Rubyfisch

Understandable - my partner is definitely a "leave me alone until I wake up" sort if person.

We were on Zuiderdam last August when it docked at Quay 30. The shuttle ran in a constant loop - but it isn't so much to town as to the end of the port. It's a couple of blocks from the Museum of Civilization. There is a hop-on, hop-off bus stop at the museum, and it's not far to the funicular. We waited no more than about ten minutes (we ended up taking four times, as we went back to the ship in the middle of the day and out again the later afternoon). There were handicapped accessible shuttles as well. It was a mixture of different sized buses. There were cabs availability right at the dock, as well (without taking the shuttle).

Don't forget the MDR for breakfast as a way to meet others as well. I am much more of a breakfast person than my partner, so several mornings I got up and went to the MDR. They ask if you don't mind sharing. The shared tables were at the back with the best water views. I met lots of folks doing that. Same for lunch and/or tea on sea days

On Zuiderdam last August we had no trouble watching YouTube videos of any length with Premium. This was obviously post Starlink. I'm also curious if we'll need to get Stream to use YouTube. I asked my travel agent (who had just gotten off a Holland cruise) and she said they had Premium and could use YouTube.

The other stuff doesn't populate until very close to the sailing (or even during the sailing). The production shows are the same every week, and are generally on the same days on every cruise, so they populate first. You can take a look at this week's cruise in the app to get an idea. On my Christmas cruise on Vision, there was a comedian the first night and the last night, the two production shows, a Christmas show, a juggler (who was surprisingly entertaining), a Celine Dion tribute performer (this was the only one I skipped), and an acoustic set with a reasonably famous singer (he was from the band Little Texas).

On the cruises I've been on, they've been hosted by the sports staff - so the same people who run the stretching classes and the rock wall.

They did on sea days in both Enchantment (2022) and Vision (2023). I really enjoyed them. They will cancel them if the water is too rough, though.

As others have said, yes, they will. I had the earliest boarding time and my luggage was in the elevator lobby by the time the cabins were available (sometime between 1:30 and 2:00 when I got down to my cabin). I took the rest of the way so I could unpack.

I wonder if it is the mocktail price. We have it booked for our May sailing as well - maybe I'll be about do some more math and figure out, as I'm not sure we are going to have much else onboard spending other that and gratuities.

Do you know (or if) this works regarding the non-alcoholic beverage package? We both had the Quench package on our first Holland cruise, and got more points than I was expecting - I couldn't make the math work out, as there was no way we spent $2,100, but got seven bonus points.

When I came to Boston, it was basically a ten seconds of a human looking at my passport and waiving me - it took about the same amount of time as the person scanning me off the ship. It's the same way in Baltimore - no scanning of passports, just a quick check and you keep moving.

I live in Boston - the taxis are, in fact, generally terrible. Lyft and Uber are better (lately Uber has been cheaper - I always check both). If you have limited luggage and no mobility issues (i.e., you can manage your bags on slightly uneven terrain), you can also take the SL2 from South Station to the pier (more or less). We take the red line to South Station and then the SL2 - but we are used to the MBTA.

Don't assume you will get seasick, but also don't assume you won't. On my last cruise (on the much smaller Vision), there were people who were utterly miserable, and other who took nothing and were totally fine. I am (very luckily) in the take nothing and be fine category, but my friends were miserable when they tried to forego their scopolamine patches for a few hours.

It was a hot mess in October when I was there for work, but once you are through security and passport control, it's much nicer. When I was there, than randomly closed the security line for my terminal and sent us all on a lengthy adventure to a different terminal. Security wasn't too bad (although I had a business class ticket), but passport control was awful.

Does anyone have any thoughts on where Enchantment, Liberty, and Freedom will be in December 2025? I normally take a cruise over Christmas, but given what dates work from me I don't love any of the options that were just released. Ideally, I'd love a seven or eight leaving the 23rd or 24th ...

Across multiple phones and providers, I've had no issues with texting via Wi-Fi on an Android. You just turn on Wi-Fi calling before you put your phone on airplane mode. It's worked on both Holland America and Royal Caribbean. It does not tend to work on airplane Wi-Fi - I assume they block it like they block Zoom (we use the Zoom chat client at work - don't worry, I'm not trying to have a Zoom call from an airplane ...).

I'm really looking forward to it - I've never been on a "new" ship - Freedom in 2017 was the newest ship I had ever been on. And I have a great 8 day itinerary on her - it should be a fun Christmas (even though schlepping to Florida around Christmas is an expensive hassle).

I've really come to enjoy Vision class ships (particularly Vision). I've been on Radiance (Serenade, twice) and Freedom (Freedom, once) before the pandemic and have Freedom booked for Christmas 2024. I eagerly await the Baltimore itineraries for Christmas 2025 to see if I can have at least one holiday on a Vision class out of Baltimore before they get retired (we all know their days are numbered).

I think they assigned them before the pandemic and literally everyone ignored them ... At least that is my vague recollection.

I've cruised twice out of Baltimore on Royal (December 2022 and December 2023), and neither time were they enforcing check in times. They don't have a giant seating area, but they also only take small ships. They start boarding around 10:30, so there isn't much need for seating.

I've stayed at the Courtyard at McHenry Row, which is right by the port. It's a newer hotel, next to a grocery store and some restaurants. I have stayed there before two cruises and would recommend it.

It's usually under VIP passes.

I am happy to drop off my carry on - I don't need the schlep it around the ship with me, but I know I'll have it when I first get to my cabin. It's all of the stuff I lovingly call my "cruise crap." Things like magnetic hooks, my lanyard, etc. Also, if I want to hit the pool at 2:00 pm, I know where my swimsuit is.

I normally travel solo on Royal. If it is within $5 a day of the internet package, I think it is worthwhile. And I've always been able to get it within that by checking the planner every once and awhile.

Okay - I think I'm done. Still happy to answer questions if anyone has them I hope everyone had a wonderful New Year. Here are some parting photos from the fireworks in Alexandria, VA yesterday evening (this is from the 6 pm set ... I was asleep by midnight):