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We were on the Koningsdam in Sept 2023. According to the daily schedules, room service is 24 hours. You just phone in the order at no extra cost. You would have to wait for the food to arrive. I believe the menu is limited after certain hours. The menu and details should be in your cabin.

By the way, at the beginning and end of the season when there is only 1 ship in port, everything may be processed at Parking Level 1; including bags.

In May 2023, I heard it didn't help checking in late. 3 ships were in port that day. The ships usually arrived 7am. That day one ship didn't come in until 11am. 2 ships were loading and 1 unloading. People were in line for 3 hours. All the ships were late leaving by at least 2 hours. Check YouTube for video.

In Sept 2023, there were 2 ships in port, we (4 of us) checked in at 11:00am and were on board at 12:30pm. And the cabins were ready. Generally, boarding starts at 11:30am. Checking in probably starts at 10:30am. The biggest line up was through security & immigration. When we got to the boarding waiting area. We only sat down for 10 minutes before we were to told to board.

FrodoSwaggins had 2 ships in port that day. For Sundays, there are generally 3 ships and sometimes 4 ships in port. Google 'Port of Vancouver' next year for the 2025 cruise ship schedule to see what your competitions are. 2 HA size ships can dock on the west side of the terminal and 2 on the east side. A mega ship would take up the entire east side. Some people said to go downstairs to check in. That is not correct. The Vancouver cruise ship terminal opened in 1986. For some years, everything was processed on the Parking Level 1. As more and more people want to go to Alaska, there is not enough room to process everything downstairs. Now, checking in for all ships is done upstairs at the convention center level (street level). Ships to Alaska is now split between Vancouver and Seattle. Americans going out from Seattle is a bit better boarding but have a bit rougher ride going north as you have to sail in international waters out in the open sea. Going out of Vancouver you generally go up and down through the 'Inside Passage' - much calmer. There is so many people going to Alaska, the City of Juneau is complaining about too many people. I understand the city and the cruise industry have come to an agreement to reduce the number in the future. The steps to board the ships in Vancouver are 1) drop off bags 2) check in to your ship 3) security check (Canada responsibility) 4) US Immigrations (USA responsibility) 5) wait to board ship Enter the Canada Place convention center next to the Pan Pacific hotel from the street level. Walk down the hall, pass the cafe, until you get to Hall C. Look for the line for your ship to enter the door to Hall C. Hall C is divided for each ship. Once you are in Hall C, the right side is to drop off bags. The left side is to check in. If for whatever reason they don't accept bags there that day, you'll have to take the elevator down to Parking Level 2 and walk almost all the way to the end to drop off the bags and the come back up to check in. Once you have checked in, go outside and follow the line to the down escalator (someone will direct you). Note that the passengers for all the ships in port will be with you on that escalator. The escalator will take you to Parking Level 1. Here you will go through security check like at the airport. Next, follow the line to US Immigrations. Once cleared, you will be directed to the waiting area for your ship. Priority boarding people will be in one area and everybody else in the other. Have a seat and don't leave an empty seat. You will be called to board by rows. Note that the people working at Security Check and US Immigrations split their time between the airport and cruise ship terminal. If there is a staff shortage, the cruise ship terminal will take the hit. Since those 2 functions are handled by 2 different governments, they probably don't talk to each other. In terms of hotels, the easiest is the hotel at the airport. I don't recommend it because it is expensive and there is nothing to do there other than sleep. The Pan Pacific Hotel and the Waterfront Hotel across the street are expensive but convenient. On embarkation days, the area in front of the hotels and the driveway to parking is a zoo. There is usually 2 traffic cops directing traffic. The airport is located in the City of Richmond. 10 to 15 minutes ride on Skytrain (a mainly above ground subway) will take you a number of hotels like Holiday Inn. If you like Chinese food, Richmond is the place to be. Richmond is now actually the new Vancouver Chinatown. You can have anything from mall food courts to live seafood restaurants. There is a lot of places for dim sum. From the cruise terminal there is Gastown (where Vancouver started), next over is the skidrow area, then Vancouver Chinatown. Going the other directions is Stanley Park. You can walk along the seawall to see some totem poles and the aquarium. Skytrain has 3 lines; Expo Line, Millennium Line and Canada Line. The line from Richmond is the Canada Line to Waterfront Station. Expo Line also terminate at the Waterfront Station but is closer to Canada Place. If you are coming in on Canada Line don't out the gates and go up to street level, follow the signs to the Expo Line. Exit the gates. You will encounter an escalator on the right to street level. Don't take it. You will encounter the traffic jam with the traffic cops. Walk through the door ahead to the food court. Once through the doors, take the doors to the Pan Pacific Hotel on the right. Take the elevator to the main floor. There should be an opening between the hotel and the convention center. Now take it and you can check in.

The Vancouver cruise ship terminal opened in 1986. For a few years, everything was processed on Parking Level 1. As more and bigger ships come, there was not enough room downstairs. Now all the check-ins have to be processed on the convention level. For a while, there was not enough room to dock all the ships at Canada Place. Some ships docked 2 miles away at the container terminal. That didn't work. Now, ships to Alaska are split between Vancouver and Seattle. Ships heading north to Alaska from Seattle have to travel on the west side of Vancouver Island in open international water. This section is a rough ride. Coming south, they will generally visit 2 Canadian ports; Prince Rupert and Victoria. They will go through the Inside Passage; between the east side of Vancouver Island and the mainland (much calmer). Ships for Alaska to & from Vancouver go through the Inside Passage and generally do not visit any Canadian ports unless they have to make up for a missed port. 2 ships can generally dock on the west side and 2 on the east side of the terminal. HA generally dock on the west side. Mega ships generally dock on the east side and 1 ship takes up the whole side and then some. Note that the staff for Security Check and US Immigrations split their time between cruise ship and airport. If they are short-staffed, cruise ship takes the hit and there will be long lineups. Security Check is controlled by Canada and US Immigration is controlled by USA (and they probably don't coordinate with each other). Most ships arrive around 7am. In May 2023, 3 ships were to be in port for that day. Unfortunately, 1 ship didn't arrive until 11am. 2 ships tried to load and 1 tried to unload. It was a zoo. Some people said that they were in line for 3 hrs. All the ships were at least 2 hrs late leaving.

If you are leaving Vancouver to Alaska on June 30th, you have 2 other ships in port with you. Nieuw Amsterdam leaving 4:00pm Celebrity Solstice leaving 4:30pm Brilliance of the Seas leaving 5:00pm You can check to see how many passengers each of those ships hold. Security check & US Immigrations will be very crowded with 3 ships of people. Holland America (& probably other cruise lines too) do not check your check-in time on the boarding pass when checking in. Personally, I would rather check in early & be in the lineup. I do not want to mingle with the passengers from the other 2 ships. I think check-in counter is open at 10am. We went on the Koningsdam in Sept 2023 to Alaska. There were the only 2 ships in port that day. Check-in was long and Security check & US Immigrations was even longer. Checked in around 11am & on the ship around 12:30pm. When we were in the waiting area to board the ship, we only sat down for about 10 minutes before told to board. Went directly to the cabin & it was ready. Heard in other threads that the crew told everybody to go to the Lido. If you are with someone else, leave your bag with him/her on the deck you came in on. You go to your cabin to see if it is ready. If it is not ready, both of you go to Lido with the bags; otherwise go to your cabin. If the cabin is ready, the card keys would be by the door outside. Grab them.

To check in, go into the convention center next to the Pan Pacific Hotel from the street level. Go down the hall on the left to Hall C (it's almost at the end). Look for your ship's name to line up to the door. Once through the door, baggage check is on the right and check-in is on the left. I hear baggage check is not available some times at this level. In that case, you'll have to check your bags at Parking Level 2 at the very far end. You then take the escalator back up to the convention level to check in. Make sure you have your boarding pass printed on paper to check in. Once you cleared check-in, you'll get a small receipt. Put it in your passport. Go back out and follow the line to the down escalator. You will be mixing with passengers from other ships. You go down to Security Check and US Immigrations. US & Cdn citizens clear through machines. Most other citizens through humans. You will then be directed to the waiting area for your ship. Priority boarding in one section and everyone else in the other. Boarding is by rows. Someone will direct you when to go. If nobody is sitting down, you can go right on the ship.

Having a bigger cabin is not an upgrade if the location is noisy.

A friend was on the Nieuw Amsterdam to Alaska in Aug 2023. He had dinner at the Pinnacle Grill. The steak was not properly prepared. He later complain to Guest Services. Guest Services immediately called the maitre'd at the Pinnacle Grill and gave the phone to him. The maitre'd offered to do a makeup meal at lunch the next day and he accepted. While in line, he found out that a lot of other people had also complained and given another meal. When he sat down, he found the menu was for lunch and the most you can get for lunch is a hamburger. He called the waiter over and told him that it is should be a replacement dinner not lunch. He wanted a dinner menu. He finally got a good steak. The moral of the story is that paying extra is no guarantee of good food. If anything is not to your liking, speak up right away. Talk to the maitre'd, not the waiter to have it corrected. There are a number of threads on Cruise Critic about hits & misses at specialty restaurants.

The crew on the Koningsdam was mostly quite good. Even the Lido buffet. Guest Services was sub-par. So is the Dive-In burger. While having lunch at the Lido buffet, I went over to the Dive-In for a chicken burger. No one was in line. In 2022, people was commenting that the burgers were great but the line was long and took 45 minutes to be serve. It took me 15 minutes for a lukewarm leftover burger and cold hard fries. All the times I walked by, there was either one person or no one lining up. Have seen a couple of burgers in the warming rack if you want one right away. Never went back again. The pizza place was much better. The pizzas were generally made to order. During lunch (and probably dinner) they had a lot of stuff prepared ahead of time. The Lido for ice cream were in big buckets and were supposed to be hard ice cream. Looks like the buckets were kept at room temperature for a long time and were melted (every day). A lot of people lined up for it. Not me. The ice cream at Gelato looked way better but costs extra. On the Koningsdam in 2023, at the MDR Deck 3 was for set seating only. Very few people took early seating. The free coffee at the MDR and Lido was not very hot. The purpose was probably so you won't burn yourself. Specialty coffee was hot. Even the plain hot water at the Grand Dutch Cafe was hotter.

We were also on the Koningsdam to Alaska in Sept 2023. Been to Guest Services a few times. Most of the time, the persons I talked to didn't seem all that interested in talking to me even when no one was in line behind me. In reading the comments on other threads on Cruise Critic, other people on other ships also did not get service from Guest Services. It is a hit and miss depending how lucky you are. In my opinion, you were badly treated and should file a complaint before you leave the ship.

When I booked the Alaska cruise, the deal sound like HIA was included. As I went through the booking process, I discovered that it is an added offer. I have known people who have click on to it and paid it. Thinking they got something for nothing, they don't use it. They sit there in the MDR and have the free orange juice and coffee. They make it sound like not everybody can get HIA. When we got on board we even got a flyer in the cabin saying it's not too late to get HIA. I have been checking deals lately. A lot of them implied that HIA is included when it fact it is an option you have to pay for. You have to read the deals very carefully.

Thanks. When I am on vacation, I turn off WIFI. For our next trip, I'll am open for various scenarios. I am not restricted to HAL. Sometimes, a special deal may pop up for a short period of time. I am not counting on it but am open to it. I will be talking to a TA. In the past, we have been on land tours and touring on our own. Been on trains, buses, cars and ferries. Been all over Europe and parts of Asia.

Thanks. I'll have to review all angles. Certainly will have a look at advantage fares. I understand advantage fares are not advertised. Seems like pricing is all over the map depending on whether you are dealing with HAL online or in person on the phone or through TA. HIA is not a whole lot of use for us. I may have one drink a day and my wife none at all. We may each have 2 coffee and an orange juice a day. Makes no sense to have a BP. Better to pay as we go.