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I had the pleasure of meeting Trainman on Vision and didn’t know of his stature as a favorite reviewer and teller of tales. Then I read his review of that Vision cruise and learned more about him. I was in one of his posted pictures riding the railroad in St Kitts.

On 5/26/2023 at 5:08 AM, A&L_Ont said:

At least those are edible, and hopefully covered in chocolate. 
 

In March for the 25th anniversary we had tap water and free range oxygen waiting in our cabin. 😁

At least you didn't get any raisins. 

Thanks for a great review and those very cool pictures.  We sailed the Canal aboard HAL Zaandam this past January and you caught a few things that I didn't see. 

Our cruise did not overnight in Panama so I still need to set foot in that country so I really enjoyed the excursion reports. 

And another vote for any ship that sails into Glacier Bay.  

The Frredom class are great ships. Don't miss the ice show and Flowrider, even if you don't participate the wave is fun to watch. 

Not only must the birth certificate be government issue, but it has to be an official "original", sealed, stamped, what have you. A photocopy of a BC won't work.

We hired a private car and tour guide. Great way to spend the morning and afternoon before the flight home. 

34 minutes ago, Shand9219 said:

Thanks everyone for replying. Will need to make the most of it and figure out a fun day for us and the kids. I'll try a mudslide too Goldfish lol 

Tree Limin Zipline is a great excursion on St Thomas.

Sure, you can call maintenance to tighten a couple of cabinet doors or take 45 seconds and get 'er done.

I'm more inclined to use my time wisely and just get 'er done instead of spending way more than 45 seconds making a call to Guest Services. 

It's my understanding that Celebrity has a happy hour for Elite (RCI Diamond equivalent) and higher every evening with unlimited drinks. No happy hour on boarding day. 

I carry my 25+ tool SAK in my toiletries kit in checked luggage and never have had a problem. Sometimes my multitool is in there too. I don't zip tie our zippers.

Don't you get a Chef's Table discount with UDP? Radiance Class has a private dining room for that and it's a very nice experience. 

Be advised the menu is the same across the fleet but the wines change up a bit.

Funny, my full price Vista Suite on Volendam to Alaska back in 2016 yielded only 7 points.

We disembarked a Holland America ship two weeks ago. Trivia winners received 30 seconds to touch a trophy. If the trivia leader remembers to bring it.

For our 16-night cruise we received 48 points. 16 for the cabin, 16 for Suite Bonus, and 16 for the spend.

It's all semantics designed to make the cruise line more money. There are no "BALCONY" cabins to be booked on Zaandam, only Vista Suites.

To make matters worse, the balcony cabin I purchased on the Zuiderdam was Cabin Category VF and was labeled "Balcony".

When the ships were changed my new Cabin Category was B and was labeled "Vista Suite".

Because I received a free upgrade from a "Balcony" to a "Vista Suite", and did not pay the then $2500 difference in price, I should not have received the Suite Bonus. But I'm not complaining. We probably had booked the 155 SF cabin on Zuiderdam and all Zaandam Vista Suites are 230 SF.

2 hours ago, mwj said:

If we are reading your statement correctly, that Vista Suite does not qualify for double points, our experience on a recent Zaandam cruise is contrary. We definitely received double points for our 16 day Zaandam Vista Suite booking. No, we did not have HIA, as it was a mariner 'private fare' booking. We received 37 points for our 16 day cruise.

No, we booked a balcony on Zuiderdam and they changed ships to Zaandam. Zaandam has no balcony categories,  only Vista Suites. The consensus was that since the original booking and price was for a balcony that we would not receive the Suite Bonus points,  but we did.

Resurrecting this thread to report that HAL doubled our points with a suite bonus for our Vista Suite on the Zaandam, 16 nights Panama Canal 1/5 through 1/21. I paid for a balcony cabin on the original Zuiderdam sailing before they changed ships.

Somehow they also gave us max spend points. I'm not sure we met the $4800 threshhold for that but I don't have the HIA price I paid broken out of the cruise fare. I know our onboard spend was about $800 (DW loves the spa).

Shh, don't tell anyone.

3 hours ago, Ret MP said:

I'd love to do the Panama Canal cruise thing, again.  But, it's only on the smaller ships and I'm spoiled with Quantum/Oasis class ships, that only means that they are my preference.  If I find one of those class ships doing Panama Canal, I would try to grab it, it the timing and budget fits.  

I watched Norwegian Bliss pass through the new locks two weeks ago. At  4000 passengers it's not tiny. I was on the tiny Zaandam. 

Yes, there's a coffee bar attached to the snack area of the Cafe Promenade that has specialty coffee service with regular hours. 

I like the muffaleta sandwich from the snack bar. They also have pastries in the AM and fruit all day, free to take if someone is there to hand it to you. 

Cafe Promenade has 24 hour self serve coffee.

Have a great cruise everyone.  We're sailing this Thursday out of FLL on a cut rate cruise line known by a first name so no jealousy here.

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned how tall Owen has gotten since your last live report. 

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

Johnson Space Center is a must see when in the area.