svalbard

Ask for a room high up in the tower.

I'd go with 7002, I had that room on Statendam and loved it. It is tucked around the corner from the stairway, and a quick sprint up the stairs to the Lido. Also, the Neptune isn't that far away. I agree about the ping pong cabin, I've had one of those.

Photo I took a little after 6:00 pm of the ship leaving Sitka. So nice to have HAL ships back, especially on this sunny day. Post 823 shows arrival, but dam tree is somewhat in the way.

It is wonderful to follow this cruise.

Welcome to sunny Sitka!!
 

Turn up the heat in your stateroom, snuggle into blankets. Don't worry, you will be fine.

They are an educational group, who use the cruise as a platform for deep learning about an area. Groups are quite small roughly 18 to 35 people. Check them out on the internet!

As far as stateroom (verandah in your case) location on the ship goes; I wouldn't get a room on deck 5 that is located in the narrow, middle of the ship. Lifeboats are right below you, obscuring some of your views. Get a stateroom on the wider fore and aft parts of the ship; nothing below to obscure your view. You can see this on websites displaying photos of staterooms.

I've boarded in Seward several times, including last week. Lunch in MDR was not available, and not available most times in the past.

I was on the same cruise as #13, dined several times in the Pinnacle, and found the Manager to be very helpful and nice to "work" with. She was especially patient on disembarkation day, while dealing with angry and antsy passengers who wanted their wheelchair ride off the ship NOW.

There is a liquor store much closer to the cruise terminal. The store is located across a small road from the Breeze Inn.

Probably Westmark, I've stayed there on several occasions with HAL land/cruise tours. The hotel was built before the big cruise and tour boom, so the lobby is pretty dark and cut into several weird rooms and passageways. Ask for a room as high up as possible, and ask for a room with a nice view (some rooms face other buildings). Rooms are large and have balconies.

Starting at 28 you are under the overhang.

Of all the Neptunes we have occupied, 002 on theStatendam was our favorite. Possibly those suites were chosen as thesacrificial SBs because of their proximity to the staircase landing. Beforechoosing that suite I was worried about people-noise coming from the landing;but there was no noise at all. I totally agree with KKs comments about thesuite and its location.

A couple of photos are posted at the Website that can not be named.

When and where is the cc mtg in Victoria:o? Can't get on the Sept 25 roll call any longer.

Oosterdam - 25-Sep-17 - 12-night Mexico

Svalbard

On Maasdam in Sept. our suite smelled of diesel smoke. We complained and "pillow spray" arrived. I tested it out on the verandah, and it was a strong perfume smell. Not something we wanted added to the stack fumes.

Scentless sheets and no fumes are what we prefer.

The land portion of the tour is in large Holland America hotels, that can accommodate your diet. The food may not be great, but they try hard to deal with these issues. Maybe you should contact HAL and ask about this.

Give the Westmark a call, one building is short, 3 or so floors, and the other is tall. I don't think they would make you move.

Ask for a room in the tower, high in the hotel.

Thanks so much for your helpful replies. They really allay some worries I had about a slippery bath tub in potentially moving waters.

Do tubs on Maasdam suites have grab bars?

I am usually in a neptune on the same deck as the Neptune Lounge. However last October on the Eurodam, chose an SB on deck 6. It was identical to suites on deck 7 (but costs less). The only difference was the need to walk up the stairs (or take an elevator up a deck) to go to the Neptune Lounge. Also have had a suite near the Neptune Lounge door, and was happy to hear no noise from the area outside the Neptune Lounge. People are awfully quiet in that hallway.

Thank you so much for putting all the effort into sending info about your voyage around the world, hope the internet is somewhat ok. Some day I hope to do this cruise too. Anyway, all your writing is eally appreciated, by many more than me, and especially from us in the north.

My little, very nice cruises have been from FLL. so, will feel some of your excitement at sailing. Anyway, anxiously awaiting your quest for pizza and wonderful adventures around the world:).

Based on experience living in SE Alaska for a lifetime, I'd go for June. Usually ok weather, long days, and the people in the towns aren't burned out.

Such bad news, hearing rumor that after dry dock Eurodam will no longer provide custom made sandwiches. I really appreciate those custom sandwiches (cold or hot) for lunch. However, I kinda understand why these sandwiches may be discontinued. On a recent Eurodam cruise, very day, when ordering a heated or cold sandwich I was amazed at how impolite and obnoxious passengers were during the ordering process. They would say "gimme a xxx sandwich". No please or thank you from them. They would just point to meat or condiments and say "I want that", etc. They would even stuff their hands under the glass thingie to explicitly point. So, I think the custom sandwich will disappear due to the (quite a few) nasty passengers, who do not treat the staff well at all. I have had my amusing encounters with the sandwich-making people; but that does not mean that one should be patronizing to the hard working staff in the Lido.