Andi Land

Oh my! What a morning you’ve had. I hope it goes smoother from here. Just an idea, in case you hadn’t thought of it yet, make sure and keep your receipts for your water and food so you can ask for reimbursement and have the proof you need. 
 

safe travels! 

2 minutes ago, Saint Greg said:

Today is Skagway. This will be my first time in Skayagway. I was supposed to go last year but it was canceled and replaced with Icy Strait Point.

 

 

My husband enjoyed Skagway Brewing Co. they had fun hats and t shirts and beer too😂 

I’m partial to Icy Straight Point. It just feels like genuine, real Alaska.  Skagway is fun too. The brothel tour was interesting as was the train ride. 

53 minutes ago, Saint Greg said:

I did Tracy Arm May 26th last year. And I was originally on the cruise before that and I also had it booked for that one. So definitely worth her checking into before doing anything too drastic.

 

Yes, definitely worth looking into. We went in 2022 the second week of June and I called the company (Allen Marine Tours, I believe)before booking and they are the ones who said general rule of thumb is Memorial Day. It’s always weather related so anything is possible ☺️

2 minutes ago, Hogladyrider said:

@Saint Greg.....a ship excursion to get closer to a glacier is definitely on my "to do" list for our 14 day Alaska cruise in 2025.  I've watched some You Tube videos and it looks like a well worth $$$$ excursion.  Weather looks pretty decent!

Just as an FYI, I see you’re going to Alaska in May next year. The general rule of thumb is that they don’t go into Tracy Arm until after Memorial Day. You may want to go at a later time to make sure you’ll make the small boat excursion. 

3 minutes ago, Saint Greg said:

I don’t remember where I left off. I l realized it was time for my excursion so I headed upstairs. Stewart had been here

 

 

Is the fold out bed on the wall annoying? Seems like it gets in the way. 

Looking forward to your review of NCL. We are considering them for a cruise next year. 

1 hour ago, Saint Greg said:

That jibes with my research.

The one I mentioned that had all good reviews and was $900/night…Captain Cook.

I would’ve expected better reviews from Sheraton and Hilton. They’re very mixed. Too mixed for me to want to pay their price tag.

 

Wow! We did an Alaska road trip in July 2021 during the “no cruise” pandemic moratorium. We flew into Anchorage and spent a week driving the Kenai peninsula. I was able to snag a room at the Captain Cook for just over $200 per night. I had no idea the normal rate was so high. I feel lucky now to have gotten that rate. 

This happened on my last cruise and I called and asked by I didn’t have priority/early time. They were able to change it and assign me the early group A.  This was done thru my PCC. 

I was on the Eurodam June 24-July 1. We had a great cruise overall and really enjoyed the ship. It was our first time on that ship. 
 

I will agree with the OP that the service in the Explorations Cafe was subpar. We experienced the same disconnect with the staff that was mentioned. We also had mediocre service from the main bartender in the Lido bar. The feeling I had was that the staff was tired and needed some time off to recoup. 
 

We dined in the Pinnacle 3 times and had two very good meals and one average meal. The service was also hit and miss here. We ate at the Tamarind twice and the food and service were exceptional. 
 

Overall, we had a really good experience and would cruise the Eurodam again. 

8 minutes ago, LabMom57 said:

 

We are considering adding CO for our Alaskan cruise on Eurodam in August. For me, the tipping point would be the expanded room service menu for breakfast. Can you provide any information on the difference between the regular room service menu and the expanded CO one?

 

Thanks!

I’m hopeful someone else will have info for you. We didn’t order room service on the entire trip. Sorry 😞 

We just got off the Eurodam on Saturday from Seattle and when we boarded there was a separate “lounge” for 4 and 5 star mariners including Neptune and Pinnacle and Orange Club guests. This lounge is basically a big cubicle (guessing held about 40 people)  that was already full when we got there at 10:55 am. We had to sit elsewhere and listen for our group to be called. It all worked out just fine. 

Just off the Eurodam on Saturday and they asked every night if we wanted to share. 

11 minutes ago, Saint Greg said:

I’ve only been on three ships older than Jewel and most of those were my first cruises so it will be interesting. But I’m not going in expecting a 20 year old ship to compare to a new ship or anything.

If you have time in Seward to do the Kenai Fjords tour by boat, it’s a good one. We did the shorter one because our 6 hour one was cancelled due to weather. The short one was great and I’ve heard excellent things about the longer one. 

24 minutes ago, rodndonna said:

 

This is what I was trying to say -

 

there was a while yesterday (don't see them today) where I could see 2 HAL TransAtlantic (repsositioning) cruises for 2025 on an online booking Travel Agency. I don't see them anymore (maybe I was losing my mind)... but... I can still clearly see Alaska 2025 (through to October 2025) on an on-line Travel Agent booking site. I can see the cruises and cabin pricing, but will not go farther than that (gives an error if trying to book saying no cabins available). It seems odd that I can view cruises on other Travel Agent sites, before HAL's site.

 

 

We just got off the ship on Saturday and if I remember correctly, they said Alaska 2025 will be released any day now. Maybe that’s why it’s showing up on another site? I wonder if the other site published them earlier than allowed? 

1 hour ago, terrydtx said:

Did you try any of the CO additional entrees?  How were they?  We have CO on our November Koingsdam cruise and are looking forward to the CO dining room. We also booked it for our Volendam cruise, but we did this for the room upgrade which paid for the CO.  Also wanted the priority tendering as we a 3 of them on the cruise.

I only tried one of the CO dinner items. It was a lemon shrimp pasta dish. It was very good. 

17 minutes ago, QuattroRomeo said:

Thanks for your comments! Your upsell offer sounds pretty good. A few CO questions to compare with Pinnacle ships: Were you offered an additional entree at dinner? Or cappuccino? Fresh orange juice at breakfast? At guest services, was there a CO line? In the stateroom, were you given the thicker bathrobes?

 

Hi! Yes, at dinner we had the menu with the additional entree. After dinner they always asked if we wanted coffee to go with dessert. I’d guess you could get cappuccino. I don’t drink coffee so I don’t know for sure. Breakfast should have had fresh squeezed OJ but we never received it. There was the separate line at Guest Services which was rarely busy and we also had the nicer upgraded robes that we used every day at the thermal suite. 

8 minutes ago, YourWorldWithBill said:

When I read this, I realized that the elevator problems we saw on the Rotterdam in May were not unique. All four midship elevators were never, not even once, working at the same time. There were various elevators out at various times, and some never seemed to be fixed. Strange that this would be such a problem across the line. Maybe they should start giving free cruises to elevator repair people!

We also had one mid ship elevator that was out of service the entire trip. It was one of the glass elevators on the side of the ship. 

19 minutes ago, 0106 said:

@Andi Land Were you offered an upgrade (for free) or an upsell ( for which you had to pay)?  Other than your comments about CO, how did you like the ship?

We were offered an upsell. It was $59 per person to go from large inside to obstructed OV. We felt it was worth the money. 
 

For the most part, the ship looked great. A couple of the elevators seemed to have problems and would ding that they were overloaded with only a few people on them. 
 

The ship is the same general layout as all the others and felt familiar right away. We especially loved the space in the Tamarind. On Glacier Bay day, we went to the Tamarind  Bar and had a great indoor viewing area that wasn’t very crowded. Same for the library on deck 3. It was a great, quiet, space to relax and quick access outside. 
 

Anything more specific you wanted to know? Please ask ☺️

Hi all! I know it’s been asked a few times what Club Orange is like on a non Pinnacle ship.  I’ve enjoyed CO many times on Koningsdam and booked it for our Alaska cruise in June of this year (2023) primarily for the room upgrade. 
 

Embarkation:  This went really smoothly.  We had an 11 am Group A time. When our time was originally assigned, we had a 1:30 time.  I emailed my PCC and she changed it to earlier since we had CO. Once we made it thru security, we were directed to the “lounge” that included 4 and 5 star mariners as well as Neptune and Pinnacle suites. The sign for that area also indicated it was for CO. It was all well marked in Seattle and the representatives seemed to know what CO was. 
 

Room Upgrade: We booked with a free guarantee inside room and wanted to be able to choose our location to ensure it was quiet. We were able to get one of the large insides on deck 1. About a week before the cruise we were offered an upgrade to a fully obstructed OV on deck 4 (room 4076). All regular OV’s were sold out at this point. We really liked this room and location. It was quiet and the view was better than expected. The room pics and review are on HalFacts for anyone interested. 
 

Dining:  There is a separate line for the dining room on Deck 2 for those with CO.  We were always seated right away and didn’t have to wait in line. We were always given a great table by the window as well.  For breakfast, we were never offered a mimosa and when we ordered one, they took our card and applied it against our Have It All package. This wasn’t an issue since we never get close to the drink limit. So, the wait staff isn’t as well versed since they don’t focus on CO exclusively. We were also never offered pastries/muffins like they do on Koningsdam. Not sure if this is an overall change or just something on this cruise. Dinner functioned much the same way.  We went to the same separate line and were seated right away. We only ate dinner there half the time. We enjoy the CO room on Koningsdam because it is much quieter. Dinner wasn’t as enjoyable in the MDR because of all the noise.

Final Notes: I would take CO on any ship again just for the room upgrade aspect. It generally pays for itself and you get the extras of CO.  However, the experience is much better on a Pinnacle class ship. I will always book CO on those ships for the room upgrade and the dining option. Those more than pay for the price of CO. We didn’t have any tender ports so I don’t know how the priority tendering is handled but assume it should be the same on all ships. 
 

I’m happy to answer any questions anyone might have ☺️ 

Happy cruising!!

The 2024 release was done in December of 2022. So, just about 6-7 months ago. When I asked onboard last week, the cruise consultant said she didn’t have a release date yet. 

Fully vaccinated, as defined by the CDC, is the first two shots. 

Oh, I should add, that Canada New England is one of my all time favorite cruises.  It's a wonderful place to visit.

I would pick Panama Canal or Hawaii and have the kids out of school for that time.  I did that when mine were 10 and 12.  We did an end of season Alaska cruise with them but it was not a problem taking them out of school.  I arranged it ahead of time and they were given the assignments to do on board so they could keep up.  It was perfect for sea day work.  

Is there a separate CO line for breakfast? We’ve only used CO on Koningsdam so don’t know how it works on other ships. 

49 minutes ago, Saint Greg said:

I’ll start by saying I don’t watch baseball and didn’t read the name on the screen. My first thought was “he looks awfully old to be a professional baseball player”. 😂