CruiseMGM

PS assuming you're going out of (northbound) or in to (southbound) Vancouver! If you're going into or leaving from Seattle, they usually go outside of Vancouver Island and you skip the Canadian Inside Passage altogether.

Tamarind is great, but I'd also like to say that the Southbound itinerary usually traverses the Canadian Inside Passage during the daylight hours on your last day, while the Northbound mostly traverses it at night on embarkation day. The Canadian Inside Passage is beautiful.........except on the times when it's kinda fogged in, and even that has an ethereal beauty to it! So you take your chances, I suppose. Good luck on your decision!

That makes sense. On a recent Nieuw Statendam cruise, we had a Canaletto rez for 6pm one night and were called and asked to change it to 7pm because "diners were lingering longer than expected" (at least that's what I got out of the conversation). We switched and were called back half an hour later, asking us to switch to 7:30 or 8pm. We declined that request because it was a little bit late for us. When we arrived at 7pm, expecting to wait a bit, we were seated immediately and there were many empty tables the entire time we were in the restaurant. As you mention, staffing was the likely reason, although service was excellent.

We took a Seattle r/t to Alaska August of 2022, and it's the first EVER that we've flown in the day of embarkation. Our flight was LAS-SEA and we got the first in the morning flight. We did it with eyes wide open, figured the cruise had been so cheap that if we missed it, we'd just fly home. Everything went smoothly and we had no problems, but I suspect we were just lucky. I don't think I'd ever do that again. Heck, even when we've sailed out of San Diego, we drove the car down and stayed overnight before embarking next day. For what it's worth, our last cruise was Mediterranean and we flew in with 2 nights in a hotel before embarking. Good move, as far as I'm concerned, and we enjoyed our jet-lagged time on the ground before getting on the ship. We also go with carry ons only any more, especially after a huge fiasco in 2022 where we were abandoned by the airline in Germany on our way to Switzerland! And we weren't even supposed to go to Germany! But that's another story! 😆

We didn't visit Giverny by cruise ship, so can't really advise you about what the ship offers. But I just wanted to say that we LOVED our visit to Monet's gardens. It was really beautiful and peaceful. A bit rainy on our day, but it added to the romanticism we felt there. The house was very crowded and wasn't very mobility-friendly (stairs, tight spaces, etc.), and it seemed like a one-way loop (into the ground floor, up the stairs, down the stairs and out). You may experience something different on your visit. I agree with the poster who said to notify the guide and then go at your own pace and meet up with them at the appropriate time. While the commentary is nice, it's not paramount to your experience and enjoyment. Hope you have a wonderful visit!

Another shout out for Estancia Tours! They were great! Also saw lots and lots of wildlife on the cruise. Just a few penguin pictures attached, from the ship. Got much closer with Estancia Tours in the Falkland Islands! We decided a "drive by" of Antarctica was good for us and our budget and haven't regretted it one tiny bit. Best wishes, and have a FABULOUS cruise!

Hi, I'm so sorry you had such a rough time on the Valor! Really sounds dreadful. We're mainly HAL cruisers but went on 2 Carnival cruises last year (Panorama to Mexico with family inc. kids and Sprit r/t Alaska from Seattle just the 2 of us for a cheap and quick anniversary adventure). Just our experience, we'd do the Panorama again if family wanted to go, but it wasn't really our cup o' tea......big ship, overbooked, lots of kids, etc. Buffet was scary. Still, fun with the family, and the kids had a ball! But the Spirit? We really weren't expecting much ..............and we had a WONDERFUL time. The food wasn't outstanding but it was tasty and mostly well prepared, our balcony cabin was great, staffing was good and the ship was lovely. We went to the Steakhouse twice and really enjoyed that, hit up the sushi restaurant the first night and pretty much had the place to ourselves, very good. We pretty much did our own thing and didn't mingle a lot, so had no issues with other passengers. I just want to say that we really hope your next cruise is a good one, and that you enjoy the Spirit if you decide to partake of that sailing! Best wishes and safe travels!

Thanks for the tip! Saw it on the DH's card, added the offer, then charged $1k towards the balance on a cruise we'd just booked in October. Fingers crossed!

Thank you, @Cyberchomp , for writing up your and the Missus's experiences! We're sailing on the American Empress for a r/t Portland (Vancouver) cruise next week and I'm happy I came across your review. If you happen to read this in the next day or two, could you please let me know about tipping on the boat? I know that "pooled" gratuities are automatically added to our onboard account daily, but is there a customary standard for tipping extra? For example, room service delivery, waiters in the dining room, cabin steward, bartenders? On ocean cruises, we normally give a few dollars to delivery if we order room service for our beloved morning coffee and croissants, but what about room stewards and waiters? I'm expecting we'll have different waiters each night, so I'm not quite sure how that will work. Any suggestions or knowledge you have would be appreciated. Thank you again! Hope you soon have the chance to do another river cruise!

Definite thumbs up from us! Pre-pandemic but in the Pinnacle Grill for us (don't think that ship had a Tamarind). It was fantastic and we'd do it again in a heartbeat. Amazing food, small tastes of a variety of things and while a few were spicy hot, the overall was just a fantastic experience. Sure hope they bring it back.