badtwin

I also overheard one very frustrated passenger who was in transit. Didn't hear what happened to her and if she was in wrong line. But given the need to go through immigration to get back on the ship, I would be careful to ask about this in Vancouver.

We boarded Koningsdam April 27 and it was a cluster. We arrived at Canada Place around 12:30. We had planned 11:30 but not researched time at boarder or Vancouver traffic. Got our car parked and easily found beginning line. Check in was long but at least it kept moving. AND thank goodness we had paper boarding passes with bar code. Then we went to another long line which was apparently the pre immigration line. Then we moved on to a horrendous line for US and Canadian citizens. It got so bad they had to pull the Zaandam people to the international line for their earlier departure. When we finally got to front of line, we discovered US Customs only had half of 12 stations staffed. At least 2 and a half hours in line. The worst boarding I ever recall. So the problem with staggering entrance is tons of panicked passengers worried they will miss the ship and absolutely no announcement assuring us it would be okay. NOT HAL's fault but truly miserable. Luckily we got beer and burgers and could start to enjoy cruise.

Two possible options if the Rotterdam port is close enough to other things or has good transport to them. You may be able to drop your luggage at port even if you can't check in for your cruise. Or your hotel may have a baggage room it will let you use after check out. We stayed in Utrecht before a cruise out of Amsterdam. Our hotel held our luggage while we did some touring then we picked it up and caught the train to the port. Later boarding was delightful with very little waiting.

Looking forward to trying the seafood boil. But as someone from the Pacific northwest, boiling salmon seems almost sacrilegious

Thank you. We are on Koningsdam on April 27. I will try to remember to report back

I was actually pleased with the show times as they looked to coordinate with the fixed dining times but realize the show times probably don't work with those who want to eat freestyle at some time in between. We are boarding Koningsdam in Vancouver on April 27 for her first Alaska sailing of the year. We hope the menus and lunch specials continue for the 7 day Alaska sailings. Thank you so much for posting. I am curious what her current fixed dining times are and if they will shift as the ship moves north.

Friends taught us about ordering a plate (or more) "for the table" if there is something several want to taste but are unsure about commiting to eat a whole serving.

We were assigned a balcony below the lido, port side between the mid and aft stairwells on the Rotterdam last fall. I was very worried about noise but pleasantly surprised we rarely heard any noise except for the above-referenced carts occasionally in the morning. We are early risers so I couldn't say if it was enough to wake us or if we just noticed because we were awake. Ended up loving location and its convenience to the lido and pool areas.

And has been pointed out on another thread, you won't be lunching in the MDR anymore on boarding day no matter when you arrive.

Long ago, my DH resisted cruising because he didn't want to dress for dinner. He wore a suit and tie to work and he did not want that on vacation. We took our first cruise in 2006 and really enjoyed it. Several cruises later he bought a tux and I got my first long gown in years. We love late fixed dinner and dressing up. On a British cruise we enjoyed the gentlemen in kilts on dressy night. Last fall he took his tux on our Holland Norway/Baltic cruise (21 days) and wore it a couple of times and a table mate wore his once while the other male at our table didn't even have a sport coat. It was fine. Not a lot wore tuxes but DH enjoyed it. Airline luggage restrictions are an issue. If you want to wear one, it's fine. If not, it's okay too.

Just a note to be sure you understand local rules of the road. Last cruise we did bike tours in Oslo, Helsinki and Amsterdam. I don't think rules were same in any as far as bikes vs pedestrian vs cars. When in doubt stop I guess. We loved bike tours although got soaked to bone every time.

First a couple questions. Does anyone know exactly how the crew appreciation is paid out between all the various crew members? I know what the blurb on HAL says but I wondered in dollars and cents. Second, are tips from bar bills and specialty restaurants and whatever else gets an automatic tip put in the same pool or do those tips got to the direct service providers? I ask because it seems that the OP finds the most fault with the food and beverage servers but I assume a large portion of crew appreciation goes to all those behind the scenes that make my cruise experience pretty good on HAL. I am one who used to find the crew appreciation a bit annoying - sort of a pricing gimmick to keep the base price of the cruise lower. And since nearly every other cruise line does the same, it would be hard to be the one line that changes. The only justification I could figure out was that it is a way to increase compensation when work load increases. That is, on a full ship crew will have to work harder but they have a bigger pool of crew appreciation. If the ship is not as full, they still get their base pay but may have a slightly easier time of it. Just to be clear - I was a waitress a few summers and I know service is hard work. When we cruise, we give extra where extra is due. I get very annoyed when I hear complaints about the bar service when I can see the wait people are working very hard. On our last cruise, it often looked like the bottleneck was number of bar staff - they couldn't make the drinks fast enough to keep up with the waiters. But there is only so much room behind the bars too. Service will be slower during times of peak demand. Live with it.

And don't forget ask at the pizza place and New York deli which could appeal to a 9 year old and have less chance of cross contamination because of more limited menus.

We will be on Koningsdam April 27 for its first trip up to Alaska this year. I have been enjoying this thread to get up to speed on current conditions on this ship. We were on her in 2018. I would really like to see more menus (we are mdr people mostly) and food porn if you have the time. I do understand that someone might want to enjoy their cruise instead of working on a travelogue for those of us living vicariously. Dailies are interesting too but I suspect yours are more tailored to current venue. Hope your sea conditions improve. Thanks

Thought I would add our recent numbers to the mix. We were on a 21 day collector (is that the term?) - a 7 day and a 14 day booked as one booking. We had HIA for $2100. We spent somewhere between $900 and $1000 with OBC, refunded port fees and some credit card. We got 15 days on our Mariner accounts for spending. I had assumed we would get 10 days - 7 for the HIA and 3 for the other spending. So who knows how they do this. I have tried to calculate actual drinking but I don't think that gets us there unless I am grossly underestimating our drinking which is possible as I really enjoyed HIA for the first time. But I don't get why HIA would count beverages but not the specialty dining and tours we enjoyed as part of HIA. I was sort of wondering if port fees were included but from the little paperwork I have and those amounts that doesn't account for the extra days either. Hard to complain but if I would get more days ordering more drinks, it would be an interesting problem....