oaktreerb

He got the fresh OJ from room service as part of the Orange Club room service upgrade menu, not HIA.

The two non-US ports are not far distant ports. You can sail from San Diego to Vancouver but not San Diego to Seattle. You need advance permission from HAL to disembark a day early. We boarded in Vancouver for a round trip Alaska cruise and HAL cleared us to disembark a day early in Victoria since we planned to spend a week on Vancouver Island.

Some ships will list a service call at Tracy Arm. The ship will stop just outside Tracy Arm so that passengers who sign up for an excursion can transfer to a smaller ship which will then go into the Tracy Arm Fjord for viewing before rejoining the ship in Juneau. If it says Tracy Arm Inlet the cruise ship probably doesn’t sail into the Fjord.

One of the special offerings in Club Orange is fresh squeezed orange juice. If everybody got fresh squeezed it wouldn’t be “special”. I remember several years before the shut down and before Club Orange when this was discussed. At that point the discussion was that HAL no longer served fresh squeezes OJ. in the Lido.

The temperatures may be in the 70’s in San Diego but it’s always cooler on the ocean with the ocean breezes. Hawaii is wonderful. It’s warm even when it rains! Have a wonderful cruise.

We took this cruise last February. The weather is cool as you sail from/to San Diego for a couple of days which is typical of this area in the winter. The blanket in your stateroom will be welcome if you have a balcony. No bowl game again this year for Big Red. 🌽. Looking for improvement in the future. 🙏

I’m guessing that the ship didn’t sail on time. A Holland America ship was still at the dock at 4:45 (local newscast background shot). Sorry about the cool weather in San Diego, we’re waiting for rain tonight around midnight. Have a wonderful cruise. Maybe that was the Volendam I saw on the news. They were supposed to sail at 5;00. San Diego port is a mess with two ships coming and going. Somehow the ships manage to get on their way!

It sounds like you really want to go Celebrity. Glacier Bay is the most dependable place to see glaciers in Alaska. If you are looking for a cruise tour Holland America has a wide variety of choices if you look at them all…including the Yukon. In Denali they are located close to the park entrance and have accommodations ranging from the Chalet cabins to hotel type units. You do not choose your room unless you pay extra to stay in the newest suites style building. The Chalets is a resort campus next to the Princess resort that has entertainment and a couple of dining options onsite. Free busses run throughout the day between the two properties and to the National Park entrance. You may be misinformed about HAL use of busses. Holland will generally include the train to/from Denali and bus between Denali and Fairbanks (the less scenic section). If your tour begins and ends in Anchorage they will use train one way to Denali and bus on the return. With any bus travel you will have stops about every hour for restroom and/or food. Whatever you do you need to plan for a minimum of two nights in Denali. Check out the Holland America website. Holland America ships have retractable covers on the pools so they are indoor pools in the colder climate of Alaska. If it’s a sunny day in Kodiak they can open the cover to bring in the fresh air and sunshine. Whatever you decide, enjoy the adventure.

The upgraded bathrobe was a Club Orange amenity. Those CO bathrobes with the orange trim are extra cozy!

Is Katmai being offered as a Princess excursion from the ship?

Each passenger would be allowed 50# for checked baggage. If you have two bags per person that means the 50# could be split between the two bags. If you have one bag each then the limit would be 50#. This is between Whitehorse and Dawson City. Dawson City probably still has a dirt landing strip. The year we flew between Vancouver and Whitehorse on the Y1L the plane was not a charter and one of the private passengers had checked some kind of frozen seafood that thawed on route to Whitehorse in the luggage compartment of the plane. The melt permeated many of the soft sided bags. The HAL staff at the Whitehorse Westmark hotel replaced the damaged luggage. (I think they bought the replacement luggage at Walmart). The laundry staff at the hotel laundered our clothing overnight for free if requested. The hardest part was getting a damaged men’s suit dry cleaned. We picked up the dry cleaned suit a few days later at the Westmark in Fairbanks where it had been taken for dry cleaning. You’ll have a memorable journey with a fun group of fellow travelers. Have a wonderful trip! The HAL tour guide will be a friend and problem solver throughout your journey!

You will have daylight. The shops will be open. On a nice day you could take the Mt. Roberts tram to see your ship from above, take a short hike, view the short movie, take some amazing photos. You can buy tickets at the entrance. No need to plan in advance. You need to be back on the ship at least 30 minutes before it sails.

If you are 3* with HAL you must be aware of stateroom locations. You were above the entertainment areas of the ship. Was it a guarantee? Deck 4 is not the issue. Deck 4 aft is fine, Deck 4 forward is not a good choice for people who are bothered by noise from the entertainment venues.

@CRUZBUDSI thought the Sea View bar was supposed to be positioned away from the smoking section but in November it was so smoky I went inside to the Lido bar and the bartender make me a very nice Bloody Mary. I noted that experience in my HAL cruise evaluation.

On which ship did you have that experience? I thought Pinnacle Grill breakfast was only available to Neptune and Pinnacle Suite passengers on non-pinnacle ships.

I’ve has CO several times on the Koningsdam since Covid and no special events were offered. Anybody can get the jewelry cleaning or the Spa and beauty consultation, etc. Any special events suggested have been upsell opportunities for the ship or available to anyone.

We got two of the 150 Anniversary bags. I already have several of the CO bags so I was happy with what we got.

On the Holland America website scroll down to Community Appreciation Cruise Offers.

Time is limited (7days). Choices have to be made. I agree that including Vancouver would be the best choice. Holland America usually has the best docking locations in Juneau. A one way cruise would include Vancouver (foreign port) but add to travel time on both ends. No reason to be “sorry” a lot of people sail out of Seattle, agree not the best choice, The best choice would be Vancouver with the inside passage route.

If you only have one week and can’t spend any extra time in Alaska why not take a round trip 7 day cruise from Seattle or Vancouver. Fly in the day before so you don’t have to worry about missing the ship. Fly home the day your cruise ends on Saturday or Sunday. You don’t want to tender in Juneau, especially from a big ship. You should choose a ship that goes to Glacier Bay National Park. Most ships go to Juneau, Ketchikan, and Skagway or Sitka and Glacier Bay or Hubbard Glacier.

Most people on this board are not Viking cruisers. We could comment on the port excursions if we had your itinerary. April is very early in the Alaska cruise season.

You can look at the deck plans online. It looks like a lot of the SS (Signature Suite) staterooms are under the Lido. It would be worth the $ to choose your stateroom in a quieter location. When you refer to SS do you mean Signature Suite or the actual SS classification?

Be aware of driving distances. Your MICA Guides Matanuska Glacier adventure may determine where in the Anchorage area you stay overnight. You could start in Seward with two nights and take the Kenai Fjords cruise and other activities in the area, and then drive north to do two nights in the Matanuska Glacier area, then return the car to the rental agency and catch a bus or train to Whittier to board the ship. Go online to the Anchorage Visitor’s Bureau for more information about the area.

Club Orange has become quite popular recently. On our last two cruises, one to Hawaii and a Pacific Coast cruise we thought HAL had sold too many CO “memberships”. In November’s Pacific Coast cruise we thought the CO dining room staff was very efficient. Maybe they have had staffing changes. We have learned that if your meal is served on an orange plate it comes from the CO kitchen. Otherwise the plated meals come from the MDR kitchen, maybe the reason for the temperature variations.

I’m glad to hear that you enjoyed your time in San Diego The first night outside the MDR open dining is always a mess. I’m surprised that you would have had to wait 90 minutes for a table in CO. You handled that issue perfectly. I would not have thought to go to the CO line at Guest Services. We’ve had CO on our last 5 cruises and never had to wait more than 15 minutes for a table in CO,