SilvertoGold

Excellent news!

Perfect, Roger. Thank you! One inch square is just right for me, but DH will require two of those 😉

Ah, thank you, BaileyMJ! My DH will go for the muffin/madelaine for sure! We do like the fruit crisps in the MDR but we ask for two scoops of ice cream as they are so small :) Favs are apple, peach and since we don't do desserts often we save it for those ones. Thanks for your help: much appreciated:)

Any info about what edibles are available in this Explorations Cafe? I was asking Roger about brownies in particular.

Excellent info, thanks. Next up from DH: how about the brownies? On the Noordam the Explorations Cafe on 3 used to have the most luscious brownies with lots of chocolate icing. Now, 2 years in a row: disaster. Just cake with about a millimeter of icing! On the N Amstedam where is the Exporations Cafe? Any info about brownies would be appreciated.

Great info and lovely photos! I may have missed this but how about NY Pizza? I see on the deck plan it is outside, aft of the Lido. How does it compare with the one on the Koningsdam? Any info would be appreciated. Enjoy!

The Westerdam sails the Alaska season from Seattle (the Captain's "typically") and this particular repositioning cruise from Japan was apparently scheduled to sail the inside passage instead. So who got this mixed up? Who orders the pilot (in advance by several days one would assume)? Quite embarassing for HAL. The credit was a nice gesture. Having sailed the inside passage more times than I can count I know the southbound sail is fantastic if the timing is right, so I can commiserate.

I thought this new check-in plan was initiated in Vancouver at the request of Canada Place. Is this actually HAL's new plan for all ports?

Excellent, Roger. Thanks. BTW: in looking at theCanada Place schedule for this year I see that the start of the season had a lot of 3 ship days. Going forward, many days are two ships and a few just one ship, so I am hoping things settle down and embarkation will improve! Your posts are great to read (the soup and the cookies to the rescue! I need to remeber that!).

I am not getting a clear picture of how "priority" for 5 starts, etc is working with all these delays, problems, etc. Any info would be appreciated.

Noordam was placing Open diners on both levels on the recent 39 day cruise. (There were also fixed diners on the lower level) First on lower then overflow on upper level. 5 pm and 8 pm were the times for set dining. Managers were outstandingly flexible. This set-up may change for 7 day Alaska cruises and others.

Yes, 6 weeks in one of these "side-entrance" cabins, as is Oosterdam 4158. Entrance was in the middle of the long side of the cabin. In ours the bed was to the left, the small desk (no drawers) opposite the door. Cupboard at end of desk with safe, two shelves and place to hand short items. Opposite end cupboards for long clothes and shelves which could be converted to hang clothes, too. Small bathroom on hallway side of cabin, shower was standard small size. Booked N GUAR and got this K. For a K we would prefer the standard long cabins with door at the end. However, for the price we paid, this one was fine! There was no chair or sofa which was a negative. Floor space was limited which made the cabin feel smaller. I prefer to have some drawers and find having only the night table drawers a negative as they are quite small and not conveniently located. We got used to it and found it quite cozy, quite doable. We would never choose one of these as there are Ks which are larger, with more storage space. HALfacts.com: see Westerdam 4012

There is a big difference between "check-in" and "boarding". This new system seems very much like last year's, except for set times determined by your priority or deck for showing up for "check-in". I hope this works better than it did for the past few years!

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.

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.