*Miss G*

Yes. Correct.

I have noticed that cruising in Europe tends to be dressier than cruising in North America. If you’d like to wear a gorgeous formal gown I’m sure you’d look beautiful. If you prefer to pack smart casual then you will still be fine. Have a wonderful time.

How about this, taken directly from the Air Canada website?

The Pinnacle ships start generating revenue at a lower capacity than the smaller ships so the pricing usually reflects that.

Once you’ve completed your ArriveCAN information, the CBSA officers can see the details connected to your passport. If you hadn’t filled one out, that is when you would have had a visit with the CBSA. I can understand your frustration with the shuttle service. Hopefully HAL had/will have someone actually go through the process so they can understand the situation and provide better details.

I took it to mean “at home” as in “the area she lives” vs wearing a mask in a house.

I honestly think you’d be happier on the Nieuw Statendam. Take the comments on the newer ships by those who haven’t sailed on them with a grain of salt. The rooms are not cramped and have lots more storage than the older ships. You will not find the piazza concept on a HAL ship, but you will have a fabulous forward ocean view observation area on all the HAL ships. The Zaandam has an old-school dark clubby atmosphere while the NS is light and bright and open. I am not putting the Zaandam down because it is a beautiful ship in its own right and I would be happy to sail on her anytime. Basically, the Pinnacle-class ships are light and bright (and definitely not crowded), with lots of dining and evening music entertainment, while the Zaandam is dark and lovely but with less options for dining and entertainment. Of the two itineraries, would opt for an overnight in Quebec City vs a visit to Montreal. QC is quite beautiful in the evening.

If those two items are important to you then definitely the Nieuw Statendam.

On our recent Sky voyage, the soft-serve ice cream was outstanding! (and I am super picky)

You may want to look into Port Valet. Hopefully you can use them with a red-eye flight at that hour. They also have a number of links on their website to help with your tour planning. Enjoy your cruise!

Having just got off Sky Princess I can definitely say that HAL’s cuisine is better than Princess. I did prefer Alfredo’s pizza over HAL’s, though, but HAL’s burger restaurant (Dive-In) has Princess’ Salty Dog beat hands down, along with the Lido buffet and MDR.

As @albingirl said, the verandah doors are not to remain open. It’s been discussed a lot so an explanation will probably be posted soon. You will have very unhappy neighbors. I agree you should mention the vibration to your cabin steward or Guest Services. Sorry to hear you are disappointed in your cruise.

I use this LED sensor light I picked up at the dollar store. It fits in the shaving receptacle perfectly. (It uses less wattage than an electric shaver. About 0.5 w)

I saw the answer in another thread but can’t seem to find it at the moment. I’m sure someone will be along with the information. Just wanted to mention that ships don’t always make it into the outer harbour at Victoria due to adverse marine conditions so you may want to have a backup plan in place.

Since the Blue Ridge Mountains run the length of western Virginia it is more likely he is referring to the geographical location as opposed to another state.

After a series of frustrating experiences with not having access to a sommelier, or even a wine steward, on my last few HAL cruises, I am thrilled to hear they might be reverting back.

Wow, sorry to hear you’re in quarantine with covid. I hope it’s not with Princess. There are some pretty unhappy stories over on that board.

Flew April 1st on Air Canada from Heathrow and they had people going through the queue looking to see everyone’s ArriveCAN receipt before we got to check-in. I wouldn’t want to encounter a grumpy CBSA Officer at the other end if I hadn’t filled one out, that’s for sure.

Wow. NCL really dropped the ball on that one. Happy to hear you got the golden ticket!

Just to clarify, the internet didn’t work from time of boarding, sitting in Port Everglades until 7:20 pm sailaway and all the way to Southampton, UK, with port stops in between. It wasn’t just the “speed in the middle of the ocean”; it was the fact that it was unavailable for the entire trip. I’ve been on other TA’s where the internet worked fine. I’ve even read where the internet worked on Princess TA’s pre-covid. It just didn’t work on this specific trip and it wasn’t due to satellite positioning. Thank you for sharing.

I was on the same sailing and also the first time with Princess. It was the consensus of all four of us that we would not be back. In addition to what others have said, my impression is that there is a strong lack of communication and cohesiveness at all levels. Management appeared to be struggling and it felt like they’d left their staff to fend for themselves as best they could. I wouldn’t have been surprised if some had just thrown their hands in the air and walked away if not for the fact that they were trapped on a ship at sea. To the OP, although your letter was long and rambling the frustration was apparent. Unfortunately, given the basic communication issues which Princess is experiencing, I very much doubt you’ll see a response. Hopefully, on some level, they are listening and are able to recover before self-destructing.

HAL has much better food quality and availability than I found on Sky Princess, most notably with room service. I found room service severely lacking on Princess and traditional dining was non-existent.

Was on Nieuw Statendam in December and Sky Princess last month. Foodwise, I would choose HAL over Princess but your focus appears to be activities. For that, I would choose Princess over HAL.

All your information will be retained if you start over. The only thing you’d be changing is the port of entry and you’ll get a new QR code.

No need to uninstall. The app will update itself and retain all your info. 👍