shipgeeks

As they are Celebrity excursions, you should be safe.

My first ocean voyage was in 1969, on a 12-passenger cargo ship, New York to Sydney, Australia over 42 days. I loved it. I got my wish to sail again in 1991, on StarShip Majestic. 4 days, as part of a one week Disney package. With several hundred passengers, I was overwhelmed with how huge she looked from the pier. We ported in Nassau, where we could walk along the pier and see several even bigger ships, but our other stop, at a private island, was cancelled due to weather. I kept talking about cruises daily, from that point on, and have probably never stopped.

Never, in our last 15 months of cruises. But it could happen if medical dept. decides it is necessary.

I especially love reading responses from people outside the US. Always interesting, and I can have a moment of feeling that I'm discovering something new, almost like being somewhere far far away, and seeing an unknown product on the shelf.

Thank you.

I see those things at thrift stores, too, the most common being drink glasses. All the stuff someone just had to have at the time.

I'm not clear on whether we are allowed to apply for a match again once our status expires.

I'm not sure that one dining room is "better" than another; they both serve the same groups of passengers. We were quite happy with our MDR experience.

As do many other cruise lines, in our experience.

Go with an open mind, and if you have sailed with other (American) lines, enjoy the differences! Most think the pizza is excellent. You can watch the pizza maker take one out of the oven, then go and grab some while it's totally fresh. At breakfast, look for the sticky buns, all the way at the back of the buffet. Heavenly.

I have noticed that boxes of tissues, on another cruiseline, are now only in the cabin, not the bathroom. It made me wonder if people were using them as toilet paper, and perhaps tissues are not as workable in the ship's plumbing. I could be wrong....but I do know that Nothing Other Than Toilet Paper is to be flushed.

Is it anything like banana popsicles? You just reminded me of them, and how much I liked them as a child.

Disposable, or re-use?

I'm not European, but I always cleanse my face and remove my makeup with either facial makeup remover sheets (disposable), or with micellar water and cotton rounds (disposable). I don't feel as if I would ever get washcloths clean in the laundry if I got any significant amount of makeup on them (and I don't use all that much, primarily mascara).

My current favorite is mint chocolate chip. Would enjoy a good white house (cherry vanilla) as well. I used an ice cream maker for a while. Bought a book of recipes, and decided to close my eyes and flip to a page, and make that. I hit zucchini. I made it; it was mild (aka bland). But coffee was great.

Once I have them, I keep them for the next trip there.

We've never bought holders. We just use wide, clear tape over the length of the tag, complete the circle around the suitcase handle, and overlap the remaining tape. It has never let us down.

How about just asking for an ice bucket, and ice refilled daily?

We have oatmeal most days at home, so I never get it on a cruise. (Mine is better, anyway.) On a ship I enjoy a vast variety of options: bagel and lox, Indian scrambled eggs and other Indian breakfast dishes, congee, pastries, DIY BLT, fresh fruits, French toast (in MDR only). Not all at once, of course! Mr. S enjoys his bacon on a regular basis.

Do you know why the friends did not like HAL? I find that people like/dislike certain experiences for reasons that I cannot relate to. For example, I recommended Cunard to a colleague knowing she was not a booze cruise person. She came back very disappointed. The reason? "They didn't make announcements all day; how were we supposed to know what was going on?" If you are considering HAL, it might be useful to do some reading, and perhaps posting, on the HAL board here, to get a better idea of what the experience is like. I see Alaska has been mentioned above. Good cruise, but would you consider going that far for a cruise? Or are you mainly looking at UK, Europe, Northern Europe, Greenland, etc.?

If the + sign on the deck plans I have is the same as what you see, it indicates connecting cabins; for example, E1020 and E 1024 have a door on the inside wall that they share, and can be left locked, or used by families wanting two adjacent cabins. Good to know that the windows on deck 1 are a good size. On some ships they are small. We sometimes hear engines while "asea", but find it quite soothing; best sleeping ever!

I'm realizing how little I, and I'm sure many here on "Ask a Question", know about Konigsdam, so I'm going to suggest that you post the window question on the Holland America forum (under Cruiselines A-N). I suspect you will also have to read through the whole Inside/OV/balcony preference issue again, but you should be able to learn more about whether the deck 1 cabins have decent-size windows, and what the deck 4 views are like, and perhaps other helpful info. Good luck!

I just had a look at the deck plans. It appears there are only OV cabins on deck 1 and deck 4. On deck 1 the OV cabins all have a window, but they might be small, since it is considered close to the sea. And on deck 4 there are a very few OV cabins with floor to ceiling windows, but they are between balconies in front, and lifeboats just behind. Intriguing! I don't know what I would choose if it were me.

Our MSC experience was that they were very brief, and only re essentials such as being cleared for disembarkation. No announcements re bingo, art auction, sales in the shops. So IMO much preferable to the long announcements multiple times a day on other lines.

I still do! Sent some of them to the UK for a CC friend who was writing a book; the rest are still in various boxes and steamer trunks around the house. A couple of vintage ship posters on the walls, too, plus teapot, ashtrays, etc.