JDinWA
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Posts posted by JDinWA
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I can't speak to that cabin, but we were on Westerdam to Alaska late September. This was the friendliest HAL ship I've been on. Even security personnel and ship maintenance workers were cordial. The cruise itself was wonderful.
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Quality Town Car has good reviews on Yelp.(https://www.yelp.com/biz/quality-town-car-seattle-4) I haven't ridden with them yet, but did book them to transport us from home to the pier next month, their prices were comparable to every other service we looked at and I liked that it's a female-owned business. They will provide a complimentary car seat.
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5 minutes ago, DaveOKC said:
Which ship? IMO, on some HAL ships there is a big difference in location for Neptunes, while others no so much.
I think both of the cruises were on the Westerdam.
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Thanks for the replies. It just kind of shocked me: in the neptune suite category, one of the cruises I tried, it was $400 more per person and the other was $740 more per person.
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(Apologies if this has been discussed, I didn't find anything from a forum search.) I started a booking on the Holland America site today, and at the cabin selection page, it was a low price to just choose the category and a significantly higher price to select a specific cabin. Is that now standard operating procedure for HAL? We didn't used to have to pay more to specify a cabin.
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On 9/2/2022 at 8:03 AM, moosec1 said:
I ordered our tests. Did you set up everything on the Navica app that it shows on the box?
I didn't use the app, I just went to https://www.emed.com/ and clicked "Start testing". (I had already set up our profiles on emed.com.) It was slightly confusing during the test because they had us use the back camera for some parts and the front camera for others. The results were emailed to us almost immediately.
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Ordering the tests from Optum is simple, but I was concerned about scheduling the test and couldn't find any useful information on their site so had to have an email conversation with them. They said:
- No appointment is required.
- You can take the test at any time, 24/7, even on holidays.
It's confusing, because the test box itself says "before your appointment". Anyway, I thought I'd share in case anyone else needed to know. Here are the quotes from their email:
"Only one person can take the test at a time, using their own account. Each individual will need to create an account for testing. The eMed customer service is available 24/7. They are even available on holidays. There is no need to set up an appointment. The customer service number for eMed is 1 (866) 955-1173."
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7 hours ago, crystalspin said:
Some years back I was daily wearing my phone in a water"proof" case around my neck, and my cardkey on a lanyard, and the key kept losing its ability to open the door. Service Desk would tell me it was the phone; I didn't believe them but when I wore pants with a pocket, no key lanyard, sure enough it stopped having its memory wiped.
I used to slip my card key inside my Kindle case, then I discovered the hard way that the magnet clasp of the case made my card key inoperable.
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7 hours ago, quack2 said:
Still trying to get a one day overcharge refunded to me. Indigo, WestPark, beats me.
Oh that reminded me of one issue with the online booking: it isn't obvious when you make your reservation that you should set time as well as date. I just chose the arrival and departure dates and booked it, then I noticed that my confirmation charged 8 days instead of 7. I had to revise the reservation to set appropriate times on each date, otherwise it assumed a full 24 hours on each date.
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I used that link to make my reservation last week, so hopefully it should still work. 🙂 My initial email confirmation came from WestPark Canada Place, but a follow-up email came from INDIGO (CA) - VAN - Canada Place, so they're still tweaking the name change in various places.
They've changed the instructions, though. We used to have to scan the confirmation barcode on entry and exit. Now, it says " Effective August 15, 2022, you will no longer need to scan your bar code when arriving or departing." So I guess they're just going to manually check license plate# to see that parked cars have already paid...?
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A few years ago, I found a route recommendation in this forum for driving from Seattle to the Vancouver cruise port. Could someone familiar with the area confirm if the notes I saved are still good? They seem to work using online maps, but those aren't always up-to-date and there might be better alternatives due to traffic or construction or whatever. (Travelling on a weekday, if it matters.)
Take I-5 north to 99, go over bridge, right on Marine, left on Cambie. Cambie becomes Smithe, turn right on Seymour, left on Cordova, right on Howe, arrive.
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I've always booked and paid for my parking at the Vancouver cruise port online. You start at https://canadaplace.parkindigo.com/reserve-a-space.html
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4 minutes ago, martincath said:
Booooo! All the good stuff is east of Yonge - Farmer's Market, Golden Star, where I lived 😉
Didn't even cross my mind that you might have been cruising this soon - hope embarkation has started, and if you do decide to get off and back on again be aware that in addition to passports, you will need to redo ArriveCAN... technically you're under US jurisdiction after Preclearing, so walking off means CBSA will expect to see an ArrCAN entry too as you are now coming back into Canada!!!
Oh geez, that wouldn't have occurred to me! Thanks for mentioning it.
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Just remember to take your passport with you. One cruise leaving from Vancouver, I checked in, then after dumping my stuff in our cabin, decided to run out on a quick errand. I didn't really think it through, just figured it's like any other port and I'd just need my ship card key to get back onboard. Got stopped at security. Had to make a desperate call to the concierge, who had to track down my cabinmate, get my passport from her, and race it out to customs. Got back on the ship just in time!
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3 hours ago, POA1 said:
Can you give us an example of what you were looking at? In my experience, the difference between picking a guarantee and specific cabin in the same category is usually around $40 - $50 pp.
It's a 7-day Alaska cruise, Neptune suite.
But now I'm guessing the displayed price is SB and the only available cabins to select from are SA, and that might be the price difference.
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Must be my memory's faulty then. Or maybe it's because the new HAL site defaults to guarantee now, and since I always choose a cabin, I never saw the price difference before.
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Has something changed at HAL? I was going to book a 2020 cruise on their website. I tried every available cabin in the category that I want, and the price always showed $200 per person more than originally shown, unless I accepted guarantee (no specific cabin). Is this a new sales approach? You have to pay $400 to choose your own cabin??
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I learnt to use my binoculars by following this article. My DH and I each have one pair. 8x42 and 10x42
Thanks for that link! I've only use binoculars on Alaska cruises, and always suspected that I wasn't adjusting them correctly. Can't wait to try again using those tips. :)
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We did Nexus, being so close to Canada. Like others have experienced, open appts were months out, so I took the earliest one and then began daily checks on the schedule. As soon as I found an earlier opening, changed my appt. Did that twice, actually. :)
If you go for Nexus, you have the same interview as GE, but then you also interview with a Canadian officer.
The first time that we drove past the long lines at the border to the Nexus lane, it was SO worth it! And the TSA Pre line at the airport when we flew was the cherry on top.
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Guess this week wasn't ideal conditions. The captain of the Amsterdam blogged "Tracy Arm, our assigned assignation, was blocked this week. Large bergs were plentiful and ice reports further into the Arm, (from smaller tour boats), indicated it would be impassable for us. I therefore decided to go into Endicott Arm, equally scenic, though with less ice. On our way there, in the Frederick Sound, we were treated to numerous sightings of humpback whales, having migrated from Hawaii they are now making the most of the bountiful ‘feed’".
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Just a warning -- our first visit to Seward, I sent for their "free destination guide" at their site: http://www.seward.com/visit-seward/trip-planner/
I got email from just about every business in town. I'm guessing they share the info with all the Chamber members.
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During your cruise, check out http://www.gi.alaska.edu/AuroraForecast each day, it will give you a good idea if it's worth staying up all night watching for them. :)
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We are traveling to Alaska in Sept and are wondering about the weather. I know to dress in layers but how cold or rainy is it?
Thanks!
Five of my six Alaska cruises, I've gone in September (and my 7th coming up is also in Sep). On those five cruises, we only experienced rain in port heavy enough that it was hard to enjoy anything about 3 or 4 days total. Most of our port days were sunny or cloudy with brief showers.
Day temps ranged from 50-75. Not too cold in general, but how cold it feels depends on what you're used to. I live in the Pacific Northwest so Alaska just feels normal to me. :)
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"JoCo Cruise 2017 is a whole cruise ship (Holland America's ms Westerdam) full of music, comedy, and general nerdery, departing from San Diego, CA for a 7-night adventure along the Sea of Cortez."
Great Bear Rainforest cruise from Seattle 2025 and 2026 - Noordam
in Holland America Line
Posted
I hadn't heard about this new cruise but it's great to see a new offering, especially one to an area I'm unfamiliar with. It's nice to get a full day in Victoria instead of the usual few evening hours. We've booked the Oct 2025 sailing, thanks for getting the word out!