Cruisin Kay D

I recently booked a 5 night cruise with a Suite Guarantee, as that was the only way to book a suite. Typically we book balconies and choose the specific location. In this case of this cruise however, we need just 8 points to get to Diamond status, and 4 or 5 nights in JS would give us points we needed. We will see what we are assigned! I have not booked a guarantee in a long long time. With Mike's breathing issues, it has been best to pick a spot near an elevator.

Back to the point, please! Are all 3 ships in port now? Anyone know what time they will sail?

Just this past week I finally looked at the deck plans for Sun Princess and decided it would be so nice to be on it's 1st cruise out of Port Everglades!! So I decided to book the 1st 2 cruises for Mike & me!! Excited to be on the Inaugural 5 night + 7 night in a DA balcony on the bumpout on 12th deck. I love the new layout & look of the balcony cabins!! We sailed on the previous Sun Princess in 1996 with my parents, my sister and her husband for my sister's 50th birthday!! I noticed that there are 3 or 4 days between the arrival of the TransAtlantic passengers and when we board for the 5 nighter. Wondered if there would be Corporate or FAM tours or trips during that interim time, even perhaps some celebratory events.

We have always loved the lunch in the MDR to start a cruise, especially the menu and the quiet & relaxing atmosphere! In lieu of this, we do like 1st lunch at Angelos

Thank you for the well wishes!! All has been going smoothly....then this humongous 1000-year rainstorm & flood event in Ft. Lauderdale Wednesday! I sure hope they get FLL airport up & running on Friday, and that planes are flying, especially SW, on the 17th!!

That sweet Ruth C. ALWAYS has great advice! I recall reading her advice here on numerous topics here on Cruisecritic many times in years past prior to a HAL cruise!! She is the expert on all things Holland America! As far as the size of the ship, we had numerous cruises on Zaandam's little sister ships (Veendam, Maasdam, old Statendam, etc.) that were taken out of the fleet & sold during the shutdown. We had a 3 week Alaskan cruise on one smaller than Zaandam & we LOVED the ease of getting around. If you notice my signature below, we have been on 60+ cruises on a variety of cruise lines and ships of all sizes. We love the Royal Caribbean's Allure, one of the largest, for its fabulous entertainment & specialty restaurants. We love the Viking Ocean & River ships, which are among the smallest. Suffice to say, we have NOT been on a ship we didn't like!!

6 of our 12 cruises on HAL have been on the smaller ships (Veendam, Maasdam, old Statendam, Volendam) for over 80 days. The other 6 cruises on larger ships, 7 weeks, 50 days. For us, great disappointment that Veendam, Maasdam, & old Statendam were sold! What's left is Zaandam & Volendam....so nice to sail on! We especially like the Oceanview cabins on Lower Promenade, where you can take just a few steps and be outside on the exterior walking deck.....not private but a wonderful community balcony!! On these smaller ships, sometimes we try to get an Upgrade or Upsell, but this time we took the Have It All (We like to drink - haha).... (Every other cruise on HA, Princess, Celebrity or RC, we only book Balcony cabins.)

Our April cruise from FLL to Montreal on HA Zaandam has cancelled Bar Harbor & Newport and substitued a short day at Portland Maine, plus giving us another Sea Day instead of Newport. However no shore excursions posted so far for Portland. Those of you that have been to Portland, what do you suggest for our stop that is only from 7am to 1pm?

Received notice of itinerary change for Zaandam, April 18-29, that port call at Bar Harbor has been cancelled and ship will be stopping at Portland, Maine. And that the Newport RI stop has been changed to be a Sea Day. But there is NO listing of possible excursions at Portland.

Interesting!! Our cruise on Zaandam in late April has issued port itinerary changes today. Originally scheduled to stop at Newport RI and Bar Harbor, but both have been cancelled. NOW, we are stopping at Portland Maine on a Sunday. But also no shore excursions have been listed.

As I recall it is somewhat an uphill walk from ship to train station. We have used both the train to Montreal and the express bus.....Been there several times.

mine says 4.23

The past 4-5 months, I have had great difficulty finding gallons of Distilled Water in grocery stores, CVS, Walgreens, etc. I asked a pharmacist at a Walgreens if purified water or spring water or drinking water is same as distilled water, and the answer was NO. I also asked him if we could use any of those other waters in our CPAP machines and the answer was NO!

WHAT is the special phone number to use to call about possible upsells & upgrades?

I am interested in learning about various transportation options that we can use to go from Zaandam to YUL airport on April 29. And interested in approximate costs. We will be flying on AA to Charlotte about 2:30 PM that day.

No-one knows now what the future weather could possibly be!! It will be what it will be.....

I really need someone to help with this!! I need to see a picture of the electric outlets in the Oceanview cabins on Zaandam. I think I saw or read that there is 1 US outlet and 1 European outlet at the desk in the space under the shelf that held the old TV. And does anyone know what the distance in feet/inches from bedside table to those outlets. Anyone know if there is any outlet near head of the bed. I ask because Mike & I both have CPAPs, and he also has an oxygen floor concentrator that must be connected to his CPAP at night. So that is 3 plugs every night, not even counting my phone charger. Appreciate getting this advice/information.

Zaandam, April 18-29, 2023 (Ft. Lauderdale to Montreal 11 nights) Cruisin Kay D and Mike D

My question is about Zaandam but not about TVs or refrigerators. We will be staying in a Deck 3 Oceanview in April. Both of us have cpap machines, plus hubby also has to use his oxygen concentrator that sits on the floor with his cpap. That is 3 plug-in devices per night. Think we can get an extension cord from the room steward? ALSO unrelated question: How many Happy Hours per day -- times, where? Whats the formula, BOGO 50% off?

Just realized our ship is there on a Sunday --- hope the shops & restaurants will be open!!!

d9704011: Many thanks for that 2nd link!! I feel a bit more relieved that Mike & I may be able to tender to downtown, go to a shop or 2 to buy some blueberry items & eat lobster at a local restaurant.....last time there I bought a Bar Harbor long sleeve shirt which I dearly love and wear so often.....I want to buy another shirt!! Checked our ports today and it appears Zaandam will be the only ship in nearly all of our ports, and in some cases, the 1st ship of the 2023 season to come to that port! A tour operator I contacted at Newport RI about his boat tour said April is too early for cruise ships to come!!! I wrote him back to say: Well, Zaandam & people will be there!

Charles 4515: I do not see a Reader View option, so can you summarize the situation discussed in the article?

The link in the last post requires that anyone trying to read it has to sign up & pay for access to the link. Can the OP (cooncat_mom) PLEASE PLEASE copy & post the article here???

Thanks to Renmar for his efforts!! It is such an important help when planning my cruises!! (Going on our 31st Princess cruise soon!)

SORRY, ALL -- THIS IS A DUPLICATE POSTING -- DON'T KNOW HOW TO DELETE IT!!!! We have a 5:30 PM flight from FLL on the day we disembark a Princess cruise from Port Everglades. We are considering a rental car for the day. Do any car rental companies pick up at Port Everglades? Is it best to get a taxi to the airport and pick up the rental car there?