Daisyloo

I also recommend the Early Bird. To us it's worth it just to have piece of mind. No worrying about being able to get to a computer 24 hours before flight. No getting stuck with a C boarding position. We always pay for EB.

We had a few of the new chocolate desserts on the Regal in November. They are beautiful to look at. Unfortunately they aren't as tasty as they are beautiful.

I have picked the Holland American for my Sept 7, 2015. cruise to Alaska.

Is the Statendam ship have lots of people? How many does it hold?

I will be leaving on Sept 7 2015 from Seattle and disembark in Seattle

Sept 21.

How should I pack for the trip? And I will be having a birthday

while on the ship? I will turn 60 yrs old.

Any tips I need to know

My mother will be going too and she is in a walker

does the ship allowed people with walkers? Or

will she need to use a wheelchair for the rooms.

Are there any conting rooms on the Statendam?

Thanks 3 cats in a row aka sally

I haven't sailed on the Statendam but I know she is not a huge ship, about 1250 passengers. I would suggest you check out the Holland America website - they have all sorts of informtion on there about their ships, you can see deck plans and actual photos of your ship.

Also, here on cruise critic you should check out the Holland America boards and the Alaska boards. They will be wealth of good information for you.

As far as a walker for your mom, yes she can use it.

Have fun researching and planning your cruise. We did Alaska last summer and loved it.

Thank you all for easing my mind.

 

As for checking in the day of departure of the cruise.

We won't be able to do that.

Internet is too expensive on the ship.

We do have a 3pm flight.

Checking in when we get to the airport.

Will this be an issue?

I agree with other posters. Buy the Early Bird. Then SW will assign you your boarding position at 36 hours prior to flight, well before the people that have to wait til 24 hours before flight. Then when you get to airport your can print your boarding pass when you check in. If you don't buy the earlybird, by the time you check in at airport most people will have already done their check in and you could get stuck with a C boarding position. That could mean geeting stuck in a middle seat between 2 strangers, and or being split up from your travel partners. We always buy the early bird. To us it is worth the small fee.

We were on the Regal in November and loved her. We were in a standard balcony cabin. Yes, the balcony is small - pretty much all there is room for is 2 chairs and a small table. Never bothered us. Cabin is a decent size, similar in size to the balcony cabins on HAL, again not a problem for us. We found the food to be very good, the buffet restaurant we thought was the best of any ship we have been on. The service was very good throughout the ship. Entertainment was good. The ship is absolutely beautiful.

We are booked to go on the Royal at the end of March - hope it's as good as the Regal.

That's what we always book, probably what most people book because it's cheapest. We have flown them many times and never had an issue. If you haven't flown with them before, I would recommend going to their website to the frequently asked questions - they do things differently at SW. Also they have a short video called "boarding School" that is good to watch. If you have any specific questions ask away. :)

Or just thankful to be able to cruise;)

Like.

And now I will chime in and stick up for Royal/Regal. We enjoyed our cruise on the Royal and plan more on her this year. Since we use stairs and not elevators I just book closer to the forward stairs. Done! :)

I also want to stick up for the Regal and Royal. We have sailed on the Emerald twice and the Grand twice and enjoyed our cruises on both those ships. We sailed on the Regal in November. We were a little apprehensive after reading all the negative things people wrote about her, but we got such a good deal we thought we would try it and see for ourselves.

Well, we loved the Regal. The central stair issue didn't bother us at all - we either took the elevator or walked to a stairwell forward or aft. Yes, the balcony was small but it still gave us a nice outside place to sit. That is all we would do anyway, no matter how big a balcony we have - no balcony dancing for us.

We really thought we would hate the fact that there is no wrap around promenade, but were surprised that we never missed it. We sat many times in the wide seating areas on the promenade deck in the nice comfortable chairs, or the loungers at the farther back seating areas.

We had a great cruise - the food was very good, service was excellent, there was always something going on as far as activities/entertainment. We thought the layout of the buffet was the best of any ship we have been on. It was large, bright, open with tons of seating so never had an issue finding a seat no matter how busy it was. The many well laid out food stations meant no lines for food. We loved it.

We never found the ship the least bit crowded.

I would say to all the nay sayers, go and try the Regal or Royal out. You might just find you like it. :)

P.S. - we are trying the Royal out in March. Can't wait!

We booked the extra $25 per person for the advanced seat assignment but I keep getting emails from SouthWest to reminder to sign in 24 hours prior to flight to get preferred boarding time. (we leave this weekend)

 

I thought spending the extra $25 we don't have to do that and it is automatically assigned to us 36 hours out and we would get an email with our boarding # ?

As far as I know, you still have to check in. Go online and check in and you can print your boarding pass then too. Your reservation will have been "pulled" at 36 hours prior to flight time so you will have a boarding position that is before anyone who checks in at the 24 hour mark. Maybe you can wait to check in at the airport, but I am not sure as we always do it before. Maybe someone else can say.

On the Southwest site they have a frequently asked question area and a video called "boarding school" that will give you more info.

We always book the Early Bird on Southwest, and have always gotten an "A" boarding position.

I would love to do this route for a cruise to see the fall colours, but with my sister's job it would be impossible. July is probably the best time for her. Like a previous poster said, living in Ontario we can see lots of fall colour ( in the fall). :p

Has Alfredos become a venue that has an extra charge? We have eaten there many times when it was free, but I thought I heard a rumor that they have started charging.

 

If so, we will just go back to the regular pizza, which I like better anyway. That would be a loss for Princess as we always bought wine in Alfredos, but never do in the atrium.

We were on the Regal in November and Alfredo's was free. Loved their pizza and they also offer salads, soup and a few other things. We had lunch there a few times. It was quite busy at times, seemed to be a popular spot.

It will also depend on the time of year

If there is a tropical storm or hurricane it usually comes right up the coast

 

Go in the spring or early summer ...no fall colours but probably a smoother ride ;)

We are thinking maybe early to mid July so hopefully a good chance for decent weather. She is a teacher so she has to wait til school is out.

We sailed Boston to Quebec City many years ago. No rough seas from Boston to QC but the return saw very rough seas once we got into the Atlantic. They were handing our Dramamine like it was candy, emptied pools, etc. Having been on numerous other cruises, waves were 2-3x larger than anything I'd seen before. It was a late September cruise.

Yikes!!:eek: That would put her off for sure.

Thanks. I know there is no guaranty of good or bad seas. Am considering this as an option for a cruise with my sister. She is terrified of getting sea sick. She had a bad experience years ago and is scared it will happen again. She was fine when we did the inside passage to Alaska, but those seas were unbelievabley calm.

I know sea conditions can vary greatly depending on all sorts of factors. Some areas are prone to rougher seas, but I couldn't find out if the Canadian and US east coast is one of them. If you have sailed the Boston to Montreal route what was your experience? Thanks for any info.

We sailed on the Zaandam this past July to Alaska and loved the ship. No complaints, everything was wonderful.

We saw them late November on the Regal. Really enjoyed the show.

Thanks for the positive review. Can't wait to experience it myself.

What's Not For Dinner:

 

We are going to Le Cirque night in the Pinnacle this evening, so the menu at the link is not what we're eating. However, since I have it scanned, here you go. We're totally depressed that we're missing the "Warm Espresso Prune Cake" that's on the dessert menu. Any time you can end dinner with something that both makes you alert and keeps you regular, I say go for it!

 

http://www.evernote.com/l/AFhZI_ZozxlGuIxwIGcPzDvm3NEB_bH_VYs/

 

Signing off until Cozumel tomorrow!

POA1, I love your writing style and your quirky sense of humour! It's fun reading all about your cruise.:)

We have sailed on the Emerald Princess twice and loved it. Has a classy yet casual feel. Lots to do, good food and entertainment, great service. It gets my vote.

Any comments on the Hampton Inn cruise port or the Comfort inn cruise port?

 

Looking for a hotel that is close to restaurants & maybe some shopping mall

We are flying in so no car

 

TIA

We have stayed 6 or 7 times at the Hampton Inn Airport North Cruiseport and always been pleased. They have a free shuttle from the airport and I think it is $6 shuttle to the port. Clean, great staff, complimentary breakfast. It's right across from a large plaza where there is a grocery store, dollar store, liquor store, sports bar, pizza, Subway, Burger restaurant etc. There are a couple of restaurants within walking distance and the hotel will shuttle you to a few others near by for free.

We are booked there again before our cruise next week.

There will lots of taxis right outside the terminal building. Approx. $15 - $18. The airport is only a 10 minute ride. Very easy to do.

We have done the Southern Caribbean a few times at that time of the year. It will be hot. A bit cooler than April or May, but still hot. We have experienced a few rain showers too, but they didn't last long.

I really like the look of the new ship. Light and open feeling. It looks like they have tried to keep lots of traditional elements while bringing in new and fresh ideas too. I would be happy to sail on her!

You should be fine. Like a previous poster mentioned, there are partitions between balconies that act as wind breaks. Our experience in Alaska was that we could comfortably sit on the balcony if we had a jacket on. We had drinks and snacks on our balcony a few times on the sunny days. Also, with a balcony you have a good chance of seeing wildlife from your cabin. We saw orcas, humpbacks and porpoises all from our balcony.

We have often sailed in interiors but were very glad to have the balcony in Alaska.