hopefully we can change that. :) I'd love to hear how your journey goes! Enjoy!

Great Review. Thanks!

We also went on a MSC Divina cruise in October of last year. We were not in the Yacht Club, but rather in the general population. We also had a great time. We picked out favorite bartenders, and spent a lot of time with them at the pool bar in the solarium area. The main MDR experience was unremarkable, but we honestly enjoyed the buffet quite a bit. The pizzas were AMAZING, IMHO.

There were definitely differences in the ship from our previous Carnival ships, some things better, some not as good, but we had a GREAT time, and got an AMAZING deal. We have started a review on our blog, with some photos taken.

The ship was more elegant than a Carnival ship, but lacked the sailaway parties and general "Fun Ship" atmosphere. Is this a good thing, or a bad thing? You would have to decide for yourself, I think. Overall... lots of fun, and we'd do it again.

For me it is usually a $1-2 for smaller orders and $3-5 for a larger order.

It is such a nice thing to see that genuine appreciation of the tip.

Amsterdam - 27MAY15 - Pacific Coast, San Diego to Vancouver

BonVoyageBites - Our first HAL trip, looking forward to it, for sure! Taking the kids along :)

We will be joining you for the San Diego to Vancouver portion. This will be our first HAL trip, and we hope to get lots of awesome memories with our kiddos and great material for our newly developing blog...

I have heard such great things about the food... I cannot wait! I am envious of the Panama Canal portion, but it gives me something to look forward to for another trip. :)

BON VOYAGE!

Hi Kristin! Yes lots of info around here to read! :p And lots of people to help you out with any questions!

We don't carry much cash on the ship...Usually a small stack of $1 bills so that we can tip our favorite bartenders (you take care of them and they will take care of you ;)) We also keep some $1 bills for room service deliveries.

I have to say...I love this thread! I am a runner (well I try my best anyway... :p) Today is my first day trying to get back into it after a long hiatus from the gym.

I love how everyone is here kind of keeping track of the miles they are putting behind them. :) Great job everyone!

I am about three weeks out from my next cruise and am trying really hard to get my "precruise diet" started! I have gym clothes in the car for after work today so I have made some progress. :P

This cruise is just a short 3 day repo cruise from San Diego to Vancouver so I am hoping to actually get to the gym while on board since we have no stops this time.

Everything except olives and anchovies!

Sailed on the Breeze in May 2013. I had a wonderful experience with the MDR and other restaurants on board! I don't recall having anything arrive cold or the service being slow. I would be pretty bummed out over that too!

Sounds pretty yummy to me! :D