Haljo1935

Fortress of the Bears was a great stop when we were there pre-Covid; seem to always mention it. It was undergoing expansion construction, but surely complete by now. We were in Sitka just under 2 weeks ago - the new welcome center is very nice. Shuttle to town is free and easy - there are several non-ship excursion options in town at the shuttle stop. Had whales join us for dinner! No pictures but they were nice to watch.

We were on Eurodam April 29 - May 6; I did mention some maintenance issues in my review. https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2934932-live-review-eurodam-alaska-april-29-may-6-2023-seattle-roundtrip/page/2/ Only real negative was in regards to lack of maintenance - food and service were as expected . We have only cruised on HAL, Princess and Carnival, so I can't comment on other lines or compare. I will say (as I have here on various threads) we price other cruiselines, but ultimately book what we do due to ship size (don't care for mega-ships) and mostly consistent crew. We still have jobs (gotta pay for the cruises, lol) so we can't take longer cruises, but would probably not go longer than 14 days; we are having difficulty finding 7 day cruises with itineraries we like at prices that work for us. HAL is making us work to stay with them. 😪🤔

That's my internal debate.

@CruizinSusan70 what menus are these - NCL?

Respectfully, it's an Italian themed ship - perhaps you should consider booking a different ship.

Well that's not a good start. Hopefully they are well made...

And for the huge number of Venezia passengers that do not live in/near NYC, there's an option to dine at Il Viaggio...

When you solve for that, do share - you'll be the most popular person on this site!!

We ended up on this ship due to a ship swap from the Magic on upcoming Canada trip having been on Carnival only twice in recent years. But now very much looking forward to seeing it.

Yep, especially since @slidergirl said she was on my ship and got it all week. I was very briefly annoyed when he said that then reminded myself I could make due w/the ice & water so long as I got it 2x day. So I spent water $$ on Vanilla Cappuccino!! But it does highlight different experiences on the same ship, same dates, which is unfortunate.

I've cruised 13 times post-Covid and change of Muster Drill procedures; 2 times on Carnival, 11 times on HAL, various ships. On every one of those, our TV was off when we walked into our cabin, but it did start right up to playing the safety video. Likely depends on the Cabin Steward.

We will be on for some of that time - we're on 13 days B2B Sept 16 - 29. And very much looking forward to pictures and write up of the ship. We're portside aft, so likely no pictures from that vantage point, but we'll happily scour whatever you post. 🥳🤯

Also appreciative of seeing the menu to help make a more informed decision on spending basically $100. While I live in a major Metro area (DFW), I don't have easy access to an abundance of authentic quality Italian restaurants (investors/chefs/transplants take note of an opportunity) so I was excited to hear about the addition of Il Viaggio on my upcoming cruises. Truly wish the price was more in line with Italian specialty dining on CCL other ships.

I mentioned to our cabin stewards that we didn't have any bottled water - one replied "yeah we don't have enough and write down who got it." Since I could do ice/melted water, I just let it go.

US we've been paying $20/bag, $149 7-day unlimited until last week on the Eurodam in AK - it was $159.50 unlimited, that's a 7% increase at one time!! But still a bargain (potentially saves luggage fees) for professionally laundered clothes and a clean suitcase at the end of the trip. We did it by the bag since we did not do excursions and thus were not muddy and wet as usual in AK. They do a great job, take pride and care even leaving personal notes in the returned basket, honor special requests and usually return it ahead of schedule. Remember to include them when you tip out at end of cruise (we put a note on the back of the note they sent us with the tip in the last bag we send out).

@QuattroRomeo you might try reaching out to the HAL excursions desk - they have a different number (which I don't have handy) and specifically letting them know you would like to post positive feedback. If anyone can get you a link to post, they can/will. Good to hear you had a positive experience.

Coins are worse - they're heavier and rattle around in your luggage; cannot be carried neatly in a wallet. Please we need less coins, not more.

Nov/Dec Koningsdam & Feb Nieuw Amsterdam had canned Open Water as well as glass bottled Acqua Panna (small & large sizes) plus Aha cans. Last week Eurodam only option was Acqua Panna, which our cabin did not receive. Amazon sells Open Water. We get an extra ice bucket in our cabin - it will be a large wine bucket, not the small ice bucket - and fill our reusable bottles from it. We get icy cold water for excursions that way with no fear of confiscation. We have them refill 2x/day. The melted ice we just pour into one of our bottles - works great and never run out.

As of May 9, it shows 4.26.0; I'm using Android device. I am always only able to see current day menu. Was on Eurodam last week (April 29 - May 6) and it was that way. Some features only work onboard; designed that way, doesn't mean it's not working/broke, just means it's functioning as designed although we may not like it. Don't like being tied to phone while on vacation but it (and TV) is great for being aware of ships time.

That is my understanding of how it's supposed to work - I just have not been successful in reaching anyone who would do the booking that way for me. Ugh and Grrrr, why am I still loyal to HAL?

Hospital industry buys them - you'll be served jello and oatmeal on one when you have your gall bladder removed next year, lol.

P&O is only cruise line I've heard of that has had them in years...they were removed a looooong time ago. And yet food waste continues.

We consider school schedules/holidays/... when we book, but still find ourselves on EVERY cruise saying at some point to each other "shouldn't these kids be in school?" Usually followed by "there sure are a lot of home schooled children these days" and "how much of this trip is the bottle-feeder going to remember?" With that said, we will continue to book HAL and not book mega-ships with waterparks and other children-friendly venues. Our frustration is with both the ill-behaved child and the "ignore it and it didn't happen" parent who created the behavior. Not anti-child. Pro civilized, well-behaved children and adults who appreciate the difference. Recently (Feb Nieuw Amsterdam) while waiting for our table in MDR - you know the place - it's between the glass doors and the host podiums - an approx 8yo girl in a dress was doing cartwheels. Neither the man nor woman that I assumed to be her parents said anything (to her to stop doing what she was doing or to us to apologize). The woman that I assumed to be her grandmother did say something to her - she told her what an excellent job she was doing, again not a peep of an apology to us or to the MDR staff who had to maneuver around her. This is why I choose to frequent cruiselines that have typically fewer children. Oh and the screamer whose parents didn't see they dropped their bottle in the buffet line about 10 passengers back...

I have tried 3 times to do this exact thing (thru PCC, thru TA and onboard thru FCC) and have never been able to get anyone to do it for me. I booked a VH Gty that worked in my favor w/TA, but that's a gamble I would rather avoid by selecting cabin w/CO. So, do you just stand firm when calling HAL? Is there a special # to call that is answered by people who understand the process? If going through TA, can they complete it in 1 call or do I (or them) follow up w/HAL after booking the Gty? Thanks for your help 🤔

So frustrated about CO - I've tried 3 times to purchase CO with the intent of upgrading to my preferred balcony location and have yet to be successful. 1st time was w/PCC - she said they were discouraging buying CO due to abuse (?) - I ultimately ended the call with no booking. 2nd time was w/TA - he said his deal was better (maybe it's a hassle for TAs?) - I ultimately booked a VH Gty (my first ever Gty [I'm 4 star]) which did pay off with us getting assigned a SS!! 3rd time was last week onboard (the aforementioned SS) w/FCC who said it wasn't worth it - I ultimately booked a VB for May next year but need to figure out how to get it changed. It's as if you mention CO upfront and they shutdown...