Denise T

Checking in. 

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I am. I will stop after Harmony of the Seas leaves. 

Checking in. Hi everyone!

Checking in. Hi everyone!

9 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

You get the train at the Train Station/Depot located in downtown Anchorage.  Make sure to check the web site, because when we took that train you did need to check-in well in advance of the departure.  We stayed in a nearby hotel (downtown Anchorage) so were able to just walk to the train station.  From out by the airport you will need to arrange some kind of transportation (taxi, Uber, etc) and allow yourself some extra time.

 

Hank

Thank you!

9 minutes ago, Dobby36 said:

When we went last summer, it was the Anchorage Alaska Railway Depot - i was worried it might be hard to find, but it was  north of the airport by a couple miles, an easy uber in the AM after staying at a airport hotel (we did, like you will be) and everyone we talked to seemed to instantly know what we were referring to. 

 

It seemed that day we were the only game in town - there was a huge bin with porters taking luggage, clearly marked HAL with the ships name, and only one train leaving to Whittier.  Your day may be more crowded, but the place is certainly no Union Station - the entire train depot is the size of a large barn and they have the cruise train routine down to a well oiled machine, it seemed. Couldn't have been more intuitive.

Thank you so much for the info. 

1 hour ago, CruiserBruce said:

I would start with asking on the Alaska board, here:

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/33-alaska/

 

There was just a thread over there a week or two ago about the train station locations.

 

It is not at all uncommon for flight schedules to change. Happens more often than not, it would seem. We have 3 flights booked between now and mid September. 2 of the 3 have had changes greater than an hour.

Thank you! I expect my flights will change a few more times before May. 

Hello everyone. 

I am new to HAL and am going to Alaska for the very first time for the May 28th southbound cruise on the New Amsterdam from Anchorage to Vancouver. I am flying cross country from Pa to Anchorage the night before (this is a totally different story as flights have been changed multiple times). We have booked the Cruisetrain to take us to Whittier. We are staying at the Comfort Inn Suites near the airport. I have done a search on CC and I am finding limited information that answers my question. My question is where do we get the train? 

Thank you!

97!

This was fun. Thanks everyone!

Yeah, NA! Cannot wait until May when I board. 😁

1 minute ago, lobsternight said:

@Denise TI'm just like you.  April 30th will be my first HAL cruise.  70 days to go.  Hurry and send the NA to Vancouver, I can't wait

May 28th for me. Is it too early to pack?☺️

1 minute ago, leerathje said:

 

Welcome from a sailaway addict, Denise! 

😆

 

Leanne

Thank you, Leanne! 

Hello all. I have been watching the port cam for a while now. First time joining the conversation. I will call myself an official cruise ship geek. Love watching the ships sail out. I will be on the Nieuw Amsterdam in May. First time with HAL. 

I will be on the Nieuw Amsterdam in May for an Alaska trip. This is my first Hal cruise but not my first cruise. My last cruise, I was with my sister and some of the things we liked to do were walking the open decks, after dinner., hanging around the bars and taking in whatever entertainment was there. Some evenings I had to work. But I liked being outside the most because I just love the sound of the ocean. This May, I am going with my sister again and my brother and sister-in-law. We will probably spend time doing similar things. I love walking around a cruise ship at night. 

118!

On 1/25/2023 at 4:26 PM, Mary229 said:

If you are already ticketed you can manage changes.  US law and American Airlines policy allows you to change the booking if there has been a substantial change.  Sign up for an American Airlines frequent flier, download the app and you will be notified .  Not only will you be notified but when you go to the website they will present other alternatives.  
 

flight ease is simply a service and has no control over flight schedules.  I use them mainly for their sometimes incredible international rates and for the ability not to pay until final payment date. 

I signed up for American Airlines' frequent flier and got the app. My travel agent was able to get everything changed after sitting on the phone with HAL for hours. Turns out they no longer had a flight to Chicago which is fine. I was more concerned with the return flight as they had me going to a completely different airport.  I should have gotten the app immediately as I have the aps for Delta and United. Lesson learned. 

I am going on my first Hall cruise in May. Going on the Niew Amsterdam to Alaska with my sister, brother, and sister-in-law. I went to Canada/New England last October on the NCL Pearl. I like the smaller ships that don't have all the slides and go carts and everything else. I take the comments with a grain of salt. Everyone's experience is going to be different. The trip is what you make of it. The fact that I am going with my family is really what matters. Things happen in life that are out of our control. It's how you handle it that makes the difference. I had no problems with my NCL cruise. The first big problem with this cruise was a change in flights by the airline that I booked with Flight Ease. Turned it over to my wonderful travel agent and everything is resolved. Now, I just have to patiently wait until May. 

21 hours ago, mfanderso said:

I just had something happen with my Flight Ease or I guess AA.  We booked Business Class tickets as soon as was available through Flight Ease.  We picked our seats and all was well.  Our flight is in March and the beginning of this month I asked my TA to have the fights paid and ticketed.  Everything was going fine. Friends that are going with us said there was a schedule change.  I didn't receive any notification so went into our reservation on the AA app and saw a slight change in times but I noticed that we no longer had seats.  It seems at the time that they had the slight schedule change they also had an equipment change.  The Business Class is now half the size it was and it appears we got bumped.  Our TA called AA and was told that Business Class was oversold and they couldn't guarantee Business Class seats for us and they recommended another itinerary  with a long layover (ours had been non-stop).  The next day she called Flight Ease and spoke to them.  They said we still had our original seats and give it 48 hours and everything would be fine.  96 hours later nothing had changed.  Our TA called Flight Ease back again and same story, we still have our seats. They are refusing to change to another flight and said we would get our seats at the airport which I am sure at that point will be economy as Premium Economy is also sold out.  If this had happened prior to final payment, I would have cancelled the whole trip.  I think we saved $300 by booking through Flight Ease.  Next time I will pay the higher price and book direct.

I am going through a very similar situation. Had the flights booked through Flight Ease for my Alaska Trip through American. Seats were picked and everything. This past week, my sister-in-law who is going with me told me that there were flight changes on her booking. So, I checked the HAL site and was getting a message that there was an error and that there were changes to the flights and the system would be updated. As of today, I am still getting that message. I was never notified, and my TA was never notified. I go to American with my confirmation number. Boy did the flights change! Going to Anchorage we were going through Allentown, PA to Chicago to Dallas and then to Anchorage. On the return we would be flying out of Vancouver to Chicago and to Allentown. Now, they have us going from Allentown to Charlotte, to Dallas, to Anchorage. No biggie. I am okay with this. The problem is that they have us flying from Vancouver to Chicago to Philadelphia. Philadelphia is about 2 hours away from Allentown where our car will be parked. My TA is working on it, but the big issue is that neither of us were notified of any changes to the flights. My sister-in-law was using American Express travel to book the trip, so she got notified. So, right now, I don't know if I have flights. I am with you. I will book direct moving forward. 

Thank you for your review. I will be on my first HAL cruise on the Nieuw Amsterdam next May to Alaska. I appreciated the pictures. 

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28 minutes ago, Leo the cruiser said:

I certainly hope the rudeness of responses on CC doesn't carry over onboard the ship ...

Which responses were rude?

I just got back from sailing Canada/New England, October 14 to October 21. Canada was warm! Charlottetown was almost 70. Luckily had I had thrown a few shorts and short sleeved shirts. Nights were cooler, especially if walking on the outside decks. I had packed a light jacket, a rain jacket, some sweaters and jeans. 

1 hour ago, OUTinMinnesota said:

Denise, I hope you've noticed that your profile pic here on Cruise Critic has been updated.  It now shows that you've earned a rare designation for posting this Coming Soon! Live from NCL Pearl 10/14/2022 to 10/21/2022 Boston-to-Bostin Canada/New England.  Thanks for doing it!

 

Did NCL offer passengers a mid-cruise laundry special...  one low price for a bag-full?

 - if yes, on what date did they offer it to you?

 

Thanks for pics and the thoughtful writeup about your first cruise!

Yes, I did see that. I feel so special! I believe they did offer the special and I think it was on Tuesday. I didn't make use of it as I think I overpacked and had more clothes than I needed.