Mary229

I recently sailed Koningsdam sideways cabin on deck 5.  I was able to figure out and dampen all creaks.  

The customs is pretty quick.  I would allow at least a half hour, me being cautious would allow 45 minutes 

Sign up for expedited disembarkation when you get the card in your room.  Usually customs allows people to start leaving by 7:30.   As long as your guide can give you a little leeway you should be fine.   Boston is such a great city to drive around.  

What are the terms of your private tour?  Do they give you an arrival window.  You should be able to do it especially if you are on one of the smaller ships and have nothing to declare.

when I am in Boston I have noticed that the dock workers union run a tight schedule   

Check the National Park Service website.  They offer interpretive tours  in Skagway we took the free and interesting walking tour and still had lots of time to do other activities 

https://www.nps.gov/klgo/index.htm

HMC is HAL’ private island and the beaches and water are beautiful.  It is a perfect place for a beach day. 

They have some wonderful beach toys like water bikes, kayaks and so much more.  Don’t swim? Do a glass bottom boat tour.  All fun 

You can go to HAL’s website and look up prices.  The best sale is usually Thanksgiving weekend when they offer great prices and prepaid gratuities.   I like HAL for their small ships and unique itineraries.  If you prefer a larger ship and a 7 day journey I think most of the major lines are pretty comparable to each other. 

Just now, CruiserBruce said:

No, they will do their best get you there. They can't guarantee. No one can.

Yes but they will get you to the ship if possible. Fly by yourself and are late, you are on your own.  I use it only when I fly same dat

It will be expensive but you could use HAL’s precruise options or use their Flight ease so you are assured of HAL getting you to the ship on time.  I have one coming up in the heart of holiday season. I will use flight ease 

Check halfacts for photos 

Amsterdam is R class

Halfacts

Here is the official document and it looks like you can send it in fairly early. I don’t know when your cruise is. 

Carnival Corporation Shareholder Benefit

4 minutes ago, sppunk said:

They have two on order - expedition ships - so all is not lost there lol

Sounds great.  Can you provide a link to the information.  Thank you. 

9 hours ago, sammiedawg said:

Why not just move up to Seabourne or one of the premium lines.  

We did one Prinsendam and I swear on my kids lives the food was standard for the fleet.  The service was standard for the fleet.  We were underwhelmed but we left our rose colored glasses at home, 

 

Itineraries.  We only look at a few things: ship size and quality and itinerary. The rest is background noise.  

1 hour ago, ski ww said:

No jogging. If people would stay to their right instead of walking in the center of the deck it would be easier for others to pass on their left.

Off topic:  That depends on where you are from.  I live in a diverse community and all those folks who came from countries that drive on the left also jog/walk on the left.  It takes months to train them😉.  I am sure it is the same on a cruise ship.

No there are not. You can rent one 

I am a jogger and voted no.  I use the sports deck or treadmills.  Risking rotten tomatoes being thrown my way I can’t say I think much of the Koningsdam’s promenade.  and yes I have been overrun by aggressive power walkers on my evening strolls 

6 hours ago, KroozNut said:

 

Ummmm, can you elaborate on exactly what 'you loved about it'?

5:15 is late lunch, 8:00 is too late to eat, solitude.  The undesirable table is never rushed since no one else wants it.  But that may be changing.  It seemed to us that the Koningsdam has a larger percentage of tables for two than the older ships.  I would have to assume that is because of customer demand .

2 hours ago, Fouremco said:

Sorry, but I don't agree that it's not an artificial standard. Reading through the all-too-many dress threads, there are frequent disparaging posts made about passengers who meet HAL's dress code but are nevertheless denigrated. Those posting such remarks can only using artificial standards, as they aren't using HAL's.

It validates my conviction to always have a table for two.   I don’t go into public to be ridiculed or judged. 

10 minutes ago, DaveOKC said:

Funny how people do that (I assume to avoid tipping), especially with the hotel service charge now in place which is supposed to be your tipping for the cruise.  Of course, some people do tip extra, when service warrants it, but still.......

 

For some it is convenient. Believe it or not some of us don’t cruise for the dining experience and the lido is just fine for many meals.    I always tip. 

Just off the Koningsdam a few weeks ago.  Our first "big" ship experience in quite a while.  We did MDR breakfast, if at all, Lido late lunch and mid time MDR dinner.  The only rushes we found were mid time (6:30 wish) dinner.  

Just now, ScottC4746 said:

Popcorn thread?  I never saw popcorn on board Eurodam.  Where is the popcorn?

That's just it.  Right before a movie screening they put out about 20 bags of popcorn, when they are gone, they are gone.  No leniency.  They will serve you all the filet mignon you want but you have to run to the theater/outdoor screen to get the small bag of popcorn.  

35 minutes ago, ScottC4746 said:

The main point of my original post was "The main point was people were enjoying the cruise."  I didn't expect it to blow up.  Sorry about that.

It is definitely a popcorn thread now...... speaking of which WTH is with the popcorn on HAL?  Why can't we have popcorn all day long.  

Maybe slightly off topic but does the points credited go to the credit card holder on file or to both people in the cabin?  How is that worked out.   Thank you for your input

1 hour ago, catl331 said:

Yes, we use a credit card as much as possible both at home and when traveling ... but what I am talking about is what to do with "left over" Euro.

That is when the ship conversion comes in handy.  If you have no use for them and couldn't find a chocolate bar to buy with them it really doesn't matter what the conversion rate is, right?   I can usually buy a lot of good Euro chocolate, I convert euros to fat😁

12 hours ago, Sea42 said:

Yet Carnival has far less incidents of Norovirus than HAL over the last several years.

https://www.cdc.gov/nceh/vsp/surv/gilist.htm#2019

HAL is doing a good job this year but their record is not great.

It may be age demographic.  The younger demographic on Carnival may not report or even have major symptoms from illness where the over 50 demographic typical on HAL will