Eaglecw

On 3/21/2024 at 1:10 PM, Bedruthen said:

Thank you to everyone who helped with this enquiry. Yes we are renting a car, but we start and end our trip in San Francisco. The one way rental charges outweigh the cost of parking for a week. We finally got a response from Seattle cruise park and have booked our parking. Rather alarmingly, they have issued no paperwork so how they will know we have prepaid, I have no idea ( and no, they didn’t require a car registration plate!)

We park at the Seattle Cruise ship parking lot by the Armory every year and we always get a confirmation e-mail with a receipt that shows the date and the cruise ship we will be on.

A word to the wise when parking anywhere in Seattle don't leave anything in your car.

In the summer we like to drive up to Mt. Rainier and have a picnic dinner. It's only 60 miles from our house to the gate so it's an easy drive. I can't imagine what a mess it's going to be when people drive up the the gate with out a ticket and be told they can't get in, I know I wouldn't be happy.

On 3/16/2024 at 12:53 PM, cavaaller said:

wow thank you so much everybody, those are incredibly helpful and great suggestions.

I will be flying in from Germany and Mount Rainier NP is on our bucket list. 
I have never rented a car in the US but we will probably have to if we want to see it. 

I like your idea @jeromep of staying at the Ceaderbrook Lodge - then we could return the rental right there at SEA and take a shuttle to the cruise port.

Be forewarned that Mt. Rainier National Park is implementing a reservation system this summer from May 24-Sept 2, 2024, to enter the Paradise and Sunrise Corridors between 7:00 am-3:00 pm.

Read all about https://www.nps.gov/mora/index.htm

Which MDR entrance is open on embarkation day lunch, deck 2 or deck 3? We hate going to the Lido on embarkation day.

We are going on the Westerdam on Sunday and have the HIA package, and we are staying in a Neptune suite. I’ll check it out the Neptune lounge and try to report back. I personally think it's BS. 

What time does the Pinnacle Grill open and close for breakfast on the Westerdam? We just got upgraded to a Neptune suite on the Westerdam. How does the dinning work now that we are in a suite? Do we go to Club Orange or is there a special dinning area for those in suites?

If you arrive at 11am you shouldn't have any problems. We live 45 miles away and leave the house at 9am and arrive about 10:45 - 11am

2 minutes ago, CruiserBruce said:

Half Moon Cay.

 

Yes, drinks are covered in the bars and restaurants. Where else would they be covered?There are MANY threads here on how the drink packages work.

How sweet

8 minutes ago, CruiserBruce said:

Yes. If you read the fine print, drinks in the mini-bar are not covered, along with drinks on HMC, and a small number of other exceptions.

Are drinks still covered at the bars and in the dining room with the "Have it all" drink package? What is HMC?

What if your in a Neptune Suite and have a "Have it all" drink package do you still have to pay for your drinks out of the fridge or in the Neptune lounge?

Heck I can't even log in anymore. Last week I could log in. The APP and the web are a joke. They should hire a group of 5th graders to fix the web site. What a joke!!

9 minutes ago, Haljo1935 said:

Depends on how they're handling boarding that day and which port. Lately, they just let you go through and board without waiting, but sometimes they want you to wait until your group. You will go through check in first, the waiting will be in the boarding area after check-in and security. 

We have recently boarded in Seattle, Ft Lauderdale and San Diego, so my experience involves those ports.

Thanks Haljo1935 we only cruise out of Seattle.we normally cruise with Princess but this year we decided to try Holland America.

Lets say I have a boarding time of 1:30 and my plane lands at 8am and we show up at say 11:30am what are they going to do?

On 5/21/2023 at 8:11 PM, SwimCarrie said:

Hi,

I love to go on walks off the beaten path at new ports. There is a Safeway that's about a mile and a half down what looks like a major road in Ketchikan. Anyone live there who can let me know if it's safe to walk alone? (Trying to avoid wild animals and wild humans.) LOL. 

We like to walk over to Creek Street and then up Married man’s trail to Park street, stopping to look at the fish ladder. Then up the hill on Park St. to the old fish hatchery, over to the Totem Pole Heritage center then down Deermount St. past the now closed Tatsuda’s IGA, turn right and over to the Southeast Alaska Discovery Center by the fire Department. Sometimes we’ll walk through the Tongass Trading Post and watch the tourist’s buying all the made in China souvenirs. This walk is a lot better I think than walking to Safeway.

NEVER AGAIN!!!! Last year we took the Princess/Holland America shuttle from Sea-Tac airport to Pier 91. We got in line to drop off our bags at 9:15 at Sea-Tac airport. After we dropped off our bags we got a ticket and directions to the lower level parking garage where we would catch the shuttle to Pier 91. When we got down the lower level of the parking garage we got another colored ticket with a number on it. It was a very hot morning, nowhere to sit, no water, no bathrooms and very crowded. Every once and awhile a bus would come drop off their passengers and leave, I found it rather odd that they weren’t taking any one to Pier 91. After standing around for hour’s people were going around the barrier and urinating in the parking garage. At around 12:30 we got on the bus to Pier 91.  When we got to Pier 91 it was a total mess, more like out of control. The line of people stretched down one side of the covered walk way and halfway down the other side. We got on the ship at about 2pm. Upon disembarkation it wasn’t as bad but it wasn’t the best. You think it was the first time a cruise ship had ever left from Pier 91. So for those of you who a taking the Princess/Holland America shuttle I wish you the best.

It's a huge NO, NO! Last year there was a couple with a couple of small children who had packed a nice lunch and got caught stopped at the gangway going off the ship with there sandwiches, cookies and fruit from the buffet, it didn't go well. They tell you numerous times that you can't bring food off the ship.

Why would you want a Cabana up in Alaska? It's pretty cold while the ship is moving. It can be very uncomfortable even sitting out on your balcony when the ship is moving.

It’s been sometime since we last cruised on HAL. Does HAL have a “Gathering of Veterans” at some time during the cruise like they do on Princess? It’s a nice gesture for the cruise line to honor the veterans and for veterans to swap a few stories etc.  

It took me about 5 minutes to find and fill out the form when I booked our upcoming cruise back in February. SheerID already had all of my information on file. There was an expiration date on the form I got back, it think it was December 31st of this year. Here's a link to those of you who can't find it.

https://www.hollandamerica.com/en_US/deals/military-appreciation-offer.html

So far I've gotten $1900 OBC in veteran appreciation from Carnival Corp. My TA didn't know anything about it.  

1 hour ago, Buckeye10640 said:

Also trying to determine what time to arrive to embark tomorrow. And I know it will be hot! Believe there are 2 ships in port. Its been several years since I sailed out of Seattle, is there an Elite/Platinum/Suite lounge with priority embarkation?  I just read somewhere its all just one line...even the 2 ships guests start off in one line and then split off? 

You want to get to Pier 1 around 10:30 -10:45 to beat the crowd. We took the Princess transfer from Sea-Tac to Pier 91 last and I'll NEVER! do that again, huge mess at the airport and at the the pier. Princess doesn't really have a Elite/Platinum/Suite lounge at the check-in area. Princess is on the East side of the pier and Holland America is on the west side.

It’s been my experience after 17 cruises to Alaska that towards the end of May you’re going to encounter fairly decent weather. If it does rain it will only be a light shower or frizzle. Go to weather underground and look at the history of each Port, it doesn’t show a lot of rain at the end of May in the history.  

6 minutes ago, Annette0325 said:

Thank you for the information I will check out google maps.  That is Hot.  I'm from Michigan and it is not that warm here yet. 

I also should have told to look at YouTube. There is a lot of information there also.

We've cruised a lot out of Seattle's Pier 91 and we normally arrive at Pier 91 at around 10am or so. you shouldn't have any problems. If it's raining or you need to stand outside there is a long covered walkway that you can stand under. Go on google maps and locate Pier 91 in Seattle, the address is 2001 West Garfield Street, Seattle, WA, then click on the yellow man in the right corner and move him around the map. You can get the lay of the pier and see what's at the pier from street view, it's a great tool we use it a lot. The weather this next weekend in Seattle is going to be HOT! 90 deg. in Seattle.

Like what CruiserBruce said What time is your flight? If it’s before 11:30am you’ll need to be one of the first to walk off the ship and catch one of the first Seattle Express vans to Sea-Tac. Be forewarned Sea-Tac during cruise season is an absolute mess

17 minutes ago, rochelle_s said:

 

Can you tell me which month was it that the trail was closed. I am going the first two weeks in June, wonder if that is baby bear season.

 

Thanks for any insight you can provide.

 

Rochelle

It would have been the last week of June.