bert425

I wouldn't recommend any hotel in Gastown (in fact, I don't think there are any, apart from SRO's). Actually I wouldn't recommend going any further than about the first 4 or 5 blocks into Gastown. "Up the hill" is not Gastown, it is in the opposite direction. Vancouver does have a dark side.

I was talking "up the hill" from the Cruise terminal towards the main restaurant strip. (Robson)

(and offering Gastown as a place to visit -- tho the two thoughts got mixed up)

there are TONS of great hotels headed towards Robson -- including the Hyatt, and the Fairmont Castle location.

we had no trouble walking from the cruise port to Gastown and back (during the day of course). . then again, we had no trouble walking from where we stayed (Empire Landmark -- which once was a nice hotel, but now only has location going for it, and I would NOT recommend it) to, and around Stanley Park.

but we walk alot.

if one doesn't do a lot of walking, then a cab. . but I have not feet unsafe in Vancouver any time I've been -- even taking trains out to New Westminster to meet friends.

I have stayed at the Pan Pacific several times as well as the Fairmont Waterfront. Both are excellent hotels with the Pan Pacific having better harbor view rooms, maybe.

 

Since you are ending your cruise in Vancouver, what do you to intend to do with your time in this magnificent city? Suggest as a thought: perhaps a hotel away from the harbor might be a better choice than one that is where the Fairmont and the Pan Pacific is located.

I was going to say the same thing.

there are some gorgeous Hotels a little uphill from the port, in particular around the "Gastown" area.

I won't recommend where we stayed (although it was very near to Stanley park). . but i WILL recommend at least a full day spent in the park/Aquarium (the horse-drawn tour around the park is WONDRFUL. . and hint. .you can buy your aquarium ticket there as a combo with the carriage ride, and it will allow you to skip the aquarium lines).

also don't miss Granville Island!.. a great artists "market". . we always buy things there http://www.tourismvancouver.com/do/entertainment/shopping/arts-crafts-granville-island/

We've done some research, since we're on Noordam in 3 weeks!

there are a bunch of Youtube "tours" uploaded, but we've found this one to be the best (despite the overpowering music played thruout).

from May 2013:

[YOUTUBE]

added the direct Youtube link, if the embedded doesn't play.

I'm with you! The more unique the entree, the more apt I am to order it. I love Uni and if you know what that is, you'll know I am not a normal type food lover. I think it's great they have the anytime items available for those who may be hesitant to try something different. Unique food items or not for everyone.

agreed.

I love Uni too (it's sea urchin roe for those not familiar).

my partner wont touch it if I PAY him to eat it :)

Hey, it's not for everyone.

Because I have a huge problem with wasting food. I'm not going to order something that I'm pretty sure I won't like. I don't like weird or fussy food. Shouldn't that be ok?

Oh. . I'm not picking on you, I'm agreeing with you.

I'm happy they have more unique items, and also have a standard menu for those that aren't feeling adventurous :)

I was just saying, that if it were me, I'd try it.

I understand your feeling on wasting food. .but it's a cruise, the food is all paid for as much or as little as you care to eat. So nothing is really "wasted". . especially if you end up liking it and cleaning the plate :)

but not everyone likes trying "odd" food. . so good for HAL to keep an always available menu as well.

I wouldn't be trying crocodile or kangaroo either. I do wonder if they taste like chicken:D;):D.

why not try tho.

particularly in a situation like a cruise?

if it were me? I'd order the Chicken I KNOW I like, and then ask for a plate of the kangaroo special (we learned a while ago, they feel it's rude to ask for a small plate -- it offends the Chef to ask them to change standard plating, so it's better to just order the additional entree, and that way we both could try it).

:)

It was the Oosterdam that had crocodile and kangaroo offered (not on the same nights). Had those been in addition to the customary number and types of selections, fine. But these replaced something less, shall we say, adventurous.

Those were "always available" nights for me, so I can't report on whether or not they were "decent" quality.

completely understood.

not everyone is a super-adventurous eater. I'm glad to hear that the always available options where there for those that wanted something they knew they would rather have.

I hope the always avail. dinners you ordered were of decent or better quality tho? They absolutely should be (from any Chef with a decent career).

Oh Ruth, me too. Last cruise on Ms."O" they had so many weird offerings I had to eat from the always available menu 3 out of 7 evenings. I know they want to make the menu more exciting, but more exciting doesn't always mean better.

see, THIS actually excites us. . (as I noted we're foodies).

so something that others might see and immediately head to the "always available" menu?. . that will get us ordering it in a second. We like to try anything that sounds interesting -- particularly in a situation (such as a cruise), where if you DON'T like it, you can replace it with something else, but you've gotten to try it.

I only hope the quality of the food is decent.

(as I said earlier in the thread, I don't have to be blown away, I just don't want sub-par food on a vacation trip) :)

Has your mom sailed on hal before? I've sailed on celebrity and didn't find their food any better than hal, many times worse.

Yes, she's sailed HAL 3-4 times prior.

with Celebrity, it might have more to do with the ship.

We prefer Century, which is a smaller ship (about the same size as Noordam actually, from what I can tell).. although Century is on it's last 6 months :(.. we'll have to find a new favorite X ship :)

Century has only one specialty restaurant, and only one theater (tho two "clubs", and another "bar"), but we have always found the food on Century to be 4-star in main dining room, and 5-star in the upcharge restaurant (Murano).

They did afternoon tea every day on our cruise last week:)

that's wonderful to hear! (thank you!)

I hope that remains true for our Nov 3 sailing :)

When we cruise on HAL now, we have lower expectations. We know that overall, the food won't wow us. It will be okay or good. We don't expect "wow" from HAL's food anymore.

That's disappointing to hear, as we are on Noordam in less than a month.

My parents are treating us (me/partner, and Brother/SiL) on a cruise where they splurged and booked us all suites.

My Partner and I are foodies, and we've only sailed on X in the past, and loved their food.

my Mom insisted that she wanted us to sail on HAL, and that the food is "amazing" and that we will be "blown away"

so it's disappointing to hear that we won't be getting upscale food. . tho honestly, I'll be happy if it's decent, or at least slightly better than average.

I know the "best" solution is to eat as many meals as possible in the Pinnacle (and we do have one night planned there, that was gifted to my Parents by the Travel Agent). . but my Dad's *one* request for us to go on the cruise with them is that we meet as a family every night in the MDR to discuss our day. As it's a request we can easily meet, that is what we are going to end up doing.

I see from some posts here that apparently HAL doesn't even do the afternoon tea anymore? (I hope that's not true, as my Mom has been talking about those for MONTHS now).

Because they are BATH robes, not pool robes or grabbing lunch in the Lido robes.:D

heh.

well, I guess I better not catch anyone wearing their BATH-Robe, out in their Verandah then, or i'll report it to the Captain!

they are NOT "Verandah-Robes" :D

I see more than one person commenting about wearing the robe outside of the room.

Not that I've ever done so, but I fully admit that it doesn't bother me one bit (unless said robe "falls open" and the person is not wearing undergarments underneath).

So I must ask -- what is the issue with wearing the robe outside of the room?

The robes are provided for use, and if someone wants to wear it to the pool (over a swimsuit), and then put it on to grab lunch in the Lido, I seriously have no issue with it.

Why do some?

Drinking your soda in your room is OK. Bringing it to the MDR may be OK (I am not sure) but it is very very tacky.

 

DON

I would agree, tho on our several Celebrity cruises, they bring the can to you from the bar, and then just sit the can on the table anyways -- so you still end up with the can on the table.

not sure if HAL is the same way, since this is our first HAL cruise.

but the intention is really to have them in the room for Room Service, or late night snacks, or when relaxing on the veranda.

if we really want a cola with dinner, we'll just use the drink card!

It's rude to talk about other people :)

as RuPaul says: "what you think of me is none of my business"

Control what YOU can control, and just enjoy yourself on the cruise.

Thanks for the input everyone.

yeah, we likely won't bring into the MDR, but we want it in the room for when we are relaxing, or for Room Service meals.

:)

You can bring on as much soda as you want -- there is no limit on HAL.

 

And you can buy soda in the ports -- again -- no limit.

awesome, thanks.

does that apply to bottled water as well?

Just double checking, since I figure folks here will absolutely know :)

We're sailing on Noordam ABC Islands in early Nov.

as the ship departs on a Monday, we're flying into Ft. Lauderdale on Sunday and planning dinner and an overnight stay.

part of the evening will be a quick trip to the store for any last minute supplies for the cruise that we forgot to pack.

I know our cabin has a mini-fridge, and I *believe* that we can bring soda's onboard, so I'd like to pick up at the store some 12 packs of soda, and some bottled water to bring on board with us when we Embark the next day.

my intention is to empty the mini-fridge and use it to store sodas we can enjoy in the room (with Room Service) or maybe bring with us to the MDR for dinner if we want a cola).

can someone confirm that Holland America allows this? Is there a limit to how much we can bring on board with us? (1 12-pack per person?).

thanks,

bert

Your tour ticket will tell you where your tour meets. Some meet in a public room on the ship, and people are sent to the tender as a group. That is customary when the tour departs shortly after arrival.

Other tours meet ashore. In the latter case, it is your responsibility to get to the meeting place on time, but you are not given special tender privileges.

thanks for the response!

I expect it will be "meeting place on the ship". . since we went ahead and booked official excursions thru HAL (hey. we weren't paying, it was a gift :))

we didn't do anything on Half Moon Cay yet, since my Mother tells me she's been on 3 HAL cruises, and they've not yet managed to visit due to weather. . so instead of being disappointed, we figured we'll book something after we get there.

(half moon cay is one of two "tender" ports on this trip).

the rest of our excursions, I fully expect to meet on shore once we dock.

Let's not misunderstand the perq. Neptune suite passengers have the same perq that 4 & 5* Mariners have. That is, they can go directly to the line, without getting a tender ticket first. When they arrive at the line, they are at the rear---behind others with the same perq who got there first.

We're not in a Neptune Suite (we're just in a Signature Suite) for our upcoming cruise.

but we've been told by our TA, since we've pre-booked our excursions, in cases where there is a tender involved, we should expect to be among the first groups off, since our excursions are ~30 minutes after port arrival.

That sounds "logical" to me, but I guess we'll see how this goes.

HAL did away with wearing life jackets to muster drill a few years ago. You just turn up.

cool!

thanks :)

Do you have to wear life vest?

or just show up?

We are sailing on the Noordam just a bit later and we have already contacted HAL and had our TA contact HAL about dining table assignments. We asked for exactly what you want: a 6-person round table. We even provided table numbers - see attached link.

 

Hope this helps:

http://halfacts.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/NODM.pdf

thanks.

I will forward this along to them and then step back :)

What about changing to As you Wish dining, you can make reservations and there are more round tables for 6 in the Lower Dining Room.

I'm gonna take a wait and see attitude at this point.

I've passed along the info and suggestions here.

(and I fully expect she will not be pleased with the oval tables near the waiter stations, and we end up at a rectangular table anyways. But did what I could).

and I DO appreciate all the suggestions and advice.

Just got back from out of town for two weeks. . so wanted to pass along the update!

my Mom's comment about the rectangular tables for 6?

"it's dark, we have late seating, what is there to see out the windows?"

(see how well I know my Mother?). . LOL

she got the Travel agent to make a call and see if he can sit us by the oval work-station tables.

I haven't heard back, but my Dad told me *not* to call HAL and we'll just sit where they put us, and make due.

(yeah, right. . like he doesn't know my Mom. . . . "make due". .yeah. .that will go over well! ). Oh well. .it will be a great cruise regardless!