Just introducing myself -- brand new to cruise travel ...

Greetings —

Yesterday, I booked my first cruise:

HAL ms Amsterdam, September 11, 2017, 14-day “Great Alaskan Explorer”

When I say “first cruise,” I mean my first cruise EVER. After years of thinking about it, I finally decided to go for it.

I chose HAL based on recommendations of several cruise veteran friends who all said it would be perfect for a first cruise experience. I chose this particular cruise for a similar reason: my friends suggested going for a cruise lasting longer than 7 days so I would get a real sense of cruise travel. The fact that it starts and ends in Seattle was icing on the cake (I live 95 miles from Seattle).

I booked directly with HAL (a "Personal Cruise Consultant") and splurged for a Neptune Suite. You only live once, right?

A bit about me: I'm 65, traveling solo, with some minor mobility issues but nothing too serious (can't walk long distances without stopping, that sort of thing). Not much interested in nightlife or the casino; I'm more of a quiet bookish person, a bit of a "foodie" (I love to cook and collect cookbooks), and I'm really looking forward to the relaxation that cruise travel seems to offer.

I’ve spent the last couple of weeks reading as much as I can but honestly, it’s a little like trying to drink from a fire hose. I’ve read the first 41 pages of the “New to Holland America? This is for you...AKA "HAL For Dummies" and I’m gradually working my way through all the FAQs on the HAL website — and I’m making a list of questions for my HAL consultant.

Meanwhile, I hope I won’t ask too many stupid questions here, but I’m sure I’ll have some that you more experienced HAL cruise folks will be able to answer, so thanks in advance for your patience and wisdom.

’til later …

I think you have chosen an excellent ship and itinerary for Alaska. Suggest you look at your roll call and join in on the discussions. You'll love your Neptune Suite but will be spoiled for all future cruises. Have a great time!

Welcome to cruise critic. Alaska was our first cruise 11 years ago (on Volendam) and we got addicted and have done many cruises since. You will enjoy Amsterdam.

👏👏BRAVO!!!!

Congratulations on becoming a HAL newbie and so happy for you on your Alaska cruise! You will love your Neptune Suite. Get on your roll call which will be real helpful to you !!! You'll get to know so many cruise mates on your meet and greet.

This will be such an enjoyable and beautiful cruise for you!

Relax and see the spectacular views!

WELCOME TO OUR CC FAMILY!

Denise 😊

Welcome! My first HAL cruise was on the Amsterdam from Seattle to Alaska and we got hooked on HAL. Your preferences--reading etc are pretty much like mine. I like the decor of the Amsterdam.

Welcome to the wonderful world of cruising, Holland America, and to Cruise Critic. Pull up a deck chair and join right in.

You have selected an excellent itinerary and ship for a first cruise. The Amsterdam is one of HAL's two co-flagships, and as such is especially lovely.

The itinerary is long enough to truly relax, and goes to places the "usual" Alaska cruises never get to. There are some out of the way places that have never become tourist traps. I am especially fond of Homer.

Feel free to ask any and all questions you may have. The only "stupid" question is the one left unasked. There's a wealth of knowledge on this forum, and we love to share it.

Thanks, everyone. I have all spring/summer to get myself ready for this, so I have plenty of time to get things sorted out. I'm an inveterate list-maker, and I've already started putting together the "list of lists" I'll need (packing list, documents list, things to do list, etc.).

My friends have said I'll either absolutely LOVE it, or absolutely HATE it, but their prediction given my personality and temperament is that I'll love it and want to do it regularly. I've thought about it for at least 10 years but just didn't think I could justify the cost -- especially the 100% surcharge for single occupancy. I know why the cruise lines do this and totally understand the reasoning, but I still didn't like it. I finally realized this year that a) I'm not getting any younger, and b) the price is never going to be lower, so might as well go for it. My finance folks said yesterday they have been wondering why I never did a cruise before (I retired early in 2003 after 32 years in IT, the last 6 years with Amazon). Soooo ... here we are.

I've connected with the Roll Call for my cruise, so gradually I'm making the connections/etc. that will help me better prepare. This group is a great resource.

Again, thanks for the warm welcome! :)

Welcome to the wonderful world of cruising, HAL, and Cruise Critic! We seem to have a few things in common...I was born in Bellingham, left in 1965 and back again 1972-75 (live in Lake Stevens now). I just turned 66, we could have gone to school together unless you're a transplant... :D:D

My first cruise was also on the Amsterdam to Alaska (but only the 7-day). That was 20 cruises ago and I've never looked back. I hope you will love it as much as we all do!

Welcome to the wonderful world of cruising, HAL, and Cruise Critic! We seem to have a few things in common...I was born in Bellingham, left in 1965 and back again 1972-75 (live in Lake Stevens now). I just turned 66, we could have gone to school together unless you're a transplant... :D:D

 

My first cruise was also on the Amsterdam to Alaska (but only the 7-day). That was 20 cruises ago and I've never looked back. I hope you will love it as much as we all do!

Thanks!

I am, indeed, a transplant -- originally from Kansas City, MO. I moved from Seattle to Bellingham for grad school in 2006. Loved it so much I stayed. This is truly home now.

We are booked for the Sept 2018 cruise that you are doing. I look forward to your assessment.

Sent from my XT1254 using Forums mobile app

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

We have done that 14 day Alaskan cruise 2 times on the Amsterdam. Loved it.

You will love the space you have in the Neptune Suite -- and you will have use of the concierges in the Neptune Lounge.

As for that thread "HAL for Dummies" -- a lot of that information is odd and things have changed.

Feel free to ask questions here and on your Roll Call.

If you can't walk long distances, you may want to arrange wheel chair assistance via your PCC for embarkation and disembarkation days. For the cruise you may consider renting a walker/rollator. They have a seat on them for when you need to rest and do fold up. I use Care Vacations to rent one for cruises.

ArtsyCraftsy, you will have a wonderful time! I, too, am not a partier and tend to don't like crowds, which is why I generally travel during the off season. The wonderful part about cruising is that even though you are in a confined space on a ship, there are so many places to go when you just want to be by yourself or away from the crowd (not counting your stateroom, of course :) ).

You will love Alaska. It is the one cruise I recommend to everyone. There is something about it that just takes your breath away. The pictures and documentaries of it that you see on TV or on a website just can't do it justice. Having that balcony room will be worth every penny for you because you'll be able to take pictures and admire the views without having to fight everyone else for a spot at the rail. I remember on my first Alaskan cruise getting pictures of the Hubbard glacier that I never would have gotten on one of the public decks.

I'll offer a welcome to the board, although I am new here too. You'll find the Holland America forum filled with some of the nicest posters who are willing to share their experience and provide a laugh or two. Don't hesitate to ask your questions--yes, they may have been asked the same question 500 times before, but they always answer again in a willing and friendly way.

Have a wonderful cruise!

I hope you have a wonderful cruise. I frequently advise friends on which cruises they should take. I'm always amazed when people don't ask someone who has cruised for recommendations before booking something. For instance, my uncle and aunt went on a Carnival cruise for their honeymoon after having cruised once on HAL. They were not impressed.

Welcome to the amazing world of ocean travel. You have picked a terrific cruise line, a wonderful first ship and you have found us here at Cruise Critic. Our favorite thing is encouraging people to love cruising and to do it often and well. LOL

This is the place for questions and conversation about all aspects of cruising. Please come back and tell us how your cruise went.

Alaska was our first cruise ... and we were hooked :D

Welcome to CC - lots of good information here

Welcome aboard. You certainly picked a beautiful place for your first cruise. My very first cruise was 20 years ago, 7 weeks after I finished grueling 6 months of chemotherapy. I am convinced that the beauty of Alaska gave me the will to survive so that I could see more of the world via cruise ships. I am now a veteran of 20+ cruises and HAL is by far my favourite cruise line. Some cruises have been better than others, but you learn through experience what suits you the best. There is no cruise that I have regretted taking. I turn 60 this year and grateful for the wonderful things I have experienced in the last 20 years. I wish you all the best in your new adventures and hope to hear from you after the cruise to see if you have become "addicted" like most of us here.

Congratulations and you have booked a wonderful cruise! I agree with you about enjoying your opportunity and booking a suite--believe me, you will be spoiled on other cruises if you do not get a suite again! Lucky you! I love HAL and you will enjoy every minute of the cruise, and I bet you will be signing up for your next cruise with the future cruise consultant on board during the cruise!!!!! (So begin doing your homework and come with a couple of other cruises in mind, or wait for the consultant's onboard presentation of HAL's top cruises and select from one of those). If you are going single, no problem. You will meet so many other lovely people each and every day--I have traveled solo for many years and have cherished the memories! And ask whatever questions you need to ask--we all were there once before!!!!! Enjoy, enjoy!

Thanks!

 

I am, indeed, a transplant -- originally from Kansas City, MO. I moved from Seattle to Bellingham for grad school in 2006. Loved it so much I stayed. This is truly home now.

Well you made a good choice! I love Bellingham, and still have lots of family and friends who live there. :)

ArtsyCraftsy,

Welcome to CC and cruising. Our first cruise was HAL (Veendam) and the next one in June would have been on Amsterdam before they switched it to 14nt and brought in Oosterdam for 7nt route this year. It certainly is convenient to cruise from Seattle and you have the best of both Alaska departure ports nearby plus the future option for Hawaii from Vancouver. You'll be hooked. Check out the Alaska board for port and excursion info and the "Ask a Cruise Question" forum for generic cruise advice. Don't count too much on an active Roll Call but do check for it since they tend to have more people on longer itineraries.

What selection did you make for dinner in the dining room? Although we{as a couple} enjoy late set seating, open seating might be better for you, provides options to dine at different times with people you meet on board. Found people at "Happy Hours" friendly and willing to share a table or booth.

The Bad Fairy just showed up at the party who agrees with all the positive things you have been hearing, but since you are a very first time cruiser you may not yet know how you react to that one curse of cruising - the occasional bout of mal de mer.

Lots of suggestions but this is something you may need to discuss with your own doctor for what might work best for you - many of us have found a few preventive doses of Bonine before we start the cruise is all we need, but there are restrictions on the use of the OTC product for some people, so best to check..

I bring this up only because of prior reports the passage from Seattle to Vancouver can sometimes be very rough and since this would be your first experience on your first cruise, I want you to know and perhaps prepare for this sort of occurrence. Hope it does not happen, but please also look into the many sources of info about staying healthy and well on cruise ships in particular. CDC - Center for Disease Control - has good traveler information - hand sanitation, sea sickness, stomach upsets etc. (Boo, told you I would be the Bad Fairy) https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/page/cruise-ship

So with this little sobering aside, I agree you picked a wonderful cruise to start and a fabulous way to enjoy your time on board choosing a Neptune Suite on the grand lady herself - the Amsterdam. Welcome. We started slow about 10 years ago and now have almost 400 cruise days. Little did we know what a wonderful way this was to see the world. The whole world.

I hope by now you have created your account on the HAL website. You can complete your profile & check in, print documents, make reservations for dinner and book excursions.

Also if you do not have a passport (or aren't a natural born US citizen) make sure you have the proper documents to board the ship.

Ask questions here and we can point you in the right direction!

Doing my 3rd Alaska Cruise this June in a NS.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

What selection did you make for dinner in the dining room? Although we{as a couple} enjoy late set seating, open seating might be better for you, provides options to dine at different times with people you meet on board. Found people at "Happy Hours" friendly and willing to share a table or booth.

I opted for "open seating" -- since this is my first time, I didn't really want the restriction of having to sit at the same table with the same people for 14 days. I mean, it COULD be perfectly delightful, but I'd rather have more opportunities to meet more people.

I opted for "open seating" -- since this is my first time, I didn't really want the restriction of having to sit at the same table with the same people for 14 days. I mean, it COULD be perfectly delightful, but I'd rather have more opportunities to meet more people.

Note with anytime dining you will need to make dining reservations. You will have a certain amount of priority due to your Suite status. Otherwise you arrive when ever you want and WAIT for a table or seat to open up.

I have already made reservations for our June sailing mostly in Pinnacle Grill, I don't believe I can make dining reservations for the Main Dining Room until I board the ship.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Check the daily schedules also to see if the cruise director has arranged special activities for solo passengers or a solo table. The Neptune concierge can also check this for you. Good way to find people you might want to share port time with.

We like the HAL shore excursions, they are often more expensive that do it yourself arrangements, but are totally hassle free. The ones with meals included is also another way to meeting new passengers. You can start researching them online now, listen to the shore excursion presentations once on board or look at the shore excursions booklet that will be in your cabin along with some basic info about each upcoming port.

There are also cruise port websites that can give you a feel for where you will be, what is near by, visiting and where the ship is expected to dock. Alaska ports are pretty accessible on your own, if you just like to wander around.