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First Cruise Reflections ...


ArtsyCraftsy
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I recently returned from my first ever cruise: Holland America's “Great Alaska Explorer, 14-days on the Amsterdam, R/T Seattle, September 11-25, visiting Ketchikan, Tracy Arm, Juneau, Icy Strait Point (Hoonah), Anchorage, Homer, Kodiak, Hubbard Glacier, Sitka, and Victoria BC.

 

I originally booked this trip in March, so I had 6 months to prepare. I'm retired and travel alone, so I booked a cabin and paid the "single supplement." The Amsterdam is a mid-sized ship — we had 1306 passengers for this trip — and my cabin was on Deck 7, just below the Lido deck, and two floors above the Main Dining Room. I made extensive use of CruiseCritic, and I think it paid off.

 

Here are some things I learned that I’ll be taking forward to my next cruise (yes, there will be a “next” cruise — see below).

 

1. Packing: There is no “one size fits all” rule for packing. Too much depends on the length of the cruise, itinerary/ports and what type of laundry service is available on your ship. Cruising to Alaska for 2 weeks in the early fall is going to be different from cruising around the western Caribbean for 5 days in March, both in terms of how much to pack as well as what you’ll need to stay comfortable.

 

Based on the advice I got here, I selected a color scheme (black & white with a few “hits” of color — red and shocking pink). I’m not a “fancy” dresser (I spent 32 years in IT — casual dress was the norm), but I did have two nicer “fancier” tops and a pair of nice black dress pants as well as some fancier “lightweight” sparkly ballet flats to wear on HAL’s “Gala” nights (there were 3 on this trip).

 

So, I ended up taking 3 pairs of casual black pants, 1 pair of black dress pants, 2 short-sleeve tops, 3 long-sleeve tee shirts, 1 pullover sweatshirt, 2 "evening" tops w/ long sleeves, 1 zip front sweatshirt that doubled as a light jacket, 1 pullover sweater, a waterproof lightweight anorak (it has a fleece lining, but isn’t “heavy”). My “daytime” shoes are actually great for walking — very comfortable, great soles. I don’t do hiking, so walking shoes was all I needed. With all that, I could layer just about any combination and stay warm/dry no matter what the temp (it was mostly 50 during the day until the second week when it got cooler — mid-40s — and windy/wet).

 

2. Other stuff I took: I brought my iPad, my iPhone, cables/charger, a full-size portable keyboard to use with the iPad, and attachments for the iPhone camera. My plan was to compose daily journal entries along the trip, taking lots of photos, then logging into the onboard Internet service to upload to my dropbox storage. I ended up just uploading photos and checking email/family FB stuff as the Internet was slow and expensive. I did continue doing the journal, but waited until I got home to back it up. I didn’t use the camera attachments as much as I thought I would — the camera on the iPhone 6S is pretty sweet and I was able to get all the shots I wanted just using the controls and editing available on the iPhone camera app. I will leave the extra attachments home next trip.

 

3. Meals: I had signed up for “open seating,” meaning I could show up at the Main Dining Room any time and they would seat me wherever there was space. The other alternative, “fixed seating,” meant I’d have a set dining time at a specific table with the same group every night. I’d rather meet more people, so open seating worked well for me. I never had to wait for a table, and since there was a group of us who ate around the same times each day, we often found ourselves at the same tables. It was wonderful! And the FOOD!! OMG! Stellar in every aspect. Quality, presentation, service, everything. The ONLY negative experience occurred one morning when they got kind of behind on the hot breakfast dishes and we had to wait about 45 minutes for our food. But it was a sea day, so it wasn’t a problem. I ate twice at Canaletto, one of the specialty restaurants, and found it likewise excellent. Really, everything exceeded my expectations.

 

4. Most useful suggestion from CruiseCritic: take a few battery-operated votive candles and additional batteries (the ones I had used CR2032 “coin” batteries). These are bright enough to serve as night lights and dim enough not to disrupt sleep. I turned them on when I went to bed each night and turned them off when I got up. Made moving around at night a little less treacherous.

 

5. Most surprising aspect: the amount of noise. If you’ve ever traveled by train in a bedroom compartment, it’s kind of similar, at least at first. Creaking, thumps, etc. I checked and I was under a high-traffic/noisy area, so it was just unusual sounds in the room/etc. I’m usually not overly sensitive to night sounds, so I was kind of surprised. After the first night I got used to it until we hit the fog beginning day 11. According to the captain's announcement, ships are required to blast the horn in the fog every 30 seconds or so, and that horn is LOUD. My cabin was near the aft elevator port side on the same deck (Deck 7) as the bridge — not sure exactly where the horn was located, but it kept me awake the first night we hit the fog on the way to Sitka. By the 3rd night, I was finally getting used to it.

 

Also, I did NOT get seasick. I wasn't too surprised -- I've been on boats before (ferries - I live near Seattle - and whale watching trips), and I've traveled a lot by train and I've never had a problem with seasickness. We did have a night and most of the next day of rough seas where there was a LOT of motion -- rolling, especially -- but it just caused some balance trickiness, not seasickness.

 

Oh -- and we also had a fire! This is where the pre-launch safety drill came in handy. You learn the pattern of the 3 signals and what is supposed to happen with each one. In this case, the first alarm sounded, an announcement was made that they had detected a fire on deck C. A few minutes later, they announced that they were closing the water tight doors and to stand clear. And finally a few minutes later, the captain announced that they had had a small fire in one of the engine rooms, and that it was out.

 

6. Be prepared for changes and don't sweat the small stuff. We were supposed to go to Tracy Arm, but ended up going to Endicott Arm instead because the captain said we could get closer to the glacier there and it was nearby, so we wouldn't lose any time. No big deal -- it was beautiful, we had brilliant weather, and we saw a lot.

 

I’ve already booked my next 3 cruises (two Holland America, one Oceania). Yes, I’m hooked. My next cruise is a 38-day R/T from Boston through the North Atlantic to Rotterdam and back (Holland America’s “Voyage of the Vikings”). Based on my experience, I’ll probably pack for 10-12 days and take advantage of the laundry service, leave some of the electronic gadgets home, and maybe bring an extra pair of shoes. Otherwise, I think I’m good. :-)

 

Lana in Bellingham, WA

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Surely pleased that you enjoyed this first cruise and you're ready for more! Having sailed on this same itinerary aboard Amsterdam in July, your experience mirrors mine as to satisfaction. The crew's service was stellar; the cuisine in all venues (other than the Pinnacle Grill), and the shore excursions that I experienced met or exceeded my expectations.

 

I was aboard the Volendam in 2002 when there was a small fire in a crew cabin. Even then, when guests were informed differently than now, I was impressed with what I saw in how this situation was handled by the crew and officers.

 

Best wishes for many, many more pleasant voyages!

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