Small correction-- Its Tracy Arm (no “s”) fjord https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/viewer?mid=1aAGg3hVgxLfkqf0AenbQtQRNals&hl=en&ll=58.034086706499764%2C-133.76701400000002&z=9 https://travel.usnews.com/Juneau_AK/Things_To_Do/Tracy_Arm_Fjord_62278/
oops- called it Widows, not Windows- but like with sports it could be considered like being widowed in that H can spend hours ignoring me to be on one of his various toys (desktop/laptop/tablet…).
Having the National Parks rangers on board was good- Glacier Bay National Park is the full name. The cruise itineraries vary by a destination or two and the time of day, number of hours in a port. Pros and cons to any choice. Having people in Vancouver makes it a logical starting/ending point.
Passports are vetted by the cruise ship before leaving Seattle so only the customs declaration sheet is needed to be filled out (the day before- they make it easy) and with the ship’s ID card- name, room number and barcode, any dining info only- they crosscheck the photo taken when you first board. Computers make it so easy. Plus doing the online check in weeks before the cruise means having the credit card to be used and passport info in their system ahead of time.
Many good choices. If you have some who travel alone there are some lines that do have singles (Norwegian?)- otherwise you pay a lot to use a double as a single). Too many decisions because too many good ways of seeing the state. Cruise ships, even the “midsize” ones that carry about 2000, are large enough people won’t need to be with each other all of the time. You can book your exact room so people can plan to be near (or far from) each other.
I just realize that one of smoke policy on HAL ships is that you can smoke in the Casino and the Casino is open to the inside public areas or some times private cabins of the ship. This is very disturbing as most of our classmates won’t tolerate second hand smoke.
What is your experiences regarding smoke policies on cruise lines.
@ucbalumnus I disagree with several points in that article. Princess is certainly not “all things to all people”, lol. Disney was my least favorite cruise line for kids - their kids club is a zoo. HAL doesn’t have the oldest demographic of the mainstream lines, that distinction belongs to Princess. That’s a long standing myth. Ages on a cruise are dependent on itinerary and time of year, not so much cruise line. You will find the youngest demographics on Disney.
I’m pretty intolerant of second hand smoke. I’ve never had a problem on a ship. No cruise line that I’m aware of allows smoking in cabins, balconies, corridors or the vast majority of public spaces. There are designated smoking areas which are tucked out of the way. HAL has banned it completely on Eurodam and Oosterdam. IME certain nights were designated as non-smoking in the casino. HAL’s smoking policy is on page 15 of this link. https://www.hollandamerica.com/assets/cruise-vacation-onboard/KBYG.pdf
Just got back on Wednesday from our Alaska trip. We went with Princess and did a cruise/land trip.
- We did Vancouver to Whitter up through the inside passage and into Glacier Bay. We had ports at Ketchikan, Jeuneau and Skagway… No complaints at all other than what we had no control over, i.e.,weather. But we actually had great weather.
- Our boat only had about 2000. I prefer the mid sized boats. Things are not as crowded.But there were still crowds at some events.
3.i would think July. August is suppose to be the rainiest. We were lucky with our weather. All the Alaskans kept telling us so. - I looked everywhere. Even started a thread on CC. Found a good site with a suggested packing list. It was helpful. But layering is the key. I often wore a long sleeve shirt with a fleece vest. Would put on a jacket when walking out on the promenade on the ship. But wore less in port because of the nice weather.
5.So glad we included the land tour. Denali National Park is beautiful and we saw more wildlife. Princess had wonderful lodges to stay in.
Other thoughts. Cruises often offer drink packageses. These do not tend to be worth it. Even the one for warter. It’s cheap, but we didn’t use all the water.
We like the traditional dining. Same time every night and same waitstaff. You get to know them and they you. it’s more personal. There are also two formal nights on a 7 day cruise. It’s kind of fun…
@bouders
I have read the exact same smoking rules that you pointed out on HAL website in other places. So, it is official that they do allow smoking in Casinos other than those two ships. It is a disappointment for me, as I won’t tolerate to have second hand smoking inside of the ship public spaces.
And I called Celebrity and got their smoking rules that they only allow smoking on the designated areas on the deck, out side of the ship cabins or public spaces.
We went on Golden Princess to Alaska in 2014. There was smoking in casino and it reeked. Avoided it but most of the rest of the ship was fine and we enjoyed the cruise. We are highly sensitive to tobacco and smoke. We are not gamblers so didn’t miss casino.
@artloversplus Pretty much every mainstream cruise line EXCEPT Celebrity allows smoking in the casinos.
^^Disney has no casinos. There is no indoor smoking at all, just one place on the public deck. Disney used to allow smoking on the balconies, but no longer does. I like Disney even though my kids were teens when we traveled. I traveled with no kids, just two 78 year old ones, on Disney through the Panama Canal. Very few kids on that cruise.
I think any ‘one way’ cruise, like from Seattle to Seward but not back to Seattle has to have a stop in Canada. If it is a ‘loop’ cruise, it doesn’t need to stop in a foreign port. One issue may be that if anyone has had a DUI, he may not be admitted to Canada.
“Loop” cruises typically do have stops in more than one country (typically US and Canada for Alaska cruises). A cruise that only stops in US ports would have to be US flagged and abide by US regulations that may be less convenient than those of other places whose flags are often found on cruise ships.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passenger_Vessel_Services_Act_of_1886
Yes, but there aren’t many US flagged ships. Too expensive for taxes.
For my Panama Canal cruise, we had to go to Colombia. I know some cruise ships in Florida have moved ports empty.
They would also need to hire American crews, rather than crews mostly from middle income (relative to global pay levels) countries.
Congress should abolish this stupid 1886 law which really just add costs to the consumers and does not add any value to the government. In my previously completed Seattle to Seattle cruise, the ship has to stop in Port Edwards, BC, which is just a formality, has no sight seeing value at all.
Our Holland America Eurodam cruise did not seem to allow smoking in the casino (which also seemed empty most afternoons- people were out to see the sites from the ship or shore) and allowed it only in one area outdoors. Saw ashtrays there, had forgotten they exist (mother who died young was a smoker). Smokers were definitely a small minority whose presence was only felt in that 1% of the outdoor public space.
It was weird to be waited on so much. Being American so many would do things like putting used dishes on the tray instead of leaving one on the table et al. There were people from other countries but with mainly Americans leaving from Seattle it felt American despite the crew’s Indonesian origins. I suspect leaving from Vancouver was not much different as many Americans take advantage of the chance to see the Vancouver BC area (wonderful area- did it driving from Seattle one year) and Canadians share many of the same traits we do.
Never considered the reason for visiting Victoria but it added charm to the trip- and an easy way to see the city without a ferry ride from points in Washington. There are some differences in our two countries. We took a picture of the " Office of the Conflict of Interest Commissioner" sign we saw on a government building on a side street while walking to downtown from our ship. Looked it up when we got home. Also saw a car with a Florida license plate on a residential street- I guess Americans also play “snowbird” like the Canadians we see in Florida.
The tap water is fine to drink- no need to pay for bottled.
We could sign up for dinner at the seated dining but most often preferred getting our desired food at will instead of being served courses like in a restaurant. Nice to not be limited to a fixed dining time. The no extra fee dining place had mostly the same food as the pick it from the buffet stations did.
Noted how nice it was to be home after a vacation. It was nice to be waited on and have usual meal, bathroom and bedroom chores taken care of. But there is no place like home. Even a ship with 1/3 mile walking to get around the outdoor Promenade deck feels limiting after awhile. One reason to get off the ship in ports.
Do not plan on having a self service laundry on the ship. No matter how you vacation you end up doing the laundry, whether at home or in a hotel. Your house can remain clean and the sheets fresh but that darn laundry still needs your care. A friend told me the tale of her friend having a clean bra returned on a hanger with a bow- not worth the expense for me.
Our ship had two pool areas with hot tubs- one on an outdoors deck for adults only and the other one with a retractable cover and filled with the usual noisy kid stuff (passed through the area to get to the outdoors area). Many different areas on different areas to be secluded, although a jacket for the temperature and wind was good to have for outdoor ones.
The daily surcharge took care of any urge to tip. It was $13.50 per person per day for us (higher in the exclusive suites and looked the same for other cruise lines in our search) so we did not feel we needed to offer any extra for the turn down service et al. Felt a bit weird to eat a restaurant service dinner without getting a check and figuring out the tip- or choosing menu items based on cost.
Even with 2000 passengers you often ran into some of the same people in the halls and public places. Being on a ship is unlike a hotel because everyone there had the same plans and timing.
I believe casinos cannot be in use when you are in port.
The days at sea were for watching outdoors, not staying in a center, windowless part of the ship… I suspect people do Alaskan cruises to see Alaska, not for the onboard activities as much on other cruises.
@wis75 Eurodam is the only one of the two in HAL that dose not allow smoking in the casino.
Apparently there was at least one smoke free day in the casino on our ship. We had to walk through to get to some locations on the ship. Can still smell cigarettes. Ick.
Its not the smoke free day the problem, it is the aftermath of continuing smoking cabin/space. To those non-smokers, it is a torture to go through that area.
You can easily avoid the casino, and they don’t allow smoking in the cabins or the balconies. I am a non smoker and can’t stand cigarette smoke. Occasionally I walked through the casino because it was convenient. I could have gone another way. It is not a big issue and that comes from someone who is very uncomfortable with cigarette smoke. That shouldn’t be the deciding factor.