HAL4NOW

We made it onto the ship about an hour and a half later (almost four o’clock) after having to go downstairs and going through two more rooms of lines. The Lido was closed already but we got some food from the Dive-In. Edo and Sunu are our room stewards; I remembered Sunu from last October.

Your choice

One and a half hours into the line we finally made it into this room:

Checked out of the hotel and waiting for shuttle to Canada Place.

We both had tested positive.

My DW got Paxlovid from the ship’s medical staff last October. The cost was $750 and it was covered by our insurance.

Staying in Vancouver tonight and looking forward to boarding the Koningsdam tomorrow.

Weird; I had never noticed. Here is the rule section from the CBSA (Canada Border Services Agency): Liquor Outlets and Bars Liquor outlets and bars must be closed while in port. Under no circumstances should liquor be given or sold to visiting Canadian residents, shore personnel, or stevedoring personnel while the ship is in port. While in port, one bar per 1,000 passengers, or one bar per deck that provides hospitality services (whichever is greater), may be allowed to remain open. For example, if there are four decks providing hospitality services, four bars may be allowed to remain open. A letter requesting permission to open bars must be submitted to the FPOA inbox at the beginning of the season. This letter must include the bar location, the time it will be open, and, once suitably endorsed by the CBSA, will act as standing authority to open these bars, while in port, for the entire season. For any amendments to the original request, or if special circumstances exist that require additional bars to be open, another letter must be submitted to the CBSA. The CBSA will conduct spot checks to ensure compliance and this privilege will be revoked if any bar is open without permission or if any Canadian resident visitor, shore personnel, or stevedoring personnel is served in a bar. In addition, monetary penalties may be assessed to the cruise line.

Jacqui, thanks for the Bon Voyage thread. The weather forecast is looking pretty good for next week in Ketchikan and Prince Rupert. The last couple of times in Ketchikan we got soaked with all day torrential rain. We have a high probability of sunshine this time. Thank you to everyone else, especially the Dailyites, for the well-wishes.

We visited Manta, Ecuador, on the Zaandam in April of 2019. We took the HAL excursion called "Machallila". The excursion consisted of some time at a very nice beach for swimming and just hanging out, a museum tour, a walk through the woods, and a poolside lunch.

My DW and I will be sailing out of Vancouver on May 1st, along with @Cruising-along ; a quick five-day cruise with only two stops: Ketchikan, and Prince Rupert.

Somebody at Celebrity Cruise Lines must be a Toy Story fan because they have Infinity and Beyond.

I am not sure about your location, but in Skykomish the fire department would help refill the tanks in an emergency. At a minimum, there would be oxygen available in the ambulance during transport, if it came to needed that. Glad you had a good supply of emergency tanks.

We got the room assignment tonight for our upcoming Pacific Northwest cruise on the Koningsdam. We just had a complimentary interior room booked as a guarantee. Very pleased to have been assigned FB1019, a Family Ocean View. Just nine more days 🙂

You should be able to login, go to the "My Account" tab, click on "statements" under the "History and Statements" column. You will get links to monthly pdf files of your statements. Open the most recent pdf file and you should find all the information you need. If your transaction doesn't show in the most recent statement, try the "confirmations" link in that same column. When you have the pdf file opened, you should be able to use the draw tool to black out your account number before sending anything to HAL. Hope this helps.

My DW's grandmother almost settled in western Washington, but after a couple months she left. The deciding factor that caused her to move to California was that she wasn't able to hang her laundry out without it getting rained on.

The Koningsdam will be featured again on the Smithsonian Channel tonight at 6PM. It is part of the Mighty Cruise Ships series. It is from Season 3, so a little dated. Mighty Cruise Ships has already featured the Nieuw Stantendam in Season 4. Here is the description of tonight's episode: "The crew of the Koningsdam, Holland America's latest, largest and most technologically-advanced ship, face sailing through the narrow Norwegian fjords."

Hey Bruno, good to hear from you. We had snow and hail and rain and sun today; temperatures mostly in the 30's this week (up to 40's in the afternoon). My DW and I are heading to Ketchikan and Prince Rupert on the Koningsdam in less than three weeks; Inside passage out of Vancouver, so shouldn't have to fight the winds too much. Ketchikan is about ten degrees warmer than we are right now. Glad to hear you dad is doing better. PT (physical torture) is wonderful when it works. Praying for the best for both of you.

My DW was a children’s librarian and she especially liked the older Caldecott Medal books. She has a copy of Make Way For Ducklings her mom purchased for her from the Corner Bookstore in Boston that is pictured in the book.

Spring continues to elude us in Skykomish.

I agree about the distance of the view; yesterday's snow was much prettier. It stayed about 100 feet above town level and looked great on the trees on the hillside. By the way, my name is Tony for future reference.

I made the mistake of putting away my snow shovel yesterday.

About three inches of spring snow fell over night. Here is a view from our kitchen window.

Spring seems to be over after a couple of nice days this week and the ground is covered with snow.

Tonight’s sunset.