BumperII

Very few people actually measure the door size of staterooms. You might be able to get this information from HAL customer service.

A rose by any other name. After experiencing every stateroom class, the mini suite has become our favorite for cruising Alaska and Canada - New England. Could care less about perks and bathtub, but really like the extra space, the sofa and the porch.

Rather than pay the full price for the suite and "included perks", we would rather spend the price differenve on perks of our own choosing.

It all comes down to take what you want and pay for it. I hate paying extra for stuff I don't really care about.

I hope everyone gets what is most important to them for their vacation dollars.

You can't go wrong by reading labels and menus and asking questions. As has been suggested, when in doubt, make another selection. Then, Enjoy Your Cruise!!

I was recently in hospital after an attack of pancreatitis after drnking a very small amount of alcohol. I was told to stop drinking immediately, and this doesn't bother me as I don't drink that much anyay, but I'm cruising this week, and I am a bit bothered about food being made with alcohol such as sauces etc, and I wondered if I should tell the Maitre'D so I don't get food which has alcohol added.

I too have to maintain an alcohol free diet. I don't trust that to anyone, I read menus carefully. It is not a problem. Off the top of my head, maybe less than one in ten offerings is prepared with alcohol. Enjoy the cruise.

We did have a great family vacation as I mentioned and we definitely made the best of it, but I wanted to post an honest opinion. My opinion may differ from other's and I purposely wrote this review because I know it differs from almost everything I've read on this board.

 

We will be boarding the Coral August 20 doing both north bound and south bound back to back. This is the tenth or eleventh time we have done this. Obviously we loved it. Alaska is a temperate rainforest, and it is not for everyone. But it suited us well and we still look forward to it every year.

We are happy to hear you found the Pioneer Cafe. We always stop there for a reindeer sausage and a chance to visit with the locals.

Again, thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts. I take it you didn't try the biscuits and sausage gravy at breakfast in the Horizon Court. We still haven't made it to the MDR recently.

I think we might even take your suggestion to cruise Iceland.

The long tunnel is between Whittier and Anchorage, if your ship goes that far.

I think we have done about a dozen b2b Inside Passage cruises out of Vancouver. From day one, we way overpacked. Business Suit, Tuxedo, Sport Jacket and ties. No I take the sport jacket and do just fine.

My suggestion would be to pack a little less than you think you will need, and budget a little more money than you think you will need.

I feel for the OP. Here we are 75 days away from our next cruse, and packing is on my mind too. I am already starting to separate travel stuff.

When we cruise, I buy all new men's underwear and socks. Then I leave it all home. I pack all my old stuff, and discard most of it before flying home with all of our new treasures / junk.:D

We like the Princess Mini Suite just a little better than the HAL Veranda. We like the way the closet space is laid out, and I can't quit define it, but it seems more spacious. At least there seems to be more space we can move around in.

Our experience has been that the pricing is comperable.

Princess has much better pillow chocolates too.

If you enjoyed one you will enjoy the other. Bon Voyage!

Methinks you made the right choice for you! Like you we would have declined the offer. You are flying a long way, and have considerble time, effort and money expended just for the travel arrangements. The time left to make all these adjustments is too tight, it can be done, but it would be stressful.

You will never get another chance to celebrate your 40th anniversary in style. This is a once in a lifetime celebration. Enjoy your cruise, confident that you made the best choice.

Welcome aboard, and Bon Voyage!

We've only had two. The best was three days out when Hal made us the offer we couldn't refuse.

I too have been using CPAP for more than ten years. Actually, I've never been on a cruise without one.

Everything you see posted here is sound advice. I didn't buy a "light weight" fifteen foot cord, I just take one from my shop. It is three prong rated at 15 amps, and it is bright orange. Some of the newer machines use a transformer so you have about ten feet of cord that comes with the machine. All this stuff lives in the bottom night stand drawer. Once you set it up the first time, it only takes two or three minutes to put it away or hook it back up.

I'm not sure exactly why, but once I started using the CPAP machine, my wife became much easier to get along with. She even let me move my bed from the garage back into the house. :D

In thirty five cruises we only scored one really super deal. That was our first Christmas cruise on the beautiful and elegant Maasdam. I was sitting home web surfing and saw the deal, and booked it on the spur of the moment two weeks before embarkation. It was our least expensive eleven day cruise, and it stands out as one of the most enjoyable and most memorable.

But we still shop for bargains. There does seem to be a sweet spot that shows up sometimes around final payment date, maybe 75 or 76 days prior to sailing. It is not something one can depend upon. Market forces are always in play, and we have seen prices increase too.

The really good deals can be had if you don't care where you are going and don't care when. We are signed up for the last minute deal emails from both Holland America and Princess.

Bon Voyage

Thanks for the review. We will be on the Coral Aug 20 and 27 b2b. Although we have cruised Alaska a dozen times, this will be our first experience with the Coral.

I'm happy to hear that you enjoyed the cruise. Needless to say, we fell in love with Alaska the first time we went. The rain is not surprising, Alaska coast is a temperate rain forest. It is not for everyone, but we loved it.

We are counting the days. Again, thank you for the review and your insights.

 

It’s a choice to select a full suite. It has nothing to do with a caste system.

 

It really doesn't have anything to do with a caste system, or for that matter ecnomic status either. In the Ocean View cabins on the lower decks, couples with a seven figure net worth are a dime a dozen. It is simply a matter of what you choose to buy with your money.

Yes we have the experience of Juneau in early September, but we can only make an educated guess about what they will be doing this year.

The Mt. Roberts tramway gets maybe 98% of their customers from the cruise ships, so their hours of operation are influenced by the cruises ships in port.

The only way to be certain is ask them.:D Bon Voyage!

Which cabins are Club Class Minis?

We are booked in a mini suite RT Alaska, Vancouver - Anchorage-Vancouver on the Coral Princess sailing August 20. We have done this same cruise about a dozen times on different ships.

Now I'm afraid I missed out on something. We were in our first mini on the Island Princess a couple years ago. We never did make it to the MDR, most nights we were either in the Horizon Court or a speciality restaurant.

In case you have heard reports that the riff raff are booking mini suites.....

It was us.:D

This tour is the next best thing to a float plane view of Alaska. We have done both the train - bus tour as well as the round trip train. We reallly enjoyed both experiences. Take along bug repellent for photo op stops.:D

We were booking inside guarentees for our first 9 cruises on HAL, and received very favorable upgrades all nine times. Then on he tenth time, we were "upgraded" to a closet with two portholes. This stateroom was so small that you had to go out into the hallway just to change your mind. That was the last time we booked a Guarentee.

I don't know how important that outside daylight is to you. For most of our early cruises, we spent very little time in the stateroom, so the inside J, K, L class worked very well. Bye the way they are all shower only staterooms.

Holland America has the best inside staterooms in the business. The J cabins are only a few footsteps from the biggest balcony on the ship. I really liked them.

Have beverage, will be lurking in background.

Jacket and tie are no longer required. Items of clothing sufficient to conceal the neccessaries is acceptable.

I normally take along a sport coat and tie, the Tux is gathering dust. Since I retired, I do my best to limit suits to weddings and funerals.

There is nothing particularly formal about "formal night". It has always been a photo op, a chance for the ships company to sell you photos because you look so nice.

That being said, it is still nice to dress for dinner once in a while. If you want to do that, a sport coat will do nicely. Tie optional.

Enjoy the cruise.

Alaska was made to be seen from the air. The inside passage of Alaska is also a temperate rain forrest. It rains there.

We have taken ten or eleven two week round trip cruises in Alaska. On the first trip we booked an inside stateroom, and five, count em five flight excursions in a two week period. All five were cancelled due to rain. But we loved Alaska and have been vacationing there ever since. We have had better luck since.

Of all the excursions to Misty Fiords, our favorite is the float plane one way and excursion boat the other. It is a combination experience. Even if they have to cancel the flight, you still get to see Misty Fiords from a catamaran boat. This excursion has a plan B. It ensures that you and your money both don't go back home together.

Cruising the inside passage is a wonderful experience in itself. We found out how to get to the bow of the ship, and learned to fill up our commuter coffee cups and head up there in the mornings.

Anyway, having done ever excursion possible, we gave up on the inside staterooms. Now, a stateroom with a balcony of some kind is a must.

If you only plan on cruising Alaska once, a floatplane experience somewhere is also a must. Once in your lifetime, see Alaska from the air. If one flight gets cancelled, you might consider booking a flight from the next port of call.

Bon Voyage

Yes, you can be sure about that. You can also be sure that this alcohol content is about the same as your average dinner salad. Pretty tame stuff.

I have brought six packs of N/A on board at least three ships. I've never been refused.

Island Princess is sister to Coral Princess. Both have full wrap around if you would like to add Island to your list..

My first and still my favorite HAL ship. Sure wish I was on board.

I think it was the Oasis