johnnyswitzerland

1 hour ago, RynoWally said:

Do you have the Premium or Streaming package that you are using, If Premium are you using it for video calls?

@RynoWally I just have the “surf” plan that was included in HIA.

Onboard ms Nieuw Amsterdam and internet is as good as shoreside.  I am impressed.  For those who work remotely maybe it's time to consider permacruise…

On 1/26/2024 at 12:03 AM, iflyrc5 said:

I just hope at the next drydock they close off the stairway coming down from the casino so we won't keep getting the smoke smell down on the Music walk.

8 hours ago, AtlantaCruiser72 said:

I’m onboard now and it’s very pervasive. Can smell it just as you enter bb kings all the way past the casino and RSRR/billboard. I was at the deck 4 forward elevator/stair last night and the smell was strong there too. This is 2024 people. There are multiple ways to mitigate the smoke (enclosed smoking casino area and high flow smoke scrubbing system attached to aircon for example). I guess Carnival Corp is just too cheap to take proper mitigation efforts. Closing in the hole between the casino and RSRR/billboard will only serve to push more of the smell to the forward stair lobby and bb kings I fear

I am so disappointed that they removed that beautiful staircase between Music Walk and the casino on NS.  It's a focal point and opens/joins the spaces.  If smoke is the reason, I can name a pretty straightforward solution…  Disallow smoking indoors.  Is this not obvious?  Instead of ruining a beautiful architectural/interior design, maybe eliminate the source of the problem?

As @AtlantaCruiser72, said:  This is 2024 people.

Thank you for the info, @Takes Notes.  Much appreciated!

Has anyone now or recently aboard Nieuw Amsterdam tried the new restaurant, Morimoto By Sea?  Thoughts?

Thanks for the detailed info, @Haljo1935.  I'm surprised she needed such extensive compliance work, being relatively new.  The curved staircase between Music Walk and the casino has been removed?  It was a beautiful focal point.  Sad to hear it.

Have there been other changes aboard NS?  Hoping to see the Half Moon Bar and more sophisticated design of the Club Orange dining room show up on Koningsdam and Nieuw Statendam to match Rotterdam VII.

11 hours ago, foodsvcmgr said:

Off topic but…  Ship's registry: Curaçao?

Amazing info.  Thank you so much, @Mercruiser.

2 hours ago, Vict0riann said:

We did eventually get ashore.  It was easy for 5 stars and CO, we were ushered through right away.  We didn’t stay long, just a bit of a wander, it was quite warm.  Then we came back to the ship on an almost empty ferry.   We went up to the Lido for lunch, I had a very tasty chicken taco and a slice of berry pie.  
 

 

 

The only bird I saw - I didn’t find the chickens.

 

 

 

Awesome pics!  🤩

So the two ships are literally right next to each other in Gibraltar and both accessing the internet via Starlink?  And getting such vastly different service?  How can this be?

Good advice, @VMax1700!  I think I left the bathroom door open at night and that was sufficient for me, but may not work for everyone.

I disembarked Oosterdam two weeks ago in Buenos Aires.  Was in VB verandah 5042.  I realize you're asking about VF vs. my VB but I would think the only difference would be the steel railing outside.  FWIW, my stateroom bathroom most definitely did have a nightlight.  It was in the center of the ceiling.  A small pinhole type light that never went off.  The perfect nightlight.

25 minutes ago, ChucktownSteve said:

I figured out I had to do the forgotten password to change it and log in.  I tried to do a reservation but in the category it ASSIGNED me a cabin. I couldn't for the life of me figure out how to change it.  I hate the frames within a frame scrolling small sections.

 

Must be a work in progress. 

I had the same experience.  Please see screengrab, attached.  After the system assigns your stateroom, on the summary page click the button I've circled in red.  From there, you can select an alternative stateroom from either a list or a map view.  But once you click 'Continue' the system seems to lose your selection and retains the original assignment.

I reset my password and was able to log in.  Verification email came right away.  👍

No info on loyalty status or past voyages.

I took the booking engine for a test drive and found it worked okay (not terribly intuitive but it did work).  However, I was unable to change the stateroom the system automatically assigned me.  I found the edit screen to switch, but it didn't seem to capture the change after making a selection.

@montythecat, I was on the same sailing and couldn't agree more.  The music was outstanding in all venues.  The service was also up to pre-pandemic levels too, in my opinion.  I also really enjoyed the captain's talks.  He was so engaging and made the material so interesting…  even the weather!  A terrific trip for sure.

Once Starlink rolls out, that may change.  I would love to see a future where I can enjoy transoceanic crossings without taking vacay time.  Here's hoping.

22 minutes ago, Lildare said:

 Thank you for looking over your video to verify what the captain said, this is excellent news!

Agree!  Thank you, @Alphen, for checking!  This is pretty exciting, and it makes sense that Rotterdam VII could be a testbed for Starlink on CCL vessels because of her recent launch.  👍

37 minutes ago, Copper10-8 said:

when done feeding

😆🤣

Surprised to hear this.  My first Azamara trip was aboard Quest this past September/October and it was wonderful.  During the ten days I was aboard, I had to deal with an unfortunate family situation which required the help of guest relations.  They were gracious and compassionate.  I felt they went out of their way to help me at a difficult time.  I'll never forget it.

I noticed the blogger mentioned Bruno by name (in a positive light) and I remember Bruno well.  "Bruno from Brazil" as he introduced himself to me.  He was fantastic, but so were the other folks I met at guest relations.

I'm sorry the bloggers had a negative experience with guest relations aboard Quest.  That team made me an Azamara guest for life.

1 hour ago, barbon2 said:

Thanks again.  It’s a shame that the smoking area is at the adult pool.

It should be in a corner on a top, rarely used spot on the ship.

Enjoy the rest of your cruise.

Agree.  On Pinnacle class ships, there's the Sun Bar on Deck 11.  That's the perfect spot.

@Hlitner, I agree about private insurance being better.  I usually buy my own via insuremytrip.com but this is a bit of a special case because I wanted to make sure I had some CFAR coverage.  HAL's CCP seemed the most expedient option.

Update:  I called back this morning and got a super helpful agent named Twyla.  She was awesome and also stumped by this issue.  It took some time on hold, while she worked with a supervisor, but it was sorted out.

Sounds like it is a software/system limitation.  They had to "lift" the air from the booking without canceling it, then change my home gateway to EWR, add the insurance, and then put the air back.  Phew!

My TA and I both tried to make this happen yesterday to no avail, but today someone had the ability (power, authority, skill???) to make it work.  Funny how things can work out differently depending on whom you speak to.  Or your tolerance for persistence.  😆

Thanks, all, for your responses.

@Hlitner, I will call back again this morning and see if there's a way to have the "home gateway" changed without affecting my already-booked flight.  Yesterday, my TA was told I would lose the flight if I changed the gateway.  I don't want to do that because it is an awesome deal in Delta Premium Select CDG > JFK and the fares are evidently much, much higher now.

@Mary229,  no, it was a refundable deposit booked during the $1 deposit promo back in October.  No cancellation penalties until January 7, 2023.

@Syracusefan44, agreed!  If the policy is about state of residence, it should have no impact on my ability to purchase CPP.  I wonder if it's maybe a software issue.  The system sees JFK and says "nope!" but it should be checking against mailing address, not airport.  What if I lived nowhere near NY state but wanted to use FlightEase to get to NYC for whatever reason?  Would that disqualify me from buying CPP?  According to yesterday's reps, the answer is yes.  Makes no sense.

Super specific issue here and I've failed to find relevant answers…

The HAL website CPP info page states:  "CPP Platinum is not available to residents of New York State, Quebec or Puerto Rico."

I have a booking approaching final payment (next week) and tried to add Platinum Cancellation Protection to it today.  My travel agent (and then subsequently I) was told that it couldn't be added because my home gateway is NYC.

I live in New Jersey.

I do indeed have a booking via FlightEase to JFK post-cruise, but is this really about residency or is it about airports?  Anybody else have this problem of living within proximity of NY state but not being able to get cancellation protection if using NYC airports?

Thanks for any insight!

John