RoupMom
July 5th, 2010, 01:04 PM
First, we had a wonderful trip! Thanks HAL. Our family of 6 (me, DH, DS, DDIL, 2 grandsons ages 6 & 4) traveled by car from near Seattle, as we wanted this itinerary and ship. The crossing at the border was simple as pie. Thanks, Canada. From posts on this forum, we used CruisePark for the car, which was a dream. The reservations were easy, directions clear, and people friendly; they took all our luggage and the next time we saw it was in our staterooms; on disembarkation they were waiting for us as soon as we got off. I highly recommend them.
Embarkation at Canada Place went smoothly. We got there about 12:30, cleared customs/immigration right away, and had only a very brief wait for check-in. Lines were clearly marked. We were on-board by 1:00 and able to leave our bags in our cabins. We lunched in the Rotterdam as Mariners to avoid the crowds at the Lido. Muster for the safety check went smoothly; on deck, but no lifejackets.
Now, the ship. Several folks have commented that she seems "tired", but we didn't really notice this. We were on her a year and a half ago and she seemed the same to us. We were on the main deck, which we had not been on before. I probably wouldn't choose it again due to being under the promenade deck, where daily preparations could be a little loud fairly early.
The staff was very helpful and friendly. We had one snafu with communications, needing service to a cabin that didn't happen for several hours, but that was the only downside.
Our kids loved the Club HAL. We were told there were about 100 kids on board, roughly divided in 3rds by ages. The staff there were wonderful. Unfortunately our kids couldn't attend as often as they liked due to coming down with what I can only assume was norovirus. They were confined to their cabin for 24 hours and didn't really feel all that great afterwards. That happened on Glacier Bay day, and the HAL staff thoughtfully provided them with the Jr. Ranger books (what our kids had been looking forward to) and markers they didn't need to return.
There is always discussion of noro. The first two days we were all on what has been called semi-code red -- no self-serve, etc. Although our boys were ill, there didn't appear to be more than a couple of cases throughout the ship. All the personnel knew who our boys were and were very helpful with our requests, including bed changes in the middle of the night a couple of times. The virus was certainly not wide-spread and as a former school nurse, I thought they handled it very well.
When well enough, we ate in the Rotterdam the majority of the time, except for breakfast which was always in the Lido. Our 6 yo is pretty adventurous and routinely ate from the adult menu, while the 4 yo preferred the children's. After they were well enough to return to the dining room, they often mixed and matched from the two menus. I particularly LOVE the cold fruit soups, and was very glad to see them still there. What a treat! We had quite a variety of dishes, and all seemed well-prepared. For the first time in my cruising history, I did get a little tired of delicious, rich food by the end of the week --- hard to believe, eh? For the Lido, I think my DS and DDIL will have to start squeezing fresh o.j. for the kids; nothing else will do now except to see it come out of the juicer.
Entertainment: we really enjoyed the shows by the Volendam singers and dancers, and went every night they were on but the first. We did not attend the nights the comedian and magician were on, but others said they were good. The dancers did 3 complete shows, only one of which we had seen on our previous cruise on the same ship. Our son is a music teacher and generally critical, but he was very impressed with the quality of the shows. For a variety of reasons we didn't get to hear much of the other groups. We did hear bits of the Neptunes and enjoyed their "theme" hours.
We were trying to not spend too much money so did only the railroad in Skagway with HAL. That, of course, was spectacular, and not to be missed. It puts the gold-rush history in a whole other light. In Juneau we took one of the buses in the city (tour buses, not the city bus) to Mendenhall Glacier, which is a very interesting experience. In Ketchikan we did the Lumberjack show, not so much because it's wonderful (it was good enough), but because we thought the little boys would enjoy it, which they did. Glacier Bay was as spectacular as ever, and we were blessed with a sunny day. Despite forecasts of rain for our entire trip, we had none. The days were cool and overcast mostly, with what here in Seattle they call "sun breaks".
At the trip back we had about 1/2 hour to 45 minute wait at the border. Sadly, the "gentleman" who saw us through was a real jerk. He had some sort of ego problem and was determined to show his power. He gave us grief about using birth certificates for the kids, even though that is all that is needed. He said we should have passports for them; he could make us go inside for several hours until "it all got straightened out". It was especially frustrating as a mere month ago my son had taken 60 high school students to Victoria and not had an ounce of problem, with most of them having only birth certificates and letters from their parents. Plus, our DS and DDIL had the enchanced driver's licenses and he said nothing about them. Comparing our entrance to the US with the one to Canada made me ashamed for the kind of welcome we give people. Yes, we need security, but this was totally pointless. He had all the info in his computer, as he referred to our return from a cruise even though we said nothing about it, so it should have been easy. OK, search the car if you must, but don't harass us. Our time with him was a good 10-15 minutes.
Oh well, the rest of the trip was great except for illness which can't be planned for. The rest of our family had never been to Alaska or on a cruise, so it was a special experience.
I've tried to cover the questions I've seen asked, but feel free to ask anything else that I've missed or to clarify what I've said.
Thanks to all of you for your input in the past (and future, too, I imagine!)
Embarkation at Canada Place went smoothly. We got there about 12:30, cleared customs/immigration right away, and had only a very brief wait for check-in. Lines were clearly marked. We were on-board by 1:00 and able to leave our bags in our cabins. We lunched in the Rotterdam as Mariners to avoid the crowds at the Lido. Muster for the safety check went smoothly; on deck, but no lifejackets.
Now, the ship. Several folks have commented that she seems "tired", but we didn't really notice this. We were on her a year and a half ago and she seemed the same to us. We were on the main deck, which we had not been on before. I probably wouldn't choose it again due to being under the promenade deck, where daily preparations could be a little loud fairly early.
The staff was very helpful and friendly. We had one snafu with communications, needing service to a cabin that didn't happen for several hours, but that was the only downside.
Our kids loved the Club HAL. We were told there were about 100 kids on board, roughly divided in 3rds by ages. The staff there were wonderful. Unfortunately our kids couldn't attend as often as they liked due to coming down with what I can only assume was norovirus. They were confined to their cabin for 24 hours and didn't really feel all that great afterwards. That happened on Glacier Bay day, and the HAL staff thoughtfully provided them with the Jr. Ranger books (what our kids had been looking forward to) and markers they didn't need to return.
There is always discussion of noro. The first two days we were all on what has been called semi-code red -- no self-serve, etc. Although our boys were ill, there didn't appear to be more than a couple of cases throughout the ship. All the personnel knew who our boys were and were very helpful with our requests, including bed changes in the middle of the night a couple of times. The virus was certainly not wide-spread and as a former school nurse, I thought they handled it very well.
When well enough, we ate in the Rotterdam the majority of the time, except for breakfast which was always in the Lido. Our 6 yo is pretty adventurous and routinely ate from the adult menu, while the 4 yo preferred the children's. After they were well enough to return to the dining room, they often mixed and matched from the two menus. I particularly LOVE the cold fruit soups, and was very glad to see them still there. What a treat! We had quite a variety of dishes, and all seemed well-prepared. For the first time in my cruising history, I did get a little tired of delicious, rich food by the end of the week --- hard to believe, eh? For the Lido, I think my DS and DDIL will have to start squeezing fresh o.j. for the kids; nothing else will do now except to see it come out of the juicer.
Entertainment: we really enjoyed the shows by the Volendam singers and dancers, and went every night they were on but the first. We did not attend the nights the comedian and magician were on, but others said they were good. The dancers did 3 complete shows, only one of which we had seen on our previous cruise on the same ship. Our son is a music teacher and generally critical, but he was very impressed with the quality of the shows. For a variety of reasons we didn't get to hear much of the other groups. We did hear bits of the Neptunes and enjoyed their "theme" hours.
We were trying to not spend too much money so did only the railroad in Skagway with HAL. That, of course, was spectacular, and not to be missed. It puts the gold-rush history in a whole other light. In Juneau we took one of the buses in the city (tour buses, not the city bus) to Mendenhall Glacier, which is a very interesting experience. In Ketchikan we did the Lumberjack show, not so much because it's wonderful (it was good enough), but because we thought the little boys would enjoy it, which they did. Glacier Bay was as spectacular as ever, and we were blessed with a sunny day. Despite forecasts of rain for our entire trip, we had none. The days were cool and overcast mostly, with what here in Seattle they call "sun breaks".
At the trip back we had about 1/2 hour to 45 minute wait at the border. Sadly, the "gentleman" who saw us through was a real jerk. He had some sort of ego problem and was determined to show his power. He gave us grief about using birth certificates for the kids, even though that is all that is needed. He said we should have passports for them; he could make us go inside for several hours until "it all got straightened out". It was especially frustrating as a mere month ago my son had taken 60 high school students to Victoria and not had an ounce of problem, with most of them having only birth certificates and letters from their parents. Plus, our DS and DDIL had the enchanced driver's licenses and he said nothing about them. Comparing our entrance to the US with the one to Canada made me ashamed for the kind of welcome we give people. Yes, we need security, but this was totally pointless. He had all the info in his computer, as he referred to our return from a cruise even though we said nothing about it, so it should have been easy. OK, search the car if you must, but don't harass us. Our time with him was a good 10-15 minutes.
Oh well, the rest of the trip was great except for illness which can't be planned for. The rest of our family had never been to Alaska or on a cruise, so it was a special experience.
I've tried to cover the questions I've seen asked, but feel free to ask anything else that I've missed or to clarify what I've said.
Thanks to all of you for your input in the past (and future, too, I imagine!)