idiebabe

Welcome Home and thank you for your Report! Very much enjoyed it!

We've had excellent Service in the Specialty Restaurants on all our Sailings (five) since the Restart. We had some hiccups on our last Cruise (Eurodam in AK) due to the Ship being almost Full and the Waitstaff in DR (both lunch and Dinner) not being able to handle it. It's not their fault because they were stretched too thin! Our one NS Cruise in mid-March I found the Specialty Restaurants excellent including Sel de Mer but the food in DR was inconsistent and subpar. I was on the same Ship in early December and it was night and day and food was very good! In March, they were short-staffed especially in the Kitchen having new Employees as well as the staffing issues. It seems many went home when contracts ended and they were having a hard time getting replacements due to the U.S. Government holding up their Visas, etc. We all need to be patient with regards to many new Employees still in training, Staffing shortages, etc. and Cruising and on Land won't be pre-Covid experiences for a very long time. However, they should not be booking the Ship almost Full knowing this. It's a disservice to the Passengers to do so. A Passenger count of 1300 passengers will definitely have a different experience than a 2000 Passenger count with the same Staff!

Thank you for posting the In Transit info for Montreal! Really enjoying your Posts!

Our experience the end of May was the Verifly line moved very quickly.

This is great news!

In December I had a Verandah Casino Offer and received an Upsell Offer a couple of weeks out to go to a Vista Suite or Neptune. We had already received our Cabin Assignment which was on Deck 5 in a good location but we ended up taking the Upsell for the Neptune. Hard to resist! That was the only time. I never called to get an Upsell close to Sailing on a Casino Offer and also interested in hearing others experience.

There weren't many wearing Masks. Three of us came down with Covid (me included) and tested Positive the day after we Debarked. We brought At Home tests with us and all of us tested Negative on the Ship when we tested a couple of days before the end of the Cruise. I read on another Social Media Site that many from our Sailing had brought Covid home with them. This was my 5th Cruise since Restart and first time getting Covid. We had no problems with ArriveCan or Verifly and did it on my Iphone. It is easy! They distributed in our Rooms a Customs Form and an "ArriveCan" Form to put down Name, Room # and ArriveCan Receipt # and turn in by a certain date. As mentioned Customs held us up in Victoria. I only heard them calling for one Woman over and over again but some Social Media sites said they heard it was because not everyone filled out their ArriveCan. So who knows but Ship didn't clear until 9:20 and there were many disappointed people! Definitely do the Verifly, too! Embark was so easy! Those who didn't do Verifly had a very long line to have to show documents.

We were on the May 28th Cruise and Passenger count was high between 1900 to 2000. We only did 7 Nights so can't say for sure on Testing for a B2B or ArriveCan. We found the Ship to be short-staffed and Service in the MDR (we had fixed Seating) was hit and miss. Lunch in the DR was the same. They went from 1300 to almost 2000 and it was a lot on them. We thought the food was actually very good overall in the MDR and the Specialty Restaurants were excellent and we were Group of 8 ppl. Entertainment was poor in Main Show Lounge and we didn't enjoy the Billboard Duo this Cruise. Overall, we had a very good Cruise especially with the Ports and Weather (minus the stop in Victoria where the Ship wasn't cleared until 9:20 and all Tours were cancelled). My Daughter who was on with us will be returning to AK on Eurodam mid-September with her Husband. Enjoy!

We were on Eurodam at the end of May. My Daughter booked two Rooms and her Step-Daughter (20 yrs old) and two Sons (13 and 7 yrs old) were in adjoining Room. My Granddaughter had to cancel about two weeks before Sailing. My 7 yr old Grandson’s Fare was $75 as a 3rd. All had Platinum Insurance and all flights booked with FlightEase. My PCC is on Maternity but PCC I spoke with suggested not cancelling and doing a No Show since my 7 yr old was $75 and he would have to pay Full Fare as a 2nd passenger. I told her that my Daughter would lose a lot of money that way especially since the Air was booked through HAL, etc. Granddaughter was cancelled off the Booking and they refunded my Daughter back to her CC minus the funds which were transferred over to my Grandson to bring him up to Full Fare as the 2nd Passenger. This Cancel For Any Reason is only beneficial if both in Room are Cancelling and have it, IMO. If one Cancels and one doesn’t, the person who doesn’t Cancel has to pay double except for Port Fees/Taxes.

Flowers are beautiful! Love the Neptunes on Zaandam and prefer them to the Pinnacle Class ones! Have an awesome Cruise and really looking forward to your Posts! 🚢🍾🥂

We'll be on for a B2B end of August from Boston. Looking forward to your Reports. Bon Voyage!!!

Yes, they refund Port Fees and Taxes according to my PCC.

They did that to us on our May 28th Cruise. The stop in Victoria was a total waste. It was changed to 8 pm and the Ship didn’t clear until 9:20 pm. All Ship Tours cancelled and we cancelled a Private with Viator. I don’t think many got off at that point. Too short a time in Ketchikan!

We were told that Staffing Shortages are also due to a hold up of issuing Visas by the U.S. Gov’t. To those who are ready to come work.

Our 5/28 Eurodam had quite a few putting out the Trays outside their Room on the floor. Definite sign of a Newbie! Another Newbie sign is a glass put on the Elevator Floor, Hallway Floor, etc.

We were originally booked on Westerdam and they cancelled some of those Sailings and merged them onto the Eurodam.

Count your Blessings! We were on 5/28 Sailing and had almost 2000 Guests. Way too much for the Dining Staff in the DR to handle especially after having 1300 Guests the week before and being Short-staffed, etc. Enjoy it!!

Was this sent by email? I know a couple of Ships (Nieuw Amsterdam for one) is Mandating Masks now and those Passengers were sent emails but I didn't see the change on the Website. Either way I have no problem sailing under the Mask Mandates. Sailed five times since Restart and two out of the five Sailings had Masks Mandatory.

Carnival has cancelled a Conquest Cruise to go and bring home the Freedom Passengers from Grand. Turk. Conquest should arrive in GT at 4 pm on Saturday and be back to Port Canaveral on Monday.

I used it today for a Cruise on Saturday. My Husband had his results back in 1/2 hour as did my Daughter and Family in Florida. I went early afternoon and had it back in 1 hour. This was our third Cruise using Walgreens.

Thank you! 😀

Following! I'll be doing the same Itinerary in August. Also, wondering if we have a Covid Test before Boarding in Boston will we need to retest to do the 2nd Leg, Montreal to Boston.

I've also used the Rapid ID Now (NAAT) Test at Walgreens on three Cruises. Will be going again for it on Thursday. Results back within 1/2 hour.

We sailed on the Sister Ship, Nieuw Amsterdam, in Alaska last July. We are boarding the Eurodam in a week but have sailed the Eurodam in the past. She's a beautiful Ship and I recommend the Specialty Restaurants of Tamarind and Pinnacle. Pretty much everything is done now on Navigator App. That will have the Boarding Pass and your Shore Excursion Tickets. We found Embark very easy last Summer in Seattle and hope it will be the same next Week. Important to have Verifly and ArriveCan completed as well as Health Assessment within the three days of Sailing. On Navigator App you can pre-order the Dive-In burgers as well as NY Pizza. We really enjoy that feature! Masks are Recommended but not required. All Crew & Staff wear Mask. You are probably doing the Glacier Bay Itinerary. Last Year we did the Dog Sled Summer Camp in Juneau and really enjoyed it. Whale Watching is also very good in Juneau. In Sitka, I recommend the Sea Otters, Fortress of the Bear and the Raptor Center. We did a Whale Watch in Icy Strait and very much enjoyed it and saw lots of Whales. The boat is right across from where our Ship docked, too which was convenient. Glacier Bay is a day to enjoy the beautiful Scenery. Ketchikan has many Tours that are worth doing and be sure to walk Creek Street, too. Enjoy your Cruise and especially enjoy beautiful Alaska! Welcome to Holland America!

Definitely more helpful if you could put the links with the info in your responses especially for those that are new Cruise Critic!