bobert

I just found your review and found it a wonderful read.  I have been to Alaska and I have been on the Kdam, so I enjoyed your reiview  even more.  Have a Rdam cruise coming up in 60 days and I am starting to get the cruise juices flowing and this was exactly the kind of read I was looking for, thanks.  By the way our upcoming cruiise will be to celebrate my DW's 70th birthday and it is a cruise that she was offered to her byt the casino after our last trip on Holland America.

I was on the Nieu Statendam 12/10-17, I saw a sgin in the Casino Bar that said you pay just the difference.

Be sure that your driver has their license with them.  We once had a friend take us to Port Everglades and he forgot to bring his license, so they turned us away and we had to go back to his house to get it.  It made us much later than we wanted to be.

One day till Explorer OTS.

I had it and I didn't specify anything and it definitely was not spicy at all.  But it was very good.

I think my wife booked this through Casino Royale, based on a discount from her previous play. But I knew all along about the propulsion issues and the likelihood of an itinerary change I was just a little curios at how long they took to officially inform us.

We are on Allure's sailing tomorrow with what would have been the same itinerary however they didn't notify us of the change until right around final payment. They are not very upfront about the itinerary change at all. So yes there are still propulsion problems that will persist until the upcoming dry dock.

Thank you.

Is there any other venue covered by the UDP that is open on Allure on embarkation day besides Sabor?

Hi Greg, I wanted to thank you for the review, it is excellant. I will be on Allure next week and am trying to stay focused until till then and this is a wonderful distraction. Your style and content are just what I was looking, thanks.

Thanks

Do you know the answer for 9662? 

Ten till Majesty.  

I sailed on her last year, just before she went to Cuba for the first time, and I thought that is was a "little ship with a big heart".  And this really was true, not a lot of bells and whistles but an extremely friendly crew, one of the best I have ever seen.  There was an issue with the Casino being a bit too hot but other than that it was really nice, if small ship.  

I would not be concerned in the least, but expect a very small cabin.

Excellent review!  Enjoying the read, especially since I also have avoided the "big ship"  so far and I have just booked our first one on the Allure in November.  Very interested in the rest of your review.

The 11/10/18 Adventure roll call has also disappeared.

We also love to share a table and listen to the stories that other people tell. We usually ask for a large table and then get table mates, but the last several cruises we have had a number of weeks with no one or almost no one at our table.

For me it took about a half dozen refreshes to make it work.

I also bring singles and try to always at all bars tip $1 per drink and I usually take care of the Concierge separately on the last night but sometime I have also tipped them up front if there are specific things I know I want them to do for me.

We were on the ABC 9 night that left the day this thread was started and yes we did have some issues, but our cabin attendant, waiter and the Diamond Lounge Concierge were among the best I have ever had. Yes MD service is never really fast, unless you ask for it to be so. We had excellent service in Chops both times we were there but there were service/coordination issues. For example on the last night I heard several people complaining that they had booked based on a discounted rate in that days Compass but the waiters were not aware of it and made the people feel like they were doing them a favor to honor the discount, which made for some angry reactions. If you publish a rate then it shouldn't be a surprise to the staff of the restaurant.

Overall the ship looks pretty good but I must say that we had issues with our cabin. Neither the TV nor the sliding door to the balcony worked and it took three days of complaints to get them fixed, and it was our cabin attendant that kept telling us if they didn't fix it properly the last time then call again and again and again until they finally fixed them on day three. We must have had at least six visits from maintenance before someone finally resolved the issues.

I must say that we were not lucky with the quality of meat we got in the MDR for either of nights that we tried the Prime Rib, the Fillet of Beef or the Steak Diane, despite the fact that I heard other people specifically praise these dishes. So I think it is a matter of taste and also the luck of the draw. Overall the MDR food was not as good as some others this year but Chops was definitely the star as Giovani's was good and Izumi was not. I will comment that I have never been one to eat in the Windjammer for dinner but I did look in most nights and on several it clearly would have been a better choice for food at dinner if we had eaten there instead of the MDR. While my food impressions were not great overall I must praise breakfast in the Windjammer. They had two big pluses as far as I am concerned, the bacon was much better than it ever has been and they were making fresh hot waffles that were among the best I have ever had in my life. So while this is not a health or weight endorsement, a breakfast of fresh hot waffles, and thick crispy bacon was a real treat for me each morning.

So while this cruise had some major issues we are booked again on her for this itinerary this time next year.

On our 1/19/18 sailing I only found the Peekaboo bridge open twice and I looked in many times.

I also thought that the CP pizza was better than other recent cruises.

I was also surprised at the multiple locations for the soft serve ice cream and its relatively good taste.

Now the over all MDR food quality was another matter altogether. This was the first time I have sent back a filet and the steak Diane. My DW even got a fatty rack of lamb in Chops but other wise Chops was excellent.

That said we booked NOS again for next February. I believe that is just after it's next dry dock and I hope that it still has its Cigar Lounge and both the Diamond and Concierge Lounges, has I should have access to both for the first time in almost a decade, since the last time they took Concierge Lounge access away from my status level. My next cruise will be my first as Diamond Plus.

Have any of you gone into the main dinning room on formal night and had the man across from you, wearing a very nice Tux, start to chew Tabaco and pull out his spit container to spit out his Tabaco juice, while you were eating your filet of beef. I can say that I have now had that experience.

1. Sailing on Navigator tomorrow.

Hi folks, to summarize the MDR menu sequence from this B2B sailing:

 

 

 

9-night southern: Mojo, Saffron (formal), Pimiento, Shiitake, Basil, Tarragon, Chives, Jasmine (formal), Pomodoro

Thanks again this is most helpful.

Thanks so much for the great review with of it's wonderful info.

I will be doing this itinerary leaving this Friday and really enjoyed reading and experiencing this through you perspective.

I was trying to see if I could figure out the order of the menus from your review and got a little lost. I believe that the last two nights are Jasmine and Pomodoro. And the first two were Mojo and Saffron. But where I get lost is what night was ****ake, since it looked like Pimento, Basil,Tarragon and Chive were consecutive in that order.

I know if could well change but I was doing a little menu planning to decide which four nights were the best to skip for Specialty Dinning. So if you could let me know what the correct order from your cruise was I would really appreciate it thanks.