Crew News

Overcast skies and rain have been the conditions since leaving Vancouver. All shore excursions have been cancelled for Valdez due to weather.

The arrival time on your HAL itinerary is the time when you can leave the ship. Tours will wait a reasonable time for late guests. Bring a small cup for a drink from the water flowing on the glacier surface. Boots, trekking poles, and crampons are provided.

I will inquire.

Day 05 Anchorage The weather in Anchorage was raining and with no booked excursions for me so I opted to remain aboard and update menus, interview crew members, and take photographs of the ship. The cookies situation has deteriorated with their hardness nearing that of the Koningsdam cookies last week. To be fair, I tried all the different cookies and had to wait for the Late Snack to find the chocolate chip cookies. It is self evident that the recipe has not changed but the baking time has. I strongly recommend a dipping beverage to make the cookies chewable. Dinner at 5:00 PM in the MDR was completed in one hour which is my personal standard for a solo, table for two. It took ten minutes for my order to be taken in a nearly full dining room but food delivery was swift. It was a great finish. My record service remains 43 minutes on the Eurodam last February. On the beverage menu side, there are no changes to the basic menus but new inserts for Alaska have been added to some menus. I have posted many so far with a few more to check. There are Alaska canned beers available and I will post a list as soon as I review my photos. The new Morimoto Restaurant is very modern and brightly lighted in contrast to the Tamarind just a few feet away. The dinner menu on the Nieuw Amsterdam is more extensive than the pop-up versions on all of the other HAL ships. Both menus have been posted to compare. The Morimoto Beverages are the same on all HAL ships. The Tamarind Bar on the Nieuw Amsterdam does not include appetizers. Next stop Kodiak.

Biggest changes that I have noticed include the new Morimoto (replaced half of Tamarind), new hand washing sinks in Lido Market, lift chairs for indoor pool/hot tubs, and updated library. I will ask if other big changes.

Only half on Nieuw Amsterdam but probably all on "Morimoto Night" on other ships.

Seward was an add-on from the initial itinerary with only a few excursion options with photo opportunities. My last pass through Seward was enroute to Denali and no stops in the Seward vicinity. The weather in the northern Pacific Ocean is always bumpy in the Spring so I did not have high expectations. The fog and rain definitely detracted from photo opportunities but does give me a Photoshop challenge to make the photos somewhat presentable. It is my experience that Alaska has much better wildlife viewing opportunities in other ports.

As requested: Morimoto Sushi 2024 Morimoto By Sea Pop-up (All ships except Nieuw Amsterdam) 2024 Morimoto By Sea - (Only Nieuw Amsterdam) 2024

No smoking in the Nieuw Amsterdam Casino but other ships Casinos may have a small area for smoking. There are two Morimoto menus. One for the Nieuw Amsterdam and another for the rest of the HAL fleet (pop-up). I will have both posted soon.

My stateroom, VS6214, last summer on the Volendam, had extra outlets where the TV used to be in addition to what is above the desktop..

I have had these for my last three cruises and finally discovered them in my emergency kit. What a game changer!! It is remarkable how many hings can be hung on the ship walls.

My desktop photo as promised with Amazon links to some items shown below: Magnetic Hooks https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B085DKDDT1/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Power Strip (no surge protection) - far left with charging block (not listed below) https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08119B7WN/ref=ppx_od_dt_b_asin_title_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Outlet Extender - There is European version if needed. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BHYP9GBQ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Foldable Charger - for phone , earbuds, and smartwatch https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BJZFQZF7/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 As posted, truly a cord maze but the maze is not covering my desktop

20 minutes is usually the standard for surrendering your table to those with "anytime" dining on Holland America..

This was indeed a HAL tour and I tend to stick with HAL tours for their feeling of security that does not require dealing with insurance companies in case of injuries, Seward is not a popular travel destination and tours with photography opportunities were not available. I did see a few private tours online but none attracted me.

5:00 PM