SilvertoGold

I hope the MDR is open but it wasn't in April , May and early June on a variety of HAL ships. On the Zuiderdam the MDR lunch on sea days was "Express". Few choices, not very good food.

Lido, pizza, burgers, all in same area. As noted, the Lido can be a zoo on embarkation!

Welcome to Vancouver! The next few days should be no rain and you are right, the sun will come out. A good start to you time here. Enjoy today and best wishes for a speedy embarkation.

Stay. I am interested in knowing who would be paying for the hotel and incidentals if no HAL insurance was purchased.

Fantastic! The ongoing saga of the "Three Generations Ladies" is going to be an outstanding read! The Koningsdam has something for everyone and I am sure this will be a great cruise all around! Looking forward to all your posts! An advance welcome to Vancouver! Hope you enjoy all parts of this adventure!

On Alaska cruises we saw more "anything goes" with Dressy. A tux , a few suits, polo shirts; a few cocktail dresses, dresses, nice slacks and ordinary tops. Gala used to bring out a lot more fancy dressing.

Agree! Intransit was a total mess until the end of May! But in early June boarding was very easy at Canada Place (with no Verifly). I think they have their act together, now. They are using more separate stations so the lines go more quickly. You are not plugged up at one station for a long time while the rep looks at a whole list of your docs. There is the upstairs area, huge, airy with lots of reps and guides. Then downstairs for security and US Customs. We were very pleased (OK, and surprised).

On the Kdam last 3 weeks of April and all of May. Didn't get her name, but I am sure this was the one. (She was a Pinnacle waiter on the Westerdam before Covid.) My DH refused to return after 2 dinners. Too personal, too much attention, too much fawning over the pax (mostly DH). HAL lost a fair amount of $$ from us there. What problems did you encounter? Glad you wrote to Gust Relations: any response? I didn't bother, but likely should have. The lady running Sel was great, we enjoyed that experience and the MDR was over-the-top wonderfully accommodating and professional.

Zuiderdam in early June Koningsdam in April and May: Overall food quality was better on the K. 1. MDR on the K: Salmon truly excellent, portions mostly small, but well plated, well cooked. Fresher, more finessed. Z: Salmon inferior cuts, but well cooked. Food in was average but good, acceptable. Ship was struggling with a lack of chefs, so that may have accounted for the lack of finesse. 2. Pinnacle on the K: apart for an overbearing hostess, excellent, superior service, food quality, plating and taste. Z: very good but serious evidence of over-salting just about everything. The one lunch was a disaster, undercooked, just lukewarm. Manager was mad enough to comp the meal. 3. Lido on the K: a delight at lunch, abundant choices, very fresh and with much eye-appeal. Z: some of food was tired looking. Asian bar was populated with a lot of meat only dishes, no vegetables. Also, food a bit tired looking. Not nearly as much choice.

Try 7 weeks and see how your body thinks of that :) I'll be watching for your autumn cruise reports!

HAL started asking for the receipt number in mid-May on the Koningsdam.

Thanks. Glad you had a good cruise. Aren't 2 weeks so much better than one? :)

We needed to fill out the ArriveCan app on each of our recent Alaska B-Bs for entry into Canada. HAL made quite a fuss about doing this. Things may change but in May, no one looked at the receipt.