wdw1972

Testing at the pier doesn't catch all the cases - only the people who got infected early enough ago for it to be detectable. People need to decide whether living their lives includes cruising or not - and be done with it. Everything carries some risk - and though I'm not in my 80's yet I will continue to do everything I want to do (including cruising) because I have no way of knowing when my days will be over. Covid these days is no big deal to "almost" everyone who is vaccinated (& boosted to some degree), so it's time for cruise lines to stop all the testing and quarantining and let things get back to normal. Let the passengers decide for themselves what level of risk they're comfortable taking. As an aside - I'm mid 60's, 3 time cancer survivor but no other health issues, went to work every single day while much of the country was shut down, do not wear a mask unless required, have been dining inside in restaurants since May 2020, multiple trips to Disney, couple cruises, been around people positive with covid numerous times, fully vaccinated, 1 booster - and I've never had covid. I trust my immune system, since it obviously works (except for cancer <g>). Most of the people I work closely with have also never had it - yet we're "old" and have constant exposure. I haven't figured that one out. Sue/WDW1972

I'm pretty sure I've read here that people have ordered doubles and it just counts as 2 drinks. I've not personally done it since I mainly drink wine. But something like whiskey should be easy to ring a double up as 2 drinks. Sue/WDW1972

I was on the Rotterdam in December and Nieuw Amsterdam in February, and although there are differences between them overall I thought they were equally great. The Nieuw Amsterdam looked every bit at nice & stylish as the nearly new Rotterdam (which is beautiful). Where the Nieuw Amsterdam excelled was the larger Retreat cabanas, wide promenade deck with a view, nicer Pinnacle Bar. Where the Rotterdam excelled was Rudi's Sel de Mer & Grand Dutch Cafe, BB Kings AND Rolling Stone (BB King's venue is bigger/nicer on this ship), and the music themed art was fun to look at. Overall though, I wouldn't consider either of them to be inferior to the other - just different in a few ways. Sue/WDW1972

Yes, you can buy wine packages. They have 3 tiers (cheapest to highest), each with 4, 6 or 8 bottle packages. You can find them on the website and based on the wine selections find the tier you're interested in, then determine how many bottles. There's no advantage to booking before you get onboard - I wait until I'm on the ship to book it. Mariner 3, 4 & 5 star discounts apply, but if you book before boarding you'll pay full price and get the discount back as refundable onboard credit once on the ship. The wine packages work great in the restaurants/MDR but my one time trying to get one of our bottles in a lounge (Ocean Bar) was disappointing. We ended up just ordering and paying for wine by the glass. So depending on where you plan to drink your wine it may or may not make sense to just do the wine package. Of course if you drink red wine you could get a bottle while at dinner and keep it in your stateroom - then just bring it to whatever bar you're going to spend time in. In my case I only drink white and I expect mine to be COLD so toting a bottle around the ship isn't what I want to do. Sue/WDW1972

Not for everyone. The idea of sitting in the MDR for a period of time, eating a pre-plated meal has zero appeal. I'm an early riser so by the time the Lido opens I've been up a couple hours already. I can get exactly what I want, with no wait, and be in & out within about 20 minutes - off to do something else. As an alternative, if I wait another couple hours I'll order breakfast via our cabana stewards and enjoy it in my Retreat cabana (along with a mimosa). But MDR - no way, not for me. Sue/WDW1972

Yes, as long as you qualify. I have both. Sue/WDW1972

I like my cheese with crackers (as opposed to no crackers), but saltines??? No, that's what I would crumble up in tomato soup. Cheese deserves decent crackers, which sadly have never been found on HAL. Since I tend to pick up some cheese to stash in my stateroom fridge for a snack while sipping wine I bring a small tupperware-type container that holds decent crackers I bring from home. Someone here once mentioned CrunchMaster crackers, which I tried & really like (thank you whoever you are), and you can fit a LOT of them in a very small container. Sue/WDW1972

Of course. Sue/WDW1972

Yes - it's in one of the closets if I remember correctly. I know every stateroom on Rotterdam has one. Sue/WDW1972

I also thought this was over - I got it for a previous cruise. Thank you to the person who started this thread. I submitted for my upcoming 2 cruises (booked via TA) and had the email reply confirming both were approved within a few hours. Sue/WDW1972

No - they're not allowed. Steamers aren't allowed either. HAL will do a great job pressing your item(s) in the laundry (for a nominal fee) or you can bring some wrinkle-releasing spray. Or better yet - bring wrinkle-resistant clothes! 😉 Sue/WDW1972

No - anything booked in advance has to be paid at time of booking (credit card, gift card). Sue/WDW1972

Interesting - I could have sworn a ship's engineer posted the info but could be mistaken. Perhaps it's one of those "old wives tales" that just get passed down. But, how could they not know Charmin was your toilet paper, since the ship doesn't carry that brand? I've not heard of toilet paper randomly materializing from thin air in random staterooms 😉 Sue/WDW1972

I sailed in 1018 on Rotterdam this past December. Not only was there no noise at all, I didn't notice any movement. I'll be back in the same stateroom on Nieuw Statendam in March. Sue/WDW1972

Your toilet paper was confiscated because the ships' toilet/waste lines could get clogged up by it - impacting many guests. Their toilet paper is specially made for this type of system, and that's all you're supposed to use. It's not like being at home or in a hotel on land 😉 Loving your report and photos! Agree the hat really suits your husband - and those crab prices are insane! I'm glad I don't like crab, lol. Sue/WDW1972

The reason is the Vista class ships (Zuiderdam is one of those) recently changed from BB King to Rolling Stone Lounge. Sue/WDW1972

If you open the app and then hit the Experiences button on the bottom (looks like the HAL logo) one of the options is "About". Click that and it'll tell you what version you have. I think I'm set to update automatically, as mine says 4.13. Sue/WDW1972

Thank you for your review - thoroughly enjoyed it! It's always nice to see a report from a first-timer...takes me back to the old days when HAL hooked me! I was mid-30's back then, HAL was my 3rd cruise line, but I knew immediately we "clicked" - 30 years later they're still the right choice for me. Hope you and your wife enjoy many more cruises in your future! Sue/WDW1972

Yes - so sorry for the confusion! No experience in 6166, as I prefer to stay forward rather than aft. Sue/WDW1972

I've had that stateroom on Nieuw Amsterdam, which is the same. The pro is the huge verandah - deck 4 is deeper and this one is the width of 2 verandahs. The con is it's so far aft. I always have a cabana in the Retreat, which is forward, so it's a hike from the stateroom (inconvenient running back & forth during the day). Sue/WDW1972

Not only should trash and dirty dishes/glasses never be set out in the hallway (except in the quarantine area where they tell you to do that), I'm not comfortable leaving it for my cabin stewards to clean up either. A room service tray - I'll call room service when I'm finished. If I bring a plate of something from the Lido, Grand Dutch Cafe, NY Pizza, etc I feel I can get up off my lazy butt and return the plate to the area it came from. Cabin stewards have enough to do making beds, cleaning up bathrooms, etc. A few extra steps on a cruise never hurts 😉 Sue/WDW1972

We've always been happy with the sparkling stuff up there (or a drink - not wine - from the bar). Last cruise (Nieuw Amsterdam late February) our stewards quickly learned we preferred the cheese plate to the fruit, and had one every day (sometimes fruit too but usually we declined that). Love the Retreat! Sue/WDW1972

I'll remember that for some day when I'm cruising without the beverage package again. For me it makes sense to go for the "no perks" fare since I don't care about excursions in the Caribbean anymore, always have a Retreat cabana (with plenty of water and sparkling wine), and can get specialty dining and wine packages at 50% off. I don't mind buying the internet. It won't be hard to find a favorite bar - and then have a bottle sent there each evening, or even rotate among a few places. I only drink white, so taking a bottle with me doesn't work since I want it COLD. Thanks! Sue/WDW1972

I once tried to get a bottle from our package while in the Ocean Bar and it was clear they weren't accustomed to doing that. Evidently the storage area isn't exactly close by, and with only a couple of stewards working they couldn't very well drop down to 1 person taking care of everyone so we ended up ordering by the glass (during happy hour). I haven't tried since, but it would be nice for it not to be such a problem! Sue/WDW1972

In the past it had to be the identical drink, and they were both delivered at the same time. I haven't bothered with happy hour since they started cruising again, since both my sailings had the beverage package included so we could drink wherever and whenever - didn't need a 4pm happy hour. Sue