Alaskafitzway

Yesterday was our first day in Edinburgh. We tendered into South Queens Ferry early before our Edinburgh highlights and Castle Tour.

We really enjoyed the quaint little town of South Queens Ferry. We stopped into a little coffee and sweets shop called Once Upon a Time and had coffee and scones and toffee cake. The owner and the customers couldn't have been nicer and they told us about their little town and asked us lots of questions as well. They did take credit cards over a certain minimum which we met with our little snack. We walked the little town a bit and then headed off for our tour.

The "highlights" part of the Edinburgh tour consisted of sitting in traffic mostly in different parts of town with the tour guide talking. Since it was very warm by Scotland standards, the bus was very very warm and stuffy to the point where they couldn't cool it off so we were happy to leave it finally at the castle. The castle was interesting, the views from the castle were spectacular. It's high above the city of Edinburgh and you have views in most directions. Take a camera.

We walked down into town after the castle and found that many of the little cafes along the area where the buses pick up either were too slow for us to grab a quick bite or did not take credit cards/Euro/US Dollars so you had to have local currency. We did find a little place called The Hub which was quick and gladly accepted credit cards.

The bus ride back was much the same as the ride there, through different parts of town but mostly spent sitting in traffic.

When we got back to the ship it was 6:00 and they had already given away our table from early seating (starts at 5:30). We asked to sit at least in the same section as our crew but that was also full. The dining room was almost empty though so we were seated in a different area and Yanto was our waiter. He recognized the city where we are from and immediately started talking football with my husband. It was a nice dinner, Prime Rib, and actually better than dinner from Formal Night.

Off to the Troussachs today.

Thanks for posting! We will be in 6148 in October. If you meet your neighbors in there, maybe they will let you see it? It's an accessible room, and you never see pics of them. Be our first time on HAL...we usually cruise Celebrity. Enjoy!

 

Jane

Jane - I hope that you have a wonderful time. 6148 is on the other side of the ship. even on one side odd on the other.

Update from our day at sea - we were able to check out the ship more thoroughly. The Lido for Breakfast on a sea day is very busy, and finding a table is difficult but once seated the food stations are very quick.

Internet continues to be spotty on the ship with multiple outages where minutes were being used but no real connection. On a positive note, the internet manager Dino is very good and understands quickly that it's not a lack of understanding on our part, and that there is actually a problem. He also was able to see when we had tried to log in but were unable to use any sites and credited that time to us.

We walked the Promenade deck which was busy but a great option. Walking while watching the sea and the oil rigs and other ships in the distance was lovely and it's great that it goes all the way around the ship.

After lunch at the Lido where I had a great salad, we went to the fitness center. It was well used but we were able to get a treadmill and a bike quickly. The machines were in good working order and the view was wonderful. It was very warm by the treadmills so make sure to get a towel before you get on. After we finished there were cold wet washcloths in a mini fridge over by the bikes which was a very nice touch.

It was formal night at dinner. The food was OK but nothing very special, we had the steak and shrimp, and the stuffed shells. Interestingly they were serving lobster in the Lido but not in the MDR. In any case we had a nice dinner and took advantage of the free in room movies alter in the evening.

We arrived in Scotland (Edinburgh) this morning and are headed off to explore

Day 1 at sea brought the realization that adding photos to the blog will not be possible due to extremely slow internet access in our room. We have to go to explorations cafe or a similar common area to get any reliable coverage. We checked with the IT person who said that there are limited network access points on the ship and we're not near one of them.

Boarding was well organized but time consuming. The hall where we waited was comfortable and once our group was called it went quickly. We arrived to room 6147 - a verandah room and found it in order and with our luggage already delivered. One tip here - you can drop your checked luggage at the terminal anytime. You don't need to wait until your boarding time. I will add photos of the room when I get to reliable internet coverage

We left Amsterdam at about 5 PM and at about 6:15 we went through the lock which was interesting to watch. If you have the chance, go the the Promenade deck, and the rear of the ship. You can watch the lock close and fill with water.

Dinner was very good, we were lucky to have an assigned table by the window. The food was good, portions for appetizers were very small, main entree dinner was reasonably sized. We gave our Wine steward the wine that we brought on board and there were no issues they are now safely stored in the MDR for our use. We did have to stop in the boarding line and pay corkage and some of the security screeners seemed unfamiliar with the process so it was slightly bumpy but not overly so.

We didn't take in the nightlife last night but rather wandered the ship to familiarize ourselves. This morning all passengers needed to report to the theater to have immigration interviews for Scotland. They called you deck by deck. We went down about 10 minutes after we heard the prior deck get called and sat nearby. We breezed in when our deck was called because we were nearby. The whole process took about 10 minutes, however when we came back out there was a very long line to get in. I'd suggest going down a bit early.

I'll post more later as I am able with internet.

Looking forward to your live reports on the Koningsdam.

Could you please post the name and address of the wine shop you went to in Amsterdam. Good selection of French and Italian wines?

Bon voyage !

The wine shop is called Chabrol, I do not have an address, but easily found on google maps. They had many different types of wines, some familiar and some not, but if I told them of a wine that I enjoyed, they would suggest a similar wine if they didn't have the one that I knew.

We are boarding the Konigsdam in Amsterdam today for a 14 day journey to Scotland, Iceland, and Norway. I'll post here some photos and information as time and the Wifi allow.

We came into Amsterdam a day early and had a lovely day walking around the city and taking an open boat Canal Tour.

First off we are staying at the Moevenpick which is very nice. It is literally next door to the cruise terminal. We arrived at 10:00 AM from the airport and checked at registration and our room was not ready but for an additional 30 Euro for the night, we could upgrade to a room that was ready and was a nicer room. The Mini bar was also free. There were several sodas, waters, juices, and 2 Heineken in there. We left most of it but did enjoy having the water and soda. The room was on a high floor facing the harbor.

We set off on foot to find Stromma Tours at Damrak Pier 6, a 30 minute walk from the hotel. We could have taken a tram to the central station and then a train, but it was a lovely day and it's Pride week here in Amsterdam, and the Canal parade was going on so we thought it would be fun to walk. We are both 57 and in relatively good shape. We walked to the Central Station, and then on through the streets to find the dock. We arrived well before our scheduling tour, and they put us on a boat that would leave in 20 minutes instead. It was a fantastic way to see the city. we went through many areas of town and the captain was quite knowledgeable. It was very fun.

After our boat tour we walked to a wine shop that someone on Cruise Critic recommended and they walked us through choosing some wines that we will take on the ship. The prices were reasonable, and they had a great selection. We will pay the corkage fee for the bottles that we have (except the two that we can bring for free).

We had a lovely dinner at the hotel, it was expensive but good. They are known for their ice cream, and it was worth trying. We managed to stay awake for the full day despite not sleeping much on the plane. The beds at the Moevenpick are comfortable, the bathrooms are very nice with a walk in large shower.

We woke up this morning to the Konigsdam right outside of our window. Breakfast is included in the room, and the ship is also visible from the restaurant.

We did a HAL cruise tour in Alaska. If doing a land and sea HAL has benefits because they own so many of the hotels. If just taking a cruise the consideration would be ports. HAL includes Glacier bay, a full day that was honestly one of the highlights of our trip. We felt like we would only go once in our lives and we would regret not seeing Glacier bay. It was amazing, but it's personal preference and weather could make it a non-event.

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The Alcohol policy on the HAL website was updated today to include the clarification that the policy takes effect in January 2014. http://www.hollandamerica.com/cruise-vacation-planning/PlanningAndAdvice.action?tabName=Shipboard+Life&contentMenu=Onboard+Policies&contentSubMenu=Can+I+Bring+Alcoholic+Beverages+Onboard?