OlsSalt

As a young person in the 1950's, my grandparents invited our family for dinner onboard the old P&O Oriana when it stopped in Long Beach on their own around the world voyage. Not a cruise like we know them today, but a regular passenger ship voyage - bunk beds and bathrooms down the hall. Still there were heavy white table cloths, lots of silver and a waiter who told us we could order as much ice cream as we wanted. I was agog. He then shared an old seafarer secret was to order a dish of candied ginger in order calm the tummy during rough seas. I thought I had received a state secret when he passed this inside tip on to me with a wink. I now never cruise without also carrying a bag of candied ginger. And old wives tale that today science validated as true.

Remember the pre-paid HAL punch cards for wine? You paid upfront about $6 a glass on the pre-paid cards (house red, white and sparkling). After the wine was delivered to the table, the dining steward punched a little hole in the card. Except many times they were busy. so they did not. When reminded the card was not punched, they said that was okay. We thought that was pretty friendly, but ultimately inefficient and money losing system. And so it too, is now part of the memory lane.

Thanks, TT. That might explain why the Oosterdam spot is spelled only with a small "g". Looks like the real deal on the Pinnacle ships gets spelled with a Capitol "G". 😎 Oh well, calories saved on our upcoming Noordam. https://www.hollandamerica.com/en_US/dining/gelato.html

Before "covid", Dufry took over the onboard duty free sales for Holland America - and they do offer both brands. Don't know what the status is now after "covid", nor if a smaller ship like the Volendam carries that much inventory to start out with. Tough call, but my guess is you may not be able to stock up much onboard if this means going with or without just your carry on. Hope someone has better answers, but you might want to see what you can learn anything from Dufry itself. Interesting question. https://crew-center.com/dufry-operate-retail-shops-all-holland-america-line-cruise-ships

Came across this photo online and it looks like it is identified from the Oosterdam, but I see no mention of the special Gelato Bars on any Vista ships. Praying this is true anyway. That was the biggest hit on the Pinnacle ship - their Gelato was really superb. This photo looks like it might be a Lido station, not a separate pool side location like the Konigsdam. Is this true? Thanks.

Floating slowly through the Prince Christian Sound at the bottom of Greenland - silent, majestic, serene, alone -- one of our very, very best cruise memories. Pray for an open ice passage. We did the RT Voyage of the Vikings (August) and on the eastbound leg, the Sound was still blocked with ice at one end, but the captain arranged with the local pilot to go in as far as he could and park overnight, so we could float back out the way we came in the next morning. On the return west bound leg, we were able to make the entire passage.

Leaving Auckland NZ on the Lloyd-Triestino Gallieo in 1977, we had miles of serpentine to throw down at the visitors on the dock, while the band played The Maori Farewell (tune Now is the Hour)- not a dry eye in the entire crowd, nor one now decades later as I write this.

Keeping in mind also the comfort of the hard working dining staff running large trays around the dining room needs to be considered too, so expect cooler rather than warmer as the main dining room as the default. Also depends a lot on the outdoor temperature since a lot of the ship and dining rooms have large windows. Sitting next to a large window and exterior exit door in Alaska was brisk, where as it may not be the case in the tropics. I too always either cover up, or bring my handy long, travel ready white cashmere stole - which has any number of versatile uses: very easy to pack since it is so lightweight and thin for the warmth it generates, but can be used as a blanket on a plane, a pillow, a lap rug or an easy, portable ship temperature corrector.

I was living in Switzerland during the US Bicentennial (1976) and the Swiss were just starting to travel to the US for tourism; not just business. Mainly to Miami or NYC at that time. A Swiss friend got a chuckle after talking to his insurance agent before his first trip to America, saying AFTER you get robbed in America, fill out these forms. Not IF you get robbed in America. 😬 Our "freedoms" in America do include the freedom to be rogues, as well as angels. More so today since crime is no longer well associated with subsequent capture, trial and punishment.

Here is a new onboard game: see if you can find the individual yogurt cartons; the single serve condiments; small cereal paper cartons; individualyl sized hand cream, soap and hair care products, carry on water in plastic bottles. Disappearing prizes awarded for each cruise, sent to your home address only if you provide the postage.

Atlas Cruise Line Explora is a new addition to the Antarctic cruise options - I think they are smaller expedition ships for MSC, and are priced much lower, but for a shorter cruise. One must get to Ushuaia on their own. (My recollection is very fuzzy about the details now, butdo remember the name Explora because it was so new to me having been back and forth on this very question myself .) PS: Just started the new book 'Under the Ice" - the search for Shackleton's Endurance that was finally found a short while ago. Pristine and surprisingly intact for what happened to it. On the chapter that discusses how the original abandoned party used penguins as critical food sources during their long ordeal - King penguins were meatier, than the little Adelie and easier to catch. Who knew? Some times you gotta do what you gotta do and the Shackleton-Enduraance survival story remains one of the grand human adventure stories of all time.

A cool detachment of the issues proves the US hold more cards against Mexico, than Mexico holds against us. Clean up the cartels, on both sides of the border.

In the past they would have the Pinnacle Breakfast in the upper dining room on ships with the interior Pinnacle (now the Volendam and Zaandam). Not quite the same sense of luxury and space as being in the Pinnacle dining room itself - large tables, banquettes, but there were windows and we would ask for a table for four for just the two of us to get that same expansive feeling - kind of - from the upper main dining room. The best part of the Pinnacle dining room was the special service and getting to know what one liked or didn't like - esp on the Prinsendam. But other ships, this perk was a mixed bag so we did not always use this perk either. My own favorite is heading to the crepe maker at the Lido on the ships that offer one, and concocting a lemon, butter sugar crepe after collecting the lemon at the coffee/tea station. Then asking the crepe maker to just put in a dollop of butter and some brown sugar into the crepe and, please nothing else. Then a squeeze of lemon over the top and it suddenly becomes a Paris street treat that warms the soul during gentle evening rain shower. (At least that is how I remember it from 60 years ago!)

Petty or RUDE? Not sure I see the RUDE part of this. Hope you work it out.

Recognize there can be a difference between Pacific coast Mexico ports and Caribbean Mexico ports. The entire Caribbean is a lot more dicey in my mind. Love to have someone change my mind on this conclusion. Certainly our B2B Christmas/NY Konigsdasm cruise to Mexican Riviera and Sea of Cortez felt safe, friendly and even pretty clean. Hope you consider the shore excursions to San Javier Mission from your Loreto port stop - a true highlight of this entire route. If you are even remotely interested in this rugged countryside and the early history of the Lower California Mission system. Mission #1 - Loreto; Mission #2 - San Javier. San Javier remains a point of pilgrimage even today. Called "jewel" of the mission chain due to its lovely stone carvings.

We still got fresh squeezed OJ in the Pinnacle breakfasts, pre-"covid". Don't know if they still offer this now.

Staff member once told us, when they really want you to hear an announcement they make sure you hear it. Did not go into the details how and why. But assume when it is an emergency you will hear it.

Any Made in USA ducks, or are they all made in China?

Reminder: they do sell binoculars at the ship's photo department.

I think they still sell excellent Baja fish tacos at the port in Ensenada - that is one reason to get off the ship, but not stray beyond the port. Not much there anyway. Just a "technical" stop but they did develop the port facilities. As bad as the cartel drug sellers are, (and they are vicious) we cannot escape responsibility for the drug buyers in the US who are the ones who really fuel this lethal trade.

Last time we had it, and we do love it gimmick or not, the waiter unhooked the rather lethally hooked up "clothesline bacon" for us. What started this novelty food fad, I have no idea. And it is an appetite killer, but what else are cruise indulgences for than getting things one would not bother to fix for themselves? Hello, peanut butter pie too. Personally, it is one of the more interesting things on the now rather routine Pinnacle menu. So we go to the Pinnacle almost just to enjoy that one frivolous item, more than anything else.

I'll go with Montreal Seasonings myself.

I think you need an entirely different set of expectations, if you decide to take this Westerdam cruise. Not good or bad, just a lot different. If you are taking this cruise primarily for its itinerary and costs, compared to the much smaller boutique lines, you will not be disappointed. However, if it is hard to let go of those much smaller ship expectations, I can't imagine you enjoying a ship like the Westerdam. It provides all the travel and itinerary basics, but it is just simply larger - not oppressively larger, but a far more impersonal cruise experience. Everything will feel "more crowded" simply because there will be more people. So yes, you might have to wait in tender lines, dining waits, more banquet style food, travel offshore in larger groups if you do ship excursions, and more or less fend for yourself among a group of relative strangers more than an intimate group of fellow passengers on your past smaller ships. We have found most, if not all, HAL passengers are very good sports and courtesy handle this in all good spirt. We like the "smaller HAL ships", but even those are in the 1200-1400 passenger range (certainly not your past 100 passenger small ship experiences!), so we did not find going on many slightly larger Vista ships like the Westerdam too much of a change because they were pretty much a familiar format for us. The larger, newer HAL ships are not our own cup of tea, but others love them for very different reasons than what we came to prefer about the older, smaller HAL ships. One needs to make sure they know what ship one is hearing about when either compliments or complaints are registered - each size ship will generate very different experiences. But we have never cruised on a 100 passenger ship for any length of time, so I cannot really say anything definitive other than the need to make your choice on very different criteria than your prior very small cruise ship choices. I have longingly looked at ships like Island Sky and loved where and how they go places pretty much off the map. But they do not offer HAL prices either, so any comparisons are simply not fair. Complaints about food and on-board entertainment on HAL ships are endemic, and even the HAL ships themselves, ever since HAL became our own cruise line of choice back in 2009. None of those complaints ever stopped us from accumulating over 600 days onboard and loving every single one of our mainly long, and exotic HAL cruises. We just re-set our expectations to match the price we were paying, while still enjoying some pretty fabulous destinations.

PS: If you catch it soon enough, you can edit the title thread when discovering an oooops. The nasty spell check fairies are demonic enough, deserving a.... stake... in their treacherous little hearts,

HAL never should have tried to (or were force to) compete with the 7 day mass bus trips, unless they had a unique market like, Bermuda, Mexican Riviera or Alaska. What ever happened to Bermuda, other than hearing it was hard on the crew - numbing sameness, too many at sea days, and the same darn port over and over again for their entire contract.