Btimmer

Today was filled with Alaska presentations, a Mariner reception, and a couple lovely meals. The weather was quite overcast with limited outside visibility. We ate lunch in the Dutch Cafe (pea soup and a sandwich) and a fabulous dinner at the Sel de Mer. At the reception, the Hotel General Manager, René, indicated that the circular stairway between the Rolling Stone Rock Room and the billboard onboard venues would be removed at the next drydock. This will give more space for the casino on deck 3 above and the 2 music venues on deck 2. Calamari appetizer seafood soup Grilled seafood A presentation picture. It was actually my entree cinnamon ice cream for Angela's dessert My fruit plate & cheese dessert It was the Captain's toast tonight which preceeded Humanity by the Step One Dance Company which was the evening entertainment and we followed that listening to the 70's set in billboard onboard. The two performers were good. We were at the premiere performances of both those venues back in 2016 on the inaugural cruise. I recall standing next to the president of Holland America when he said upon observing the crowd at the billboard onboard, "I think we hit a home run!" It was packed again tonight. Senior officers Step one The seas were flat today until about 6pm, when there was noticeable 'motion to the ocean' for about an hour. Our inside cabin is quite comfortable with little vibration and no noises. Towel animal and chocolate (it was dressy night) We gain an hour of sleep tonight but tomorrow will be Juneau, where I spent my early years until age 8. We are scheduled to arrive around 1:30pm local time.

Just the cube, there's no more room for a chair. The Pinnacle class ships all have very small rooms.

We're off on our voyage. The shuttle from Seattle took around 4 hours and check in, clearing security as well as pre-clearance border security was smooth and efficient taking about 1/2 hour in total. I suspect many of the guests were already on board. Coming on board was like coming home! Every thing seemed so familiar even though it had been 8 years since we sailed the Koningsdam's inaugural voyage. Our postage stamp sized aft port side inside stateroom 4168 is nice and cozy and certainly ample for a three day cruise. We met our stateroom attendants and they were warm and charming. The muster drill was quick and efficient. We were also able to make specialty restaurant reservations for all three nights so no buffet dinners for us this cruise. Departure was at 3:15 which was a bit early, but I suspect it was enfluenced by a low tide to pass under the Lion's Gate bridge which occurred shortly after departure. Dinner in the Tamarind was wonderful. After dark just north of Campbell River the Celebrity Solstice, Nieuw Amsterdam, and Royal Caribbean Brilliance of the Seas passed by going south to Vancouver. Below are a few pictures from today. Enjoy and ask any questions. Lion's Gate bridge Solstice Nieuw Amsterdam Brilliance of the Seas

We are definitely aware of the possibility for viewing the Northern Lights. We did get excellent views on our May return cruise from Australia.

For this year's Alaska trip, we are sailing on the Koningsdam from Vancouver, BC to Skagway and then doing a HAL land tour through the gold country of Canada and Alaska as well as visiting Denali before ending the HAL portion of the trip in Anchorage. We're then catching the Grand Princess in Whittier back to Vancouver. Join us as we appreciate the grandeur of my birth state and experience two difference cruise lines. We've done Alaska trips on HAL many times previously, but this will be our first Princess cruise in Alaska. On both ships, we'll be in aft interior inside cabins as we're never in the room except to sleep. We've not been on the Koningsdam since its inaugural sailing and we've never been on the Grand Princess. We really like sailing out of Vancouver for the chance to traverse the inside passage of Vancouver Island. I'll post pictures and text in this thread and I'll also do one of my daily blogs that I'll provide a link to later. Given that it's 4 days until our departure, I guess I had better start packing my bags. We're really looking forward to this trip and a chance for me to show my wife some more of the interior of Alaska. We don't have any shore excursions booked and we'll just be "winging it".

As I recall, there is some form of shuttle from the port to the town. I don't recall the cost as we were on a private excursion and that excursion took us to town and back to the ship. Tim

I'll be doing one of my "BTimmer's Almost Live" threads at the end of the month. It's going to be an interesting quasi B2B with HAL's Koningsdam going north to Alaska, and returning on Princess' Grand Princess. It'll be a good opportunity for a fresh comparison of two cruise lines in Alaska. Look for it around 8/24/24.

We're 5 star cruisers on HAL and have recently been sailing on Princess and finding that we like the ships especially on sea days as there's an abundance of activity. Itinerary would be first on my list for deciding which to take.

I don't recall any of the bathroom walls being magnetic. I believe they are plastic or fibreglass

We've done inside cabins on all of the Pinnacle class ships (and most of the rest of fleet as well), and they are definitely small. But it works for us and we have another one upcoming in August on the Koningsdam for a short 3 day cruise. Unless we get a screaming deal on a balcony, inside cabins work well for us.

I opted in and then after a few messages, I opted out. The deals were simply just not that good to be bothered with text messages.

We've been on the Zaandam twice: Last fall for 2.5 months on the GSA and 6 years earlier for 3 weeks on an Antarctica cruise. We love the ship and wouldn't hesitate to book a trip on it again. The long voyage was in an ocean view cabin forward and the shorter voyage was in an inside cabin that I don't remember the cabin number or location.

We've done Alaska on the Amsterdam, Maasdam, Noordam, Oosterdam (several of these multiple times), and Quantum of the Seas. I'd never do RCCL again as they did absolutely no commentary when in the glaciers and scenic areas and said that it was banned for environmental reasons (hogwash & I told them so as we've been on many HAL cruises where there is lots of commentary). Later this summer we're going NB to Alaska on the Koningsdam and returning on Princess, so I'll be able to do some further comparisons. Please go to Alaska to see Alaska; I believe you won't be disappointed with HAL or Princess. Both have been doing Alaska for a very long time..

Re: the seafood boil, we've done a number of them and have found that for us, one pot is enough for the two of us.

Watermelon is year round for us. It's summer somewhere . . .

For me, the two basic food groups are popcorn and watermelon.

We're long time HAL cruisers (greater than 800 nights) and chose them principally because of itineraries. We also LOVED the EXC cruises on the Maasdam and did a number of them. That being said, the introduction of STEP ONE across the fleet really diminished the entertainment value when one sailed on just HAL. We've seen most of the Step One shows a half dozen times or more, and they became boring for me. Last year we stepped out and tried the Regal Princess in England because of a terrific itinerary. It was a breath of fresh air in cruising and we enjoyed it again in the Caribbean. We recently completed a bit over a month on the Majestic Princess from Australia to Seattle and it was simply fabulous (except for the LIDO dining). The entertainment level was off the chart active. Looking forward, we doing HAL on a northbound cruise to Alaska and Princess on the southbound. In the spring of 2025, we're booked on the Sun Princess for a week and then two weeks on the Nieuw Amsterdam. So we'll have a couple of back to back comparisons of the two lines. We still remain destination cruisers and like others, we will generally choose the cruise line based upon their destinations. HAL remains for us at the top of the unique destinations list for cruise companies..

In 2022 we took our 11 year old granddaughter on a cruise tour on the Noordam southbound (land first) and she and we loved it. In 2023 we took her 10 year old brother on a northbound Noordam cruise tour (sea first) and he also loved it. This year we are doing it alone on the Koningsdam to Skagway (3 days) and then the train and bus to Whitehorse and then Dawson City and Fairbanks with overnights in each. In Fairbanks we're not doing the river cruise but only visiting the dredge (fine with us), and then we will do 2 nights at Denali including the tundra tour. We like eating at the Princess Lodge but will stay at the HAL accommodations. We'll take the dome car train to Anchorage, stay a couple of nights and then catch a shuttle to Whittier and take the Grand Princess on a 7 night return voyage to Vancouver with the customary stops in Skagway, Juneau, and Ketchikan plus some glacier viewing. Alaska is a magical place to visit and it has the nickname "The Great Land" for a reason.

BTW, I recently received a formal announcement from Princess announcing the all inclusive fare change discussed in this thread. It's effective 7/1/24.

On a recent Majestic Princess cruise from Sydney to Seattle, we had multiple passenger entertainment events including the Voice of Ocean, 3 performances of a passenger pop choir in the Piazza, and lots of karaoke. There was some amazing passenger talent and all the events were well attended.

In 2019, the Maasdam reached Nome and one tender attempted to land, but was unsuccessful. The port was then cancelled and we continued on to Russia. We were super close to Nome and could see the church. But such is cruising life.

We've taken two of our younger grandchildren (9 & 11 when they cruised) on the Noordam on separate land / sea cruises. Both absolutely loved CLUB HAL and the specific independent excursions we booked for us (whale watching in Juneau, sled dogs and puppies in Skagway, and the Lumberjack Show (grandson) and ziplining (granddaughter) in Ketchikan. When our granddaughter (11) came back from the first cruise gushing about it, her brother pleaded to be able to go, so we took him the next year and he loved it as well. Now it's year 3 and we are going alone this time. . .

Cherie, We did a number of port stops in PNG from the Maasdam in 2019. If you go to my daily blog for days 64-67, there may be some helpful information there. The address is: https://timmerseattletosydney2019.blogspot.com. I hope this is of some help. Day 64 was the most memorable!!

We've sailed to / from Alaska on the Maasdam, Amsterdam, Oosterdam (2x), Noordam (2x), Volendam, and Quantum of the Seas. We've also spent 2.5 months on the Zaandam on the Grand South America (wonderful!) and have sailed for 3 weeks on the Koningsdam on it's inaugural cruise. That being said, I'd take the smaller ship for Alaska, but we are booked on the Koningsdam for this August, 2024 to sail to Alaska and then do the land excursion through the gold country to Fairbanks and Denali before using the Grand Princess to sail back to Vancouver. I'll be doing one of my "almost live" threads to report on that experience. While I like the smaller ships, in my opinion the more important thing is to experience Alaska. In many respects, that's more important than which ship is used.

We've done the double and triple Denali in each of the last two years and are doing another one later this summer which will be a northbound out of Vancouver on the Koningsdam for 3 days and then a land trip through the gold country to Fairbanks and then down to Denali. After Denali, we're taking the train to Anchorage, spending a few nights, and then catching the Grand Princess out of Whittier back to Vancouver. In prior years, from Denali to Anchorage we traveled on the train with the dome cars which we really like. The train does leave relatively early in the day.As shared above, the detailed information you are requesting will be provided at appropriate times during your trip. Re: the Tundra tour, there are multiple departure times that are assigned and some of them leave fairly early. A box lunch and water is provided. The buses are a bit spartan (a little bit more deluxe than a school bus) but not like an over the road coach used between Denali & Fairbanks. While we have always stayed at HAL's lodging in Denali, we really liked eating at the Princess facility which can be reached by walking or taking a free shuttle. At the HAL site, the dinner theatre is worth doing for a light hearted look at local history. We've also eaten at the strip mall across the highway from the lodging in Denali. In Fairbanks, we've always stayed at the Westmark and it was okay. In Anchorage, we've stayed at the Captain Cook which is quite nice.