sunviking90

We don’t attend a lot of shows aside from the occasional production show in the main theatre, and definitely be there early for that. The second show “may” be easier to get into. Are you talking about some of the game shows, etc in Princess Live? It’s a fairly small venue so I’d arrive there about 15 min early too. Just prioritize what you want to see. We are more laid back, so maybe someone else can advise.

We book our dining times in the MDR as soon as we can. This can be done in the app. You’ll be given options for 2-3 dining rooms, but they all have the same menu. Shows do not need to be prebooked, but arrive at least 30 min early.

Yes, Princess now charges unless you have their package or pay to “activate” their food delivery service. Breakfast is still free delivery. Their buffet hours more than compensate though. It seems to be open almost all day with a wide variety of options. We’ve found the short lido hours on HAL to be annoying. When we get back from a day in port it’s nice to grab a healthy snack, but we really had to preplan and keep snacks in our fridge. They even put away the fresh fruit (apples, etc) at 2 pm.

I see. Maybe that explains it.

We recently disembarked the Volendam and I noticed when checking our account through the cruise that every time we ordered room service it showed up on our statement as a $0 charge. This made me wonder if the free room service on HAL is ending and the systems are being set up to have a charge, following other lines such as Princess. I don’t remember noticing this on our statements previously, but our last HAL cruise was over a year ago. Has anyone heard anything along these lines? If it is coming, then HAL will need to expand Lido hours to compensate. On our cruise it was completely closed except for beverages between 10-11:30 am, 4-5:30 pm, and 8-10:30 pm.

Everything is made to be thrown away now. When I was a kid almost everything was made in North America, and prices reflected that. I don’t think people would have stood for an appliance only lasting 10 years back then as things were expensive! I think my parents paid $500 for their first dishwasher back in 1979, and it was still working 30 years later. You can still get a low end dishwasher for $500 now, but it won’t last that long, nor will a higher end one.

How lucky for you to be able to visit that ship. What a classic.

I wonder about this as the only ships we’ve experienced plumbing issues on have been HAL ships. Our cabin was flooded on the last day of a Zaandam cruise and she was about 10 years old at the time. Certainly not ancient. We also had water spraying out into the hall on a Zuiderdam cruise when she was only about 6 years old. We have taken almost 40 cruises over the last 30+ years and haven’t experienced this on any other lines. I’m not sure why.

Great info on here. We are taking our first cruise out of Barcelona next year, and read that the cruise ships will now have to dock at Moll d’Adossat pier. Does this info still apply or is it that much farther out?

If you are planning to cruise out of Seattle with the HIA, I would recommend booking soon when you see a price you like. We book Alaska last minute, but we go out of Vancouver (superior itinerary imho, and convenient for us) and we don’t drink so we just do a standard fare. There a lot of variables depending which itinerary you are looking at, etc.

Thanks for the info. It may be worth reposting to a new thread rather than adding to a 2 year old one though.

This is what we got in ours. We rolled everything and shoved the smaller items down the sides. It’s cloth with a draw string at the top.

We also just use the bag. On our recent cruise of 18 days we sent out a $25 bag about halfway through and got a LOT in it. I didn’t specify hangers or folded and it came back assorted as I would have chosen. We found once was enough and washed a few small items in the sink with a bit of detergent I had packed.

It will be interesting to see what decisions are made for this year’s world cruise on the Zuiderdam and when. It’s a massive itinerary change if they can’t take that route.

It wouldn’t bother me as I don’t hang out at the pool. I’m guessing at least half the guests will approve.

Bon Voyage! 🛳️

It was a reference to @Roz saying she didn’t want to be “stuck” on the Volendam or Zaandam. I could have used quotes for clarity I guess. I am happy to be “stuck” on either ship anytime. edited: I read through and see this has already been clarified.

As far as I know they have pickle ball courts. They are the “official” pickle ball cruise line aren’t they? Volendam had 2 new pickle ball courts.

We just finished being stuck on the Volendam for 18 days and after quite a few cruises on larger Princess ships post pandemic as well as the Zuiderdam, we LOVED the friendly small ship feel of the Volendam. The recent refurbishment left the ship feeling fresh, while keeping anll the classic things we love like the huge library and she’s now our favorite. We had only 1200 passengers and it was great! We all have different tastes and that’s fine. I’m trying out my first Pinnacle class in January on Koningsdam. I know I’ll miss the wide promenade, but aside from that I may love it. Who knows?

That menu looks delicious. We aren’t vegetarian, but do centre our meals around vegetables, and I would love most things in there, except the “beyond meat”. I’d rather go without than have manufactured imitations.

Thank you for your review. We had almost booked this cruise and decided on a different one. Our best Princess cruises in recent years were also the early pandemic restart ones, such as yours in January 2022. Those of us who were able to take these sailings experienced great personalized service and Princess really pulled out the stops to make things good for returning passengers. It sounds like the buffet has really gone downhill. Hopefully it is just a one off for this ship. I agree about the Piazza. It has become a horrible, noisy, chaotic environment. We avoid it completely. We just returned from a Holland America cruise, and while I prefer many things about Princess, I loved the peaceful and quiet environment on HAL.

Agree. Not a favorite of mine. It seems like they just sprinkle topping on cooked fruit filling and quickly torch it. The topping has an odd taste to me. I prefer Princess’s version.

I started asking for broccoli with no salt in it on the side as we noticed there were few veggies too. The ones that showed up were either stewed, in some type of ragout, or bits of turnip, carrot etc and salted. The first time I ordered extra steamed veggies on the side they were very salty so I learned my lesson and asked for no salt in them. We are finding it hard to avoid the heavy salt in everything. It’s the same on Celebrity and Princess. There were fruit crisps almost daily in the dining room on our recent Volendam cruise.

This is right. I booked our recent cruise with a TA, but called myself 2 days before sailing for upsells and took one. I also want to clarify that TA’s DO make additional commission on upsells. My TA previously forwarded me an email from HAL with upsell offers that I thought were too high so I waited. This is a quote from the email: “Enhance your clients' cruise and increase your commission by taking advantage of a reduced rate to upgrade their accommodations. Here is your offer:…….”

That’s what we do. Lock any valuables in the safe, put carry on in the corner of the closet and off we go.