First time on HAL, sailing on Eurodam to Alaska

[goose&mav]

The shopping area was very accessible from the ship, just like in Juneau so I was pleasantly surprised.

 

We boarded the ship at noon, and there was a long line of passengers behind us. We went to my husband’s favorite Lido for lunch right away and we were glad we did. After us, there was a rush of people!

 

Tonight was gala night and we ended up ordering from room service from the MDR menu.

 

The surf and turf was steak and lobster. The lobster tail was huge!

I had a Cobb salad—I’ve had too much steak this trip! (Such a hard problem to have)... the dessert was delicious! The molten flourless chocolate lava cake didn’t really have lava but it was perfect otherwise, not too sweet. The passion fruit cheesecake was amazing!

 

The port of Seattle is offering free valet service for luggage from the ship directly to the airport and checked in. We signed up for the service and hopefully it will work out!

 

Tomorrow is Victoria and we haven’t decided what we are doing. We did make a reservation at Tamarind for tomorrow night at 5pm to give us options in case we do decide to go into Victoria.

 

The ship is offering a shuttle to downtown for $12.95 per person.

 

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[goose&mav]

 

Glacier bay picture—I believe this is the margerie glacier.

 

Sorry, I can’t upload many pictures since I’ve been taking pictures with my Sony camera as well as my iPhone. Since we can only have on device connected to the internet, the devices have a hard time syncing, also internet speed is too slow to get those 300 pictures uploaded.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[goose&mav]

 

Dog sledding on the Mendenhall glacier.

That was so exhilarating!

 

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[goose&mav]

We heard the ruby princess was late to Juneau due to a medical emergency evacuation. We met passengers of the ruby princess and they said that due to the emergency, they docked in Juneau at 7pm and didn’t have a chance to do any excursions. I guess the ruby princess went 4 hrs out of their way to dock somewhere to get the passenger off. Not sure of the details.

 

They heard the passenger that was evacuated needed surgery but was doing ok. We’re sad for everyone, but glad the person got the help they needed.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Songs4Life]

The shopping area was very accessible from the ship, just like in Juneau so I was pleasantly surprised.

 

We boarded the ship at noon, and there was a long line of passengers behind us. We went to my husband’s favorite Lido for lunch right away and we were glad we did. After us, there was a rush of people!

 

Tonight was gala night and we ended up ordering from room service from the MDR menu.

 

The surf and turf was steak and lobster. The lobster tail was huge!

I had a Cobb salad—I’ve had too much steak this trip! (Such a hard problem to have)... the dessert was delicious! The molten flourless chocolate lava cake didn’t really have lava but it was perfect otherwise, not too sweet. The passion fruit cheesecake was amazing!

 

The port of Seattle is offering free valet service for luggage from the ship directly to the airport and checked in. We signed up for the service and hopefully it will work out!

 

Tomorrow is Victoria and we haven’t decided what we are doing. We did make a reservation at Tamarind for tomorrow night at 5pm to give us options in case we do decide to go into Victoria.

 

The ship is offering a shuttle to downtown for $12.95 per person.

 

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I've got a question. By the way, am loving your posts. We'll be doing this cruise in August so your advice has been great. So, my question is, if you order room service, what kind of additional expenses are you looking at? Is it basically the same food as you would get in the MDR? This may be appealing to our family group on gala night too!

[goose&mav]

I've got a question. By the way, am loving your posts. We'll be doing this cruise in August so your advice has been great. So, my question is, if you order room service, what kind of additional expenses are you looking at? Is it basically the same food as you would get in the MDR? This may be appealing to our family group on gala night too!

 

 

 

Thanks! I’m glad these are helpful. I really appreciate all the advice from these boards so I’m glad to give something back.

 

My understanding is that any cabin can order from the MDR menu. The only additional expenses would be if you ordered alcoholic drinks and soft drinks. Even if you are on the beverage plan, they aren’t able to swipe your cards so you can’t get sodas. We usually get our soft drink can/water bottles from the bar throughout the day and bring it to the room.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[goose&mav]

Today’s menu from the MDR for gala night

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[goose&mav]

Menu from Sel de Mer last night

 

FYI the seafood tower wasn’t a tower—it was more like a very small trio.

 

Someone at another table ordered the fruits de Mer and it looked like a tower! In retrospect, we should have ordered....

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[emjayel56]

Yesterday we arrived in Sitka. We were running a bit late and arrived at the port about a ?half hr past what we were expecting.

We booked another excursion through HAL called sea otters and wildlife quest.

 

We ate at the pinnacle grill for breakfast, again, a wonderful venue to eat!

 

We made our way off the ship and met the group. It was a bit disorganized to figure out which line to go to or which area, maybe due to the ship being late.

 

The tour was excellent! We saw a whole raft of sea otters, bald eagles, sea lions and humpback whales. The little kids on the boat got sea sick.

 

It was really nice weather!

 

A plus was that the boat we went out on took us to downtown Sitka where we had a chance to eat and shop for some souvenirs. There was a free shuttle bus from the downtown back to the ship, clearly marked.

 

We got back to the eurodam and got ready for our dinner at Sel de Mer. Sel de mer was only offered last night.

 

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

Thank you for all the great information. I booked the sea otter and wildlife quest for next week. Is this a very small boat? I thought it would hold about 80-100 people, is that not correct? Enjoy your last full day at sea and safe travels home. I am heading to the airport now making my way to Seattle and then will sail out on the Eurodam tomorrow. Thank you for taking the time to post this information all week. Maryjo

[goose&mav]

Thank you for all the great information. I booked the sea otter and wildlife quest for next week. Is this a very small boat? I thought it would hold about 80-100 people, is that not correct? Enjoy your last full day at sea and safe travels home. I am heading to the airport now making my way to Seattle and then will sail out on the Eurodam tomorrow. Thank you for taking the time to post this information all week. Maryjo

 

 

Have a great trip!! I heard it’s nice weather in Seattle also.

 

It was a pretty good sized boat with upper and lower deck. There was a very basic bathroom there also. I think there were about 60 people. It was an excellent tour and they really make it a point to try to see and point out as much wildlife as possible.

 

The boat ride was bumpy though, so if you’re prone to sea sickness you may want to take something. Our daughter who only occasionally needs dramanine on the eurodam really needed something on that smaller boat. There were several other kids and they all looked a bit sick.

 

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Songs4Life]

goose&mav I want to thank you again for your travel blog. Your information has been very helpful and you have been so sweet to answer our questions. :)

[kidlessatsea]

If you recall, can you share what activities are available at night? Do they offer comedians or just music in various bars?

[emjayel56]

If you recall, can you share what activities are available at night? Do they offer comedians or just music in various bars?

 

Just off the Eurodam yesterday and yes they have a comedian and he is fabulous... also two night they have the singers and dancers, also great. It's a wonderful week.

Maryjo

[goose&mav]

Just off the Eurodam yesterday and yes they have a comedian and he is fabulous... also two night they have the singers and dancers, also great. It's a wonderful week.

Maryjo

 

I’m so glad you had a great time!

[emjayel56]

I’m so glad you had a great time!

 

Thank you; it was fantastic. It was my 4th trip to Alaska and each time was better than the time before. Thanks for all your posts it was very helpful!

Maryjo

[*Miss G*]

I just thought of a question! As I plan ahead for packing - I've read that they offer laundry service on the ship, but any tips for traveling with a suit to prevent it from getting all wrinkly? Or is there an ironing/dry cleaning option on board? This is probably something I just should know as a relatively functional adult.

Here you go!

 

https://m.wikihow.com/Fold-a-Suit-for-Travel

[ATSEAMYLIFE]

I am thinking of booking a Neptune Suite but the cigarette smoke comment scares me. What NS would be least impacted by the smoke?

[*Miss G*]

I am thinking of booking a Neptune Suite but the cigarette smoke comment scares me. What NS would be least impacted by the smoke?

I am guessing that it was someone defying the rules in another cabin.

[ATSEAMYLIFE]

We love the Neptune suite, it’s very spacious and since we have an aft wrap around, the views thus far have been amazing. Something I didn’t expect was that we are smelling some cigarette smoke in our verandah. The sea view area for smoking is aft on deck 9 and I wonder if it’s that drifting down but it is very strong at times and seems closer.

 

 

I got the impression from OP there is some sort of designated smoking area nearby, not just somebody smoking on their veranda. This will be our first HAL cruise so I am not much familiar with the layout.

[goose&mav]

I got the impression from OP there is some sort of designated smoking area nearby, not just somebody smoking on their veranda. This will be our first HAL cruise so I am not much familiar with the layout.

 

Now that I’m off the ship, I can say that we were in cabin 6164, aft Neptune suite.

 

The ship personnel took the smoking smell very seriously, they came out to our verandah, and were able to smell the cigarette smoke. They are the ones that initially suggested that it was the designated smoking area we were smelling smoke from. But when he smelled it as it was happening, he thought it smelled too strong for that since it is on deck 8 I believe, but they investigated very carefully. I never heard further about it except from the Neptune lounge concierge a day later who said they were still investigating. She said they were having housekeeping keep an eye out for left over cigarette butts in the rooms above my stateroom, etc.

 

I did happen to stop by the designated smoking area a few times during the trip as I think the ny pizza and the bar is right by there and the cigarette smoking smell was very strong there. I have a feeling, the smokers were on the very aft of the ship as the ship left port the first day and again as we were sailing glacier bay to view the wonderful scenery. It was a nuisance, but not enough to fully mar my trip. I felt comforted that it was really taken seriously.

Edited July 3, 2018 by goose&mav
Clarification

[ATSEAMYLIFE]

Excellent, thanks for the update.

[lkturtle]

Thank you so much for your wonderful posts! We are *this close* to booking a couple Neptune Suites on the Eurodam in the end of Sept. Multigenerational cruise for us (myself, my husband, my 4yo daughter and my parents). You kept mentioning your daughter and she sounded about elementary school age? What was it like for her? Were passengers annoyed with you having a child around? Was she fully entertained? My daughter is quite mature and quiet. She likes to observe and watch things. I think she'll be fine and not a nuisance but just worried some folks could be annoyed at her presence (esp if she has some sudden burst of excitement). And esp in late Sept. there's likely to be VERY few children around so she'll stand out even more. Thank you!

[emjayel56]

Thank you so much for your wonderful posts! We are *this close* to booking a couple Neptune Suites on the Eurodam in the end of Sept. Multigenerational cruise for us (myself, my husband, my 4yo daughter and my parents). You kept mentioning your daughter and she sounded about elementary school age? What was it like for her? Were passengers annoyed with you having a child around? Was she fully entertained? My daughter is quite mature and quiet. She likes to observe and watch things. I think she'll be fine and not a nuisance but just worried some folks could be annoyed at her presence (esp if she has some sudden burst of excitement). And esp in late Sept. there's likely to be VERY few children around so she'll stand out even more. Thank you!

I got off the Eurodam week before last. There were MANY children of all ages aboard and they were no bother to anyone. It was fun to watch them in the pool. They enjoyed themselves. Holland is no longer just for mature passengers but rather families and people of all ages.

Maryjo

[*Miss G*]

Thank you so much for your wonderful posts! We are *this close* to booking a couple Neptune Suites on the Eurodam in the end of Sept. Multigenerational cruise for us (myself, my husband, my 4yo daughter and my parents). You kept mentioning your daughter and she sounded about elementary school age? What was it like for her? Were passengers annoyed with you having a child around? Was she fully entertained? My daughter is quite mature and quiet. She likes to observe and watch things. I think she'll be fine and not a nuisance but just worried some folks could be annoyed at her presence (esp if she has some sudden burst of excitement). And esp in late Sept. there's likely to be VERY few children around so she'll stand out even more. Thank you!

Here is a lovely thread detailing her experience traveling on HAL with her children:

 

http://https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2623040

[lkturtle]

I got off the Eurodam week before last. There were MANY children of all ages aboard and they were no bother to anyone. It was fun to watch them in the pool. They enjoyed themselves. Holland is no longer just for mature passengers but rather families and people of all ages.

Maryjo

 

Oh this is great to hear - thank you! :)