happysiera

yes - thanks so much! i appreciate the details :)

of course now i see where @TheSecondSister said you boarded just before noon, my apologies for my oversight ... to clarify, though, i was curious if your letter also said that it would start at 12:30 and it started early, or did your letter say your boarding would start at 11:30?

(our letter says boarding will start at 12:30 for ns guests, but if things start prior, then maybe we won't have to wait quite as long as 2 pm ...)

thanks!

I've posted this before: We got the same form email from HAL prior to our Eurodam departure from Seattle on May 20th. As someone mentioned above, it says "suggested" boarding times. We showed up at the terminal at pier 91 at 11am, at which time there were already a few hundred people in the process of checking in. Boarding began at 11:30am, and we were in the main dining room having lunch by noon. The ship and crew are already prepared to welcome the new passengers onboard by 11:30, and our cabin was ready for us.

 

The humongous Ruby Princess shares the same pier and departure time with Eurodam in Seattle. When Oosterdam leaves pier 91 on Sunday, it shares the pier with the Emerald Princess, sister ship to Ruby, I believe. Even though the two cruise lines have separate check-in facilities, the combined number of passengers boarding is close to 5,000. HAL is simply trying to space out arrivals in order to reduce the congestion. I suppose scoff-laws like me mess up their planned procedure, but the check-in process was already up and running smoothly for us when we arrived at 11am.

 

Passengers are given numbers for boarding when they check in, but the wait is not long. If you are a suite passenger, 4 or 5 star Mariner, or have impaired mobility, you will be the first to board if you are already in the terminal. But the subsequent number groups are announced quite soon after the announcement for priority boarding, and the whole process is quite efficient.

 

PS Edited to add that I believe that Amsterdam , departing alone at pier 91 on Monday, will not have the same congestion as Eurodam and Oosterdam.

did your boarding times start at 11 or 12:30? i remember your thread here and read your blog about the same route - many thanks for such detailed information and photos!

i'm not surprised about staggered boarding as we had an 'assigned' time via rccl in the past ... only wondered why it seemed to start later than i remembered from experience/reading about lunch options ... we may just get lunch in seattle and not stress about finding our way on the ship before muster ...

via travel agent, we received an embarkation time slot from hal of 2 p.m. for what i had anticipated was a 4 p.m. sail time ... this seems late?

4-5 star mariners and neptune suite guests are at 12:30 p.m.; other decks are 1, 1:30, and 2:30 ... does this mean no one will board before 12:30? (it is the eurodam to alaska via seattle on 6.17.17) also, will the muster drill still happen before sailing?

just wondering as most threads had talked about the process starting around 11-11:30 ... also curious if we should even attempt lunch on board ...

sometimes you can find photos from previous cruisers online ... i'm lucky as we are on the eurodam and i have seen 2-ish photo sets of the menus (one being here: https://twocruisingsisters.wordpress.com/)

perhaps they would be similar?

when i called hal to ask a few other questions, they confirmed that you could not get menus more in advance ...

thanks! i love the ginger sold at trader joes :)

will have to look into some for the kids, too, as that version can sometimes be strong ...

thanks for all the feedback - it is appreciated!

a few suggested the salmon hatcheries - is the one in juneau better than sitka?

@styles27 - thanks for the details! your personal review on your cruise has helped me get excited as i'm not a lifelong cruiser- ha! we went to the caribbean when i was expecting the kids and i thought our balcony there was a slider, so i assumed others were similar - but at this point, that could even be a false memory - ha!

i'm glad to hear about the 'crow's nest' as i'm unsure that the kids will want to go to the kids club at night ... thanks for the shuttle info for juneau and sitka - i hope we can make both work :)

@MandyGirl - i will have to look up nugget falls ...

looking forward to your review, @jasperkerri - have a great time!

our kids would love a library visit - thanks for adding that, @TheCalicoCat

appreciate the dinner suggestions - we have pretty much told them that their grandparents are being very generous and part of the trip includes sit-down dinners (we have fixed seating for the first time slot) ... they are good eaters and i think they will enjoy trying different foods and even the bonus dessert :) i have been gathering some maze books and seek and find books to help in desperate times - ha!

great picture, @Sequim88! i think they would love to touch a crab! definitely looking into a shuttle to a hatchery :)

and yes, in addition to social etiquette, i'm excited to get them dressed up, too! they aren't much for that, most of the time - ha!

that would be so unfortunate if your little is sick, @Mamascott :( ... i would be so excited if we get a window table assignment!

@pengu!n, our kids are 4.5 ... appreciate your thoughts for keeping them busy! i think they will handle dinner pretty ok ... unless one of us is at work, we make it a very regular habit to sit and eat together every night so we are going to try to stick with that here ... i have heard the dining room can be easier for parents as they don't have to stress about finding a seat or gathering food from multiple stations for multiple people - not ideal for vacation!

even though they keep asking if the ship will sink :o, i think they are going to enjoy the cruise! i do worry a little that they will just be so busy and overstimulated that they won't get enough sleep ... they don't really nap unless they are sleepy and in the car more than 20 minutes ... *sigh* ... at least i think i read that there are black-out shades/blinds in the rooms?

thanks again and if anyone has other thoughts, i will keep checking :)

another quick curiosity - was there anything missing, snack-wise, that would be recommended for an in-room stash? i may bring some fruit snacks as they can be helpful bribes, or trail mix, but if something else would be helpful, we can bring that, too - esp as we are driving to seattle ... thx!

hello!

we are traveling to alaska with family in a few weeks for my in-laws anniversary ... although, i have read numerous threads, blogs, articles, etc, i can't help with wanting to be prepared, especially with kiddos ... perhaps you could help with a few questions and curiosities? (many thanks in advance!)

-what do you wish you would have known before taking an alaska cruise?

-if you had kids in the 3-7 age group at club hal, did they enjoy it? the pictures i have seen do not show much more than some screens and small tables for coloring ...

-are the in-room movies available on demand or do certain movies show only at certain times of day?

-how easy do the sliding glass doors to the balconies lock/open?

-after dinner, are there any public areas on the eurodam, in particular, that would be open to groups who want to play cards or do a puzzle with minors?

-what are your favorite ways to keep kids occupied in the main dining room during dinner? (yes, we go out to eat, but rarely do our dining experiences last as long as formal dinners ... just figured it would be worth asking for any tried and true suggestions :))

-we don't really have much budget for excursions for a family of 4, but it's also hard to say if we would ever go back to alaska ... favorite family-friendly activities in juneau, sitka or ketchikan? (currently considering a shuttle to mendenhall glacier, the tram, and lumberjack show)

thanks for reading and any insight you could provide!