hikergirl

Hot appetizers?! Never heard about that! 🤔

I enjoyed reading your review and compared it with our experience. We stayed in a Neptune Suite and the room itself was great. We had an aft balcony and spent hours on the deck. However, we were underwhelmed by the Neptune suite perks. It would have been nice to have a little info sheet in the Suite that said “welcome to your suite. Here are your perks”. We didn’t find out until 3 days into our trip that we could have afternoon tea ( on sea days) delivered to our room at no charge. At first they said it would be $17 per person. After we questioned it, they said “no charge”. We talked to the concierge in the Neptune Lounge and she said “ you should know your benefits as you were told when you booked your trip”. Well, we booked it 9 months prior and afternoon tea wasn’t mentioned. I have a feeling they don’t want to advertise some perks as they don’t want everyone to use them. And I still think there were some room service perks that we missed all together. We filled out the surveys and have heard nothing from them.

That is similar to the walk we did and it was great! We downloaded a walking tour map before we left home and followed it. And grabbed a few geocaches along the way 😁

We did some Geocaching in Skagway and Ketchikan in May. Took us off the beaten path and found a nice quiet trail in Skagway.

We were on the May 6 -15 koningsdam cruise. Southbound was East of Vancouver Island. We were on the starboard side of the ship and clearly saw Vancouver Island from our cabin.

We were on the May 6 - 13 Alaksa Koningsdam Cruise and stayed in a Neptune Suite. Our boarding time was scheduled for 10:00 am - Boarding Group 1. We also stayed in the Pan Pacific the night before. They have a luggage service, where you call in the morning (we called at 7:30 am) and they will come get your bags and check them in for you. They work on gratuities. This is a HUGE help, as you can skip this step on Embarkation Day. I don't think they have an escort service. The porter gave us good instructions on where to go. Basically, look for the totem pole, and turn right and follow the signs to cruise check in. The pole is 1 or 2 floors down from the hotel check in desk. (We did a walk through the night before, so we knew exactly where to go). We had the breakfast buffet, then headed down to check in around 9:30. The doors to check in opened around 9:45. After cruise check in, you will be sent through security, then customs, then wait in the cruise ship waiting area. Be sure to tell the HAL people in the check in area that you are priority, so you will be sent to the priority waiting area. It took about 2 hours from check in, to actually boarding the ship. We couldn't get in our room right away as it was still being cleaned, so we went to lunch in the Lido. Our luggage arrived in our room around 4. We packed too many clothes. We wore jeans, a long sleeve shirt, a fleece top, and a rain jacket on the chilly day in Skagway. You get free laundry service in the Neptune Suite, so this can help you pack lighter. There are nice blankets in your Suite that you can wrap in while enjoying your deck.

88% of Americans do not smoke. It is incredible that HAL allows it in the casinos since the smoke doesn't stay in one place. The casino in the kdam, has open access on both ends; no doors to keep the smoke in.

Just off the Koningsdam. We were walking through the casino on a port day, and the casino was closed. I said, “why is it so smokey in here?The casino hasn’t been open since last night.” I couldn’t believe the smell was still hanging around, then we saw a man, sitting in the corner, puffing away. So, they don’t even need to be gambling to smoke. He was just too lazy to go outside on the lido deck. while

We didn’t book any excursions for Skagway as we just wanted to walk around the town. We did some Geocaching and found a nice trail in the Smugglers Cove area. It was peaceful and quiet. Take the Skagway footbridge off of State St. and at the end of the bridge turn left. There is some trail maintenance going on now so I don’t think you can do a loop. We did an out and back hike. Sturdy shoes and a walking stick would be helpful.

Have you heard of Geocaching? Both kids and adults love it. We did a lot of excursions 14 years ago so on this trip we wanted to see more of the ports. We did Geocaching in Ketchikan and Skagway and the hidden caches took us to places we wouldn’t have otherwise seen. Check out www.geocaching.com for info.

We experienced the same as you. We were on this ship, deck 5 (aft), and were also waiting for the elevator, but it was full when it reached our floor. My spouse carried the bags down to 3. Oh well. Everything worked smoothly after that, there was hardly anyone waiting for a taxi, and the airport was pretty quiet at 8:30. (Isn't it funny that in Alaska we had beautiful weather, but Colorado Springs had record breaking rain!?)

After leaving our ship at Canada Place, we grabbed a taxi to drive us to the airport. When he dropped us off, he pointed to the meter and it said 36, which of course is Canadian dollars. We said we would pay by credit card. He said, do you have cash? We said, only American. He said, ok, I'll take that. But he never said what it would be in American dollars. I think he was expecting that we were dumb Americans, and would turn over $36 plus tip, in US cash to him. $36 Canadian is around $26 in American. Nice little profit for him. Cab riders, who are in a rush to get to their plane, would easily fall for this scam. We said, no, we will pay with a credit card.

We ended up cancelling the Cruise ship bus transfer and hand carried our luggage off the ship. Easily grabbed a taxi at 8:00 am and was at the airport by 8:30. Thanks to everyone for their tips!

If you do decide to try to make this flight, you should hand carry your bags off the ship. This past weekend self carry passengers could leave the ship at 7:45 am. We left our cabin at 7:40, but all the elevators were full when they reached our floor. We carried them down the steps. Sure wish we packed lighter! We walked straight from the ship and took a taxi to the airport, which took 30 minutes. Check in and security weren’t too bad as we beat all the bus passengers. Frankly, even though it was smooth for us, I wouldn’t book a 11:00 am flight.

We just returned from an Alaska cruise. We had beautiful weather in Juneau, Skagway and Glacier Bay. It was overcast in Ketchikan and started sprinkling around 4:30 pm. Looking at the weather before we left, we were expecting a lot more rain, so we packed rain jackets and pants. We live in Colorado where we can get 4 seasons in one day, so we know not to trust the weather forecasters!

We were on the Koningdam. I agree with you about the smell of cigarette and cigar smoke in the Lido pool area. It was gross. We had an aft cabin and found a cigarette butt on it. Which means someone probably tried to drop it into the ocean. (Which can be deadly too sea animals who swallow it). The smoke can get bad in the casino too. I don’t know why they still allow this as the majority of passengers do not smoke.

We were also on this cruise. Had a great time and the staff are so nice. We had an Aft Neptune suite and loved all the windows and balcony. We were prepared for the embarkation mess. There are lots of queues. Even if you are near the front of the line once you get your picture taken by HAL reps, you have to wait for security to open around 10:00. Then once through there there was quite a wait at customs. If you stay at the Pan Pacific, definitely use their luggage service and ask the porter the best way to walk to the check in area. We ate most dinners in Lido as we wanted fresh veggies. You don’t get many veggies with your dinner in MDR or Club Orange. Our favorite food station in Lido was Distant Lands Asia. There are a couple cooks doing fresh made stir fry’s and you choose all the veggies you want. The pre-made veggies were over cooked. The desserts were fantastic.

We leave Vancouver this weekend and there are 4 ships listed. Will having priority embarkation help with boarding? We are in. Neptune suite.

Thank you so much for the detailed walking instructions!

Thank you so much for this information! I am sorry to hear that the last day of your trip turned into a nightmare. This is exactly what I was afraid of. At first I thought we would be on a little shuttle, like they use at airport parking lots. But when I found out it was a bus with 50 other people, this made me think about it a bit more. I think there will be 3 ships in port that day. We will take the suggestions of other posters. We will walk by the cab queue, and if it's not too long, will take a cab. If that doesn't work, we will take the light rail. We definitely will self-carry our bags off the ship.

We have arranged a bus transfer, through HAL, from Vancouver terminal to airport. We will be self carrying our bags from the ship. Has anyone done this and how long do you have to wait for the bus to fill up? Is there only one bus? Looks like a taxi would be about the same cost. Are taxis readily available? When arriving at the airport, do busses get priority over taxis? I have read the taxi arriving area could be a nightmare. We are trying to beat the mad rush at the airport. Which would you recommend, taxi or bus shuttle?

Regarding breakfast and dinner at Club Orange; how does that work? Do you just show up, or do you get an assigned mealtime and can you request a table for 2? (We don't want to sit with other people).

Why do you hate the Promenade Deck on the Koningsdam?