SilvertoGold

 Picking a cabin will be even more complicated and will need to be done even farther out. We will continue to bok Guarentees:)  HAL is certainly looking at the bottom line in an industrious manner and that should please the shareholders.

Off when you wish, return before 5:30 pm. After departure the ship will cruise Cockburn and Beagle Channels - wonderful scenery!

Just ask your room steward if you don't feel right with what is on the bed. I go through 4 or 5 on some cruises the first two days, until I find one that is soft enough!

We love this area of the Lido. Excellent Indian dishes (don't forget the naan, pappadum or whatever breads they have on offer). Thai, Chinese, Japanese, quite a variety. Dishes change daily. Also, fruit salad, sushi. Most are a bit salty and soame are spicy but ahrd to go wrong there.

Since the ships began sailing since Coivd we've been to 10 Mariner Lunches, Konignsdam and Noordam.  Some cruises had 2, some 3. Pretty much a full house for all.

The Lido often has shrimp cocktails at dinnertime, if your DH needs a quick bite before the Main Dinning Room dinner. Consider it the same as a pre-dinner drink :)

As Canadians we are a bit surprised to see at least for Alaska the pricing on our account in CND is much the same as the USD standby pricing plus the exchange rate. Can't imagine going standby and not saving a bundle, let alone coming out more or less even!

Not able to connect yesterday and today and I have a cruise coming up next week.

How easy is it to get Room Service on Embarkation Day? We are not fond of the Zoo that the Lido is anytime after noon. If Room Service is available around noon to 1 pm we will give it a try. The ship needs all hands on deck for embarkation so we are a bit suprised if they do Room Serrvice at all until later in the afternoon. Any experience would be appreciated.

5 hours ago, possum52 said:

The tenders dock at a wharf in the marina up from the mouth of the Waimata River on the opposite side from the town centre. There were shuttles from the wharf to the town. 

Thank you, Leigh.  It doesn't look very far, across a bridge. The photos I have seen of the area look like a lovely small town. It is the only "new" port on the HAL cruise we are repeating again this year, so I have it easy in the research department :)  Your info last year was excellent and really appreciated.

Anyone know where the tender docks? I have map but it is not cruise-oriented!

Always cheaper than using the airline (much) or consolidators (considerable), in our experience. Last flight the airline would not allow choice of seats but FlightEase did and was $350 pp cheaper.  Win, win.

1 hour ago, Real NHDOC said:

You need to monitor your folio very carefully when you buy a Sommelier suite package because mistakes happen quite often and I have been charged many times for bottles that were supposed to be from my package. Their system is terrible and it becomes the guest’s responsibility to keep track of how many bottles were consumed since there is no way to tell from their billing system. Sometimes on some ships the bottle shows up as a zero charge on the folio and sometimes not. It’s just the way it is. Aggravating but still worth the effort since you can get good wines at a great price (with the Mariner’s discount) if you’re diligent. 
 

Only one time did I encounter a cellar master who was a stickler for only allowing us to order wines specifically listed in the cellar instead of allowing us to substitute others from the regular list of comparable price. Most of the time they will gladly allow you to have a bottle of St. Michelle Riesling, for example, even though there is no Riesling in any of the cellar listings. 

Excellent! We have had a sticker on the back of our room card and each bottle was crossed off as ordered. That does not solve the problem of having a wine from another package, but it is a record of what you have used and we have not had problems that way.  We never use the package outside the MDR, so that helps, too. One cellarmaster, Bernie, was really superb, always ready and willing to fix things and he trained waiters on how to imput the computer for the packages.

On three Noordam cruises last yearwe bought package #2s and I liked one of the wines from Package #1. When we ordered my #1 wine we were charged the per bottle pricing.  The Cellarmaster always fixed this mistake.  It turned out that our main waiter in the MDR didn't know how to imput this (very odd occurrance, apparently) into the computer. The Cellermaster trained him in the procedure after the third time this happend.  No more problems after that. YMMV, but it would be nice to get  waiters who know how to do this.

About the fancy bag: we received something very similar in quality last year and it weighs a ton. I can't imagine lugging it around with anything in it.  It did a nice job of keeping all my HAL paperwork tidy and in one placeon the ship and now at home it serves the staging ground for the next cruise :)

Thank you for these updates, much appreciated. There is so much comprehensive info and it gives an overall look at the fleet. A fun read for me.

Next I might try phoning the number instead of filing out the form. Or maybe just wait until Monday and use my real, live TA. I just hope her HAL rep is still an actual person.

Thanks everyone for the info!

Has anyone used the CHAT feature? This morning I spent 20 minutes trying to interfacing with what I am thinking must have been AI. What a waste of time. The HAL website is so miserable to use I though I would us Chat to ask about why, when I look at a specific cruise, one page says insides and balconies are available (with pricing) and then when I click "continue" it shows everything is "unavailable". I wrote in Mariner numbers and CND pricing: got a quote in USD. Wrote I wanted CND and asked them to use my Mariner number as the quote was not even close to what I saw yesterday (higher by $1000s). What a turn off! Has anyone figured out how to use Chat with good results?

Sounds as if a lot of perks and extras are the difference, maybe a few different ports and or overnights.   When I look at the pricing for some of these Legendary cruises the pricing seems to indicate you pay less (sometimes much less) for a regular cruise with very similar itineraries.

44 minutes ago, Horizon chaser 1957 said:

We go through CARP (the Canadian branch of AARP, for those wondering). It covers pre-existing conditions, BUT you have to let them know about any changes to them before you leave home. If the condition changes while you’re traveling, it’s covered. The top up is higher per day, but not bad. For something lengthy, like our 2023 World Cruise, the cheapest and best option was buying a separate plan that began 18 days after we left Canada.

We live close to the Sumas border crossing, and randomly pop down to the US for the day. The multi trip plan covers us if we get in an accident or have a heart attack, which can happen as easily in Bellingham as in Vancouver, and we don't have to pre-plan anything.

We were lucky here when the snow hit. We got maybe 20% at most of what Vancouver did!

Excellent! Thanks for your help. The daffodils are upand blooming here!

8 hours ago, Horizon chaser 1957 said:

We have an annual plan that covers an unlimited number of trips up to 18 days in length each. If we go on something longer, we buy a top up for the extra days beyond 18. So we’re covered for late notice standby. 

We we wondering if this is the way to go if you do not have any pre-existing conditions.  Questions: 1. can you buy this annual policy to include (changing) pre-existing conditions? And, 2.  how reasonable is the pricing when you add on extra days beyond the 18?

How was the snow out there a while ago? Vancouver had two days of really bad roads!  

13 hours ago, Silver Sweethearts said:

Speaking of photos - Has anyone seen the Green Flash at sunset yet??  We're seeing it almost every day (clouds permitting) here on Maui.  Rather interesting.

We have seen the green flash many times in our crusing days with HAL, farther south than you are right now, but never in Hawaii, so consider your sightings a huge bonus!

36 minutes ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

Having just turned 60, I'm glad to hear that I have just joined the ranks of the young & near-young. 😆

 

 

I haven't gone back to re-read the wording but it seems like they made it clear that it should be considered mainly by those near to a port.

How are people handling travel medical insurance for these really "last minute" cruises? I can imagine doing it all the necessary planning with maybe 3 days notice, but not for  24 hours!

Great post and thanks for the local newpaper link. Interesting to read the coments by locals, how some are interested in more cruise ships. Glad the Zuiderdam sailed to this port, it all worked out well and the part about Captain Frank getting the ship into port under less than great conditions was fantastic info.

2 hours ago, Crew News said:

Compounding the Canada Place early Alaska season cruise experience is the Marathon running on the first weekend of May.  Canada Place is a single terminal that must move thousands of passengers to the appropriate Convention Center cruise ship check-in entrances.  Chaos reigns and the sound volume makes the shouted instructions from cruise line reps futile.  IMHO directional signs, either posted on the walls or held above the heads of cruise line reps, would be a big help.

 

My April cruise will be on Koningsdam followed by an overnight stay at the Pan Pacific before boarding the Nieuw Amsterdam for 14 days.  This means that I will experience two Canada Place check-in processes in eight days and be able to provide suggestions for those HAL Alaska cruisers that will follow.

 

FWIW I have learned that the HAL check-in entrance is the first one in the long Convention Center hallway.  Staying next to the right wall keeps me out of the mob and gets me quickly into the HAL check-in area.  

That check-in is definitely good.  We have had an easy time of it when they do it that way. If there aren't any other ships in, so much the better, too!