pugmadkate

Thanks, all!

Just booked our first ever river cruise. Decided on the French Balcony for the light. Very excited!

Just back from my very first cruise! And it won’t be my last!

1. Planning and research pays off.

2. Have a plan B Incase an excursion gets canceled.

3. Once you are on-board...relax!

4. Oh, and bring pens and a highlighter. Makes it much easier to fill out various forms and to mark-up your daily calendar.

Thank you both so much. Just the info I was looking for.

Hello!

We are considering taking our very first Viking river cruise Thanksgiving week 2019. My first question is...would we use our balcony that late in November if we were cruising Germany?

We recently took our very first cruise on Holland America and enjoyed our balcony very much but that was Alaska in June.

Many thanks.

I am really not certain why one would try to compare these two cruise lines...

I was on Holland America’s Eurodam last week and loved it. It was my very first cruise and I found the information I got on this board pre-cruise very helpful. So I thought it would be helpful to find out how another cruise line is different and similar.

And it has been helpful. Thanks to everyone!

We cruised on HAL last week. My husband and son had the elite. No discounts on bottles of wine.

However, an Alaskan beer tasting, whiskey tasting and mixology class were included whereas if they did not have elite it would have been $15-$20.

Best of luck with your decision!

We've done five tours with Gastineau Guiding, and they offer a $100 cash guarantee if you don't see a whale. They have 9 boats, last I heard, and have been in business 15 years, last I heard. They've never issued a single dollar in guarantee payouts. You'll see whales.

Another vote for Gastineau Guiding. We booked through our cruise line (Holland America.) We saw whales plus the guide and boat driver were wonderful.

We had no trouble flagging down a taxi in Ketchikan. Let the restaurant know when you’ll need one and I’m sure they can get you one.

Just curious as we will be on the Eurodam for her Xmas cruise this year, does the Eurodam have the Adagio entertainers?

That does not sound familiar.

ronbe65

Unfortunately, we are only able to cruise the week of November 19 as I am a teacher and that is my Thanksgiving break.

Again, thank you all!

Excellent to know. Which ship were you on if you don't mind me asking? We did a couple of the Mixology Classes a few years ago and it was a blast, well worth the $. The bartenders were so much fun.

Eurodam. My husband and son really enjoyed the bartenders as well.

Thank you all very much! Lots to think about.

My husband, adult son and I all shared a cabin. They got the elite package (I don’t drink alcohol due to medical reasons and had to submit a doctors note in order to get the quench package.).

One nice perk was that the Alaskan beer tasting, whiskey tasting and mixology class were included in their drink package whereas for those not on the elite plan had to pay $15-20.

Thank you for sharing that, daisy-Mae.

The main reason we are considering Royal Caribbean is that we live in South Texas, so would have to add plane tickets onto any HAL cruise. But we sure did love HAL!

Just returned from our very first cruise and we are hooked! We took the Eurodam to Alaska and absolutely loved it.

Of course, we’d like to cruise HAL again and we will in the future. However, we can easily drive to Galveston and HAL does not sail from there. So we are considering a Royal Caribbean cruise over Thanksgiving 2018.

How do they compare to HAL? What is the same? What is different? Things we enjoyed about HAL included the excellent crew, the overall quiet nature of the ship and the delicious food in the MDR.

Have a back-up plan. Our floatplane tour in Ketchikan was canceled due to weather this past week.

I just got off thrEurodam this morning. We took in two song/dance shows and a comedian on three different nights. They were all fantastic. I’m not sure where you’re getting the idea that these things do not exist on Eurodam Alaska cruises?

As for kids...there were a lot of board and we overheard them begging to go to Club Hal. Seemed like they enjoyed it!

I must add that I’ve never been on Bliss, so am obviously very biased towards HAL!

Which ever you choose, have a wonderful time!

Thanks again for the info.

We did the excursion on the last night off the cruise and it was the perfect wind-down activity. Truly enjoyed it.

Just got off the Eurodam this morning! Did not see anyone in tuxes on the gala nights, although a handful of ladies wore long gowns.

Perhaps because we were doing an Alaskan cruise and those are less formal?

Just got off the Eurodam. Smoking is only allowed in one small, outdoor area. No smoking in the casino or anywhere else. Unless you go to the smoking area, there is no smoke smell.

But you should have a Plan B.

This past week on our Alaskan cruise, bad weather meant our float plane tour was canceled in Ketchikan. Luckily, I had something else planned for our group. And it was the only disappointment of our cruise, so I cannot complain.

I am sitting in the Seattle airport, waiting for a flight from a week on the Eurodam. What a fantastic experience!

It was my first cruise but one thing that people who cruise a lot kept mentioning was how the crew on HAL is second-to-none. You’ve never met a friendlier, harder-working group of people. They make all interactions a pleasure.

Thanks, all!

Thank you, all!

Thank you, all!