Crew News

I was told by crew members that the Captain was a last minute substitute.

I am a committed Holland America cruiser with maximum loyalty benefits and many crew friends to give up to go on another cruise ine. Currently, I am in Alaska until May19th on first the Koningsdam and then Nieuw Amsterdam starting Sunday.

The HAL photos in Navigator are no longer used. They want a photo at the moment of embarkation to load in their Security Scanning system and to share with US Immigration. The only humen interaction you will have is to be pointed where to go and what to do in the HAL process. Of course, you will interact with IS Immigration personnel.

Skip the luggage drop-off at the underground cruise terminal. Proceed along the side of the Convention Center and a sign should be visiblel where to enter to drop off luggage and check-in. When I disembark on Saturday, I will get more details and perhaps a photo of this alternate luggage sign.

There is one stop at at a scenic overlook and perhaps another if mountain goats are spotted. In any case, the bus must meet the train at the CairnCross station. The excursion remains in the private dining car for the duration. With the excpetion of eating the provided lunch after boarding the train, all of my time is spent on the platform between cars to get great pictures.

With the expanded luggage drop off opportunity, one Vancouver bottleneck has been eliminated. Pausing only momentarly for facial recognition instead of queing to speak to a HAL rep also contibuted to a better process. The Security scan and US Immigration was the hold up. If the other cruise lines would enforce staggered boarding, things might be even more improved.

As promised, Vancouver check-in process on 4/27/24 Impressions. The Convenntion Center hallway doors were open at 10:30 AM as change for this cruise. I estimated 25 passengers walking down the hallway heading to the HAL doorway. My most memorable obdrvation was that a second luggage dropoff point was available inside the actual HAL check-in area in addition to the underground curbside drop-off point. A second observation was that nobody was checked for Deck priority number to enter the HAL doorway entrance which served both HAL ships in port. When I entered the HAL entrance at 11:00 AM and then the Priority lane, there were approximately 50 people snaking through the facial recognition process to the many terminals in operation. Upon ariving downstairs agsin for the Security and US Immigration screening, there were about 200 passengers snaking through the bsggage screening and then US Immigration queus. Much to my very pleasant surprise, the passengers from both ships rejoined their own queues with the Koningsdam passengers walking directly to the ship's gangway. I boarded at 11:24 AM. This was indeed the Vancouver terminals and HAL employees finest performance in many cruises I have experienced departing this port.

I will be aboard the Koningsdam B2B the middle of May next year and again whale watching in Juneau the first week. Perhaps our paths will cross.

A review of my favorite whale photos and my experience shows that May is both the most whales spotted and the most active month for Alaska. I think that since whales do not feed while away from Alaska, their first few months (April and May) back to their Alaska feeding grounds make them the most active. That means more bubble feeding and more visible tails from their deep diving for food.

An aft stateroom balcony allows views of both sides of the ship while wearing your pajamas, great photo ops, no wind while the ship is moving, three minutes from both the Lido Market and MDR, hot Room Service food, and the sound of the wake for a very restful sleep. In many aft stateroom cruises, soot has not been an issue for me. Another recommendation of a Deck 7 aft stateroom.

Out of many whale watching excursions in Victoria, Dominica, Santa Barbara, Mexico, Sitka, Prince Rupert, Juneau, and Icy Strait Point, my experience is that Icy Strait Point is by far the most photographic with numerous bubble-feeding events just a short boat ride from the pier.

This by-deck boarding notice is also applicable to the Nieuw Amsterdam on May 5. Much as happened in Fort Lauderdale over the past three years, if there is nobody in line to check-in, the HAL reps will let passengers continue with check-in. I will experience two of these new Vancouver procedures over the next two weeks, discuss the subject in two Meet & Greets, and will report back.

I have enjoyed taking Glacier Bay photos from the Promenade Deck (Deck 3). Surprisingly, last year there were only about 20 passengers with me for the entire length of the deck.

Viewing miles-wide glaciers is an awesome experience but walking on a glacier lets you feel a part of a glacier. One of my favorite excursions in Juneau has been walking on Mendenhall Glacier after a helicopter landing. Wearing crampons to maintain footing in the constant flowing water on top of the ice was interesting and filling a small cup to taste with the flowing water was a highlight. The views of the deep blue crevasses were awesome and quite different from looking at the glacier faces in Glacier Bay.

Here is a price table for updating HIA Surf Plans to higher plans once you are aboard: Internet HIA Update Price List

Welcome to Cruise Critic. This will be truly an amazing event for you. My photos are from Skagway but your experience in Juneau will be similar. Don't be surprised when you see that all of the dogs do not look like the ones in the movies. Very few blue-eyed huskies and dogs of different sizes. Big dogs are in the back for pulling and the smaller dogs in the front for steering. If possible, use a polarizing filter on your camera as the snow is very bright and to reduce the glare through the helicopter windows. Seating on the helicopter is assigned by weight to balance the craft, so hope for an outside seat to get photos in flight. Enjoy your first cruise to Alaska. Many return for more.

Sounded good to me. It is served in approximately 4 inches of very hot liquid. I would consider it "seafood soup" eaten with your fingers and quite a messy process. Ask for extra napkins.

Interesting. Same as my HAL PCC's birthday.

I will post links to the new menus and daily programs starting on April 27th

FWIW HAL has now actively advertised "Steak Night" in the Lido Market on Embarkation Day to relieve the stress on the MDR. In actuality, the menus are the same in both venues but the Lido Market is packed on the first night. This means that the first MDR night is not that bad. The Tamarind is a good choice for Embarkation Day.

Sounds like a good plan to me. If you are staying in either hotel, I recommend visiting the food court in the basement of the Fairmont Hotel for breakfast/lunch or for things you forgot to pack before your cruise. From the Pan Pacific Hotel, there is a down escalator in the Convention Center lobby that goes under the street to get to the Fairmont Hotel Food Court. Of course you can use the crosswalk in front of the Convention Center. It must be noted that there are onboard lunch places to eat no matter what time you board. Street entrance to Fairmont Hotel Food Court

Welcome to Cruise Critic. Successful whale watching in Juneau is a collective effort of the excursion boat operators who alert other boats when whales are spotted. Early in the Alaska season, their are fewer boats to spot whales and alert others. I agree with Coral that Icy Strait Point (ISP) whales are the most actively feeding that I have ever experienced. ISP is a small port so few Alaska visitors have the opportunity to experience the frantic bubble feeding.

May was the only month that I have seen frisky calves in my many whale watching excursions in Juneau.

The flight over the Juneau ice field was amazing and the locally caught king salmon was delicious. The iced tea is chilled with fresh glacier ice floating in front of the lodge. There are a very limited number of planes allowed and not a lot of seating in the dining room. I enjoyed the excursion and the photo ops were incredible. The bears that normally come to look for leftovers were on Spring Break when I was there.

The HAL normal North America boarding pass time pre-COVID was 1:00 PM. Experienced cruisers chose to check-in either early or later which left new cruisers to arrive at the terminal around 12:30 PM to begin their check-in process. All worked well from my experience as the boarding process was spread over about four hours. With many ships now sailing at 3:00 PM, passengers disembarking at the same time (NLT 9:30 AM), and Room Stewards still having to prepare rooms, the available check-in and boarding processes are compressed. My advice on another thread was to arrive early if you have priority boarding (mobility challenged with families members, Pinnacle/Neptune suite guests, or 4/5* Mariners). If you do not have priority boarding and have no desire to sit, arrive at the terminal for check-in after the assigned boarding time.