Hopefully, Live From the MS Amsterdam May 17 - June 1, 2014

DM (dear Mother) and I are going North to Alaska, via Seattle. This is DM's third Alaskan cruise and my fourth. We booked a one day cruise from Vancouver to Seattle, will then carry on to Alaska on the first 14 day cruise of the season. Instead of returning to Seattle, Mom and I will get off the ship in Victoria, a day earlier, and fly home from there.

Today's adventure was flying from Alberta to Vancouver. While we have made this short flight on sail day before, we were concerned that the weather gods would hit Alberta with a freak May snowstorm. So heeding the advice of seasoned cruisers by flying in the day prior, we booked the flight for today. Fortunately, for us, nothing impeded our flight; it was totally uneventful.

We booked a room at the Pan Pacific in Vancouver (our big splurge of the vacation). Great hotel, as it should be for the price! We have an incredible view of the harbour, overlooking the Zaandam until it sailed. Tomorrow, we will overlook the Amsterdam! It's a busy harbour. We've seen several float planes, and a few helicopters and boats in all shapes and sizes. Fascinating to watch, particularly for us land locked Albertans.

After a short rest, we wandered about the waterfront and watched the sail away of the Zaandam and the Rhapsody of the Seas, and another ship that must have been at Ballantyne. It's fun to watch the sail away in person rather than over a webcam. We were chiding the pax who lingered on upper decks while others were gathering for muster drill. Some people were standing at their muster stations for 45 minutes! They did call some cabin numbers so I guess there were some no shows. Of course, I have no idea whether they ultimately showed or not. The ship seemed to leave half an hour late, at 5:30. Zaandam tooted three times; nice, long, hearty toots!

We had dinner at the Cactus Club, fairly close to the hotel. My, dinner was good. It was recommended by one of the locals who posts regularly on the West Coast Departures forum. We had a table with a view of the harbour and Stanley Park. My only complaint was that it is incredibly noisy.

I will post more as time and ship wifi allows. Failing both, I will post a review after our return.

Tomorrow we board the Amsterdam...

Have a great cruise. I did this cruise three or four years ago and I loved it.

Thanks for taking time to do a "live from" review.

Yes, we find the harbour activity fascinating to watch from the hotel room at the Pan Pacific.

Have a wonderful cruise.

Have fun. Looking forward to the thread.

Hi

Have a wonderful cruise. will be looking forward to your reports

Mary

Great start to your Live From report. Thank you so much. Wishing you and yours a wonderful trip! :)

We booked a one day cruise from Vancouver to Seattle, will then carry on to Alaska on the first 14 day cruise of the season. Instead of returning to Seattle, Mom and I will get off the ship in Victoria, a day earlier, and fly home from there.

Did you get permission to get off early?

I have already subscribed to this thread and I'm really looking forward to your report. We're on the June 14 day Alaska cruise. This will be our second cruise to Alaska but our first 14 day one.

Utahtea

Looking forward to your live thread on your Alaska cruise since we will take the same cruise on 6-22-14.

Sounds like a wonderful cruise and we hope to take it in the future. I look forward to reading your blog. Bon Voyage!

DM (dear Mother) and I are going North to Alaska, via Seattle. This is DM's third Alaskan cruise and my fourth. We booked a one day cruise from Vancouver to Seattle, will then carry on to Alaska on the first 14 day cruise of the season. Instead of returning to Seattle, Mom and I will get off the ship in Victoria, a day earlier, and fly home from there.

 

Today's adventure was flying from Alberta to Vancouver. While we have made this short flight on sail day before, we were concerned that the weather gods would hit Alberta with a freak May snowstorm. So heeding the advice of seasoned cruisers by flying in the day prior, we booked the flight for today. Fortunately, for us, nothing impeded our flight; it was totally uneventful.

 

We booked a room at the Pan Pacific in Vancouver (our big splurge of the vacation). Great hotel, as it should be for the price! We have an incredible view of the harbour, overlooking the Zaandam until it sailed. Tomorrow, we will overlook the Amsterdam! It's a busy harbour. We've seen several float planes, and a few helicopters and boats in all shapes and sizes. Fascinating to watch, particularly for us land locked Albertans.

 

After a short rest, we wandered about the waterfront and watched the sail away of the Zaandam and the Rhapsody of the Seas, and another ship that must have been at Ballantyne. It's fun to watch the sail away in person rather than over a webcam. We were chiding the pax who lingered on upper decks while others were gathering for muster drill. Some people were standing at their muster stations for 45 minutes! They did call some cabin numbers so I guess there were some no shows. Of course, I have no idea whether they ultimately showed or not. The ship seemed to leave half an hour late, at 5:30. Zaandam tooted three times; nice, long, hearty toots!

 

We had dinner at the Cactus Club, fairly close to the hotel. My, dinner was good. It was recommended by one of the locals who posts regularly on the West Coast Departures forum. We had a table with a view of the harbour and Stanley Park. My only complaint was that it is incredibly noisy.

 

I will post more as time and ship wifi allows. Failing both, I will post a review after our return.

 

Tomorrow we board the Amsterdam...

I'm following along!! excited for all of you cruisers!!

Bon Voyage!!

Sent from my DROID RAZR HD using Tapatalk

Have a wonderful Alaskan cruise.

Hope you are able to do a "Live" report.

Did you get permission to get off early?

Yes, we did get permission. Just need to confirm with the ship to make sure Seattle told them, if you catch my drift.

Hey, look out the window to your left. Zuidy has just now cleared the Lion's Gate Bridge (after the two Princessses), with Amsterdam not far behind!

Bon voyage! Have a wonderful trip!

Yeah---so looking forward to reading your posts. We are on the July 27 cruise. Please let us know who the Captain is. Comments about the ship and youe excursions will be much appreciated.:D:D:D

Have a great cruise around the great land.

Thank you for considering doing a "live from" post. We all hope the wifi is working! Have a safe and enjoyable cruise.

Yeah---so looking forward to reading your posts. We are on the July 27 cruise. Please let us know who the Captain is. Comments about the ship and youe excursions will be much appreciated.:D:D:D

 

Have a great cruise around the great land.

We do the 14 day cruise on the Amsterdam on 6-22-14. I found out the Captain on the Amsterdam is Fred Everson. He replaced Jonathan Mercer who finished the World Cruise on 4-28-14 in Ft. Lauderdale.

I hope to do a review when we get back at the end of the cruise. We did this cruise in 2011 also. Here is a link to our pictures back then.

https://onedrive.live.com/?cid=07AFC87CDF2F6DCA&id=7AFC87CDF2F6DCA%212347&sc=photos

Have a great cruise! Looking forward to your review. Please let us know how well the internet aboard the ship works and whether the price structure has changed.

We do the 14 day cruise on the Amsterdam on 6-22-14. I found out the Captain on the Amsterdam is Fred Everson. He replaced Jonathan Mercer who finished the World Cruise on 4-28-14 in Ft. Lauderdale.

 

I hope to do a review when we get back at the end of the cruise. We did this cruise in 2011 also. Here is a link to our pictures back then.

 

https://onedrive.live.com/?cid=07AFC87CDF2F6DCA&id=7AFC87CDF2F6DCA%212347&sc=photos

Thank you!!! I just spent the last hour with my 3 girls looking at ALL the pictures. We had a lot of fun and are even more excited for August!

Delay in embarking. The bellman suggested we wait to check in. There are three ships at Canada Place and only one customs agent! No where to sit, they're using hall c of the convention centre instead of the usual place for processing pax. We have to leave room soon as our check out time is 2 pm.

We are onboard! Things must have changed as there were several immigration agents checking passports. Must not be many new passengers today because the Lido was functioning normally. No Code Orange.

We change rooms tomorrow. Unfortunately, we will have to stay onboard until we get our new room cards. I hope that doesn't delay us for our tour of Pike Place Market!

We are onboard! Things must have changed as there were several immigration agents checking passports. Must not be many new passengers today because the Lido was functioning normally. No Code Orange.

 

We change rooms tomorrow. Unfortunately, we will have to stay onboard until we get our new room cards. I hope that doesn't delay us for our tour of Pike Place Market!

It appears the internet is working!

Hey, look out the window to your left. Zuidy has just now cleared the Lion's Gate Bridge (after the two Princessses), with Amsterdam not far behind!

looked out my window and All I see are parked cars (someone's having a party.) Green grass. No Vancouver, No loins gate, No ships.. But it really would be something if I looked out my window and saw that since I am on wrong coast.

Mary