CruiserBruce

If you look around the board, you will find tons of info to answer your questions, as they are discussed frequently. Packing is always about layers, with the outside layer being wind and waterproof. Weather in Alaska commonly described as extremely variable...it can change multiple times each day. However, May and June are generally the driest months. Another good source is to simply Google search your port cities. Try "Juneau June weather" for example.

Shuttles always leave "on demand". So if the ship docks by 7am, and clears any port business, disembarking will commence shortly thereafter. So, say by 7:30. Buses will then start departing when full. The drive is about 90 minutes, but that is complicated significantly by the one way tunnel. So, if you are first off the ship, I wouldn't be booking a flight much before 1pm.

ALL HAL ships have covered pools and Crows Nests. Alaska is about scenery and natural wonders. ANY HAL ship will provide those.

It will depend a little by cruise line. But, wine stewards, bar tenders and bar waiters are usually on a separate employment contract, are much more dependent on the tips on purchases of drinks for their wages, and don't participate in the automatic gratuities. Again, who is Miss Mary?

Would this be on the Nieuw Statendam, not the N. Amsterdam?

Sunset won't be at 11 or midnight...so the ship doesn't have to stay that late. Our cruise (on Holland America in August) sailed at 9pm, right in the middle of sunset. It was awesome.

First of all, the better place for your research is the West Coast Departures board, here: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/315-west-coast-departures/ There are dozens of threads recommending hotels here. Take a look around. Be aware, hotels in the downtown are not cheap during cruising season. The downtown is fairly walking friendly, so being close to Pike Place, which can drive up the price, isn't as important as you might think.

The drive is 45-55 minutes, so no hotel is going to provide that. So, instead, look for the threads on the frequently recommended shuttle services.

Just like the three recent threads just below, early check in is ALWAYS a facet of availability. If you are going at peak cruising time, the hotels will be turning over rooms at a very high volume. So early check in can never be guaranteed.

It would be nice to know ports, time in ports, etc before we can help you.

Zaandam is homeported in Boston...doing cruises out of Boston. Not there every week.

There will be two cabana attendants assigned.

Not exactly a complete list. For example, Koningsdam disappears in October.

Not for free.

As discussed on the Florida Departure board, you can make this flight easily. https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/386-florida-departures/

Please tell us what they fees should be. What the various items the ships receive, like water, tug service/standby, etc, should cost.

Smoking is only allowed OUTSIDE, aft deck 9, on either the port or starboard side, depending on the ship. That is the ONLY spot on board (exception a couple of casinos) of ANY HAL ship. On Koningsdam, it's starboard side, near a bar.

HAL'S first ship just arrived in Florida last week, and left for Africa. So I don't think HAL has visited HMC since the Spring.

Been there 10 times...only one was close to a cancelation. This was hot topic a number of years ago, before they got the island based tenders. The cancelation rate, usually in December and January, was pushing 20%. Now, with the island based tenders, it seems to be far less.

I guess the Lahaina dock project is still in progress. And I guess the reason the car companies usually don't want you to use the road around the north end (Highway 340) is still valid, if not even worse than before.

If you didn't know that, you haven't been watching what is going on. It's discussed here daily.

HAL/CCL is a business. They may require masks if they wish. They can switch the requirements on or off as they wish. It's not like they have never had a mask requirement.

Lets start by getting you over to the Viking board, here: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/689-viking-ocean/ Next up, check your Roll Call, here: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/768-viking-ocean-roll-calls/

You can Google search weather for your ports. Try "Mazatlan November weather" for example.

It will depend upon the cruise line. They don't all open their schedules on the same date.