SilvertoGold

We remember the vegetarian lasagna on HAL from years ago. Lots of bechamel! It was quite good, lighter, of course, but very tasty.

Pinnacle burger is massive!

My experience on Koningsdam and Zuiderdam lately: The burgers are a bit different in the MDR. I liked them better as they were hotter, as were the fries. The lasagna in the MDR can be a bit watery. Canaletto is probably better. Depends on the ship, the day, the cook...............

We don't use USD in Canada (unless going on a US cruise!). Please, get some CND before leaving home. Do yourself a favour, make it easy :) It would be better to tip with USD over nothing at all. The cruiseships use USD exclusively. Have a lovely cruise and enjoy your short time in Vancouver!

No first night special pricing, no special pricing any night. The Manager made this sounds like a wild ride every sea day on the Alaska run.

In June on the Zuiderdam the first day at sea found a LOT of pax to the Pinnacle. When we arrived for our 5 pm dinner, there was a line-up of 20 couples. Never seen anything like this before. The restaurant was packed solid. Manager told us he had 120 reservations for that evening: the two sea days on Alaska cruises are often packed. Other nights we dined there (first, Juneau, Ketchikan) were normal to sparsely populated.

Yes, the 4 cruises we are looking at are exactly the same pricing with this "promo". I note that taxes have increased on 2 of the 4 lately.

We have done this with 2 carry-ons, one large backpack and one medium one. As long as you don't want to take formal clothing and can wear any jacket or other bulky article (or not have to actually pack such items), it works!

Thank you, Lisa, for the personal and expert info. Way past final payment date and we are paid in total, so maybe we are clear. BTW: thanks so much for the Rotterdam posts: most enjoyable!

Thanks for looking :) I think I found mine, after some serious excavation. From June. No Hawaii. Enjoy your Tahiti cruise! Such a great cruise we've always liked!

Noticed that two cruises we have booked have new tax amounts. Fare remains same but taxes have increased about 12%. So do we get a bill now, on the ship, or never? TA is off for long weekend, so interested if anyone has experience with this. Thanks!

Private Sales: Haven't had one for ages. Are any Hawaii included in yours?

We have a really excellent , older garment bag and would use it is if didn't end up being so heavy! No wheels, very uncomfortable to carry any distance. Great that your bag works for you!

Things change and it seems to depend on where you are sailing. Out of Vancouver for Hawaii and Alaska in April/May/June, we required no tests between back-to-backs

May was a fantastic time this year, with snow right down to the ocean in places! Most snow for many years apparently. Glad you saw some greenery, the best of both.

BTW: September is great for Glacier Bay! Ships get permission to go past Jaw Point at Johns Hopkins Glacier and you get a much better viewing of the glacier and seals on the ice flows.

By 10 am for sure. Never been there before that time. You might try googling Canada Place and see if there is an email or phone number for info on this. Someone must know there how it is set up. Failing that, there used to be several bag drop outfits, Grayline for one. These can be googled also.

One upsell at a time is what we have seen, pre-Covid. I'd like to know if upsells are being done much now. If ships aren't sailing full, could there be more availablilty for upsells.

Or, you can be left on your own if you don't say you need help. The Supervisor has a list and knows who is moving but sometimes it just doesn't work out well without letting them all know when you wish to move. What we have done is get the new cards at the Front Desk and just move on our own.

Thanks for the info. Glad you are find HAL great as a first impression and hope that continues.

Some (a lot of) melatonin might help, but driving for 2 hours sounds like a bad idea.

10 am doesn't sound good. Must be some hold-up. The last disembark time was 9:15 for us. Which ship? Would really like to know when boarding starts for you today. Have a really wonderful cruise!

Hope you start boarding at 11:30 or at latest at latest by noon. Canada Place in April on the Koningsdam was 1:30 pm because of Covid cases being disembarked and then a wholesale cleaning throughout the ship. The place was a zoo!

We received ones on the Koningsdam in April and May and on the Zuiderdam in June. Ugly plastic but they come in handy for storage.

This year Canada Place is beginning boarding by 11:30 am or even earlier as long as no problems with disembarking Covid cases or other hold-ups are encountered. Straight to your cabin, then or by noon, where the key cards will be waiting for you in the mailbox. Have a great time!