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-   -   Amsterdam cruise to Alaska from Friday May 13 to Friday May 27 - Embarkation and Cabin (http://www.travelbanter.com/showthread.php?t=172654)

[email protected] May 29th, 2011 04:15 PM

Amsterdam cruise to Alaska from Friday May 13 to Friday May 27 - Embarkation and Cabin
 
Just got back from this cruise. Had a really good time and am glad I
went. Any flaws that there were (and there are always some flaws)
were not enough to change the fact that I loved the cruise and I
really like HAL in general. I say that because people often disagree
with me on what I feel needs to be changed and assume that because I
complain about something that I should not be cruising at all if I am
not satisfied with everything.

So I repeat. Glad I went. Had a good time. Like HAL

This was a two week cruise out of Seattle, which I booked one day
before the final payment. When they finally gave me my cabin it was
an ocean view on the Lower Promenade Deck in a good location - except
it was under the kitchen. Having been in that location before, I was
aware of that and the people who were originally next door (from
Cruise Critics) confirmed that they were awakened each morning at 4 am
with metal wheeled carts rolling around overhead.

Therefore when I was given an opportunity to upgrade to a Veranda by
paying extra, I decided that if I was ever going to do a Veranda,
Alaska was the place to do it. We were on the port side just a few
cabins behind the wing bridge. I would rather have been on the
starboard side, but this cabin was very good. I have no complaints
about the cabin.

The beds were fore and aft rather than athwart, but that's fine with
me. There was room in the bathroom to put things and we had a good
big shower - room for two in there should we have desired that. The
steward gave us fresh flowers, and ice and fruit and we had a small
refrigerator. I am not sure, because we didn't drink anything in
there, whether HAL would have charged for the stuff in the fridge or
not.

The steward and his assistant had 29 rooms to do and I think this is
more than it used to be. Sometimes they didn't get to us right away,
but I don't fault them for that. We tipped them extra.

I rented a scooter for this trip. I rented it before I made the
cruise booking. It was quite reasonable to rent, and it really helped
because we were pretty far forward and the dining areas are all aft.
Also I rarely had a problem getting an elevator with the scooter which
I think is somewhat astonishing.

The only problem I had was that there was some kind of sculpture cum
chair thing opposite the elevators on our deck and I could not back
the scooter out of the aft elevators without running into it. I
tried backing into the elevator, but I can't turn my head to look
behind me without a lot of pain, so backing in was not a good option.
Even my husband agreed after I tried it once. Once was enough. Bob
would tell me when I could back out and which way to turn.

We flew into Seattle on Thursday - got a non-stop Southwest flight
from BWI to SEATAC. Arranged for a limo transfer for us and our
luggage to the Mayflower hotel. Walked over to the monorail and went
to the Space Needle for dinner. Then the next morning borrowed a
wheelchair from the hotel and Bob pushed me down to Pike Street Market
and back. At noon got a shuttle from the hotel to the terminal.

Embarkation was a breeze. Gave our luggage to the luggage people and
picked up the scooter at the dock kiosk so I could use it for the
embarkation process and we were waved right through and even missed
the photographers (a good thing). Our rooms were ready immediately
when we boarded - that's the first time that ever happened.

So we went to the room first. I could get the scooter through the
door, but not past the bed as the turns were too tight. So we moved
the outboard nightstand and put it under the kneehole of the desk and
push/pulled the bed over. That made enough room for me to scooter
down the hall, and made a quick left turn and park the scooter by the
bathroom wall. I still had room to get out of bed and even (if I did
it right) to open the nightstand drawers.

Bob (knowing the lack of outlets) brought a 25 foot extension cord
which he ran behind the TV and under the bed and I plugged my power
strip into it, and could then charge the scooter, the phone, the
computer and the camera batteries.

We then went to the Lido for lunch.

(to be continued)




Lisa Cubbon May 30th, 2011 04:32 PM

Amsterdam cruise to Alaska from Friday May 13 to Friday May 27- Embarkation and Cabin
 
On 5/29/2011 11:15 AM, wrote:
Just got back from this cruise. Had a really good time and am glad I
went. Any flaws that there were (and there are always some flaws)
were not enough to change the fact that I loved the cruise and I
really like HAL in general. I say that because people often disagree
with me on what I feel needs to be changed and assume that because I
complain about something that I should not be cruising at all if I am
not satisfied with everything.

So I repeat. Glad I went. Had a good time. Like HAL

This was a two week cruise out of Seattle, which I booked one day
before the final payment. When they finally gave me my cabin it was
an ocean view on the Lower Promenade Deck in a good location - except
it was under the kitchen. Having been in that location before, I was
aware of that and the people who were originally next door (from
Cruise Critics) confirmed that they were awakened each morning at 4 am
with metal wheeled carts rolling around overhead.

Therefore when I was given an opportunity to upgrade to a Veranda by
paying extra, I decided that if I was ever going to do a Veranda,
Alaska was the place to do it. We were on the port side just a few
cabins behind the wing bridge. I would rather have been on the
starboard side, but this cabin was very good. I have no complaints
about the cabin.

The beds were fore and aft rather than athwart, but that's fine with
me. There was room in the bathroom to put things and we had a good
big shower - room for two in there should we have desired that. The
steward gave us fresh flowers, and ice and fruit and we had a small
refrigerator. I am not sure, because we didn't drink anything in
there, whether HAL would have charged for the stuff in the fridge or
not.

The steward and his assistant had 29 rooms to do and I think this is
more than it used to be. Sometimes they didn't get to us right away,
but I don't fault them for that. We tipped them extra.

I rented a scooter for this trip. I rented it before I made the
cruise booking. It was quite reasonable to rent, and it really helped
because we were pretty far forward and the dining areas are all aft.
Also I rarely had a problem getting an elevator with the scooter which
I think is somewhat astonishing.

The only problem I had was that there was some kind of sculpture cum
chair thing opposite the elevators on our deck and I could not back
the scooter out of the aft elevators without running into it. I
tried backing into the elevator, but I can't turn my head to look
behind me without a lot of pain, so backing in was not a good option.
Even my husband agreed after I tried it once. Once was enough. Bob
would tell me when I could back out and which way to turn.

We flew into Seattle on Thursday - got a non-stop Southwest flight
from BWI to SEATAC. Arranged for a limo transfer for us and our
luggage to the Mayflower hotel. Walked over to the monorail and went
to the Space Needle for dinner. Then the next morning borrowed a
wheelchair from the hotel and Bob pushed me down to Pike Street Market
and back. At noon got a shuttle from the hotel to the terminal.

Embarkation was a breeze. Gave our luggage to the luggage people and
picked up the scooter at the dock kiosk so I could use it for the
embarkation process and we were waved right through and even missed
the photographers (a good thing). Our rooms were ready immediately
when we boarded - that's the first time that ever happened.

So we went to the room first. I could get the scooter through the
door, but not past the bed as the turns were too tight. So we moved
the outboard nightstand and put it under the kneehole of the desk and
push/pulled the bed over. That made enough room for me to scooter
down the hall, and made a quick left turn and park the scooter by the
bathroom wall. I still had room to get out of bed and even (if I did
it right) to open the nightstand drawers.

Bob (knowing the lack of outlets) brought a 25 foot extension cord
which he ran behind the TV and under the bed and I plugged my power
strip into it, and could then charge the scooter, the phone, the
computer and the camera batteries.

We then went to the Lido for lunch.

(to be continued)



Thanks! I am glad you opted for the veranda and away from the kitchen.
Been there, done that. No tee shirt,please.

Lisa


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