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I'm with Crew News on this. October in Alaska may not be a good experience, on any ship, on any cruise line.

Thank you for the laugh-out-loud moment this comment gave me 😄 😅😂

That's unfortunate for the people who enjoyed it 😞 We never received it, and I never even noticed. Getting to 4*, I just wanted the complimentary laundry, and wine package discount. 😉

Thanks again for your reports. I'm really enjoying this thread, and appreciate the time you are spending on it 👍

Thanks for taking the time to keep us all informed! I really appreciate it. For me, this is probably an unattainable cruise, but I can dream 😉and I am definitely dreaming.

Maybe try this. Log into your HAL account, spend time looking at a particular cruise while logged in. Leave the website without buying 😉 My PCC, who has been unwilling to do anything for me since she was assigned to me, was on the phone within an hour to see if I wanted to book that cruise.

It's a British series!

Probably this is only for those who watched Red Dwarf

That's it!!! Exactly how DH has to give me directions when I drive. 😁 😅 🤣 (I have some issues with dyslexia, which makes life "interesting" some days! 😄)

Sheesh, too late to edit my original post .... STARBOARD SIDE. STARBOARD SIDE. Sorry for any confusion. PS -- I meant STARBOARD side.

We were port side twice, both times slightly aft of the Neptune Lounge and didn't hear any noise. Can't remember the cabin #s but someplace between 7021 and 7033. Friends traveled in 7035 and they didn't complain about noise. One of them is very sensitive to noise and likes to sleep late, so I think if there'd been noise to a level that bothered them they'd have mentioned it.

Thanks for taking the time to report. It's appreciated.

Thanks so much for taking us along. 🙂

As a Canadian, I appreciate your thoughtfulness in asking these questions. Thank you! 1. Either is acceptable and appreciated. 2. Absolutely! 3. In a major centre like Vancouver, it's pretty easy to exchange US$, any bank will do it. 4. Not at all offensive. RE: Airport. When you leave Canada, if you have a bunch of Canadian $1 and $2 coins, use up as many of those that you can. You can't exchange them back to US $s in the US.

I'm so sorry. I can only imagine how disappointed you are, with such short cancellation notice 😞

HAL had a promo shortly after the Alaska cruise season bookings opened, IIRC, that was up to $200 OBC for booking early. Would that be the case for you? EDITED TO ADD: I think bookings needed to be made within 90 days of the cruise being available to book. Or something like that.

Have you thought about flying from Tokyo to Vancouver, and doing a 7-day northbound, and a 7-day southbound? Then doing the Rockies road trip from Vancouver?

@ontheweb thanks for asking. I too had wondered. @KirkNC glad to hear all is well.

Wow, that's amazing. Congratulations! (Yeah, I am feeling more than a twinge of jealousy, but still, good for you 👍 )

As for amounts, per week, we budget $50 for the cabin steward team, $50 for dining steward, $25 each for the assistant dining steward and the wine steward (when they existed). For our favorite bar server, if we have one, we usually plan for $25 to $50. If we don't have one specific bar server, we make a contribution to the "bar staff fund" at the bar we frequent. The few times we have been in Neptunes, I honestly can't remember what we gave the concierges. The $s I've mentioned are more or less what we expect to tip, but the actual tip is always subject to adjustment, up or down. I make sure that there's a thank you note included with each tip, which, according to one Neptune concierge, will go on file with HR and can help with contract renewals, promotions, etc.

We do one envelope, addressed to both. They are a team so I figure they have established some sort of agreement on how tips will be split. If they have no agreement, that's between the two of them.

A friend used the pullout sofa bed in my Neptune Suite for a few nights and found it okay. I remember asking her and she said it was better than expected. As always, your mileage may vary 😉

I wouldn't give up an aft/wakeview cabin to take a Signature Suite, but if the price was right, I'd move to a Neptune along the side of the ship for the extra benefits.

DH and I have always enjoyed the Dive In burgers. I'm hoping that the comments about how awful they are now are simply a matter of personal preferences. I have been looking forward to a Dive In burger if/when we cruise again.

For some of us, that's all that is available for much or all of the year 😞