Astromaid

Clay, I have seen you playing a game of LRC and needing 3 one dollar bills. There is a whole discussion on Carnival about some one reporting this game being played on a Carnival ship and the participants have fists full of dollars. Illegal on Carnival and security shut them down. Must be that Viking is OK with the game.

This will be my first time on Holland America, specifically on Rotterdam. 1. I am confused about the availability of self serve drinks on Lido, I have read about disappointment in the length of time getting a beverage with your meal, I am hoping that there is availability of self serve. I bring my own thermal glass to drink water, juice and lemonade. 2. I always avoid Lido for embarkation lunch. Will other venues on Rotterdam be open for lunch on that day? We do have Club Orange, but I think that dining room is only open for breakfast and dinner? 3. I read that I cannot bring cans of soda on board. But in looking at what I can preorder for my stateroom, every beverage except soda can be pre ordered. My cruise is a year out, maybe they will add this option at a later date? I did not purchase the Have it all package, we are not heavy drinkers. I drink mostly water, maybe one can of soda, maybe one alcoholic drink per day. My husband likes one maybe two beers a day. So it did not seem to be a good value for us.

I have thoroughly enjoyed your trip, I will be taking a similar cruise on Rotterdam in a year. I bought Club Orange based on what I read in the forums and will be in our first aft cabin. I read a different forum by someone on Rotterdam who was not happy with the Club Orange dining room, food was cold, not as ordered and service was poor. Did you experience any problems? From what I read you seemed satisfied. Also, were you comfortable in the cabana? I have read they can be very hot with no air movement and depending on the sun, no shade. Thanks so much for your entertaining insight.

I told my husband the best perk of Club Orange is I get a tote! Notice the "I". You are one of the people I followed here on your last trip, I hope to meet you one day on a cruise, you sound like one of my kind of people.

I just wanted to thank the many people on this forum who contribute advice and suggestions. You have convinced me to try HAL for my 15th cruise. Today I booked the 8 day Southern Caribbean Seafarer on Rotterdam March 28, 2025. Based on what you taught me I booked an obstructed veranda, purchased Club Orange and upgraded to an aft veranda.

We are considering getting an inside cabin and a retreat cabana going to the ABC Islands. Are there pillows available to use with the loungers? I prefer to sit up more. Is a cabana always shaded? Is there an elevator to this deck or do you need to use a flight of stairs? Will there be airflow with the cabanas on the side (with the better view) or better airflow with the forward facing ones?

We loved Chibang. ate there three times, but we thought the Chinese was better than the Mexican.

I see the pricing does not include Noordam, I am getting mixed information as to whether the Noordam has cabanas. I see deck plans where they are listed and then on the Holland site they are not. Does anyone know if they have removed them?

Does anyone know how Viking will pronounce it? Veela or vayla?

Does HAL offer craft get togethers? On other lines I have been able to bring a project to work on and join with others to craft and socialize. It is fun seeing other projects,

My grandson has a Gabb watch that he communicates with family. Will this work with the Carnival's chat feature? My guess is no, but I don't know anything about this sort of communication.

Almost monthly I get brochures from Viking on their river cruises, and a couple times a year I get a brochure on their expedition cruises. I never get one on their ocean cruises, which is what I am interested in. Does anyone get ocean brochures?

Is the charge applicable to anytime dining too or just if you have set dining?

Absolutely! there may be small differences but you can even get the appetizers. Unfortunately you don't get the controlled portions like the dining room so it is too easy to overeat because you do want to try everything. The amazing thing is that the Viking crowd is very good about not wasting food, unlike some mainstream cruise line guests that leave plates of discarded foods.

We were on our first Viking cruise in June. We also did not care for the close two tops in the dining room, we only ate there once. We were sat in the middle of two very close tables, the one couple deliberately ignored us, I like to at least say hi. It made for a very uncomfortable meal. On all our other nameless cruises we always eat in the main dining room because of the better quality of food as opposed to the buffet. When we discovered they have the same menu and the quality of food was just as good in the World Cafe we never went back. And the tables are much further apart. And it was fun interacting with the servers and getting their advice on what to try. Especially Phillip from the Philippines, he usually was carving meat on the left side of WC when you walk in. Clay, you should see if he is still on the Saturn, he is a gem.