Colorado Klutch

It's actually 5072 on Koningsdam.

You are correct. It's 5072. Thank you for the information. Better to see the tender boats below than have them obstructing my view from the balcony. I really wanted an Inside Passage itinerary and hope that was the right decision. The Outside Passage cruises stop at Victoria late in the evening. I assume this is for the Passenger Vessel Service Act, but it seems like a waste of a port call. I think I would also prefer the scenery of the Inside Passage. I hope it's all worth it since it appears flying to Vancouver and staying overnight there is twice the cost of flying to Seattle and staying overnight.

I'm in cabin 5702.

I booked the cruise myself and chose my cabin. Would it have been better to let HAL select my cabin?

I sense some irony here...

Does HAL allow guests to tour the bridge and engineering spaces? (Yeah, I'm a nerd.)

Good to know. Thanks!

I will call HAL and ask about a Veteran credit. I have a few other questions as well. I expect I will get some serious upsell pressure, but I can handle it.

Seems I'm not the only one who really appreciates a good cup of coffee. 😃 I think I will try the complimentary coffee. If it doesn't make muster, I'll cough up for two or three better coffees per day. I don't mind.

These situation are pretty common between asylum seekers and maritime mishaps. Many years ago I was a sailor assigned to the aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt. We were in the Caribbean and one night one of the lookouts spotted a tiny light in the distance. He turned on an extremely powerful search light and saw two people waving one arm while holding onto a capsized boat. The Officer of the Deck brought an aircraft carrier to an immediate stop. (Carriers can stop surprisingly quickly.) We launched a boat and rescued the two people. Turned out they were two young men who were island hopping in the Caribbean when their trimaran flipped over. They had been clinging to the boat for three days and were dehydrated and badly sunburned, but otherwise OK. Had the Good Ship Theodore Roosevelt not rescued them, they would have certainly perished. (It is situations like this, and not space aliens or paranormal forces, which explain the whole "Bermuda Triangle" thing.) And yeah, a lot of Cubans are extremely desperate to escape for a better life. I was a briefer in the Navy and we pretty regularly briefed about asylum seekers. I recall one incident where a man an his 14-year old boy scaled multiple fences and ran through a mine field to get to Guantanamo Bay. (That's a US Navy base actually inside Cuba.) The boy stepped on a mine and lost a leg. He was treated by US Navy medical personnel and was still happy he, "Made it to America". He was literally willing to give his leg to flee Cuba.

Thank you. Unfortunately it looks like that offer has expired. Likely it was for active duty personnel. My status is "Veteran".

A lot of people buy coffee when they travel. I would think TSA and other airport security personnel and pretty used to it.

I just booked and I don't see anything for selecting a dining time. Really disappointed with the HAL web site. Wondering if that's on purpose to promote travel agents.

So no free upgrades on HAL?

Very spiffy! Thanks so much for sharing this. The Quench Beverage package works out to $18.50 a day. Likely I'd have to get a lot of drinks every day just to break even.

Is there a way to determine the price per drink? I'm not finding any drink menus on the HAL web site, but it is a pretty lackluster web site. (I'm an IT Professional, so maybe I'm just a web snob.)

^^ Thank you for your reply. It was an honor to serve. Yeah, it's going to be strange being underway without having to work constantly then trying to sleep a few hours among thundering chaos. 😄 The HAL web site has a "7 Day Quench Beverage Package". I says it includes beverages in the Explorations Cafe, but it doesn't list the Dutch Cafe. The price is $148.26 for seven days which seems OK, but I can't figure out if that's for one person or two. I'm afraid if I click the "Buy" button, it will double the price and add it to my booking. I'm surprised at how expensive the Signature restaurants are. Sheesh, I didn't expect to pay an extra $100 for dinner for two. Welcome to 2023, I guess.

Greetings, everyone. I just booked an Alaska cruise on HAL Koningsdam for 6-13 May, 2023. I was active duty US Navy when I was young. I've been underway aboard Aircraft Carriers, Cruisers, Destroyers, a Command and Control ship and a Battleship. I've never been on a cruise ship and I have a few questions. I looked around in the First Time Cruisers area and didn't see what I was looking for. I hope you don't mind me posting here. I didn't book through a travel agent. (I asked some friends and nobody could recommend a good travel agent. I sent multiple emails to a travel agent I saw on YouTube, but never received a reply.) - Does HAL offer a non-alcohol drink package? I'm confused about this. I tend to have only an occasional beer and lots of coffee. But I like GOOD coffee with real cream. Mrs. Klutch likes to have a diet soda with meals. Is there a HAL drink package which might be good for us? - Does HAL have formal nights? I can't seem to nail this down. I'm happy to wear to a tie and jacket to dinner, but Mrs. Klutch will NOT wear a cocktail dress. She is fine with wearing a nice, long-sleeved or short-sleeved dress. Will this be a problem for us? - Apparently, this board has a "Roll Call" for people booked on the same cruise. I searched in the Roll Call area, but nothing came up. Does this simply mean nobody else on my cruise has created a Roll Call on this web site? Maybe I didn't search correctly? Thanks!