AV8rix

Actually, CCL (corporate) got a new IT department in 2016 -- just google "Carnival Cruise Line outsource Capgemini" and it's been downhill ever since. Web site is actually user-hostile, not user-friendly. JMO.

https://www.hollandamerica.com/en/us/onboard-experiences/suites-staterooms <sigh> Can't believe that you don't know how to do this on your own, as you've been sailing on HAL for a long time.

Yes, there is a MAJOR perk -- but only on the Pinnacle-class ships. You said in your OP that noise was one of the key factors for your becoming disenchanted with Princess. I agree with others here that the noise level on decks 2-3 of the three Pinnacle-class ships is DEAFENING! I actually have to get ear plugs from Guest Services to play blackjack in the casino on deck 3. However -- getting back to the original subject -- there is another VERY noisy area on the Pinnacle-class ships that no one has mentioned so far. And that is the MDR. Don't know why the acoustics are so deficient in there. It's not that way on the older ships. Anyway, it is nearly impossible to converse with your tablemates in the MDR at dinnertime. So Club Orange is DEFINITELY worth it on those ships. The dedicated CO dining room on those ships is intimate and QUIET. JMHO.

I presume that the $6 min is just for the hand. Not really sure because, as I said, I've never played that table. Probably side bet available because a side bet is available on the high-limit table.

Well, I only play blackjack (am a tournament player on land) so can only provide substantive info on the blackjack tables on HAL: The $6 min table is always open when the casino is open, starting in mid-morning (about 10 am) on sea days; after the ship clears the port on port days -- which is usually in the evening. However, that's a 6:5 table and is generally populated by the "beginners". The higher limit table on most of the ships opens in the evening, although if you request it (and there are sufficient dealers) they will sometimes open it in the daytime on sea days. The high-limit BJ table is generally $25 min, although I have seen it on some ships as low as $15 min. And that is a 3:2 table -- the only kind I play on, land or sea. I'd chew ground glass before I'd sit down at any 6:5 table 😊.

Hi -- engineer here (yeah, I really was one). The name of the drink is referring to the colloquial nicknames of the sequential strokes of a four-stroke internal-combustion engine -- well, three of them at least: Suck -- intake Squeeze -- compression (somehow not included in the name of the drink) Bang -- combustion Blow -- exhaust 'Nuff said 🙂.

Yeah, I've had the carpaccio at all three venues -- I'll take it WHEREVER it's offered. Oh and BTW, it has been deleted from the "new" Canaletto menu, much to my chagrin. No, I think that what my concern was with posting -- although I didn't articulate it very well -- is the following: It would be very unusual to offer TWO raw-beef preparations as starters in the PG. I'm wondering if the steak tartare was discontinued and the carpaccio was offered IN LIEU OF the steak tartare. I hope not -- as the tartare is ALWAYS my appetizer choice at dinner in PG. How's Steve's gait and memory progressing?

When did they start offering carpaccio at the PG for dinner? It has always been on the menu at lunch but I've NEVER seen it offered at dinner (I'm most recently off a HAL ship just two months ago). Or perhaps it wasn't on the menu and you coaxed them into serving it? As I frequently coax them into fixing me a strawberry pavlova at dinner 🙂.

SERIOUSLY?? And I suppose they got a grant for that?

Kewl! That's progress. So they must have reduced it to a misdemeanor since I left in 2001. Gee, except for the weather I now can actually contemplate coming back home to live out my days.

Although in my heart Texas will ALWAYS be my home, there are two (and only two) reasons why I'm glad to live in Western Washington: 1. The climate is better than Texas -- no temperature extremes and no tornadoes. 2. I LOVE BEANS IN MY CHILI!! Now you have to understand that putting beans in chili is a felony offense in Texas. If they catch you they'll send you to the prison in Huntsville for a considerable period of time. So I always had to eat my homemade chili in solitude -- many lonely meals. But here in Washington state I actually invite friends over to share my meals when I make chili. When I was still working at Boeing I could bring chili in my lunch kit and eat it IN PUBLIC! 'Nuff said 😀😀😀.

I'm a very brisk walker for an old lady -- it's pretty much all the cardio I get any more. So this subject is of great interest to me. Many years ago they had signs on all ships indicating the proper direction. Then this signage was removed or painted over, except on Amsterdam -- until the day she was sold she had "One Way (with arrow)" signage on the prom deck. However, on all ship classes except Pinnacle (more on that later) there's not too much of a problem. The prom decks are WIDE and there are only four blind corners; and on most ships there are mirrors mounted up high at the corners so you can see if anyone is coming the "wrong" way. And I try to do my laps early in the morning when there's not too much traffic, except for the crew hosing down the decks each morning. But the Pinnacle ships are a MESS and I've completely given up prom-deck laps. Not only is the deck NARROW but there are so many blind-corner joggles that there is a REAL danger of slamming into someone coming in the opposite direction. A few years ago I actually sent an email to HAL asking why the directional signage had been removed from the prom decks. Here's part of the answer I received: We have gone to the shipboard staff and have been advised, as you probably saw this past weekend, that the ms Amsterdam is still the same with a one-way sign around the Lower Promenade Deck. However, having said that, it is not the same on the ms Eurodam or on some of our other ships. While the Promenade deck can be used for walking around and doing laps, we do not have a policy on a correct walking direction though. The staff on some ships are allowed to paint (in big letters) at the aft rounding (against the stern enclosed steel railing): “walking direction” with a big arrow and we have this done on various ships. Since it is not a Holland America Line policy, if a replacement ship’s staff decide to remove the arrow, they are free to do so. In addition, on the newer Pinnacle ships (ms Koningsdam and the ms Nieuw Statendam), we do encourage guests to use the track on the top deck. OK, sorry for such a LONG comment but, again, this is a subject of great interest to me.

Y'know, my sorta neighbor Bruno @atexsix hasn't posted in nearly a month. Wonder how his dad is doing?

Bummer, but I gather he's doing well now if y'all were able to go on a city tour after disembarking. Anyway, let me know when your thinking about your next solo cruise, as I enjoyed our time together on Volendam last year and would enjoy sailing with you again.

Uh, no. You are actually sitting in the GDC. Just sayin'😉😉😉

You're right -- as always, @RuthC! I'm a generously sized woman, and have never found any of the HAL showers, on any of the classes of ships, to be too small for comfortable use. BTW, I'm really small so I didn't say that I found the R-class and S-class showers "uncomfortable", just that I like the luxury of the larger new showers.

Jacqui, the insides on ALL ship classes except Pinnacle have ALWAYS had showers, albeit the tiny corner type with a cloth curtain. The bathrooms on those ships are too small anyway to be updated to the large glassed-in Pinnacle-class type showers. However, you are correct that the most of the OVs are updated, had their standard 60-inch tubs removed and the large showers installed. I know this because I'm a poor solo, so have spent my early HAL years on R-class and S-class ships in interiors😉.

I was always a fan of the R-class and S-class ships (expand my signature). I am now FINISHED with Pinnacle class. If I were asked to characterize that class in one word I would reply: NOISE! Don't know who engineered the lousy acoustics in the MDRs of the Pinnacle class ships, but you CANNOT carry on a conversation with your tablemates without shouting -- thereby adding to the din. That Deck 2 Music Walk is CACOPHONY in the evening/night hours. And it echoes up that open stairwell to the casino. I don't play slots, only blackjack so on most other ships that side of the casino is relatively quiet. I used earplugs for MDR and casino for the entire length of my last cruise(s) on Kdam, which totaled six weeks. Apologize for highjacking this thread, which was originally intended to be a comparison between NCL and HAL. Wish I knew of a way to migrate a quoted comment to a new thread. Would have liked to continue the topic in the quote of @OlsSalt in a new thread.

Speaking of Charles Darwin, at my last annual physical I expressed some depression to my PCP because I seem to be outliving so many of my friends. He said, “So winning the Darwin contest isn’t as much fun as you expected, is it?” Umm, perhaps sounds cold but you’d have to know my PCP. He actually has a terrific sense of humor. Happy anniversary to Ann and Pat @Vict0riann. Don’t mean to be rude but if anyone wishes me a bon voyage tomorrow I’ll be unable to say thanks. My ride to the airport is scheduled to pick me up at 3:55 am. Yeah, that’s for a 7:20 am flight. That's how far I live from the airport. Carolyn @Cruising-along will understand. Anyway, I always unplug when on the ships so won't be following this thread. Happy AND HEALTHY holidays and to all.

Marie, right now they are on a Pacific coastal cruise. That one is famous for a dearth of activities. I enjoy sailing on the holiday cruises and think you will too. Particularly the outbound portion of the Hawai'i cruises when we have the Hawaiian ambassadors offering so many daily programs of interest. See you soon. Whee! 24 hours from now I'll be aboard!

Wish I could follow this thread but I board Kdam on Saturday. However, I'll see you on that ship so I'll get my report of your TA firsthand then 😀.

ABSOLUTELY!! I live in Everett in the next county north of King (Seattle). My house is only approx 30 miles from downtown Seattle and I only drive down there under extreme duress. During the Amtrak covid shutdown I have driven my car from my home to Vancouver and back a couple of times. Easy peasy except (as @Heidi13 said) at the border. But it's the driving in the Seattle metro area that's the pits and something I WOULD NOT recommend for someone unfamiliar with the area.

Strawberry pavlova -- offered in PG only at lunch. But I have a workaround for that. At dinner in PG I will politely ask if they will fix one for me. Frequently they will, so no problem there. However, if the answer is no -- here's what I do: My eyes fill with tears and I pout and whimper, "Well, they always do it for me on xxxxdam, xxxdam, and xxxdam (any ships other than the one I'm currently on)". And the server soon returns with a fresh strawberry pavlova. Works every time 😄.

See you VERY soon!

I was emailing with Barb @zelker and told her that I was looking forward to meeting you.