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Look online for visitor information for Seward, It is a much better place to spend your free time than Anchorage. You can rent a car in Seward to visit the Turnagain Arm area and the Animal Conservation Center. In Seward itself is a Sealife Center. Just outside of town is Exit Glacier and Seavey Iditarod dog training area. You already mentioned the Kenai Fjords cruise opportunities. Much to choose from and nothing too strenuous in the above list.

No. We did that once. We almost missed the ship.

Actually a bus load of people arriving on a hotel or airport transfer bus will clog up the works. The bus transfers can get off the bus and directly into the line. Hotel transfers arrive around 11 a.m.. Somehow we all manage to get onboard before the ship pulls out.

On some itineraries the most favored excursions are sold out early due to the Have it All excursion promo. Hawaii was a prime example due to the Hawaii state decision to reduce tourism at its most visited attractions. HIA OBC excursions credit causes people to book excursions online prior to boarding the ship.

The showroom is more crowded for the early show. Plan to go 15-20 minutes early for the best seating. The late show is generally not crowded. The comedian may change his/her show so that the late show has somewhat more adult content. Your stateroom attendant will introduce himself (I’ve only had male attendants) and ask if you have any special requests. Most attendants will give you a business card with their names if you ask. (Two attendants are assigned per stateroom).

So sorry to hear about the fires. We missed Lahaina in February because of ocean conditions and the Captain arranged for an overnight in Hilo. We enjoyed the extra day in Hilo. It allowed more excursions to Volcano National Park. We enjoyed the day by walking down Kalaniana’ole Ave by Reeds Bay and on to Banyan Drive arriving at beautiful Lili’uokalani Park. You could also take a bus to Walmart or downtown. If an overnight is planned for Hilo the cruise line should have more excursions planned. It’s Hawaii. It’s all beautiful.

Thanks for posting a beautiful ship on an amazingly beautiful day in Glacier Bay! Love that ship!

We’ve done the Yukon 3 times through the years and highly recommend. Take the most days you can if you are doing a HAL tour. Whitehorse on some tours is just an overnight which is OK because Dawson City is the most interesting and has some wonderful Parks Canada programs. If you get some daytime hours in Whitehorse it has a lot to offer, too. The tours have been shortened through the years but they still have a journey host which adds to the fun and cohesiveness of the travel group. With one itinerary we enjoyed having an overnight in Skagway before we joined the ship. If you can arrange to get to Bennett Lake, it’s a great add on.

We did have orchids for short head leis and native nuts for wrist bracelets. There were also a couple of musical groups, like bluegrass had a special section set aside for their sessions in the Crows Nest but many of us enjoyed the music. A lot of passengers brought their own ukuleles and the ambassadors also provided ukuleles for lessons.

We had three Hawaiian ambassadors who taught hula, ukulele lessons, lei making, and Hawaiian culture. They performed hula and sang around the pool and put together a Hawaiian revue on the main stage including passengers who had been learning the ukulele and hula. Plan to arrive early. They bring supplies for the activities but seating is limited and the activities are popular. On stage entertainment was pretty standard with Step One dancers and various singing acts, a comedian, etc. We sailed in Febr 2023. Great cruise!

I remember one cruise 6-7-8 years ago in the Crows Nest while HAL still had the usual cruise director activities to fill the late evening hours.

If it’s the candles you are wondering about, you can replace the batteries.

The small battery candles work for me in the bathroom at night. When we were on a Seabourn cruise the ship had them in the bathroom, a nice touch. I found a small battery operated clock at Walmart (mfg by Sharp)..It is completely black until you push down on the top and then it lights in blue to show the time. I keep it by the bed and use it like a push button gentle flashlight when I need to find the bathroom.

It’s been a very long time since a cruise card wallet has appeared. If you look on the Holland America website you will be able to see a chart of the current benefits for Neptune Suite guests on the Eurodam. You will receive Club Orange benefits, like priority seating in the dining room and a separate CO bag.

I can’t imagine 4 people in that stateroom but I like the layout much better than the VS. It sounds like you had a nice cruise. We’ll have two in the stateroom for a November Pacific Coast cruise. I really like the location and the balcony, of course! Did you have enough balcony furniture for four people? I like the lounge chairs with the separate footstools.

Maybe there is no limit to CO on ships that do not have a dedicated dining room. That may be the unanswered question. There is no priority in the CO dining venue for Neptune Suites on any ship. On the ships that do not have a separate CO dining room, the Neptune Suites have the option to have breakfast in the Pinnacle dining room, CO does not have that option.

Wow. Huge ships are in early today. Sunshine and lots of tourists for Juneau today!

We have been invited to the ceremonies on our last two cruises. August 2022 in Alaska on the Nieuw Amsterdam we were invited to the ceremony and I don’t know why but we got a picture with the masked Captain and hotel director. In November 2022 on the Koningsdam we got a medallion. The groups were small but the Captains posed for pictures and drinks were offered. After our next cruise in November 2023 we hope to have enough points to qualify for 5* in time for our Solstice Alaska 2024 cruise. Another ceremony maybe!

Seemed like a different camera person. Good views of the line handlers. I heard someone talking about making it work but the float planes were pretty loud.. We got lots of views of people milling around on the dock. I hope the passengers have planned adventures so they can get out and about!

Not Nancy, but it was around $50-$55 and it was offered as part of a “deck sale” offering both the regular and CO robe. I bought it on the Koningsdam two years ago. It is heavy but I didn’t have to fly!

You can walk through the Totem Park to the Raptor Center. Fortress of the Bears is much further out.

I liked it so much i bought one with my OBC!

The Canyon Lodge which offers sit down service in the McKinley Chalets accepts reservations. It is in the main lodge at the Chalets where there is a gift shop and boarding area for tour busses. The Canyon Lodge is a steakhouse with excellent food and your meal voucher is good there. It is a nice place to have dinner. Your voucher is good for anything on the menu. In the morning Karstens (down below) has a breakfast buffet with full or continental breakfast. It is very busy with people preparing for a full day of tours and excursions.

Just what I wanted to know. Can’t wait to try it!

The HAL cruise tours have changed a lot. Only the Yukon cruise tours now have a “journey host” and they are a lot like the cruise tours of the past with a HAL tour guide. Fortunately we took a variety of the HAL tours years ago with a tour guide and they included many great shared experiences and memories. Today the Alaska/Denali tours operate without a guide due to great planning and staffing by HAL but they lack the variety of the past. Congrats on the upgrade. Now-a-days you may be offered an upsell!