vicd1969

You can also play board games or do puzzles on the Explorations Central deck, and view the scenery from there as well. Or enjoy late night snacks at the NY Pizza or Lido buffet. But yeah, HAL ships are more limited in entertainment options for non-gambling night owls, other than the music walk.

My first cruise was a main deck quad on the Zaandam. While we were 4 adults, 2 of the other were of petite-sized. There is a curtain that you can use to separate the couch area with the bed area for some dressing privacy. Storage space was very good for 4. I didn't feel cramped as the couch surfer, but it may be difficult at night to get by the couch, laid out as a bed, to go to the bathroom. One thing that helped me cope with the quad was that I booked the thermal suite for the cruise, so took my showers in the locker room instead of in the cabin. Halfacts has some pics - the sofa of the cabin in question does fold out, just didn't in the pics. https://halfacts.com/2671-amsterdam/

Depends - the bag can fit a lot of clothes and may allow you to save on having to check in a piece of luggage on your flight (up to $60-$70 round-trip cost if you're not flying Southwest). It used to be $20-25 per bag for non-European itineraries but I believe HAL has raised the price to $30 for all cruises. On Pinnacle class ships like the Rotterdam, if you are planning to eat dinner in mostly the main dining room, run to the dining room manager on embarkation day as soon as you are done with your muster requirements and reserve a set preferred time (may only be allowed to set from night #2 onwards). That's because anytime dining where you just show up can be a crapshoot in both wait times and getting an attentive waiter (they're kind of understaffed in the MDRs of that class of ship). Intermediate-level hack: Hopefully, is your booked cabin like an obstructed balcony or bottom-category oceanview? Then I highly, highly recommend buying the club orange package. That allows you to upgrade for free to the highest category room in the type of cabin (ie, the highest level of non-suite balcony if you are currently booked on a balcony, or the highest level of oceanview if you currently have an oceanview) AND allows you to dine in the separate Club Orange room on the Rotterdam - where the service is usually better due to a higher waitstaff-to-diner ratio.

OP said this particular cruise is a charter with activities that don’t interest him, but he is going along with his travel partner. Would be curious to see if he can pull this off in a safe manner , in case I need to use the tv input myself possibly in the future to view photos taken during the cruise.

No he is a veteran poster on this board and his website is THE go-to resource for HAL menus.

You can even wear shorts to the dining room and no one would bat an eye.I do recommend bringing your wildlife camera with you in case a whale comes to say hi.

That is a good idea worth asking. On the Nieuw Statendam most of the video consoles in Club Hal were PS4 but I think they also had one PS5. Also I don’t know if this is still the case, but the large J class interior on the main deck of Vista and Signature class ships like Westerdam had TVs that could swivel due to the bed layout. So their ports were accessible at that time.

One nice thing about the Carnival Pride - if you have ever been on the Eurodam or Nieuw Amsterdam, its layout is very similar except it doesn’t have a full promenade deck.

CrewNews has the menus Dutch Cafe menu https://rogerjett-photography.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Grand-Dutch-Cafe-2021-1.pdf Exploration cafe https://rogerjett-photography.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Explorations-Cafe.pdf both have very good coffee but the Dutch Cafe line can be a bit long during peak morning times

I did a similar itinerary a few years before COVID, except replace Cannes with Monaco. The Taormina tender was not a problem for getting back to the ship. Kotor has a small port - unfortunately HAL is drawing the short straw and another ship gets to dock right in front of the town main entrance. But I don't expect the tender there will have to cover a long distance like a tender at Half Moon or Grand Cayman. Given that the Oosterdam isn't a huge ship and the short tender distances involved, I think you'll be safe scheduling a private tour an hour after arrival time. At both Taormina and Kotor, four of us just grabbed a taxi for the day, and the drivers waited while we walked around the spots we wanted to go, with some advice from them. I haven't been to Cannes but would only consider getting a private tour if you're set on exploring the countryside regions outside Cannes.

Not as much as Alaska, at least from the ship. I saw zero whales on my 7-day cruise. There may be excursions that are more focused on wildlife, but the best time for marine life is more towards the early late fall from what I understand.

Great review. Too bad about the Billboard piano singer’s attitude, hope you wrote about that in your post-cruise survey. While not exactly the same, at least you will have amazing onshore food experiences in Japan in lieu of Tamarind for your next cruise!

My vote is for Northern Europe - Norway likely to restrict cruises after 2024. South America & Antarctica - save up and take an expedition cruise instead if you are physically able to. Much different experience than a drive-by cruise. Japan cruise - Japan will always be available, unless China or NK get in a war after 2024. But if so, there are other issues one would need to worry about.

At least for the USA, if a cruise ship is operating at a US port, all foreign crew require a work visa: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/other-visa-categories/crewmember-visa.html Crewmember Visa Generally, a citizen of a foreign country who wishes to enter the United States must first obtain a visa, either a nonimmigrant visa for temporary stay, or an immigrant visa for permanent residence. Crewmember (D) visas are nonimmigrant visas for persons working on board commercial sea vessels or international airlines in the United States, providing services required for normal operation and intending to depart the United States on the same vessel or any other vessel within 29 days. If you travel to the United States to join the vessel you will work on, in addition to a crewmember (D) visa, you also need a transit (C-1) visa or a combination C-1/D visa. Travel purposes which require Crewmember (D) Visas - Examples: pilot or flight attendant on a commercial airplane captain, engineer, or deckhand on a sea vessel lifeguard, cook, waiter, beautician, or other service staff on a cruise ship trainee on board a training vessel

How does the spa pass work in these grand voyages? Are you able to buy for a week at a time, or do you have to buy for the entire voyage and pay $$$$? My ideal sea day on a grand voyage would be a gym visit to lose a bit of that weight gain and then after a shower, a nice relaxing session in the thermal suite.

EZE is a relatively compact airport compared to US or European ones. The charter and domestic flights leave from Terminal C - make sure your ride/driver/cab is aware of that. You likely will board the plane using outside jetway stairs, not a bridge. Plan on leaving the city about 3 hours before the departure. If your flight leaves at 2 PM, I would leave downtown Buenos Aires at 11 AM, for example.

I've never been on Seabourn or Regent, but based on my experience onboard Atlas, these seem to be the main differences: Smaller ship on Atlas with about 150-200 passengers compared to twice the number or more in Seabourn or Regent (except for Seabourn's expedition ship but I doubt that will be used in the Med) Food is more on the level of Oceania/Azamara than Seabourn/Regent Pre-cruise experience (ie, booking, confirmations, support pre-cruise) is less hand-holding and a bit more "trust us, we'll let you know" until about 2 weeks before sailing. You literally will get closer to the sea on Atlas - the viewing areas can be 30 feet from the sea and there should be more water-based activities. Given the ship size, less entertainment activities but a more intimate and close-knit vibe on Atlas among fellow passengers Atlas has some nice discounts, but it's hard to get the clear picture on their website without calling a travel agent. One nice discount they have is that active and retired military get a 20% discount that is combinable with all other discounts you are able to get.

Wait a minute - are you going on SAS's site because your United booking is a codeshare with SAS and the actual plane is an SAS flight, or is it the other way around with an SAS booking but a United airplane? If it's the former, not sure you will be able to select seats since most European carriers require a fee for advance seat reservations. If you're flying on a United plane, you should be able to reserve seats.

Maybe it is a US-visa thing or maybe it depends on which area in the ship you are hanging out at. Summer in Europe on Rotterdam - no noticeable crew staffing issues, though I was in Club Orange. Best wait staff ever for me on a HAL cruise. November (before the infamous Thanksgiving cruise) on Nieuw Statendam - no issue with cabin attendants or pool area, but anytime MDR service was inconsistent and one time the only reason why we didn't walk out was that the buffet was going to close soon.

Gee, that stinks. Bonaire is so much better than Aruba for me. And then you are limited in Aruba beach time (if any) as the ship is arriving at 5 PM. I do understand that a broken azipod limits the ship's options, but at least HAL ought to bump up the compensation. $50 is too low of compensation.

Unfortunately your options will likely be pricier for PHL but unrestricted Flight Ease usually is cheaper than normal restricted airfare if you check often and rebook before final payment. Last year my nonstop went down by $150 to Europe before final payment was due.

I normally get the laundry by the bag or unlimited, but I've never gone on a cruise longer than 14 days. During my recent expedition cruise to Antarctica, the cruise line didn't offer laundry by the bag so this $7 clothesline was very, very useful. I probably am not allowed to provide a link but search your giant online retailer for "Retractable Portable Clothesline for Travel，Clothing line with 12 Clothes Clips, for Indoor Laundry Drying line, Outdoor Camping Accessories" item with the colorful clips. Most Hal ships do have a clothesline by the shower stall, but you'll have to bring your own clothes pins/clips.

Have been on two HAL cruises post-pandemic. Food has been very good for the most part, though one of the cruises was in a separate Club Orange dining room. Service was spotty in the MDR during the other one, but I haven't been on any other mass market cruise line since COVID to compare. My sister did recently sail on Princess and seemed to have enjoyed it, though some of the food offerings based on her photos were at best in the "questionable" category. As for entertainment and activities, HAL has always lagged all the other mass market cruise lines and there are fewer non-sales related activities than before. But I've enjoyed the onboard music offerings on the Pinnacle ships more than the main stage shows HAL had in past years, for what it's worth. HAL still is a good value proposition for its itineraries in Alaska, Europe, and Asia, but I wouldn't sail them on the standard 7-day Caribbean / Mexico ones unless one lowers their expectations about those cruises.

I think I got my leather binder around 3 weeks before the cruise. You should get it within the coming week, it will have the charter information. You should also get an email from Atlas around the same time. I do agree that the pre-cruise experience is not the "hand-holding" experience some may expect at this price point. I also relied on a social media Atlas passengers group to get additional information or confirm news. For example, I got an email from my TA a couple of days before the cruise that the charter flight was going to USH two hours later, but the two other bookings from a different TA in my group didn't. But the hand-holding does start once you arrive in person at the airport terminal. Also, I do recommend that you verify you're on the return passenger manifest. There was a mixup and two of my friends weren't put on it, but fortunately they got it resolved at the airport with the charter airline when we got back to Ushuaia a day early.

The nice bag is also given out to Club Orange passengers. I brought mine to two subsequent non-CO cruises, it's a very nice bag.