Haljo1935

Would love to see an actual menu. On HAL, the Italian specialty is $19/pp, while the steakhouse price aligns w/Carnival's. However, Canaletto (the Italian place) does not have it's own room - it is carved out of former Lido space, so maybe it's not considered "high end specialty " enough to warrant the higher charge. Or maybe Carnival decided to charge more for Il Viaggio because it's a "new" specialty themed ship. We were able to book for both nights on a B2B in Sept, along w/Steakhouse, Teppanyaki, and GEAH. So they're getting specialty dining $$ from my group (no OBC to use). We will monitor reviews and cancel if they're not favorable, so possibly some last minute openings down the road. 🙃

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Explain, please, what is/was the great Bacon Plate tragedy?

Gratuities have gone up.

Thanks for the heads-up - we booked for both weeks. Would love to see an actual menu.

Like you, we were cruise first, land last. We never received anything from HAL on meal options, learned through their tip guides there are meal options but not what they were. Our TA didn't have info on them other than pricing and a recommendation to not purchase them but I was successful after multiple attempts in reaching a HAL Excursions (not Guest Services) person who explained the options (breakfast only, dinner only, breakfast & dinner, no lunches at all) - we chose to not purchase any of them and after seeing the limited menu felt we made the right choice. Food was very expensive everywhere but we did have more choices than we would have w/meal plans. We NEVER had an option to book land excursions - TA said we should receive something from HAL and both HAL & TA said a Travel Host would join us when we transitioned from ship to train who would present options. That did NOT happen and if it had would mean we couldn't choose excursions until the land portion had started, which seemed strange. So for us the land portion was an extremely expensive disappointment - not at all HALs usual service nor what they're known for in AK. The only excursion that was booked was in Denali - HAL automatically booked it for us for the night our train arrived. It was canceled due to the delay in our arrival (train broke down, we were 6 hours late arriving) we have yet to see the refund. Dinner that night was at the McKinley Chalet - they kept the restaurant open for us. We did go on a self guided hike in Denali the next morning before we got on the bus to Talkeetna - no charge, rode the provided shuttle (school bus) to park entrance. We write the disastrous catastrophe up to everyone trying to get back to business after Covid but will never do another land cruise; we're sticking to cruises only (just returned 2 days ago from AK 🤤). I suggest you call the Excursion number, not Guest Services, and continue to call until you reach someone who will answer your questions. Do tell them you know your TA has to handle transactions and that you are only looking for info/answers; that is how I finally got answers about meal options. Also, we received an email for upgrading the room at Denali (McKinley Chalet) that had a different number on it - you might try talking to them when you get that email. Good luck - regardless of the upfront pain, it will be beautiful once you're there.

Different cruiseline - returned yesterday (April 29 - May 6) from Alaska on HAL Eurodam. Ship was full - child count = 29 (not official from HAL, rather the ones we physically saw) Other than a couple screamers (all too young to remember screaming in a ahip theater), we didn't have any issues. Feb (not Spring Break) 14 day Bahamas on HAL Nieuw Amsterdam we counted 23. That trip had an impromptu gymnast doing cartwheels at entrance to MDR. Her mother said nothing, grandmother told her what a great job she was doing!! Last year in Caribbean we were at port w/Carnival ship. Passengerstold us it was a nudist charter w/ages from children to Golden seniors, so that's not necessarily the easy answer.

Here's another comment re smaller ships vs larger ships

Not necessarily the ports (but could be) - maybe the routes to/through them. For example, there's a detailed conversation about how the larger ships have to go west through the Inside Passage where the smaller ships can go east (I may have that backwards). Skagway potentially limiting number of larger ships but not necessarily smaller ones. I believe routes through Glacier Bay National Park are limited in some places as the larger ships don't go as deep into the park as some of the smaller ones and some Fjords cannot accommodate larger ships.

Laundry service is your friend for controlling luggage and minimizing packing weight. Even if you do laundry by the bag vs unlimited, it's a huge benefit. You'd be surprised how much you can fit into a single bag when you roll/fold/squeeze instead of just stuffing it in; even with unlimited we filled the bags full almost daily. Highly recommend since there will be 4 of you. And doing 1 last bag at the end allows you to take home clean clothes so unpacking (yes, sadly, you do have to reverse the suitcase dance at the end of the trip when you're back home) is a breeze.

Boarding never gets better (or quicker, or fewer/shorter lines) in Vancouver. There are other posts re different cruiselines with the same lamentings, most including the phrase "never again." Pre and post -Covid produce same results. It's a painful process.

No offense to RCL fans, but that is exactly why we cruise HAL (Holland America) for Alaska - being smaller ships, they can go places the larger ships can't go. Not that HAL (or any cruiseline/ship) is immune to berthing issues or Acts of God/construction delays/... Truly sorry you will miss out on Skagway. ISP is not a comparable port, but does have unique offerings (nothing can replace the White Pass train ride, so let's not pretend) - we did a bear watching hike a couple years ago that was fabulous and not offered in other port.

I have not as we go to Irish Times Pub for dinner, but have seen them going by while we are walking. It's probably a lovely ride, just be sure to bundle up if you're there early or late season as it gets cold. Hope to see pictures if you do it.

You can board with birth certificate and valid government issued photo ID (for round-trip Seattle) but passport is preferred in case you require medical evacuation while in Canada.

Same horrible experience we had pre-Covid which caused DH to say "never again." We've been doing only Seattle round-trip ever since even though we like the Vancouver area and itineraries. We are at SeaTac now having just gotten off HAL Eurodam this morning. Our boarding experience was exactly opposite yours - had a 1:20pm check in time, but had drooped our bags in cabin before noon, had lunch in MDR and were enjoying a glass of wine from our balcony before 1. Yep, check in to board was less than 30 minutes and fully completed before we werexeven scheduled to board! Seattle vs Vancouver departures... I will enjoy reading your posts and viewing the photos - enjoy and safe travels!!

@Denise T thanks again for your post of your upcoming trip on NA - truly the inspiration for us booking this week. We're in TSA line to head back toward home and already dreading the 90 weather waiting for us. I look forward to reading your Live posts and seeing your pictures - I know you and your siblings are going to have a great time! 🥳 Do everything you can that your heart desires and welcome to AK and HAL. ❤

Same with us - we were in 2nd group to get called at about 10 til 8, so slightly ahead of schedule. Wave passport at customs agent - literally wave it, he didn't ask you to open it or look at inside it, then out to bus or whatever mode you're using. Royal Princess was right next to us - too close to get a picture. We're ahead of schedule getting to SeaTac airport.

Good morning Seattle!! For those of you boarding Eurodam today, your ship is here! Currently, 48 and not raining. Luggage got picked up - not much was out there when we put ours out at 10:30, but deadline was midnight so we were early. Doing Port Valet, next time we see it will be our home airport (fingers crossed). Seattle covers the cost, so you don't pay the $25 Luggage Direct fee nor do you pay overnight fees for heavy bags. Highly recommend if you're on one of the participating airlines. You can stuff all the "thanks for house sitting" gifts you want in your bags without using the scales!! Oh, yeah, there were scales by elevator on our deck last night so no lugging it down to 1 to weigh. We're off to breakfast - Lido this morning - for final time.

Would you share what you found?

We also are in Victoria (in fact, there right now waiting to leave) 8pm - midnight w/1130 All Aboard, so yes,, not much time to do anything. We take the shuttle from the pier to Downtown Victoria and have dinner at at Irish Times Pub. Live music, great food - good place for a b'day celebration!!

We are a 7 day Sat - Sat trip. Attire: Dressy nights - Sun (sea day) & Thursday (Ketchikan) Festive Orange night - Wed (Sitka) Casual nights - Sat (Seattle embark), Mon (Juneau), Tues (GB/Icy Strait), Fri (Victoria)

Some of the maintenance items I mentioned (relative to the Eurodam not the itinerary): rust on balcony, peeling paint and cracked windows at Lido buffet (very top both left and right sides).

Drydock updates: Pix of the newly installed library on deck 3, it is open 24 hours. Casino is expanded with some new machines and a smaller room w/a door (presumably to close for smoking) - no pictures of casino.

Wish we'd known about beer week - maybe next year!!

Norwegian Bliss also came in, so there are at least 3 of us here; although, I can't see the NB from my balcony (we're port side next to the Volendam), but did see her pulling in during dinner. Volendam looks pretty all lit up. Of course, it looks like the rain has stopped, but we'll still not go into Victoria. We like eating at Irish Times Pub and already ate on the ship since we thought we would not be getting off. DH had salmon (again) in MDR - said it was good. I was finally able to get mint chocolate chip ice cream - it's not offered every night. Tip if you have a favorite ice cream: ask your server each night what flavors they have as they do rotate nightly. Now for logistics of disembarkation: we are doing Port Valet, so we will not need to claim luggage at airport tomorrow morning. However, we did get charged $40 which Guest Services cannot remove - they have to send an email and we won't know until we see final CC charges whether or not it was removed. That charge was not there before dinner, so be sure to check your statement late enough for everything to hit, but early enough to address discrepancies; Guest Services is open 24 hours; the line was short but moved very slowly. With Port Valet and SeaTac transfer, we are in group B, 8am disembark time, breakfast at Lido starting 6am or MDR 630; there is no room service. I'll do a final post in the morning to advise of any changes and how disembarkation went. I already miss Alaska! 🤧😪