Greysandy

Our favorite meal was on the 14 day Alaska cruise where they brought a brewmaster from Alaskan Brewery on board and they did a beer pairing lunch. I can't even remember what we ate but remember it as my favorite meal.

Wow, they allow butter?!? At home, I eat the grass-fed ones too (Kerrigold). Would love to bring it on board with me but did not imagine it is allowed.

Holland America replied to my email inquiring about butter and stated that as long as everything was factory sealed it was fine to bring on board. Also they advised that I could not ask them to store it, which I would never do...

I'm so glad this thread is out here!! I'm early in my keto journey and my first cruise is coming up at the end of July, when I'll be about 16 weeks into ketosis. The recommendations on this thread are great and are in line with my thoughts of how I'd approach eating on this trip, although I know I'm going to blow it with the carbs via wine!

 

A few questions for this experienced group:

1) Does anyone have experience using My Fitness Pal on international travel/ cruises? If so, I'm interested in your impressions.

2) I take sole water daily. I'm thinking of bringing my pink salt w/ me to mix up a batch and use during the cruise. Thoughts?

3) Has anyone had problems bringing powdered supplements (MCT oil, Natural Calm, exogenous ketones) with them, if clearly labeled? (I just didn't want them to get confiscated for looking like anything illegal!!)

4) Given the likelihood of the wine (thus carb) consumption, should I try to offset by ensuring more fat intake?

 

Thanks so much!!

I emailed Holland America to ask. They just want everything factory sealed.

We were very sad to see An Evening at Le Cirque go away ... but found Rudi's Sel de Mer (pop-up on ms Eurodam) to be a very acceptable replacement. My Escargots Bourguignonne and salt crust baked Branzino were as good as I have ever had. Service was excellent, ambience was authentic, and price (even before applying our Mariner discount) was very reasonable. We give RSdM a 4-Star rating based on our first experience. We are looking forward to another meal at RSdM on our next cruise.(y)(y)(y)

Thanks, we also enjoyed our Le Cirque evenings and are happy to see that Sel de Mer will most likely make us happy also.

Thank you for sharing the great photos and review! Like many others, I will be doing the 2 week Alaska cruise on her in July. Now I am even more excited! We sailed on her in 2011 and loved it.

"For a tour guide, The Pedaler offers tours - private and open groups - and will also rent bikes, and are also easily found in the same part of downtown (even slightly closer to the pier)."

We took a tour with them and it was fabulous! It was customized to our preferences and they were very nice.

Same comments as the others, Raptor Center is great and walkable from port. We hiked around the totem pole park across from the Raptor center and it was fabulous. This year we are aiming to go to Fortress of the Bear.

In Anchorage, rent a bike for really cheap (~$25/2-3 hours) and ride the Tony Knowles coastal trail. We saw moose about 10 miles in.

Yay, so happy to see some like minded people! I have lost 75 lbs in the past year (at the age of 49) on a Paleo turned Ketogenic diet. I will NEVER go back to eating crappy weight watchers low fat packaged food! This has been effortless, and all my body's aches and pains have disappeared. I will continue this way of eating on my upcoming cruise, and will be bringing pastured butter and MCT oil on board for my coffee.

Poached eggs with spinach and mushrooms from the Eggs Benedict station, with a side of bacon and smoked salmon.

Glad your carry-on food worked out so well! My husband and I took a crazy amount of stuff on our last cruise a few weeks ago. We brought our own salt, butter (grass-fed), ghee, honey, coconut oil, tea bags, nuts, coconut, dark chocolate and almond butter. We are a little picky, as you can see:)

Oh good, I'm happy to see I'm not the only one who wants to bring grass fed butter, organic olive oil and MCT oil on the ship. Great thread, and has inspired me to also bring fancy salt.

One of my favorite appetizers from the Pinnacle is the steak tartare. Then I can get lobster and crab but still get the yummy beef. If I order a steak, the ribeye is my favorite.

Bummer, we really loved BB Kings on our previous cruises.

A couple thoughts on this being my first cruise and the age demographics. I found I really enjoyed unpacking one time and then visiting several ports over two weeks. Very relaxing vacation without many travel logistics to sort out every day. After excursions it was fun to return to the Amsterdam knowing a comfortable cabin, hot shower, entertainment and dinner as casual or as fancy as you want to have are all waiting.

 

At 35 and 45 we were worried we might be younger than most on HAL. Don't let this worry you. Go to a late dinner, the late show, and late drinks afterwards and you will find other younger and lively young-at-heart passengers. What we did notice was regardless of age, HAL passengers seem to really enjoy traveling making conversation easy and fun.

 

~Marc

My husband and I are in our late 40's and starting cruising with HAL about 10 years ago. We LOVE the slightly older demographic and less children. It's easy to find a few other couples in your age group and socialize throughout the cruise.

Explore 4 Rocks! Enjoy. We have it for our upcoming 2 week Alaska cruise and have had it twice before.

I would never use up the 15 or so drinks per day, so I get fancy expresso in the morning with it, and San Pelligrino sparkling water in between each cocktail so that I don't give myself alcohol poisoning.

The Canaletto Zuppe de Pesci is delicious and fulled with seafood.

I second this opinion. It is my favorite item on their menu! I don't care for pasta or dessert so I usually order several appetizers and the fish main dish.

I'm not a fan, but am hoping that programmers are working on cleaning up the new site. It is not convenient to find a cruise since there is no date filter and viewing possible Shore Excursions is a pain in the rear.

I also would be interested in this. This type of tour or excursion is always my favorite, especially if it is small group, less than 12 people or so.

I'm glad I stumbled on this. We were planning on doing the Canada/Bermuda combo cruise in 2019, so now we need to make alternative plans...

On the website link below by the Bermuda Tourism Authority is a map you can download or you can have mailed to you. They will mail you brochures and a beautiful map for free.

 

 

 

http://www.gotobermuda.com/official-visitor-guides

Thanks! I just ordered my mail copies for planning our 2019 cruise there.

Thank you so much for the information. We will not be renting a scooter based on the recommendations. We have no experience and have a strong desire to stay alive and not injured.

We used the beverage package (Explore 4 both times) twice over the last few years and were able to get expresso from the coffee shop, bottled sparkling water or vitawaters.

We just took the public bus for $2pp. It only goes as far as about 1 mile from the Glacier, but it was such a good deal, we chose that option. They can give you exact bus info at the Travel kiosk.

Ketchikan - super easy to just walk around yourself.

Juneau - first time we took a bike excursion that went to Mendenhall Glacier, then the second time there, we just took the public bus for $2 to about 1 mile away and walked to it, on our bus ride back, we stopped at Alaskan Brewing for a free tasting. We spent all our money at Tracy's Crab shack and that was very much worth it.

Victoria - is easy enough to walk ~1 mile into town. This time we are renting bicycles to tour around. It's typically only around $20-25 pp.

Best money ever spent on HAL! Plus we got a private party with the captain, who was so interesting to talk to.