My trip from HAL (very long) and some final words for you all

[Alaskabound77]

As many of you know, my family and I decided to do our very first cruise to Alaska on the Westerdam on July 29th. My family consists of myself (36), my husband (38), my almost four-year son, Tyler and my 8 month old daughter, Lila. My mom and dad (divorced but great friends) and my sister from Seattle joined us as well. This cruise was a gift from my mom to the family from my recently deceased grandmother’s estate. My sister does not like to travel in airplanes so we thought this would be a nice way to travel together. My sister did this exact cruise six years ago and loved it. My dad says, “well, she wanted to do a cruise again in the worst way, and she got exactly what she wanted.” This is a long review that I mostly wrote for my family so that we would remember our trip together. But I was thinking of all of you as I wrote it and hope that you enjoy my review. I am in no way writing this to trash HAL and take full responsibility for a lot of what went wrong.

Day 1 Denver to Seattle: We awoke early on Sunday morning to do the final packing (okay, the baby actually woke us up at 5:45 am) and pick up the house a little before we embark on the “trip of a lifetime.” Around 6:15 am, my husband decides that he could really use some Starbucks and heads out the door. I casually decide to check on the flight just to make sure that it is still scheduled to depart on time. I’m a little concerned because we were originally on an 8:00 am flight with American Airlines. But a few weeks ago we actually learn that we are not on an American Flight but an Alaskan Airline flight and that flight has been cancelled. We are now on a 10:30 am flight that will arrive in Seattle at 12:15 pm. I am really uncomfortable with this situation but have been assured that everything will be fine and Alaska Airlines gave me few options anyway since they cancelled a ton of flights recently (you might have even seen this in the news). I log on and nearly pass out when I see that our 10:30 flight has been delayed until 2:00 pm due to mechanical problems. As most rational people facing a similar situation would do, I immediately break down in tears as I desperately try to call Alaska Airlines to get this sorted out. After spending over an hour on hold and being assured that they would get us on a plane immediately, we are told that there are no seats available on any airlines and the best thing is to get our bodies to the airport as soon as possible. So we start throwing everything in our suitcases and call my parents and tell them to hit the road right away too. I do a quick weight check on the bags and we are over the 50 lb limit. Ahhhh – time to start pulling out clothes. But I think to myself, hey, we booked a suite with unlimited laundry. Therefore, even if the Westerdam is taking 48 hours to do laundry, we should be fine with three outfits each. Just fine! I also eye the large bag of Cheerios that I have packed for the baby as it’s the only solid food she is eating right now. Time to dump 90% of it out since I really only need some to entertain her on the plane as I have already confirmed that Cheerios will be available on the Westerdam. And we run out the door to the airport.

In an attempt to save time, we choose to park in the closest parking lot available which is going to cost a lot more, but will certainly pay off, right? We start unloading our luggage and I set up the sturdy umbrella stroller that has served us loyally for 3 years now. Tyler climbs into the stroller as I strap the baby onto my chest carrier and I notice that he is slowly sinking to the ground. The support bar on the stroller seems to have broken and the stroller is now useless. Well, it looks like he’s walking to the plane (and then walking for the next nine days, or so my DH thinks).

We finally get to the Alaska Airlines desk and face a daunting line of angry travelers. As we wait for nearly an hour in line, we continue to call on our cells to figure out other planes to board but everything is full. We finally get to the front and we are told that they can’t do anything and it’s best to just turn over our luggage, get on the 2:00 pm flight and hope for the best. It seems risky but what choice do we have now? (It turns out that we did have other choices as Southwest Airlines found a bunch of open seats at 11:00 am. If I was by myself, I probably would have just gone without luggage but with two young kids in tow, this did not seem like a wise choice.)

Now that we’ve unloaded our luggage, we can finally relax and then it dawns on us that it’s 8:30 and we aren’t even leaving until 2:00 pm. And thus begins a really long day at the airport. During this time, we call our travel agent and tell her the situation. We also call HAL and are told that they are aware of the situation and are monitoring the airline because there are an estimated 50 people in the same boat. HAL tells us that representatives are waiting for us on the ground at SEA/TAC and will help us get our luggage and get to the pier. We also call my sister and tell her to get on the boat immediately, find the captain and explain that we are due to land at 2:56 and to see if they can wait a few minutes for us. I also call American Airlines and give them an earful since they did not alert us of the change. They claim that Alaska should have notified us and Alaska claims that American had the responsibility. Great, thank guys for working together on this one.

We finally take off and fly to Seattle. Things are going well and we have landed ahead of schedule. But, unfortunately, the plane arrives at the wrong gate. This adds time but we are allowed to get off the plane ahead of other passengers and we start running to get our baggage. DH grab our bags while I run to find the HAL representatives. Sadly, even though we are standing with our luggage and it’s 3:35, we are informed that the gangplank has been lifted and the ship is departing. Yep – not even 4:00 but the Westerdam is sailing away with my poor sister all by herself. I, of course, proceed to cry again which is sort of freaking out my parents since they never really see me cry. But you would be crying too if you knew how much time I had invested in researching, planning, packing, and anticipating this trip. And it doesn’t help that Tyler is now crying “why did the cruise ship leave without us??? WHY???????????” over and over. And my sister is sobbing too as champagne toasts are shared by everyone who did get on the ship.

So we start to work with the HAL Airport Supervisor and we head up to the Alaska Airlines desk to sort this out. HAL keeps assuring me that this is no big deal and we’ll just board at the next port. That’s fine and all except that the next port is in Juneau on Day 4. They also tell me that the ship couldn’t wait because they have to be at Glacier Bay at 7:00 am on Tuesday. Well, it’s Sunday. Can’t the ship just go a little faster like I’ve read on cruisecritic? I know, crazy questions. HAL also suggests that we just turn around and go home since we have trip insurance. Alas, my poor sister is alone on the ship and I don’t know when this would really work out for everyone again.

Alaska wants to put us on a 7:30 pm flight to Juneau but I honestly don’t think that I can face another airplane ride tonight with the kids. They also offer to fly us to Gastineau where we could board with the ranger in Glacier Bay. HAL seems amused at our efforts but says no. So Alaska gets us $600 tickets to Juneau the next morning and all the HAL folks are acting like we should be really thankful because they are giving the tickets to us for free. Yes, thanks Alaska Airlines for your help! I’ll be sure to remember this the next time we fly Alaska Airlines. Oh, wait, I’ll never fly on your planes again. Next, HAL calls the SEA/TAC Quality Inn and books two rooms for our party. We are told that it’s “really nice and has a great pool.” Since we purchased trip insurance, the costs will be covered so just pay for it ourselves and keep the receipts. HAL also books us two rooms at the Baranof Hotel in Juneau and tells us that the rooms have gone on the HAL account (HAL actually owns the Baranof). We are given very clear instructions that on Day 4, we must be at the docking area at 6:00 am waiting for the ship to dock at 7:00 am. This seems early, but this is all new to me and I’m going to try not to screw up anymore.

We arrive at the Quality Inn and let me assure you that the nicest part about this hotel is the name. We go to check in and ask the front desk guy to find our reservations that HAL has made for us just a few minutes before. Nope, no reservations. We insist that HAL called about 30 minutes ago and we should have two rooms in our name. The guy assures us that no one has called the hotel but he does happen to have two extra rooms that we can have but there is no pool. He asks us, “are you distressed airline travelers?” Yes, yes we are!!! Surely, HAL called you on our behalf. He just laughs and says, “nah, they never really call. They just put you on a shuttle and hope we have rooms, and we usually do.” I think I know why…. But I’m sure I witnessed the HAL rep talking to someone at this hotel and someone at The Baranof. Didn’t I? If I had known that there wasn’t a reservation for us here anyway and that trip insurance is going to cover everything, I definitely would have picked a different hotel but it’s getting late now.

After we unpack a little, the front office guy tells us that there is a good diner “just around the corner.” We head out in 90 degree weather which is almost unheard of for Seattle and find that “just around the corner” is really about a half mile uphill in blistering heat and humidity. Everyone is suffering but mostly DH as he is now carrying Tyler. Dinner is decent and a few glasses of wine help take the sting out of the day. I basically eat my dinner in stunned silence and can’t believe that I’m eating in a crappy diner instead of on the Westerdam. I have clearly entered the first phase of grief: denial. When we get back to the hotel Tyler proclaims that “this is the best vacation EVER!!” as he jumps from bed to bed. That helps a little.

DH claims that he awakes several times that night and hears me sobbing in the other bed with the baby. I don’t remember crying as much as plotting my revenge on the Westerdam. I have now entered the anger phase of grief.

[Alaskabound77]

Day 2 Seattle to Juneau: So we are now rested and ready to continue our adventure to Juneau. I am very fortunate in that my best friend from elementary through high school actually lives in Juneau with her family that includes her 3 year-old son. We had planned to spend all of Day 4: Juneau with them anyway but now they have rearranged their schedules and will be waiting for us at the Juneau airport. Talk about great people!

The shuttle bus comes to pick us up and as we load up the shuttle with our luggage, the driver goes inside for something. This triggers Tyler to start crying that “the bus driver left us – just like the cruise ship!!!!!! Why WHY????????” Uggg, it appears that he has now developed abandonment issues. Note to self: if you get any money from the trip insurance, spend it on some therapy for the boy.

We have another great flight with the kids (and by great, I mean great for all the other passengers as it is a ton of work to keep a baby quiet and a four year old from kicking the seat in front of him). But I’m running low on Cheerios and need to hunt some down soon. Lisa meets us at the airport and secures a taxi van for us to the Baranof in downtown Juneau. We arrive at the hotel, give them our confirmation number and our names, and we just get a blank look. Nope, no names, no confirmation numbers, no reservations. But I’m really sure that I witnessed the HAL representative in Seattle make these reservations and I’m holding her business card with the confirmation number written down. Again, no one called the hotel and now I’m starting to get less amused with these antics.

Lucky for me, and not so lucky for HAL, the HAL Juneau office is actually located right in this hotel. And there is a poor woman who is going to catch my wrath. Let’s just say that within 10 minutes our rooms have been paid for by HAL and we are unpacking our bags in our rooms. A shuttle is also arranged to pick us up at 7:00 am to board the ship. I explain that I was given very specific instructions to be out at the dock area at 6:00 am and everyone pretty much just laughs at me. I thought it seemed silly too but I’m trying to do as I am told. And now I’m told that a bus will come get us at 7:00.

Lisa and her son, Kyle, show up and we head down to the Mount Roberts Tramway. We enjoy some time up there and then decide to get dinner at the top since the line to get back down is approaching 1.5 hours (there are 5 ships docked in Juneau today). We have been advised that our trip insurance will pay for up to $150/per day/per person for meals and taxis, so it’s time to start spending as we’ve got $900/per day for our group. Lisa explains that the downtown area that cruisers see is actually pretty fake. All the buildings are owned by the cruise lines and they lease out the space to the diamond and fur stores (and why anyone wants to buy diamonds and furs on a cruise is beyond me). After the last ship leaves for the season, all the stores are boarded up and closed down until the next cruise season begins. Now I am much less interested in shopping around here since it’s not really Juneau.

We return to the hotel and enjoy some drinks which is also fun. At this time, I remember that the Westerdam will be in Glacier Bay tomorrow and that is why I booked Suite 8140 with the beautiful wrap around balcony. So I call HAL and tell them that I want them to give my sister access to my room so that she can enjoy the balcony for the day. They tell me that this is a great idea and for her just to go to the front desk and get a key. Fantastic – I paid a lot for this room and someone should be enjoying it!

[Krazy Kruizers]

Oh -- I am so sorry that all this happened to you.

Reading this has made me cry.

Glad you had insurance.

Know that you will be filing a claim when you get home.

Hope that the rest you write isn't bad for all of you.

[dchip]

WOW, I am sitting on the edge of my chair!!! I feel so bad for your family and especially your son. YIKES. I am certainly hoping the rest of the trip isn't quite so "memorable".

 

Cheers, Denise

[Alaskabound77]

Oh -- I am so sorry that all this happened to you.

 

Reading this has made me cry.

 

Glad you had insurance.

 

Know that you will be filing a claim when you get home.

 

Hope that the rest you write isn't bad for all of you.

 

KK-

Ah don't cry! I was hoping this would bring out some laughs from people!! That's why I wrote it all up. I think it's pretty damn funny. More to follow in a few minutes.

[norcal2]

Keep it coming. Like everyone else I am at the edge of my seat. This actually does a lot of good for giving some insight into missing a ship (my worst nightmare.) I love your writing style.

[Alaskabound77]

Day 3: Juneau So today we can just relax in Juneau and spend some time with Lisa, Kyle, and her DH. We enjoy a really good breakfast at the Capital Grille that is located inside the hotel and they automatically charge it to our room. Then we head out to Glacier Gardens via a taxi. Glacier Gardens is beautiful but the taxi costs us $30. I’m starting to wonder if trip insurance really is going to work for us and we decide that my family will take a public bus back to town while Lisa takes my mom and dad back in her car. They will also swing by the grocery store to pick up some baby wipes, Cheerios, and jars of baby food, and then will drive by Mendenhall Glacier (we saw a ton of glaciers on our trip through Alaska a few years ago and the kids are getting tired). I can tell that Lisa is less than enthused that we want to take the public bus back considering that the trip insurance will pay for our taxis, but we are experienced travelers and want to experience a little slice of real Juneau life. Well, that was a mistake. The bus shows up 25 minutes late and is packed. The bus driver seems intent on seeing how fast he can accelerate (surprising fast considering there is an alarm going off and I’m pretty sure it’s the “over the weight limit” alarm) and we just keep picking up more and more people. There is a sign on the bus with the “10 Rules of Riding the Bus” and Rule #3 is Be Reasonably Clean. That sounds reasonable enough but I feel that there are many who are in blatant violation of the rule on this bus now. There are moms getting on with four, five, seven young children at times. The bus is so packed that we can’t really even see where we should get off. Tyler falls asleep on my DH and we finally just decide to get hell off this bus. Unfortunately, we get off five blocks away from the hotel and DH carries a sleeping Tyler all the way back to the hotel. As we arrive, we run into my parents who are returning from the grocery store, the glacier, and a great lunch at the Zepher – all while we tried to save $20 that would have been reimbursed anyway (maybe). And no Cheerios.

Everyone relaxes for a while and then we meet up one more time with everyone for dinner at the Hangar on the Wharf. The kids have a great time and we eagerly watch the cruise lines departing for the evening knowing that our Westerdam is coming in tomorrow to pick us up. My sister calls from the boat and tells me that she was not allowed into our suite due to “security” issues.

[Alaskabound77]

Day 4: Juneau….still. We get up at 6:00 and start preparing to get on our shuttle to the Westerdam at 7:00 am sharp. I realize that we have only one more day of clean clothes left and I’m really hoping that Tyler doesn’t have to wear his tuxedo around the ship during the day. No need to eat breakfast because we will be dining on the ship! Finally!! We got to check out and sure enough, everything is covered by HAL. Darn – if I had known they were going to pick up the restaurant charge too, we would have eaten at the Gold Room which is considered to be the best restaurant in Jueanu.

The shuttle actually arrives at 7:00 and we are at the pier at 7:10 am. We tell them who we are and no one seems to have any idea that there are people trying to board the ship in Juneau. In fact, it just seems like mass confusion so we just head up the gangplank and hope to find someone on the ship that knows something. I am now seriously thankful that we did not arrive here at 6:00 am! We struggle a little to actually board the ship but we do get on and make our way to the front desk. We explain who we are and what happened but no one there seems to really understand any of this either. But eventually, we get our key cards and head to our room.

We are excited to see our room but when we arrive the room steward is there cleaning it up. Huh – why is he cleaning it up since we haven’t been here yet? So I ask and I am told that the Inspector has been using our room since we weren’t there. Ah, I am now starting to better understand HAL’s “security issue” with my sister using our suite for Glacier Bay. We also notice that the beds are made into two twins when I had requested one king bed. I tell the steward that and he says that he received specific instructions that we needed two beds. Well, those instructions, shockingly, were wrong but he said he would fix the problem. My parents arrive at this point to tell us that they cannot use their room either. When they opened their door, they found the Comedian sleeping soundly in their queen bed (which was supposed to be two twins). But now Tyler is crying that he’s thirsty and hungry so I run off to the Neptune Lounge to get him some juice and something to eat. As soon as I walk in the concierge asks, “Mrs. Min?” Yes, that’s me. I’m dazzled by his ability to know my name face unseen but then I figure his deduction skills are honed since I’m the only suite guest who hasn’t bothered to show up there for three days. Since we can’t use our rooms for a while we decide to head to the Dining Room for some breakfast. On the way, DH stops by the Neptune Lounge to get some coffee, but the machine is broken and will remain that way for the duration of our cruise.

The Dining Room breakfast is pretty disappointing overall. I am somewhat shocked that the scrambled eggs served are powdered eggs. Yuck. I definitely recognize the consistency since this is what you get when you buy the Nutrisystem food. And it seems as if the boat is rocking, but wait, we are docked in Juneau still so how could that be? I look over and there is DH sawing through his eggs benedict which is causing the whole table to move. He is not impressed. I see that Cheerios are on the menu and attempt to get some for Lila but am informed that there are no Cheerios available and they bring me Fruit Loops instead. While I love Fruit Loops myself, it’s not going to work with a baby. And so the hunt for the elusive Cheerios continues.

After breakfast, we decide to go back to our room and enjoy the balcony while trying out room service. I call room service and order a plate of chocolate covered strawberries. The guy says, “there is a charge for these strawberries.” “Yes, I know, 6 strawberries for $9. That’s fine.” “When would you like these to be delivered?” “Well, as soon as possible.” So we wait for an hour and half and no strawberries. While we wait, I pull together our dirty clothes and the room steward helps me get a bag and get them to laundry. He even writes “Express” on the ticket and I want to kiss him for his kindness. Then I call back and ask where are the strawberries and he says, “Oh, we did not deliver them because there is a charge for them.” “Yes, I know that and we discussed this.” “So do you still want them?” “Well, actually, can I just cancel the order since we now want to explore the ship?” “Absolutely!” Okay, well, we’ll try that tomorrow but now let’s go explore since the ship is basically dead as Juneau is the first port on this cruise. We are just about ready to leave the room when the phone rings. “Ma’am, your strawberries are on their way.” “I thought we cancelled the order?” “They will be right there.” So I wait around for 15 more minutes and then give up and we all head out. The strawberries do arrive later and we were not charged so I guess that’s a plus.

Now my sister has joined us and she has brought us a bottle of champagne with a special note to Tyler to enjoy this gift from HAL. I thought HAL was supposed to have some elaborate system in place where they know who is a minor and then will not serve them alcohol. I’ll take one for the team and unload this bottle for him. I do love champagne.

We spend some time exploring the ship with the whole family and I notice that the roof is covering the Lido Pool and it seems like a great afternoon to swim with Tyler later. I also notice on the Daily Schedule that there is a Kids Culinary class called “S’mores” going on today. Great! Tyler will LOVE that as he loves cooking and he loves anything sweet. So we head to the Culinary Arts Center and we are informed that no one showed up so the class was cancelled. Don’t we count?

At this point, I decide that I really need to talk to someone in Guest Relations and discuss how this cruise is going for us. I drop off the baby with DH and head to the front desk with Tyler where I am able to sit down with Andrea. Andrea tells Tyler that she is from Romania where they have Dracula and vampires that bite your neck and suck your blood. As Tyler grips my arm in fear, I’m thinking that she probably doesn’t have young kids herself.

She listens to me and is very sympathetic. She also explains that since we did not board the ship on time, she has the authority to use our rooms as she sees fit. Well, that makes sense but I’m pretty certain that I shouldn’t still be paying for the room. I mean, it’s sort of like a parking spot. If I’ve rented it for the month, I can choose to use it when I want to or to not use it at all – but the space should be there for my use since I have paid for it. Andrea explains that things work differently on the sea as compared to land. Oh, Andrea, trust me, I am learning that very quickly. I also tell Andrea that we will not be paying for the auto-tip for the three days we missed. And if the reason that the ship could not wait for us is because it would cost too much in fuel to make the boat go faster, we will not be paying the $5/day fuel surcharge for those days either. She says she’ll look into the fuel charge thing but that it has not been done before. I tell her that before we check out, if they have charged me for the fuel charge, I will deduct it from the auto-tip and that doesn’t seem fair at all since the crew should not be punished for HAL’s policy. I have moved into the bargaining stage of grief. But Andrea is nice and polite and I appreciate her help.

Now it’s lunchtime to we head off to the Lido for a casual lunch. The food was decent. Nothing to rave about and certainly challenging with a baby trying to grab everything in my hands. We wrap up and I decide to take Tyler swimming. We get all ready in our room and head to the pool but now they have decided to retract the roof. It’s a nice day, by Alaskan standards, but not really that great for being in wet bathing suits and we are the only ones around. But we make the best of it and I am very thankful that children are allowed in the hot tubs since the pool is pretty chilly (and so is the air).

The afternoon is spent going to the spa (very nice but I don’t need to have people point out that I have some varicose veins on my legs and that they can sell me some cream to fix them – unless the cream actually would fix them and we all know that is not true). Before dinner, I run to the Neptune Lounge to get orange juice for mimosas so that we can get started on these bottles of champagne. My dad and sister have also lugged six bottles of wine on board so we really need to make some headway in the drinking department. Then it’s dinner time which is nice too. The food is better than breakfast and lunch and my sister is so excited to no longer be dining at a table for seven by herself. Our dining stewards are wonderful and great with the kids. The wine steward is not so great as it takes about 20 minutes to get Tyler a lemonade and some glasses of wine.

After completely stuffing ourselves, we head to our rooms where our clean laundry is waiting for us. Again, thank you laundry people and room steward. My sister and DH decide to try the “Shaken, Not Stirred: A Martini Event” in the Ocean Bar at 9:30 per the Daily Schedule. They show up at 9:30 and no one is there save the bartender. “We are here for the Martini Event.” “Well, here is the martini menu.” “Oh, isn’t there a class, or a talk, or a demonstration, or…. something?” “No, just the martini menu.” Huh. Well, then why was it on the Daily Schedule? So they order a few martinis and drink them…sort of like they could have done at any of the bars at any time. Again, par for the course it seems, but tomorrow is new day and things surely will improve!

[Alaskabound77]

Day 5: Sitka We wake up to a cold and rainy day in Sitka which seems like perfect weather for the 1:00 pm Wildlife and Sea Otter Quest excursion we have booked.

We decide to try the Lido for breakfast. Again, it’s okay but nothing special. I am finding that a lot of the food doesn’t seem to have that much taste to it which is pretty disappointing because I seem to be eating a lot.

We return to our room and Andrea calls and says that they are trying to arrange a dinner for us at the PG to apologize for all the things that seem to be going wrong. I thank her for her thoughts but explain that I think that the kids are really not going to be able to do the PG very well and I don’t want to bother any other guests. She says she will continue to think of something and will get back to me. I also tell her that both our shower and bathtub are not really draining at all. If there is one thing that really makes me crazy, it’s having to stand in dirty shower water with long hairs getting stuck in my toes. She tells me that they will send someone to fix it while we go on our excursion.

It’s now time excursion time. The tickets say on them that we should tender into Sitka. I’m skeptical because I remember reading on cruisecritic that for the Wildlife Quest, you tender directly onto the boat. While I should trust what my tickets say, I’m starting to question just about everything on this cruise. So I head to the Shore Excursions desk and ask where we should be. The nice woman there confirms that we will tender directly onto the excursion boat and that we should be ready at 12:45. But my mom is insisting that we follow the directions on the tickets so I find someone else that confirms that we should tender into Sitka. So we do – which makes sense as this is the last Quest of the day and ends at 4:00 pm. We depart on Deck A and notice that when they scan our room cards, you can see our photos on the computer. My card is first and the picture they have of me is completely blurry and I look like a moving ghost. DH’s picture is simply of his right eye. Lila’s picture is perfect and there is no picture at all of Tyler. Ha ha ha – we all laugh about the pictures and the tight security.

The Wildlife Quest was absolutely great. We got to see three bald eagles (which was fun for everyone but since we spent some time in Alaska a few years ago, we know that they are basically a dime a dozen and are sort of nasty, loud, smelly birds). We also see a ton of sea otters, a mother bear and her cubs drinking water on the shore (very cool), and we follow some whales for about thirty minutes. Of course, Tyler sleeps through the entire thing. I spend some time talking to the women next to us and we get to the topic of tipping. They say that they are going to tip a few bucks each to the crew for this excursion. We also discuss the auto-tip of $10 a day. One of the women is completely unaware of it and is not happy. The other one just laughs and says, “I never pay that!” We are a group of seven, so we put $40 in the tip jar. During this excursion, we meet a really nice couple from Denver who is bi-racial (DH is China and DW is white – similar to us). Their kids are gorgeous and my moms spends a lot of time chatting with the DW.

We tender back onto the ship and enjoy a nice dinner with the family. Again, the dining stewards are great but the head one seems a little annoyed with us that we show up at 6:05 pm for a 6:00 seating. He says, “didn’t anyone tell you?” “Tell us what?” “That the dinner schedule has been changed to 5:45 pm.” “Oh, no, no one said anything. Sorry!“ I feel bad that he’s stressed out now but we had no idea that the dining time has changed for the remainder of the cruise. The wine steward is slow again but we feel fine since we tried again to make a dent in the alcohol before dinner. In the evening, I take Tyler to see the Illusionist which was okay. He was more comedy than anything else and is funnier than the Comedian. The Comedian’s funniest joke was about him having to sleep in the galley. It’s only funny to us because we know that he was actually sleeping in my parent’s bed. But Tyler is tired and doesn’t get the jokes so we leave after about 20 minutes and head to the Crow’s Nest while everyone else enjoys the show. Tyler and I spend some time on the great reclining chairs. It’s fine there because there are probably no more than five people there and 2 of them are crew. The Crow’s Nest is a really beautiful location. I don’t know what was there before, but I love the chairs, the library, the Explorations Café, etc. Well done, HAL. And I will also share with you that the Exploration’s Café guy from the Philippines is engaged to the Club HAL woman – how cute is that?? We get home and are thankful that the shower now drains. And thus concludes another day.

[Alaskabound77]

Day 6: Victoria This has been bothering me for a few days now but the stench of urine in our bathroom is becoming overwhelming. I’m not sure how to handle it because the stench is clearly of old urine – the kind you smell on subways in the summer. It’s really nasty but I don’t want to complain because I’m afraid that it will get the room steward in trouble and it’s clearly not a cleaning issue. And, really, I’m getting tired of complaining at this point. I figure I can live with it for another 24 hours, but I really think that suites should not smell of urine. Is that asking too much? DH decides to take a long, hot bath and says it was wonderful when he submerged his entire body under the water except for his nose. But then the smell overtook him and he had to get some fresh air. Tyler doesn’t like to go into the “stinky” bathroom at all.

I check on the formula and realize that, just as I had been warned on cruisecritic, the minibar doesn’t really keep anything cold. I knew I was forgetting to put something in the ice bucket when I got home. Darn those fantastic pina coladas! Hmmmm – it smells okay and we won’t be in Victoria until tonight so I’ll try it. She takes it down happily and we head to the Lido for breakfast. As I try to fill my tray I notice that DH is laughing at me. I look down and Lila has promptly vomited curdled formula all over my last, clean, black shirt. Well, I guess the formula is getting thrown away and I’m eating breakfast with vomit on my shirt.

After breakfast, I stop by the front desk to thank Amber for all she has done for us. I see the young woman who babysat for us and she gives me a very enthusiastic smile and wave. I later asked DH how much he paid her and he said he gave her a $50 for two hours. Pretty good money for sleeping kids but worth every penny since she didn’t throw them off the balcony.

Today is our day to get our massages. It’s also the day of the time change and everyone is pretty confused about what time it is. I am able to locate clocks with different times all over the ship but we decide to peg ourselves to the spa clocks since we have appointments. My mom and sister enjoy their massages. Mine is good too save another lecture on varicose veins and creams to make them disappear (and in my defense, I just had a second kid and they aren’t that bad). DH also gets one but he is not as lucky as we are and ends up buying a very small $52 bottle of some cooling cream that you put on your chest to open your lungs. It smells exactly like Vick’s Vapor Rub.

We have a nice dinner in the Dining Room and manage to pull together $100 for the head waiter, $100 for the assistant waiter and $60 for the wine steward, who never really improved that much. I think it’s decent for them considering we missed three of the seven nights. And we think that the wine steward already gets a 15% gratuity but I can’t completely confirm that it works that way. Again, it certainly wasn’t their fault we weren’t there and I’m feeling badly about the Women of Faith non-tippers. And speaking of, I would LOVE to be able to see how the whole auto-tipping thing works on HAL’s books. I am very curious to see how the general ledger codes are mapped and wonder if it just goes straight to payroll (thus, taxable) but that is a whole different thread. I also gave our room steward $50 and each of the Neptune Lounge guys $20 each (even though I really didn’t use them at all).

We have scheduled a carriage ride in Victoria at 7:15 with Tally-Ho for the evening. The guy at Tally-Ho told us that it’s a quick walk from the ship to their location outside the wax museum but that we should have a stroller for the kids. Fortunately, we are running late and we decide we better get in line for a taxi.

As we are waiting in the taxi line, we see the ship diamond guy (I have no idea what his title is) Lance, try to jump the line and get into a taxi with his boyfriend. The taxi guy pulls him out and tells him to go to the back of the line. Lance throws a hissy fit and storms off. It was entertaining. He definitely knew better.

This is simply not a quick walk from the port and it’s about 10 minutes in a cab. I mean, you could walk it but why would you? But we get there right on time and the guy says he amazed that we had a reservation and managed to actually show up on time. He says that almost never happens. And, seriously, no one is more amazed than me that this is working out at all either.

We do the one-hour tour around Victoria, which is a lovely city. But it’s sort of cramped in the carriage and it’s actually getting really cold and we consider offering her another $20 to just take us to the port and let us get off. She insists that we must see downtown so we suffer along with both kids napping on our chests and everyone freezing. And the driver is talking endlessly about taking care of horses and not really noticing that no one cares and we would really just rather talk to each other.

[O2B@C]

Oh dear - I am so sorry to hear about this. I hope it gets better from here on.

 

Memo to self: When planning to fly to a cruise, book flights to the embarkation port at least the day before embarkation day.

[Alaskabound77]

Day 7: Disembarking or Time to get off this dam ship! Ah, I have survived to the end of our cruise. Only a few more hurdles. It’s 6:45 am and we are all sleeping soundly in one big bed together – which is so nice – and let me also say that the bed is awesome and I would seriously consider buying a HAL mattress for our home. Suddenly someone is knocking at the door. It’s our breakfast from Room Service that is supposed to arrive at 8:15. Well, of course it is! We also ordered for my mom, dad and sister so now I have to call and wake them up and tell them to get down here. The order is perfect, early but perfect. While everyone finishes up, I decide to go check out the scene at disembarkment and make sure I understand exactly what we are supposed to do. I watch for a few minutes and it seems to be going very smoothly so I return to our room and we wait until 9:45 when it is our turn to leave.

Sadly, we find ourselves with nine bottles of alcohol that no one really wants to drag home again. I am seriously disappointed with everyone for drinking so little. Hangovers, dehydrated?? Blah blah blah. I ask the room steward if he can take the bottles to enjoy with his friends. He tells me that he and his friends to not drink but that he can get them to the mini-bar attendant. Heck no, I’m not returning these to the ship! So we split up the bottles and everyone crams them into their suitcases.

There is no one in line and we approach to scan our cards one last time and the guy scanning the cards gets upset that there is no picture of Tyler and he wants to know why. Now the lack of photos is really not funny at all. Come on now, this is YOUR system, not mine. And I’m pretty sure that you are the same guy who not only took the photos but who has scanned our cards everytime we got off and back on this ship. And, frankly, at this point, if you want to detain the child for 24 hours, I’m pretty open to that solution as I desperately need a break from these kids. But he shrugs his shoulders and tells us to go ahead and leave the ship.

Next it’s off to Thrifty where it takes no shorter than two hours to rent a car that was reserved months ago. And we are given an SUV even though that is the last thing we want or need (guess everyone else felt the same way since the lot is close to empty). We drive off to Issaquah for a beautiful wedding that evening and stay at a very nice Hilton Garden Hotel. We awake in the morning and I see tons of little yellow boxes of Cheerios in the dining room. The breakfast waitress tells me to just take a few for free. Finally, I am aligning with the universe again!

It’s now time to drop off the rental SUV and DH leaves the payment to me while he deals with the luggage. We just put in $8 of gas to replace what we have used. I sign the receipt for $200 even though my confirmation says it will be $110. At this point, I’m so tired and just want to get home so I just pay it. But while we are standing in line waiting for the airport shuttle, I look at the receipt and notice that they are charging us $90 for 476 miles. But isn’t Issaquah just 18 miles away based on my googlemaps? I tell DH and he says that we went 50 total miles and we have 150 miles free. I march back in and they just shrug and credit back the difference. We have an uneventful ride home and both children sleep the entire flight which is heaven. Everything is going smoothly until we reach the car. Why is the window down where the baby sits? Could I have really been so frantic that first morning that I didn’t roll up a window? No, it’s just that the regulator part that keeps the window closed has broken and now the window won’t go up again. Poor Lila has to ride all the way home with the wind blowing in her face. At home, I tape up a black plastic bag over the window so that I can get to work tomorrow and get it fixed. Who knew how noisy a black plastic bag can be when hurtling 60 mph down a highway? Lila screams all the way to work then screams some more when I drop her off at daycare. It costs $100 to bolt the window in place and the vacation is finally over.

Highlights of the vacation: The Wildlife Quest was fantastic. The staff on the ship was wonderful. The bed was amazing. Juneau was great. Lisa and her family were marvelous. And thank god for trip insurance!!! Although I’ve been working with Alaska and American and neither of them want to admit that we were on any of the planes – this will probably take several months to sort out. All in all, we had a lot of laughs together as a family (and some tears). I am left with some really funny stories to share with my family for years to come. And isn’t that what we are all really looking for anyway?

Some low points: The food was pretty mediocre and I’m no foodie. Of course, this did not stop me from stuffing my face most of the time. My sister did share with me that she ordered French Onion soup one night from room service and it was delivered with both the cheese and the bread missing. That is really more Oily Onion soup. She also had to send back a steak one night before we arrived because it was just really inedible. That says a lot as she always jokes that if it moves, she’s going to eat it. She feels strongly that the food was far superior on her cruise six years ago.

I also had a hard time feeling comfortable around the crew. We spent some time talking to one of the bartenders and he shared with us that most the staff earn around $1000/mo plus tips. Of course, they get room, board and “travel” (please) but they don’t ever get off the ship as they work seven days a week. He also said that the rooms they share have a bunk bed and are so small that two people cannot be standing at the same time. This just sounds like slave labor to me. I’m not blaming HAL for this and I completely understand that this is a better opportunity for the crew than what we have at home. But that also brings up my concerns about the inequities in this world between the haves and the have-nots and it’s hard to witness it continuously while on vacation.

It was also painful for me because everyone with young children at home (a very large majority of the crew) would seek me out since I had an 8 month old strapped to my chest the entire time. She is half-Asian and I’m half-Mexican so she is a little darker skinned than most of the children we saw on the ship. The crew just adored her and told me over and over how much they missed their own children. Honestly, that was heartbreaking for me. It was hard to be on this ship where tips are drastically down for the week and they are witnessing Americans at their most gluttonous. The fact that the room steward teared up over a $50 tip is telling.

Lessons learned: Fly in the night before, fly in the night before, FLY IN THE NIGHT BEFORE. Don’t fly on American or Alaska Air. And don’t expect to eat Cheerios on the Westerdam. Oh, and leave small kids at home.

Will we cruise again? My mom says no. My dad is not sure as he has over 35 days on HAL now. My sister is unsure too. I don’t know about us. I would consider a Disney Cruise when the kids are older. For now, I am fine with not seeing another airport with young kids for another two years. We will now explore the beautiful Colorado mountains around our city for a while.

Some final parting words: One of the best parts of this vacation was spending time on cruisecritic and planning it out with all of you. The HAL boards are full of some seriously nice and incredibly helpful people. I have enjoyed reading all of your trip reports and advice. I hope that this review has at least been entertaining for you. I’ll probably get flamed to high heaven as Sizzler Restaurant poster did. And I’m okay with that. I’ve moved into the final stage of grief. Acceptance.

And with that, I bid you a fond farewell and I wish you all happy sailings in the future on your beloved dam ships! Best wishes to all and a heartfelt thanks to each of you!

Epilogue: On Tuesday after we returned, my mom went out to lunch with some friends in Denver. In walks this woman who looks at her and exclaims, “oh my god, I met you on the cruise!!” It was the DW she met while on the Wildlife Quest! Small world, eh? They exchanged cards and we will be eating together for a dinner party in the near future.

[twinkletoes4445]

The shuttle bus comes to pick us up and as we load up the shuttle with our luggage, the driver goes inside for something. This triggers Tyler to start crying that “the bus driver left us – just like the cruise ship!!!!!! Why WHY????????” Uggg, it appears that he has now developed abandonment issues. Note to self: if you get any money from the trip insurance, spend it on some therapy for the boy.

 

This reminded me of one of my kids. Why would I think that a 3-year-old would welcome a big, furry creature hugging him? I hear this screaming and howling and realize it's MY kid making this horrible noise. This happened at a Chuck-E-Cheese place...but I remember thinking, my kid is going to need therapy. lol :)

 

 

 

WOW...I'm waiting on the edge of my seat to hear more!!!

[twinkletoes4445]

 

Memo to self: When planning to fly to a cruise, book flights to the embarkation port at least the day before embarkation day.

 

We're going in 2 days prior to our cruise and after reading this thread, I'm thinking maybe we need to give us another day! Yikes!

[twinkletoes4445]

 

For now, I am fine with not seeing another airport with young kids for another two years. We will now explore the beautiful Colorado mountains around our city for a while.

 

I’ll probably get flamed to high heaven as Sizzler Restaurant poster did. And I’m okay with that. I’ve moved into the final stage of grief. Acceptance.

 

And with that, I bid you a fond farewell and I wish you all happy sailings in the future on your beloved dam ships! Best wishes to all and a heartfelt thanks to each of you!

 

First off, I have to say, I don't think I've laughed this hard in ages. I'm sorry. I know that you had some really rough moments, so I do apologize.

 

The part about the Sizzler is just so funny. OMG, you are just a hoot.

 

Was Chevy Chase on your cruise? This sounds like one of their nightmare vacations. Whatever you do next, I hope you have a wonderful time. We love the Rocky Mountains...and lucky for you, they are within driving distance. Although with your luck, I'd probably make sure your AAA is up to date. :)

 

And thank you for taking the time to write a trip report. It was entertaining, and enlightening. We had a similar vacation, although not anything compared to yours...and you'll be talking about this for years. I remember hubby asking me on our vacation, "Are we having fun yet?" I think I told him darn skippy we're having fun...for what we paid for this...now plaster on a smile and get with it. :)

[Two if by Sea]

KK-

Ah don't cry! I was hoping this would bring out some laughs from people!! That's why I wrote it all up. I think it's pretty damn funny. More to follow in a few minutes.

 

I'll keep reading in a sec, but I'm this far along and VERY glad to hear you're seeing an amusing side to it all.

[dlbaqua]

what a depressing mess of a trip

 

I'm in the middle of TA hell as my agent apparently sold their website & name and no one at the "new" site's phone number will return my call that I actually do have the non-HAL insurance they sold me. The company it's with said it's a "wholesale" policy and only the TA can confirm that I have it. I do have my receipt showing I paid for it but with all the changes, I'm worried. Your story has made me even MORE determined to MAKE SURE I have the insurance. I'm flying in on Alaska Air (fortunately 2 days before the trip) and home on American. I'm very concerned with all the trouble the airlines have been having lately.

 

I'm glad you are able to see the humor in it all. I always say if you can't laugh about it you'll cry and laughing's more fun.

[hammybee]

Well you are certainly the epitome of Murphey's Law and I enjoyed your sense of humor.

 

Given the situation with airline travel nowdays, most seasoned cruisers are learning that they must fly in at least a day before departure, cause nothing is certain and the worst is weather.

 

Had you done this, your cruise would have started off on a better foot. Thank goodness you had trip insurance, which hopefully included trip interruption, which should cover the pro-rata cost of the missed days.

 

As for tipping, the wait staff and room stewards do not live in the U.S. and so their incomes are not taxable. There are many behind the scenes support people ( some of whom who probably turned your laundry around in a jiff) who also are tipped out of the pool.

 

BTW, almost all land-based restuarants in the U.S. require tips to be pooled or for the wait staff to tip out. In many corporate-owned chain restaurants, the tipping out part is mandatory even when the customers stiff the waitstaff. In other words, it costs the waitstaff out of pocket to serve those who do not tip. I digress and tipping is a personal hot button with me. Sorry.

 

Anyway, it sounds as though you made the best of the circumstances. Do you think you will ever cruise again?

[Alaskabound77]

First off, I have to say, I don't think I've laughed this hard in ages. I'm sorry. I know that you had some really rough moments, so I do apologize.

 

The part about the Sizzler is just so funny. OMG, you are just a hoot.

 

Was Chevy Chase on your cruise? This sounds like one of their nightmare vacations. Whatever you do next, I hope you have a wonderful time. We love the Rocky Mountains...and lucky for you, they are within driving distance. Although with your luck, I'd probably make sure your AAA is up to date. :)

 

And thank you for taking the time to write a trip report. It was entertaining, and enlightening.

 

Thanks for your kind words! We were just laughing last night because Tyler asked us if someone was going to drink his blood at his birthday party.

 

The trip insurance is going to be a real pain. Neither airline is stepping up to help me yet. Alaska says that we aren't even in their system (uh, could you check the passenger manifest???). American says they don't track Alaskan Airlines planes. It's sort of funny because I think they think I will just go away. hahahahahahahahah. Oh, trust me, folks, I will bring down your systems with hourly emails if I have to. I'm not going away.

[hammybee]

We're going in 2 days prior to our cruise and after reading this thread, I'm thinking maybe we need to give us another day! Yikes!

 

I know exactly what you mean.

[Alaskabound77]

Well you are certainly the epitome of Murphey's Law and I enjoyed your sense of humor.

 

Given the situation with airline travel nowdays, most seasoned cruisers are learning that they must fly in at least a day before departure, cause nothing is certain and the worst is weather.

 

Had you done this, your cruise would have started off on a better foot. Thank goodness you had trip insurance, which hopefully included trip interruption, which should cover the pro-rata cost of the missed days.

 

As for tipping, the wait staff and room stewards do not live in the U.S. and so their incomes are not taxable. There are many behind the scenes support people ( some of whom who probably turned your laundry around in a jiff) who also are tipped out of the pool.

 

BTW, almost all land-based restuarants in the U.S. require tips to be pooled or for the wait staff to tip out. In many corporate-owned chain restaurants, the tipping out part is mandatory even when the customers stiff the waitstaff. In other words, it costs the waitstaff out of pocket to serve those who do not tip. I digress and tipping is a personal hot button with me. Sorry.

 

Anyway, it sounds as though you made the best of the circumstances. Do you think you will ever cruise again?

 

Yeah, I know, the tipping stuff always starts controversy. For what it's worth, we did tip $10 for each bag of laundry that we did. Happily.

 

Yes, we have both trip delay and trip interruption.

[norcal2]

Your story is your truth, and your ending is simply priceless. In reading this I felt the sincerity and humor was outstanding. I can't see anyone being offended by this wonderful, yet flawed, trip gone wrong in some ways. In fact you have better prepared people for realistic expectations and better preparation. Thank you for a wonderful read.

[traveler1980]

I am so sorry to read about your trip as I know you did a lot of planning here on cruisecritic. I don't post too often, but I always enjoy the community of cruisecritic and you have definitely been a wonderful part of the community.

 

I am glad to read that you did the most with what you had. Wow, I can't imagine having children and going through all you did. Not sure how you had alcohol left:D

 

Stay on them about compensation. You are so smart to have trip insurance! We have never bought trip insurance, but might be looking into it after reading your review.

 

I hope you and your family can remember all the wonderful times (I think there were some) and laugh about the not so wonderful times!

[O2B@C]

... for managing to retain your sense of humor through all this! You do NOT deserve any flames, IMHO - you had hella bad luck, and managed to enjoy the good parts anyway - and that's how life has to be lived, mostly. I also applaud you for your sensitivity to the economic divide between the crew and the passengers - I have had the same problem myself in Mexico and the Caribbean - torn between feeling I'm exploiting the people who are working in the tourist industry, versus feeling that it wouldn't help for me NOT to be there spending money. And like you, I tend to resolve it by doing what some might consider overtipping - but the money means so much more to the staff than it does to me. Anyway, as you said, that's another thread.

 

I hope this won't put you off cruising forever. It's not always that mixed an experience! Best wishes to you and your family for a great rest of the summer - nowhere to go from here but up! :)

[caribbeanboy]

I'm not telling that this is the case with you, but really don't understand why people don't want to fly in the day before the cruise just to save one night of hotel.