BeachBum47

I don’t want to sound like a weirdo but I love Glacier Bay so much that it’s almost a spiritual experience for me. It’s so quiet. Peaceful. Stunning. If you’re fortunate enough to have a balcony, be sure to order a pot of coffee or tea and sit on your balcony all bundled up in a blanket and just sit in silence and take it in. Look down and see the adorable sea otters playing on the ice floes. You won’t see any other ships. Bring binoculars so you can see the ice calving off the glacier. I can’t even explain how incredible it is! Life is so busy for me and Glacier Bay is one day to completely relax in peace and quiet. I just love it. I’m going 3 times this summer! (Actually June, July and Sept.) Also, Holland America is the BEST line to experience Glacier Bay with. Not all the ships get to go so close. Holland America has preferential treatment because they’re the original. Last July, on our Glacier Bay day, we were told that Holland America reserved our spot that day 7 years earlier!

I think they’re made in Delft in The Netherlands. It’s where the famous blue and white Dutch pottery comes from.

Hi @kelliebiz i love the hand washing machines! They’re kind of like a car wash for your hands. You put your hands in the holes, and then warm jets of water go around and around and wash your hands. It stops automatically and then you just use the paper towels to dry then. Easy peasy!

I’ve done it twice! It’s really fun. The first time was last year on an Alaskan cruise and I ran most of it. It was so funny because I was worried about keeping track of my laps (being all official) but it was quite cold and at some point I realized I was the only one left! Hah! All the walkers had quit early and gone inside. Too funny. The nice thing is it’s not a serious thing - just to raise money and have fun. On a side note, I did see a lot of seals and other animals in the water so that was very cool. Afterwards, they had hot chocolate and snacks. The staff was fabulous.

I had to laugh when I saw the part about “cocktails featuring authentic glacier ice”! I had a vision of some poor staff member taking a zodiac out to the glacier with an ice pick and a cooler to transport it in. A bit silly if you ask me!

Have you flown lately? Every flight I’ve been on in the last 6 months has been delayed. On one flight, I was stuck on the tarmac for 12 hours! Not sure if that’s just bad luck for me but I just don’t trust the airlines to be on time anymore. Personally, for a cruise, I ALWAYS go the day before. I would be so upset if the plane was delayed and ruined my trip.

I think my sail away drink on June 28th is going to be an Aperol Spritz. Refreshing and not too sweet.

My husband and I got a massage on the Koningsdam last month and I would never do it again. It cost $422 USD including tax and tip and it was just mediocre. If I wanted somebody to rub their hands willy nilly on my back without any rhyme or reason, I could have asked my husband and saved 400 bucks! 😆 Really, it’s was just blah. And the lady kept accidentally dropping the massage oil bottle on the floor and it would make a loud BAM! sound when it landed and kind of jolt me out of my relaxed state that I was trying desperately to achieve. She dropped it FOUR times. They just didn’t even try to make it relaxing and it wasn’t worth it at all. Save your money.

How can you tell if you are under the galley? I just impulsively booked room 3300 on the Volendam (because it was such a good deal) and now I'm worried it might not be in a good spot...

I am so glad to hear that you're leaning towards HAL. I am a bit biased though. One thing that I did not see mentioned yet... and it is the main reason I love HAL, is because it's DUTCH! And "if you're not Dutch, you're not much!" haha, that's what the Dutch say anyway. 😁 I love the history of Holland America and I just love the Dutch theme on the ships. I am going on my 3rd HAL cruise to Alaska on Saturday. 🙂 One thing I am looking forward to is enjoying traditional Dutch pea soup on the deck, watching the gorgeous scenery in the drizzling rain. Bliss. The Dutch artwork and the Dutch staff (and all the non-Dutch staff, too, of course) are fantastic. The specialty Dutch food in The Grand Dutch café is amazing (only on Pinnacle ships) and you just can't get it as good outside of Holland. It's really authentic. I can't wait to have the herring and the kroketten and all the other goodies. Needless to say, my vote goes to HAL!

OK awesome, thanks! I'm not going to bother with it. I'll just make sure everyone in our party brings their proof of vaccine in case anyone asks. Verifly seems like such a pain!

I agree but the interesting thing is that her final total bill was $300,000 but I had already negotiated it down to $16,000. I literally signed a contract saying I would pay $16,000 and then saw the "real" bill going up, up, up every day. CRAZY. As a Canadian, I had NO IDEA that Americans can negotiate hospital bills.

Just so you know, Generali insurance covers up to $250,000 for medical evacuation (i.e. getting you home) and it seems like a lot but my mom was flown home first class with a nurse (the nurse had to be hired and fly to San Diego from wherever she was and then pick my mom up at the hospital) with oxygen on the flight (which you can only imagine the paperwork for that!). Then, I was not allowed to pick her up at the airport. They had a car & driver meet her and the nurse at the airport and drive her straight to her house. I should also mention that we live a ferry ride away so they had to drive to the ferry, wait in line, do the ferry ride, etc. It must have cost them a FORTUNE.

Check with Generali Insurance. That's who we used and it was much cheaper. Just be aware that their maximum payout for medical is $50,000.

Yes, we have been reimbursed by the insurance company. We bought our insurance through *****, which is who we booked our cruise with. The insurance company is called Generali. They were excellent!! Because I was all alone in a hotel dealing with this (and did not want my mom to have any stress at all so I didn't tell her anything about the financial situation) I was on the phone with them quite a bit and they were SO kind to me. It brings tears to my eyes just thinking about it. I spent quite a bit of money living in a hotel for 10 days (and Uber back and forth to the hospital) plus my flight home (which was $700 one way because it was last minute) and their max payout was $2000 so I'm out quite a bit for my own expenses but that's the way the ball bounces sometimes. So, to answer your questions, it was a very easy process to get reimbursed. Organizing all the paperwork was a hassle! lol But they were great to deal with.