Yes, I am TOTALLY Crazy, But Felt I had to be on the First Alaska Cruise July 24

[atexsix]

3 minutes ago, Radbooks said:

All of it has me excited... muster drills are going to be different, I think. It'll be a video you watch and then you go to your station and check in or something like that. Just being on the water will be wonderful and enjoying the beauty of the land and sea. The only problem is it's so short... haven't done a 7 day cruise in a long time!

Neither have we.  Just yesterday we both reiterated our desire to book a 3-4 week minimum.....but after hours of research last night and this morning I was getting pretty discouraged because so many countries are closed to Americans with no idea on when that would change, so we decided our best bet to get on a ship now would be in our own country. 

 

7 days will be painfully short.  But on the bright side, we can pack pretty light for once.  

[Radbooks]

4 minutes ago, atexsix said:

Neither have we.  Just yesterday we both reiterated our desire to book a 3-4 week minimum.....but after hours of research last night and this morning I was getting pretty discouraged because so many countries are closed to Americans with no idea on when that would change, so we decided our best bet to get on a ship now would be in our own country. 

 

7 days will be painfully short.  But on the bright side, we can pack pretty light for once.  

Yeah, slim pickings this year, but we've got a long Europe cruise out of Copenhagen scheduled for next summer that we're hoping will actually sail! Never been there before and I'm very excited to do that one.

[HAL4NOW]

1 hour ago, atexsix said:

Even muster drills have me excited!  (yes that's sarcasm)

I am guessing they will come up with a way to do muster drills without a large group of passengers in a small space.

[madera1]

I think you are far from crazy for booking the July cruise. This afternoon we contacted our TA and am now once again booked for my birthday on the 9/4 cruise. 

[ger_77]

On 5/20/2021 at 5:35 PM, LAFFNVEGAS said:

Well, I did it 😃 I just felt we absolutely needed to be on the first Alaska Cruise for July 24th on the Nieuw Amsterdam, we are already booked for September 4th and have that almost paid in full.

I can feel your excitement from here!  Looking forward to your "Live From", as it's been sooooo long since we've seen one of those on here!

 

Smooth Sailing!  🙂🙂🙂

[puppycanducruise]

Looking forward to reading all about it!

(I'm not too jealous.😉)

[dobiemom]

10 hours ago, atexsix said:

Neither have we.  Just yesterday we both reiterated our desire to book a 3-4 week minimum.....but after hours of research last night and this morning I was getting pretty discouraged because so many countries are closed to Americans with no idea on when that would change, so we decided our best bet to get on a ship now would be in our own country. 

 

7 days will be painfully short.  But on the bright side, we can pack pretty light for once.  

You could sail NA on Sat, stay in Seattle one night upon return, then board Princess on Sun. 😉

[atexsix]

1 hour ago, dobiemom said:

You could sail NA on Sat, stay in Seattle one night upon return, then board Princess on Sun. 😉

Are Princess ships sailing on Sundays? I had wondered about it and checked their forum but couldn't find the information.  

 

We'll probably stay the night before in downtown Seattle, maybe even the waterfront, so that will extend the trip a little bit.

[quack2]

Not at all impressed with the port times for this itinerary.

 

[atexsix]

3 minutes ago, quack2 said:

Not at all impressed with the port times for this itinerary.

 

They work for us because we've been on these Alaska sailings so many times and don't do much, we like Juneau.  Sitka we haven't liked since they no longer tender (yes tenderings a pain but it drops you off so much closer to the action).  And Ketchikan is too short so I agree on that one, but I once worked there for a week and saw just about all there is to see 🙂

[LAFFNVEGAS]

13 hours ago, HAL4NOW said:

I am guessing they will come up with a way to do muster drills without a large group of passengers in a small space.

I had read many months ago from HAL and Princess that Life Boat Drill would be conducted in your cabin. Same time as before but you just checked in on your phone or your TV.

I think there are going to be a lot of changes that people will require a smart phone or tablet that connects to wifi. It was mentioned by Seth Wayne I believe that the we will have updated information in the upcoming weeks about uploading via our phones our CDC Vaccination Cards and our Passports. They plan to roll out check in at the pier via our phone. I am sure there will be accommodations made for those that do not have a smart phone or are tech savy.

My last Norwegian Cruise they were experimenting with pre pier check in on your phone. This was in 2018. I uploaded our passports and of course they had credit card info. Check in was extremely quick. Basically verified who we were and handed us our on board cruise cards.

Princess already has been doing the pre check in with the Medallion Class which is basically the same  and does work quite smoothly. No need to stand in line to check in. Unfortunately I think Holland America is still a bit behind the times and will not be as sophisticated as the medallions but I suspect that they are making huge improvements with the Navigator App. I checked it last night, it allowed me to sign on but it shows my upcoming cruises as the recently canceled Nieuw Statendam for July 11th and does show my September 4th Nieuw Amsterdam Alaska cruise but does not show the July 24th Alaska cruise. But Seth Wayne made comment this was being worked on. I would guess in the next 4 to 5 weeks a lot of things will be made known.  FUN TIMES AHEAD   😄  Kind of like waiting for Christmas Morning 😉

[bobpatj]

We are hoping to take a special family cruise to Alaska, in August.  Because we have an under 12 granddaughter, our hopes are slim.  There must be many families with young children in the same situation.  

[LAFFNVEGAS]

3 hours ago, quack2 said:

Not at all impressed with the port times for this itinerary.

 

In the Facebook Live with Seth Wayne and Bill Fletcher from HAL, they spoke about the time in Ketchikan. Since they were skipping Victoria they would in fact be extending the port time there, they just were unsure of the time but would definitely be a few hours longer. 

[Tennessee Titan]

We are booked for the 31st (July).

An aside for port times. Remember that it stays light very late in the summer in Alaska...

[quack2]

1 hour ago, LAFFNVEGAS said:

In the Facebook Live with Seth Wayne and Bill Fletcher from HAL, they spoke about the time in Ketchikan. Since they were skipping Victoria they would in fact be extending the port time there, they just were unsure of the time but would definitely be a few hours longer. 

Ketchikan 7am to 1 pm

Icy Strait 6-10 pm

 

 

[LAFFNVEGAS]

30 minutes ago, quack2 said:

Ketchikan 7am to 1 pm

Icy Strait 6-10 pm

 

 

Bill Fletcher with Holland America stated yesterday on Facebook with Seth Wayne they would be adjusting and giving more time in Ketchikan. I am thinking probably 3pm instead of 1pm, they did not give an exact time.

[zelker]

2 hours ago, Tennessee Titan said:

An aside for port times. Remember that it stays light very late in the summer in Alaska...

Keep in mind that the Alaska season is starting late this year - in fact a month after the longest day of the year so daylight will be waning by the time these start up. At the beginning of August, the sunset in Juneau is around 9:15 pm, but by the end of August it's around 8:00 and by the last sailing at the end of September it's at 6:30.  

 

Edited May 22, 2021 by zelker

[zelker]

I made an interesting discovery today.  Alaska Port Authorities knew as early as May 5th (and likely earlier) that Nieuw Amsterdam was going to be coming up.  How do I know, you may ask? 🤭  I looked on their 2021 Port Schedule for every port that we're visiting and it shows NA, our port times, dates, etc. and the last update was May 5th!   I've referred to that website for years to see how many other ships would be in port with us, which berth/tender spot we were assigned, etc. but it never occurred to me to check it out lately since we all thought Alaska was basically dead for 2021.  

 

Here's the link for any of you who are interested ... obviously updates will be forthcoming.

 

2021 Schedules | Cruise Line Agencies of Alaska (claalaska.com)

 

 

[atexsix]

10 minutes ago, zelker said:

I made an interesting discovery today.  Alaska Port Authorities knew as early as May 5th (and likely earlier) that Nieuw Amsterdam was going to be coming up.  How do I know, you may ask? 🤭  I looked on their 2021 Port Schedule for every port that we're visiting and it shows NA, our port times, dates, etc. and the last update was May 5th!   I've referred to that website for years to see how many other ships would be in port with us, which berth/tender spot we were assigned, etc. but it never occurred to me to check it out lately since we all thought Alaska was basically dead for 2021.  

 

Here's the link for any of you who are interested ... obviously updates will be forthcoming.

 

2021 Schedules | Cruise Line Agencies of Alaska (claalaska.com)

 

 

Yay!  I'm not the only one that does this, but I hadn't gotten to Alaska yet, I did check Port of Seattle and it's not up yet, I'm assuming because ships are still being added by other cruise lines.  It's the only sure bet so far for American sailings and everybody wants in on it, that's a good thing!

[zelker]

6 minutes ago, atexsix said:

Yay!  I'm not the only one that does this, but I hadn't gotten to Alaska yet, I did check Port of Seattle and it's not up yet, I'm assuming because ships are still being added by other cruise lines.  It's the only sure bet so far for American sailings and everybody wants in on it, that's a good thing!

 

Seattle shows up on the Alaska one but doesn't specify which pier.  Do we assume we'll be at Pier 91?

 

Edited May 22, 2021 by zelker

[atexsix]

4 minutes ago, zelker said:

 

Seattle shows up on the Alaska one.  👍

Will definitely check out your link later.  Thanks so much!

[Cruise Suzy]

3 hours ago, bobpatj said:

We are hoping to take a special family cruise to Alaska, in August.  Because we have an under 12 granddaughter, our hopes are slim.  There must be many families with young children in the same situation.  

 

Those under 12 will not be allowed on HAL ships this summer. Here is part of the e-mail received about our 7/25 Oosterdam cruise moving to Nieuw Amsterdam on 7/24:

 

Due to CDC guidance, these cruises to Alaska are available for guests who have received their final dose of an approved COVID-19 vaccine at least 14 days prior to the beginning of the cruise and have proof of vaccination. We will be communicating more information to you regarding health and safety protocols and requirements in the coming weeks.

 

...

 

Due to current guidance regarding vaccination age requirements, if your booking includes children who are younger than 12 years of age, we will be transferring your booking to the comparable 2022 voyage.

 

[AncientWanderer]

46 minutes ago, zelker said:

 

Seattle shows up on the Alaska one but doesn't specify which pier.  Do we assume we'll be at Pier 91?

 

 

I'm operating under that assumption.  The only time we have been assigned Pier 66 was when Seattle was a port stop for us -- not embarkation or debarkation.  We have embarked from Seattle on three occasions and those were all from Pier 91.  Obviously we'll wait and watch, but that's what we're planning for until we hear otherwise.

 

Edit to add these were all with Holland America.

Edited May 22, 2021 by AncientWanderer

[dobiemom]

1 hour ago, zelker said:

Here's the link for any of you who are interested ... obviously updates will be forthcoming.

 

2021 Schedules | Cruise Line Agencies of Alaska (claalaska.com)

I'm not sure how accurate this is. On Jul 24, it says 3 ships are in Seattle: NA, Emerald Princess, and NCL Bliss. I'm not sure about NCL but I thought it was the Majestic Princess that was sailing to Alaska. 

[zelker]

10 minutes ago, dobiemom said:

I'm not sure how accurate this is. On Jul 24, it says 3 ships are in Seattle: NA, Emerald Princess, and NCL Bliss. I'm not sure about NCL but I thought it was the Majestic Princess that was sailing to Alaska. 

It hasn't been updated since May 5th so obviously things will need to be updated.  For example, Celebrity is replacing Solstice with Summit and that's not changed yet.  You'll also see that it still shows ships in Victoria and Vancouver which we know is not going to happen.  It's a work in progress, as is this entire Alaska season.  But it's somewhere to start.

 

Edited May 22, 2021 by zelker