Live-ish Koningsdam Alaska R/T Vancouver: 10 Days; 3 Generations of Women; 1 Bathroom -- Will We Survive It?

[jm485]

In 48 hours, my mom, oldest niece and I depart on a trip to Alaska that -- like so many others this summer -- has been 3 years in the making.  Originally planned as a college graduation gift for my niece in 2020, we delayed twice but finally (fingers crossed) will be leaving Philadelphia Wednesday afternoon to fly to Vancouver.  We'll spend 3 nights at the Pan Pacific at Canada Place before boarding Koningsdam on Saturday for a round-trip voyage to Alaska.  After a final night in Vancouver due to flight times, we will be returning home on 17 July.

 

Background and the Cast of Characters

 

    Who?

 

Dear Mommy (DM) is just shy of 79 and has never been on a cruise.  She doesn't really enjoy traveling, but Alaska is a place she's always been interested in.  I'm hoping she'll enjoy it, so I'll have another future cruise buddy.  Daily Mass on HAL was a big selling item for her.  She doesn't have many hobbies and has spent the last 2.5 years mostly watching Hallmark movies and true crime shows.

 

Dear Niece (DN) is 25 and went on a short (maybe 5 day) Carnival cruise 4 or 5 years ago.  She's a nurse, loves to travel, and is generally a lot of fun to be around.  I think she was about 5 or so the last time I was on a trip with her, so I imagine this will be a rather different experience.

 

I'm 55, and married to a DH who doesn't like to travel. My regular traveling companion in recent years has been HIS mom.  She and I get along well, but we now all live together and sometimes it's nice to get a little break from each other -- especially after all the "togetherness" of recent years! 

 

This will be my 8th cruise, 4th on HAL.  I've also done one trip each on RC and Quark, and 2 on NCL.  Did not care at all for the giant ship experience on Royal, but thought the smaller NCL ships were just fine and not so very different to HAL.  YMMV, of course, but I'd be happy to take a trip on a smaller NCL ship, especially if it leaves from NYC to avoid flying.  I'm fairly self-entertaining, not a "foodie" and find HAL's ships really pleasant to be on, especially compared to the mall/amusement park aesthetic of some of the really big RCIC and NCL ships.

 

   How, Where & How Much?

 

We planned the trip thru a PCC at HAL who my MIL has used for years.  We booked air thru HAL FlightEase, and haven't had any issues of note (that thumping is me knocking wood).  We are staying in an Aft Wrap Neptune on Deck 8.  Neither of the Deck 7 suites were available and I really thought the wrap around deck would be great for Alaska, even if it meant sacrificing proximity to the Neptune Lounge.  Weather is not promising, with rain in the forecast pretty much every day, so the full cover over our balcony should be good.  I'm hoping the bad weather will mean less pool use and chair scraping noise above us.

 

Our package includes the "crew appreciation/gratuity," beverage package and 2 specialty dinners for each of the 3 of us (these are often just for guests 1 and 2 but it was a promo when we rebooked last year), as well as internet for 2 people.  Not including flights, the fare averaged out to about $2800 per person for 3 in the cabin, including port fees and taxes.

 

We booked hotels on our own, and will just get cab/ride share to and from the airport in Vancouver.  We are tentatively planning a day tour of Vancouver on Thursday and then a day trip to Victoria for Friday.  Our boarding time on Saturday is 10am, but since it's just a trip down in the elevator, we won't have to rush to get there on time.

 

We have HAL shore excursions booked in each of the 3 ports (Juneau, Skagway and Ketchikan).  Three "cruising"/sea days gives a nice blend of active and not.  2 of my last 3 cruises were in Europe, and the port-intensive itineraries are fun, but not necessarily relaxing.  Mom and I are planning things like the train ride and whale watch  cruises, while DN has a full slate of hikes, zip lining and kayaking planned.

 

Pre-Cruise Planning

 

I don't remember a trip that required this much pre-cruises stuff to be done!

 

We have registered with VeriFly, as much for our trip with American Airlines as HAL.  We have set up ArriveCan, and completed it for our flights.  Will do again for the cruise on Thursday morning after COVID tests.  We're very relieved we don't need to have a negative test to fly back to the US at the end of the trip, but will still need to test negative to board the cruise.  Plan to do that first thing Thursday morning via eMed. I used them when I went to the UK for work earlier this year, and knowing how it works was worth paying the $30 to do it this way vs. finding a less-expensive option using the free tests from US government.

 

That's about it for now.  Hopefully, my next report will be from Vancouver later this week.

 

Welcome Aboard!

Edited July 4, 2022 by jm485

[SilvertoGold]

Fantastic!  The ongoing saga of the "Three Generations Ladies" is going to be an outstanding read!  The Koningsdam has something for everyone and I am sure this will be a great cruise all around!  Looking forward to all your posts!

 

An advance welcome to Vancouver! Hope you enjoy all parts of this adventure!

[julia]

Sounds like a wonderful memory-making trip!  In regards to sharing one bathroom...  try to dress, shower, etc in stages.  Even when it's just the DH...  I will dress, hair & makeup, and exit (to the Pinnacle Bar) so he can have the cabin.  A lot less tripping over each other.

[lstrong]

This going to be a fun read!  Thank you 

[tundra1]

Looking forward to following along!  Wishing you safe travels and Negative Covid Tests!

[canadianbear]

What a great time you’ll have!  We’ve shared a Neptune suite with 4 so you’ll be fine as long as you try to plan shower time, lol.  Whoever is the quickest could get ready first and then head to the Neptune lounge to wait while having a snack or coffee.  
 

Unfortunately the weather in Vancouver is not great this week at all but hoping it might change.  Be prepared for rain and cool weather.

 

I hope you love the Koningsdam-I’ve been on it over 40 days in total and loved it-especially the Dutch Cafe.

 

Have a wonderful time making memories together. 

 

 

[bbstx]

👋 Hey @jm485  I’m waving to you from the check-in line.  I’m the one in the midst of the party of 8 (at least I hope after our COVID tests on Thursday, we’ll still be a party of 8).   🎶My bags are packed, I’m ready to go🎶 (apologies to Peter, Paul, and Mary)

[jm485]

@bbstx - see you around!  Good luck

with your flights!

[jm485]

Thanks for the suggestions everyone.  Some great advice. 
 

i’m all packed and just waiting for mom to

pick me up. I’m staying at her house tonight as I live an hour further away from PHL than her, so easiest to stay there tonight.

 

Bye til Vancouver!

 

 

[MogeyMan]

Get the thermal spa package, shower up there.

[jhsocal]

Might depend how modest everyone is--can you go from towel to clothes in the room, not the bathroom? Believe the locker room is available without the spa package.

[quilty964]

Thanks for taking us along!  Have fun and enjoy your time together!  Alaska is great fun!

 

[*Miss G*]

Looking forward to reading along!  Have a wonderful trip and safe travels.  ⛴

[jm485]

Greetings from Vancouver!

 

After a very long travel day Wednesday, we landed in Vancouver at about 9pm.  Got thru passport control and took a cab from the airport to the Pan Pacific.  The fare was C$38 for 3 people and 8 various suitcases, carry-ons and backpacks.  We don’t travel light in our family.  
 

The most eventful things were that my Mom left her phone home, and that we had a crazy long connection to make in Dallas from gate D1 to the A terminal. We’ve decided that Mom will come stay with me so we can fly United from Newark from now on.  Whatever issues we may have with United, at least we can fly non-stop pretty much anywhere from there, rather than Philly to Dallas to Vancouver!

 

Yesterday, was cruise minus 2 day. Woke to overcast over the harbor and mountains, but living near the ocean, we know that morning clouds can often turn to beautiful weather!  We spent a couple of hours first thing dealing with the COVID tests and other paperwork. The process was complicated by mom’s lack of her phone, since she couldn’t remember any of her passwords and we couldn’t reset them without the codes that were sent to her phone!  Eventually, though, we all got our negative COVID tests reviewed and approved thru VeriFly and were “Ready to Sail”; submitted a cruise-related ArriveCan request and completed all the HAL formalities. It sems like there’s a lot of sending the same info different places, but maybe we were just very inefficient in how we approached it.

 

We have a harborview room, and amused ourselves watching float planes take off and land in the harbor while dealing with all this admin stuff. We treated ourselves to room service breakfast, too.  As we worked, the weather cleared and by the time we headed out for the afternoon, the weather was warm and sunny.  We spent a couple of hours walking around Granville Island, where DN treated us to donuts from Lee’s Donuts in the Public Market.  And yes, they really are as good as their reputation!

A bit of jet lag hit at that point, so we decided to just get very late lunch/early dinner at the hotel.  We ate at the Coal House Bar in the lobby.  The fish in the fish and chips was super-crispy and moist.

 

We have a trip to Capillano Suspension Bridge Park today and tomorrow is Boarding Day!  

Edited July 8, 2022 by jm485

[DaveOKC]

I assume that you know that the Pan Pacific staff will take your bags from your room right to the ship and to your cabin?  Last time we did this it was great AND the bellman would not accept a tip from us, since we were on a HAL package.

[SilvertoGold]

Welcome to Vancouver!  The next few days should be no rain and you are right, the sun will come out.  A good start to you time here.  Enjoy today and best wishes for a speedy embarkation.

[jm485]

12 hours ago, DaveOKC said:

I assume that you know that the Pan Pacific staff will take your bags from your room right to the ship and to your cabin?  Last time we did this it was great AND the bellman would not accept a tip from us, since we were on a HAL package.

Thanks for the reminder. I stopped this morning to get the details on pick up for tomorrow morning.  We booked the cruise package directly through the hotel, but got the same info about them taking it on board.

 

We’re counting hours now!

[willoL]

Bon voyage, @jm485! I hope you and your family have a marvelous trip.

As another someone married to a travel-averse DH , I'm always trying to talk friends into taking trips with me. I would love the nitty gritty details of how you ladies work out your sharing of this space. (Changing in front of my mom wouldn't have phased me, but personal levels of modesty vary so much.)

 

Let us know how you divvy up those closets and work out the shower schedule! 🍿

[jm485]

On 7/9/2022 at 8:26 AM, willoL said:

Let us know how you divvy up those closets and work out the shower schedule! 

Turns out DN is an unpacking dynamo, because our bags were delivered at about 1:00 and in half an hour, we’d found a place for everything.

 

I got 2 drawers because I had more drawer than hanging stuff. Mom and DN each got one.   DN left work out clothes, underwear and socks in packing cubes on the shelves. We just hung things based on length rather than trying to divvy up the hanging space, so that stuff is a bit intermingled.  There are TONS of hangers!

 

We each took 2 drawers by the dressing table for toiletries and cosmetics. There is no room in the shower to leave anything really. Mom and I each have a drawer in the bathroom for toothbrush and shampoo and DN has a carrier on a shelf under the sink with her stuff.

 

There was one carry on that wouldn’t fit under the bed, so it’s under the coffee table. We moved that table and the 2 arm chairs off to the sides of the room so no one would trip over them in their original middle of the room position.  We have 2 backpacks and we stowed them in a cabinet under the bar.  So everything is pretty “ship shape.”

 

Also turns out that Mom usually showers at night. I take a shower first thing while DN is either sleeping or at the gym, then she takes a shower. So it all seems to work out fine. We have dinner at the Pinnacle Grill tonight so we’ll see how we do getting ready at once.

 

[canadianbear]

@jm485 I’m impressed, well done by all!  Let’s hope the “dance” before your dinner at the Pinnacle works as smoothly!  Have a great evening.  

[jm485]

Boarding Day - 9 July

 

Boarding Day dawned bright and sunny. By 6:30, Koningsdam was in view and she was docked right at 7.

 

 

 

We called the bellstand at the Pan Pacific at about 8:30 to get our bags.  We were surprised that they came up right away to collect them. But they did, so we cleared the room and headed down to breakfast with our backpacks and mom’s tote bag.

We had buffet vouchers at Oceans 999 for 2 of us, and paid about C$35 for a third entree and drinks. Food was delicious, nice selection but not overwhelming.  

 

We had a 10am check-in time, so we finished checking out of the hotel and made our way down the elevator to Cruise Ship

level at a couple of minutes after 10.

 

Canada Place Boarding Process

 

Since we didn’t have to check our bags, we skipped the first stop in the boarding routine and headed directly to the check in room. There were about 25 people in line for standard check-in with paper documents.  With our “Ready to Cruise” VeriFly status, we simply walked up to a representative, showed the phone and had our pictures taken and passports scanned.  We were done before people who’d come in with us made it to the front of the line.  Depending on your tolerance for standing in line vs. wrestling with the app, you can decide if VeriFly is worth it to you.  I would imagine that the later it gets, the more time VeriFly will save you at check-in.

 

Then it was off to security, who will want to see the slip of paper given to you when you check in. Security was standard magnetometers and bag xray. Mom has both a hip and knee replacement, so she had to be wanded.

 

Last stop before the boarding holding pen was US CBP. There are a couple dozen automated passport machines and we walked right up to one, scanned our passports and got our customs print outs. We got to the boarding waiting area at about 10:45 and learned they would be ready to board at 11:30.

 

Finally On Board

 

Pretty promptly at 11:30, the Priority Boarding began. I think they let B2B passengers on first, then a few people who needed assistance. The crew scanned the boarding passes on my phone on we were on at the Deck 2 midship elevators. We cut thru to the Aft elevators to our aft-wrap Neptune.  Our room keys were waiting when we got here.

 

Since we’d just finished breakfast, we weren’t very hungry. Our cabin attendants came by and  we watched the safety video. Our bags arrived around 1. DN was quite the martinet getting us to unpack and stow everything, but by 1:30, everything was put away and we headed out to check in at our muster station and find some lunch.

 

The Lido seemed the best option, even as mobbed as it was. We just had a quick

meal, as we still weren’t super hungry. We sat at the pool for a bit, then Mom and I went back to the cabin while DN checked out the gym.

 

Sailaway was right on time at 4. We had a quick nap and decided to just get room service. No one was especially in the mood for a big meal. Delivery was prompt and the food was hot and tasty. We found a movie to watch and it was lights out pretty early.

 

 

[bbstx]

My experience was similar to OP’s.  We are Club Orange. Supposed to get priority boarding.  Other than getting an early time, I didn’t notice a difference between regular boarding and priority boarding.
 

My VeriFLY crashed and I had to use paper docs.  It was still remarkably quick.  Also, I have Global Entry.  I was initially the only one in the GE line, until I flagged down my sister and BIL who also have GE.  It was super quick to go through US CBP with GE. 

[DaveOKC]

8 hours ago, bbstx said:

My experience was similar to OP’s.  We are Club Orange. Supposed to get priority boarding.  Other than getting an early time, I didn’t notice a difference between regular boarding and priority boarding.
 

My VeriFLY crashed and I had to use paper docs.  It was still remarkably quick.  Also, I have Global Entry.  I was initially the only one in the GE line, until I flagged down my sister and BIL who also have GE.  It was super quick to go through US CBP with GE. 

Sometimes the priority line is had to find, so I always ask one of the many HAL staffers in attendance.

 

[ger_77]

Great reporting, thanks a bunch!  A suggestion:  tuck the carry-on into one of the bags you stored under the bed and you're luggage free in the cabin.

[Drews_Cruise]

Great reporting,  We are a group of 10 who are doing this same cruise next year around the same time.  Looking forward to hearing everything you experience.   Thanks for sharing.