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cruisingrob21

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  1. The "Have It All Plus" package on bookings more than 12 months out shows that it includes the elite beverage package with drinks priced to $15. The package price is still $55 per person, per day.
  2. Good point. Thanks for pointing that out. Could I ask why you would choose 4053/4054 rather than 4123/4124?
  3. I have an upcoming voyage on the Noordam and took an upgrade offer to a verandah. It's not a well selling voyage (its an unusual 5 night voyage from Vancouver) and was offered an upgrade from Oceanview to verandah for $50 total. I took it and have a few options of cabins that I'd love to get some input on. It seems like deck 4 and 8 have deeper balconies than decks 5 or 6. 4053 or 4054 - I like the fact that I could look aft and see a bit more given that these are the last verandahs before the lifeboats. I'm okay with the exposed nature of this location. While underway, either of these would seem to have less wind. 4124 and 4123 - These are similar to 4053 and 4054 but have lifeboats forward and no adjacent room. The only downside is they seem like they would be windier than 4053 or 4054, but its easier to see forward. Several VA rooms on on deck 5 -all seem to be the same with what looks like a narrower verandah 2 VA rooms on deck 6 (6082/6091), right next to the panoramic elevators which I've read have less privacy and the elevator makes noise all day and night 1 VA room on deck 8, near midship (8069). This seems to have a slightly deeper balcony than decks 5 or 6. Any advice would be appreciated - which room would you take and why?
  4. Can I say the ms Amsterdam even though shes now with Fred Olsen Cruise Line? I know the other R class ships were similar but the Amsterdam was special. Of the current fleet I'm torn between the Eurodam and the Koningsdam
  5. Just know that if you get seasick easily, pack the Dramamine (or whatever you use). If you encounter rough seas you will feel it in forward rooms more than even a few rooms closer to the middle of the ship.
  6. This seems like the right answer - the candies might have extra costs - or I could see them adding costs to some new specialty items.
  7. We sailed on the Amsterdam in 2019 with kids about the same age. The R class ships have smaller kids facilities for sure, and sometimes it was a bit crowded but my kids had fun. We found the hours stated in the daily program to be roughly correct. They are not open all day long and generally close during meal times on sea days. We were fortunate and the CD brought all the kids to the main showlounge for a few games of bingo on the last day, complete with popcorn, cookies, and strawberry or chocolate milk. One of my kids even won one game. As for general tips, Alaska is a very family friendly place to go, but make sure you find things. There are great playgrounds in Ketchikan, Juneau, and Skagway not far from the ship. Also consider shorter excursions with less 'bus rides". For instance, our kids really enjoyed the duck tour and lumberjack show in Ketchikan. Also, most places have hikes not far from the ships or even "stair roads" that some kids may find entertaining. I agree with the remark previously about affordable binoculars. They may also enjoy walkie talkies (although they don't always work well on the ships). There are a lot of on-demand kid movies (I think the Zaandam has the new system with on-demand tv) - certainly enough for 1 or 2 per day. Consider investing in a few travel board games or teaching kids some card games. Another tip that took us a few cruises with kids to learn is that breakfast or even lunch in the dining room is a calmer, less chaotic experience than the lido buffet. We were able to easily find a table, and enjoy our breakfast while the great crew brought food for our kids. Since HAL ships have such great dining rooms, you get outstanding views usually. Around 8 is when our oldest started feeling confident wandering the ship a bit. The Zaandam is smaller so if you are comfortable with it after a day or two, they may like to wander a bit together. I usually would try to quiz my kids on day 2 or 3 and ask them to show us how to get to our room, or how to get to the Crows Nest etc. After they build some confidence, we felt okay letting them go (with a watch on the oldest's arm) and a set meet up time. By the last night its fun to be walking around the ship and find the kids sitting in a corner reading books 🙂
  8. At some point, HAL, and Princess by extension just need to make their all inclusive plans to include just beer and house wine only to get around all this and maybe a handful of simple cocktails to get around all this. In HAL's case, this $11 limit is pretty annoying when many mixed drinks cost more than that. In Princess' case, the price keeps going up and up but you are getting the same thing - I think they need a "lower" tier that includes Wifi, gratuities, and beer, soda, and house wine.
  9. I've sailed on both ships, and in the last two years went to Alaska on the Eurodam and Discovery Princess. While the Sapphire is a much better ship for Alaska than the Discovery (covered pool area, Skywalkers lounge, nearly full wrap promenade deck), I would choose the NA over the Sapphire Princess. Princess ships have very few, climate controlled observation areas high up, and although the Sapphire is better than most princess ships to Alaska, its not as good as HAL ships with the Crows Nest and Tamarind (on the NA and Eurodam). Additionally the dining rooms are more scenic on the HAL ships.
  10. If you purchased your booking through a travel agent, you might have got a discounted group rate. To add HIA to the group rate, the agent has to apply it after the fact and it attaches to all members of the booking. As someone else said, a quick call should get it fixed.
  11. There's lots of new tonnage to compete with in the Caribbean and HAL offers a unique product. They can probably fill a pinnacle class ship easier in the Caribbean (even with oversupply prices) better than the Hawaii voyages.
  12. There was supposed to be a 5th Vista class ship, but was instead was sent to Cunard, and then again sent to P&O before finally sailing as the Arcadia. The layout of the Arcadia is similar to Noordam but appears to have the addition of the Signature class' Tamarind restaurant and bar area.
  13. It seems like there is considerably less info on the Noordam than on other Vista class ships on CC. Although the youngest of the Vista class, its odd she seems to be the only one still with Northern Lights nightclub. A minor annoyance of mine with HAL is that they tend to send their vista class ships in the wrong direction from their names? What I mean is that the Noordam spends a lot of time in the southern hemisphere and the westerdam spends a lot of time in asia's far east. Several years ago the Oosterdam was mostly positioned on the west coast of the Americas - although she's now mostly in Europe, but also spends a lot of time in south america. Names don't mean much, but I've always found it odd. Not as odd as Princess sending the Caribbean Princess to Alaska next year...😆
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