canadianbear

I ONLY just noticed this on the "sticky" and thank you for it.....Wow...that is incredible...7 months...thanks for the link to his blog....looking forward to following it.

Everyone has their opinions on the "stickies" .....today, I am thankful for this one being there or I'm sure I would have missed it.

My husband & I did the surveys right away too. I did forget to mention though that I really missed the days of the week in the elevators on the Zuiderdam. I loved seeing those.

Glad you had another look at the seal-looked like he was flipping you the bird!!

Sue,

That seal was not only sticking his tongue out at you but look at his tail-I think he was not impressed that you liked the whales better!:rolleyes:

Regarding the surveys-we received the e-mail survey the same day we returned from our cruise. I found it much more relaxing to do it that way but that is just my opinion.

Really enjoyed being along with you on your cruise! Thanks for sharing.:)

Fabulous photos up on the glacier-so glad the weather cooperated for you to do that excursion. Yes, expensive but so worth it.

That is great you got the meet the artist in person-thanks for showing what she did with Santa and your dogs-looks well worth the cost for sure.

What great memories you have. Really enjoyed reading through your experience on the cruise and seeing your photos. Thank you for doing that for everyone.:)

Sue,

Am really enjoying your comments and photos. It helps me remember our cruise the week before yours which sadly came to an end:eek:

So happy you had a fabulous Glacier Bay day-we didn't see a lot of calving and I know a lot of people were very disappointed. Luckily our first two visits in 2008 and 2009 we saw tons.

I agree with you about breakfast at the Pinnacle-for me it was worth it having a nice relaxing breakfast there.

Hope you all have made great memories in your trip to Alaska-sure looks like it! Enjoy the rest of your cruise.:)

Make sure when the Pinnacle is open for breakfast you go there too! I loved that perk the best.

Glad you got your excursion sorted out quickly. Great photo of you and your Dad.

My husband found the shower in the tub area much better-he is 6'4". Nice to have options though isn't it!:)

Just catching up on this thread and am loving your review. It's so nice to hear about your travels with your Dad and the enjoyment you are all having. Hoping for decent weather for you. Loving your photos too!

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Is this what you are referring to? We just got off the Zuiderdam Saturday and this is what they had.

Sue

 

As you are in a Neptune Suite -- please update us on the Neptune Lounge and let us know if the sneeze guard has been installed and if the side bar now has all the food that it should have.

 

Here is what we had at breakfast -- only cereals -- nothing for the rest of day -- no cookies -- no chocolates, etc.

 

Am loving your review and photos. I bet you are SO glad you rented a big lens! Especially liked the orca and her young one.

I am even more excited reading your review because we just booked an Alaskan cruise (again) on the Zuiderdam for September. Just can't get enough of the beauty. I love traveling with family (honestly) but this upcoming cruise will just be myself and my husband this time.

Waiting patiently for more of your review. Hope you enjoyed my lovely home town, Vancouver.

My head is spinning reading through all this but am wishing the best for you ejammer. I applaud you for your patience on here too!

OK-got my popcorn....I'm ready for more!

I do hope they get the issues fixed while in dry dock. We still have our booking through the Panama for April but am quite concerned about the a/c not working in the hot and humid climate.

Thanks for the report and update-appreciate it.

Been waiting to hear/see about your float plane/bear excursion in Kodiak. Looks like you were SO close to the bears-WOW! What an experience of a lifetime-glad the weather cooperated for you that day too. Must have been nice to have the plane all to yourselves and a private tour when the others didn't come.

Love the photo of the bear digging for clams:)

WOW! Love the photos-thank you for sharing them with us.

This cruise just sounds fabulous-lots of nature to see. Enjoying your day to day travel log-makes me almost think I was on it too!

Finally, some much anticipated photos! Beautiful....am enjoying your review and looking forward to more photos.:)

:D I am surprised that my laptop is still working with all of the drooling it has caught!! I enjoy reading about adventures on the 14 day Amsterdam Alaska trip. I was on her in May for 7 days and have been drooling over the 14 day since then...I am booked on the last voyage on September 7. I am looking forward to your reviews of the northern ports that we have never been to. Thanks :D

What? you found someone to go with you and didn't ask me!!! You didn't admit that on our roll call!;)

All the reviews have been fantastic on this 14 day cruise haven't they. I do hope they bring it back in a couple of years so I can try it out too.

Trophy-hope you get some days off soon so you can continue your review and maybe a couple of photos?

Don't you just hate when work gets in the way. Tell your boss that CC'ers are waiting for a review!

Thanks for the warning about the cabin-good to know.

James Deering is ultimately responsible, but I didn't say it was his fault, and he's a very pleasant man. I would rather he addressed the problems rather than roll out the PR. At least the CD and the captain were pretty open and honest about it, and apologetic. James informed us that the only work to be done during the dry dock was cosmetic - which surprised us.

That is extremely disappointing to hear that the dry dock stuff will all be cosmetic. I wish they would spend the money on the toilets and a/c.

I find it very strange that Laffnvegas hasn't reported any sewage smell from her "live" report.???:confused:

I just got off the Zuiderdam this morning after doing the Pacific Coastal. It all depends on what cabin you are in whether you smell the sewage, having a/c problems, or toilets that don't flush. Lisa could very well be in a cabin that has no issues-lucky for her.

For us, we were in cabin 5185 aft-the first day the toilet would take 2 hours before it flushed. After that usually 2-10 minutes except on our last day when we were going to disembark-it was over 2 hours and still hadn't flushed when we left (yes, we notified the front office again and luckily there wasn't anything too bad in the toilet :eek:).

During my 4 days on the ship when I talked to many people I asked if they had issues while on their Panama part of the ship and the majority said the toilets delay in flushing and the a/c just prior to going through the Canal. The ones I talked to all had fans delivered to their rooms until the a/c was working again. In our room (I like a real cool room) we had the a/c set to as cool as it would go and it never ended up being too cold which makes me wonder if it would even keep the room cool in the hot Panama Canal?

We did smell sewage in our bathroom but it was minor enough that it didn't affect us.

I saw Lisa just before we left as she was getting ready to move from one cabin to another for her Alaska part of her cruise. Again, it all depends on the luck (or bad luck) of the draw on whether the cabin you are in is affected.

I still have not made up my mind on whether to keep the deposit on the Zuiderdam for next year Panama Canal or not and will be monitoring CC to see in the upcoming months the reports.

I am glad to hear this. When we were with our friends on the Eurodam last September, we were upset that roll was not taken and people were talking and joking during the muster. Our previous HAL cruises had been much more strigent, and I am sorry it took a tragedy for the muster to be done the right way again.

I hadn't cruised for a couple of years and was surprised on the Eurodam they didn't take roll call....I'm glad it's going back to the way it was and hope people pay attention and arrive on time.

DH recently began using the CPAP machine and we will take our next cruise soon. How do you users carry it? DH already carries on his carryon and a camera/computer bag, neither of which will also accommodate his machine. Has anyone packed it in checked luggage? That seems risky! Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

Thank you, Betty

Hi Betty,

It's tough when he already has a carryon and his camera/computer bag. Is there a slightly bigger bag that he could fit his CPAP & the carryon in that has wheels? That is what I did for my last trip-ended up putting my CPAP in a carryon that I could pull behind me so everything was in one bag.

You will have to keep the CPAP with you-mine has often been swabbed. I also keep a letter from the doctor with it as I was once told I needed to show that if asked.

I would never risk putting it into checked luggage-if you use a CPAP you can NOT risk sleeping without it-just to risky if your luggage gets lost etc.

Hope he/you figure out something that will be convenient. Have a great cruise!

Joanie: How true....his photos are stunning...every one of them. I am actually still looking at all the other ones on his gallery that he has shared....just makes me want to take another holiday sooner rather than later!

zackiedawg: How smart of you to get the inside ship photos done while everyone is in the Lido!!! They are excellent as are all your photos.

I think this Canada/New England cruise is the type where you can do over and over and see something different every time. You were there at the right time for the fall colors-we were early but loved the cruise anyway.

Absolutely stunning photos-you must have a great camera and obviously a very good eye! Thank you so much for allowing us to look at them. Brought back memories as we had been on the Eurodam in September and loved every minute of it.

There will be 5 of us sailing with HAL next July. Will there be a problem getting a table for all of us to sit together if we choose As You Wish Dining?

We just came back from a cruise where there were 5 of us. If we knew the day ahead what time we all wanted to dine we would phone and try to make a reservation-we did that several times and it always worked out. You have to be a bit flexible because several times we dined at 8pm. If you can't get the time you want then you can just show up and they will seat you but it might be 10-15 minute wait. Hope that helps.

It wasn't until I had online access to my checking acct. and credit card that I realized how many holds there are. Those posters who claim to have never had holds from a cruise line or hotel just aren't aware of it. There's a lot that goes on behind the scenes that you may know unless you check your accts. daily or every few days.

 

Roz

I didn't realize gas station did a hold until my son told me. That surprised me! I think a lot of people don't realize about the holds maybe because they have high limits on their credit cards so they aren't aware because it's never declined? Just a thought...

Before booking our first cruise we read everything and knew about the holds. It sounds like you are already against HAL because of this and hopefully this won't spoil your opinion on your cruise. A lot of their tours and dinner reservations fill up so I think it is only fair that they charge your credit card. Otherwise, everyone would just book them and cancel so people that actually intend to go wouldn't be able to. I also really like pre-paying for the specialty restaurants and tours because it lightens the load of the bill at the end of your cruise since you've already paid for them.

I'm surprised you just found out and if it bothers you so much, which is sounds like it does, perhaps you should cancel with HAL and return to Disney or NCL? I truly would hate for this to taint your experience on HAL.