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15 minutes ago, Jamman54 said:

Day # 8  -  (January 21st)  -  Goodbye Celebration, Hello Orlando! 

 

When we awoke at 6am the Carnival Celebration was already docked back in Miami. Here are some early morning Miami views…..

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is the Diamond debarkation information……

 

 

Here is the General debarkation information……

 

 

 

We got our carry-off bags ready and we’re ready to go. What follows is one of our best debarkations ever! The instructions for Diamond luggage debarkation said to meet in Celebration Central at 8am. We left the cabin at 7:20am to head downstairs. We took the stairs because getting an elevator would have taken forever. When we got to Celebration Central we were told that the Diamond luggage was ready and we could leave the ship.

 

So we left the ship at 7:30am, and we really never stopped walking. We made our way to the escalator down to the baggage claim area, and once down there a porter came up to us asking if we needed assistance. Heck yes! You usually have to track one of these guys down. We found our luggage easily. The porter loaded us up, and into the passport line, through facial recognition, and out the door!

 

The porter followed us over to Parking Lot “G”, and loaded up our car. We tipped him well for his efforts. The line to get out of the parking lot and pay for parking took about fifteen minutes. The rates are $22/day, or $154 for the week. Once out of the lot we got our last looks at the Carnival Celebration…..

 

 

 

 

The Carnival Magic is also in port today…..

 

 

It’s easy finding your way out of here. Just follow the signs to the tunnel…..

 

 

Once through the tunnel we say goodbye to Miami. Don’t know when, if ever, we will be back here again…..

 

 

Soon we are on I-95 North, which we will take to the Florida Turnpike, and to our destination today, Orlando……

 

 

This ends the cruise portion of our review. You are welcome to jump ship now if you would like, or remain on board for the remaining six days of our adventures. At the end of it all we will give you our final thoughts. Whether you leave or you stay, we would like to thank you all for reading!!!

 

To be continued…..

Are you kidding?? I’m with you and Patti to the bitter end! Loving your review as always. You always make me feel like I’m right there with you. Love your story-telling and Patti’s great photos. Carry on!

What is the cruise crud??

I love the photos with you and your boys. Great memories and that’s what it’s all about! Next time Ryan needs to come and bring a friend!

i’ll go back to lurking now!

Sharon

1 hour ago, Jamman54 said:

I did do some background work before leaving to drink beer and watch the first game with friends. Shooting for Wednesday. 😃

Yay! I’ve been waiting for this one. Kinda feeling a bit stalkerish. This review should be epic! Can’t wait to virtually cruise with you and Patti again!

Sharon

Thanks all! Can’t wait!

7 hours ago, QuattroRomeo said:

Maybe the port workers strike?

Maybe, although you’d think that would hold up both ships. At least they are on their way! Can’t wait for our turn in 4 weeks!

5 hours ago, Copper10-8 said:

 

 

Perhaps a return to slow boarding similar to the beginning of the Alaska season this year. Two other ships in port with her today; Majestic Princess with a capacity of 3,560 and exhibition ship Ocean Victory. Should not present any issues but you never know!

I think the Princess ship left on time. I thought the check-in security and Customs clearance was combined for all cruisers from both ships in Vancouver? So it must have been something specific to Koningsdam. Hopefully all is well and someone will report back. We leave on her in 4 weeks!

1 minute ago, Essiesmom said:

She’s on the move now.  EM

I see. Wonder what the delay was.

Anyone know why she hasn’t left yet? I thought departure was 4:30 pm but it’s 7:30 pm and still looks like she isn’t moving. Curious!

Great review! Thanks so much for sharing!

16 hours ago, QuattroRomeo said:

We are just off our 7-day Inside Passage cruise on the Koningsdam, June 24- July 1. Thought I would share some photos (mostly food!!) and thoughts, as I always enjoy reading others' reviews and there is always some little nugget of info that proves useful to somebody else.

 

We booked quite last minute (May 27) as there was a good Canadian funds deal on inside cabins. Now, I do know that many have shared how small these rooms are on Pinnacle class, so we thought that for 7 days, we will find out if we can stand it. You know, for the future!! More cruises = a good thing.. Anyway, being last minute, we couldn't book Club Orange. I called 4 times after booking, and 10 days before departure, managed to get CO!! Couldn't believe it. The upgrade option was of no use, they only had one other inside to offer and we liked the one we had better. But I was happy. Then the Tuesday before sailing on Saturday, I got an upgrade offer too good to refuse. So, we ended up with a Family OV. So much for the " inside experiment"...

 

When we got on board there were signs at the Guest Relations desk reading "We are sailing at full capacity, No upgrades available".. So I guess we did okay!

 

Did they give you a discount on the Club Orange since you couldn’t take advantage of the cabin upgrade?

On 6/29/2023 at 11:30 AM, cabland said:

Here are a couple of pics that sort of illustrate what I described about the Aft of the Lido deck on the Koningsdam (Sunset pic) vs. Nieuw Amsterdam (sunny day pic).  Pics were not taken from the exact same angle, but close enough.

Cabland, where is the smoking area on Koningsdam? I know it’s in this area at the back, but is it port side or starboard? Are there table and chair seating or lounge type seating? On Nieuw Amsterdam it was starboard I believe, with chairs and tables. Thanks! Just trying to compare.

On 6/22/2023 at 9:51 PM, ACorgan said:

I’m going salmon fishing in Ketchikan tomorrow, so very encouraging to hear that people are catching some. I hope the fish will be biting tomorrow 🤞

Did you catch anything?

On 6/21/2023 at 3:00 PM, electro said:

I posted asking for info on this program before my cruise but no one seemed to have any information other that what is posted on HAL’s website, which isn’t much, so I thought I would post how it worked for us.

 

My DH and friend’s DH did a salmon fishing excursion in Ketchikan.

My DH caught a 20 lb king salmon. He informed the captain/guide of the fishing boat that he wanted to take it back to the ship to be prepared for dinner. The captain cleaned the fish and packed it in ice for my DH to bring back. 

On the drive back to the ship, the bus driver contacted the ship to let them know that someone was retuning with their catch.

 

My DH had to wait at the gangway with his fish for the executive chef to come and meet him. The Chef came down to the gangway with a thermometer and measure the temp of the fish to make sure it was still cold enough. 

 

He asked how he would like to prepared, gave a list of sides to choose from and confirmed what time we would be going for dinner.

My DH had to fill out some paperwork and that was all.

 

We went to dinner at 7, and after our appys, our fish was delivered to our table. It was prepared perfectly and was delicious. 

There was only 3 of us who ate fish so there was plenty left over.

We shared with the table next to us and the waiters got to have the rest. Our waiter was practically giddy when he packed up the rest of the fish. One waiter put dips on the head as soon as it was served!

 

We were very glad that the rest of the fish did not go to waste.

 

There is no extra fee for this service, it is included in the price of the excursion.

If you plan to do this, make sure you check the fishing season for the type of fish you will be catching. We were cruising for 2 weeks and if they had done the fishing the first week, they would have had to throw back the fish because salmon season didn’t open until the second week, 2 days before the day they went fishing.

 

This is a great program that I hope that HAL continues it.

Another Ottawan! So glad you shared this experience with us. My hubby is doing this excursion when we are on the Koningsdam in August while I go to the Lumberjack Show. What a treat it will be if he catches a salmon and we can have it for dinner! Looks delicious!

We will be in 8190 on Koningsdam in August! Glad to hear it’s a good location. How do you add Club Orange to your booking? I have seen nothing about it online in our booking. Do you recall the cost?

thanks!

These are great cabins! Huge balcony. We found it quiet and no issues. You will enjoy!

We will be on Koningsdam Aug 5/23 from Vancouver 7 day Alaska Inside Passage!

Sharon and Paul from Ottawa

We will be on this cruise in August. I see folks referring to going through customs/immigration before boarding.  We are Canadian. Will we need to go through this process? Or is it US immigration since we will be travelling to Alaska? Does having Nexus shorten the wait time? Thanks!

Bravo Jeff and Patti! What a wonderful read and gorgeous photos as always. Thanks for sharing your adventures with us!

Stumbled across this today and so excited! I thought it must be time for you and Patti to be sailing again. Safe trip home and looking forward to the review! 2 new ships must have been fun exploring!

It must be such a nice feeling to do a back to back. Instead of that sad “my cruise is over” feeling, you have a whole new fresh start and a whole cruise ahead of you! Really enjoying your pictures and story telling. I always feel like I could be right there with you two!

Sharon

I got here a bit late but you are still on the first half of your B2B so I’m catching up! Lots of yummy food so far I see! Glad I am joining you and you tested negative before the second leg. We did Canada New England in August on Princess and got Covid when we got home 😢. Our first cruise back since 2019. I don’t know how so many others escape it. So I think virtually cruising with you two is my limit for a while!

7 hours ago, HaveDogWillTravel said:

Of course anything is possible.  This is primarily transmitted thru airborne particles.  
 

Crew wear kn95 masks at all times. They are required to immediately report any illness. They can not get away with just not telling Princess they are sick. 
 

I am more concerned with infecting my steward than visa versa as I do not mask in my room. If I’m asymptotic my viral load is all over my room. 

Except the staff don’t always wear the mask properly. On our recent Caribbean Princess cruise, we saw lots of staff wearing their masks on their chins. Our room steward nearly always had his mask on his chin. He was very friendly and chatty, and we had a number of conversations with him. We did notice throughout the 10 days, quite a few cabins in our hallway were vacated. We returned home and then came down with symptoms, tested positive with Covid. I wondered whether all those empty cabins’ passengers, who were moved to the quarantine deck, (and us) caught it from our room steward, who may have been asymptomatic. Staff seemed very relaxed with their masking.

2 hours ago, Daniel A said:

Is anyone staying in an aft minisuite on Emerald Deck?  How is the noise at night from Club Fusion?

We stayed in an Emerald aft mini on the previous cruise. There was no noise at all at night. The balcony is smaller than the Dolphin deck mini suites, but it’s fully covered.

17 hours ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

We were aft of K'dam, deck 7. The balcony was not as deep as the balconies on the Vistas. I love the corner afts on the Vistas, but I wouldn't do it again on the K'dam. That ship banged and slapped the water in "following seas" (waves approaching at the back). Terrible ride at the back of the ship. Forward and midships were fine. We had very rough weather on Zuiderdam one time, and there was motion at the back, but it wasn't the horrible bang and shudder we had on K'dam in weather that wasn't very rough at all.

Thanks, interesting to know that about motion.