luvcruisn'

No need to go back to the ship for lunch. There are lots of places in Vancouver to get food. There are food trucks and all types of ethnic food available. There is also a food court in the lower level of the shopping center across from the Pan Pacific Hotel.

Thank you for your review. It made me want to sail again and visit some of those places that you talked about. Did you look up the train and bus schedules in advance of your trip, or did you just take what was there on the day you visited the ports?

Wishing a wonderful voyage to all on the HAL world cruise and to Roy on Crystal.

Loved reading about your trip, Roy. I have done a bit of travelling on Amtrak - it's the easiest way now to get from Vancouver, BC to Eugene, Oregon, where my brother and his family live. I also did the Vancouver to San Diego trip on Amtrak - it was great doing the overnight in the sleeper car. Looking forward to your trip report on Crystal.

One shore excursion that Princess offered was Alligator Hunting by Night at Manaus. I booked this; we went into the Rain Forest at night on very small boats--maybe 6 guests at most and 2 guides, one who drove the boat and one who used a flashlight, searching for the animals. When the light beam hits the animal's eyes, there is a reflection, the driver guides the boat to where the animal is, and the other person tries to catch it and bring it onto the boat. We then had a close-up look and were able to hold the alligator (after being shown how to keep its mouth closed) if we wished. Our driver/guide were quite successful; we caught (then released, of course) several of these creatures.

 

Don't know if such a shore excursion is still offered, but, if it is I strongly recommend it. Just being out in the Rain Forest at night with all of the sounds and sights (there was close to a full Moon) made the tour worthwhile.

In 2009, the last part of our day tour was searching for alligators at night. However, our tour guide wasn't as lucky as yours - he never found any alligators, and finally called it quits after searching for about an hour. The rest of the tour was good though.

I loved the vegetarian pizza at the New York Deli on the Konigsdam. I had it twice - it was so good.

I wonder if there is a different Hotel Manager since I left the Prinsendam in July, and if this one does tea differently. When I was aboard this summer, the treats were brought to me and served.

I do prefer it done that way, too. Much easier to get settled in a seat without a plate to deal with too.

When I was on the Konigsdam in 2016, most of the time the teas were done with the three tiered trays. A few times trays of small sandwiches and scones were brought around, and the items were served to us.

Thanks for all of your postings, Roy. I've been following along - brings back lovely memories of the ports that I've visited.

For open seating in the MDR you do need to be there before 8 PM or earlier if you want to be seated with others. If you are later than that you may be told there is no one to share a table with.

Agree with most of your conclusions. For me, the made to order pizza was the best at the New York Deli on the Konigsdam this past October.

What a lovely picture. Thank you for posting it.

I used the free sauna once on the K'dam. It was so hot that the ladies used a cooling off area with loungers you could lie on, before going to get changed. Some people that I met said that they used the sauna every day, but that it wasn't always that hot.

One thing that's really strange I find, is that when I take the train from Vancouver down to Oregon, the food concession won't sell any fruit until we get into the US. I know they have rules about bringing fruit into the US, but since we're already on the train, and have passed through US customs in Vancouver, to board the train, not selling fruit the whole way just seems silly.

Hi Sean: Hope you enjoy the cruise you end up doing. Alaska is so beautiful-I've been there twice and I'd like to go again. I met you some years ago, I believe it was on a cruise to Mexico.

Marnie (luvcruisn')

I've been to several of these get togethers on different ships. On my last cruise on the Konigsdam, Oct. 24-Nov. 9, mostly ports in Spain, and then 7 days at sea, we had a really great group that met fairly often. The Culinary Arts Hostess put notices in the daily program for a group meeting at Tea, or for a drink in one of the lounges before dinner. Sometimes the Hostess attended and we had a free glass of the HAL champagne (not my favourite drink, but a nice gesture.) Other times there was no hostess, but on this ship several people showed up to all of the arranged events that I attended. Towards the end of the cruise, several of us just got together for a drink before dinner in one of the lounges, and then went as a group to dinner after. On other ships, sometimes only one or two people show up to the planned single/solos events. It just seems to depend on whether the Culinary Arts Hostess or Assistant Cruise Director has time to schedule any of these events and put them in the daily program, where the cruise is going, and also of course, the mix of passengers on board. On the ships that I've been on, the group is mostly 50-70's, but sometimes there are a few younger people. Hope your cruise has a good group!

My god, another question...

Petit Fours in main dining room, was it still served at formal evenings?

From the dictionary: A petit four is a small bite-sized confectionery or savoury appetizer. For the Mariners Luncheons in the Dining Room on several cruises they had Petit Fours listed on the menu card after the dessert item. Sometimes the waiters would forget to serve them unless asked. They were served at the Mariners Luncheon on the Konigsdam after the main dessert. They were small cake-like pastries.

So one can say the Royal Dutch and Indonesian Tea times are not directly removed, but replaced by new "high tea " events? Could you please describe a little what the high tea events were like?

Did they also have something like a large decorated buffet on the middle?

On my transatlantic Konigsdam cruise the high teas consisted of a small 3-tiered tray put in the middle of the table. The bottom level had small sandwiches on it, the middle tier had scones with jam in them, and the top tier had different kinds of small pastries on them. There were no buffets at all for the teas. For the regular teas, the servers came around with platters of small sandwiches, platters of scones - both raisin, and plain, and platters of pastries.

Could you already find out whether there is Royal Dutch/Indonesian Tea time, as well s regular one?

I was on the Konigsdam Transatlantic Oct. 24-Nov. 9, with 9 sea days in all. There was no Indonesian or Royal Dutch Tea. There were the regular teas, from 3:15-3:45pm most days in the Queen's Lounge, and there were also a few "High Teas," from 3:15-4:00pm in the Queen's Lounge, with dance music played by the Konigsdam Orchestra.

Looking forward to your review. I loved the Tamarind on the Konigsdam, but didn't try the other specialty restaurants.

There was no "hot cereal" option on the room service menu, that you hang on the door at night, while I was on the Konigsdam recently. I wasn't feeling well one morning, but just skipped breakfast, as I really wanted the hot cereal, but didn't feel up to going to the Lido. I did think that I could call room service between 8-9:30am when the dining room was open, and could have requested the hot cereal then, but I never bothered. I used to get room service on port days, when I wanted to leave the ship as early as possible, but I didn't do that on this cruise, as I didn't like the selections on the menu that you hang on the door. I just got up earlier, so that I could get breakfast in the Lido.

I had an inside on deck 7. I liked deck 7 - the Lido was two floors up, very convenient. I am still working on my review of the Konigsdam, Oct. 24-Nov. 9. Hope to finish it sometime this week.

I asked about an upsell from my inside to an outside or verandah, but the price was quite expensive - it was still the booked rate on my on-line agency's website.

Thanks for the bon voyages. I am already in London visiting my nephew, before I fly to Rome for 2 nights. I am really looking forward to this cruise, as I couldn't sail last year due to illness.

Have a wonderful time on board with your family Ann. Those ports sound lovely. Marnie

Thanks for all of the replies. As it turned out, I received one answer from the Italian Consulate that went with the 3 month requirement set out for Italy on the Canadian government website.Then later the same day, I received another e-mail from the Italian Consulate stating that 6 months is required. I decided to go with the 6 month requirement, and paid for the passport renewal today.

I am looking forward to your posts. The South Pacific and Australia are two of the areas I most want to visit one day. I hope you enjoy your day in my home city of Vancouver.