Inside Passage cruise with Holland America

[Rnwillia]

Have booked a Holland America Inside Passage cruise in June 2017 (1st ever cruise). Is there anything we should be aware of to get the most of this cruise? And what is the best way to access internet on board? Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

 

[straitman]

Have booked a Holland America Inside Passage cruise in June 2017 (1st ever cruise). Is there anything we should be aware of to get the most of this cruise? And what is the best way to access internet on board? Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

I cannot comment about HA specifically but generally you will find that onboard internet cost only a little less than the cruise price () and so unless you can get free somehow it is better to just go without.

The picture I have attached was the internet price on Princess in Dec 2014 and there is no chance it will be any cheaper now.



Internet speed is pretty much Dial up speed. i.e. pretty slow.

 

[VPS]

I did the Celebrity Cruise and I presume it will be similar - you're in a town almost every day so you can use a US SIM - problem was sometimes you were closer to Canada and then it was difficult as my US SIM thought I was roaming and I lost a heap of credit - there was some free wifi in some of the ports and I think Juneau the local library which is very close to the port was free or very cheap - Internet on cruises is very expensive and I gather very slow

 

[n7of9]

I was on Royal Caribbean in the USA a few months ago, shipwide wifi $20 per day, and it was fast, too

Pre-purchase as many things as possible - drinks packages, tours, and book as soon as they are all available as they get more expensive closer to cruise time. Booking shore excursions via the cruise company means they delivery your itinerary and tickets to you every day, and will make alternative arrangements for you if anything needs to be cancelled or is delayed

Book your dinner time if the option is available to avoid waiting in long queues

I booked all of the above on the RC site 3 months before my cruise. Once I was on the ship, everything was paid for and organised for me, and I had a wonderfully relaxing time in The Bahamas and Key West

My only regret was that I booked a short 4 night cruise because I was unsure if I'd like it! My next cruise will definitely be 10+ nights (I'm kind of excited for you )

 

[jeng]

I did the inside passage cruise with Holland America a couple of years ago. I really enjoyed it. The internet onboard is very expensive. I bought one of the cheaper packages and used it sparingly. You can get free wifi when you are off the ship.

For me, the drinks package wasn't value for money. Several people in our group bought a '3 bottles of wine package' and wherever I was dining I just let them know I had wine from the package and they retrieved my wine and served it at dinner. There are happy hour/s each day with cheaper drinks. Tea, coffee etc is available all the time. Remember you are off the ship a lot.

I pre-booked my shore excursions as there was a discount if you pre-booked. When I was onboard I changed my mind about one of them and it was easy to change to the other tour and I got refunded the difference in price.

If you want laundry done, shove as much as you can into the laundry bag provided- they then charge by the bag rather than per item.

If there is anything in particular you want to know I will try to answer your questions.