Moriah

Usually they come around with it out on the bow, assuming weather is good enough to have the bow open. It's usually late morning, if I remember correctly.

Holland America usually gets the BEST berths in Alaska, due to being "grandfathered in" so to speak, so it would be a very very strange occurrence to have to tender from a HAL ship - if there are so many ships in port that one of them has to anchor off shore, it likely will NOT be a HAL ship. Sitka used to be a tender port, but no more, and Ketchikan and Juneau - you'll be docked right downtown, as said, in the best spot in town! Get off the ship and hop, skip, or jump right into the Red Dog Saloon!

Absolutely. Both pools will be heated. If there are kids jumping around on the Lido pool you can always go outside to the supposedly adults only pool, since even when the air is frigid, the water is nice and warm!

you should still use the sheet - fill it out as normal but just ignore the prices and state you are "filling a bag". I always keep a copy just to remember what I sent out. Have never been missing anything yet, happily.

16.50 per day for non-suite cabins. Yes, you can request to "opt out", on the last day of sailing by going to Guest Services and asking them to remove your "Crew Appreciation" charges from your final bill. And yes, you can, as you put it "pay" servers directly, which I take to mean "tip" them directly. Yes, you can, but why not consider that something extra for "extra" service and still give the "Crew Appreciatoin" daily gratuities, since those ALSO go to ALL THE UNSEEN and incredibly hard-working crew such as laundry experts, Cleaners and polishers and fixers of all descriptions - and etc. etc.

For me a "problem" with these offers is you have to decide relatively quickly. The last offer I got said "book by March 8" and it was well into February when I got it. Sometimes that works out great, but the cruise that looked best to me on that offer doesn't take place until November and I don't normally book anything that far in advance. Life is too unpredictable! 🙂

Nope. I am a four star mariner. (very close to 5) and I received several offers in the last 6 months. Both of the free cruises I took recently were on well-filled ships. As I mentioned before, people have been speculating for years on what the heck triggers these offers, who gets them, etc. and nobody can figure it out. Fun to try to guess, but it's all just guessing.

Everybody is assigned a time, but as has been oft-repeated, these times are not enforced. If you are in a Neptune suite you'll get priority boarding. You can board as soon as boarding begins.

There is no rhyme or reason that anyone has been able to definitively figure out for when and why these offers come. I am going on my third free casino offer cruise next week.I received 6 offers in the past 6 months. But the last offer I received was not for a free cabin, but rather for a very reduced rate, and even though it was a casino offer it did not have any "free play" included in it! So like you, I'm hoping the free ones will start up again, but from what I can see, as said, nobody has really been able to figure out what prompts these offers. There are high-rollers, low-rollers, drinkers, non-drinkers, and everybody else receiving these... it's a secret algorithm only the casino company knows. All else is speculation and theories. 😉

I feel you. For many, many years I worked on all "vacations" including over 40 cruises on HAL on all ship types. It was always a source of stress for me "will the wifi really work?"... I have found, and I know you're not going to want to hear this... that you have to allow for at least the possibility that you will not be able to take one or more of those meetings. The wifi might be absolutely stellar and fast as lightning on one day, and non-existent the next. Testimonials from people saying "wifi on Zaandam is great" or "wifi on Zaandam is terrible" are actually meaningless, since there is no way to predict how it will be behaving on the day and time of your meeting. All that said, overall, wifi on all the ships is really pretty good. I'd say you have a very good chance of being able to take those video meetings and all being fine. I'm just saying be aware there is no guarantee. Also, the entire fleet is going over to Starlink internet, which will be a whole new world of great as far as connectivity at sea. Perhaps someone knows when Zaandam will be connected and can comment. Good luck! I'm also going on Zaandam to Canada in a couple of weeks and really looking forward to it. Now that I'm retired, that whole internet question is behind me, but as said, I definitely feel you...

I always pack bar soap - I love Elemis products, but for some reason the shower gel is kind of drying for me, and anyway I've never been a "gel" person. When they had the round Elemis bar soap, it was just as drying as the gel, thus my years long habit of packing bar soap for cruises. If I don't have a small bar I've saved from some hotel or other (and as someone mentioned even those are going extinct) I bring a half or more "used" bar from home and just toss it after my last onboard shower.

I highly doubt it will be a problem. You'll have priority boarding and can just say these people are with me. The worst that can happen is they will say only those with actual boarding passes that say "priority" on them can board right away, but right after those people board they will start regular boarding and you can all just get on together.

Will do! The last time I did this itinerary it was on Maasdam, a ship I adored... I am intending to love Zaandam just as much! 🙂

Nope, just 7 day one way Boston-Montreal. But.. you could still be on to something since this is a popular route for B2Bers who do the round trip Boston-Boston or Montreal-Montreal. So they may have been juggling for that reason, and we got lucky.

Wow, I really wasn't expecting to get our cabin assigned so early. Other guarantees I've had we've had to wait until at least 10 days before the cruise, and in a couple of cases until only 48 hours before. So the good news is I've got the cabin number almost 3 weeks in advance, and the bad new is, it's the first time we haven't received an upgrade from our guarantee category. Oh well, we've been SO lucky in the past, it was time to get just what we paid for. Oh wait. We paid nothing. It's a casino offer that came with a free inside cabin. I've had these offers before and the last two times we got an OV, and this past November we got an OV FAMILY (two bathrooms!) on Rotterdam. So, I've been very blessed and lucky, AND while this one is "only" an inside cabin, it's a great location near an exit on deck 3 (Zaandam) so I can zip in and out which I LOVE. I know many people don't like guarantees. I kind of like the element of surprise and I'm not terribly picky about location on the ship. When I've paid for expensive Neptune suites I've been sure to choose my location (right across from the lounge please), but other than that, in any other category, I'm really not fussed about where it is, so that if the guarantee is much cheaper (or in this case, free) I'm happy to wait for the surprise and have always been pleasantly surprised! So, anyway, no real point to this post except I have no place else to gush about these things except CC ! 🙂 sort of blank bored looks from anyone else, even the person I'm cruising with LOL

WOW! thank you so much for sharing this!

I was on Volendam in Alaska a year before Covid and we actually had a lanai cabin, which did indeed have two dedicated chairs. However, there were quite a few other deck chairs at either end of deck 3 (forward and aft). I don't remember there being any difficulty finding deck chairs, but of course it was a "cold" cruise so perhaps for your intinerary it will be different. I know sometimes people would sit in our deck chairs presumably unaware that they were dedicated to our lanai, but if we weren't using them that was fine with us. Perhaps someone who has been on Volendam on a warmer itinerary can chime in. It would be a shame if they didn't put out enough chairs.

Do you mean the online check in? You can start that anytime. Just log in to the HAL website and you will see where you can start the process. If you meant what time should you come to the port for embarkation, you will probably get an email with a check in time, but as has been reported here quite often, nobody seems to actually check whether you've arrived at the assigned time. Usually around 11 AM is when actual boarding starts, although you can usually check in a little earlier. Just remember to be on board an hour or two before sailing! Rooms are almost always ready as soon as they start the boarding process. I like to come at 10:30 and board right away, but that's just me. Some people arrive at 1 PM because they want to beat the crowds. You will love the NA and Alaska!

Oh boy! I went away from my computer for a few hours and came back to this embarrassment of riches in the form of your responses!! Thank you all SO much! I'm getting excited for my day in Montreal, and I agree with you, I'm sure I'll want to come back. It's shameful that I live so close and haven't really "been" to Montreal except a few times flying out of YUL to Europe. Again, thanks a million - this is very very helpful!! And Yes, I am going over now to join the roll call! I'm a four star mariner going on this cruise with a friend who has never stepped foot on a cruise ship in her life and has anxiety. I'm thinking it's going to be like taking a child to Disneyland for the first time LOL!

I don't think I thought this all the way through...I guess I thought we'd just jump on a bus to get home... didn't realize they don't run all day... so what am I talking about? I'll be on Zaandam for a one week, one way cruise from Boston to Montreal. We disembark in Montreal and have to make our way home to Burlington, Vermont. Renting a car one way between countries even for a less than one day rental is over $300. So I'm thinking we could spend that and get a tour of Montreal (yes, even though we live just over the border we have sadly seen very little of Montreal...) and take the Greyhound to Burlington that night. It leaves at 11:30 PM so we literally have all day - from disembarkation around 9 AM until bus station at 11... how do we fill the day? I am looking at private tours, renting a car and going to places ourselves (and returning the car in Canada, thus halving the cost), restaurants... Now, we will have some luggage... just having come from a cruise and all.. but it's a one week cruise and we're packing small carry-ons. Still, those will have to be with us all day. The cruise starts May 6 ends May 13, which is the day discussed... so there is some time... but I like to get things planned out. So... I'm open to any and all ideas and would greatly appreciate any input, especially from those who have spent one day in Montreal, with luggage... 🙂

I know this is a relatively old thread, but can you explain where on the HAL site I would see a casino offer? I get the emails, and have booked a few casino offer cruises, but lately I am only getting "reduced fare" offers. I'm curious if there is a way to see "all" the offers (or any of them) online. It sounds like you are saying pick a cruise, go through the booking process and THEN they will tell you there is a casino offer you qualify for? Or is it something else... thanks in advance for guidance!

I like that the room stewards can keep and only share with their partner, the extra tips I give them. I did not tip a couple of bar-tenders on my last two cruises who otherwise I would have, because my understanding was they would not be able to keep it. My thinking was that the crew appreciation I'm automatically charged covers them UNLESS I feel that someone has been particularly helpful and deserving of a tip, and in that case, I want him to be able to keep what I give him, and not have to share. Does that make sense?

Oh, I see. So when I gave cash to our room attendants (I did not remove the crew appreciation from the bill) they would be able to keep it, then, as she said she would.

Do you have any idea what the purpose is of the cabin attendants being told when people have removed their automatic gratuities?

On my recent NA cruise I specifically asked my cabin steward, directly, if she will get to keep any cash I give her - literally give her - in her hand. She said, "Yes, but I will share it with my partner." (Which of course I was perfectly happy about. The pair did a stellar job) So, apparently it's not true that they can't keep it, unless different crew have different rules. For example, I believe bartenders and baristas are NOT allowed to accept any cash tips. Cabin attendants, however, as I stated, apparently can. In years past, we always gave cash on the last day to our servers in the Main Dining Room, and it was my impression they could keep it. Now, I don't know. I rarely eat in the MDR anymore and don't have any servers who know me well by the end of the cruise as in the "olden" days.