wdw1972

Nieuw Amsterdam has Rolling Stone Lounge. Rotterdam and Nieuw Statendam do NOT - they have BB Kings and also Rolling Stone Rock Room. Eurodam recently lost BB Kings and now has Rolling Stone Lounge. Sue/WDW1972

Scroll back through the thread. I think I recall 2 people getting notified Friday they got a stateroom for today (Sunday). Once got a VB (verandah - not sure about the other. Sue/WDW1972

And chances are, DW's shoes/sandals are at the chair. Chair hogs tend to leave superfluous crap, but not their footwear because they're wearing it off wherever they are. Assuming somebody was IN the pool, if there were shoes/sandals at a lounger I would assume they belong to that person. A lounger with nothing like that I would assume is a chair hog and would love to just pick up their belongings and set it aside somewhere so someone else could enjoy the chair. I'll be up in the Retreat, so it's the principle of the thing vs wanting the lounger for my own use. Sue/WDW1972

My husband is on the standby list for a 3/16/24 sailing and I did his online check-in last weekend. There's no boarding pass, and the stateroom number on the luggage tag is blank, but the rest is done. If he clears the list he'll just need a boarding pass and can hand-write the number on the luggage tag if he's going to check a bag. Sue/WDW1972

Yes - me! It's called "dinner and a show" - not "show and a dinner" 😉 My preferred showtimes would be 7 & 9 or 7:30 & 9. Actually, I don't really care when the 2nd show is because I won't be there. I like pre-dinner cocktail, dinner, then a show (if interested) followed by a live music venue. I'm not a fan of the MDR so my dinners are mostly specialty restaurants, with a handful of casual Lido or maybe even NY pizza one night. Sue/WDW1972

In addition, your "ocean view" is really the ocean off in the distance past the wide promenade deck, any pedestrians and the railing. Not my idea of ocean view at all. Sue/WDW1972

Your report is off to a great start. From all you've said, I'll enjoy this immensely! Sue/WDW1972

My last cruise we ate at Tamarind 4 nights - by the last one I was rather full from all the specialty dining and decided to order just 2 appetizers. I had the soup as my appetizer and the satay sampler as my entree. To my surprise, instead of the usual 5 skewers there were 9 on the plate! Sort of defeated my purpose of eating light 😉 So yes, it appears at least for some items you can alter the size to fit the course you want it for. Sue/WDW1972

I believe the Pinnacle Bar is open for specialty coffees each morning - that's much closer to your stateroom. If I remember correctly, they may not open until 7am, while up on deck 12 Explorations Cafe opened earlier. Sue/WDW1972

That's correct. $558 (which includes port fees) for a 7-night sailing. Sue/WDW1972

I just added my husband to the 3/16 Nieuw Amsterdam standby list. I'll be on Rotterdam 3/8-3/17 but friends of ours are booked on the 3/16 NA. He could care less about the stateroom, so if it comes through he'll have a cheap cruise ($558 plus crew appreciation and any onboard spending). If it doesn't, no big deal - the money will be refunded. It would be nice to know before the day prior to the cruise, but it is what it is. This standby doesn't work for me - if I'm cruising I want a Retreat cabana, and I'm picky regarding the stateroom, so the only way to try it is for him solo! Sue/WDW1972

If you're on a ship that docks at Amber Cove, would you even be able to get inside the terminal area at Puerto Plata? From my experience those facilities are for the ships docked there (and thus paying for it as part of the port fees). Locals aren't allowed, so why would tourists from a different terminal? Sue/WDW1972

Have your TA or PCC add a note to each booking that you're traveling together. Then, you and sister each book your own dinner for the same venue/date/time. The system "should" assume you're dining together but it doesn't hurt to confirm that once on the ship. I travel with 2 friends, each of us in our own stateroom. Our TA makes that note in each booking and this has worked for us each cruise. Sue/WDW1972

What makes you think the person is in Seattle? 😉 These days they could be anywhere, lol! In this case, I 100% agree with you. Too many of the HAL reps are new, don't know the product, have probably never been on a cruise, so it's almost a waste of time calling to ask anything! I've always gotten mariner days credit for HIA, with the most recent cruise being November 2023. Sue/WDW1972

My thought - they only consider obstructions if they are blocking your view when looking straight out. Example - a lifeboat is hanging at eye level, or partway up your verandah wall. If there's a lifeboat on the deck below then it's not considered obstructed because they don't consider your view when looking DOWN. This is my assumption, at least - not based in any official fact from HAL. I agree I wouldn't want your stateroom due to those white things but I can also see how HAL doesn't consider them an obstruction since they're below you. Great blog by the way! Sue/WDW1972

Those are just more public seating areas - cannot be reserved, there's no charge, etc. Anybody can use them. Sue/WDW1972

Yes, single day rentals have to be done onboard. Price varies depending on whether it's a port day or sea day (plus family vs regular cabana). My recollection is approximately $150 on sea days, closer to $100 on port days, but I can't swear to it. I book the entire cruise and therefore don't know the exact daily prices.

Between those planes that were pulled out of service and the storm in the northeast, it could be flights that are delaying things today. Sue/WDW1972

That's correct. Also, verandah doors are not to be propped open for "fresh air" either, as doing so can mess up the air conditioning for a significant block of staterooms (not just the one with the open door). Therefore, in an ocean view stateroom there would be no reason to have a window that would open. Sue/WDW1972

That's for the airport. To park for the cruise, the old website is still working. There's no indication they were bought out by someone else. Sue/WDW1972

The most significant thing is probably that they removed the staircase going from the casino down to deck 2 between Billboard & Rolling Stone Rock Room. That means deck 2 doesn't have the stench from the smokers in the casino drifting into that area. Also, for the gamblers the former staircase is now more floor space with most likely slot machines. Sue/WDW1972

Can you not simply close the door, then turn the light off? After using the bathroom, turn off the light, open the door and go back to bed? I don't get up during the night but I do sleep with the drapes wide open - certainly there's enough light to get back to the bed without an artificial light (my assumption). Sue/WDW1972

Love Pinnacle Bar too - that's often our "go to" spot before dinner. The cucumber mojito there is very tasty! The sauvignon blanc is probably 13 Celsius. I actually like it - and Nobilo, which was the previous one. I watched the sailaway and saw the people waving orange flags - didn't realize that was you! Have a great day today! Sue/WDW1972

Having just cruised Eurodam on an 11-night sailing in late November I'll share my experiences. The embarkation lunch isn't for Mariners - it's for everyone. It was listed as an "event" in the Navigator app, and I don't recall there ever being an announcement in my previous 30 HAL cruises. Lunch was very well-attended, and I won't be repeating that mess again! It took too long, with too much time sitting around waiting to place the order, waiting for the food, etc. Never had a wine steward stop by at all, so drank water. I carry my own luggage onboard with me, so no wait for that. My invitation to the free wine tasting was the first sea day - as it's always been in the past. This was also well-attended, and a nice event. I usually don't go, but was glad I did this time. We had the Lido pool mariner reception one evening - after an hour we were encouraged to leave because they were setting up for the next one. Due to the # of mariners onboard they split it into 2 separate events to keep it more comfortable. Senior officers circulated throughout the area and stopped to chat with guests - we really enjoyed this one. I purposely don't plan to send laundry out the last couple days of a cruise, figuring there will those dim bulbs that send EVERYTHING they've worn all cruise at the end! I think I did send a small bag the 2nd to last day this time and it was back the next morning, clean & ready to be packed to go home. Had it been given back to me due to them being overloaded I would have chalked it up to my error and washed it at home. We got the tiles too. I don't recall if I was invited to a mariner luncheon later in the cruise - lunch in the Pinnacle is the only reason I'd get dressed & leave the Retreat for a lunch! So, I can't say whether we had one on my cruise or not. Hope the rest of your cruise was enjoyable. The wine tasting invitation at the end of your cruise seems crazy to me, but the rest of it didn't strike me as shocking or wrong at all. Sue/WDW1972

Pretty much nothing but a few extra square feet - not enough to be really useful, however. As an upgrade you wouldn't get the double Mariner points but you would pay the higher "suite" crew incentive. There are no perks that come with a vista suite. The bed is located by the verandah, which in my opinion makes the stateroom feel a bit bigger, but that's about it. Also, depending on the ship, if you have a vista suite midship on deck 8 you may not have shelter from rain - a friend of mine experienced that on the Koningsdam & hated it! Sue/WDW1972