kelleherdl

I definitely would take an S- over a V- no matter the location. You won't get the suite double-days as it's not an up-sell, but I would still take it. The larger bathroom, balcony and ~50 more room area is well worth it. It is way more comfortable stateroom.

Dennis

An absolutely wonderful museum. Even my 20-something kids enjoyed learning about the waves of immigrants that made their way to Canada thru Halifax. They had obviously heard of Ellis Island and it's role, but none of us appreciated the role of Halifax. It was particularly interesting to see the history of post-WWII immigration that occurred thru Canada. We are actually very glad that the cold-rain drove us indoors to the museum.:)

We have a Neptune Suite so breakfast will be fine for me. I always eat in the Pinnacle Grill. All the 4-egg omelets, sausage and bacon I can eat :). You are correct it is the Manhattan Dining Room in the evening that will be the challenge. We choose late-fixed so that we do get the same servers. I may just go with filling up with double protein and just skip the uncertainty of what is in the desserts. :( This will be our first HAL cruise without bread pudding.

Dennis

Oscar night doesn't concern me much. The ladies might be interested. On the Mardi Gras side the NA will be in Turks and Caicos on March 4th (Fat Tuesday). I know that the traditional Junkanoo is around New Years. Has Mardi Gras migrated to T&C as well? I did google, but really did not see much.

I already posted this question on the Grand Turks site as well.

Dennis

Thanks much for the menus link. Very helpful.

Dennis

Our port call on the Nieuw Amsterdam is 4 March 2014 (Fat Tuesday). I know that the traditional carnivale-like holiday is Junkanoo around New Years. Is anything done on Fat Tuesday, like parades.

Dennis

Good topic

I have been extremely successful health-wise going virtually no-card (~25 grams carbs per day) so dessert can really screw things up. What do the dessert menus contain these days? We will be on the NA in 5 weeks. To give you some idea at home I normally have sugar-free gelatin or sugar-free pudding made with heavy whipping cream. Does 'Atkins' even mean anything to the HAL galleys and servers?

We have not cruised since we changed our diets so I never ever bothered to look before.

Dennis

Thanks so much for this link.

I just looked up the sailings for first week in March and saw that the Zuiderdam will be at Half Moon Cay the same day as our ship, the NA, on 8 March. I definitely will keep my reservation for a villa now. I am not of big fan of lines to eat or drink. :)

Dennis

Thanks for the good words on what we can expect with the Villa. I trust that the Butler assigned to our party will take care of us.

BTW. not expecting any North Caroline 'cue, but will definitely try the ribs in addition to whatever we have delivered.

Dennis

How do they do the lunch for the villas with Butler option? Does the steward just bring trays of food from the normal food lines to the Villas? That's fine if it is, it just wasn't explained well in the Excursions details. All it says is the 'you will get lunch served with appetizer, entree and dessert.'

Also, besides the Pirate Ship, what other full-service bars are on the island? And where are they located? I really could not make it out from the various maps that are online.

Thanks in advance.

Dennis

When we were there 4 years ago there was one to the main train station area. We then hired a cab to the Lladro plant.

Dennis

Have you heard of the search function on message boards. One does not need to hang out on any board. You will also receive alerts that a post on a relevant topic of interest has been posted.

As always this topic raises a lot of discussion and still mystifies me. I'm straight and 62. I have worn Speedos since I was a young stud naval officer. With kids who were constantly 'embarrassed, that their dad wore Speedos even to the neighborhood pool. About 8 years ago I was hit with Type 2 diabetes and my weight soared. Speedos were out sadly. Over the last six months I lost over 80 pounds, have been back in the gym and no longer on meds.... We have a cruise coming in March. The Speedos are out of the storage box, even got a couple of new pairs.

I very well will be the only man on the cruise, on the ship and at Half Moon Cay, in Speedos; but so be it. We are sailing with some friends who will surely kid me, but they will certainly also celebrate with me my health turnaround.

I like the feel and the look of Speedos. Notice I did not say, OTHERS, MY KIDS like the feel and look. Nor do I take that as the determinant of whether I will wear them.

Dennis

Thanks All

I am thinking again about the the Cabana Club. May just take my chances on finding a nice spot on the upper decks.

Dennis

We have a 7-day Eastern Caribbean on NA March 2014. Where is the best sunning area without having to play the lounge chair reserving game? I know the aft pool has the most open deck and loungers, but how crowded does it get? Can you even find a chair if you choose to work out in the morning? We will likely not do all ports, and those not longer that a couple hours. That may ease things up somewhat on port days.

We have a Family Cabana Club cabana reserved, but will that really be the best solution. It should give us a consistent shot at a lounge in the sun, but I worry that sunning time may not be that long up there. Clearly, there are other reasons to want the Cabana Club :).

Are they enough to override just trying to find a chair at aft pool?

Dennis

We have Villa D reserved for our NA 2-9 March cruise. So to say this was much appreciated is an understatement!

Mucho Gracias

Dennis

So you are saying because I am booked in a Deluxe Suite I have no access to the lower packages that includes the free bathrobes. That's not right. I've got a suite and if I want a monogramed bathrobe I have to pay an extra $55 because they are not included in the Suites category or at least you can't take them home.

The bathrobes in the Suite Amenities package are not free. There was a post a couple of years ago where someone broke down the cost of the Suite Amenities package, and it was very close to the sum of the included items that can be purchases separately. It is just the convenience of having the package deal. I think the only cost advantage may be in the included beverage set-up and which liquors or wines are selected.

Btw. I have purchased the 10-day package as well. I just like the convenience.

Dennis

Suite Elite is a package for those already booked in PS, SA, SB or SC. It is a package of extras. The Suite Amenities is a package for those booked in lower level staterooms. Gives you the amenities of the top suites, like laundy, but excludes Neptune Lounge. It also includes the bathrobes, beverage set-up, Pinnacle etc like the suite elite

Dennis

Follow-up

I did email our PCC and asked if Suite Amenities would be available for our Westerdam canal transit next April. He contacted Ship Services and 'yes' it is available. As I suspected all of the packages are undergoing pricing reviews so not all packages show up for all cruises yet. We were quoted a price and I did purchase it. Still hoping for a nice upsell in April :)

So the bottom line is. If you don't see something yet go ahead and check with Ship Services. Have your booking number ready.

Dennis

Thanks Annemarie

I think when folks had costed it out before they found the same thing. Savings were not the prime driver for us, just the convenience.

BTW, we toured the Pier (sorry forgot the number) Museum when we were in Halifax off Maasdam in June. In the museum was a display of all the ships that brought post WWII refugees to Canada. I noted that your first HAL cruise was the Leerdam in 1952. Any relationship?

Dennis

Dennis, it's probably not just listed yet as your sailing is still a bit away. I would definitely call ship services - they should be able to tell you what the price will be. Are you sailing on the Zuiderdam? I know last time we went on the Zuiderdam, it was available. I thought it was pretty standard to be offered on all the ships . Definitely give them a shout

Thanks Jacqui

That is what I had hoped. We will be on the Westerdam for the repositioning.

Dennis

We are transiting the canal in April 2012. We have only booked an SY this cruise as there is a 'significant' price difference between the superior and deluxe verandas. I checked last night and saw that the Suite Amenities package is not available for this cruise. We do use all that is included so it would be a good deal for us. I was going to get it if it were. Alas. . not available (or at least not yet) for the 14-day cruise.

Does anybody know if this is something that might be available to be priced if we asked Ship Services or our PCC?

Dennis

The small arrangement in our suite had the normal HAL orchids and another I couldn't identify. We found that the orchid matched my wife's dress on formal night better than the corsage left by the steward. We used the orchid instead. :D The rest of our table recognized that we swapped out the orchid for the corsage.:o