oaktreerb

We were on the Noordam in Alaska in 2017 and 2018. She has a wonderful deck plan, very comfortable and homey feeling mid-ship. During those years HAL kept scheduling the Noordam for drydock and then putting the drydocks off in favor of other ships. At that time I realized that she was a dependable “workhorse”. I remember her fondly.

When you arrive at the CO service area, if there is no guest services rep there, the next available rep will come to the area to assist you. There should also be a CO service line in the shore excursions area.

I book with a HAL PCC and I tell him which stateroom I want and that I want Club Orange added to the booking. He calls someone at HAL who confirms the CO addition. He books my Koningsdam VB stateroom at the VH (obstructed veranda) rate. I pay the deposit + Club Orange fee at time of booking. He’s really efficient and has booked three different cruises for me since Covid startup. One cruise was 18 days and the CO charge pp per day was only $15, instead of $25. Your PCC should understand the process, a TA may not.

Yea, camera ready!

The PTZ video for Juneau is good but I’m getting a lot of static on the audio today.

You should still get the CO upgrade fare if there is a cheaper Vista Suite than the one you booked. Your TA or PCC would book your stateroom as the lowest VS category but your stateroom would not change. With CO you can choose your stateroom. I choose a VB stateroom and with CO pay for VH.

Not for days at sea but I think they may count it as a spending credit.

Thank you! Good to know.

yes, it will only show excursions that you will be available to book…when you are not on the TWT. Can’t answer the “why”.

@DrKoob Thanks for the heads up re: Prince Rupert tourist bus. We’ll be there again in 2024. re: Seattle cruises stopping in Victoria. Victoria is a lovely place to visit if you have 8 hours. Many cruises have a short evening visit and it’s barely time to walk down to the beautiful inner harbor area.

No. The person at the podium in the lower dining room (open dining) who is responsible for the stewards who escort you to your table. He has the power to assign you a table. If you choose to eat at a fixed time (when the dining room opens is easiest) your group of 8 can be assigned a table and you can eat at that table every evening. Just walk in and sit down at your assigned table. If someone doesn’t plan to join you one evening that’s ok. If you are all planning to eat elsewhere you need to let him/her know so others can be seated. Your responsibility is to be there on time, know your assigned table, walk in and sit down. If your table is assigned you don’t wait to be seated. Do not expect him/her to hold a table for 8 for later dining. Unless it is the “late fixed dining” hour, then maybe. You need to be consistent and follow through with your choice.

If you were dining as a group of 8 I am pretty sure the Maitre’d would have assigned a fixed table for you, even in the open dining room if you planned to eat at the same time each evening. Sorry your experience was not what you had hoped for. It never hurts to speak to the person in charge if you feel that your needs are not being met. I’ve sailed a lot on HAL and expressed my displeasure in person a few times. There is usually a solution if you speak to the responsible employee.

Just a guess. The post above says adult is $279.95, child is $239.95. HAL sets the price. Is it the same for all ships and dates? The purchaser pays the price posted for their booking. Once you book your price won’t be changed. That’s why I always print my confirmations.

We always print our boarding documents and take them with us along with the passport, vac proof, etc. As Ruth suggested in her post ask in advance for wheelchair assistance for your Mom.

There are not a lot of West Coast ports that want cruise ships. Our February cruise out of San Diego was so easy! Boarding was complicated by the arrival of bus passengers but it moved along and did provide for expedited passengers eventually! We went through the line, security, and directly to the ship. When we disembarked we didn’t even have to show passports, just our smiling faces! Couldn’t believe it was so easy! Vancouver is just ramping up for Alaska cruises. It will get better, they do this every year. Just not all year long like Ft Lauderdale and Miami.

The “starting at” would be the child’s price. I don’t think the icy waters are likely to be a problem for the smaller craft, only for the cruise ships. Yes, it sells out.

No idea what the “starting at” refers to but it’s a great excursion. We transferred to the smaller boat directly from the cruise ship and the ship went on to Juneau. The smaller boat took us into Tracy Arm and returned us to Juneau to meet our ship. You won’t have much time left for Juneau but we had been there before and we did have some time to visit our favorite shops in Juneau. We saw the glaciers calve, saw mountain goats, a bear along the shore, and whales. A very nice box lunch was served onboard (included). The sandwich in the box lunch was made by a shop in Juneau and it was outstanding!

San Diego also has Total Wine and more shops if HAL doesn’t have a Costco membership.

The ship is really important here if you want advice. The Koningsdam has two NS with extremely small balconies far forward on the ship. Most NS will be great staterooms but some do have a connecting door to the stateroom next door. You may also get an aft wrap NS which are highly regarded by some. In the Alaska market I think the K is the only one with far forward NS’s. That would keep me from booking a NS guarantee on the K. On other ships a guarantee might be a good deal.

This cruise was round trip out of Vancouver following drydock.

However, once the credit is attached to the Mariner Number it will be noted for future cruises, but you may have to be proactive to see that it is applied to a preexisting booking.

The process has changed recently. An outside company is verifying the credit. You may want to call the Mariner Society to help you on this issue. Maybe they can tell you who to talk to. My PCC was able to add it for me on an already booked cruise once we submitted the DD214 and had confirmation of acceptance. The next cruise I booked the credit was added automatically to the booking number.

visitor center in Skagway has map of hiking trails. Walk down to Hoonah in icy Strait. Juneau is walkable, get a map of the town. We walked to the governor’s residence.

Are you talking about room reservations or dining reservations? You would only have dining reservations if you are eating with your tour group. Denali has a variety of places to eat as does Anchorage.

Glacier Brewhouse in Anchorage is very busy and you need reservations for a table, but if you don’t plan ahead you can eat at the bar and the bar has a lot of shared seating (extra bar height tables near the bar). Just tell the hostess you will eat at the bar and find empty seats (or someone ready to leave). The halibut fish and chips was sooooo good!