Qcruise

At the risk of asking another question that may have been addressed here.......we are aboard the Koningsdam repositioning cruise April 28th San Diego to Vancouver and could not select a cabin as this is a continuation that began on the East coast through Panama canal so we understand the reasoning behind this policy.  Being it's our first HAL cruise,  at what point can we expect our obstructed balcony cabin to be assigned.....?   I suppose we might not know until we board.....but then how do luggage tags work.....?  Any ideas would be appreciated.....thank you.

Caribe deck on Royal class ships are no larger than others......

Agree with no umbrellas use a pancho instead.  The only time so far we've done Alaska we took the attitude "let's do it right" since we're here may not get back.....took a helicopter glacier landing while in Juneau.....it was so worth doing.  White Pass railway is good in Skagway.  Hope you do have a balcony as this is when you really want one the experience is amazing.

3 hours ago, 5:00_Somewhere said:

My experiences are consistent with what everyone else has said. But, it is a very nice place to relax and read and take in the specatcular views during the day.

 

I have one additional question for those who have been in a Grand Class Skywalkers recently (it's been awhile for me): do they still allow smoking there at night? They used to, and for that reason it would smell of stale smoke during the day as well. Just curious.  

 

We'll be on the Star in March and looking forward to escaping up there once or twice. 🙂

We were there in September last year and one of the entertainers came in one night with his possey and they all began smoking.....we had no idea it was permitted and quickly left.....found out it was permitted.

Prices are not discounted pre cruise......

Bourbon/whiskey.....potato/potato......lol

We were given a handicap interior on lido once only......enjoyed the location being so close to pool, bar, food never had noise problems and the extra space the handicap room provided was nice.  Never did we request a mobility challenged room and we don't require one.

The Grand class of Princess ships have larger balconies.....we try to get on Caribe deck at they are much larger and have half covered.

Yes.....bring both.  It will be cold on deck until you get halfway down the baja......expect rough seas on you Northbound leg coming back......pools routinely get closed for safety reasons.

Thanks to martincath for that information we might take that option for sure.....it's good information like this that makes CC so valuable and why we stay on the boards.

2 minutes ago, CruiserBruce said:

Yes, you will be able to check your bags with the porters, but perhaps not until after 9 or so. At least I wouldn't be comfortable leaving my bags while bags were still coming off the ship.

I think we should try to get as late a debarkation time as we can.......that would help.

My wife and I are booked on two cruises next year as HAL newbies.  Trying out the line (we're familiar with Princess, RCI, Carnival) with a four night repositioning from San Diego to Vancouver in April,  then upon debarkation in Vancouver we're boarding the Oosterdam to get us to Seattle overnight as a one day cruise.  Now please don't get started with the legalities of this as it's been discussed here already and we know it's allowed.  My question is this.....would we be able to give/check our bags to the porters so we'd be able to walk around Vancouver for the day before boarding the ship.?   Either to check in then leave the terminal to come back to board or drop the bags only to come back at say 2pm to check in and board.  It just made financial sense to pay $267 for the overnight cruise back to Seattle which covers all meals, transport and hotel than to stay at a hotel in Vancouver,  pay for all meals then pay more $$ to fly home out of Vancouver.  Our plan now is to rent a car in Seattle and spend a couple of nights exploring Whidbey Island  and fly out of Everett home.  Just need a plan to not have to lug our bags around until check in to the Oosterdam.  Thanks.......

We did the Seattle/Seattle this past September and had no issues into Astoria.  Seas were only rough once we headed Northbound from Monterey.......but overall great weather.  We're coming aboard the Koningsdam this April to reposition out of San Diego to Vancouver with Victoria stop.  I'm anticipating cold temps and some rough seas then but hopeful.  We're also thinking about jumping aboard the Oosterdam right off the Koningsdam to get us to Seattle overnight.  Found out that's allowed and it's much easier flying out of Seattle for us to get back home.

We were aboard the Royal in April and like you there were three in port each one visited.  The Royal was the last one in port that day,  we all decided to stay on board due to issues sited.  While we have visited Cabo many times and enjoy it,  I was afraid of a nightmare getting back to tenders.  They were calling numbers for hours that day.....we didn't get there until 11am and had to be back by like 5pm.....not sure how things went for those who got off.  Other ports one really did not notice a heavy tourist load any more than usual.

Depending on the time of year you're sailing remember that sunset can be very late.  In July the sun will be up until around ten PM.......if that makes any difference keep it in mind.  We sailed in September when times are more normal.

The Royal class of new ships offers brewed coffee up in the buffet as well and of course iced tea.....included.  The International Cafe also sells brewed coffee and specialty coffees for a fee.

We love that Grand Class of ship and the Ruby is nice.  It does not have an enclosed pool but the spa pool forward on 16 where the sancuary is is surrounded by walls and has two hot tubs there which is nicely sheltered from wind.  Also we love the wrap around promenade deck on seven which we usually walk each morning for our laps ( 2.5 laps = 1 mile) ....it jumps up in the bow to go around the ship and is frequently closed due to windy unsafe conditions so you just turn around and go back.  Enjoy your cruise.

Well,  thanks to all of you I called again and spoke with Amy at HAL who informed me that because we're going from one ship to another we are fine and can book the Oosterdam.   I'm kind of surprised that a rep from HAL gave us bad information especially as they would send a customer away from booking a cruise.

4 minutes ago, CruiserBruce said:

Its not the Jones Act, its the PSVA...easy to remember...the "P" stands for "Passenger". Jones Act is about cargo.

OK well thanks for the clarification,  but either way we're not jumping aboard the Oosterdam that day.....looking forward to trying out HAL.

So I kept hearing on these boards as I asked about a "back to back" we were thinking about next April from the Koningsdam 4 day San Diego to Vancouver then over to the Oosterdam overnight to Seattle,  that we had better ask HAL if we could do that.  I called this week to find out that yes....the "Jones Act" would prohibit such a plan.  I guess if the Oosterdam left the next day with one night staying in Vancouver we could do it.  I don't understand it but it would have taken care of our transportation back to Seattle where flights are cheaper and easier to get home and we could visit our kids.  So now it's two nights at our timeshare in Vancouver with accompanying meals and entertainment added costs and flights out of Vancouver to LAX instead of direct into Long Beach or Orange County .....but, hey we're on vacation so we'll roll with it.......there are worse problems to have......:)

You can find our review of our Star cruise in the review section.  We went Sept. 22nd for a seven night Alaska turn around out of Seattle.  The ship we found to have many plumbing problems during our cruise,  it was the most annoying aspect of the cruise.  Our cabin had issues with the toilet over many days going for hours not repaired without multiple calls for help.  Buckets in hallways and outside the casino on deck six for days.  Friends of ours were moved (and their neighbors) to other rooms due to maintenance issues.  The ship is going into dry dock we heard in April so one can hope these problems would be addressed,  but you'll read other reviews where people did not see these things.  The ship is clean, her crew is happy and great, the public restrooms were the cleanest and best attended we have ever seen.  But my wife has stated no more Star for us, which is a shame because it does the Hawaii out of LA we want to do.

We were aboard Royal in April and had it.....then September on the Star again.....it's a must have now in our book.

We're thinking about doing just this next April 2020.....our Koningsdam 4 night repositioning cruise debarks in Vancouver the Oosterdam will be right next to us going to Seattle overnight so we're thinking it would be an easy way to get to Seattle to visit our kids then fly back  there.   Makes sense dollar wise......

They change out the duvet comforter on top between guests.......part of the new bedding

I have to say that we really enjoyed our experience on board the Oasis of the Seas,  however it was five years ago during November.  Not so many kids aboard then,  and it was the only cruise we ever took where we NEVER HAD TO EAT AT THE BUFFET.  There were so many other food venues to eat at we never went there,  and it was a good thing because you got in line before you could even go inside.  We had a central park balcony which was different and we enjoyed it.  Agreed it's a different type of cruise,  that class of ship looses much of your connection with the ocean as all inside areas have no windows out to the sea......it was like a giant shopping mall.  Had to get up on deck to see the sea.  But the adult solarium up front was fantastic.