Goldenowner

The port at Costa Rica was closed due to high seas and bad weather so we were unable to dock. The weather was great at Grand Cayman although that is a tender port. There were quite a few people on the cruise with mobility challenges, and I don’t know if they were able to go ashore.

We were on that same cruise. I never experienced the crew treating anyone with the slightest bit of disrespect. They all seemed to have incredible patience with passengers even those who were extra demanding. We’re a little older so maybe that makes a difference. Also some of the crew went out of their way to point out the upgrades that were made during the refurbishment. They seemed proud of their ship.

We enjoyed the cruise immensely and were only mildly disappointed that we missed Costa Rica but went to Grand Cayman instead.

Thank you for all the hard work. I find this listing invaluable when planning when and where to cruise. We prefer to not be on a cruise with a large group. I have been on cruises with small medical groups and that was never a problem.

Thanks so much for doing this. We have found the information very helpful in planning upcoming cruises.

Sherrie

We have cruised to Alaska several times - in an inside, oceanview and a veranda. We have enjoyed the cruise every time regardless of the type of cabin.

The weather in Alaska is variable. We just returned from our cruise and probably had the best weather we've ever had there. Before we left rain was predicted every day, but we only experienced a small amount of rain before heading into Hubbard glacier. By the time we got to the glacier, everything had cleared nicely.

We were booked into an inside guarantee this last cruise. We took an up sell on the third set of offers to a veranda when the price was right for us. The nice thing about taking an upsell if you have a guarantee is that you can pick your cabin from those available on the offer.

We just got off the Oosterdam on Sunday. When we were boarding the ship in Seattle, security noticed that we had six bottles of wine in our carry on bag. Since there were only two of us, we were directed to a special table. An employee there marked four of the bottles with a blue sticker. We put the bottles back in our carry on and completed the embarkation process.

We stored all the wine in our room. When it was time for dinner, we carried one of the bottles with a blue sticker to the dining room and the wine steward opened it for us. He noted the blue sticker and didn't charge us an additional corkage fee.

Our final bill showed the correct amount for the corkage fees that had been assessed in Seattle.

Hint: We had the bottles in bubble wrap. We had to unwrap all the bottles in Seattle to decide which ones should get stickers. Next time, I will mark the bottles in advance somehow.

Another hint: We brought a wine gift bag with us. It was handy to carry the bottle to the dining room.

BTW, there was a corkscrew in our room although we also brought our own.

Thanks for the information. I was so impressed with these two. They even remembered our favorite song from the first cruise with them.

Does anyone know if the Adagio Duo of David Kovacs (violin) and Attila Balogh (piano) are still playing on Holland America ships? We've enjoyed them on three past cruises, and we're hoping to see them again. Our next cruise is on the Amsterdam to Alaska leaving from Seattle on August 7th.