From King Crab to Poi-almost live from Koningsdam Alaska to Hawaii and back

[aungrl]

Really glad to see you've made it this far...almost there!  

[Clay Clayton]

Made it! And got a nice view of the Fairmont from our free room at the Hyatt Regency.  
 

Looong stressful day but in the end it all worked out. Off to grab some dinner and then back for a shower and some shuteye before boarding tomorrow.  
 

We are in Boarding Group B-10:20 which seems awfully early….

[Hygge!]

We are down by the harbor. Beautiful view of the water. We have a 10:00 boarding time. Also seems really early!!! Agree - really long day. We woke at 2:00 to get to airport for a 6:00 flight. Wasn’t sure what the weather would be with Ian! See you tomorrow. 

[Hygge!]

Clay - Koningsdam has arrived. 

[Clay Clayton]

1 hour ago, Hygge! said:

Clay - Koningsdam has arrived. 

I’ve always hoped my ship would come in someday 😂

[HUNKY]

Scott here, Clay’s travel friend.  Later flight into Vancouver.  Stayed at the Airport Fairmont - Chase points.   No breakfast just in-room Tim’s 

[HUNKY]

Sky Train to Waterfront station.  Easy tap on tap off.  Car is full after a few stops along the way.  Some seats still available.  Takes twenty six minutes.  $9 CAD

 

Boarding Group Alpha.   1000AM!

 

Mariner 2*

Edited October 1, 2022 by HUNKY

[Clay Clayton]

Purgatory - Apparently the 10:20 boarding time is a ruse. 😢. Based on my very scientific count of ten rows of people, 10% are masked.  No judgement, just information.  As the announcement on both AA and AC said yesterday: “masks are not mandatory, but we hope that everyone on board will accept each persons choice on their decision on whether to mask or not”

Edited October 1, 2022 by Clay Clayton

[stretchcruz]

OMG!!!!

[Twitchly]

Whoa. Looks like somebody messed up somewhere. Yikes.

[LindaS272]

Good luck, Clay! 😷

[Blackduck59]

That looks typical for Vancouver Clay. It is a big bottle neck at border control. How many ships were boarding today? We had 5 when we did our cruise.

It should be all good once you get past that line. I'm sure there will be some suitable libation available once you are on board to help you recover from the trauma 😉

[Clay Clayton]

11 minutes ago, Blackduck59 said:

That looks typical for Vancouver Clay. It is a big bottle neck at border control. How many ships were boarding today? We had 5 when we did our cruise.

It should be all good once you get past that line. I'm sure there will be some suitable libation available once you are on board to help you recover from the trauma 😉

That was the wait AFTER all the check in and immigration.  Those were a breeze. Only other ship here today is Norwegian Spirit. They started boarding right at 11:30.  We stepped onto the gangway at 12:02. Wasn’t a big deal but why not tell folks to arrive at 11 and not have them have to sit at all.  🤔

[Clay Clayton]

We had a nice lunch-sad to see that HAL doesn’t open the dining room for embarkation day, my much preferred way to relax and begin.  But happy To find that there are tables at the aft pool so we can eat outside.  Had a light lunch of salad and deviled eggs….and perhaps a scoop or two of coconut ice cream happened to fall in a bowl and into my hand. 😂

 

Went to our room and unpacked and just finished watch quite the show from our balcony. Four float planes have taken off so far and for some reason the fire boat decided to welcome us!   
 

Off to check in at our muster station (make mine dijon please) and then to the CC Meet & Greet. 

[HUNKY]

Tasty lunch!  As usual, the Lido buffet is served by crew, very few self selections (drinks mostly).

 

Internet connection is not straightforward.  Put device in airplane mode, use Navigator app and then go to the access website.

 

Speedtest.net shows, uh nothing...the spinning wheel of nothingness.

 

SUCCESS!  Download 10.29Mbps

 

FAIL! Upload 0.00 Mbps

Edited October 1, 2022 by HUNKY

[Florida_gal_50]

It’s disappointing that they still are not opening the mdr.  I don’t love the lido.  I’d be happy to never go in there.  

[Blackduck59]

Enjoy sail away Clay, the Lions Gate is a lovely bridge to transit under. As you leave Canada Place and move farther out into Burrard inlet, Stanley Park will be on the Port side. You may be able to see a ship under construction on the Starboard side, that will be one of the new fleet support ships for the RCN.

Are you in Victoria at any point in this adventure?

[bluesplayer]

We cruised to Alaska in September 4 cruise.  The MDR was open for lunch from 12-1.  Enjoying your report and photos!

[TayanaLorna]

21 hours ago, Clay Clayton said:

Purgatory - Apparently the 10:20 boarding time is a ruse. 😢. Based on my very scientific count of ten rows of people, 10% are masked.  No judgement, just information.  As the announcement on both AA and AC said yesterday: “masks are not mandatory, but we hope that everyone on board will accept each persons choice on their decision on whether to mask or not”

Nothing like Vikings embarkation huh?  Glad you made it.

[PasadenaDave]

29 minutes ago, TayanaLorna said:

Nothing like Vikings embarkation huh?  Glad you made it.

We did a HAL cruise from Quebec last month.  While it was far below Viking standards and that was before we got sick, boarding was seamless and smooth like Viking.  We never stood in one place or even sat.  That had more to do with a large new cruise terminal and boarding early while most cruise passengers were still flying 

[TayanaLorna]

18 hours ago, Clay Clayton said:

We had a nice lunch-sad to see that HAL doesn’t open the dining room for embarkation day, my much preferred way to relax and begin.  But happy To find that there are tables at the aft pool so we can eat outside.  Had a light lunch of salad and deviled eggs….and perhaps a scoop or two of coconut ice cream happened to fall in a bowl and into my hand. 😂

 

Went to our room and unpacked and just finished watch quite the show from our balcony. Four float planes have taken off so far and for some reason the fire boat decided to welcome us!   
 

Off to check in at our muster station (make mine dijon please) and then to the CC Meet & Greet. 

IMG_2701.MOV IMG_2700.MOV

Room looks a bit like a Viking PV.  Not bad.

[CurlerRob]

11 minutes ago, TayanaLorna said:

Room looks a bit like a Viking PV.  Not bad.

Lorna, hopefully the guys will find time to weigh in, but their cabin looks like a HAL Verandah.

 

That would put it at about 228 sq. ft., noticeably smaller than a V/DV on Viking (270 sq. ft.). I have not been on K-dam itself, but if it follows the normal HAL pattern, there will be somewhat more storage on HAL than in a V/DV, but the bathroom will be much smaller.

 

Viking's PV, at 338 sq. ft., fits somewhere between HAL's Vista and Signature Suites.

 

Of course, any cabin is fine when going to Hawaii! 🍺🥌

[TayanaLorna]

17 minutes ago, CurlerRob said:

Lorna, hopefully the guys will find time to weigh in, but their cabin looks like a HAL Verandah.

 

That would put it at about 228 sq. ft., noticeably smaller than a V/DV on Viking (270 sq. ft.). I have not been on K-dam itself, but if it follows the normal HAL pattern, there will be somewhat more storage on HAL than in a V/DV, but the bathroom will be much smaller.

 

Viking's PV, at 338 sq. ft., fits somewhere between HAL's Vista and Signature Suites.

 

Of course, any cabin is fine when going to Hawaii! 🍺🥌

Definitely smaller.  Looks like there is a sofa but photos sometimes elongate easy chairs.  But it has a balcony.

[oaktreerb]

20 hours ago, Clay Clayton said:

That was the wait AFTER all the check in and immigration.  Those were a breeze. Only other ship here today is Norwegian Spirit. They started boarding right at 11:30.  We stepped onto the gangway at 12:02. Wasn’t a big deal but why not tell folks to arrive at 11 and not have them have to sit at all.  🤔

We had a 10:30 check in time in Vancouver and went through the check in and immigration process and also had to sit with the group before being allowed to board also around 11:30.  I did have to point out that we were 4* so that we were directed to sit with the group that would board first.  No problem for me because I knew that later in the day those lines to check in would be long and I would be onboard having lunch.  I knew there were bus loads of people coming around 2 pm and I was amazed that everybody was cleared and the ship was pulling out right on time at 4 pm.

 

Did you go to the dining room when you got onboard?  The HAL greeters will direct you to the Lido or to your room (which should be ready when you board) but the dining room may be open.  It was on our cruise.  The great thing about the current early check in times and the short wait before boarding is that your room should be ready which means the Lido is less crowded.  People aren’t waiting around in the Lido for the rooms to be ready.

Edited October 2, 2022 by oaktreerb

[Clay Clayton]

On 10/1/2022 at 5:07 PM, Blackduck59 said:

Enjoy sail away Clay, the Lions Gate is a lovely bridge to transit under. As you leave Canada Place and move farther out into Burrard inlet, Stanley Park will be on the Port side. You may be able to see a ship under construction on the Starboard side, that will be one of the new fleet support ships for the RCN.

Are you in Victoria at any point in this adventure?

We are not in Victoria but have visited before 

On 10/2/2022 at 8:54 AM, CurlerRob said:

Lorna, hopefully the guys will find time to weigh in, but their cabin looks like a HAL Verandah.

 

That would put it at about 228 sq. ft., noticeably smaller than a V/DV on Viking (270 sq. ft.). I have not been on K-dam itself, but if it follows the normal HAL pattern, there will be somewhat more storage on HAL than in a V/DV, but the bathroom will be much smaller.

 

Viking's PV, at 338 sq. ft., fits somewhere between HAL's Vista and Signature Suites.

 

Of course, any cabin is fine when going to Hawaii! 🍺🥌

We are in a Spa Veranda…will post more in a second. Just porting in Juneau. 

On 10/2/2022 at 9:47 AM, oaktreerb said:

We had a 10:30 check in time in Vancouver and went through the check in and immigration process and also had to sit with the group before being allowed to board also around 11:30.  I did have to point out that we were 4* so that we were directed to sit with the group that would board first.  No problem for me because I knew that later in the day those lines to check in would be long and I would be onboard having lunch.  I knew there were bus loads of people coming around 2 pm and I was amazed that everybody was cleared and the ship was pulling out right on time at 4 pm.

 

Did you go to the dining room when you got onboard?  The HAL greeters will direct you to the Lido or to your room (which should be ready when you board) but the dining room may be open.  It was on our cruise.  The great thing about the current early check in times and the short wait before boarding is that your room should be ready which means the Lido is less crowded.  People aren’t waiting around in the Lido for the rooms to be ready.

Yes, we went to the Dining Room and were turned away.