MrBill923

Thanks. I will look at LAX maps for further info. Glad to know we don't have to haul our bags around for several hours.

Thanks this is good info. On our way back to home, we have a 6 hour wait at LAX to depart to ORD. What are our options for our luggage as we won't be able to check those for several hours. Thanks.

Just wondering about this to help arrange flight times. Where is Customs checks going to PPT and returning to LAX? Just want to make sure we have enough time for connections. Thanks.

We booked with TA for the Pre and Post Days with PG. The cost was $550/pp for Pre and $420/pp for Post. We booked two months ago. Hope that helps.

There is the Post Cruise Discover info on the website under "Trip Enhancements". We are doing this. Here is link to site: Extend Your Trip | Paul Gauguin Cruises (pgcruises.com)

We were on a Holland ship last fall in Alaska. We have Verizon phones and had service in ports. If you do excursions in the wilderness don't count on service.

I use Tile tags from Best Buy, with Samsung phones. They work well. But you have to remember that they have to be "found" by other phones to be tracked and signal be sent to you.

Thanks to both of you for the info. Beautiful picture. We will look into pre and post stay. Thanks. Did anyone use PG airline reservations? We typically make our own flight plans as we like to pick times and seat locations. Just curious.

Thanks The Darkest Blue. This is very helpful, The Daily schedule answered several questions. I did notice there was no food available between 2pm and 6:30pm. Is there no quick bites somewhere to fill in after a long excursion or late at night? I agree with booking hotel pre and post cruise. Did the Hilton Tahiti work for you, was it nice? How did you get to hotel from port and hotel to PPT? By Taxi - was it easy to get taxi and what was the cost and did you use $$? Thanks for your help. I think we will book August cruise.

We have cruised 9 times and are in our 60's. We enjoy active ships and look for things to do onboard and onshore. We have done some searching but thought I would let your experiences guide us. Questions: What is the cabin difference between Balcony D and C besides the deck number? Is any of the ship's entertainment more than just a piano or Polynesian music/dancing? How do you RSVP for dinner at the La Grill? Can you be seated at a 2 Top table? How and where do you sign up for excursions? Are the pre-cruise "day rooms" a good idea with the cruise line or with individual hotels? Thanks.

TeeRick, Well said! I hope everyone reads your post, especially all the complaining guests. Thanks.

Oh. Thanks. I was just curious why I can't see them. I just got yours. So strange.

Moderator: I cannot see responses to my post #12. I have received notices that kplady and Copper 10-8 have responded. Can you help? Thanks

Here are two short Videos of the sled dogs in action. It was fun to watch and see how the dogs are cared for. Hope you can see these. 20230902_140650.mp4 20230902_140754.mp4

We did the triple. There were good parts and not so good. I posted a review here on CC for the Nieuw Amsterdam Aug 31-Sept 10. If we went again we would arrange it ourselves.

On the subject of food: We were just on the N. Amsterdam in Alaska. We are not picky eaters, but there are some things that are not to our liking. We could always find something to eat in MDR. But many times out of the 4 apptz and 5 entrees and 3 desserts -- there was only one thing we wanted out of each category. To me that is not good enough. Dinners are basically 1 beef, 1 chicken, 1 fish, 1 pasta, 1 vegan. A few nights there might have one or two more, but not every night. We did not eta dinner in the buffet, we prefer the personal service in MDR.

Here are a few pics from WP Scenic Train, Mendenhall Glacier, Glacier Gardens. Sorry I did not have a pic of the shuttle/cart that went up thru the gardens.

Thanks. In Skagway we did White Pass Summit scenic railroad. It was good and as described. Three hours in an old train car with an oil burner for heat. Saw lots of sights and one black bear. In Juneau we did Mendenhall Glacier and Gardens. It was good and very well narrated. Plenty of time to get out of bus and walk around. Just be aware that at the Gardens you ride in an open 12 passenger shuttle (large golf cart) and the roads are narrow. If you have fear of height, etc --- this might not be for you. I'll check if I have any photos of that cart. In Ketchikan we just walked the city and took in the history, and saw salmon and otters.

We were on N. Amsterdam last week. The beds together seemed slightly smaller than a queen size. Our 7th deck Verandah cabin had a small sofa. Don't know if it pulled out, but it would not be comfortable to sleep on as a sofa.

Sorry for delay, Covid has slowed me down. I will keep this brief, I think. SHIP: Always seemed clean and mostly good shape. There were a few places that needed attention. Nothing to stop us from enjoying. Afterall we are there for the scenery. We did think some of the signage around the ship was lacking info or just not noticeable. WEATHER: During the 10 days we were in Alaska, we had 2 days of sunshine, most days were raining and or cloudy. Temps were 40-50 degrees. CREW: Most all friendly. Some ship crew did not make eye contact when walking past them, including officers. Just figured they are over worked not rude. Customer Service was very helpful with two different strange problems with App and internet connections. Michelle Maria was very good. FOOD: We ate in buffet for breakfast and lunch. Good food variety and friendly smiling servers. We did find it troubling that individual food items were not marked. There was just one sign over the entire counter with what was in that area. The signs were hard to read. We did like that they served the food. Finding a table was difficult at times. They were slow to clear tables, and at times there were people just sitting around not eating, looking at phones or chatting and not willing to go somewhere else as their fellow cruisers were circling looking for table. We did try and like the NY Pizza and Dive-in burgers. We did not like the Coffee Cafe all the way on top deck. Not worth the time to go all the way up there. MDR: We had open dining time. We prefer set late dining, but we gave this a try. We were able to get the same server team and table after the second night around 7:30. Zae and Fauzi were outstanding. They were friendly and knowledgeable. Food was good and served in timely manner. Serving sizes were fine, but a few more options would have been nice. There was no sommelier. We did not eat in MDR for breakfast or lunch. BAR/DRINKS: I commented in another thread about the service. Basically, the drinks were good, but service was slow in many different locations. There were waiters taking drink orders, but many times just one bartender. It took 15 minutes to get a drink sometimes, and they weren't that busy. Drinks were made differently and in different glasses at times. Wine selection by the glass was small, and came in different size glasses for the exact same wine. CABIN: We had verandah cabin on deck 7, starboard. It was clean and neat. Our attendants were Ishlah and Jeny. They were friendly and always smiling. Ishlah told us on the first day they only provided once per day service. We had no problem with that, and if we saw them in the hallway they always asked if we needed anything. As others have mentioned the entry hallway past the closets is tight and dark. We are average size adults. There is a motion nightlight under the closet doors and also one in the bathroom. Both are a nice convenience. We did have trouble controlling the temp in the cabin but made do. We also notice a slight sewer smell at times but could not figure it out. It was not enough to chase us out. FITNESS center: Typical equipment. Some items needed to be replaced as they looked old and wore out. ENERTAINMENT: BBkings band was great. Problem is the venue is too small. One night there was a great comedian in there. What a mistake. That same time/night Holland played a movie in the World Stage. What a waste of space, there were more people trying to see and hear comedian then there were watching movie. He was at World Stage another night with several hundred watching and was hilarious. The two acts that were in the World Stage were a dance group and a singing group. Nothing close to a production show with a live band playing music. The ship was a graveyard after 10pm. SCENERY: It's Alaska, you get what you paid for. Plenty of natural beauty. Some wildlife. PORTS: Three ports, all as advertised. Plenty of jewelry stores and gift shops. Excursions were completed without problems. Keep in mind that everything is very expensive in Alaska. DISEMBARKATION: We were not in a hurry to get off as we were staying a night in Vancouver at the St. Regis Hotel. Left ship at 9:15, quickly found bags and had brief visit with Customs agent. Then out and into a line of a few hundred people waiting for taxi. That was 45 mins, but under control. We waited in and open garage area. Taxi rates are per zone. I guess that is everything. Probably forgot something. I will be glad to answer questions. I have lots of pictures, will try to load a few later. Hope the above info is helpful to a few cruisers.

See my Covid post in Holland forum from earlier today, for last weeks sailing.

Something else we noticed is that some of the info we were given at the different locations was different than what we had been given pre-cruise. Some info actually had two different times on the front and back of the info. We were also given info about luggage tags for each part of the trips. Some of this info was not clear either. Like departure times or location. Another example was that sail away was supposed to be at 8pm, but we departed at 7pm. Don't get me wrong, it was nice to get additional info for the different legs of the land trip, but it would have been better to be not conflicting.

Blackduck: As I mentioned, I noticed the problem on the last night as I saw it while sitting at bar. I had not seen any waiters touching raw ingredients going into the finished drink with his bare hands previously. In this case he grabbed a peeler and a portion of orange and peeled of a section and then used his fingers to drop in glass. In most cases a bartender is using his bartender tools to properly make and finish off the drink. Of course, a bartender touches an ice scoop, glass and shaker. But they don't touch the inside of the items. I posted this to alert anyone else that prefers dirty fingers not be in their drink --- to be aware.

Forgot to mention the most annoying part of the land tour. The early morning before each stage of moving from one point to the next - we had to have our luggage outside our door by midnight or 5am. The morning to get on the Whittier train, we had to have it out there at 5am, but when we departed our room at 7am it was still sitting there. They use a truck (6 hours) to transfer all luggage to Whittier while we take a 10-hour train ride.

I posted separate thread for my Covid experience, so if people were interested in that subject, it was easy to find. Unfortunately I didn't notice what waiters were doing until the last night when I sat at the bar to order our drinks to see if I could get them faster. The bartender ignored us and waiter walked up behind us to take order. I watched the bartender make our drinks, place them and the waiter station and then saw what he did. This whole procedure had already taken over 15 minutes. Since we were heading to dinner, I knew I would just order wine at the table and not drink the Manhattan and Cosmo. So, didn't report it. Just posted here so others were aware.