Greysandy

BB Kings has always been quite crowded on the Koningsdam, so we aim to get there at least 15 minutes prior to showtime.

I'm glad to hear that because the guitarists/vocalists from the Rolling Stones Rock Room were absolutely the best I've seen on HAL and they moved to the N. Statendam recently.

We did get an amuse bouche when we ate at Rudi's Sel de Mer, which is a higher cost option on some of the ships.

You need to call to book a cabana. They will send you an email confirmation and keep a copy because one of the several times we rented one, they said we were not on the list. We love getting a cabana and will continue to do so on every warm weather cruise. The list of items included on the older pdf isn't accurate, but basically the cabana stewards will get you anything you want for breakfast, lunch or to drink (specialty coffees or alcohol). Sparkling wine and some sort of snack in the afternoon. Once in a while it will be chocolate covered strawberries but not always.

Thanks for your insight. We are doing a 3 week Bucharest to Amsterdam tour and this segment is the least traveled part but I am very excited to see it, since we really enjoyed our prior land based travels to Budapest and Prague. We had tour guides that gave such an in depth description of what life was like growing up under the iron curtain.

That was truly one of the most hysterical things I have ever seen!! 🤣

Thanks for the reminder of how bored I can get watching dressage😆. I grew up herding cattle and jumping. Now I just trail ride for fun on my sister's horses. If I'm going to watch horseback riding as a sport, I love watching Team Penning or Grand Prix jumping.

https://koelschcrew.com/ This company has a tour that is only 19 Euros, so even if we pay for it and don't get to go (due to ship timing or water levels), it isn't going to upset us too much. I found them on TripAdvisor with lots of positive reviews. You do have to pay for the beer on top of that price which is fine. I had just read so many reviews saying that the excursion done by Viking was a waste of money and could easily be done on your own. We booked all of our bike tours through Viking and are excited for them. I will report back once we return.

I brought my own olive oil on board several years ago because I don't eat dressings made with canola oil. I emailed HAL and they said it was okay as long as it was a sealed bottle.

Not on your list, but we saw the most eagles in Sitka, where they fondly call them Sitka chickens.

We prefer Holland America because there is a large wrap around Promenade deck so you can walk loops while seeing Tracy Arm, and Glaciers.

We did that several years ago and if you hiked up, you could spend $10 in the gift shop and then you got a coupon for the ride down. I hope that is still happening because we are planning on doing that again.

We do the same thing, book a lesser room and spend most of our time in the cabana.

It says that it is an early booking bonus. I think on their previous Early booking bonus you got on board credit for booking within a month of posting the new itinerary, so maybe this is their new version of that. We are very excited because it includes gratuities also along with the Elite beverage package.

We were thinking about Norway / British Isles in 2024 but saw the 28 day Alaska cruise and decided to jump on booking that and not need to deal with the long flights.

I’m sure you will have a fabulous time! We just went over Thanksgiving which was a bit crowded with kids but still loved it. We always get a cabana for the Mexico cruises so it is always peaceful there. My husband had an earlier school break so he is on right now and says it is just perfect. They even had whole lobsters at Rudi’s.

I just booked that 28 day cruise on HAL today. We have done 3 Alaskan cruises, one was the land and cruise, and the two others were the 14 day cruises which were my favorite because of the unique ports other than the standard Ones.

Probably a few when we used to book guarantee all of the time. Over the past thanksgiving cruise, we had a spa interior room booked (our travel agent somehow puts open to upgrades on the booking) and were upgraded the night before sailing to a forward facing ocean view. We are not super picky about location but if we are going to be cheap and get an interior room, we want to be close to the retreat cabanas.

FYI, we've actually gotten all of our free upgrades on mostly full ships, including our recent Thanksgiving on the Koningsdam. OV to Veranda or Interior to OV. We did not get a free upgrade on the half empty ship last year.

I know, I wish I had booked first thing. I had promised a friend I would go to Texas with her to see the eclipse so I was going back and forth on whether to book. She is dead set on Texas so I still need to tell her I’m going on the cruise instead.

We just got an email today that we were waitlist matched to an interior cabin and to respond by tomorrow to book it! Woohoo, I’m so excited! Now I’m just wondering how crazy it will be to book the Sanctuary 😄

I checked few but once I went into the booking it showed sold out. I may try a few others.

Wow there’s already a roll call! I guess I’m not the only science nerd.

Princess is more efficient at getting specialty coffees out quickly, HAL has better craft cocktails. The almond croissants are much better on Princess, but I do miss the walk around Promenade as a nice outdoor light exercise activity.

We eat lunch in the Pinnacle quite often on sea days since we are 4* so it's really a good deal for us ($7.50). We ordered two appetizers but were not charged extra for the additional one. The food is always outstanding, especially the filet with blue cheese, the ciopinno, and the burger. It's more casual during the day and you have more time to chat with the waiters.