HatRez

Hey Urban Trekker, I'm hoping you're maybe my trivia buddy. I didn't get to say bye yesterday!!

Ketchikan was a huge letdown for me. We were there eight years ago and other than the area immediately surrounding the berth, it has really suffered. Everything looks weathered and haggard, and probably low funds from no tourism to restore/maintain things. We were sorely disappointed. Wandered around for two hours then went back on the ship.

I can confirm it's still under repair as of three days ago.

I was very worried heading into our Koningsdam cruise since this was my first cruise since going vegan six years ago and didn't know what to expect. Here is a detailed summary for anyone searching this topic in the future: Breakfast: The lido deck offers very few options. Breakfast includes oatmeal, fresh fruit, hash browns, toast with jam. Some stations offered Morningstar veggie sausages but I know a lot of Morningstar products are vegetarian but not vegan so I passed to be safe. Room service and MDR offers a nice wild rice and quinoa bowl that is vegan without the poached egg. Adding a couple hash browns and some fresh fruit is a filling breakfast. Both cafes offer soy and almond milk (couldn't find oat for those wondering) for lattes. Lunch: Again, the lido deck options were limited. The pasta bar does plain pasta with marinara if requested. The salad bar is handy and the balsamic dressing is vegan. I custom-made a couple of hard-shelled tacos one day with refried beans and various toppings, served with chips and guac. They occasionally had a vegan bean chili served with rice. Sometimes the faraway lands station had Indian or Asian dishes that were vegan but mostly they were meat-heavy. No vegan desserts, although sometimes if I asked the ice cream station they would have access to sorbet. The pizza spot can do a cheese-less pizza but also has vegan mozza shreds if you ask. Dive-in has a veggie burger (unsure if it's vegan) and Beyond burgers and sausages! The burger buns are brioche so you can have it with a lettuce wrap. The dive-in sauce isn't vegan but you can sub ketchup, mustard and relish. I don't believe anything at the Dutch Cafe was vegan. Same with Gelato, obviously. Dinner: If you tell HAL when you book that you're vegan, they will handle the rest in MDR or Orange Club. The first night I had the appy and entree option that were alterable to be vegan, along with lemon sorbet, but after that every one of my courses was designed for me. It was amazing! I had an Indian night, I had pasta with Beyond meatballs, tabbouleh salad, tomato soup, cauliflower steak with saffron rice. They even made me vegan desserts like poached pear, peach crisp and chocolate cake with berries. I felt spoiled every night, because sometimes they would bring me my specialized dinner AND the regular menu option that was also vegan, so I'd have so many plates of food in front of me! I also should note we upgraded to a Neptune suite and the concierge in the Neptune Lounge was so amazing. Every day there was a plate of vegan snacks left on our coffee table. Sometimes mini sandwiches, sometimes veggies and hummus or chips and salsa. Tamarind does a vegetarian bento box for $5 for room service and I believe most of the items on it are naturally vegan. At first it looks very un-friendly for vegans but they really do go above and beyond to make an effort. I would prefer if they switched to impossible for things like meatballs and pasta because Beyond has such a distinct taste but honestly, the fact they have Beyond is awesome. I really wish there were more vegan sweets available during the day but once a day at dinner was okay.

Verifly was super easy to use and shaved so much time off our embarkation process. We bypassed a huge lineup of people having to show proof of everything to agents. Highly recommend.

They conducted them on our Koningsdam yesterday morning for disembarkation today.

We upgraded to a Neptune Suite for $300 a person and it was the best choice we've ever made. Free laundry and dry cleaning, Neptune lounge for premium coffee close by in the mornings, snacks all day close by without hundreds of people coughing on them, excellent service in Club Orange (Koningsdam) and we had an amazing view both ways. We saw porpoises, orcas, grey whales, mountains goats, etc.

Has anyone cruise recently with Koningsdam and taken note of the vegan options? I'm looking at the different menus on the app and they have lots of items flagged vegetarian but no markings for vegan. I haven't been on a cruise since I went vegan 7 years ago so I'm preparing myself for a very different type of experience culinarily. I'm assuming my only breakfast option will be fruit and oatmeal, and my only dessert option will be sorbet.

Someone mentioned Uber in Juneau. Is that an option?

The entire highway toward Carcross and even beyond is spectacular. Highly recommend a self-guided tour with a car rental. We drove all the way to Whitehorse when we went a few years ago.

Hey! Thanks for the tip. It looks amazing on YouTube. When was the last time you did this trail? I am looking back at photos from 10 years ago and Mendenhall looks like it's receded about 3 km from our photos to today's google maps. Is getting to the glacier still doable in one day at port?

We are looking for a great hike at one of the three major ports along the inside passage. We are fit so terrain doesn't matter, just something doable in the timeframe with an awesome view as a reward!