twodjs

There would be no reason to delay boarding. Depending on the repair required the sailing time could be delayed.

I would agree that $100 is low for missing two ports (heard that free alcohol was also offered), but getting back to Seattle quickly is crucial to getting divers in the water to assess the full extent of the damage. It may very well be that the Captain or anyone else could not fully answer questions without the azipod inspection. Bottom line, they lost one azipod. They only have two. And with one azipod, they simply could not keep their original schedule. I can only imagine how easily the "ask the Captain" could have gotten out of hand, given the power of rumor and group mentality. They're not kicking you off the ship in Seattle early. And it's not just your cruise but the following cruise that will be negatively affected. I believe HAL has made proper decision to return to Seattle asap.

Same location. Walking forward on the port side from the lido pool, doors to both men's and women's free saunas are on your left before the spa check-in desk.

We boarded a HAL ship docked in San Diego before Covid after the seals on one of the Azipods had started to fail during the previous cruise (my understanding is that those leaks would allow sea water to mix with lubricants and if left unchecked could cause the azipod to fail). Engineering regularly tests for any contamination. Fortunately, they caught it early in San Diego. A specialized diving team was able to replace the seals in just about 24 hours, without a drydock, and just one extra day in port before our cruise started. Hopefully they caught the problem early in Alaska as well and can make a quick repair. Fingers crossed!

We've got one in November to cover Thanksgiving and another in December to take care of Christmas. No reason not to book both, especially on differnt lines.

Honestly no. We haven't sailed on the older ships in some time, so had no reason to need to know. When another poster said they had self-service laundry on their last Maasdam cruise, I googled the Maasdam deck plan and the launderettes showed up on several web sites. I wasn't aware deck plans still pop up long after the ships are gone.

I was responding to the original poster. Most don't have the luxury of free laundry. Bottom line, if wrinkles bother you (I completely understand), pay for laundry. Just consider it a cost of cruising. Actually a small fraction of what you paid for your cruise. You don't need something else to stress about!

JCMass - Which ship are you on? Most HAL ships do not have a self-service laundry but a couple older ships still have one. I was surprised to see them on a current Maasdam ship deck plan. But since you have laundry service as part of your cruise package, and HAL does a VERY professional job, with no touchups needed (I'm quite picky and all my clothes come back in perfect shape), why would you bother?

Regina08 - you need to tell us which ship you are on. All Holland America ships have free saunas (men only and women only) but the facilities are quite different depending on the ship.

Bummer... I agree that would have been a nice addition. We were on Odyssey in a Spa Penthouse Suite and there are no additional spa areas exclusive to spa suites. That "water walk thingy" didn't have any water in it (so what's the point?), towels had holes in them and they couldn't even get the spa music to work half the time. Hopefully, if the line is sold, the new owners spend some money and bring the spa up to the level of at least the better hotels in Vegas. It really needs an upgrade!

You must be thinking of another cruise line. There is no spa pool.

We agree, great service in both Luminae and Michael's Club. A couple of other tips. There are no USB plugs in the Celebrity Suite on Solstice and only one U.S. style plug easily accessable in the entire suite. I found a second inside the cabinet under the TV in the living room. There is no coffee maker in the suite but you can ask for a kettle for hot water and you can bring instant coffee, if you don't want room service.

O.K. my bad. Guess your idea to ask when on board is the best solution.

This is a bit concerning that you had to start a second thread about the same subject - apparently not liking the answers given previously? Every ship line that I know about that has a drink package with a daily limit always resets at midnight, ship time and counts the number of drinks. How can you reasonably expect a different answer?

Ship time. It may be different than local time.

Yes, 12 am.

Have got to comment on this post - Beyond Burger uses beet juice (less than 1%) for color ONLY. It does NOT taste like beets at all. Curious if you had that perception before you took a bite?

Very interested in your observations - we're on in just over two weeks. Did your cruise start in Vancouver or Juneau?

I found a Youtube of the Eurodam Pinnacle from 2 years ago from Harr travel. Good video tour. They noted the USB ports around the suite, so there probably hasn't been an upgrade since. The newest ships in the Pinnacle class do have a different color pallet and wood tones, so I understand what you are looking for.

If no one else posts pics before Sept., we're in the Eurodam Pinnacle in Alaska again and would be happy to take a few for you.

Glad we're on the same page. I'd lean toward Eurodam, because of the additional options on the ship. Sorry we didn't do interior pictures. I looked at Halfacts and unfortunately most pictures are way underexposed because they left the windows open. It is NOT that dark in the suite. And there are about a bazillion light controls throughout (slight exaggeration 😁)

Have to disagree - sipping champagne in your hot tub on your balcony while you cruise by a glacier is an unforgetable experience - can't do that in a Neptune. Made use of every square inch, including the microwave and the much bigger refrigerator.

We'd also request to jump ship for the night and join in the next port. We were on a Celebrity cruise a few years ago and the ship was there overnight specifically for the Tattoo. Surprised that Viking wouldn't do the same. Quite a memory!

Can you not cancel the hotel? Disappointing when bookings through HAL typically come at a premium price.

We were always disappointed in the extremely short list of approved songs HAL allowed in B.B.King on all HAL ships. The tremendous talent and instrumentation with horns offered endless possibilities. Properly trained sound engineers would also help in a very acousticly challenging room.