Disneynerd

We tackled it as an origami challenge. And we figured it out. We had to borrow a stapler at the hotel but we high fiving each other with our accomplishment! Doesn't take much to make us happy.

We did RT from Seattle last week. The first night was the worst. But then again anytime I feel any sort of movement I start to panic :o. However I heard several people and staff the next day comment on the rocking. I did not get sick but my dd (12) was feeling pretty bad around 7:00 pm. I gave her my seabands and she stated they seemed to help. I noticed at breakfast the next day it was still pretty choppy. The waiter closed the curtains which made it worse. Once I sat by the window I was fine (as long as I could see outside).

Funny though - they kept the pool open and the water was sloshing all over the place. My dd stated it felt like she was swimming in the ocean!

We didn't take anything except some gold fish crackers for the plane. We didn't eat those and now they are smashed in the bottom of the backpack :p. I honestly never even thought about taking food when we got off the ship.

Last week we were in Juneau and Sitka. Rained both days. Foggy both days. Sitka was probably the worst - it was that sleeting rain that just made walking around miserable. I got splashed twice while walking on the sidewalks from traffic. It's tough enough figuring out where you are going when you've never been there before in good weather but in bad weather it just makes you want to get out of the rain! Probably the thing that got the wettest was our map!

That being said - we had waterproof jackets (mine kind of sort of :)) and waterproofed our shoes. We did ok. It never got really cold but we did take a backpack with ponchos (we never used them) and a change of socks (never used them). We took two pairs of walking shoes (never used the second pair as our feet never really got that wet).

I hated the rain and fog but we still had a great time despite having to change our plans when excursions got cancelled.

Whatever you do make sure and get out of town. I knew it would be touristy but oh my, it can get soooo crowded. Our main excursion was cancelled due to rain and fog (helicopter glacier dog sled tour) as were all the air excursions. So everyone raced to get the whale tours. We ended up doing the land dog sled tour (which was fabulous) but couldn't get it until 5:15. So we were at a loss of where to go. We wanted to ride the tram but many people did and said they couldn't see anything of the view due to the fog. We should have went to the glacier but didn't have time to go there and get back in time for the dog sled tour.

We did eat at Tracy's crab shack and that was really good :D.

If you have children and are concerned they won't have much to do on the HAL line - don't be!!

We just got off the Westerdam (from Seattle to Alaska). My dd is 12 and after taking a Disney cruise last year I was a bit worried about if she would have things to do on HAL.

Club Hal is fabulous. My dd met several girls her age and they all hung out together at the club and then at the pool, lido, etc. She had a better social life than we did!!!

The staff was wonderful at the club and our dd was there during most of their open hours. She never ate dinner with us in the main dining room since we had late seating and she preferred to be at the club until they closed (at 10:00). There were different theme nights and unfortunately she missed the last night (the unbirthday party) as we were in Victoria.

The staff even wrote her a letter and put it in our room mailbox the last night and it was just the sweetest letter. With fewer kids, there was lots of interaction with the staff and personal attention.

I can't say enough good things about their program and the staff. My dd is skyping right now with one of the friends she met and they are making plans for "their" next cruise :D.

And had the best time!! Our flights were cancelled and delayed last Friday night so we flew into Seattle Saturday. From the time we got off the plane HAL was fabulous! Our room steward, Gaday was such a sweetie. Also our waiter was Hery. He was super accommodating at dinner. I can't say one bad thing about the trip. Going into it I had decided thos was a once in a lifetime trip and it was going to be fun. It was fabulous!!! Right now, I'm in the Seattle airport waiting for my flight. I don't get home until the am and will try to post some pictures.

You must of got caught in the storms that we did - we sat on our plane for three hours in Atlanta during the storm. They did let us off for about 45 minutes and then we got back on and sat some more. I thought for sure they would cancel the flight but we finally made it (after 9 hours) to Seattle on Friday night. Cant wait to hear your review. I hope to write mine too!

The burning question of the day (for me) is..... is there a Screening Room (movie theatre) on the Westerdam, and if so where is it? I really really hope that the Queen's Lounge isn't used for movies. I'm going to be on a longer cruise, so just may catch a movie.

We just got off the Westerdam also and the movies were shown in the Queen's Lounge. No screening room.

Thanks everyone - that's what I figured. Will have to work on a plan B :).

I see that Southwest participates in the Luggage direct program. Can we use it if our flight doesn't leave until the next day after embarking? We are staying in Seattle for a day and really don't want to have our luggage with us. Our hotel for that night is by the airport. We don't want to go to that hotel to drop off luggage and then turn around and go back to Seattle.

Thanks!

Thanks for all the info! My problem is that I have researched this to death and I keep changing my mind. I have pages of notes on everything! I found that the Sleep Inn gets good reviews but the area around it doesn't (not just on this board - on other forums as well). I think the traveling back and forth might be too much so I think we will suck it up and find a hotel downtown Seattle. We will probably book the Sleep Inn for the night before our flight back home since it's a 530 a.m flight on Sunday.

Thanks again :)

We are cruising to Alaska from Seattle on Westerdam Aug. 9. Our original plan was to fly into Seattle Aug. 7 and stay downtown but the hotel prices are higher than we expected.

We are still considering flying in Aug. 7 but staying at Sleep In at SeaTac and taking the light rail back and forth for sightseeing the 7th and the 8th. We would arrange a shuttle to take us to the Pier on Aug. 9. But I read on another thread that the hotel area around SeaTac is not very safe? I realize we would have to go back to the airport to get the light rail. Is that too much to do? It would be myself, DH and 12 yr dd.

Thank you so much for the feedback! I was leaning towards them anyways so thanks for the endorsement :).

We are planning to do a glacier dog sled tour and both these companies have good reviews. Price is not that much different between the two. Anyone have experience with either one and any recommendations for one over the other? We will be going in August.

Thanks!

My dd (11) will be so happy about the cookies and milk. She loves room service, especially for breakfast. We never got a chance to order on our Disney cruise because it was so short but with our 7 day cruise coming up on HAL, I promised her room service and she is so looking forward to it :).

It sounds as if you have had an amazing life and love with your husband. I am so sorry for your loss.

Thanks! We will plan on being at port by 11:00. On Disney we had to carry all of our stuff until 2:00 so that would be a bonus if we could ditch the carry-ons and then explore the ship.

This is our first time on HAL. When we sailed Disney, we were assigned (or could pick) a port arrival time to check in. Is it the same way with HAL? Or can we check in at any time?

Thanks!

My dd was so excited when she saw pics of the pool on the Westerdam (which we will be on in Aug). She loves to swim and was so disappointed in the so called "pools" on the Disney Dream last year. So if you're on the Westerdam cruise from Seattle Aug 9 and see a girl in the pool it will probably be my dd. She is determined she will be in that pool!

Welcome to CC! We are sailing on the Westerdam June 21, when is your trip? One of the reasons we chose this itinerary was for the chance to go to Sitka. You will have a wonderful trip.

We are leaving Aug. 9. We are very excited. We are big Disney fans and usually go there every year (we did our first Disney cruise last year) so Alaska is new territory for us (and planning has been challenging!)

Thanks for all the responses and information.

Thank you! You have all made me feel better about this port. There's so many things we want to do in each port - hard decisions!

We are planning our first cruise and our plans have changed that we are going to leave out of Seattle and not Vancouver. We are on the Holland Westerdam. It goes to Sitka and not Skagway. When I was planning excursions, they were based on Skagway. I don't see much talk about Sitka. Any advice about excursions would be appreciated. It will be me, my DH and our 12 year old dd.

Thanks!