oakridger

Yes! Have a great trip! I love Australia and hope to return some day. ~Nancy

Oops!

Thank you for these pictures! I'm so looking forward to my cruise but have to wait until February 2025! ~Nancy

This YouTube video shows what @new_cruiser has explained. I don't imagine a lot of extra noise with these unless your neighbor is really rude and clueless! Ha! I would let them know to be quiet if that happened. Bing Videos ~Nancy

Schools in California usually start in mid August, so families from this area (which comprise a large percentage of San Francisco boarding cruisers) probably won't be on board. I'll guess that fewer kids would actually be a plus with more individual attention in the Kids Club. Go for it!

From the people currently on board, the Rolling Stone room has rock, R&B and pop music. Sounds like a mix of what was BB Kings with the Rolling Stone rooms on the Pinnacle ships. (No ballroom, country, jazz or classical in that venue) Can anyone on board now please verify my understanding? @WriterOnDeck and @Btimmer ~Nancy

The midship balconies may be not as deep. Where is your cabin?

I last sailed in Rotterdam cabin #5160 and the balcony was a very good size for a standard veranda cabin. I loved the location also since it was a Caribbean cruise, and I knew my main daytime area would be the Seaview Pool and Lido areas. That was a standard veranda on Konningsdam. The HUGE verandas were right below me in cabins #4152 and #4154!! ~Nancy

@Dancin_Traveler Welcome to Cruise Critic! There is so much great information here and I have certainly learned a lot by reading. Happy Cruising! ~Nancy

Happy Thanksgiving and enjoy your time today. No rush on your reporting at all but I will love to hear about it! Thank you! ~Nancy

Holland America Line has a Sydney to Seattle or Vancouver most years in the spring. Their 2026 itineraries aren't out yet but here is what they have in 2025 for example:

Made these on my computer. The waiters and bartenders loved them!

On the two or three occasions I have transferred to my TA after I booked online myself, she still had to do all the follow up duties such as submitting final payments, watching for upgrade offers, tracking any itinerary changes, etc. Had something gone wrong with the cruise, she would back me up on whatever I needed! So, the TA still had "work" to do. ~Nancy

Interesting. If people don't care about their cabin/location then this could be a good option if you live close to the ports. I am picky about cabin locations so I would\nt do this but I'm pretty sure many would. ~Nancy

OP, why couldn't your TA get the "great Black Friday Deal" in the first place which caused you to spend hours on the phone with HAL instead in order to get it? I realize that issue isn't the gist of your post but I'm curious about that. Can let us know the specifics better please. Thanks, ~Nancy

You should link your dining reservation with your brother and sister in law so you will be assigned a table together. Fixed seating means you sit at the same table every night. Club Orange line isn't needed because you just go to "your" assigned table. If you want to sit at a table for six people let the MDR know and they will assign you to such with two other folks. Same people every night. I personally don't like to sit at a table for eight because you can't really hear the conversation at the other end of that table so it usually ends up with two conversations going at once. Same for a large round 8 person table. Oops.....typing at the same time as @Mary229!! ~Nancy

I have never seen a discount for prepayment on Crew Appreciation! The only time I have seen a lower cost like that would be if one pays it before their cruise and then the price goes up you would not be charged the higher price. The cost was $15.50/day as you paid but went up to $16/day. That may be the situation. Can you provide more information if it was truly a "discount"? ~Nancy

Your Captain sounds like one of the most outgoing and passenger focused captains I have heard about! I hope to have him on a future cruise. Nothing wrong with other Captains I have experienced, but Captain Paul really does extra for everyone! ~Nancy

@gojirra Thank you for the pictures! Can you please tell us what the items are? They aren't immediately evident to me. ~Nancy

Commercial Tom and Jerry batter can be purchased also. Bring some with you if you really want some. Get the rum and hot water at the bar or from room service! Tom & Jerry Recipe: 2 heaping teaspoons of Trader Vic’s Tom & Jerry Batter, 1 ounce dark rum or brandy, and just add boiling water, hot tea or coffee. Amazon.com: Trader Vic's Tom & Jerry Batter : Musical Instruments

Some have been moved because Port Everglades just had too many ships on the same day, so some were moved to Miami. I don't know your specific details of course. ~Nancy

Is the PCC able to do the charge on the 19th? Does he/she work on Sundays? My TA, fortunately, is able to bill my card any day I ask her to, but not all TAs are available 7 days a week. Good Luck and let us know what you find out! ~Nancy

He explained it in the link in my post above #120. His comments are #8 and #11 in the link. Here is his post #11, to summarize (my underline).............. "Ship's water is no higher in sodium than municipal water, and in many cases lower. The cause of water retention is complicated, but most likely is a result of higher sodium in the food than he is used to, and the chlorine in the water is known to aid in water retention, so the use of a filtered water bottle or pitcher may be advantageous." ~Nancy

@dallascruiser please let us know what cabin/s you end up booking tomorrow. Have a great trip! ~Nancy

I lost my water testing connection upon retirement but would love to see the results! I used to test my home water occasionally and it was actually "better" than some of the bottled water our lab tested! Really! ~Nancy