ann1bell

Glad you had a good rest. I decided not to leave the ship in Barbados.

I did not see a way to report this on halfacts.com so decided to post this here.

I just returned from 21 days on the Noordam. We had a j inside guarantee and were given an I cabin, 7047A. This stateroom was one of three added to the ship after if was built. It is on the online deck plan but not on the printed one given out onboard.

It is in front of the Neptune Lounge, past the NL kitchen and two other cabins.

I do not know the square footage of the cabin but there was about 3 feet of space from the end of the bed to the outside edge of the vanity. On the other side there was room for a table and one chair. The only drawers in the room were the bedside ones.

The bathroom was like others and closet area was adequate. The only really annoying thing was the closet shelf area. There were three shelves but the top one did not extend to the wall. If we put anything back there it fell behind the shelf and landed on the floor below the bottom shelf. We had to get on the floor to retrieve dropped items.

The phone problem was a bigger hassle. My friends could not call me since there was a letter in the number. They were told by the operator that our room did not exist. I went to the front desk to discuss this and was given our phone number.

This info should have been given to us when we embarked. The room service folks also told us our room did not exist. HAL needs to change the number of these three staterooms.

The pros were comfy beds, great cabin stewards, and a very quiet, comfortable location.

I hope this info helps anyone looking at these staterooms.

Our cabin is 7047a. I think it was added in a dry dock, not an original. Hope it is ok!

We had a J guarantee and got a tiny upgrade to an I. Happy to be onboard soon.

Checked the luggage tag yesterday afternoon about 4, got the email about 18 hours later.

We got a guarantee assignment of cabin 7047A on the Rotterdam deck. I have done some research here, including looking on HALfacts.com and have not found much.

I think this interior cat I cabin is one of three added during a dry dock a few years ago.

Anyone know anything about these? It is forward of the Neptune lounge. Thanks.

I have a j guarantee for this Friday's Niordam sailing. No cabin yet! I will be onboard, will reach my 100th day with Hal on this trip!

Appreciate the send off. Still waiting on my inside J guarantee cabin assignment! Never had to wait this long before! Meanwhile I am trying to stay warm!

We will be on the Noordam Collector's Cruise, Jan. 16, 2015, S. Caribbean for 21 days.

Fear and hysteria aside, who wants to be stuck on a ship that is not allowed to dock!

Thanks for the info!

Anyone know who the cd is on the Serenade out of New Orleans Jan 2015?

Alla was ok for us in June for 3 day tour. They did not provide us the time promised in the Russian Museum and did not have enough rest room breaks. A couple of people had to leave the group to find one. They also left a group stranded in St Pete after their late night return on the Moscow train. They were suppose to pick up a group but we're not there. Someone called and the van got there. Just not a good feeling at the time but all turned out well.

8066 had some minor noise with food transfer trolleys above but not really that bad. Would book again, no prob.

Thanks for your opinion, Mark!

There is a limited edition tour to Tain Hermitage on our river cruise in August. This is a wine tour which substitues for a wine and chocolate tour on the regular itinerary. What do you know about it? My husband and I are not big wine people. What is the reason to choose it? Thanks.

Rick Steves does not recommend the hoho bus in Tallinn. Neither do I. I just returned from the Baltic and simply walked to the old town. It is an easy 15 minute walk. The hoho bus cannot get into the old city and is really only useful if you are going to the outskirts of Tallinn.

The noon free walking tour which begins daily by the TI office was quite good.

I have read all the info about the traffic congestion at Oceankaj port in Copenhagen. Another couple and I are planning our Wed., June 18 cab ride from the Crowne Plaza hotel near the airport to this port. We have too much luggage for public transportation.

What time would be good for leaving the hotel? We want to arrive after the port traffic settles down in the morning but not too late for the 3:30 deadline for the Legend of the Seas embarkation.

I would appreciate any advice. Thanks.

We have been on the Serenade and loved it. We have not been on the Star or MSC. Also, if you are interested in St Petersburg for more than one night, rccl has one cruise in mid June that stays in St Pete an extra night. This would give you three days there. Most Baltic cruises just stay overnight there.

Also, I am sure you know that the Baltic cruise is very port intensive so you might not get to relax much during the day.

We are scheduled to go in June and hope the political situation in Russia does not cause any problems getting into all our ports.

Have fun planning your trip!

We were on the Jewel in January and had a great cruise.

This may not interest you but there was a sign up sheet at the meet and greet for a "raffle" for a seat at dinner with an officer.

We signed up. I have no idea if anyone else onboard signed up but all of the people at the dinner were from the M and G. We were happy we got to go.

It was very nice..place cards, free wine and excellent service in the MDR that evening. We also enjoyed meeting the officers and learned a lot.

This may not appeal to seasoned cruisers but we were happy with the experience and were impressed that NCL chose the M and G group.

Enjoyed your review. I have not been on any if the mega ships but hope to try one soon!

I am also from Little Rock!

This is a rather new hotel with free wifi, non smoking, wonderful breakfast. It is near the zoo. Bus 14 stops right at the hotel and we were able to get the train from the airport and then the bus to check in.

When it was time to go to the port we got on Bus 14, rode to the area near the port and rode the bus there that takes you to the ship. It was very easy.

We do not travel with a lot of luggage and this worked well for us.

The area is quieter than Las Ramblas and the bus goes quickly from the city center to the hotel. The Born area restaurants are also nearby and are wonderful.

The staff was also the best!

Have fun!

Glad you had a great cruise. We are also from your hometown and had a fun cruise too.

We did another cruise Jan 4 on the RCCL Serenade of the Seas. We like sailing out of New Orleans.

We enjoyed the UDP last week on the Jewel. We were not charged extra for the lobster at Le Bistro. You can go back more than once a night and dine at any of the restaurants. We ate twice at Cagney's and Le Bistro and at Teppanaki and La Cucina once. We had one dinner in the MDR at a Captain's dinner which was quite nice.

All the free places were good. We just chose the UDP as we were not doing any shore excursions.

There were 2 formal nights and no semi. Most people were dressed business casual on formal night. RCL only recommends the dress code and most did not follow it to the letter. There were quite a few men without a jacket.

A couple of parking options are the Whale lot or Fulton Place which is cheaper and offers a free shuttle that is very efficient.

Have a great time!

No offense to the Saints fans, but I would be happy for them to be at Philly in Jan.