rajkr74

Ahhh..you finally got a cloudy day, lol.  We really loved the train ride from Denali to Anchorage when we did it in 2016.

Boy you are lucky in being one of the 33% of people who see Denali when visiting the park.  Pictures are great.

Glad you two are having fun.  Pictures are great.

1 hour ago, Alphen said:

Test results negative, so we are good to go!

YEAH....couldn't be better!!!!

HAL no longer has a ship named Statendam.  I think you are probably talking about the Zaandam.

So sorry the river boat Klondike was not open when you were there so I'm adding some photos of the inside of the boat from when we were there in 2016.

Cabin photo thru Plexiglas

I was quarantined on the Nieuw Amsterdam with Covid on April 30th and called FE to cancel my flight.  I had to wait on hold for 2 1/2 hrs. to get a rep.  My wife stayed on the original flight and flew home May 1st while I stayed in Canada for 10 more days.  I did not know the date for the end of my quarantine, so I called back the next day to rebook my flight home.  This call left me on hold for 3 hrs.  I didn't care since I was stuck in a hotel room with the cell phone hooked to a charger waiting. Where else did I need to go...lol. Once I got a rep, in both cases, they were friendly, pleasant and very helpful in canceling and rebooking my flight home on the 11th of May. They even booked me into Eugene OR rather than Portland OR where my original flight went.  That meant not having to travel 2 hrs to pick me up in PDX...nice.

The security line at YVR on May 11th after my 10 day Covid quarantine was not bad for my 10:50am flight to Seattle.  I left early from the hotel to see if I could get an earlier flight at 8:05am but the staff at the Alaska check-in counter pointed to the hugh long security line behind the counter down the hall and said there would be no way I'd get thru that line and make the 8:05 flight...so back across the lobby I went to sit and wait for check-in for the 10:50am flight.  It  depends on the time of the day. 

Jeroen, wish you the best on your cruise and hope everything goes well.  Keep the pictures coming as we enjoy watching and reading about your trip. 

Rick & Joyce

Hey Alphen, glad to see your semi-live report.  We'll assume you got out of Amsterdam and the airport mess with not too much trouble.  Looking forward to your review.  

Rick & Joyce

The old saying goes, if you book a cruise just out of dry dock you have to be prepared for some glitches. Especially after this extended "drydock".  Pretty happy to hear that the old Microsoft Labs on the bigger ships will be turned into libraries.  Pretty sure HAL heard us about the library!   

On our April cruise on the Nieuw Amsterdam to Vancouver we had aprox. 845 passengers out of Ft. Lauderdale with 400 getting off in San Diego and another 200 getting on for a new count of aprox. 645 to Vancouver with 735 crew members on board.  NA has a max passenger total of aprox. 2106. I had a discussion with an officer and asked him if HAL restricted the booked passengers to the 845 number?  No, he said that is all that booked the cruise. There were no restrictions on how many could book the cruise.  We had covid cases on board and the ship set up quarantine cabins also.  The fourth deck forward on the starboard side along with the same verandah matching cabins on deck 6 were closed off to passengers for the whole cruise.  And those cabins were used by passengers during the cruise including by me for one day.  These quarantine cabins limit the amount of passengers that can book the cruise or any cruise.

We did an Alaska  Land-Sea cruise in 2016 and wrote a review of the whole 14 day trip.  We could not find much info on these type of HAL cruises prior to our cruise so we did the review afterward. 

It's  not exactly like your cruise but has  some of the same sites and destinations  so you can pick and choose  things that  will help you on yours.  Who knows how HAL  is handling these  land-sea cruise after the pandemic  but I hope  this helps.

Here is the CC link:

 https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2295567-alaska-sea-land-cruise-6-29-16-review—y2c/

Nice photos.  Just wish HAL would have told us of this move before final payment.  Not happy with the replacement cruises being offered.  We were staying on for the 14 day cruise on 7-17-22 which is going (maybe) but now not sure what to do????  Got to see how flexible HAL will be on rebooking a replacement cruise.  This makes the 10th cruise we have had canceled since covid started.  But this one is not covid related.  Frustrated is a minor word here.

Don't stay in one spot on the ship, move around the ship for different views.  The bow will be open for the transit thru the canal.  If coming from FLL, get up early for the first lock (Gatun).  It's a pretty site in the early morning light, especially viewing all the cargo ships anchored waiting to go thru the canal.  HAL serves "Panama Buns" on deck, do try them, they are very good. It usually takes the full day going thru the canal so you will see sights all day.  Wander the decks mid-day if you can stand the heat and humidity.

Early morning.

View from the stern.

Panama Buns

Just thought I'd add some photos from Keukenhof and Kinderdijk.  Both must sites to see while in the Netherlands during the right season.

Looking on the HAL website it appears the Noordam will start cruises with a 21 day Panama cruise from Ft. Lauderdale to Vancouver on April 24, 2022 landing in Vancouver on May 15th.  It will start its first Alaska cruise for 7 days on May 15th then back to Vancouver.  Currently the Nordam is off the east coast of Florida in anchorage near FLL.  Since it looks like it is not doing any cruises until it repositions to Alaska in April I think there is a good chance it will get to Vancouver on time for the Alaska season....but no one thought this Covid pandemic would go this long either, so no guarantees here.  

We are doing a Panama cruise on the Nieuw Amsterdam in April also going to Vancouver and we are confident it will cuise on time. 

Just have to add my praise to your perseverance, class and humor during your quarantine time on the Zuiderdam.  Pretty cool that someone got a shot of you waving a towel on your verandah going thru the Canal.  Keep strong, safe and positive, a lot of us are rooting for you.  

Both of us got the survey also.  Simple 3 questions.  Yes to all of them.

1 hour ago, Oceansaway17 said:

aw okay that is what I thought too 

thanks.  

California Sea Lion.

Thanks for posting your experiances while in quarantine on the Koningdam.  You both are handling a tough situation with class and a smile.  We were in Puerto Vallarta for 3 weeks in early Dec. a block from the cruise ship dock.  We took pictures of the Koningsdam when it docked in port and got a drone picture from a fellow guest while sitting on the beach.  Pictures were shot on Dec. 16th.  Thought you'd like to see what she looked like from outside.  Wish you luck on disembarkation.

She always docked in the dark before sunrise.

Got some shots of the Koningsdam coming into Puerto Vallarta MX this morning Dec. 16, 2021.  Sadly it came in during the dark so photos are not great.  Took a video also of the Koningsdam coming in and tooting 5 times.  Got only 2 toots on the video.

Link to video on Microsoft OneDrive: https://1drv.ms/v/s!AsptL998yK8Hgu4GJSx4OiKRSPVfnQ

Areial shot taken Dec. 16, 2021

43 minutes ago, kazu said:

Thanks for the Daily, Rich and Roy keeping us on the Care list and to everyone for their prayers.

 

Sadly, Jose is declining quickly and his prognosis is unknown 😢  

 

  He is in the hands of an Internal specialist and infection specialist to try to solve the mystery that has baffled so many.    I am praying they can find the answer but I don’t know how many more tests they can do. They have done so many. 😔

So sorry to hear about Jose.  We are praying for Jose to get well, stay strong.

Rick & Joyce

45 minutes ago, Quartzsite Cruiser said:

 

@rajkr74  Thanks for the pictures of Koningsdam.  It's fun to see what we look like sailing into port.

 

Lenda

 

Hope you are having a great cruise.  The pic of the ship in the harbor was last weeks cruise.  We are sitting on the beach a block and a half south from the port entrance.  Love watching the ships coming and going.

Some pictures of the Koningsdam in Puerto Vallarta Mexico today and last week.  She came in early in the morning at 6:40am and leaves in the dark in the evening.  Sorry no daylight pictures of her sailing in or out.

14 minutes ago, Cruzmama said:

When you get off in Cabo, Mazatlan, or PV, is it safe to order a pina colada or something with ice cubes at a local bar?

We have gone to Puerto Vallarta twice on cruises besides traveling there a number of years during the winter for 2+ weeks at a time.  We drink tap water with no problems since PV upgraded their water system a number of years ago.  Never heard of anyone getting sick in our unit in PV from the water.  Can't answer for Cabo or Mazatlan.