sunviking90

Definitely interested here! Our Canada/New England repositioning down to Florida was one of our favourite itineraries ever, and I love the Zaandam. Your pictures of her are lovely. It is also nice to read a trip report of someone cruising without the advantages of Club Orange or a Neptune Suite, as this is closer to what most people will experience.

I would not call OP’s cruise a “repositioning” cruise as it started and ended in the same place. We have taken many HAL west coast repositioning cruises (from SAN to YVR or reverse) over the years and what we remember is that there were often a lot of bird watchers on them! Many other passengers were seniors who had stayed on from a previous long cruise through the Panama Canal, or transpacific, or about to start one depending on the direction. Not quite the party crowd, and generally the ships were not full like it sounds OP’s was. I do think the Pinnacle class ships are more attractive to a younger, livelier demographic. The inexpensive short loop cruises from Vancouver are always popular with locals, and many of the local travel agencies have groups on them.

This is exactly the reason to cruise on a HAL ship! Love the promenade deck.

Yes, I have never heard of a large cruise ship heading to Seattle going through the Canadian part of the Inside Passage east of Vancouver Island. That is also a long distance to go in a day and a half (from Ketchikan) at the new reduced speed required. Correct me if I’m wrong. It’s disappointing that the passengers were mislead in this way when HAL would have known long ago.

I have seen both of my cruises on my app, so it should be possible.

Yes, we had that frustration last year on the Zuiderdam. When we are cruising alone we don’t mind dining at 5 so are able to get reservations easily, but we were with my sister and her DH and they didn’t want to dine that early. Tried to get reservations at 6:30 and always told only 5 or 8:30. “As You Wish Dining” is really As THEY Wish! I know some will say just show up at 6:30 and wait a bit, but I am a planner an need things set. I don’t like uncertainty as to when I’ll get a table or if I’ll get a table. I have generally found the dining hosts lately on HAL very rigid, and not at all focussed on pleasing the passengers. A big contrast to the positive experiences we’ve had recently on Princess and Celebrity.

This has been our experience too. The last day before returning to Vancouver has always been the day we see whales, etc along with the beautiful scenery in the evening.

I think you’re right. I haven’t been on Konigsdam, but almost all the live froms and reviews I read have been generally negative. The exceptions seem to be those travelling in Neptune suites, or Club Orange. They should have been prepared for this cruise to be full. These short round trips from Vancouver always are. They’re very popular with the locals.

The Lido on HAL used to be (in my mind) one of the best for selection and food quality. No longer. On the Zuiderdam last summer we came back onboard at 3:30 hungry and just wanted a little something to tide us over. There was NO FOOD in the Lido! Not even the usual Pizza, pasta,salad section. We were told to go to the Dive In which had a line up about 50 people deep. Didn’t want a heavy burger, so went up to Explorations cafe (for the first time this cruise). I remembered they used to have little snacks and desserts up here. Nope. Was told they had had some macarons but they were all gone. Went back to the room to order room service and told a wait of 1 hour. By this time it was 4pm and our dinner in MDR was 5:30, so we just left it. While I love HAL ships and the classic design (promenades that you can walk on!), I’m not in a rush to get back on HAL. In comparison, we have taken a number of cruises on Princess in the last year, and while they have their issues too, the bounty in the buffet is amazing! I’m not even a big buffet person anyway, but there is always something there I feel like having. I will say that I do prefer HALs system of serving people. There are too many things I need to “unsee” when the buffet is all self serve.

We also have Nexus, but I have never seen a separate line at the port. We also have never experienced the wait times people are having now, so possibly I never noticed? We usually cruise later in the season and arrive around 10:30.

This. You have been cleared already. They just use the same letters all the time.

Thank you for your trip report. I just want to clarify that it is only US (not Canadian) customs you are clearing on embarkation at Canada Place. I suspect this is why things are often so delayed there. Almost all have to be funneled through the USBP, after checking in with their respective cruise line. im glad you enjoyed your time (pre-embarkation) in Vancouver!

Really enjoying your trip report! We were on the Discovery Princess next to you in Victoria. Here is a shot of you sailing in. Canada Place seems to be especially crazy at the beginning of the cruise season. Being a seasonal port, combined with more passengers than the place was designed for (even after expansion) can be chaotic. It is also (I think) one of the only ports in North America where you have to clear US customs on embarkation. We usually sail out of it later in the season and it seems to be a bit better then, but even living here we are sometimes confused as to where to go. I find some of the the waiting areas are now the exhibition halls I used to attend dental conventions in! It is all worth it to sail the beautiful inside passage though. Sorry we didn’t have better weather for you today! Enjoy part two of your journey!

If you’re not already locked into your San Pedro hotel choice, consider staying at LAX, then Ubering the morning of the cruise. We usually do this (late pm arrival) and the LAX hotel shuttles pick up right at the airport as opposed to the Ubers. We usually only pay around $30 the morning of the cruise to get to San Pedro (30 min)

I guess we all have our own systems of remembering things. Our car keys are the last thing we would think of as we don’t drive to the port, so they’re put away. I would never forget my wallet though. It comes out of the safe and into my purse the night before we disembark.

We use the safe for my wallet which has the passports, credit cards etc. I really wonder why people would put their keys in there though. Do they think someone from the ship will steal their car or break into their home? I put the keys in a zippered compartment in my tote bag and leave them there.

Yes, I remember the tags from HAL. Those tags actually don’t bother me. It’s the only way I can ever remember which cabin we sailed in!

Because it’s France and they will taste so unbelievably good! The problem is that you won’t want to touch the ship croissants after that. I agree that you don’t want to try bringing on a banquette! A baguette will fit for sure tho!

Yes, it doesn’t make sense at all though. I don’t really know until after my main course if I’ll want dessert, or whether I want a light one, etc.

Thank you everyone for your replies. Very helpful.

We are going on a 7 day cruise and I was thinking of prepurchasing a laundry bag. What is the general turn around time? We are travelling after the cruise, so I’d like to have it done as late as possible. Thanks!

Good Morning to all the Dailyites and thank you for all the contributions as usual! Grilled is cheese is the ultimate comfort food in our house and best enjoyed on a rainy day. My darling niece is a lawyer, so of course I’ll be kind to her! We’ve never been to Brazil, but it’s another one on these new retirees bucket list. Today is a beautiful sunny day in Vancouver, and we kick off our 2023 cruise ship season with the Sapphire Princess today and Konigsdam tomorrow. Best wishes to everyone!

Agree. We’ll be trying Concierge class next week only because it was actually cheaper than the veranda staterooms! The extra points make it worthwhile, but I’m. It expecting much difference. We always enjoy lunch on embarkation on Princess, but anyone can go.

So, I went in again to look at the Canadian at par offers and it does what yours does. The Standard is the same as Plus. If you click through it is higher though.

I was told on another thread that the 14 is treated as two 7 days if it is also bookable that way, even if you book it as 14. The advantage of booking it as 14 would be some savings on port charges, but as she points out the cabin selection is not as good for the 14 as they obviously have a lot of them allotted for the 7 day itineraries as well as the cruise tour combos in Alaska. I think she will be bidding as a 14 day itinerary only.