Especially if this will be your first cruise, there are a great many things you need to know in advance that are not immediately obvious to the casual observer.
Here is a list of a few of the most important topics that we think you should know about.
Things have changed a great deal since I started cruising. For most cruises (including
this one), gone are the days of “Formal Nights” when
tuxedos and evening gowns were worn by most (and jackets and ties were mandatory). Personally, I’m a bit sorry, since I enjoyed dressing up
and seeing everyone glitter.
But it is what it is, and here is what you need to know about packing and dressing for this cruise. I’ll go into more detail at a later date.
Daytime wear on the ship and in port would be the same sorts of things you’d wear in
any tropical resort. Shorts, slacks, jeans, T-shirts,
Hawaiian shirts, polo shirts, sundresses, sandals, and tennis shoes are all appropriate. You may want to bring more than one swimsuit since
much of your activity may revolve around pools and beaches. Women will want to bring a coverup for their swimsuit for going through the public
areas of the ship to and from the pool (although you can certainly use the provided bathrobes for that purpose).
Most evenings on board the ship are classified as Elegant Casual, but there will be some Dressy Nights. Here are the specific rules.
Elegant Casual evenings call for slacks and short or long-sleeved shirts for men and casual slacks or skirts and tops or dresses for women. Shorts, men’s tank tops, beachwear and “distressed” jeans are not allowed in the dining room or other fine dining restaurants at dinner.
Dressy Nights require collared shirts and slacks for men in the dining room and
other fine dining restaurants. Tuxedos, suits, or sport coat
and tie for men are not required, but many will opt to dress up. For ladies, formal gowns, cocktail-length dresses or evening pants suits
for women are appropriate. Expect 3 Dressy Nights during our cruise. We won't know for certain until we are able to print our Boarding Passes,
but I've indicated my best guesses about Dressy Nights in the Cruise Trip Itinerary
Important tip for new cruisers: Your room steward can be your best friend on the cruise and do things that can make your life much more pleasant. This is a situation where making a small effort can pay off big dividends. A steward is fundamentally different from the housekeeper at a hotel (although both of them are charged with keeping your room clean and tidy).
The biggest difference is that you don't often meet and interact with the hotel housekeeper. Your steward will knock on your door and introduce himself on embarkation day. If there's something you need, ask your steward. If it's something he can get or do for you, he will. The first thing he'll probably do for you is deliver your checked luggage once the baggage handlers deliver it to your deck.
Your steward can also be an important and key source of information. If you want to know the best things to do in a port, ask your steward. He probably has a really good idea what things are worth your time and what are duds.
If you need something from your steward, use your cabin phone and call the front desk. Your steward carries a pager (remember pagers?) and will show up at your cabin door shortly. Important caution: Cabin stewards work very long days from early in the morning until late at night, seven days a week. They have time off in the afternoon to relax or even take a nap. If you ask for your steward to be paged in the middle of the afternoon, he will interrupt his downtime for you, but it's not a nice thing to do.
We will be seated together for dinner in
The Dining Room each evening at 5:30 PM. You will be offered a menu
(different each evening) with several choices of appetizer, several soups (both hot and cold), several salads, six or seven entrees
(including at least one Vegetarian offering), and five or six desserts (including at least one sugar-free dessert). You are welcome to order as
many courses as you wish. You can even order multiple items in the same course. (Two soups, perhaps or two desserts. You can even order two
entrees, although you'll need a greater capacity than I possess to do this!)
Several nights may be “theme” nights such as Dutch Night or French Night where many of the
offerings reflect the cuisine of the theme country. The Captain’s Farewell Dinner (on the next-to-last night) has traditionally included lobster
tails and the signature dessert
of the high seas, the waiter’s parade of Flaming Baked Alaska.
Dinner seating in The Dining Room is at assigned tables.
Although you will probably take most of your dinners in The Dining Room, most evenings a casual dinner is served in the Lido Market restaurant. The menu is similar to The Dining Room’s that evening, but the ambience is quite different. One evening there may be a barbeque poolside at the Lido Pool. Note that these alternative dinner sites cannot offer meals for special diets.
On our evening in Anchorage, since the ship is in port overnight, you might elect to have dinner ashore.
The ship offers four specialty restaurants. The
Pinnacle Grill, midships on Deck 2 - Lower Promenade
Deck (serving both lunch and dinner), is a high-end steakhouse (also with seafood and even multiple vegetarian offerings).
Canaletto (in a section of the
Lido Market area) serves Italian cuisine.
Tamarind (aft Deck 11 - Observation Deck) serves
pan-Asian cuisine.
Finally, Morimoto By Sea (aft Deck 11 - Observation Deck)
offers a focus on fresh fish and seafood curated by Chef
Masaharu Morimoto, Holland America's Global Fresh Fish Ambassador.
All of the specialty restaurants, for all practical purposes, require reservations (generally, pre-cruise) and all of them come with a charge. Some very high end offerings in each restaurant (e.g., lobster or filet mignon steak) can come with additional fees.
For breakfast and lunch, you may (on most days) eat in The Dining Room. The hours will vary, but breakfast is usually offered from 8:30 – 9:30 and lunch from 12:30 – 1:30. (The times will be listed on the daily program and in the Navigator app.) Open seating is offered for these meals.
Because we're in a Neptune Suites, you may also choose to have breakfast in the Pinnacle Grill. One advantage of this is that you have the same waiters every day, and they tend to remember your preferences without your needing to ask. The menu, however, is identical to the menu in The Dining Room.
You may also choose to eat at the Lido Market buffet for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. One luncheon favorite (only offered in the Lido Market buffet) is the famous Holland America Bread Pudding. I can testify that it’s addictive. At lunch, in addition to the buffet line of cold and hot dishes, there is also a grilled sandwich and Pizza bar, a salad bar, a carving station, and a Stir-Fry station with different offerings each day.
Another favorite is the Lido Market Ice Cream bar which is open at lunch and in the afternoons. You’ll be able to build your own cones or sundaes.
At the Lido Pool, another option for lunch and throughout the afternoon is the Dive In, which serves excellent hamburgers made to order with Brioche buns, grilled chicken breast sandwiches, portobello mushroom stack sandwiches, French fries and gourmet Nathan’s hot dogs.
And at the Sea View Pool, you'll find New York Pizza (aft Deck 9 - Lido Deck) where you can get (surprise) Pizza, but also made-to-order deli sandwiches.
Afternoon Tea is offered daily in The Dining Room
at 3:00 and tea, finger sandwiches,
and pastries are served. On one day of each cruise there will be a much more elaborate “Royal Dutch Tea” where more extensive offerings are
presented in The Dining Room.
Before dinner each evening, hors d’oeuvres are served in the Ocean Bar lounge.
Specialty coffees and pastries are available from 6 AM to 6 PM in the
Crow's Nest Café (forward Deck 11 - Observation Deck).
And of course, complimentary Room Service (from a limited menu) is available 24-hours a day. At lunch or dinner, you may order Room Service from the full lunch or evening menu. (The rest of the time, the Room Service menu is relatively limited.)
If you have any special needs (whether health-related or not) we and the cruise line will do our best to accommodate them. Among the more common requests are the following:
The cruise line can provide low salt, diabetic, low fat, vegetarian, gluten-free,vegan, kosher, and other special diets with advance notice. Kosher dinners are prepared off the ship in a Kosher kitchen, shrink wrapped and frozen. For other special diets, you typically order your next night’s dinner the evening before from your head waiter. In most cases almost everything on the regular menu can be prepared according to the requirements of a special diet.
The ship typically offers several low fat and/or sugar-free desserts on the regular menu each evening along with a selection of fruit and cheese.
If you are vegetarian, you'll find a couple of vegetarian options on the regular dinner menu. Alternatively, you can order your next night's meal in advance from a special vegetarian and vegan menu. You may be pleasantly surprised that even the Pinnacle Grill, HAL's steakhouse specialty restaurant offers at least two vegetarian offerings on its regular menu.
Food allergies can be accommodated as long as HAL is given at least 90 days advance notice. (The advance notice may be necessary if special provisioning is needed to accommodate your need. Note that HAL maintains a special area of its kitchen for preparation of allergen-free meals to ensure no chance for cross-contamination. I have seen reports from cruisers with very complex and potentially life-threatening dietary requirements, and they have indicated that HAL did an excellent job of meeting their needs and keeping them safe.
Special diets can most easily be accommodated in The Dining Room at dinner. Generally, you'll order your next evening's meal with the captain. If you will be dining in one of the specialty restaurants, you'll need to stop in there the day before and discuss what you'd like to order. If it's possible to do so, the chefs will prepare what you want according to your specific dietary needs.
When dining at the Lido Market, generally one of the sous chefs will come out and discuss which foods you can have that will meet your special dietary needs.
If you have personal preferences or special requests, our experience has been that the dining stewards and kitchen staff will break their necks trying to give you what you want.
Wheelchairs are readily available for assistance during boarding, but should be requested from the cruise line in advance. If you wish to do so, a manual wheelchair (which can be taken ashore and used throughout the cruise) can generally be rented onboard. These should be reserved in advance.
Several cabins are available on the ship with wheelchair access including roll-in showers. Caution: Accessible cabins tend to be booked very early, so if you need one, please act immediately! All of the public areas are accessible to passengers in wheelchairs. Some public rest rooms are accessible, some not.
Because of the raised divider between inside and outside areas, although most of these have (rather steep) wooden ramps, it can sometimes be challenging to move between inside the ship and the outdoor decks on your own, particularly since the doors tend to be heavy.
It's also important that you read Lee's Special sections in the FAQ. There is a great deal of additional information there that you need to Know Before You Go.
