Susanmaz

We’ve not done a cruise longer than 11 days, except fthe one time I tricked DH onto a 12 day. LOL. Maybe some day.

Mcrcruiser - we sailed on the newer, Pinnacle class Konigsdam two years ago,and absolutely hated it. It was too big, with too many passengers and nowhere to sit or get out of the way.  Guest services had lines 20 people long at all times and had nowhere to sit while waiting. Anytime dining had 45 minute waits. Never had an opportunity to spend time in the Crows Nest. We will never sail on any ship with 300 or more passengers on ant line.

Yes,of course you can. But then you have to wait for delivery. By putting in our order for a designated time, coffee is there when we get up.

We always put out our coffee request hanger the night before for coffee delivery at 6:00 am. That’s the first delivery time and it’s always fresh and hot. Sure beats heading to Lido and taking chances.

Not before 1995 - our first cruise was1995. Hard to believe that’s almost 30 years ago!

We have booked this itinerary for October 2025.  Looks really interesting. I was going to do the April cruise, but the website showed no available cabins in the area we like to book.  At least October is sooner than April.

Islandwoman, I pack black leggings to pair with a dressier top for gala night in the MDR. Takes no space in my suitcase.

OlsSalt - I agree with you. One cruise on the Konigsdam, and we found it too crowded, with too many passengers and no place to sit to take a break. We have decided to not sail a Pinnacle class ship.

The tap water is perfectly good to drink. That is all we drink onboard. I wpouldnt waste my HIA on canned or bottled water. Distilled water is $2.95 per gallon as people use it for their CPAP machines. I don’t know if it is included in the HIA. We use our reusable water bottles which have insulated covers. Our cabin steward (s) will fill them with ice if we are using them off ship, or you can get it in the Lido. Plastic bottles are not allowed onboard 

We were on the Volendam last spring. It was absolutely wonderful. Vista suite size was great. It’s smaller, with everything easily accessible. The crew is amazing. Food was excellent. So different from the Pinnacle class Kdam we were on prior, which was busier, more crowded and had ruder passengers. Never had a problem with the bathrooms or with the ac.

13 hours ago, regnig said:

For once I'm delighted to be so old as to more than likely not be around in 20 years. 

Me too.

Rules are that your passport must be valid 6 months after return. You will be denied boarding and if you flying, you cannot fly with the passport. You will need to look at expediting your renewal.

I don’t remember seeing it on our last two cruises

We used our credit card reward points for our night at the Pan Pacific in May. It cost us nothing to stay, just tips to the bell staff to get our luggage to our room and to the pier the next morning. There is a food court and a Rexall drugstore across the street. It was a $40 USD cab ride to the hotel. Best free hotel room we’ve ever had.

As for airfare, it depends on where you’re coming from and returning to… we fly from the west coast, so our options are different from flying from east coast. We like to stay down by Canada Place and spend a day or two exploring. If you don’t plan to come in until the day before, it may be better to stay by the airport and shuttle down to the pier. 

Keep in mind that Santa Barbara and Monterey weren’t “taken away”. Those two ports have decided they don’t want cruise ships coming into their towns.  As they decide who can or cannot visit whenever, changes and substitutions are made as needed. My two cents - go with flow and enjoy you trip. 

It’s my understanding that you can do it through guest services. There are some postings about it.

We put our morning coffee request hanger out every night at bedtime for a 6:00am delivery. 6:00 is the earliest delivery time and we’ve never had a problem with getting our coffee at that time - one morning they were 10 minutes early. It’s enough to get us up and get ready for breakfast and more coffee.

In warm climes,I doChi-Chis which is a Pina Colada made with vodka instead of rum. It cuts down the sweetness.

It does make sense when one takes the time to realize that everyone has thousands of books handy…. I know of hundreds of people who don’t don’t use technology for anything.

If I don’t finish a book I’ve taken from a ships library, and it’s something I want to finish, I check it out from my library at home or find in a used book store.

Does this mean snow and cold weather? No thanks, I’ll stick with our 90 degrees! LOL 

Remembering the days when we got really nice “trophies” when winning a game like trivia or scavenger hunt. We still use the coffee cups from the Noordam when we won trivia and the wonderful insulated travel mugs we won. Then sometime around 2013 they started handing out the itinerary pins…we came home with dozens of pins - all went to the thrift store as a donation.

The Halcats were everywhere.

4 hours ago, jules815 said:

I have pictures of my parents wearing Dutch hats on board a HAL ship in the 1980's. HAL was their favorite line. Raved about it in fact. Now my husband and I are newly retired and sailing on our first HAL ship next year. 

 

I have a picture of DH  and I with our Dutch hats from our first HAL cruise in 2000. So special