MrBill923

This was our 10th cruise, first on HAL and first to Alaska. We are active 60+ "young adults". We traveled with my brother and his wife. Thier first time on HAL and in Alaska. Trip started at Anchorage airport with bus to Westmark Hotel for a night. Would not stay there again. Think Motel 6. HAL should be ashamed to put customers up there. Next day took a bus to McKinley Resort Chalet at Denali. That ride was well narrated by driver with lots of scenery. McKinley Resort was large and spread out. Rooms were OK. Our heat didn't work correctly but we made do. Two restaurants on property with several across street along with other shops. Down the street was Princess Cruise property with many restaurants and shops. Everything is extremely expensive up there in the middle of nowhere. Took bus excursion up thru national park. Again, well narrated with amazing views. Also saw: Moose, Caribou, black and grizzly bears, eagles. Did see Dall Sheep way up on mountain side (as white dots). Next day took free shuttle from resort to Park. There we walked around Nature center and then grabbed shuttle to go see dogs and dog sled presentation. Next day took train to Whittier with a few hundred other guests. It was a 10-hour trip. There were several guides talking almost the whole way there. Breakfast and lunch were served in the train cars. Drinks were also served. All of this was at our own expense. A few drinks were $25 and lunch for two was $45. When we arrived at Whittier train station. We waited and then walked across parking lot into port terminal. It took almost an hour to board. Got on ship about 5:30. Forgot to mention -- Weather: first 5 days were 4 days of scattered rain and 50 degrees. One day was sunny and 52 degrees. Most employees we encountered were friendly and knowledgeable. Most were 20-30 years old, and this was there summer "gig". Many were headed home or to other jobs in other states in the next two weeks. We tipped them well. I will continue my review of the ship later.

Doesn't matter. Wear what you want. Saw all types of clothing.

Just off Nieuw Amsterdam, we tried Pinnacle and Ocean bars for pre-dinner drinks. SLOW service in both between 6:30 and 7:30, not crowded. One bartender and a few waiters. Two simple drinks often took at least 15 mins. Several times the waiter finished garnishing the drink. Poor hygiene with his hands on garnish after touching everybody's key cards, pens, etc. Some Officer needs to put a stop to that before there is a virus outbreak on ship.

Thanks for your review. It would be easier to read if you re-post with bigger font and different font. Thanks.

I can get to that webpage and see my itinerary, with dinner and 2 excursions. What I would like to see when logged in is my actual trip information that shows the HIA details and cabin number to confirm HOL has it correct in their system. How do you see that?

How about we get back on topic of Entertainment additions.....

Topper was confusing. Time to move on from that show.

Maybe I have missed it but no one has mentioned if any of the pools are heated. We sail on Nieuw Amsterdam to Alaska at the beginning of Sept. Thanks.

Thanks for the warm clothes tips. I plan on getting full weather forecast the week before from the best Meteorologist I know -- my son. I think our North Face fleece coat with a heavy rain cost should be best. Will pack a hooded sweatshirt, gloves, hats, and a few long sleeve shirts. A few short sleeve shirts, shorts and bathing suit --- are a must when I cruise. I hope they get used. Thanks.

Our first trip to Alaska, first time on Holland. Just wondering about weather that first week of Sept. I don't want to over pack for cold weather. If we are NOT going whale watching, fishing, or going to visit glaciers, and our excursions are mild activities, do we really need winter coats and multiple layers of warm clothes? We will be on Nieuw Amsterdam and have balcony cabin for viewing nature. I understand about rain gear being necessary. Thanks for your input (please don't make this post about dining room attire!)

I watched 4 people trying to play on the Equinox last April while we were cruising at 18 knots. Ridiculous to attempt, all they did was chase the ball. I decided right then I was not going to attempt.

I started playing this new sport 5 months ago. I'm in mid-60s. I think some of the injuries are from people that are not fit enough or didn't warm up before playing. Its best to take beginner lessons first, instead of just throwing yourself into something you don't know how it will effect you.

We are doing Southbound Sept 3rd. When are main show times and when are set MDR dining times? Thanks for the info.

On the Equinox last month, it was mostly impossible to play while at sea. Court is on deck 14, and at speed of 19 knots there was no way to adjust for wind and ship mivement. It was mostly just chasing the ball!

We drank the "Rain" water for 10 days and had no problems with it.

Now readable. Thks.

Please change your FONT. Can't follow your trip if we can't read it.

We were on Equinox last month. I was not impressed with two different items at Cafe Al Bachio. They were both dry and tasteless. One was muffin and other cinnamon roll. After those I did not try any others. There were a few chocolate desserts at buffet that were good. The cinnamon rolls were not good there either.

According to my notifications, the following posts I do not see in the forum: deni negreano, joymom515, mistermet - only 1, merce4, micday3, C4HCG - only 1, procruise, silkroad, Please re-post, Or can anyone else see these posts? Thanks

Georgia Peaches: I looked at the menu two weeks before cruise. While on cruise the menu did not seem to change from the two weeks before. We did get prime rib the first night, and lobster the following week. There seemed like there were many salads and soups and maybe only on other type of Appts. There were always 4-5 Entrees plus the 3 classic items. The food was good, it just seemed like some of it was just not different enough each night to meet our interests. You might be different. We spent small amount of time in the solarium. On sea days it was filled up early. We tried later in the afternoon and it was good. We are not lay in the sun by the pool type of people. The casino does not interest us, so no comment, other than it was NO smoking which was great when we walked by. Hope that helps.

There are 7 other posts that do not show. Can the Moderator of CC help with this?

I'm not sure why this is happening, but I can only see 4 replies to my post. But I have been notified that there have been 12 replies over the last week. Anyone know why?

Two things I forgot to mention: --The bar service was pretty slow at all bars. The pool bar was the worse. What makes it frustrating is that there is no way to "Que" for a drink. Everyone just walks up and when the bartender looks at them - they order without considering who has already been waiting 10+ minutes. The 2 bartenders are totally overwhelmed, so they just take the next person that shouts out a drink. There has to be a better way. -- With the Basic Wi-Fi, I was able to log in and view live video from my home Arlo security camera. I did not expect to be able to see it. So that was nice.

MisterMet, might be worth upgrade for heavy usage. Not for us. It was kind of nice to separate from all the craziness in the world.

This was our 8th cruise. Second on Celebrity, last cruise April 2018. We are in our mid-60's, and active. We wore masks where ever there were crowds, took the stairs when ever we could, and went to fitness center 4 days out of 10. We did five excursions, one on each island. Our overall experience was positive. Staff were always friendly. Nice to see cleaning going on everywhere. OVC had plenty of food choices (breakfast and lunch – never went to dinner there), and food was at correct temperature. Morning pastries in OVC were dried out and tasteless. There was also quite a bit of food waste due to people overloading their plates. It was disappointing that the main dining room menu choices were reduced. There were some nights we were limited to only one item we cared for, and did have to repeat a few apptz. Everything we ate was good to very good. Dinner desserts were good, but would like to see more Lava Cakes, and less chocolate cake. Only did one night at specialty dining – Quisine. It was fun, not interested in doing it again. We enjoy the dining room experience with same staff every night (late seating). We used all Celebrity excursions, and the directions from staff as to where to meet onshore were not completely clear. Each excursion was well planned, and mostly enjoyed. Chair hogs need to be dealt with so other paying passengers can get a chair. Celebrity needs to make a better effort clearing people's stuff. I also suggest going back to checking out and returning towels. This will eliminate towels carelessly left on chairs after people leave. So many people just don't care about anyone but themselves. Most passengers were friendly, but there are always some who have the “me-me-me" attitude. Average age of passengers was 70 plus. There were many carts, walkers and ankle boots around the ship. Production shows were not interesting to us. The Magician/illusionist was very good. The female singer/impressionist was very good. Silent disco was the most fun. The music around the ship seemed repetitive and needed to be changed more. It would be nice to hear Caribbean music more. We did sit, dance and listen to the music around the deck 3 Foyer and Sky Lounge a few times. We had a balcony cabin on deck 9-hump. Cabin was fine for two people. Stateroom Attendant - Pia - was very friendly and extremely dedicated to doing her job at the highest level. It was a pleasure to see her smiling face every day. Dining room Waiter - Kiene - and Assistant waiter - Taka - were very good and we enjoyed our service very much. They were knowledgeable and friendly. Use of App was fair, sometimes froze, and not always up to date. It was nice to have to pre-view dinner menus and activities. Texting option was not available at beginning of cruise but the next week it started working. We also found out that each person had to have separate email account and PWD on their phone to text each other even though we were in same cabin on same onboard account. We were not aware of that until we visited the help desk on Day 8. Basic included Wi-Fi was acceptable for emails and some web browsing. Any website that was heavy in graphics or videos would not load (example: msn.com). Cruise Critic loaded but all distorted. Was mostly not able to text with wi-fi calling on and using ship’s wi-fi. It seemed to vary. Sometimes I could send simple text and get a response, sometimes it would just not send. And I could not send text with a picture. I used all CC recommended Android phone settings. Overall, we would cruise again with Celebrity and did visit Future Cruise Desk and put down a $100 deposit for a South Pacific trip. I'll be glad to answer questions. I have pictures but have not organized them yet. I hope my comments help others.