Btimmer

They compared notes more to ascertain what each didn't do. I don't think the Jr. Ranger was a big deal for his friends. His sister was much more eager to complete it than Jakob was. As grandparents we think its a great and simple program to engage the younger crowd in our National Parks.

We sailed on the Noordam northbound only just before you and had a fabulous cruise with our grandson. Last year we did the same land/sea cruise with a granddaughter, also on the Noordam.

Last year we took our 11 year old granddaughter on a 7 day Alaska cruise and this year we took her 10 year old brother. Both were on the Noordam and both absolutely loved Club HAL and didn't ever want to miss it during the evening and on sea days. Both made friends from the club that spilled over into pool times.

That's the cruise. They must have renamed it after I received my PR piece on the Noordam.

November

Earlier this year I was juggling the GSA (I'm leading many private excursions), an Alaska cruise and a first time Princess Cruise in the British Isles. So for the Atlantic Adventurer cruise, it's a very conscious decision to wait a bit until the GSA is done.

Yes, upon reflection I see that it's not a Grand Voyage. However, It has a great itinerary for us which is our #1 item when choosing a cruise. I've checked out the roll call but won't get active until after we complete the Grand South America this fall.

We're booked on the Volendam's Atlantic Adventurer for 2024 and will look forward to the changes. We've sailed many nights on the Volendam and love sailing on it.

We were just on the Noordam a few weeks ago and it was in fine condition for our taste. We also sailed on it in 2022 and it was nice then.

I used the World Cruise address last week and it worked just fine. However, it did come back from CCLShareholderHAL. The person signing the document works in WC reservations.

We sailed on the Westerdam for two months in the fall of 2022 from Seattle to Sydney, NZ and out to Kangaroo Island and back to Sydney and loved it. For CPAP users, simply bring a short 6'-8' extension cord and you'll be fine.

This happened to us on the Koningsdam as well on a Amsterdam RT cruise to Norway. They totally took over the Dutch cafe for most of every sea day and in the evenings.

Or as I did when I described Boston having two medical emergencies due to the heat and ineptness of their process.

Boston was way way worse (2 medical emergencies in line) and I wrote it up in my Almost Live Thread & Blog last year. Here's what I wrote in my blog: After a pleasant morning visiting the Faneuil Hall, we retrieved our luggage and used Uber to reach the cruise port. The check in line was at least 1/4 mile long but fortunately it was in the shade. We waited in line for one hour and 9 minutes before we entered the building where everyone had to pass through the security scanners. After that they separated the sheep from the goats (sheep were those who used Verifly to upload all their documents; goats were those who didn't). As a sheep we then were directed to a 4-5 star Mariner line which quickly led to our official check in using a scanner and comparison to our passport. With a quick stop at the embarkation photo area, we were free to board the ship. This was absolutely the worst embarkation we have ever had. There were at least two medical emergencies that ended people's cruises. Once onboard, we found our room after 1 hour and 49 minutes from when we joined the line, stripped off our valuables for the safe, watched the safety video, and headed out for a 4-5 star reception. It was scheduled for 2-3, but we couldn't get there until 2:50. There wasn't much happening so we left for a light lunch in the Lido where we watched airplane activity at Logan International while eating and chilling out. We then checked in for our muster drill before returning to the stateroom to find our luggage on board.

We boarded the Noordam in Vancouver a few weeks ago. We arrived around 12:30pm on a charter bus from Tukwila. The check-in with HAL was fairly quick, BUT the long serpentine line for the US Customs pre-clearance was very long with 3 ships in port. We didn't get on the ship until around 3pm and we were among the last onboard. It was probably the 2nd worst embarkation we've experienced with the first being the NS sailing out of Boston last year.

I'll also add that the Dutch pea soup served at Glacier Bay was absolutely scrumptious!.

I've found the NY Deli on the Pinnacle class ships to be superb!

We got off of the Noordam a week ago and there is a reasonable selection of deli sandwiches in the LIDO. They normally make up a veggie, tuna, and a deli meat sandwich plus they'll make you a custom sandwich. Regarding the Dive-In premade burgers, I had one. One and done. I ordered mine fresh after that and those are just fine.

A couple days after we returned from our trip I felt a bit "off". Today I self tested positive for COVID-19. I just have a slightly sore throat, congestion, and tiredness. Jakob and Angela appear to be fine. It looks like some self quarantining is in order for a bit.

Let me just say that I don't recommend that children be allowed in the Noordam's Seaview Pool because of the skimmer design which can trap appendages. I don't remember if the Rotterdam has the same design.

Thank you for your kind words. There are a number of Land/Sea options that include the Yukon. We've not done those because I've ridden my motorcycle twice to Alaska and enjoyed the Yukon that way.

That's a nice way to do the southbound. We prefer to use the Princess facility and restaurants in Denali and we happened to use a Princess rail car going north from Anchorage.

I'm keeping it a mystery for now but you'll see another "Btimmer's Almost Live" thread closer to our start date on this HAL thread.

We're home now and it was a great cruise and land tour. If I were to recommend such a tour, I would recommend the southbound triple Denali so that there is more time in Denali, less time in Anchorage, and a southbound daytime cruise on the Inside Passage. If you have any last questions, post them here. And be on the lookout for our upcoming big voyage of the year starting in October, 2023.

On this last day of our sea/land cruise we did a riverboat cruise on the Chena River, a miner's lunch and an afternoon visit to the #8 dredge and a very nice dinner in the Westmark Latitude restaurant. It's been a terrific multigenerational cruise and land trip organized by TWA but using all Holland America transportation and one of their hotels (Westmark). It was nice being pampered without having to arrange pretty much anything. My brother and his multigenerational group are a week behind us on the Nieuw Amsterdam and are having a similar experience. Here are a few pictures from today. Discovery III DISCOVERY cache at Chena Village Low end of a Chena River housing High End of housing on the Chena River remains of old shipyard Gold Dredge In the control room of the dredge Along the pipeline Jakob's 'go to' meal of calamari & lettuce Angela's halibut My sirloin steak