Blackduck59

So maybe ask for bread? How hard is that?

Volendam will be doing many "Grand Voyages" over the next couple years. I think starting right after this refit. I'm guessing this refit is intended to make Volendam better able to serve these guests who will be on voyages of between 25 and 135 days. Including the 2026, 132 day "Grand World Voyage". Zaandam is another old ship which will be doing some "Grand" and "Legendary" voyages over the next couple years interspersed with her more regular Alaska and Pacific voyages.

You can ask for the power cord (often needed), and the distilled water is available to pre-order through the website. Log into your acount and go to the beverage tab, click on "water" and there are gallons of distilled water available for $2.95 (Cheap like borscht)

If you're looking for canned water I think that is a "bar" item (there are lots of bars). If you just want a glass of water that is available anywhere.

As others have said the tap water is fine. Ice is readily available of you want it cold. One tip for the beverage package. It is entirely possible that you won't reach your 15 drinks per day limit (for the standard "signature" package non alcoholic drinks count to the total), you can go to any bar and get a few cans of water, take them to your cabin and keep them in your fridge for future use. Use your beverage package to your benefit, don't leave extra beverages on the card.

So I decided to re-read the OP. Either they fancy themselves as a butcher or decided to insert some book "definition" of the various cuts, as to how they think they "should" be. In my experience a "Rib eye" is a boneless steak and there is always a large mass of fat in it and the good ones are well marbled (fat is flavour). The complaint that the steak was too thin is a legitimate point, unfortunately they are working to a raw weight specification. If you're looking for that high heat flame seared char characteristic of top steak houses, remember they don't have flame broilers. Another poster in an attempt to sound like an expert was talking about "temperature" when describing doneness. Nobody at the table has a thermometer to measure doneness. It is a visual thing we look for colour not temperature. I will agree with those who thought half a large baked potato is fine, if you need more, ask for another half. I'm sorry the self proclaimed foodies aren't satisfied with Pinnacle Grill. We dine there as included with our HIA fare; I doubt we would pay the tariff as a "Specialty" experience. We understand it is not (insert name of Premium Steakhouse on land) and there are certain logistical issues that ships operating hundreds or thousands of miles away from the butcher shop have that the shore based places don't.

I attended an event with a HAL rep doing a presentation last night. It would seem the ships that have both pianos will keep them. I doubt that Zaandam and Volendam will have another piano added, Mix is too small for that. I don't care if there is one or 2 players, I just want them to have talent. Reports are that the present Duo on Westerdam could perhaps use improvement. She also mentioned that the European Itineraries will have classical music. In the presentation she didn't mention "Lincoln Center" by name but did infer that one of the reasons that "previous relationship" was terminated was because of the limited play list demanded by that organization. So stay tuned, it would seem Seattle is listening and clearly changes are on the way. It was also clear that HAL will be favouring longer voyages and that the "Legendary and Grand" voyages will have perks not found on regular itineraries.

Were you in Scotland? (again😉)

Is that the Residenz in Wurtzburg?

A quick search of the HAL website revealed many return voyages from San Diego. Whether any of them fit all of the OP's criteria only they can answer.

We celebrated my birthday on embarkation day last year. We pre-booked Pinnacle for dinner, I'm not sure if we mentioned my birthday (of course the ship has this information). After dinner we returned to our cabin to find a Happy Birthday card and a little cake. It was a nice surprise.

Although I am not a casino "expert" I never go there, I would suggest the Casino will be closed while actually in port. They will open when you cast off and are underway.

I'm not sure I would cancel a cruise because they cancelled New Caledonia. I guess if it was a short itinerary and the replacement was "sea days" it would be quite disappointing. For us New Caledonia is simply part of a much longer itinerary and we were indifferent as to whether we would leave the ship at all. I guess we will find out in January maybe what will happen there.

Did I use a "Star Wars" reference? Not so much. I saw the original in theatres once when it came out. I'm not big on Sci Fi in General. As it turns out several of the buildings in Baku are pretty futuristic. It was quite a race, very entertaining.

So big congratulations to young Australian Oscar Piastri for a very entertaining win Azerbaijan today. I'm thankful that neither Sergio Perez nor Carlos Sainz were injured in their shunt, which was I believe rightly ruled as a "Racing Incident" with no further action. Of course seeing Lando in front of Verstappen makes me happy.

Lynn & I are so happy to see your post Les. Good to hear that you continue to push your "use by" date into the future. We are glad you are well settled into your new villa. Continue to Live Life Full. Cheers Lyle & Lynn

I'm going to throw out the idea of doing a one way cruise Auckland to Sydney or vice versa. Tack on some land time on both ends. It saves a couple of sea days. You can fly in to one country and out of the other.

You are correct, your answer came in just as I sent the hint. My clearest early childhood memory was of JFK's funeral. I was 4 years old, and couldn't understand why everyone was so sad. I made a point of going to the JFK Presidential Library while we were in Boston. I often wonder what might have been, if only...

Time for a hint POTUS.

It is in Boston, not famous for sailing but for who owned it.

More specific, that is a very famous boat.

Right country, wrong coast

it is the east coast

It's not on Vancouver Island, but you have the right continent.

I'll try this