gjb2019

6 hours ago, RocketMan275 said:

In order to minimize waiting times, is it better to arrive early, before 10AM, or to arrive later, after 130PM?  ...

Never having done this before, I know I am not the best person to offer any opinion ... from the responses here, however, it looks like if there might be a hold-up at the port it'd be with waiting for US customs clearance. Customs line-ups can be brutal depending on how many officers are on duty and how many questions need to be asked of howevermany people in line ahead of you, and I'm not a risk-taker, so for me, going early-early in the hopes of being toward the front (rather than the back) of any possible long customs line-ups, is likely to be less stressful to me. Everyone is different though ... your mileage may vary!

Really appreciate all the input from you folks who have posted here - thank you very much!

1 minute ago, Krazy Kruizers said:

No matter what our documents state and the disembarkation port, we arrive around 10:30 and are usually on the ship between 11:30 and Noon.

 

You are permitted to bring as much soda and bottled water as you want -- no limit.  Has to be with your carry-on luggage.  NOW -- some people have stuck a label on their bottled water, etc. and had it delivered to their cabin.  But as thin as these bottles are, I would be afraid that many of the bottles would be smashed.

Oh dear ... we would like to bring at least a 12-pak of bottled water (plastic bottles) with us, and that's pretty heavy to carry around with us until the cabin is ready. Glad to hear it's okay to bring it, but was hoping it could just get checked with our bags.

Is that at the Vancouver port, that you have gone as early as 10:30?

thanks

New to this both HAL, and cruising in general) and am unable to locate answers to a few questions on the HAL website. Hoping people here can help me out...

We are booking a September Inside Passage cruise, roundtrip Vancouver. Does anyone know what time the HAL counter, for check-in, actually opens up (as opposed to the time it might state on the travel documents)? Have people had success with turning up much earlier and being able to get through before the crowds show up? We need to make arrangements far in advance for when to arrive at the port, so it'd be very helpful to know what the earliest time people have found they can check-in might be.

The other question we have is whether or not we will be allowed to bring bottled water and cans of ginger ale with us, as either carry-on or checked baggage?

Thanks!

Fantastic pictures - thank you! 

And, thanks to everyone for the comments and advice. 

Thanks, everyone - appreciate the comments and advice.

Never having been on a cruise, and not knowing for sure if cruising is something that we'd enjoy, makes it a bit of a difficult decision. I guess it's going to boil down to how we feel about taking risks, lol.

Thanks to everyone, for the comments and advice - much appreciated!

2 minutes ago, oceanmom said:

Or the weather is sometimes dry and warmish. Or coolish and a little damp. The times we've gone late, it might be cloudy and a little drizzle but it's also been among the best trips. It kind of depends on what kind of weather you're used to.

 

 

What dates did you go?  We live in Vancouver, so, variable weather is not new to us. Not afraid of a little damp and cool. I guess our main concern is whether or not here's a significant chance of it being so socked in with fog or heavy rain that we wouldn't see anything from the balcony except a wall of white or a wall of water. 

4 minutes ago, Himself said:

I wason the Westerdam last fall and we had nice weather in the third week in September.  

Thanks - any chance you'd be willing to tell us anything more about your trip on the Westerdam? We are completely confused and a bit stressed out about all this ... deciding on a cruise is a lot more complicated than we expected, what with so many variables to consider! The September 22nd thru 29th round-trip out of Vancouver is the one we are looking at; any thoughts on that you could share??

We've never been on a cruise before. Weather-wise, is September (2019) a significant negative risk for Inside passage cruises to Alaska? Or, might it be okay? We'd love to hear your experiences / advice. We have a choice of two Inside Passage cruises, one leaving on Sept 15th and the other on Sept 22nd (the later one is a better deal price-wise) - would it make any difference (for weather risk) which one we chose? The first one goes to Glacier Bay, while the second doesn't (goes to Tracy Arm instead).

I originally posted this in the forum for new cruisers, and someone who replied suggested I post it here - hope that's okay!

Thank you both!

Chipmaster:  uhm, where do I find the Alaska forums? I have looked through the forums list but do not see it...?

OOPS - never mind; found it! Thanks again.

Never been on a cruise before - we are looking at booking a Vancouver roundtrip Inside Passage cruise this September - we can choose either the Noordam on Sept 15th or the Westerdam on the 22nd (this one is a bit better deal for pricing) ... any advice or recommendations (and feedback about weather!) is much appreciated.

We've never been on a cruise before. Weather-wise, is September a significant negative risk for Inside passage cruises to Alaska? Or, might it be okay? We'd love to hear your experiences / advice. We have a choice of two Inside Passage cruises, one leaving on Sept 15th and the other on Sept 22nd (the later one is a better deal price-wise) - would it make any difference (for weather risk) which one we chose?

Hello - new to this board and have never been on a cruise before. I am hoping someone here can answer a couple of questions / tell of your experiences with the round-trip Vancouver 5-day cruise on the Island Princess. It's advertised as a "5-day Alaska Sampler" cruise; next sailing is Sept. 11th.

We have seen numerous different route map / diagrams for this cruise on vendor websites, and we are confused about whether or not the ship spends any significant length of time west of Vancouver Island / Haida Gwaii. Some of them show the same inside passage route in both directions, some show part inside / part outside northbound, and then there are variations on both of those themes. We phoned Princess and asked them, and they basically said (after a looong wait on hold for them to get the information) that they do not know. The diagram on their site shows the boat leaving Vancouver and going south around the lower tip of Vancouver island, taking the Seattle route, sailing all the way west of the islands for the entire northbound trip ... the person we spoke to said that's incorrect, but they could not tell us how much of the route might be on the outside; they did not know (!).

If the boat does take the Seattle outside route northbound, is it a rough trip?? Motion sickness is a possiblity with our family so it'f really help us to know what the waters are like.

Anyone been on this trip? We'd love to hear what route was used when you went, what side of the boat is best, and if you enjoyed the trip. Thanks!