Cruising Is Bliss

The problem with this is that you didn't title it "set aside quiet areas". Your title was a very specific complete sentence that specified cell phones are the problem. By default that became the first sentence of your post and set off knee-jerk reactions that derailed the discussion you wanted to have about quiet areas. People read it as CELL PHONES BAD!!! and stopped reading and started typing.

This! The friendly small ship vibe. I've sailed on Volendam's sister ships Zaandam and Amsterdam, and would be thrilled to exclusively do Zaandam and Volendam forever. The R-class ships still have the original spacious lower deck Explorations Cafe with the library, and a Crows Nest that doesn't have shore excursions jammed in taking up half the space. On Signature-class Eurodam they stuck two giant monitors at the front of the Crow's Nest, blocking front windows, just to show ads for shore excursions. I don't cruise for a port every day. I want sea days, lattes and good books on my kindle, to recover from active port days. I want to relax and enjoy myself onboard, and the R-class ships have way more usable public space for doing that.

We always ask for a plate of veggies. Haven't cruised yet since the shut-down but pre-covid, it would be a dinner plate full of several different veggies, usually including at least one that was not listed anywhere on the regular menu.

If you're referring to the later of two fixed seatings, those don't exist on E-class ships. There's no fixed early or fixed late dining. The website lets you book it but it's just a leftover artifact of the booking system and will not be honored onboard.

ICE requirement in a US port. You have to wait for the zero count.

Jim, shouldn't you be feeling significantly better by now? Fluid without substantial sodium is pretty poor at re-hydrating. The comparison between Pedialyte and Gatorade, to VitaminWater, is pretty stark. Serious re-hydrating takes lots of water, lots of sodium so the body hangs on to the water, some potassium to help manage water output, and sugar to help get the water into your cells. VitaminWater flunks and their labels are very careful not to even hint at hydration.

The mid-construction changes to Rotterdam were to allow the ship to go through the NEW locks. The first two Pinnacle class ships had lifeboats hanging out over the water which is banned and those two ships are not allowed through the Canal.

I love doing back to backs but my preference would be the two longer cruises. I've done B2Bs on Celebrity and on HAL and I prefer HAL for longer cruises.

Thank you for taking us along!

Happy birthday to Jeremy! Very happy you're sharing your cruise with us again, thank you!

Thank you for taking us along! Very much appreciate your posts.

No.

Celebrity is owned by Royal Caribbean, not Carnival.

Crow's Nest on Volendam, and also on Zaandam, are unchanged. The traditional Explorations Cafe downstairs is still down there so no need to wreck the Crow's Nest.

No idea what happened to HAL's website but cruises do exist in that period. I'm booked on Westerdam for the 28 day cruise and the two 7 day cruises following it. I'm disembarking 7/21/2024.

Because they would prefer to fill the cabin with two people spending money onboard instead of just one person spending money onboard.

Thank you for taking us along again!

A non-refundable fare isn't eligible for Have It All. Your only option is to cancel and re-book at the current rate. Non-refundable fares are a no-frills fare and you're on a stairway trying to get from step #1 to step #3, but by only paying the increase to go from step #2 to step #3.

B2Bs disembarking is not the cruise lines. In US ports it's an Immigration & Customs (ICE) requirement for the ship to get to "zero count" with only working crew on board, before any new passengers can board. Outside the US B2Bs usually don't have to disembark.

No. The only thing that counts for the PSVA is if you are on the same ship when it sails from any down line or turn around port, you did not disembark according to the PSVA definition and are continuing one unbroken voyage. And that one unbroken voyage can NOT begin and end in different US ports unless the ship stops in the appropriate foreign port for the cruise. PSVA doesn't care how the cruise line chops up your voyage into separate cruises for marketing and booking purposes. Even if you leave early via emergency medical transport at a down line or turn around port, if that port creates a PSVA violation, the cruise line still has to pay the fine.

That *is* the issue. One booking number for their B2B means HAL is marketing it as either one collectors cruise or two individual cruises, and they're booked on the collectors cruise and so can't do an add-on for just part of it.

Vistas on Zaandam (and sister ship Volendam) are 100 square feet bigger than basic veranda & vista veranda on Koningsdam. Zaandam and her sister ship still have an actual Explorations Cafe and a spacious Crows Nest that did not get invaded by the shore excursions department. The wide promenade deck has a lot more outdoor real estate for viewing scenery. Zaandam would be my pick, no contest. I've cruised in a vista on Zaandam and I'm booked on Volendam next year in a vista.

This. Do the people pushing back here think flying economy includes an expectation that passenger can walk into first or business class and get the meals & drinks served there? Should they be able to say my family or my friends paid $$$ to be up here so they should be allowed to get the same amenities even though they only paid for an economy ticket?

Celebrity doesn't. Pretty sure HAL is the only line that has a priest onboard every cruise unless a scheduled priest has a last minute emergency. They do daily mass twice, one for crew, one for passengers.

Also I think you're going to be pleasantly surprised by the Icelandic medical system. Science fiction writer Mary Robinette Kowal was living in Iceland working on a TV production when she found a lump in her breast. She had no idea what to expect and what she got was, no appointment needed, just go to the cancer center without an appointment. In 45 minutes she was in and out, all done. The nurse she first saw was very apologetic that since she was not an Icelandic citizen the appointment would cost her the equivalent of US$3. In those 45 minutes she saw a nurse, a doctor, had a mammogram, had an ultrasound, and got a diagnosis of a cyst that was nothing to worry about.