OlsSalt

Long at-sea days may be good or bad. There's is a lot of water to cover on this cruise, which is part of its inherent appeal - to experience the vastness of the Pacific Ocean while humbly understanding the incredible skills required during the Great Polynesian Exploration of these trackless waters, let alone the early European explorers who sailed off into these waters .... "where there may be monsters".

Some fill a very good thermos bottle with hot coffee the night before from the Lido, to have it ready first thing in the morning the next day.

We wanted to do this once too - it had very complicated scheduling as I recall as a shore excursion - very early morning departures or something. Parents did this train trip years ago - not quite a stunning as maybe the hype about it, but it remains intriguing if you are in the area. Hope you report back when you learn more.

No facilities or amenities - pack everything you need, including water. But lovely, remote, accessible and warmer water in Bonaire. We walked to the ferry dock, but took a taxi back to the ship.

Yes, you are right. Leaving trays in the hallways on HAL ships is wrong. And an extreme hazard to those using mobility devices, as well as general disgusting clutter - if you don't want it in your cabin, we don't want to pick around it in the hallways either.

A lightweight pure cashmere long scarf is a great, one-time travel investment - multi-use, easy to carry, and can be used as blanket or pillows long flights. Or a MDR chill protector.

Chamber music is intended to be played in an intimate chamber setting. Please dear God, do not mike these few players on the Main Stage, like you do for the BBC productions when at least they are supposed to serve only as background music while snakes are devouring baby chicks. File this classical chamber music change of venue under ..What Were They Thinking???" (Again). Appreciate their attempts to be responsive; but being tone-deaf at the same time makes this a net wash.

Best to try breakfast on the balcony when you are already docked in port - less wind and/or cold. My occasional balcony breakfasts consist of only yogurt, granola and/or a croissant, an orange and a cup of coffee that DH brings down on his own.

OTC: Bonine for sea-sickness, though you can also get this onboard. You have to take it before you need it - which makes it hard if you don't know if you will be affected. (Read contraindications and check with your doctor - or try Seabands and/or ginger)

DIY - take the ferry over to Petit Bonnaire for the best snorkeling, on your own.

For general information only - CDC has a travel advice website: https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel

Always go to the primary source - the nation's official websites - for this information. Print it out. And keep checking back if your trip is more than few months away.

How is your "first cruise" packing coming? I think many of us tended to overpack on our first cruises, but over time found a few extra things well worth packing along. But most of the "must haves" I thought I would have to pack along, were not ever needed or could be purchased in port anyway, if really needed. Worst early mistakes - (blush🙄) - a new outfit for every day, with matching shoes. Gulp.

eBay has many HAL items - including a really cool "historic" HAL luggage strap that continues to tantalize me.

Since the Pinnacle is an enclosed interior space on the R-class ships, they may substitute the reserved use of the Upper Dining Room for the Neptune Suites breakfast location. I believe this is a ship by ship choice on the R-Class ships (Volendam and Zaandam). We preferred the intimacy and spaciousness of the actual Pinnacle Dining Room ourselves, over the windowed main dining room location - often too bright and sunny that early in the morning - depending on which way the ship was traveling.

First cruise - 1969 - Chandris Fantasia - Venice, Greece, Egypt, Turkey - $90 pp.

You will be sailing into the heart of the old Hanseatic League towns, which can provide a historic theme to explore: https://www.hanse.org/en/discover-the-hanseatic-cities/hanseatic-cities

Think about your Keil - Warnemude port stops - choices offered to also visit Hamburg and Berlin - very packed day trips and you can try to do this on your own. These stops will take a lot more effort and costs since both require longer travel distances. But certainly Berlin, for history buffs as yourself, should not be missed unless you plan to come back some day and spend much more time in this very diverse city. If you do decide to visit Berlin, it pays to do a lot of upfront homework to pick out the highlights not to miss. The Kiel port stop also offers the option of a day trip to Lubek which is a much smaller but equally historic city than the sprawling Hamburg - again easy to arrange your own train travel from Kiel to Lubek -- the home of Marzipan cakes and pastries -so that alone was reason enough for us to visit Lubek.

Think about your Keil - Warnemude port stops - choices offered to also visit Hamburg and Berlin - very packed day trips and you can try to do this on your own. These stops will take a lot more effort and costs since both require longer travel distances. But certainly Berlin, for history buffs as yourself, should not be missed unless you plan to come back some day and spend much more time in this very diverse city. If you do decide to visit Berlin, it pays to do a lot of upfront homework to pick out the highlights not to miss.

My first long distance cruise in the 1970's also had three deaths right away. They were all elderly passengers who apparently, (according to cabin mate stories around the ship) left notes requesting burial at sea and that their life affairs had been left in order. They left assurances if they died, they were doing what they loved doing best. In the 1970's people still died simply from "old age", no further questions asked. The trick question back in the 1970's was, what was "old age"? The randy and very handsome Italian captain used this as a pick-up line, bemoaning how hard it was to be at the top face all these buriel ceremonies and have no one to talk do.

There is a commuter train between the city and the tender port town - does require a bit of an uphill or down hill hike to get to the tender port town train station. So you do have other options to get back to the ship. It was fairly cheap as I recall - worked perfectly once you find the trail up to the commuter train station. (Online blogs describe this option)

I only wish the "Salzburg Nockerel" shown in CrewsNews photo had actually come out like that classic, but we got a flattened tasteless "claufuti" wannabe instead. Everything just went wrong that night for us - missing menu items, poor preparation, mislabeled menu items, an that absurd rendering of what should have been Austrian Rudi's showcase dessert. Boo on Rudi's.

Recent holiday cruise on Konigsdam - both Rudi's and Pinnacle were pretty awful. Tamarind is a lovely setting, but overall now misses the mark for its markedly changed menu. It was pretty ho-hum, after loving Tamarind when it first came out. The Sushi corner was good enough, and does offer some of the Tamarind menu items, in a less formal setting. The surprise was Canaletto - the very best of them all during this particular cruise, but they too now have had menu changes. Quite honestly, other than the change of settings which is nice - no argument there, and picking one's way carefully through the menu for more predictable items the specialty restaurants were a very mixed bag. We ended up cancelling our later segment reservations for all of them, and just stuck with the main dining room, which was pretty good. This disappointing personal experience may well be out-dated, but I would say the biggest disappointment was Rudi's. I would not waste the money so be between the two - go with Pinnacle. But don't over look Canaletto, and hope it has continued to keep it most improved player reputation.

We just put the Noordam 14 day Alaska together with the 7-Day Coastal California, since she is finishing her Alaska season. That way we get back home to Southern California, without flying out of Vancouver. Why get home in only a few hours, when you can add seven more days aboard this smaller HAL ship and accomplish the same thing?😊