First Time HAL Cruiser: Coming Soon, Live Review of Alaska Cruise on Nieuw Amsterdam May 28- June 4 2023

[Haljo1935]

5 hours ago, 2Long2NxtCrz said:

Thank  you all for the information. It's weird, but it eases my mind to at least know what I'm supposed to do and when.

 

So that's one thing checked off... a million more to go! But, seriously, am I the only person who overly stresses over packing and being terrified I'm forgetting something important?

Nope - you have a lot of company on Worry Lane.

[Denise T]

20 hours ago, 2Long2NxtCrz said:

Thank  you all for the information. It's weird, but it eases my mind to at least know what I'm supposed to do and when.

 

So that's one thing checked off... a million more to go! But, seriously, am I the only person who overly stresses over packing and being terrified I'm forgetting something important?

I overpacked. I could have done with less and made use of the laundry services on board if needed. I tend to pack for every possible situation when I don't really need to. 

[Hogladyrider]

29 minutes ago, Denise T said:

I overpacked. I could have done with less and made use of the laundry services on board if needed. I tend to pack for every possible situation when I don't really need to. 

I used to overpack myself, after so many cruises I wised up, less is more for sure!

[2Long2NxtCrz]

53 minutes ago, Denise T said:

I overpacked. I could have done with less and made use of the laundry services on board if needed. I tend to pack for every possible situation when I don't really need to. 

I asked this on our roll call, but haven't heard back. We have 6 days on land after the cruise so 2 weeks. And I know I need layers, but I'm wondering if I can skip bring a dress or dresses for the "formal" nights on HAL? I'd love to save bringing heels since I won't use them at all after the cruise whereas my flats I could use. What did you see when you were on the ship? I seem to remember Alaska was more casual in the MDR than I'd seen before, but that was on Royal and was in 2018.

[Haljo1935]

1 hour ago, 2Long2NxtCrz said:

I asked this on our roll call, but haven't heard back. We have 6 days on land after the cruise so 2 weeks. And I know I need layers, but I'm wondering if I can skip bring a dress or dresses for the "formal" nights on HAL? I'd love to save bringing heels since I won't use them at all after the cruise whereas my flats I could use. What did you see when you were on the ship? I seem to remember Alaska was more casual in the MDR than I'd seen before, but that was on Royal and was in 2018.

You will not be out of place if you don't wear a dress and heels on "dressy" nights; it's no longer called "formal" night. And laundry service is your friend - they do a great job; really cuts down on amount we take w/us. You can probably find several laundry threads...

Safe travels - enjoy your cruise!

[2Long2NxtCrz]

1 hour ago, Haljo1935 said:

You will not be out of place if you don't wear a dress and heels on "dressy" nights; it's no longer called "formal" night. And laundry service is your friend - they do a great job; really cuts down on amount we take w/us. You can probably find several laundry threads...

Safe travels - enjoy your cruise!

Thank you! I think we'll definitely opt for doing laundry and taking less. It'll help to have clean clothes for the land portion, too.

[Haljo1935]

8 minutes ago, 2Long2NxtCrz said:

Thank you! I think we'll definitely opt for doing laundry and taking less. It'll help to have clean clothes for the land portion, too.

For AK cruises where we tend to get wetter and muddier on excursions, we get the unlimited plan &  send a bag everyday when we get back on board. That we we can cycle through our "street" clothes every other day.

For warmer itineraries like Caribbean, we usually do it by the bag since those clothes are less bulky we can bring more and fit more in the laundry bags. We send a bag halfway through then another at the end so we can get about 2 wearings per outfit and take home clean clothes.

Saving on luggage fees and less juggling suitcases is a bonus. 🤭 Remember - if it came out of a suitcase case it has to go back in one and who wants to spend a lot of time packing at the end of a cruise?

[Denise T]

Sea Day/Hubbard Glacier. We went to the Captain's welcome. 

[Haljo1935]

Hey @Denise T now that you're back and have had some time to think about the experience, would you return to AK and would you sail HAL again, whether to AK or not?

Curious about your final assessment. 

Edited June 24, 2023 by Haljo1935
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[Denise T]

13 hours ago, Haljo1935 said:

Hey @Denise T now that you're back and have had some time to think about the experience, would you return to AK and would you sail HAL again, whether to AK or not?

Curious about your final assessment. 

Planning on 2025 for another HAL cruise to Alaska. I would like to do one of the Seattle round trips. 

[dreamer321]

I'm not @Denise T  but I did a round trip out of Vancouver on HAL Koningsdam in May. I'm also planning another HAL cruise in 2025, probably a one way Whittier to Vancouver or vice versa  on HAL.  I recommend sailing in or out of Vancouver over Seattle because you sail east of Vancouver Island rather than west of the island — smoother ride and better views.

 

[Haljo1935]

20 minutes ago, dreamer321 said:

I'm not @Denise T  but I did a round trip out of Vancouver on HAL Koningsdam in May. I'm also planning another HAL cruise in 2025, probably a one way Whittier to Vancouver or vice versa  on HAL.  I recommend sailing in or out of Vancouver over Seattle because you sail east of Vancouver Island rather than west of the island — smoother ride and better views.

 

I agree that the views are awesome; however, embarkation in Vancouver is a real kick in the teeth. There are numerous threads lamenting the boarding struggles of Vancouver, so I won't go into those, but it's bad enough my outlook loving, nature seeking, AK loving DH said "never again" to leaving from Vancouver. We are still open to Whittier->Vancouver as it doesn't shave those challenges.

Edited June 24, 2023 by Haljo1935
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[Denise T]

Still downloading pictures. having some trouble as some of my pictures want to load upside down on Cruise Critic. I am going to share my thoughts here. 

I really enjoyed sailing on Holland America. I like the ship size of Nieuw Amsterdam, and it compares nicely to the Norwegian Pearl which I sailed last year to Canada/New England. 

1. What I liked about the ship: the promenade deck that wrapped around the entire ship. I love taking walks and seeing the ocean. My cabin was a verandah, and it was quite comfortable. Not as much storage as the Pearl but I need to learn to pack less. I was on deck 7 aft near elevators but it was quiet. Once I got used to where everything was located, I knew which bank of elevators to use. I thought the venues were nice, maybe a little small but always found seats. Embarkation in Whittier is a breeze. We took the train transfer in. One thing that HAL needs to work on, and this was confirmed by the workers at the Egan Convention Center where we went to get the train, is that they did not provide good information as to where and when to get the train transfer. Apparently, this has been an ongoing issue. Once on the train we had a wonderful time. Disembarkation was fine in Vancouver. There were signs and people pointing the way. The longest wait was for cabs but even then, that ran smoothly. There were three ships disembarking so I expected this. 

2. Food: I found the food enjoyable. I love it when someone cooks and cleans up after me. I love fish and can't cook it well myself, so I ate a lot of fish. I found that HAL has more fish dishes on its menu than NCL did, so I was very happy. We had anytime dining but we made reservations and always got seats with very little waiting. I recommend this. Do this on the embarkation day. We couldn't get reservations at specialty restaurants because they had only late dining left. It was hard to coordinate two sets of families prior to boarding on dining. The Lido buffet had a lot of similar choice to the dining room. The food was good. The problem I think is the layout. It was always crowded and as I stated in previous posts, people seem to forget their manners in a buffet. I felt crowded trying to get drinks with people reaching over me and standing practically on my heals. We figured out timing and were able to get in before the mad rush or before the buffet closed. I found New York pizza to be very good. 

3. Bars: We spent time in the Ocean bar, Pinnacle bar, Lido Bar, and Seaview Bar. The Ocean Bar was our favorite. Service was slow sometimes, but we didn't mind. They were inconsistent with signing for the drinks. Some places we signed for the drinks and others we didn't. 

4. Crew: I loved the crew! Our room stewards were wonderful. Ari knew the names of me, my sister, my brother, and my sister-in-law. He always greeted us and chatted with us even when busy. Everywhere we went, we were greeted with a hello or a good morning. If you treat the crew with respect, you get that in return. They work very hard and spend so much time away from their families to provide service for you. Treat them well. 

5. Entertainment: I found lots to do. Some have complained that there is a lack of entertainment. There are no big production shows, but I found the Step One Dance Company shows to be wonderful. The Billboard Onboard group was fantastic. I love sitting and listening to music. I loved the trivia. I won lots at Bingo. I found the casino great to be in as there is no smoking. Sometimes, you just want to relax on the ship and read a book or watch the scenery. There were lots of other activities that we couldn't get to. I never got to try afternoon tea and I plan to do it on my next HAL cruise. 

6. Ports: I loved sailing through Hubbard Glacier and Glacier Bay. The scenery is spectacular. We did not do any shore excursions but walked around in Skagway, Juneau, and Ketchikan. Skagway I would recommend a shore excursion because it doesn't take long to walk the port and do shopping. Juneau, we took the tram up the mountain. Our plan for next time is to do some hiking up there. We went shopping. Ketchikan, we also walked around. Next time we are going to do a whale watching trip. We did see many whales. 

 

Overall, I had a fantastic time and will sail HAL again especially an Alaska itinerary. There is still so much to see. I read the reviews both positive and negative. I am not hard to please on my vacations. I have been working more than 40-hour work weeks over the years and when I can take vacations where others take care of me, I am okay with that. I am not a fancy person, and I don't expect perfect service all of the time. Cruise lines are run by human beings, and they don't always get it run. On this cruise, they got it right and provided me with a wonderful cruise to a part of the country I never thought I would see. Perfection does not exist so if that is what you are looking for, you will be looking for the rest of your life. Your vacation is what you make of it. If you are always looking for something wrong, you will always find it. I look for the good and I treat the crew with respect. I unfortunately did witness some passengers being disrespectful to the crew and other passengers. There is absolutely no need for that. 

 

I can now say, I am a 1-star mariner. Not that it matters. I was treated so well it doesn't matter what star you are.