Welcome Home, Ferry Watcher.....

[Old As Dirt Mom]

:) Hello Mary, and welcome back home to the Seattle area! How did you and your husband enjoy your cruise on Westerdam this past week? I hope you had a grand time!

 

Karin

[Ferry Watcher]

Karin,

Thanks for the wonderful welcome home. Our cruise on the Westerdam was better than I could have imagined!

 

Our Cruise Critic group was amazing, our tablemates were lots of fun and the weather was perfect.

 

It was a great cruise - I can't imagine how it could be any better.

 

Thanks again for the special 'welcome back'!

 

Mary

Ferry Watcher

[Old As Dirt Mom]

Mary (Ferry Watcher):

 

I'm so glad that you had a great time on your first HAL cruise.:) Are you still planning to take your girls to Alaska on Zaandam next summer?

 

Karin

[Krazy Kruizers]

Welcome Home!!

[Ferry Watcher]

Thank you Krazy Kruizers for the kind words!

 

Karin,

I'm still unsure whether we will take the girls next summer. The cruise on the Westerdam was so good, that I'm not sure it could be topped. I do realize that all cruises are unique in their own way and I shouldn't necessarily be thinking about 'topping' this experience. I also realize that traveling with kids would be a completely different experience. The differences wouldn't necessarily be good or bad, just different.

 

In order for us to be able to go to Alaska, we would have to be comfortable with the cost of the trip. What I found is that (at least for DH and I), having a ordinary 'oceanview' cabin worked fine (even with an obstructed view). Having 4 of us in a room that size worries me a bit, as does the cost of a suite, even a non-perk type suite. After reading about some of the types of excursions (dog sledding), and doing a floatplane trip ourselves, I would like to be able to do something like that with the kids. I know there are budget alternatives (we walked all over Sitka), and I can usually root them out.

 

Basically, DH has the vacation time, it's the money that's lacking. I guess I will continue to monitor the HAL site and the online TA for the best deal. It's possible that I may have to look at one of the Vista class ships for more cabin options/better deals. I did use an online TA with decent results for our trip. If you have anyone locally that you would recommend I'd be happy for a referral.

 

As of right now, I'm still basking in the memories of our first cruise. I still think my feet are a couple of inches off the ground!

 

Mary

[Tinknock50]

Mary,

Great to hear your 1st experience was a good one!