oakridger

The bar menus you may be looking at with very few available at $11 are listing only the special drinks at that bar. Regular drinks like rum and coke, gin and tonic, vodka and grapefruit, plain martini, etc. are still $11 or less. As @julia said, you still just pay the difference above $11 plus 18% gratuity on the difference only. Cruise Drink & Beverage Packages (hollandamerica.com) ~Nancy

At the Gelato Bar in the Lido pool area on Pinnacle class ships. May be on others, but I don't know. ~Nancy

Welcome to Cruise Critic @Chilly Bean! I was on Havila the beginning of June 2024. What a trip! I'll try to briefly answer your questions but if you haven't already, go and read their website which will answer some of your questions. Google for maps, flights, weather, Northern Lights, hotels, excursions, etc. Also read through all this Havila thread as well as the others down the forum. Lots of info! 1- If you go for six days from Bergen to Kirkenes there are convenient flights from Kirkenes airport. I suggest checking Google Flights to see the possibilities and cost. Kirkenes to Oslo | Google Flights 2- The route ports going North and South is the same each time based on season. Winter differs slightly from summer in that the ship goes into Geirangerfjord in the summer months and slightly different in the winter months. Again, check the schedules on the website. 3- "Adequate" length of voyage will be different for each person based on their time availability and budget. My opinion is that the full 6-day North or 5-day South should be the minimum. I went for the whole 11-night round-trip Bergen-Kirkenes-Bergen and loved it all! 4-"Best Month" is again depending on what your priorities are! I went in June to have the most daylight viewing and midnight sun. (If you want to have a chance to see the Aurora Borealis then late fall and winter is when you would want to go.) April and September will be colder and have less daylight than June. Google daylight hours for any town along the route to get exact times. June, July and August will have more tourists in the cities and higher hotel charges. Also, I suggest getting your ticket as soon as you decide your dates because Havila has dynamic pricing, and prices went up as the sail date got closer when I booked this year. Get travel insurance. After doing some research, come on back here with other questions that you might still have. There a several here on Cruise Critic who provided me with great info about Havila. Read their posts too! Have fun! ~Nancy

@atexsix, although to be clear, they are 50% off drinks at Happy Hour. You only need to get one drink to get the discount. That's a little different than needing to get two drinks for one price. I, personally, have never been to any Happy Hour on land or sea where I only had one drink though! 😁 ~Nancy

I loved visiting Alcatraz but be advised to make your ticket reservations as early as possible as they sell out often, even in the "winter" months. I recommend using the official National Park Service website for information about tickets. You can get them through other third party tour sites but I just personally prefer not using a middleman if possible. Fees & Passes - Alcatraz Island (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov) ~Nancy

San Francisco is 65°F every day!! Just kidding but not too far off the truth! Expect daytime to be around upper 50's to low 60's. See chart from this year below. It will probably/hopefully rain sometime in there...be prepared. Alcatraz will be cooler and windy most likely.

Uber, taxi or Lyft will just be much more comfortable and save time waiting around for bus/streetcars, etc. I haven't used the Hop On Hop Off bus in San Francisco but have enjoyed them in other cities worldwide. These are decent places and not high cost options. (as compared to Nob Hill Mark Hopkins, Fairmont or Union Square Hyatt, etc.) Google the hotels @KeepCalmBearOn suggested. They are convenient to Fisherman's Wharf where you will pick up the boat to Alcatraz (Pier 33) and Presidio-Golden Gate Bridge-Golden Gate Park and points west. Also, close to Pier 27 where your ship is most likely going to be docked. Are you sailing on Princess? Google Maps

If you tell us what you had in mind to see, we can narrow down to some likely suggestions given you will have only one full day on your Wednesday pre cruise and a little time after your arrival on Tuesday (depending on when your flight gets in). I'm happy to offer some suggestions after we hear back from you! ~Nancy

Aft Veranda cabins with an asterisk * on the deck plan are shower only. Signature and Neptune Suites have a tub/shower combo and a separate shower also. Pinnacle Suites have a shower and tub separate. Look on the deck plan for each level to see the cabins with *.

Your hotel price will be much lower by booking it yourself. Book it as early as possible to hopefully avoid the conflicts with sporting events. Go to the hotel website directly. ~Nancy

If you ask about it onboard, please let us know the official answer about the bags.🙂 Thanks, ~Nancy

I'm enjoying the pictures, Keith! So far, your weather has been very pretty. Lucky for Alaska! ~Nancy

Sounds way too confusing and not pleasant to me. I will do something else to do a land visit to Alaska. ~Nancy

Found pictorial evidence online!

I haven't gone yet but I thought the motu beach day is on Motu Mahaea (Tahaa). Someone please tell us if that isn't where it is!

@RileyFox I highly recommend you enlist a good travel agent or at the least a good HAL Personal Cruise Consultant (PCC). Most, if not all, of your questions will be answered by one of them. You will have a much better cruise experience if you understand what the process is. Good luck! ~Nancy

On the Zuiderdam Trans-Atlantic in May 2024 the late Lido offerings were basically about the same as what shows in @Crew News Alaska menus. Not the exact items of course, but similar types and variety of items. I went up there several times and had a snack. It was pretty well attended by mostly HAL staff but passengers as well. At the end of the cruise approaching the Netherlands it was sunset at about the serving time so your point about still being light out that late may be a factor in attendance by guests! Sunset was at about 9:50pm. Nice views! ~Nancy

@tardin1964 Welcome to Cruise Critic! Please have a look at @Crew News wonderful website for all kinds of HAL info! Here is the link to specific Late Night Lido menus this year in Alaska. Enjoy and thanks again Roger Jett! Alaska Lido Market Late Snack Menus 2024 (5/4/24) | Roger Jett Photography (rogerjett-photography.com) ~Nancy

Even at equal cost I wouldn't book a Vista Suite. I'm strongly in the "Sitting Area by the Veranda" camp! ~Nancy

Yes

I have never seen Rudy's open for breakfast. Are you sure you ate there? If so, which ship please? Exactly! ~Nancy

It was 50% off every drink in May on Zuiderdam. (During Happy Hour!) ~Nancy

Here in the Bay Area schools are now off for the entire Thanksgiving week. It's been that way for quite a few years. Families now don't worry about needing to pull kids from class that week to go on the 7-day cruises, thus the very crowded cruises even on HAL. ~Nancy

Yes! Just select that it's the included meals when booking and the fee will be $0 ~Nancy

Can you reference the above quote? What government entity is it from? Thanks, ~Nancy