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Black Friday sales do not include shore excursions.Best to pre-book if there is an excursion you want. July 25 is pretty far off, so keep an eye out for newly added excursions as time goes by. Excursions are easily cancelled if you see something else being offered later.

@Petronillus They played in the Explorers cafe at 3PM, 4 PM and 7 PM just under the name of "Classical Trio". Most 7 PM performances were standing room only . That spoke volumes to HAL, hopefully.

We were just on the Noordam for the 39 day. Early fixed dining was 5:30 but listed in the navigator as 5:00. We were told we can arrive as early as 5 if we wished. It was obvious that as you wish diners were placed in the upper DR often.

We just disembarked the Noordam and had a wonderful classical trio . Piano, violin and cello. It was nice to see this again

@kazu Now the I have read this entire thread, that was a fun read..glad you had a great cruise..just a few things come to mind.. I totally agree with you on the escargot situation. On our last few cruises we experienced the same poor quality in taste and they have shrunk in size. I always was excited to order them before but sadly no longer. The cheese board with no crackers. I have ordered that once.....duh, and why dont they have that as an appetizer rather than a dessert? We had dinner in the PG just last week (Noordam). The tenderloin /lobster dumplings were great, service great , but DH's scallops were stringy and chewy. I had a great haircut in the spa on the Noordam recently and surprisingly they didn't try to sell me anything. They even put a conditioner on that has sunscreen (we were at the equator) Mike Robinson....the funniest!!..we even went back and watched his second show when we saw him on a previous cruise. Glad you enjoyed Boston, my home town. I learned to drive there but no comparison to the driving in the Washington DC area. Joan

Bon Voyage! Hope you had a wonderful cruise! I hope Daniel is your cruise director. he is a hoot. (this post was way late...)

We disembarked the Noordam last week. Billboard had 2 fabulous singers, Gabe and Meaghan..best we have heard in years. They had several country sets and then there is always the all request shows. They often would do country just thrown in every so often. DH has set a new country station on Pandora for the car.

Still loving this trip report...minus the Noro...glad it is improving. now....about this lobster and escargot in the Lido...i am hoping this is a Pacific Ocean thing...albeit the lobster is most likely unlike our Maine lobster.....because we will be on the Noordam Pacific crossing next week and would love to see a similar menu in the Lido! Thanks for sharing!

Hmmm..we will be in a similar situation. Next week we board for a 39 day collector. We are 49 points away from 4* . we have pre-purchased possibly enough for the 10 credit buffer...and excursions can be cancelled( which happened 3 times in the Med last fall...which caused this debacle ....but we have a plan just in case...for last minute 7day sailing for this summer because I don't know if we will make it and I am determined to be 4* for our next booking on the Rotterdam . (ps I am grateful to have this dilemma)

Yes, this thought did cross my mind. Like hairdressers in some salons

I was hoping our former agent would reach out but has not, which makes we wonder. I ope she is okay.

We actually have been assigned someone but the responsiveness cant compare. Big shoes to fill.

I am so disappointed. Our trusted, wise travel advisor has disappeared from the agency that we utilize (specializing in cruises). she was the best of the best. Who knows why., could be personal, could be medical issues. In any case, how do you find a good TA ? We are considering booking direct with HAL moving forward but just want the personal touch ...

I hope you still get your Captains Cupcake . I'd protest if you don't !

oh my...are you Scottish?? Last time I heard that expression was when I was in Scotland last year. Very common over there!

If you ever sailed RCCL's Song of America (80's and 90's) , of the RCCL fleet that we have sailed in the past, that ship is the most like HAL in ambiance. We love the laid back , mature atmosphere of HAL.

photo test

We have done both ships and Noordam coming up again in a few weeks. I personally prefer the layout of the Zaandam. I dont like the closed in feeling that the Rolling Stone Lounge on the Noordam and Osterdam (same layout) . Zaandam is my favorite (fewer passengers too) but hey, a cruise on any HAL ship works for me. By the way, I have done OV in both ships and did not notice much difference in six=ze of the room.

@Hezu Thank you very much, this is very helpful!

We will be in Helsinki from 6 AM to 5 PM. have you rented a car in Helsinki? If so, how far from the cruise port are the car rental companies? We are thinking about renting a car and going out to the countryside. Thank you

@BermudaBound2014 I love, love, love your writing style. We experienced the chaos in SD last January but in the port's defense, our side by cruise that followed was handled seamlessly. Bon voyage and looking forward to keeping up with your journey.

Agree with this. Our last b2b we did not have to check in to muster again but the TV did lock until we re-ran the video again..

Interesting..we bring our metal reusable bottles with us all the time in port. We have never once been asked to empty it on return to the ship.

we were on the Oosterdam in October/Nov. there was a coffee chat on the world stage with the Hotel Manager, Darren. Someone in the audience asked this question. He responded that the automatic gratuities were pooled with all the ships of the HAL fleet and that at the end of each month, all crew members throughout the fleet are issued a check.

Funny, I was thinking the same thing. Food poisoning is a pretty serious accusation... BUT.. one persons definition of food poisoning can differ from another's. Norovirus causes the same symptoms as food poisoning...as does a reaction to a food or ingredient that might not agree with you for various reasons. Overeating, over drinking .....and If you haven't cruised in a while, I have seen people go hog wild over having as much food suddenly available to them , especially desserts and drink...that a persons digestive system might not be used to..So..for the OP, did you sit at a table with others who ordered the same dish? How long after your meal did you get sick...and what were your symptoms ?? Did others get sick as well? If others got sick from eating the SAME menu item, then it could certainly be associated with FP. If you were the only one then it most likely was not food poisoning. Did you go to the infirmary and IF you went to the infirmary, did you ask if anyone else got sick from the offending menu item? That all said, if it was truly food poisoning, I am sorry that happened to you. As a medical professional, one person's definition of "food poisoning" is not always actual "food poisoning". But if you were sick in the cabin, the cabin stewards had to work pretty hard to clean up that bathroom...unless you did that yourself, of course. I hope you tipped them well.