oaktreerb

yes

When you get through the boarding process and are directed to the waiting area be sure to point out that you are “priority”. You will be directed to the priority seating and will board first with that group.

Sold out cruises: casino rates????? The casino is hopping.

When I had a similar issue b/4 Covid. I called my BBTA and complained to them, “for what I paid I could have had a suite”. The rep said “would you like a suite” and I said “yes”. and she traded my veranda or a far forward SS handicap unit. (the only suite available). It never hurts to ask but be prepared for what you may receive!

From what I’ve read, the Bliss is an experience in itself. You might enjoy the adventure on the big ship. Ensenada is usually the required “near foreign port” for Pacific Coast cruises. I’m surprised it is on the itinerary as it is not required on this itinerary.

You keep is up to date and I always appreciate your contributions.

@Coral gives good advice. If this is your first trip to Alaska you may want to do the self guided land tour after the cruise. That way you will be more familiar with what Alaska has to offer. You could easily spend three days in the Seward/Anchorage area. If you want to do a cruise tour do the land part first so you can relax on the ship. One of the advantages of a land tour before cruising is that you will have friends from the tour on the ship.

See Sugar&Buddy request above

A few years ago we were on a ship tour to see the beautiful scenery and gardens in Puntarenas and experienced a torrential rain as our bus returned us to the ship. It was a scary ride down the mountain and our bus driver said torrential rains are common in the afternoons. I was afraid the bus would slip off the road and we would be hospitalized in Costa Rica. According to our guide Costa Rica has an excellent health care system and if we had an accident we would have been well taken care of. Too bad this tour missed the ship but it sounds like a dangerous situation and it needed to be handled with utmost caution.

Thank you. This is just the information we Pacific Coasters have been waiting for.

Me, too in the 1950’s probably.

I couldn’t remember the name of the App and I was too lazy to look it up. Thanks for the suggestion. That works, too.

If you are onboard now, why not ask your question of the officers onboard? You can get a “let is know” form at the customer service desk. Maybe HAL will follow your recommendation for one of the weeks you are onboard.

If you booked a VH guarantee there are only four, far forward on deck 4. You will probably be upgraded but maybe still with the steel partially obstructed balcony. Look at the deck plans online. Maybe they were doing a promo of some type. Don’t know why @PROCRUISE thinks you should move to a window cabin. A balcony would be my choice if the price was the same,

Both o the Spa. Consultation and Jewelry Cleaning are opportunities to sell services and jewelry, I had my rings cleaned while I looked around the display cases. Neither of these would have been an experience chosen by the Captain and neither is an event.

Is Hilo Hattie’s still around? I expected she might have transportation from the port to her store so cruisers could buy muumuu’s and Aloha shirts.

I had the same issue. I called the Mariner’s Society and told them that I was not getting a response from my PCC. I asked them to assign me a PCC that I could talk to. They transferred me to a PCC supervisor, I think, who got me a PCC to talk to.

I would never consider the staterooms on Deck 11 because of the small balconies but a recent cruiser pointed out that for his family they were near the sports deck for the kids and the Crows Nest for scenic inside cruising and near the Lido. Port or starboard is not an issue. Sailing out of Vancouver is pretty smooth compared to sailing out of Seattle. The area on Deck 4 aft is a nice area with easy access to the dining room, Grand Dutch Cafe, the promenade deck and the shops.

Your choice of rooms shows that you have made careful choices. Opening the dividers will give you a nice deck area even if behind lifeboats. Do you have a TA or a HAL rep working to book this for you? There are a lot of pitfalls you need to avoid if you are trying to do this online by yourself. You need to link your bookings so that HAL doesn’t make any changes. Koningsdam is a lovely ship and deck 4 mid aft is near the dining venues and below staterooms so it should be reasonably quiet. It’s my favorite location but I can’t advise about the obstructed staterooms. Club Orange would cost a lot more and is not worth it unless you were hoping to use it for the upgrade to Deck 8 which I would not do. It is under the Lido which would probably be somewhat noisy.

Where do you hang two towels and a washcloth to dry in a small ship bathroom?

On the ship I will continue to ask for 2 x day service, morning and evening. It is important to have clean towels each day. Dirty dishes and glasses need to be picked up or replaced and the ice bucket filled. I also like the chocolates and the towel animals. My demands are few. End of cruise tips are distributed. If I have to choose between morning and evening service I will have to put out the “service please” hanger every day. We did that when we resumed cruising because there was a rumor of once a day only service so we just told the stewards we would put out the door hanger when we were ready for service. It worked like a charm. In a hotel I don’t ask for the same level of service. If I don’t need clean towels I would rather the “cleaning crew” stay out of my room.

Thanks everybody for all the information. I’ll pack my swimsuit and I’ll plan to go to the spa on boarding day for the open house. I usually skip it since it’s so crowded. I think it will be easier to use my OBC if I book onboard.

Underway. Loved the flag! Have a great cruise1

I was asked to keep a log of the exact time of the night noises overhead in our room on the Eurodam. I woke up every time I heard the noise, wrote down the time and presented my list to an officer in the Lido. The noise was caused by the service carts going to and from the Lido galley. This goes on all night. There is a bump at the entrance that the carts go over. We were fortunate to be moved to another stateroom. I think the officer was surprised that I actually followed through with creating the log!

Dealing with your problems IS their job!