cruisingrob21

I wouldn't expect any significant changes onboard for the passenger areas.  The carnival brands as a whole are still probably recouping losses during covid to pay off loans and doing the minimum upgrades to keep the product "fresh".  The Island just had the Bayou Cafe replaced with Crown Grill, so I imagine the Coral will have the same at some point in the future, but given the Grand's age and that she has all the medallion screens up for a few years now, I doubt there will be any other venue changes or updates onboard.

Or will go to Portland, OR

I've done all the cache clearing and incognito modes and the issue returns.  What finally worked for me is rejecting all but the most necessary cookies after clearing it.  Not sure why.

6 minutes ago, ceilidh1 said:

Were you able to click on the button? They forgot to put a link into mine...

yes, it was a survey asking questions about what would make me/you want to spend more time in the casino.

20 minutes ago, JGmf said:

 

I'm a routine gambler on Princess and get a lot of emails and home mail delivery of casino promotions and offers.  Never got this survey.  Maybe it's geared to learn more and draw newbies into the casino?

I got the same - I rarely donate to the cruise line (aka use shipboard casinos) so they are apparently trying to get us to.

In many ways, the Pinnacle class ships (Koningsdam) represents (in my opinion) a closer evolution of the original princess grand class than the princess royal class ships do.  I always recommend folks that love the grand class ships but avoid the royal class, to try HAL's pinnacle class ships.

On 9/10/2024 at 3:26 AM, oz61 said:

Hi, I am new to HAL going on Koningsdam in Alaska next year. (Most cruises with NCL and Princess). Are there really no shows on any night, just music? That’s a disappointment.

 

Are there activities to do on the sea days?

 

Do we need to book for dinner or can you just arrive at the MDR? If we have 3 in our group, would we be sharing a table? (We are happy to share).

 

I also dislike sweet cocktails- can you ask for a traditional Margarita with just lime, tequila and triple sec?
 

Anything else relevant to a newbie?

 

 

The HAL of today is very similar to Princess cruises from about 10 years ago, for example in the past few years HAL has been bringing more and better comedic talent onboard and now there are occasional game shows with audience participation (this was rarely on HAL cruises in the last decade or so).  For HAL, ships have gotten a bit bigger, but the biggest are no bigger than the original Grand class ships.  Service and food are excellent, always a slight bit better than Princess in my opinion.  There won't be as many activities of Princess or NCL of today, but still usually plenty to do.  

Regrettably, the royal class ships (Discovery included) have comparatively fewer unobstructed outdoor viewing areas.  Limited areas on deck 7 (deeper than grand class ships, but fewer of them) and lots of taller glass screens on the upper deck make for a limited area where you can truly look out and down on the water in scenic areas such as alaska.

This photo was from Endicott Arm - notice how everyone is clustered into one area in the middle of the ship to have an unobstructed view.  The photo was taken from the walking/jogging track which works, but you are just that much further from the edge of the ship.

If sailing someplace scenic and value being able to look out and enjoy the view, another ship might be a better choice.

Agree about drinks.  The best and worst Pina Colada I've ever had were on two consecutive days on the Eurodam from 2 different bars.  The presentation and taste was wildly different.

thank you all for the replies.  I found the same chart a while back.  Hoping its added to the K-dam before thanksgiving - for my kids... and me!

A while back, the Eurodam and Oosterdam had part of the club HAL area converted into a game room with oversized parlor games (skee ball, oversized foosball, oversized marble maze etc).  The HAL website indicates that it will eventually come to all ships. I saw another post showing the NS had it in March of 2024.  Does anyone know if the other ships have it?  Specifically the K-dam?

Also, taxes and fees are still something that you'll have to pay, even if 3rd/4th are free.

Previously, you wouldn't see it broken out, but this chart shows it.

here's a close up photo I took a while back of the near sister Zuiderdam.  Those VH cabins are circled in green.  I think the main difference is that on the NA, there is a partition to help block the wind looking out onto the bow for 4001 and 4002.  So as you can see, its basically the same room as others, but with a slightly angled (thus, smaller) verandah.

and here is a photo a bit further away and from a different perspective of the Eurodam, which is almost identical to the NA.  Same cabins circled in green and you can see the wind screen.

If you can handle your luggage and feel confident with public transportation, try SkyTrain.  No waiting for busses to fill or unloading at the airport and won't be affected by traffic.

Stayed on deck 5 in a similar location on the Eurodam (near identical sister ship).  Cabins are essentially the same other than what was mentioned before with deck 4 cabins having a solid railing and verandahs might be a bit smaller (than the other deck 4 forward cabins, still larger than many verandahs) due to the curvature of the hull.  We had some rough seas sailing to alaska and it was much more noticeable than even a few cabins further aft.  Dramamine resolved issues, but these cabins wouldn't be my first choice. 

However, i see what you are doing and gambling on the upgrade.  Given that there are only 4 of these cabins, I think you have a good chance at an upgrade elsewhere and I would likely do the same thing 😀.  It's gamifying your vacation.

Unfortunately, it takes two to tango (or more).  Disregarding the cruise line affiliated businesses like diamond intl, many of the small business make money in Alaska and are in business because of the cruise lines.  Although many of the local residents may bemoan the congestion and overtourism provided by the cruise lines, the revenue from those ships likely dwarfs the natural, "organic" tourism revenue to small businesses.  If the local governments were to impose limits, I'm fairly certain, some of these businesses would be forced to close up shop.  Before that happened, I think there would be a lot of complaining that limiting the cruise ships would be impacting businesses - businesses that has been established as a reaction to the high volumes of cruise passengers.  It took years to build this up, but taking it away from one season to the next could have impacts as well. Does anyone remember the news stories coming from alaska in 2020 and 2021 when ships were not existent or limited?  Businesses were struggling.

A year or two ago Juneau considered imposing a daily ship limit - I thought that was funny, since 5 Vista class ships by HAL is a much lighter load than 5 ships by NCL/Princess/RCCL.  It seems like their latest focus is to limit the passenger volume and have no calls on Saturdays - which again is sensible and might work in some ports that can spread out the ship calls, Juneau is pretty well max'ed out and cruise schedules for 2025 and some 2026 are on the books (with up to 5 ships visiting on saturdays). 

Alaska state govt could impose a limit to the number of "weekly slots" for various cruises of specific lines, similar to the program that the park service has for Glacier Bay in that only NCL, Princess, and HAL are allowed access.  But in that scenario, I think the cost of cruising to Alaska just gets more expensive and I think its highly unlikely that the state would want to get involved in such a matter - even though its right outside the capitol doors in Juneau.

14 minutes ago, wolfie11 said:

That’s not true, sorry.  I have been there on several 7-day cruises including last week on the Ruby Princess.

Agree, HAL's Eurodam makes an evening call there every week and some NCL ships make full day calls.

Wish HAL would bring back some of these shorter - or even slightly longer than a week voyage that go to some less visited places.  Quite honestly, the PNW has some of the best scenery but on many of the alaskan cruises, unless sailing the true inside passage, cruisers only see the scenery for 3 or 4 days while in Alaskan waters.

https://www.sequimgazette.com/news/cruise-ship-to-call-at-port-angeles/

4 hours ago, Thetideishigh2021 said:

In 2013 we did a short pre-Alaska season coastal cruise RT from Vancouver on the N Amsterdam (I think) which included Port Alberni,  they rolled out the red carpet for everyone and had the Mars Hawaii waterbomber do a demonstration in the inlet for us.  That thing let go of so much water the wake moved the ship,  so glad I saw it.  My point is the smaller ports that don’t get regular cruise ship stops go the extra mile to make sure the passengers have a great time.  I wouldn’t mind seeing more smaller ports on itineraries 

I would love to go to Port Alberni - seems like a unique place.  For a time, Nanaimo was also a port, but they haven't had large ships since before Covid (although the Noordam will stop there on her Great Bear Rainforest voyages).  I recall many years ago some ships made calls in Port Angeles, WA.  Another great city with convenient access to stunning scenery.

These ports may not have the "infrastructure" (large docks and diamond international outlets) that Juneau, Ketchikan, and Skagway have, but I wish HAL would consider them - they are certainly better positioned to do so than some of the other mainstream lines.

Regrettably this is how it will be until there is a major correction either via local regulation or a a reason for the ships to go elsewhere (a more natural correction would be that port satisfaction drops). 

But in the meantime, as long as people keep paying the same prices, the lines will continue to send very large ships to these places since their profit margin is huge.  Star Princess coming in 2026 with 4k+.

Went to Prince Rupert on a shorter HAL voyage in the spring, it was a nice port call - as nice as Ketchikan anyway (good weather helped).  The development of new ports like PR and ISP are needed, but whereas PR had been an Alaskan port in the 80s, ISP is pretty new.  Not all places in Alaska will welcome the cruise ships.

Cruise lines will ultimately have to rely more on visiting bigger coastal cities and doing some pacific northwest blended itineraries with places like Vancouver, Seattle, Victoria, and even Astoria and Nanaimo.  These locations can better absorb the passenger loads and have the infrastructure to support them.  While the experience isn't "Alaska", there are many scenic and beautiful things to see and experience in these ports - it all comes down to marketing.

I wonder what would happen if instead of building new docks in Alaskan ports, the ports just closed a dock or two forcing rendering operations.  That resolves both the "too many ships" and "too many people" issues and meters tourists entering town.  Eventually port satisfaction will drop and ships might go elsewhere.

In the immediate term however, Alaska prices are very high right now and as long as people keep paying them, don't expect anything to change.  Should prices fall, ships will go elsewhere.  If more cities enact restrictions, it will likely make prices go even higher.

NCL has built a pier outside of Ketchikan which requires a shuttle bus.  Compared to the other lines, it's a pretty lousy situation especially considering most calls are just a few hours in the AM.  Perhaps the cruise lines should require the ships berth for a minimum number of hours (10+).  That would reduce the "hot bunking/berthing"  and better distribute the loads since the whole ship won't be rushing to get off and see everything in the same 5 hours.

In 2019 we sailed the Seattle 7 day milk run, but on the Amsterdam (1400pax), doing a one-off run from her normal 14 day voyages, on a Monday.  This allowed fewer crowds in most ports since we were there on off days (somewhat).  I think with Vancouver only having room for 2 midsize and 1 large ships or just 2 large ships it definitely helps meter the traffic.  Seattle was planning to build a 3rd cruise terminal near the stadiums (where HAL and Princess used to sail from years ago).  If that happens it will let some days have 4 ships leaving Seattle - most doing very similar itineraries.  Covid put a pause on that work but I imagine it will come back.  I applaud NCL for doing some 9/10 day Seattle voyages since it makes the port times better and spreads out the loads.  I wish the other lines would consider this also.

the upper is a 'regular' twin mattress ('regular' as in regular for a cruise ship), its not folded away every day like the one in the couch can be.  I've found the upper bunk to be more comfortable than the couch - at least the times I've momentarily tried it.

I will say, in most cabins, the upper bunk comes out of the ceiling above the main bed.

To answer OP's question - they are not as popular as most other itineraries.  While princess has done a good job of building up the allure of the "7 day California Coastal" voyages, they only run occasionally with HAL running some similar voyages.  The other cruise lines stick to shorter voyages or only when repositioning between Alaska and Mexico.

The do sail nearly full since they are convenient for Californians and other residents of the west coast - including British Columbia.  But often times the prices are discounted and there simply aren't as many ports to visit as the Caribbean or Alaska.  Combined with the fact that during most times of the year, the weather just 10 miles off shore can be comparatively cool, foggy, damp, and at times rough, its not a "tropical destination".

That being said, I've done many of the various length repositioning cruises and had terrific weather with the wind from the aft, with sunny and 60 degree weather.  It almost feels tropical then 🙂

I would say in the voyages I've taken its anywhere from a 60-40 to 50-50 split between people who haven't been to some of the ports and use the cruise as a unique way to see them, and west coast locals who enjoy cruising but don't want to fly to the east coast.

Once you've departed port, don't expect to see much of any scenery from the ship (although its common to see pods of whales) - on a clear day you may see a silhouette of the shore or the channel islands, but that's about it.  If you do the northern routings that go to Vancouver, Seattle, Victoria, and Astoria, you'll get more scenic sailing, but risk cooler and wetter weather.

30 minutes ago, FamilyAtSea.travel said:

Do you guys think we'll ever know the reason WHY this fell through? 

 

This is a pretty epic failure and I'd be genuinely curious to understand what went wrong. 

First thing that comes to mind is liability, second is maintenance - and the two are somewhat related.

IMO, this was a half cocked idea that doesn't align with Princess.  If cruisers want that sort of activities they go to NCL, RCCL, Carnival.  I get the desire to try something new for Princess, but unfortunately this item isn't going to work out.  I recall the Sky, Enchanted, and Discovery had an experience/mystery room.  We tried it once - it broke within 5 minutes.  Not sure they even offer it anymore.  

Princess could go the way of HAL Pinnacle ships and put in a few pickleball courts with some amphitheater seating - then it could serve a dual purpose and have yoga, exercising classes, or stargazing in that area.

It could also come down to money - I'm sure all that stuff was expensive, and I'm sure it needs constant replacement parts and repairs.  I don't recall if princess was going to charge for it, but it sure seems like it was going to be a money suck for princess, even if they were charging $20 to use some of the things.  Look how many pools and spas the grand class ships had - most of the new ships have fewer pools and spas for more passengers since pools and spas cost money.

I stand corrected - Princess is confirming that the Star will sail alaska in 2026