goose&mav

Hi just wondering what do you mean “once you go to buy page”? Sorry it will be our first time cruising with Holland and yes I am super excited. Me and my hubby would need internet. Thank you!

Sorry just saw this now. When I went to buy internet on the check out page, it gave a better price for the whole sailing. That price was a better deal.

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We loved, absolutely loved the pan pacific. They gave us a free ride to the port as well. The room was very nice and had a great view of the space needle. The service there is absolutely superb.

We went to the zoo via public transportation (bus). We only had to walk a little bit from the hotel to get to the bus.

There is also the biggest Whole Foods I have ever seen down below from the hotel in that same plaza.

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Just wanted to comment on the luggage valet service from the port of Seattle. It was excellent! We put our luggage out the night prior to disembarkation and they were gone by the next morning.

We were a big nervous about our luggage making it, but it was great. We were able to spend a bit of time at Pike’s public market without the hassle of a whole bunch of luggage.

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@lkturtle

I really do recommend the Neptune suite! I think you will be quite happy. Plus the movies on demand free in the room are entertaining for kids.

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Thank you so much for your wonderful posts! We are *this close* to booking a couple Neptune Suites on the Eurodam in the end of Sept. Multigenerational cruise for us (myself, my husband, my 4yo daughter and my parents). You kept mentioning your daughter and she sounded about elementary school age? What was it like for her? Were passengers annoyed with you having a child around? Was she fully entertained? My daughter is quite mature and quiet. She likes to observe and watch things. I think she'll be fine and not a nuisance but just worried some folks could be annoyed at her presence (esp if she has some sudden burst of excitement). And esp in late Sept. there's likely to be VERY few children around so she'll stand out even more. Thank you!

My daughter is an only child aged 6 1/2 and she had a great time! The crew were so good to her, and she wanted to take pictures with them before we disembarked. No one seemed to be annoyed by her presence. I was also a bit worried about taking a cruise with a young child as there is sometimes a negative reaction to writing about taking a child on some of the boards on cruise critic (not the holland boards but on other cruise line’s boards). But it was absolutely fine and she had a blast!

The kids club on the eurodam was excellent and the crew staffing it were incredibly patient.

We bought 2 of the internet packages for our cabin so that she could have her iPad when she wanted. She and my husband shared that login and I had my own, it worked out well.

I think you’ll be fine. Four years old is old enough in my opinion, especially if she is mature for her age. My daughter being an only child is used to talking with adults and is very polite. She gets excited also but when people see that you are trying to keep a reign on the behavior, they tend to me more understanding.

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I got the impression from OP there is some sort of designated smoking area nearby, not just somebody smoking on their veranda. This will be our first HAL cruise so I am not much familiar with the layout.

Now that I’m off the ship, I can say that we were in cabin 6164, aft Neptune suite.

The ship personnel took the smoking smell very seriously, they came out to our verandah, and were able to smell the cigarette smoke. They are the ones that initially suggested that it was the designated smoking area we were smelling smoke from. But when he smelled it as it was happening, he thought it smelled too strong for that since it is on deck 8 I believe, but they investigated very carefully. I never heard further about it except from the Neptune lounge concierge a day later who said they were still investigating. She said they were having housekeeping keep an eye out for left over cigarette butts in the rooms above my stateroom, etc.

I did happen to stop by the designated smoking area a few times during the trip as I think the ny pizza and the bar is right by there and the cigarette smoking smell was very strong there. I have a feeling, the smokers were on the very aft of the ship as the ship left port the first day and again as we were sailing glacier bay to view the wonderful scenery. It was a nuisance, but not enough to fully mar my trip. I felt comforted that it was really taken seriously.

When we were on the eurodam, they showed some of the newer movies that were on demand on our tv on the main stage during the day.

Just off the Eurodam yesterday and yes they have a comedian and he is fabulous... also two night they have the singers and dancers, also great. It's a wonderful week.

Maryjo

I’m so glad you had a great time!

The Amsterdam's Pinnacle Grill is not located where you can look out windows and see the ocean.

The bathtub/shower is difficult to climb over if you have problems with your knees or back -- very high.

Thanks so much! We were so spoiled by and enjoyed ourselves on the Eurodam.

There have been very few photos, and no video (that I have found) of the Amsterdam since her drydock. She is a more mid-sized ship built in 2000, and is based off of a design that originated in the late 1980/early 90s with the launch of the MS Statendam in 1992. As such she lacks many features found on Eurodam - Billboard Onboard, BB Kings, Lincoln Center Stage, Gallery Bar, Tamarind, Silk Den, expansive thermal suite and hydrotherapy pool, etc. Additionally the casino does allow smoking, whereas Eurodams is completely non-smoking. She does however retain a large library that is completely separate from the observation lounge (Crows Nest), a more traditional Piano Bar and separate Sports Bar.

 

Her Neptune Suites have a much smaller bathroom with only a tub/shower combo and single sink basin, however they have a decent amount of space otherwise. The Neptune Suites were supposedly refreshed in drydock but I have yet to see photos.

 

The Amsterdam, as co-flagship of the fleet, has a very loyal following with both passengers and staff, as she does the annual World Cruise as well as some of the Grand Voyages. You can expect a mother intimate, low key experience with gracious service. In general the longer cruises attract an older clientele and the ship will quiet down earlier in the evening as a result.

Thanks so much for this info! It’s so difficult to find any pictures online searching. We don’t mind low key at all, it’s what we prefer anyway!

hi,

We loved our 7day Alaska cruise on the Eurodam. So much that we want to do a 14 day Alaska cruise on the Amsterdam. I believe it went thru dry dock. Does anyone have any comments on the ship? We will probably do a neptune suite again, is it as updated as the Eurodam was for us?

Thanks so much!

We just got off the Eurodam with a 6 yo to Alaska and she loved club Hal. There were quite a few kids taking part in club Hal. Every time we picked her up there were at least 7-8 other kids there. The staff at the kids club were so nice!

We only did it about 4 times but she loved it each time! Hrs were about 9-11:30, 1-4 pm and 7-11.

On the glacier bay day they earned a junior ranger badge and they were taken on deck to see the glaciers.

On the last day, they had the magician come to do a few magic tricks after his show on the main stage. That’s a really nice touch!

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I bought the Bfull 12x50 binoculars on Amazon. $33.99 but there’s a 20%off coupon that can be clipped. It feels sturdy, great light and magnification. I’m so glad we brought it to use on our excursions. Very easy to wear with glasses and I felt a good deal for the price. Came with case, strap and lens cloth. Also has a lens cap for both the front and back of the binoculars. It states it’s waterproof but I can’t vouch for that.

Thank you for all the great information. I booked the sea otter and wildlife quest for next week. Is this a very small boat? I thought it would hold about 80-100 people, is that not correct? Enjoy your last full day at sea and safe travels home. I am heading to the airport now making my way to Seattle and then will sail out on the Eurodam tomorrow. Thank you for taking the time to post this information all week. Maryjo

Have a great trip!! I heard it’s nice weather in Seattle also.

It was a pretty good sized boat with upper and lower deck. There was a very basic bathroom there also. I think there were about 60 people. It was an excellent tour and they really make it a point to try to see and point out as much wildlife as possible.

The boat ride was bumpy though, so if you’re prone to sea sickness you may want to take something. Our daughter who only occasionally needs dramanine on the eurodam really needed something on that smaller boat. There were several other kids and they all looked a bit sick.

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We’re on deck 6 and there is definitely vibration when we are sailing full speed out at sea. I will probably try something on deck 7 in the future. But it’s not something that is deterring me from having a great time.

The aft wraparound balcony is certainly usable and wonderful for seeing sights and taking pictures.

The only negative is the occasional cigarette smoking smell that is probably emanating from the sea view which is also aft.

Have fun!

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We saw so much wildlife on our boat tour from Sitka. Not sure about Juneau since we did the helicopter dog sledding glacier thing there.

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Trying to figure out the best option for our family. My teens drink soda, and they usually have a latte in the morning. Though they are teens, they still enjoy ordering a Shirley Temple on occasion. Would those be covered with the soda package? I was going to do the Quench package for them, but maybe I'll do the soda package + beverage card for the coffees to save money.

We have the signature beverage package which came complimentary for us from our booking through Costco. That covers soda, wine and a Shirley temple. I believe the drinks need to be $9 or less but I defer to more experienced HAL cruisers.

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Menu from Sel de Mer last night

FYI the seafood tower wasn’t a tower—it was more like a very small trio.

Someone at another table ordered the fruits de Mer and it looked like a tower! In retrospect, we should have ordered....

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Today’s menu from the MDR for gala night

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I've got a question. By the way, am loving your posts. We'll be doing this cruise in August so your advice has been great. So, my question is, if you order room service, what kind of additional expenses are you looking at? Is it basically the same food as you would get in the MDR? This may be appealing to our family group on gala night too!

Thanks! I’m glad these are helpful. I really appreciate all the advice from these boards so I’m glad to give something back.

My understanding is that any cabin can order from the MDR menu. The only additional expenses would be if you ordered alcoholic drinks and soft drinks. Even if you are on the beverage plan, they aren’t able to swipe your cards so you can’t get sodas. We usually get our soft drink can/water bottles from the bar throughout the day and bring it to the room.

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We heard the ruby princess was late to Juneau due to a medical emergency evacuation. We met passengers of the ruby princess and they said that due to the emergency, they docked in Juneau at 7pm and didn’t have a chance to do any excursions. I guess the ruby princess went 4 hrs out of their way to dock somewhere to get the passenger off. Not sure of the details.

They heard the passenger that was evacuated needed surgery but was doing ok. We’re sad for everyone, but glad the person got the help they needed.

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Dog sledding on the Mendenhall glacier.

That was so exhilarating!

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Glacier bay picture—I believe this is the margerie glacier.

Sorry, I can’t upload many pictures since I’ve been taking pictures with my Sony camera as well as my iPhone. Since we can only have on device connected to the internet, the devices have a hard time syncing, also internet speed is too slow to get those 300 pictures uploaded.

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The shopping area was very accessible from the ship, just like in Juneau so I was pleasantly surprised.

We boarded the ship at noon, and there was a long line of passengers behind us. We went to my husband’s favorite Lido for lunch right away and we were glad we did. After us, there was a rush of people!

Tonight was gala night and we ended up ordering from room service from the MDR menu.

The surf and turf was steak and lobster. The lobster tail was huge!

I had a Cobb salad—I’ve had too much steak this trip! (Such a hard problem to have)... the dessert was delicious! The molten flourless chocolate lava cake didn’t really have lava but it was perfect otherwise, not too sweet. The passion fruit cheesecake was amazing!

The port of Seattle is offering free valet service for luggage from the ship directly to the airport and checked in. We signed up for the service and hopefully it will work out!

Tomorrow is Victoria and we haven’t decided what we are doing. We did make a reservation at Tamarind for tomorrow night at 5pm to give us options in case we do decide to go into Victoria.

The ship is offering a shuttle to downtown for $12.95 per person.

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FYI in Sitka, we ate at Ashmo’s food truck which was recommended by someone on the Alaska port of call board, and it was an excellent recommendation! Very tasty food, fish was excellent, but you had to wait about 25 min for the food, and there wasn’t a place to sit. We went back to the dock near the visitors center to eat.

The dessert at Sel de Mer was the best part of the meal! Crepes Suzette, soufflé and the apple tart. I liked the apple tart the best, there was some caramel and the apples were tart :-) which cut the sweetness of the dish.

Today, we had a very early start for docking in Ketchikan. We booked a kayaking excursion through a place that costco travel had recommended. We had to be on the pier by 7:50am so we ordered room service for breakfast. The weather was the chilliest it has been at upper 50’s that early in the AM so we dressed in layers.

Ultimately, there were a total of 5 ships in port today, the eurodam, the ruby princess, the star princess, the Nieuw Amsterdam and one of the Oceania vessels( which looked like it was tendering).

We were in cruise berth #1.

We met our guide, took a boat out to orcas cove, boarded the boat that had the kayaks, and then kayaked for about 1.5 hrs. It was gorgeous, very calm waters. We did not see any wildlife, but got to enjoy a nice leisurely kayak ride. It was our first time, and it was not difficult. The most difficult part was getting in and out of the different boats and kayak.

They served a nice snack of smoked salmon (from Ketchikan) and crackers. It was a nice end to the kayak trip. Then they boated us back to the pier where the ships were.

We ended up going to a few souvenir shops to get some last minute souvenirs. My tip is to get a coupon book at the visitors center right there by the ships as well as another different coupon book you would find at some of the shops. I scored a bunch of free items— tee shirt, tote Bag, fudge, shot glass.

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