3rdGenCunarder

If the itinerary is the same, I'd go for NA because of Tamarind. But either ship would be good.

Are you staying at AQV's "official" hotel, or did you book something on your own?

Pre-cruise hotel and transfer are included. End of cruise transfer is not. The "official" Chicago hotel this season is the Sheraton Grand. At least that's where I was told I would be staying before the cruise. I looked at the cruise before mine so see where it's supposed to end. It says it ends in Chicago, and the timing of the various transportation options looks right for a Chicago arrival. There's a bus transfer from the ship (Navy Pier) to the "official" AQV hotel. IF it is the Sheraton, they're charging $49 for a 1-mile ride.

Internet is the big if with HIA. If you don't want internet, HIA is not a great bargain unless you get the early booking bonus with the gratuities. And as @CruiserBruce said above, you don't have to take the fare with HIA. There are usually three fares. The lowest has a nonrefundable deposit. The highest is the HIA fare. There is also the "advantage fare," which does not appear on an internet search. It has a refundable deposit, and is more expensive than the lowest fare (do they call it "best fare" or something like that?), but less expensive than the HIA fare.

Oosterdam had the same carpets. I think it was supposed to represent ripples of water, although the carpets were not any color of water I've seen! I thought the "busy" pattern would be good for hiding stains from seasick passengers who didn't make it back to the cabin in time. 😱 The fun thing about that carpet design is that it was computer designed. The colors could be changed easily, producing multiple versions of the same design. Once I noticed that, I went around the ship looking for as many variations as I could find. I just looked and found my carpet pictures. There were the dark reds, shades of blue and purple, shades of green, shades of tan and gold, blue and orange and purple. Here's one of them.

Because they weren't there every night, they didn't mesh well. You know how conversations begin one night and get picked up later? They weren't good at jumping in when the rest of us had already found things in common.

One couple at our early, fixed dining table for 8, were missing for a few nights. When they came back, they said that they had "wanted to eat a little later" for a few nights, so they did open dining. I was surprised they could do that, as I thought HAL didn't let allow it since it stresses the system to have people essentially taking two tables.

I was on a HAL cruise a few months ago. I used to think of HAL as "Cunard lite." Not quite as formal, not quite as much enrichment, etc. Sadly, HAL has slipped to a new low level; of "lite," not at all comparable to Cunard. I was on QM2 in September and I was delighted to find many different entertainment options and interesting enrichment, just as I have come to expect from Cunard. I do not like the HAL Pinnacle ships, especially the deafening debacle that is the "Music Walk." But I am trusting Cunard to take HAL's design and carry it out in the refined manner that is Cunard. @d9704011, if the itinerary really speaks to you, then do it. You may have some maiden calls, and that can be special. There will be plenty of entertainment--pub band, jazz combo, classical, piano player, production shows, and probably others that I'm leaving out. It's true that you don't need the tux, but I say go for it. Formal nights (or whatever euphemism they're using these days) on Cunard are special. When I would book a cruise, the first question DH would ask me was, "Is this one where I can take the tux?"

This is SO frustrating! I found this "contact us" address for Navy Pier, and sent an email this morning asking if they have a schedule of cruise departures. The only cruise information I could find on their website is for day cruises, and sightseeing. They don't list AQV as one of their "cruise partners." navypierinfo@navypier.org

I'm inclined to believe it's part of the assignment of guarantees and offers of upsells. I've seen this before when a whole class of cabins disappears for a while, then reappears, but with fewer available cabins.

I have wondered the same thing, as have others. Last month, there were threads about excursion cancellations. On my January cruise, an excursion on HMC was cancelled 2 weeks before the cruise, even though they had known the excursion would not run for the entire season. They should not have sold it in the first place. But they did. It's frustrating, and HAL just shrugs it off.

I don't think there's anything you can do about this. I know when I have booked excursions directly in other countries, the T&C usually say that the price is set in local currency and the price paid (or refunded, if cancelled) will depend on exchange rates, which can change.

The first two times I was on Zuidy, the hallway carpets were a splotchy dark pattern. Some shades of blue and black, others shades of red, orange, purple. Ugly, but not so bad I would refuse to sail on the ship again. In 2020, the last time I was on board, the carpets had been changed to more neutral colors.

Or at least delivery service. I got Pinnacle reminders a week or two after my cruise, too.

I'm disappointed that they arrived after my Eurodam cruise, but I'm happy to hear that the sad piano that had been pushed way to the back of the little stage in Ocean Bar is getting to make music again.

@Greebo, it isn't just you, it's HAL. For the past week, "manage my booking" has been glitchy. Some times, it takes me to "make a payment." Sometimes it takes me to the home page for a specific booking, but when I click on Itinerary to see the day-by-day, I get an error message. They're definitely having problems this week.

Live feed of the video cams on the building?

I'd rather have a Tamarind pop-up. Entertainment choices on the R ship appear to be almost nonexistent. I hope that HAL simply didn't bother to list the Ocean Bar combo that people have reported seeing. My next cruise is on Zaandam. I'll have to stockpile a bunch of paperbacks, as I don't like using a kindle. I also see that libraries are coming back. I doubt they will be anything like the ships used to have. It takes a long time to build a proper library, not just a bunch of amazon best sellers.

They may have been reframed as a group for display purposes.

And a new opportunity has just presented itself. Makes me think of an actor bio I saw in a Playbill recently. Many actors list their websites, facebook names, etc. One said that he "is not on social media and invites you to join him there."

I didn't take time to explore the station, as I didn't want to miss the tour. The closest I can come to that are dials that showed train intervals. This was in the lobby of the building.

Last time I was in London, I did a tour of LT HQ (or is it TFL these days?). Lovely old building. I don't remember the station being terribly special or unusual. Well, it was unusual, as it was clean and I'm used to NYC subways... I agree about taking the train. I get a taxi to Waterloo, because I do not want to haul luggage through the underground. I was researching London to Southampton travel recently. The train is just under 15 pounds if you travel off-peak. The only downside I recall is that trains on this line have very little space for luggage.

1. Steward service is once or twice a day. You will be able to choose the services you want on embarkation day. 2. Most room service is free. There is an upcharge for some special items. 3. Yes, the beverage package includes specialty coffees. The most "special" the tea gets is Tazo (English Breakfast IIRC). Lido tea is Bigelow or PG Tips. If you're fussy about tea, bring your own.

I saw the same glitch for my summer 2024 cruise.

I've often said slide in late with $10 left in the bank! So you take SKI vacations--Spending Kids' Inheritance.