Silverback969

Thanks for your response--I hadn't expected quite such a deafening silence to my query.  I appreciate your response.

Regards,

Silverback

Once upon a time--many, many moons ago--there was a time when....

If I remember correctly--no longer an absolutely positive event--if you were so inclined,  you could buy HAL offered of mattress/box springs, pillows and most other bed clothes and linens, same type offerings as bath robes, scuffs, etc.  Does anyone know if such items are available?  I'd be surprised if that program is still HAL-branded merchandise such as this.  I'd appreciate any information anyone might have at hand.

Bon voyage, and fair winds and following seas.

Silverback

Good luck with that.  Our experience with our *ASSIGNED* Cruise Consultant has been spotty, to say the least.  We've consistently left called and left voice messages--you can count the number of returned calls on your thumbs.  I love the idea of doing our "business" with our PCC.  Our last request for assistance is now a couple of days old--and no response... yet ...  Our next cruise weighs anchor at the end of this month.  We have a little time left to waste my time waiting, but my patience is growing thin.  Dealing with all the assorted new policies and procedures, I find myself REALLY wanting to speak with my Private Cruise Consultant.

I think you're absolutely correct--too small for two, except maybe for standing out at the rail and waving at folks on the dock, or another cruise ship.  It would be an interesting "something" out of our ordinary, but not something that we would choose to pay THAT MUCH money for THAT LITTLE value.

Again, everyone, thanks for your responses.

Silverback

4 hours ago, Krazy Kruizers said:

I would not want a cabin like that for 2 people -- too small a balcony for 2 people let alone a family.

Thank you to all who responded.  Especially appreciate the links.  Gotta remember that those are available.... 😶

14 minutes ago, crystalspin said:

If a Vista ship (Noordam, Oosterdam, Zuiderdam, Westerdam), those are also called Juliet balconies -- just room enough to stand and call out "Romeo, Romeo" -- actually I think they have chairs. Very tight chairs.

 

We have stayed in an Ob.deck interior on Zuiderdam and have them booked on Oosterdam and Zuiderdam again. Love the location. I would take a Observation deck balcony in a minute, but that's just me -- I like the big window, not spending time on the veranda.

 

It appears that HAL sometimes takes them out of the market to hand-off to Verandah (and Inside) guarantees -- on a number of cruises I have looked into by running dummy bookings. The room selection will show a price for Observation Deck, but when clicked NEXT, the screen comes up blank white.

 

 

Thank you, Crystalspin.

Good catch, Suzy.  Guess I was taking a snooze at the keyboard.  I was looking at the deck plan for Eurodam.  As I mentioned the rooms are "VT" class, stateroom numbers VT11001 - VT1010.

We're looking at a family cruise during week after Easter.  On the Observation Deck, I see what appears to be 10 verandah staterooms--class VT.  According to the deck plan in the Cruise Atlas, there isn't a verandah, as such, but there is a "VIEWING BALCONY".  Have any of you been in one of these rooms?  Any idea of what a "viewing balcony" is???  Thanks in advance for any good intel.

Modification (A) to Correction (1)

I believe my question has been adequately flogged.  And our cabin number is 11004.  And yes, it's just about as far forward as you can go without going outside the ship.

DOHHH!!!!  You're absolutely correct, and I apologize for creating any confusion.

And, I appreciate everyone's maintaining civility, and re-enforcing my opinion of my fellow HAL cruisers. 😊

:QUOTE: Just to be clear, 1104 is a J category, not a D. :ENDQUOTE

Ger_77--not to be argumentative, but the Holland America website shows it as a Cat D in its deck plan, and our confirmation e-mail also showed it as a Cat D.  Not gonna fall on my sword over this--Hal's website isn't known for 100% accuracy on its website.  Doesn't really matter what category it is.  We've stayed in the next-door cabin on Amsterdam (I think), and we know what we're getting.  We always bring along our scotch tape, which we've used on most of our previous cruises, 'cause we didn't know the cabin walls were ferrous.  Hoosier-Grandaddy--it just so happens that I have several rare-earth magnets hanging around--if you "dissect" the hard drive out of your old computer, you'll find a pair of rare-earth magnets--watch out, though, if you get them close together, they'll slam together, and you can get a nasty, maybe even a blood blister

Thanks to all for your responses and information.  Looks as though we'll be taking our magnets along, and tape as back-up medium.

It took us a while, but we FINALLY realized the value and convenience of using magnets, or magnetic "gadgets" that we could just hang on whichever wall would be most useful.  On our last cruise--on Amsterdam--we discovered that the walls were non-ferrous--magnets wouldn't hang ANYWHERE.  Next cruise, we're booked on Nieuw Statendam, cabin D1104, and we're curious as to whether our magnetic hooks will hang on the walls.  Does anybody have any information on Nieuw Statendam?  As always, I appreciate any information you can share.

Should have done this much sooner--just to close the loop.  Our "final solution" was spend a couple nights at the Navy Inn, drove to the pier, parked in the vicinity--parking facility offered shuttle service to the pier.  Upon return from our cruise, we took the shuttle back to the parking facility, paid our bill, and drove away.  No muss, no fuss, no bother.

Getting ready to do the same, but cruise to Alaska, sailing out of Seattle.

Theredofshaw, thanks for your information.

Thanks for your help, folks.  I appreciate the information.

Lots of good info here, Ladies and Gents.  I appreciate all your responses.  Fair winds and following seas.

I've done an initial Google search, couldn't find a lot.  For the last several years, when we were cruising out of Ft. Lauderdale, we've been able to Sleep/Park/Cruise.  Very convenient--you spend a night at the hotel, for a nominal cost you park there for the duration of your cruise, take hotel shuttle to and from port.

We're taking an Alaskan cruise out of Seattle, 14 or 15 days.  We're looking for a hotel in/around Seattle that has this service.  Anybody know of such a hotel/motel?

Thanks in advance for any info.

POST IN ERROR, DELETED

This guy's idea of "fun" varies significantly from mine....

I haven't seen this addressed or discussed, but I'll bet I'm probably not the only one who has ever entertained the question.  This will be our first time in Alaska--last 2 weeks of August--and we're already putting together, at least in our heads, what we think we might need.  One of the things that we want to do is go walk on a glacier.  I'm pretty well convinced that sneakers and jeans will probably NOT be adequate or sufficient for that excursion, and possibly some others, also.  Does the ship, or the excursion concessionaire commonly supply any kind of cold weather wear?  Parkas,  gloves, or boots for glacier walking?  Thanks in advance.

1 minute ago, frankc98376 said:

There is huge group of Carnival cruisers that are "out growing" the Fun Ships and want a bit quieter cruise at a great price.  It appears that this is the group that HAL is reaching out to along with the next generation of soon to or just retired.  A lot of this group is coming from the "wired" generation that wears jeans, t-shirts. shorts, and flip flops to work. I know that everyone I work with puts connectivity at the top of their list when researching vacations.

Thanks for adding your perspective.  It makes sense that this would be happening, and I'll embrace the "Carnival refugees, as long as they don't hi-jack the elevators and run sprints up and down the hallways. 😁 I guess the only point I really want to make is that HAL, in their attempt to hi-jack the Carnival--or whichever--clientele, they're alienating an existing demographic who still bring money with us when we cruise.

My wife and I were on Koningsdam in December 2018; library was, essentially, non-existent.  You could probably have stolen the entire inventory of the library in the space of one carry-on--according to Ashford, this would probably not have been missed.  We were on the first cruise out of dry-dock, and there were all manner of issues.  The in-room electronics were nice, but that's an update that I would have traded for the conventional library.  I've bought and read e-books, but I genuinely prefer the aesthetics of a physical book.  My wife is something of a troglodyte when it comes to this kind of consumer electronics, and I'm not sure if she'll ever read an e-book.

The previous comments about EVERYTHING being turned into a profit center are absolutely on-target.  We're pretty much hard-core HAL cruisers who will probably have to be driven out of the fleet.  Current "leadership" is doing a pretty good job of alienating a core group of clientele with upgrades that are targeted at hi-jacking Carnival's cruiser demographics.

Re: Weatherunderground.com .  They also provide sunrise/sunset times for that local location.

Scott, there's a web site called Weatherunderground.com .  Just like weather.com, and several other websites, you can get full meteorological information for your local area.  However, if you dig just a little, there are links to historical information--"extreme" highs and lows, and also average highs and lows, amount of precipitation.  I used that site to help plan for a 56-day Mediterranean cruise, late spring.  I also got good information in helping me plan for a year-long deployment in Iraq--had no idea what I might expect in terms of high- and low- temperatures, and amount of rainfall.  Who would have guessed that Iraq--or, at least that area that I called "home"--would have a rainy season?

But, in direct response to your question, I'd suspect that you'd have fairly warm days and evenings.  Good luck, and enjoy your cruise. 👍

On 10/26/2018 at 7:43 PM, sevenseasnomad said:

Your second comment about dressing up to match your wife's "sensational" attire is very sweet. 

Aww, shucks, Ma'am....

I hope dress attire on gala nights doesn't go away.  I'm no longer a "younger" cruiser--neither in age, nor in number of cruises, and I have fond memories of full dress-up evenings--especially on the ships of a couple of smaller cruise lines that are now out of business.  We had, not only formal nights, but also theme nights--for example, " '50's night (poodle skirts and saddle shoes, and jeans with white socks and penny loafers, even stick-on tattoos.  I've Just ordered a new tuxedo suit, and I have enough different cummerbund-and-bowtie combinations--some of them VERY colorful--that I have a different "look" for every gala/formal night.  And I--being the walking anachronism that I am--I also got a new pair of patent dress shoes.

I never feel out of place or uncomfortable in full dress.  And, it might be just my imagination, but I'm pretty sure that I see some of the younger women--accompanied by their man wearing khakis, loafers, and polo shirts--glance my way and smile, maybe wishing their guy had dressed up just a little bit more.  If my lovely wife is going to take the little additional effort to look more sensational than usual, I think it's only fair that I put a little more into what I'm putting on.