Greysandy

We now book inside rooms after doing verandas for many years, and then we pay for the Retreat Cabana at $399/7 days and find it a much better option for us and a huge cost savings. The interior rooms are tiny, as others have mentioned above.

We have done the 14 day Alaska trip twice several years ago and it is definitely my favorite with all the added fun ports different from the common 3 or 4. Hopefully HAL goes back to offering this all summer long like they have in the past rather than just in the beginning and end of the season.

Same price. We book several in advance, even though we need to go to Guest services to have our Mariner discount applied afterwards, because we want to get the specific times we want.

No hot tubs in the Retreat on the Koningsdam. We are very much looking forward to them on the NS, but the Koningsdam is our local ship for our Thanksgiving cruises. I might possible skip paying for the spa for the week if there was a hot tub in the Retreat. We love it anyways, the breeze, the service, the peace and quiet, the proximity to the Crow's Nest for coffee and cocktails. Once we started booking the Cabanas, we actually just went down to booking a spa inside cabin, so we are always 1 -2 floors walking from our room to the cabana.

We do the same thing. The cabanas are such a luxury for a fairly affordable price. They are located close to the Crow's nest and if you are too lazy to get up and get a drink or a coffee, the steward will get it for you. They also will get our lunch if we like, but I prefer to pick it myself.

My husband got a tux in a buy 3 suits deal years ago and I love that he wears it on our cruises!

We have never seen them run out of standard bourbons. On a cruise from England, they ran out of Pimm's, and higher end tequila's not available in every bar, but bourbon seems to be fairly standardly available.

We hit 4* after our cruise last December, at age 52.

We usually try a few of the craft cocktails with different bartenders until we find the bartenders who we feel make the most balanced and properly crafted cocktails, then we just try to visit those bartenders. I particularly liked the "penicillin" but had it made terribly at a few of the bars. Our motto is always "find our favorite bartenders, tip them well, and ask them where they are working each day so we can find them."

If we book ahead online and pre-pay, we always have to go to the front desk and ask for the discounts to be applied to our account. If we book the specialty restaurants onboard, the discount has always been applied correctly.

If you don't want to get out of your lounge chair, the Cabana steward will gladly get you your drinks and lunch.

I would also be interesting in hearing some comments on this. We are taking the Viking European Sojourn (Amsterdam to Bucharest, Romania) next June and also wanted to do the Ebike in Passau. It seems that sometimes the alternative excursions are at a different time than the included one and others are at the same time. Hopefully it is crystal clear on the MyViking app in October. Sandy

Has anyone found out what HAL defines as "fully vaccinated?" I had the first two Pfizer, and then a Moderna booster, but didn't really want to get the 4th or now 5th shots that are available. Thanks, Sandy

Thanks so much for posting. I enjoyed all 3 blog posts. We are doing the 3 week European Sojourn in June 2023 and are even more excited after reading about your travels!