thunderbay

We have cabin 11042 concierge and wondering if it has the overhang on the balcony others have mentioned on the other Oceania ships. 

Yes we were given $100 SB credit as we upgraded to verandah as well as the overall cost being $500 cheaper since there is a promo on now. We originally booked while on board last March. 

We were also booked on this cruise. I have to say I was initially upset but we rebooked on the Nieuw Amsterdam which imo is a much nicer ship. We went on the NS last year and it was not our favourite ship. Too dark and too loud. Although the March 14th itinerary is not what we preferred we decided being on a ship we enjoyed was well worth the compromise 

I completely agree with your review. We also found it to be crowded in the Lido. And yes, the ship is too dark for my liking. We also were given an upgrade that we did not request. Ended up being a very noisy location due to the bands playing late at night. Our cabin was literally vibrating. We requested to be moved and ended up in the cabin you mentioned. We loved the extra large balcony too!  Much prefer the older class ships!

We were booked on a cruise scheduled for March 15th on Nieuw Statendam and got notification yesterday that the cruise has been cancelled. Did anyone hear as to why this happened. We were able to book on the Nieuw Amsterdam departing March 14th not crazy about the itinerary but we got a better cabin at a better rate so our plan is to stay on the ship and enjoy the spa. 

30 minutes ago, eroller said:

 

 

I don't think I can say the website, but it includes "cruise" and "timetables". 

Perfect! Thank you !

What site is it that shows you what ships are in each port?

1 hour ago, richwmn said:

Yes, you are sharing HMC with Koningsdam on Monday, as we are on Saturday. I'm sure observations will be made

 

I just received notification from HAL that our boardingtime is at 3:30. We have a rental car that we must return by 10:30 am and we were taking shuttle to terminal after that. Is HAL strict about this schedule. We will have to sit around for 5 hours?  We have always boarded at 11:30 on previous HAL cruises. This is new to us. 

We are in the same situation with HAL. Just received niggificatythat our boarding time is 3:30 with sail away at 5. This is very late. We have to drop our rental car off at 10:30 that morning and will be stuttled to the port. So now we will have to wait several hours to get on the ship?? Is HAL strict about this?

1 hour ago, richwmn said:

Music Walk / Entertainment Revisited.

 

First up this evening was LIncoln Center Stage.

 

As I said before, the ladies are very accomplished musicians and they didn't disappoint. I stayed around for 4, maybe 5 songs which is pretty good for me. The set was titled "All American" and the selection was excellent. I also enjoyed the little bit of discussion that was included about the music.

 

Rolling Stone Rock Room.

 

They started out the set tonight with "Take It Easy", which they played yesterday. Again a good version. The next two songs I didn't feel they did justice to, but both were songs I really like the originals of. Walking by later they were back to acceptable if not good so overall a nice addition.

 

B.B. King.

 

I have been impressed with the B.B. King group on other ships that have had it. This group did well, and played to a large audience. Since they started before the 8pm main stage show ended there were a bunch of people that stopped after that show ended. Again, very good musicians and a good choice of songs.

 

Billboard.

 

I guess I am a bit resistant to the "Dueling Pianos" concept, as I really like the Piano Bars on the smaller ships. I did listen for a bit and they are talented. I'll have to give them a bit more of a try.

 

The Main Stage Entertainment -  The Comedy of Brian Bradley.

 

The World Stage was already pretty full when I got there. I stood near the back and listened to the first few minutes. I am told I didn't give him enough time and that he is really funny, so I'll head back to the Stage now and try again.

 

In case I didn't mention it before, the movie at 7pm & 9:30pm on the big screen was Widows.

 

Really enjoying your posts. Thanks so much for doing this.  We are sailing on this ship on March 10.  We have cabin 1183.  I'm a light sleeper so I am hoping it's in a quiet location!

Yes I am talking about the Regal Princess Sanctuary.  It was so wonderful!  I just checked HAL online and I don't even see an option to book the Retreat before boarding

Are these cabanas comparable to The Sanctuary on Princess?  We booked the Sanctuary on sea days.  Loved the privacy, as well as the tea and dainties at 3 pm each day.

On 1/13/2019 at 10:22 PM, oceanmom said:

 

We had two retreat cabanas on the Christmas NS cruise and loved every minute of it. There are solid panels and canvas panels between the individual cabanas so if you choose the right two cabanas next to each other, you can push the canvas to one side and have a double size cabana--although the two lounges take up most of the space in a cabana with a small table between the lounges.

Unfortunately, I didn't choose cabanas with the canvas between them--but we survived. As I recall, the family size cabanas had solid panels on each side. Then the next two cabanas had a canvas wall between them, then a solid panel, then a canvas panel, etc. We had cabanas #17 and 18 with a solid wall between us. There are lounges out in the open area, several dining tables, and a hot tub that was popular. And three wonderful cabana stewards!! Champagne, chocolate covered strawberries, and frozen grapes at 3PM each afternoon.

is there such a thing as a coffee card?  All I want is to purchase a specialty coffee each morning.  On Princess I had a punch card.  I believe it was about $30 and you got unlimited coffee/tea and about 10 specialty coffees

Can someone tell me what site it is that tells you how many ships will be at each port on specific days. Thanks

We are sailing out on March 10th on the Nieuw Amsterdam. We have an aft cabin 8164. We love to be in the aft but after talking with the Holland America agent they are offering us an upgrade to a VQ spa stateroom on the panorama deck. She tells us this is a sweet deal but after looking at the room on their website, we really don't see much difference. Any suggestions as to what we should do? Is this type of room on this deck really better?