cattman

Great responses, all.. Nothing quite compares to Glacier Bay(except maybe College Fjord or Hubbard). And while I heartily recommend a whale watch tour or heli landing while in Juneau- we have done both - there are a few reasons besides the glacier to visit Mendenhall. Besides the aforementioned waterfall walk, we have found that some of the best wildlfe viewing on our many visits to Alaska has been in the Mendenhall area. Call us very lucky, but every time we have visited we have seen bears - sometimes extremely close-up. There is also a fantastic trail if you like to hike - the East Glacier/Trail of Time that is very worthwhile, with amazing views, old mining relics and wildlife. We often see mountain goats and bears along this trail, once happening on a mother with her two cubs While i will admit if you are making this cruise for the first time, the heli and whale tours should make the top of the list, as a repeat visitor we find the trip is also one of the most cost-effective excursions in Juneau, esp. for families

That was because CO is included with the Neptune Suite. CO is not included with the Signature Suites So the question "can you play the CO upgrade game" if you move to a different category after final payment remains, and one your TA should inquire about. I would think this would be a cancel and rebook situation and subject to those terms. Rather than waiting for HAL to send you one, I would call Inventory and see if any upsell offers for a Signature or Neptune exist for your sailing, that way your CO would follow you in the case of the Signature Suite(and you'll get choice of available cabin), or be refunded if you upsell to Neptune. The upsell price of a Neptune might be cheaper than the Signature upsell price, once the CO is refunded.

We do upsells all the time, and sometimes purchase CO.. but each time the upsell was to our choice of any available cabins within the suite class, I believe with or without CO. Our experience with upsells was they are based on availability rather than category based, and were one price for whatever was available regardless of category. Some of our upsells were from VB balconies to Neptune Suites, and as CO is included in a NS, our original CO payments were deducted from - or applied to - the upsell price. Choice of Signature Suites in various categories were always available also, at a lower upsell price, but I do not believe CO made a difference there either and the upsell price was the same for all categories, whatever was available.

That's interesting.. looking at the May 24 sailing of the Koningsdam R/T Vancouver, taxes, fees and port charges only total $277pp.. maybe your figures include Cruise Protection and transfers, etc

But of course, their a-- is covered by the fine print😒

Our May 13 sailing did sail the BC Inside Passage on the Southbound, but it was not until late afternoon/evening, so you're trying to pack and view the scenery at the same time! On previous sailings - we have sailed this itinerary many times on HAL, Princess and Celebrity, and try to do it every year - we had always sailed this portion of the IP in the daytime. And yes, seas were somewhat rough on the NB portion as we were in open ocean. Seems YMMV as to which route your sailing will take.. as for us, while we prefer HAL, and as enjoyable as the rest of the sailing was, sailing the BC IP Northbound is so important to us that if we can't count on it this will be our last HAL sailing to Alaska. Shame.

Cannot speak for the OP's cruise date, but our May 13 - 20 KD cruise DID NOT sail the BC Inside Passage between Vancouver Island and the mainland on the NB leg, but did sail through it on the SB leg, however, we did not reach it until late afternoon/evening. That said, our cruise experience was much like the OP's - and we really enjoyed it. Just don't expect the BC IP on the ride up. Thanks for the excellent review!

I wish you the best! We still had a wonderful time, as we had an easy, uneventful boarding, perfect weather(shorts and tshirts everyday, not a cloud in the sky for seven days), and great food and service from a great crew.

i am talking about the BC Inside Passage, between Vancouver Island and the mainland. Every RT Alaskan voyage we have taken from Vancouver has used this route, and is the one we were looking forward to(this from HAL website listing for our cruise): .. not this one, which was the route of our 5/13 sailing(from CruiseMapper): If I had wanted to sail in the open ocean I would have saved a ton of money and hassle and sailed out of Seattle.

Just off the May 13 KD cruise and we were extremely disappointed that we also missed the Inside Passage cruising north.. with nary a mention of the change. The IP days are the reason we choose to cruise out of Vancouver(rather than Seattle), as this is some of the best scenery on the itinerary! We sail to Alaska often, sometimes twice a season, and always out of Vancouver. We always look forward to waking up on that first morning to the sights - and scents - of the BC IP coastline. This time we woke to.. open ocean. If we had known the itinerary had dropped the NB Inside Passage we would have sailed a different line. What possible reason would HAL have to change the itinerary after all these years, especially after selling with the itinerary intact and showing it on the HAL tracker?? Looking at Cruise Mapper, it seems this Is the 'new' route going forward, at least for this Summer season. As far as we are concerned, this is as bad as if they had cancelled a port and never made mention of it!

Our boarding experience was the same for our May 13 Koningsdam cruise. One of the easiest of our 15 Alaska cruises. We were in our Neptune Suite by 11:15

Aboard the Koningsdam now. Arrived Canada Place at 10:45am Aboard and in our Neptune Suite at 11:15am. Easy Peasy. Previous poster was correct, there are no signs for Priority, but when asked we were directed to separate lines for Priority at check-in and boarding. Two ships in port, Majestic & Koningsdam. Seems each ship had its own security line, determined by the colored tags we received before scanning passports. Lots of kiosks and customs agents This was one of the easiest boardings of our ten sailings out of Vancouver. Just remember to drop off your bags at P4(we were dropped off by taxi) first, then you work your way up the levels. There were at least 75 people waiting in the general boarding area, in the Priority area, maybe 30. YMMV of course, but having Priority - either with a Suite or CO - made a big difference.

Sounds good!

We like Rodney's Oyster House, in Gastown, about a twenty - minute walk(approx.) from Canada Place. Casual, fun atmosphere, and their Potato-encrusted Halibut is to die for

^ This. Of course, your ability to use and enjoy your cabana could be dependent on when you cruise. May is the driest month in Alaska, worth considering as is the option of Lowest Category Balcony+Club Orange which includes an upgrade to best available balcony(on the Koningsdam, this could mean a Cat VB with a large balcony on Deck 4).. on most of our five Alaska sailings on HAL, the Category VH balconies - the lowest category - were not much more than an inside. There is nothing quite like stepping out on your balcony in the morning with your room service coffee, or stepping out at night to enjoy the Midnight sun before bed. That said, your idea of choosing a well-located Inside with quick access to the Crow's Nest and outside deck is a good alternative!