JohnCoffield

Thanks to both Austromyrtus & John Bull - your comments are useful & we'll look further into what is on offer. Cheers 🍻

Thanks for your comments above. We are stopping there for a day with Holland America this November. I'm minded to stay on the ship that day - something we've never done before.

I can echo lots of what's already been posted. We recently flew from London to Sydney with Singapore Airlines in Premium Economy & I can't recommend them highly enough. First flight was just over 12 hours, 3 hours in the terminal then another 8 hours to Sydney. I'm early 60's but managed the time difference (11 hours) & was able to sleep, eat & be entertained the whole way. We've booked again with SA as we are travelling to Singapore later this year.

Cheers, thanks. I thought that might be the case.

Hopefully someone will be able to help out as the issue is probably a user error. We have 2 cruises booked - November this year & February next year - but it is only the first one which appears on the app with itinerary & we can book excursions etc. Do we have to wait until the first cruise has passed before the second appears? TIA

We sailed on both last year & are back on Noordam later this year in the far east. We prefer Noordam as it is smaller & has a great promenade with plenty of seating where you can spend a few hours on a sea day reading & watching the sea go by (admittedly this may not be a selling point for Alaska with colder temperature). NS has Tamarind which we really enjoyed & being a newer ship the decor etc is more contemporary, however it does carry almost 700 more passengers & we preferred the layout of Noordam & will always look for ships of this size in the future. I don't think it's a case of which one is better, more one of which do you prefer & what is the itinerary.

Thanks for your daily reports, which I am enjoying. By the time you complete your trip it will be much closer to the one we have booked in November aboard Noordam - your reports bring it closer.

I've always said that size isn't everything...this picture really does confirm that we won't be moving from HAL anytime soon.

We were on Noordam in March last year cruising Sydney to Auckland & were on 2 HAL tours & one independent. The HAL tours were at Dunedin to the wildlife sanctuary, & to Hells Gate from Tauranga. Both were enjoyable but it was noticeable for both trips that there wasn't free time at each stop. The coach drivers were very amusing & worth the cost alone. Our independent trip was at Picton on Discovery Wine Tours. A brilliant day out where we visited six wineries on a minibus & learnt a lot about the area & the wines. They build their itinerary around the cruise ship schedule & offer full refunds if the ship doesn't dock.

Like many others, I am enjoying your posts & look forward to reading more as your trip progresses. Cheers 🍻

Same here. First thing I pack is spare glasses- can’t imagine being so far from home & not being able to see properly.

Interesting. We 're on Noordam departing Hong Kong on November 10th next year & as yet no shore excursions are showing. I assume they release the exclusions to all passengers, irrespective of nationality, at the same time?

We cruised with HAL on the Noordam in March this year from the White Bay cruise terminal. Our check in time was around the same time but we arrived at the ship at around 1pm & were onboard within 20 minutes. Enjoy the cruise.

We were there on NS in July & it docked to the west of the city & was about a 10 minute bus journey to the city centre. We walked back from there & it took about 30 minutes but was a pleasant stroll. Not the most of exciting of cities, but worth a stop on a cruise.

Thanks for posting this - very interesting. We've only sailed on HAL twice - Noordam earlier this year & NS back in July. Whilst NS is newer & shiner we preferred Noordam as the smaller size & proper promenade deck where not only can you walk but sit & take in the views as you sail along. We found the food to be good, no queuing for the MDR & excellent service from all the staff. Yes, it's showing its age a bit but for us it is the perfect size & we've booked to be on Noordam again next year.