Crew News

The Lido staff will fill your bender bottle for you.

The platforms between the cars are very big and safe. A pair of cheap binoculars and a few visits to the platform will break up your child's long ride. Put pictures of Alaska creatures on the Ipad and then have your child look for them. I have seen eagles, moose, and beavers from the train platform. FWIW taking photos through the thick train windows will give you long colored streaks and glare that only Photoshop can heal.

I have never seen a schedule except in the when & Where I received the night before. There are a number of movies available on the stateroom TV at no charge.

I received a notice in April: "Our tour operator has advised the Wilderness Exploration Cruise & Crab Feast from Ketchikan, Alaska has been modified due to operational considerations. The meal has been changed from all-you -can-eat to two servings per person due to the extraordinary increase in the cost of crab." Since I normally consume at least six portions of crab, the new limits significantly reduced the value of the "feast" and I cancelled this excursion. I booked the Silverking Lodge Seafood Feast and consumed not only lots of Dungeness Crab but also shrimp. On the way to the lodge, the boat stopped to feed 11 eagles, paused to watch sea lions, and then photographed wild Sitka deer near the lodge. This was a much better value than two portions of crab. I have been to the George Inlet Lodge many times and am happy that Holland America alerted me to their change in "feasting" so that I would not be very disappointed.

My When & Where Services page for the Alaska April 2022 Zuiderdam cruise listed Spa Services & Hydro Pool open from 8:00 AM until 10:00 PM. The Fitness Center had a daily printed schedule but I did not take one. When & Where for two Caribbean cruises in 2021 had Fitness Center events starting at 7:00 AM but nothing about the Spa & Hydro Pool on the Services page. Even the current Spa price lists do not show the open hours. I have a daily Fitness Center schedule from 2019 that shows they open at 6:00 AM. Bottom line is that each ship reports Spa special events in daily activities and some actually post the open hours on the Services page of the daily When & Where. Since I can see Spa special events at 8:00 AM over the past years, they should be open at that time on all ships. Closing time is a question mark.

If you are going all the way to Alaska, choose a RT 14-Day cruise out of Vancouver with stops in Kodiak, Anchorage, Valdez, Skagway, Sitka, Ketchikan, Prince Rupert, and a visit to Glacier Bay. It departs May 7th aboard the Nieuw Amsterdam.

A sports bar with live telecasts with nachos and chicken wings is another good idea.

IIRC the Singles Meetup on the Zuiderdam attracted eight solo passengers between the early and main dining times. A ship rep asked each of us to give our names, something about ourselves, and one word that best describes ourselves. After 15 minutes, we dispersed to never see each other again. No other events, happened although promised by the ship. I did have the very good fortune near the end of the cruise to meet another solo as we unlocked our adjoining stateroom doors and we have exchanged a few emails since. I have been traveling solo for a number of years and Alaska is not an ideal place to do anything but wake up early for excursions, spend the day taking photos, eating dinner, and early to bed to be ready for another early start. On the other hand, the Caribbean offers less port times and later morning docking that allows more time to meet other solos. We did have a CC roll call Tamarind solo dinner on the Nieuw Statendam last December while in the Caribbean.

Perhaps the Gallery Bar could be replaced with a Grand Dutch Cafe for all ships.

Allen Marine has lots of comforts to include snack bar, bathrooms, nice seats, large windows, and lots of room on decks for photographers.

It opens at 7:00 AM with a barista and pastries available.

Daily shipboard wear in Alaska is t-shirts, jeans, sweatshirts, and lots of flannel for chilly mornings. The MDR does not allow shorts, distressed jeans, or offensive t-shirts. Gala Nights require polo shirts and slacks for males. The latter is the normal attire for Specialty Restaurants, too.

HAL used to provide crayons but discovered their white tablecloths suffered. Kids will only receive the menus when eating with you, so no need to bring enough to share. A cool pencil pouch would be a nice touch. It is my experience that kids have so much fun in Club HAL, they are only seen during meal times. The menus are in order of Days 1 - 7. I would print out the menus, number them by cruise day, and let them be colored before dinner. Maybe even colored before the cruise to really get your kid interested in all of the meal choices. The colored menus will be a nice cruise memory for the family scrapbook.

The last time I checked, kids (12 and under) were half price when eating the regular Specialty Restaurant menu. If the kids opt for the MDR Kids Menu, there is no charge. Here are the MDR kid's menus: MDR Kids Menu. You can keep the menus so bring your own crayons/pencils to color the pictures.

if you are cruising on the on Pinnacle-class ship, The Grand Dutch Cafe will indeed be open for lunch on Embarkation Day. The pea soup is nice and thick. Add a sandwich to make a filling lunch. Ask for several almond cookies and a giant chocolate chip cookie for an afternoon snack. Grand Dutch Cafe Menu

Here are the Main Dining Room Menus you will experience: MDR Menus Alaska 2022 For other menus for beverages and restaurants see the link below in the lower right of my signature.

MDR has been open on Embarkation Day on my Nieuw Statendam, Nieuw Amsterdam, and Zuiderdam cruises over the past eight months but only from noon until 1:00 PM. With most of the assigned boarding times now after noon, only the B2B and earliest boarding times passengers can get in the door. The MDR lunch menu is now the same every day. The fried calamari is just as good as what I enjoyed in my four years living in Athens, Greece. Ask for a double order. Here are the MDR lunch and Dive-In menus: MDR Lunch Dive-In Menu Avoid the crowd and try the pizza by the outdoor pool on the aft Lido deck or the Dive-In by the indoor pool.

Finish your Sel de Mer with one of Rudi's giant souffles.

The train did not go into the Yukon just a loop so no ArriveCan. I spent the first part of the excursion on the platform between the cars getting some great snow pictures. Took a brief nap on the way back. ArriveCAN from what I have seen is just for air or marine entry I have already booked the train to Lake Bennett for next May on the Nieuw Amsterdam. As I get closer to May 7th next year, I hope earlier passengers using the train into Canada will update us.

I can only relate my experience with a traveling partner who needed to cancel a B2B cruise with me. I cancelled her first leg of the cruise and had to pay the cancellation fee, had my solo cruise refared at the current rate, saved the port fees for my partner, and ended up owing $200 more. The second leg of the B2B, I just reported my traveling partner as a "no show" on Embarkation Day. I paid no extra and did not have to pay the Hotel Service Charge for her. Lesson learned.

I enjoyed the Dover sole on the Zuiderdam Sel de Mer pop-up.

sole

There is a permanent kiosk across from the Pinnacle Grill where you can make all of your dining reservations but be prepared to wait in line. OR There will be a temporary podium next to the indoor pool on Deck 9 across from the entrance to the hydro pool. You will see a beverage display with a crew member selling beverage packages and a few feet away will be a podium to make dining reservations. Since they seldom have a sign, you have to ask. I have never seen a line for this reservation podium. If you are planning on two Specialty Dining nights and the "complementary" option is not available on the HAL website, book and pay for just one person each of the two nights. When the paid guest arrives for dinner each night, inform the Restaurant Manager that a "complementary" diner is joining you. If you are able to use the "complementary" option on the HAL website, book a "complementary" dinner for one person each of the two nights you wish. When the "complementary" diner arrives, tell the Restaurant Manage to charge the dinner of the joining party to their room. All tables are at least for two so having someone just "join" you is not an issue. The above will save you having to wait to book your second dinner after boarding.

My Alaska cruise in April was enjoyable with less hassle since I connected from a Pacific Coastal on the Holland America Line (HAL) in the same room on the same ship. No testing issues since I did not fly into Vancouver. This time, I met some amazing crew and fellow passengers, enjoyed the snow surrounding the train tracks in Skagway, loved the seafood feast at the Silverking Lodge in Ketchikan, great photos on Allen Marine whale watching in Juneau, and all of the food that I did not have cook for myself.