crystalspin

I don't know anything about Starlink and its abilities. (I know, Google is my friend!) But here is my question: We were on K'dam the first two weeks of this year. In our favorite spot, the Crows Nest, devices would drop the wifi, -- needed to walk at least to the stairwell to pick it back up -- sometimes we would just go to the Dutch Cafe where the signal was the strongest (across from Front Desk). Will Starlink help the LAN/signal throughout the ship, or only the quality of service when there is a connection? I don't know if that makes any sense...

If you are pretty set on the cruise, you could put a hold on it. I'm guessing you are not thinking of booking with the Have-It-All refundable fare, but there is another "level" of fare that is not shown on the website. It is called the Advantage fare and has none of the bells and whistles of the HIA, but IS refundable, unlike the lowest Standard fare.

Well, I do like to look at cruise ship/cabin photos, and also to solve problems! Thanks for the compliment! From public-area pics on CruiseDeckPlans, I can confirm that the casino is carpeted. I think that you are correct, 1026 is the better choice over being under a music venue, unless you are apt to be up and away from your cabin until 11:30pm most nights! Here is a text only report on inside 1062 on the Noordam, under BBKings (which I think plays in Rolling Stone Lounge on Zuidy): https://halfacts.com/1062-noordam/ We were once in about the same situation on the Nieuw Amsterdam, where it was called the Queens Lounge. You might start a new thread "Vista Class Main Deck under Casino -- Noise?"

On the K'dam, end of December last year -- the Lido was not a mad-house. Maybe because everyone flocked to the alternatives. On our B2B turn-around day in San Diego, we went ashore and had frozen yogurt for lunch so we could use their wifi to download Kindle books that the ship's bandwidth couldn't handle.

We don't play trivia on the ship, but thought I'd mention that over last New Years on the Koningsdam, trivia was held in the combined area of Rolling Stone room and/or Billboard Onboard. This made the Crows Nest much more enjoyable for reading et al.

We don't have to flirt around with recommending the HalFacts galleries anymore. There are three different cruisers' pics (on a sister ship) here: https://halfacts.com/vista-class/7151-zuiderdam-s/ and one more on a different Vista Class ship, here: https://halfacts.com/vista-class/7151-westerdam/ Have a wonderful cruise!

Cliff: Just because no vaccinations were required on Seasick Sailor's voyage, doesn't mean there are none that exist, that might protect you from illness in the tropics. You should consult your own physician.

The shoes are Merrell Women's Inde Lave Mj Mary Jane Flat (found with a Google Image search). Not shown on Merrell's website. Available on Amazon and eBay, with reviews on AMZ almost perfectly balanced from 1* to 5*. Apparently run small but wide?

Yeah, maybe I don't know what I mean! Priority boarding and tendering is good. ALOT more space from the photo-tours I've seen. Vista (on K'dam and with three adults on Zaandam) are my only experience. I guess I just figured from their size and locations that Signature Suites got more good stuff!

As many devices as you want, but one at a time unless you purchase the enhancement given by @Crew News. This doesn't change if you upgrade to Premium -- only the number and kind of sites that are blocked is lower.

Yes the N.Statendam and the Rotterdam are Pinnacle class ships and have Vista Suites in desirable locations (aft and mid-ship), but those don't give the full Suite experience. If you can and choose to afford it, the Signature Suite is the real deal.

Huh! You are right, none of the Vista Class nor Signature Class (NA & Eurodam) have Vista Suites. Whereas Volendam and Zaandam don't have Verandahs, only Vistas!

No you probably have not missed anything. The only Suite benefit the Vista Suite offers is double Mariner points (one extra per day of cruise) if booked at rack rate, not an upgrade/upsell. Nothing else. Oh and you get to pay an extra $1.50pppd for the Crew Appreciation fees. I looked at all the aft Vista Suite or aft VS Verandah photos on Cruise Deck Plans and the space is not really noticeable. You have your bed(s), and then a space with a loveseat opposing a desk and chair. For the Verandahs, the social area is toward the balcony, and for the Vistas, the desk and sofa are towards the hallway door. The Verandah cabin will have plenty of storage, and the binoculars (which we did not find in our Vista cabin!) are reputed to be "not so good". Spend some of your $4000 savings on a good pair of small Nikons! The extra space in both aft Veradahs and aft Vista Suites is just absorbed by the spacing of furniture, you don't get anything special from it. And BTW, I advise for the Verandah despite choosing the Vista on our recent B2B on the K'dam, and our 35-day cruise on her next year.

On our (two) recent Koningsdam cruises, I was aware of one Orange party (but not the other although I was on the Navigator frequently) -- it was 'celebrated' at 9pm and so close to our bedtime! Also I forgot our orange things...

I am glad you found our country so workable!

Heh, I am a gringa. Miguel's near Old Town (there are other locales) is very nice, great Cadillac margaritas, and HAD PARKING when we needed it & nowhere else did.

We have sailed on all classes of HAL ships except the Prinsendam. Until last winter, my favorite was the Zuiderdam (Vista class) although we had an upper deck "inside with a window". The cabin wasn't THAT small and the access to the Crows Nest with one floor down to the Lido was optimum. I found the Nieuw Amsterdam very sterile, but my DH liked the ALL NEW aspect of everything. It was the newest ship in the fleet when we did our transAtlantic. Over the past New Years Eve we did a 16-day B2B on the Koningsdam in a Vista Suite (we were spending FCC that were due to expire AND trying to get enough Mariner points to make 4*). The ship was very nice! And being mid-ship, the need to walk fore to aft in one jaunt was reduced. We are booked to sail in same cabin for 35 days, and on the Volendam (OV on the deck with the full promenade) for 24 days. I think I would sail on any of the current HAL ships for the right price and the right itinerary. But I would favor the Vista or the Pinnacle just based on our experiences.

Hi Detroit. We have never sailed in an upper level suite. While it is true that the Vistas (at least on the Pinnacle class) are "only slightly larger" than Verandahs, they are importantly larger! also in prime locations on the ship. We sailed in a mid-ship VS for 16 days on the Koningsdam, and we are booked in the same cabin for 35 days! OTOH, it would be very hard to go back to an OV or inside. So maybe you would not be as comfortable sizing down. Q2: We did not turn on the TV after watching the safety briefing. The screen appeared to be flush with the wall, but I was not sure if it might be articulated and able to point toward the loveseat. However, researching a little found this video: which states the TV is not comfortably watched from the loveseat. Good luck with your cruise shopping!

No, but it took a few more before it became my preferred mode of travel! As @Honolulu Blue guessed, it was close to kicking and screaming. The original question, though, was about "first cruise", and I didn't want to lay out my total cruise history unasked! My husband REALLY wanted to cruise, so I begrudgingly said I would, if it was someplace you only could see from a ship. Under that criterion, we cruised to Seward AK (with my mom who had always wanted to go) and did the full transit of Panama Canal (one and done with NCL)(this cruise was also the first one where I found Cruise Critic). Then came a 14-day South America also with my mom -- we had fun on a combination of ship's excursions, private ones, and DYI! When we got back from that trip, we were sitting in the living room, everyone on their own computer, and DH silently sent me an email from a large agency for a transAtlantic+Mediterranean on the Nieuw Amsterdam; I said outloud -- "You're just trying to tease me, but the joke's on you, because I will go!" The rest is history: two more Alaska cruises (with increasing numbers of family), two more transAtlantics, and a B2B on the Mexican Riviera. What I like is: "being forced to do nothing", only unpacking and repacking once, and all the choices of things to do (besided nothing)!

You will love the Promenade (located on Lower Promenade deck 3) on the Volendam or Zaandam. On the Volendam, 42 of the deck chairs are reserved and assigned to the Lanai cabins, but photos on Cruise Deck Plans show lounge chairs in the areas fore and aft of those areas. The walkway is broad and the lifeboats and tenders hang enough above it not to impair views.

First and second cruise: Nothing. Basically the opposite of @Honolulu Blue: It seemed expensive, especially the shore excursions in Hawaii on cruise 2. The crew (and other passengers) were largely snobby, except when the dining stewards cozied up at the end. First cruise: no ports (just the two ends). Second cruise: a few Hawaiian ports in middle of lots of ocean views sharing an inside cabin with two seasick tea-totalling companions. There was nothing to do on the Marco Polo if you didn't gamble or drink. I learned several ways to tie a sarong on cruise 2. Don't remember Immigrations and Customs. I presume there were "casinos" onboard; no interest.

Mostly I see people sharing that info on this board. You may have to start your own topic. Last Drydock: Feb 2022. In April 2022, someone asked about what had been done and was roundly scolded for asking something that they had answered! But none of my searches bring up that person's answers. Here is a very long thread about the Zaandam's first post-pandemic (and also post-DryDock) sailing that may inform you of the ship's state at that time:

In my case, NOT a Grand or World tour, but two Caribbean cruises (to different islands) that were also being sold as a Collectors Cruise together -- I wanted to book the Collectors Cruise for considerable savings. The cabins I wanted for us and my brother/SIL were NOT shown for the Collectors but were available for both 'legs'. My PCC had to "check with Inventory", where they did apparently move our rooms between inventories and let her book us. So it can work either way. Or at least could, pre-pandemic? This was on the Nieuw Statendam in January of 2021 and we did not sail!

Hi Lila! Looks like one person has started the Vancouver roll call here: But a more active roll call exists from San Diego through the Canal, here: This is a hazard of Cruise Critic requiring a separate roll call for every embarcation. I would join the October 6 one if I were you (you can also send a message to the Oct1 one too).

Hi Helen (?) somewhat after your query, someone posted this: "Although the South Pacific is hot and humid most of the year with warm seas and clear skies, the best time to visit is generally between April and November when the weather is driest. The exception to this is French Polynesia, where the peak season is shorter and runs from June to August." They were perplexed at the fact that the cruise season did not line up with the optimum season! Probably because the ships come there when they can't go somewhere (northern-er) else! You may have already made your decisions.