Crew News

Thanks for visiting my website. Feel free to ask lots of questions to help in your planning. That is why so many of us contribute to this forum. The Explorations shares the same space as the Crows Nest bar and caters to the specialty coffee passengers. FWIW their free cookies can be addicting. I have not seen Matcha tea on any of my cruises so bring your own. Make your Matcha tea at the Lido Market beverage station just before going to bed and pour it into a thermos to have your hot Matcha tea in the morning. If you wish to make Specialty Restaurant reservations and to avoid the line across from the Pinnacle Grill, there will be a podium near the Deck 9 Spa entrance on Embarkation Day. Visit the Taco Bar by the indoor pool to make yourself a plate of nachos (put a little melted cheese on the plate before the chips to keep things from sliding off the plate). Ask the salad bar for an empty big green salad bowl and then take the bowl to the sandwich station for lots of potato chips for snacking in your room. If a crew member gives you great service, ask their name, and give them a compliment on the Navigator app (at the bottom Connect-> Let us Know-> Comment). They will thank you by name every day for the duration of your cruise. Take a photo of their name tag so you get the spelling correct. The beverage station (ice cream station during the day) has almond and soy milk available. Make sure you let your Main Dining Room waiter know that you have dairy issues and they will help you avoid items made with milk. Room Service Breakfast has soy milk available: Room Service Breakfast Card Enjoy your planning and your cruise.

The huge (8-inch diameter) chocolate chip cookies that are so soft you cannot hold them in with your fingers without them falling apart. Almond cookies with a soft almond paste filling are so yummy:

I watched a passenger take a big bite out of one these and their face took three napkins to clean.

During my Nieuw Statendam Club Orange kitchen tour in 2019, the Environmental Officer told us that HAL was eliminating individually packaged items to save packaging materials polluting the oceans. He then told us that the ship does not release non-biodegradable stuff into the ocean but recycles all packaging materials. I just scratched my head. The most important thing I learned from the Environmental Officer was that all recycled stuff was sold and the income went into the Crew Fund. I was not shocked when I returned to cruising in 2021and found that, with the exception of artificial sweeteners, HAL stuck to it's goals.

Either port or starboard staterooms are better than the aft staterooms. Avoid the aft staterooms so the aft aficionados can have them along with included private bathroom, minibar a few feet away, no waiting lines for food, overhead shade, small table for nachos, camera gear poised at the railing for use, no fear of tripods being kicked over, and nobody blocking amazing photos.

Received approval for two cruises but denied for Pacific Coastal. Took five hours from time of submission. Thanks again for the reminder.

Thanks for the reminder to resubmit for my upcoming cruises. I received this OBC a few years ago and did not realize this was ongoing. Retired Army.

The sewer system is shared by a number of rooms so if one room does not follow the rules by putting forbidden items in their toilets it will affect everyone. Use your Navigator to report the issue and all of the ship's management will be notified. Go to the Connect tab -> Let Us Know -> Comments.

The Lido staff will fill your bender bottle for you.

The platforms between the cars are very big and safe. A pair of cheap binoculars and a few visits to the platform will break up your child's long ride. Put pictures of Alaska creatures on the Ipad and then have your child look for them. I have seen eagles, moose, and beavers from the train platform. FWIW taking photos through the thick train windows will give you long colored streaks and glare that only Photoshop can heal.

I have never seen a schedule except in the when & Where I received the night before. There are a number of movies available on the stateroom TV at no charge.

I received a notice in April: "Our tour operator has advised the Wilderness Exploration Cruise & Crab Feast from Ketchikan, Alaska has been modified due to operational considerations. The meal has been changed from all-you -can-eat to two servings per person due to the extraordinary increase in the cost of crab." Since I normally consume at least six portions of crab, the new limits significantly reduced the value of the "feast" and I cancelled this excursion. I booked the Silverking Lodge Seafood Feast and consumed not only lots of Dungeness Crab but also shrimp. On the way to the lodge, the boat stopped to feed 11 eagles, paused to watch sea lions, and then photographed wild Sitka deer near the lodge. This was a much better value than two portions of crab. I have been to the George Inlet Lodge many times and am happy that Holland America alerted me to their change in "feasting" so that I would not be very disappointed.

My When & Where Services page for the Alaska April 2022 Zuiderdam cruise listed Spa Services & Hydro Pool open from 8:00 AM until 10:00 PM. The Fitness Center had a daily printed schedule but I did not take one. When & Where for two Caribbean cruises in 2021 had Fitness Center events starting at 7:00 AM but nothing about the Spa & Hydro Pool on the Services page. Even the current Spa price lists do not show the open hours. I have a daily Fitness Center schedule from 2019 that shows they open at 6:00 AM. Bottom line is that each ship reports Spa special events in daily activities and some actually post the open hours on the Services page of the daily When & Where. Since I can see Spa special events at 8:00 AM over the past years, they should be open at that time on all ships. Closing time is a question mark.

If you are going all the way to Alaska, choose a RT 14-Day cruise out of Vancouver with stops in Kodiak, Anchorage, Valdez, Skagway, Sitka, Ketchikan, Prince Rupert, and a visit to Glacier Bay. It departs May 7th aboard the Nieuw Amsterdam.

A sports bar with live telecasts with nachos and chicken wings is another good idea.

IIRC the Singles Meetup on the Zuiderdam attracted eight solo passengers between the early and main dining times. A ship rep asked each of us to give our names, something about ourselves, and one word that best describes ourselves. After 15 minutes, we dispersed to never see each other again. No other events, happened although promised by the ship. I did have the very good fortune near the end of the cruise to meet another solo as we unlocked our adjoining stateroom doors and we have exchanged a few emails since. I have been traveling solo for a number of years and Alaska is not an ideal place to do anything but wake up early for excursions, spend the day taking photos, eating dinner, and early to bed to be ready for another early start. On the other hand, the Caribbean offers less port times and later morning docking that allows more time to meet other solos. We did have a CC roll call Tamarind solo dinner on the Nieuw Statendam last December while in the Caribbean.

Perhaps the Gallery Bar could be replaced with a Grand Dutch Cafe for all ships.

Allen Marine has lots of comforts to include snack bar, bathrooms, nice seats, large windows, and lots of room on decks for photographers.

It opens at 7:00 AM with a barista and pastries available.

Daily shipboard wear in Alaska is t-shirts, jeans, sweatshirts, and lots of flannel for chilly mornings. The MDR does not allow shorts, distressed jeans, or offensive t-shirts. Gala Nights require polo shirts and slacks for males. The latter is the normal attire for Specialty Restaurants, too.

HAL used to provide crayons but discovered their white tablecloths suffered. Kids will only receive the menus when eating with you, so no need to bring enough to share. A cool pencil pouch would be a nice touch. It is my experience that kids have so much fun in Club HAL, they are only seen during meal times. The menus are in order of Days 1 - 7. I would print out the menus, number them by cruise day, and let them be colored before dinner. Maybe even colored before the cruise to really get your kid interested in all of the meal choices. The colored menus will be a nice cruise memory for the family scrapbook.

The last time I checked, kids (12 and under) were half price when eating the regular Specialty Restaurant menu. If the kids opt for the MDR Kids Menu, there is no charge. Here are the MDR kid's menus: MDR Kids Menu. You can keep the menus so bring your own crayons/pencils to color the pictures.

if you are cruising on the on Pinnacle-class ship, The Grand Dutch Cafe will indeed be open for lunch on Embarkation Day. The pea soup is nice and thick. Add a sandwich to make a filling lunch. Ask for several almond cookies and a giant chocolate chip cookie for an afternoon snack. Grand Dutch Cafe Menu

Here are the Main Dining Room Menus you will experience: MDR Menus Alaska 2022 For other menus for beverages and restaurants see the link below in the lower right of my signature.

MDR has been open on Embarkation Day on my Nieuw Statendam, Nieuw Amsterdam, and Zuiderdam cruises over the past eight months but only from noon until 1:00 PM. With most of the assigned boarding times now after noon, only the B2B and earliest boarding times passengers can get in the door. The MDR lunch menu is now the same every day. The fried calamari is just as good as what I enjoyed in my four years living in Athens, Greece. Ask for a double order. Here are the MDR lunch and Dive-In menus: MDR Lunch Dive-In Menu Avoid the crowd and try the pizza by the outdoor pool on the aft Lido deck or the Dive-In by the indoor pool.