pugmadkate

Thank you! And are these meetings in the daily schedule (I assume there is a daily schedule on-line or printed up for each day?)

Hello! I am brand new to cruising. I recently booked our very first cruise; a three-generation, week long cruise to Alaska on Holland America for June 2018. I had not heard of FOD/LGBT meetings until I read about them on this thread. Now I'm wondering if they have them on HAL and how does one find out about them on a specific cruise?

My son is gay, 25 years old, and I would love for him to have this social opportunity on our vacation. Thanks for reading and for any information.

Thank you!

Wow!! Sounds like it should be a wonderful cruise for all of you.

 

Happy to add it for you and hoping you enjoy your first cruise on HAL :)

Thank you! Not only is it our first cruise on HAL, it's our first cruise ever! Well, two of our family members have done a number of military cruises but we've convinced them this will be very different!

Just booked a three-generation cruise on the Eurodam, June 23, 2018, Seattle 7 day roundtrip to Alaska. It is the very first cruise for all seven of us!

Here is a link to my packing list....its been developed over many years of Alaska cruising! https://zest4travel.wordpress.com/2017/02/20/what-do-i-pack-for-alaska/

Thank you for sharing this!

Thank you!

Thanks, all!

Thank you!

...I'm looking for excursions outside of what's offered by the ship. I've been told this is the way to go- more economical and smaller groups. Thoughts? Thanks in advance for your help.

Just booked our very first cruise for Alaska, June 2018. I am going to book through the ship for a few reasons. As I stated, it's our first cruise, so I want to keep it simple. There are going to be seven of us and it seems easier to do it through the ship for a group. Lastly, if weather prevents the ship from going into a port, excursions booked through the ship will be automatically refunded. I checked with a private company and they require cancellation 30 days in advance for a refund.

Of course, lots of people books excursions privately and have great experiences. Just some food for thought.

Thank you so much! I've been checking their website everyday...now I can relax, select what we want, and book in December.

Just booked our very first cruise. We're going to Alaska in June 2018. Very excited!

I've been doing research and have seen several times where people recommend waterproof shoes. Not quite proper hiking boots but not sneakers either. Can anyone recommend a specific shoe or brand? I think I might get them as holiday gifts for the family members we're going with so they have time to break them in (I'm a teacher on summer break, so any holiday shopping I can get done over the summer is great!)

Just booked our very first cruise. Did a lot of research and decided on round-trip Alaska out of Seattle on Holland America. The smaller ship, going to Glacier Bay and Sitka put Holland America ahead of the competition. Would have loved to go on an even smaller ship but paying for five people ruled that out.

Best of luck!

I did it! Booked our three-generation cruise to Alaska for June 2018! There are going to be seven of us and it's a first cruise for all of us (save for the military members who had to be convinced that this cruise would be very different than their previous "cruises!")

I know I'm jumping the gun a bit but I want to book our excursions ASAP. When do excursions through HAL become available for booking? Also, heaven forbid, but if we had to cancel our cruise, does the platinum cancellation plan cover excursions as well?

Thank you for any info!

Thank you!

HAL does have a reputation for an older crowd but from what I've been told, the average age goes down in the summer due to school being out.

We booked an Alaskan cruise on HAL for June 2018. Can't wait! And since I'm pushing 50, I won't mind feeling like a youngster if it's an older crowd!

We have booked a multi-generational Alaskan cruise for June 2018. My father-in-law enjoys gambling and there is a casino on the Eurodam. He also happens to be hard to buy gifts for so I was thinking if I could get him some kind of gift card or even chips for the casino, those would make great gifts over the next year.

I've looked on the website but only seen where you can have casino chips delivered once we are on the ship. Any ideas for pre-cruising casino gifts?

I have just booked my first cruise, so I cannot be much help but my travel agent (who has been booking cruises for over 30 years) very strongly recommended booking in advance instead of doing it on the ship. She pointed out that some excursions sell-out plus the lines can be very long on the ship.

Have fun!

Thanks, again, so much great information!

I thought you'd all appreciate this...I explained to my husband why the pre-paid cards might be a better option for our family than the beverage packages. He thought about it for a minute and said, "Honey, I don't think you understand how much I'm planning on drinking." :D

He was just teasing, of course, but boy that made me laugh!

It really depends on your comfort level. I just cannot be bothered with the worry while traveling so the good stuff stays at home in the safe. Other people just don't get that stressed about it and good for them, I wish I was more like that. But I am a worrier by nature, so there you go. No matter what, you'll have fun and that is the main thing!

Usually an upgrade would be awesome but it's important to my in-laws that our rooms are close together. I'll make sure our TA marks us as "no upgrade."

Will do! Thanks!

Okay! That makes perfect sense. Thank you so much for your prompt reply.

I just booked my first cruise! I'm so excited! We're doing a three-generation, round-trip Alaska cruise out of Seattle in June 2018. However, I am a bit confused about something (honestly, I have tons of questions but this is just one thread!)

When I booked with my travel agent, she had me select the rooms we wanted from a map of the ship. So we have the room numbers. My confusion comes in because I'm noticing in other threads that people are taking about having a room assigned to them only days before their cruise leaves.

Will we actually get the rooms we booked? I would not care except that we booked rooms next to/across the hall from each other so it would be easy to visit. I would like those specific rooms. Thanks for the help!

Another question...I see that water is included for free but does that include water bottles or just glasses of water? I'd like to be able to take a few water bottles on our excursions and also just to tote around the ship. I'm leaning towards buying the prepaid cards rather than the beverage packages but am still not quite sure.