3rdGenCunarder

Such a simple solution! It's a shame some people are too inconsiderate to do that.

That makes sense. I wonder if cabin category comes into play here. We booked our first Alaska cruise on Zuiderdam closer to sailing than we usually do. We booked a Neptune suite. We had to take a guarantee because it was the last cruise of the season and we wanted combine it with the coastal to San Francisco. They were keeping their options open and only doing guarantees at that point. Despite the late booking, we got first seating confirmed before the cabin location was confirmed.

A few years ago, we had strong winds blowing toward our side of the ship coming down the coast after leaving the St Lawrence River. We couldn't open the balcony door all day. OTOH, I've had northeast cruises that were perfectly calm.

Perhaps ask the winery if their products are available anywhere else in Alaska where you could pick some up at a more convenient time.

Bring back Dutch Tea, Dutch night in the MDR (for the night of the Orange party?), or add Dutch items to the "special" dressy night menu? For the non-Pinnacle ships, could they enlarge the coffee/bar area in the Crows Nest (or whatever they call it now) and serve some of the Dutch Cafe items? I recall seeing some things in a cold case, so not everything requires having a kitchen there.

The classes were a 5-star perk, and anyone else had to get on a waiting list. I would sign up right away on embarkation day, so I had a chance of making the cut. And I did. I was lucky to do the class twice when there was a guest chef. Even better than the cooking was the conversation over the lunch that followed. They need a kitchen setup for hands-on classes, but they don't need one for demos. Cunard does demos in the main theater. They use portable cooking stations and get the most entertaining staff members to do it. I think the chefs enjoy it even more than the passengers.

Does booking a guarantee cabin, as opposed to choosing a cabin, affect getting your choice of dining time?

Nooooo! Please, please no more spa or shopping infomercials!!!! I would love to see the cooking demos return. Even better, the hands-on classes. I would happily pay to go to some of those again.

On Eurodam last month, I found the beef portions to be significantly larger than the fish portions in the MDR.

Sure doesn't sound like it. All we've heard about the changes in the entertainment is what's going away. What's replacing it is unclear. If Lincoln Center is going to be on World Stage as a group that travels form ship to ship, with my luck, they won't be on any cruise I'm taking. I still haven't seen Cantare. All I ever see is Step One.

I just looked at Navigator on my phone. I don't see a way to edit the account holder. But there is a contact given if you want to delete an account. Try emailing navigator.support@hollandamerica.com and put something like "change account" in the title so they know you aren't simply trying to delete an account.

You don't have to use it, but it makes things easier. You will get a paper daily program, but Navigator means you don't have to carry it around to remember things you wanted to do. You can also check menus, which is convenient if you're wondering what's for lunch or dinner at the Lido. If you booked a tour through HAL, your tour ticket will be in Navigator. Paper tickets are not distributed, although you can get one printed. Given the short hours of the Shorex desk, that could be a hassle. There are reports that some tours will scan your cruise card and accept that as a tour ticket, but I didn't see that happen.

That's how I read it, too. But--When I tried to check in at the face scan kiosk in FLL, it said I hadn't done all my docs. That was wrong. I had done all the check-in stuff the website wanted, and HAL did not require Verifly to get all the green check marks and a boarding pass. The kiosk watcher sent me to a live check-in person, and a minute later I had my little paper boarding pass. So no big deal, but I wonder if the kiosk wanted me to have Verifly. HAL did send emails "encouraging" me to do it. But after going through ArriveCAN several times last year, if I wasn't required to do an app I had no desire to bother. OTOH, the kiosk might have been cranky for some other reason.

I can't imagine why. It wasn't needed to embark or disembark, at least not at FLL. Where are you disembarking?

This is a good list. Unfortunately, utilization would require HAL to do something (enrichment? entertainment?) in some of these spaces and they don't seem inclined to do that. Is the cooking set-up from the days of the Queen's Lounge still on the revolving stage in BB King, or has that been removed to give BBK a larger stage?

Is this HAL's pattern from maybe 10 yeas ago? It's Rosenthal. (Things tended to follow my mother home... 😉) The blue is actually a darker blue, more like navy blue.

I don't know if they still sell them, but when the Delft bread plates were new, I was able to buy a set of the four different designs.

(bold is mine) More than 20 minutes on my 2018 K'dam cruise. Step One was only two shows in the cruise, and there were guest entertainers some nights.

On Eurodam, the Casino has expanded into the Gallery Bar, so that underused spot had a new use.

I don't think the mariner discount applies to any special/popup dinners/

Ocean Bar on Eurodam. There was an unused dance floor and a sad untouched piano pushed way to the back of the little stage. Bring back live music in the Ocean Bar!

Just tonight on the news I saw a story about climate change affecting the agave crop, and as a result, tequila production. so enjoy your margaritas while you can!!!

The Cascades is a beautiful ride up the coast. I was so disappointed that I couldn't take the train last June. Usually, I go up a day early, rather than have the stress of getting from the train to the ship. It's a four-hour ride. The times aren't terribly convenient, leaving Seattle at either 7:50 AM or 7:00 PM. If you take the early train, that would mean flying into Seattle the day before, which adds to time and cost. If you don't mind getting into Vancouver at 11:00 PM, you could avoid the Seattle hotel stay, but you would need a hotel in Vancouver.

I think people dress up more for holiday cruises. It's a great opportunity to have a family picture taken when everyone looks so nice.

You're channeling my HS physics teacher. "That's an explanation, not an excuse" was one of his favorite sayings. I do think covid and supply chain have become convenient "excuses" for items not being unavailable or for prices going up. There always are signs around the supermarket saying "our suppliers are having availability problems with..." Side note--is there a potato shortage? Why are frozen potato products twice (or more than twice) the pre-pandemic price?