pdxsteeler

Thanks for the replies. We are on the Veendam at the end of this month.

Does Club HAL operate regardless of the number of kids onboard?

Itineraries are quite different. I think I prefer the Holland one:

RC: Baltimore->Boston->Portland->Bar Harbor->St. John --> Halifax-> Baltimore

Holland: Boston->Bar Harbor-> Halifax-> Sydney->Charlottetown->Quebec City->Montreal (or vice versa in the opposite order)

Looking for opinions for a summer (July) cruise to Canada/New England.

Options:

- 9-day on RC Grandeur from Baltimore (Grand Suite)

- 7-day on Holland to/from Boston/Montreal (we are agnostic on the direction on the ship). (Neptune Suite)

2 adults, 2 children (almost 3 and 6 years old). We have done one cruise before (1-week to Alaska on Celebrity. Loved Celebrity but their only availability for New England/Canada this year is July in their rather expensive high-end suites) so we think we can do it again.

Anything we should consider beyond the obvious of itinerary, etc. when comparing these two?

Thanks.

Family of 4 -- 2 adults + 2 small children (now 2 and 4)

We took an Alaska cruise last year on Celebrity (Millennium) and stayed in a Sky Suite and loved it.

We are considering going on HAL this year and seeing if a neptune suite is comparable and worth it.

This is what I have discerned so far:

- HAL Suite is quite a bit larger than the Celebrity sky suite. Good for us as it got crowded with the crib for the little one and the fold out sofa bed for the other kid.

- Michaels vs. Neptune Lounge -- Big difference seems to be that Michaels was awesome for getting complimentary drinks all day (alcohol, specialty coffee drinks, etc). With that, we eschewed getting any beverage plan. HAL seems much skimpier in this regards.

- Luminae vs. ??? -- We did almost every meal at Luminae. Was a huge part of our enjoying the cruise given the attention they gave the kids, how patient the staff was with the kids and the fact that it was smaller and there were less people to annoy with the kids. I don't see anything comparable on HAL.

Any other key differences I am missing?

Thanks.

Looking at one of the August Canada/NE cruises on the Maasdam. Wondering how this would be with 2 young kids (2 and 4.5)? We took both kids on a Celebrity cruise last year (Millennium/Alaska) and that worked out well.

Specifically:

- Room: Right now, we are looking at an ocean-view stateroom (DD). How crowded will that be with the 4 of us, especially with the youngest needing a crib?

- Onboard activities: The kids club probably works well for the 4 year old. What about the rest of us?

- Dining: What is the atmosphere like? Will there be a lot of annoyed people with our 2 kids, who may not exactly decide to be quiet and calm at all times (on Celebrity, we ate all meals onboard in Lumiere which was small enough that no one seemed to be bothered).

- For the Canada/NE itinerary -- are all the ports fairly walkable? Any need to take excursions or are self-guided walks through town fine?

Our captain strongly recommended leaving our balcony and going to a deck to get a broader/better view. He was absolutely right. Much better perspective with the wider view. On the flip side, we didn't try the helipad because the weather was somewhat miserable.

We didn't do room service that day. Still early enough in the morning to head out to Luminae for the much better breakfast.

Few other updates:

- Day 2 in Anchorage: Alaska Zoo. I would call it a quaint little zoo. Smaller than other "big" cities but has a nice collection of cold weather animals that you don't always see (who has seen a cold weather camel before). Kids liked it.

Day 3 in Anchorage: Native Heritage Center. Nice depiction of the housing/lifestyle of the native Alaskans, walking around a lake and seeing the various versions that were built. And finally explaining why there are no igloos in Alaska :) Another one liked by the kids.

Duck Bolognese was good.

As was the grilled octopus appetizer.

Was disappointed by the seared scallops and seared tuna.

Surprisingly like the barramundi.

Many of the desserts are excellent. Especially like the macarons and jellies on chic nights.

Summary of our Millennium trip from Vancouver to Seward this August with two kids in tow: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2389939

Just posted a summary of our trip: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2389939

Brief synopsis of our 7 day voyage on the Millennium. Myself, wife, 3.5 yr old, 1 yr. old.

Pre-Cruise: Vancouver

- Hotel: Hotel Le Soleil. Location is excellent. Walking distance to most of central Vancouver. Suite worked well with the kids. We slept in the bedroom. Older kid on the bed rolled out from the couch in the sitting room. Plus had the crib for the baby in that room. Took the train from the airport to downtown. Walked from the station to the hotel with all our gear without too much problem.

- Day 0: Arrive. Dinner @ Cactus Club Cafe. Good food, no problem with the kids, especially sitting outdoors.

- Day 1: Granville Island. Fun market to explore. Older kid loved the water park. Kids market is to be avoided. Only causes consternation.

- Day 2: Capilano Suspension Bridge: Took the free shuttle from downtown. Easy to get on. Awesome weather. Fun activity for the family to get out and do some walking. Older kid liked the scavenger hunt they had for kids. Did not bring the stroller with us for this adventure (which was the right decision). Dinner @ Forage downtown. Best meal we have had all year.

- Day 3: Time to get on the boat. Planned on walking to the cruise terminal but got a little late and decided to take a taxi from the hotel. Taxi took a LONG time to show up and multiple calls from the hotel. But once it showed up, easy transit to the terminal. Check-in/boarding was a breeze with no major delays or issues.

On-board:

Accommodations: Sky Suite (6127). Baby in a crib. Older kid again on the bed rolled out from the sofa. Little crowded when it was opened so would immediately fold out when he woke up.

Day 0: Once onboard immediately headed to Luminae for initial lunch and met their wait staff (more on this excellent staff later on). As we finished, rooms were already ready so no real wait for them to be ready. Signed up the older one @ the Fun Factory (more on that later as well).

Day 1: At sea.

Day 2: Ketchikan. Just toured the town on our own. Weather was surprisingly awesome. Clear blue skies and warm, which is exceptional for Ketchikan. Followed the walking tour outlined in the map provided by the visitor center. Lady there said only do the eastern half which is what we did. More dead salmon than alive salmon in the water. Stopped at the grocery store to stock up on supplies (mainly for the baby). Lunch at the dock.

Main lessons: 1) With multiple (3) cruise ships in port, the dock area was crowded and everyone was going for lunch at the same time, leading to very long lines. we should have either: a) Had lunch away from the dock when we were walking in town, or b) Had lunch earlier before the crowds all wanted to do the same thing. 2) 1st port so we were just getting used to the shopping. Should have completely avoided the dock shopping area. Not interesting in retrospect vs. what else we could find.

Day 3: Icy Strait Point: Much better stop than Ketchikan given that it is a one ship only port and the stores are much more authentic. Walked to Hoonah. Nice walk, saw a bald eagle.

Day 4: Juneau. Once off the ship bought a combo ticket for the Mt. Roberts tram + bus to Mendenhall Glacier. Both activities worked out well with the kids. Older one enjoyed meeting the bald eagle at Mt. Roberts. Mendenhall Glacier also worked out well. Immediately saw a bear cub as we walked to the visitor's center from where the bus dropped us off. Overall was a very good combo and use of time with the kids. Still had time to do a quick walk of the city. Walked to the capitol building which is currently under construction and not available for touring.

Day 5: Skagway. Our 1st excursion booked through Celebrity. Did the train from Skagway to Fraser, B.C. with the bus back down. Bus guide was awesome. Train provided good views. Kids were free and fell asleep. Concierge had been recommending that we look at the variations that included gold panning (Liarsville) or dog sledding but we were concerned that the older kid would either be asleep or not interested and it turned out we were right, so happy with that choice. Before the train, we got a late start off the ship so had limited time to explore Skagway. Walked into town from the dock. Spent the majority of time at the Junior Ranger station so that the older kid could earn his junior ranger pin (very cool from each national park).

Day 6: At sea. Hubbard Glacier. Got an unbelievable view as the captain was able to do multiple 360s instead of just the planned single one.

Day 7: Disembark @ Seward. We signed up for the train from Seward to Anchorage so an early start to the day. We rushed to make the 6:15 boarding only to then see a lot of people sauntering up to the train late so we didn't leave for another half hour. Again had an awesome guide on the train. Only disappointment was not seeing any wildlife of note.

Anchorage:

Hotel: Hilton Anchorage. Upon arrival (noon-ish) was told that our room was not ready. I asked if they could call us when ready, they said no since they were so busy (never had that been told to me before). But about 5 minutes later, was summoned to the checkin desk and told that they are making a different (and better -- junior suite) room available to us right now. Not sure if that is because they realized we had the baby or because I have status with Hilton or what. But we were happy.

Day 0: Lots of walking in the city looking for grocery stores to restock on baby items. Logged about 4.5 miles. Dinner @ Ginger.

Day 1: Lunch @ Fat Ptarmigan. Good walkthrough of the Saturday markert.

Day 2-3: Still to come :) But planning on the zoo and the native heritage center.

Main impressions from the cruise:

- Luminae: Staff was beyond awesome. Having the two kids was hard (as expected) and we never knew if we were bothering other guests but we never got any complaints and the guests we interacted with seemed fine with the kids. But a large part of that was the awesome time and care the staff gave to the kids. Singing, dancing, cajoling from under the table, etc. Neven, Nina, Bruno, etc were all great. As for the food, we always ended up ordering from the Luminae menu and never looked at the MDR one, although in retrospect this may have been a mistake. In general the Luminae selection is good, but they need a little more variety as it gets a little tired by the end of the week. Quality of the food was high with only a couple of disappointments (seared scallops and seared tuna both were not as well done as I have had in other restaurants). Breakfast/lunch were also fine. We ate all meals here and didn't dine anywhere else.

- Fun Factory: Older kid absolutely loved it and couldn't wait to get back to it each session so they clearly are doing something right.

- Room: We probably didn't utilize our butler to the fullest extent possible. We did well though again making sure the kids were taken care of (bringing milk boxes, etc).

- Michael's Club: The other place we spent a lot of quality time. We didn't buy a drink package in advance and instead said we would decide after our first day. We realized that, at least for us, it made no sense to buy a package. Instead we were better off just heading to Michael's anytime we needed a coffee/espresso/wine/cocktail/bottled water. No issues taking drinks out so we would always stock up on water for the room/days on shore. We had pre-dinner drinks, took drinks to dinner, post-dinner drinks, etc. Alex was the evening bartender and was great. Lucy was the concierge and was always helpful even though we also probably didn't utilize her fully. Both commented on how the attendance at Michael's on this cruise was much lighter than typical. We loved that because we ended up using it a a place for the baby to do a lot of crawling around since no one else was there and there really is no other good place on the ship to do that.

- Internet: Had the unlimited package. Worked just phone. Often switching between devices (phone/ipad/laptop).

- Olympics: they had one channel showing the international feed. Depended on the state of the satellite signal. Was good to have something.

I think that covers everything :)

Thanks for the replies. Doing our first cruise next week on the Millennium in one of the Sky Suites. Looking forward to it.

Two more questions:

1) any restriction on children in MC? We have our 1-year old and 3.5 year wit us.

2) Breakfast -- I read that MC has a continental breakfast. But I see that Luminae also has breakfast (some days? every day?). What is the recommendation on how to choose (MC for light/fast, Luminae for more hearthy or something else).

Thanks.

So this is a little unclear to me -- are the drinks in Michael's complimentary (regardless of the beverage package you have) or do you have to pay (based on the package you have)?

There is a suite boarding line so you should get on board quickly.

 

Keep your hand luggage to a minimum and all your real valuables in one small bag. Go to Michael's Club first, say hello, quick drink, leave non valuable hand luggage there and then have a stroll around before arriving at Luminae for lunch. It does usually close at 1.30 so don't leave it too late. We do find the lunchtime menu quite heavy but according to many the signature burger is very special! They will sort something for the little ones so don't worry!

 

Rooms are usually available 1pm to 1.30pm.

 

There are not many youngsters in Luminae and dinner can be quite long....it may be worth chatting with the Michael's Conceirge and sorting baby sitters a couple of evenings so you can really enjoy yourselves. We know from chatting to another couple with young children that the M'D will also try to streamline service for you if the little ones get unsettled (for example) arranging deserts and coffee to be served back in your suite...

 

Have a great cruise!

Great info/tips. Thanks!

Will make sure to post how it goes.

That's because there is no official time that boarding begins. Many dependencies - mostly related to incoming vessels being cleared of ALL pax and their luggage. Times of 11-11:30am for the start of boarding have been reported. Exact times are impossible to give, but in general if you are on the only ship in port things will be pretty quick regardless, with two ships avoid the peak noon-1pm, and with three ships either get there before 11am or after 2pm.

 

I'm a fan of late arrival myself - if you want to spend the least possible time queuing this is the ONLY way to go. Getting a real sitdown lunch onboard was something we always used to aim for - Princess, not Celebrity, so our cutoff was getting to the open dining room by 1:30pm. This meant showing up two hours before to ensure getting onboard on time, and most of that spent sitting around waiting.

 

Now we have a leisurely morning, book a couples massage in our regular downtown spot, drop our bags with the longshoremen late morning, go have a good lunch, and show up as late as possible - 90 to 120mins before departure.

 

It's a breeze getting through security, customs, immigration, and check-in when you come late - sometimes you don't even have time to sit down it's just constant walking! Plus, unless you are a frequent visitor to Vancouver spending every last minute in the city is a good idea - we are an absolutely fantastic tourist destination with more stuff to do than all the typical Alaskan ports combined.

Thanks. This is our first cruise (and with two kids -- almost 1yr and 3.5 yrs) so we were thinking earlier might be better so we could get the lay of the land.

Looking at the port schedule, looks like there is our ship + 1 other that day.

We are on the Millennium, leaving from Vancouver on 8/5. What time do people recommend boarding (how early is too early)? I haven't been able to find anywhere what is the earliest boarding time available.

I also have seen on other threads that Luminae (we are in a Sky Suite) is open for lunch on embarkation day. How do we confirm that and the times available?

Thanks.

We're on the Celebrity Millennium (Alaska) next week with an 11-month old and a 3.5 year old. And it's the first cruise for all of us...will see if we are tempting fate or not? :)

I thought Luminae would have an age limit.

I my opinion children do not belong in an exclusive Suite venue.:mad:

The Celebrity FAQ is clear on this: (http://www.creative.rccl.com/Sales/Celebrity/General_Info/Flyers/14037410_CEL_Suites_FAQs.pdf)

Are all children traveling in a suite permitted to dine in the Suite Class exclusive restaurant?

Yes, children are welcome. Suite Class guests are asked to ensure appropriate decorum and behavior of children to preserve the ambiance of

Luminae.

Well, we are taking a 1yr old and a 3.5 yr old in August on the Millennium, also in a Sky Suite. So, we'll let you know how it goes :)

Am on the Celebrity Millennium on 8/5 from Vancouver to Seward. Traveling with a 3.5 yr. old boy and 1 yr old girl. Looking for ideas for activities at various ports that: a) Are interesting for the kids, or b) Able to do with the kids.

Thanks.

What is important to you, and why did you pick Alaska? You have verified your flights? When would you be arriving? Why aren't you also looking at Princess?

 

Any of these cruises could be an excellent trip. I suggest you read up on the port and glacier differences and determine if YOU have any priorities?

 

Any port activities- you want to be sure to take advantage of?

 

 

OR is the ship the only priority? All of those are "kid friendly".

Princess is basically sold out in August so not an option.

Have looked at flights and they are not much of an issue. Flying in/out of Portland, so easy (and cheap) direct flights to Vancouver and Anchorage.

Port activities -- Not sure. That will be the next post :) We need to figure out what is possible with the kids.

Radiance of the Seas is Royal Caribbean - but Celebrity has Sky Suite - so not sure which X ship to compare. It's been so long it would be Apples & Oranges to compare over this many years but service on HAL in our Verandah cabin was great. Regular verandahs are pretty tight. That said the suites are going to offer more room and concierge/butler type service that may be handy with small kids.

Good catch. Celebrity is the Millenium.

Background:

- Desire to do a 7-day Alaska cruise this August

- North or South is fine (Seward-Vancouver or Vancouver-Seward)

- Family of 4 (2 adults, 3 1/2 boy, 1 yr. old girl) -- So accommodations need to fit all of us and need a kid-friendly ship.

Options:

- Norwegian Sun (8/15-8/22, south): Mini-suite w/balcony (Room 1213). Norwegian offering @ $5970 w/choice of free dining or beverage package

- Holland ms Noordam (8/7-8/14, north): Verandah (Room 10026) @ $4460

- Celebrity Radiance of the Seas (8/5-8/12, south): Sky suite @ $6900

Obviously the price difference is a factor but we more interested in what value we are getting than the absolute price, so that isn't the final factor.

The questions:

a) Are any of these ships clearly better/worse experiences? From what I can tell from various readings, they all have their +/- but none particularly stands out positively or negatively.

b) Similarly, is any one of these better/worse for the kids?

c) Is the Celebrity sky suite worth the extra money?

Thanks in advance.