grouchomarx

There were two comedy sets last week on NS. One night was one 8pm performance in the theater and the other night two performances in BB Kings.

I did fine with the signature package with one exception. Made the mistake of asking a sommelier for a wine by the glass recommendation to pair with food and she chose an $18 Pouille Fusse (sorry cannot spell that.) My bad for not asking the price. Paid full price. Otherwise, stayed within the price range and only went above my 15 drinks on one day of the cruise. Overall it’s quite doable and I drink quite a bit.

On NS this past week our room steward asked day one do you want once a day or twice a day, we requested twice a day and got it every day.

Even if you could get it I would hesitate…we were just there yesterday and they ran out of all beer by about noon or so, all liquor was gone by about 1:15 and the bar was shut down. Even though we were not all aboard until 2:30. So get your drinks early! I was very surprised they actually ran out and closed up shop so far in advance of us having to leave. Never seen anything like it before.

I feel like I learned better methods of preventing illness from years of cruising. My biggest fear is to get noro while on a cruise. I was on a ship that had an outbreak but I did not get it. I made a concerted effort to not touch my hands on the arms of chairs when sitting in lounges, always so careful after using the restroom, don't touch my face etc. I was already ready for covid when it hit!

We sailed Edge in Feb, there were photographers all around every night. We bought a package on board and also had a professional shoot done and ordered an album. I think it's just something you do once onboard.

Anyone know the gym hours on NS? I like to go real early like 6am. Thanks.

8pm closing! That’s really early!

We thought the included Celebrity champagne in our room was quite good. We got a second bottle no charge, it was no problem. Often free sparkling wines on cruises or in resorts is just awful so we were pleasantly surprised.

YES! This has also become the case with us. My firsts cruise was Crown Princess in 2007. I thought our ocean view cabin was great. Looking back, I could never deal with that now! I've been too spoiled in too many nicer, bigger, more adequately furnished cabins to ever go back to such basic accommodations. It is surprising to me Princess hasn't done anything to remedy the situation, they are in very poor competition. With Princess we will only do the newest ships.

I sailed once on Halloween. I recall a lot of very elaborately carved pumpkins and seasonal decor in the atrium, and they had pumpkin carving classes and stuff like that. Sorry my mind is a little fuzzy, it was quite a while ago. Princess does a good job with all the big holidays, in general.

I would really want no part of that. Even if it's minimal filming of me just "in the background" I'm still uncomfortable with that and would not want to be on a tv show. At least you can op out though, and it's not forced for you to be filmed. I was once waiting to disembark in the Platinum lounge and they were running a loop of videos from our cruise and I looked up and saw myself doing the champagne waterfall and I was mortified! I didn't expect it and don't like any attention on me. It was funny though.

We did chef's table on Princess a few times and it was always very enjoyable. The food is amazing. It is a HUGE amount of food. Don't eat much that day. I honestly couldn't handle that much food at this point in my life. One thing that stuck in my mind, I remember they told us you must have closed toed shoes and I didn't have any. I tried to find them in the ports but couldn't. Ended up it was canceled due to norovirus. So if that's still a thing, make sure you have the right shoes. (It's for safety in the galley). It was fun to meet new people and talk with them, we made friends for the rest of the cruise and met up a few times for drinks.

I did not really enjoy this venue, it felt cold and uncomfortable. Watched a game show type thing there once but did not return.

I don't really need full turn down per se, but I do want my cabin checked while I'm out to dinner and towels refreshed as needed and any trash removed. We are very neat, clean, organized travelers and present little extra work (if any) to a room steward. But I want fresh towels every day and my bed made. I don't want things like they are at home, I'm on vacation to not worry about towels, cleanliness or making the bed. I do that every day and I want a break from it. I don't need chocolates, animals or anything else just my papers for the next day, fresh towels, trash out and any quick cleaning needed.

We had no trouble completing it a few days ago for our 10/21 sailing. It asked for EITHER a vaccination proof or negative test, we are vaccinated so it was very easy. From everything I read it makes boarding a lot faster.

I usually bring my own, as cruise ship dryers are usually not good. Last one on Celebrity Edge was acceptable. I have curly hair and do a full blow out, so it needs to be fairly decent in terms of airflow, heat and ease of use (not attached to anything). Those micro minis just don't work for me. Sailing on NS soon.

Wow this is amazing news! Thanks everyone!

I have 11am boarding on NS, new to HAL. Just wondering what to expect for estimated time rooms open up.

Nieuw Statendam, balcony cabin. Need to know if I should bring my own or if they have liquid hand soap, I don’t do bar soap.

Ok great, I feel relieved! Thanks very much.

Do they take reservations in MDR? I cannot book it online but thought maybe onboard day 1 I could try. I don’t wish to sit with strangers but I want to try the MDR since I heard the food is so good.

First trip on HAL coming up in a few weeks and I have some specific questions about Nieuw Statendam (7 day Caribbean): Will I need to make MDR reservations once onboard or will walking up around 7:30 get me a table for 2 without a long wait? Are tables for 2 hard to get in MDR? Will they try to make you share with strangers? Is MDR open for lunch on embarkation day? How is service in MDR compared to specialty restaurants? In my cruising history it’s never as good, not even close, but perhaps HAL has a higher standard. (I find specialty dining service much like that in a land based restaurant, whereas MDR is more of a machine and you get served drinks and food at the pace that works best for them, which is often not what works best for me. For example, if I order a certain drink to have with a certain course, it often won’t arrive on time to pair with the food.). This is based on Princess, Celebrity, RCI, and NCL cruises. If our booking came with the standard drink package included, is it eligible to upgrade to Elite once onboard? Are the Retreat cabanas hot and stuffy in the Caribbean or do they catch a breeze? And is it possible to snag one for just a day or you must do the whole week to secure a spot? Is it hard to get single day thermal suite pass? Thanks in advance for your helpful advice.

Princess has on some ships a retreat area with a pool and loungers. It is free but the cabanas are for a charge. And they are not worth it as they are right next to the pool and not private at all.

This is very helpful, thank you very much. I think I’ll be ok with my existing package. I’m not used to such low drink prices on a cruise!