*Miss G*

Well, that explains why it was nigh on impossible to time a TA with any of my travel schedules in 2023!

They do! The next time I ordered I would tell them to send me up whatever they heck they want because they’re going to do it anyway. 😂

I didn’t realize you had to order breakfast the night before. I thought you could call up as long as you were within the window. I have never seen a frittata look like that either! 😂

I agree with @ski ww. Venice is a disaster. I can’t believe that FLL didn’t make the bottom of the list!

I think they’re being kind to SEA and ATL. Have traveled through/to/from all of them and I would place YYZ before SEA. ATL is just filthy and with horrible employees. No thanks.

Just thought I’d throw my three cents into this. We took a HAL day trip into Rome so my kids could see it for themselves. I’d already done a land tour of Italy so it was more important for them to see it than me. I would absolutely recommend a ship’s tour as they got us to all the sights with a fantastic guide and bypassing all the lines you would encounter if you did it on your own. We had a tour of the Vatican and Sistine Chapel as well as the colosseum; had lunch included and a tour of the city to see the rest of the sights. It was well worth the money and came without the stress you would feel on your own. Oh, and we did it in July! I know you will have a wonderful time sharing this with your kids!

Only the Grand Dutch Cafe, on the Pinnacle ships (Koningsdam, Nieuw Statendam, Rotterdam) have savoury food items. Explorations used to have them but they’ve done away with that (much to my dismay). FWIW, I never enjoyed any of the savoury food items in the International Cafe, though it seems to be enjoyed by many others. I would love if HAL had earlier coffee bar opening times, but 6:30am it is. 🤷‍♀️

The Noordam has the Explorations Cafe. You will find it on Deck 3, next to the Library. Have a great cruise and welcome to Holland America!

Love that you’ve had a great experience with Sheraton! Alas, all mine have been less than.

Cunard is far superior to a Sheraton. If I felt that Cunard compared to a Sheraton, I would want to see the lower tier pricing of NCL, Carnival, RCI, and MSC. Good grief.

That’s fantastic! Enjoy your cruise.

It might be better to start a new topic with this question. A lot of people aren’t going to be reading this thread with the way it’s evolving/devolving.

What about calling HAL and asking for Club Orange and then tell them the room you want. The price might be lower or a wash. Good luck!

Thank you for your trip report and lovely pictures! I have enjoyed following along.

Just when you thought they couldn’t get faster! 🤣 Congratulations, @Whitby100! Strange how they had they had your husband’s passport info. Even stranger that it didn’t trigger an interview!

You should probably ask on the Seattle board or your cruise line. I think that Seattle is unique in that they send your luggage to the airport directly from the ship and check it for you. There is probably a cutoff time for this. FWIW, Seattle traffic is horrendous and it has always taken us a super long time from arrival at the airport to the gate. I always make sure that we are there at least three hours prior but I have never done it from a disembarking ship so I don’t have any experience with that.

I wonder why you have to call in? The prices are always in my emails. Do you go through a TA or something?

The Princess dining system is a disaster. We reserved in advance and never once did we dine at that time. Like Roz, we were never made to feel welcome and always had to wait. They even went so far as to blame us for their mess! As for the International Cafe, I tried their food three separate times (savoury dishes; not sweets) and it was terrible. Their coffee was okay but not great. The music in the atrium was nice. Princess is definitely not a line for us.

Thanks for your review, @Cruise Junky! I, too, am a fan of the pinnacle ships. Totally agree with you on the cocktails. I always have to specify that I would like them made with fresh lemon and not sweet… and especially no bar mix!! Mostly I get tired of that and just ask for vodka and soda. 😂 The frozen mango drink in Billboard is great and I never have to ask them to adjust it! Welcome to Holland America! Yes, there are shows at night. Take a look at some live report threads where some post the dailies and you can see what type of thing is on offer. You will not find elaborate production shows like they do on Princess (which I am with the OP and do not like). You can book for dinner or you can arrive at your own pace. Ask the Maitre d’ to recommend the best times to arrive to minimize your wait time. You can share a table or you can choose not to. Usually they will ask or you can offer to share. Yes, definitely tell the servers how you want your drinks. I always specify no bar mix because they are too overpowering. Enjoy your cruise!

No. But Canadians are treated welcomingly, and uniquely, in Florida in that snowbirds are allowed to have a Florida resident permit as well as a Florida resident driver’s license. That’s pretty neighbourly for a State which is far from the border.

The OP went to the trouble of finding the Canadian board to ask an honest question. Their query was quite the opposite of disrespectful and they should not be treated as though they are. We are better than that.

No. It is a HAL sponsored perq.

Same with Air Canada. It seems the Canadian airlines need to be closing the loop on their communications.

Wow. Grudging and disrespectful. Strong words. I prefer to remain on the neighbourly side of things. Back when Buffalo was trying to pull themselves out of a poor economy, they consulted with their neighbours north of the border and came up with a plan. Lots of Canadian-at-par back then, and lots of USD cheerfully accepted by Canadian businesses. It went so well that it expanded into urban planning, consulting, and growth as Ontario and New York worked together to help each other out. Grudging and disrespectful? That is not how I know Canadians to be and I hope that does not change.

Well, this took a turn. 😂