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Griller, thanks for the tips. Wishing you continued good health and a wonderful time on the Caribbean Princess!

Diva, maybe we could start a new fashion trend on the ships? Cute gloves, coordinating with our outfits. Cotton can be dyed. I'm thinking of purchasing a half dozen pair and having some fun making them pink, green, purple....

I'm also thinking of how HAL doesn't allow passengers to serve themselves at the buffet for the first 3 days of a cruise. Maybe it's time to get rid of the self-service aspect altogether and have staff do the serving. I could live with that.

Sorry, that was "I always use THE handrails so I don't take a nose dive." Still new at posting here!

Well, I'm guessing that Colgate has probably figured out by this point that we all need to wash our hands and use the provided hand sanitizers not just for our own benefit, but for everyone on the ship.

I'm finding the info everyone is providing here really beneficial. Comforting to know how many of us have figured out that we should clean our hands after touching a menu and after handing the serving utensils after going through a buffet. I will now use a tissue to push elevator buttons. I'm honestly considering getting a cute pair of cotton gloves to use while going down stairs (I always use to handrails so I don't meet take a nose dive), traveling through airports, etc. I'm not a germaphobic but I do hate to get sick.

Thanks for starting this thread Colgate. Hope you've learned as much as I have!

Thank you so much for these wonderful photos. Hubby and I are sailing on the Regal in January. This will be his first cruise and I think we've picked the right ship to convince him that we should go cruising at LEAST once a year. The Regal is beautiful.

Thank you again!

Thanks so much Joanie. Just the info I was looking for. I'm still learning about "obstructions", service areas, etc. I've been trying to do my homework and make informed decisions. For some reason I didn't have nearly as much trouble booking on the Regal Princess for our cruise in January. I'm not sure if it's the HAL site or me, but I'm having more trouble figuring out what are the best options this time around.

Although I'd LOVE the space, I wouldn't go for a handicapped room. I would, indeed, feel like I was "taking it away" from someone who was handicapped. Taking a good look at the others you mentioned though. Thanks again!

Thanks, AQ. Will do that.

Hi, I’m new to CC but not to cruising. Thank you for this thread! This is my first time posting. Please bear with me.

My sister and I are considering booking the 5 day Pacific Coastal cruise on the Nieuw Amsterdam sailing on *April 25, 2016.* We've both sailed on HAL before, but never on the Nieuw Amsterdam.

This trip we're not using a travel agent and I'm finding it really confusing looking over the ship's deck plans.* Before I actually book I'd like to have a clue what sort of stateroom might be available.* Our first choice would be to book a verandah stateroom, as close to mid-ship as possible, starboard side, with no obstructions, good-sized balcony, with nothing noisy above us so that the cabin is fairly quiet.* I'm thinking deck 5 or deck 6, but I’ve read here on the boards that the decks on 5 are undersized. I’ve also read that the Nieuw Amsterdam has some vibration issues. Is that only in the aft section? And am I hearing correctly that I can’t actually book a specific room on this one, only a guarantee? Never done that before. The idea freaks me out a bit. Would asking for a V category guarantee end up putting us where we’d like to be?

Any helpful hints would be appreciated! Thanks again for the info here.