RuthC

Glad to read that! There truly is so much knowledge here. I hope everything works out, and you enjoy your cruise thoroughly.

There is a wealth of information in the collective memories of this forum. Are any of your questions of a nature that some of us may be able to answer for you? Please do know that the service on board the ships is NOTHING like what you are getting from Seattle. It is sooo much better on board!

Thank you for this explanation! I never realized there were different kinds of walkabouts on glaciers, so assumed (yes, I know) that my 'best buy' date had long passed. Now I am at least toying with the idea. You have been a big help.

For the last several years I have been getting the HAL insurance, primarily because it is cancel for any reason. At my age, I never know when something will happen suddenly and I can't make the trip. I also purchase medical insurance and evacuation insurance separately to cover anything that happens during the cruise where that coverage would be necessary. I tend to call Insure My Trip and speak to a representative there to discuss my needs and choose a plan that covers them. I assume the cost of the cruise itself, since I am able to pay for it anyway.

Loved your report, as it brought be back to Alaska, and some of the excursions I have loved there. Next time I will see about that helicopter to the glacier (although walking on it is likely out of the question). How did you manage to walk on the glacier with your bum knee? Which brings me to my main question: Once your knee had decided not to cooperate, did you consider renting a scooter, wheelchair, rollator, or at minimum a walker? I know for a fact that a scooter would fit inside a Neptune Suite on a Pinnacle Class ship, and any mobility device would have made getting around a lot easier for you.

Back when it was one steward per cabin, the normal count was 16 cabins per steward. It was a full work day, but quite manageable, especially as a steward gained experience. After 9/11 passengers bailed on their cruises, so staffing was allowed to drop. When cruisers started coming back, rehiring couldn't keep up for a while, so stewards were servicing 18 cabins---again at one steward per cabin. For many years now there have been two stewards assigned per cabin. At that level, expecting the two stewards to service double the number of cabins would be reasonable. 31 cabins, for two, is not out of line.

No lines. 😁You will feel like royalty.

You are likely to hear what passes for overhead music in practically every public place you go. You could try the sitting area near Club Orange , by the windows, if dinner time has ended. On the Nieuw Statendam the only quiet place I could find without that awful overhead noise was my cabin.

By 'As you wish' I am going to presume you mean open seating, as early and main seating are also 'As you wish'. I was on early seating on my last cruise, and it was scheduled for either 5:00 PM, or 5:15 PM (can't recall). I know it interfered with 5:00 PM Mass by a lot, and three of us at the table were terribly late every port day. Early seating has gotten earlier and earlier over the years. Once upon a time it was at 6:00 PM. The people who arrive for the opening of the doors at open seating start to line up around 4:00 PM. The place is filled almost as soon as the doors open. But that means people are finished their meal about 6:00 or a little later. A few minutes to clear and reset the table, and there is room for more diners to enter. If you plan to arrive around 6:00 PM (if a 5:00 PM opening), I would expect a short (if any) wait.

I just save up the points until I have enough to qualify for the better return. Then I charge a final payment on a cruise, and pay off at least a good portion of it with the points. Other than using the points to pay my bill, I have never used it for anything else.

Yes, but I won't swear to which ones, as it has been a while since I sailed an R-class ship, and even longer since I was able to do stairs. IIRC, there is an outside staircase smack dab in the middle of the stern that will take you down several decks---at least to Veranda Deck; you can't get past the two dining room decks on that staircase. You can also get outside on Main Deck, I believe, and Lower Promenade, of course as that is the promenade deck.

Sorry, I am hardly the 'go to person' for every HAL. I do heartily approve of choosing a 26-day cruise, as I love longer cruises. My personal best was 39 days; that was in a year when I did 71 cruising days (also my personal best). But when it comes to balcony cabins, I have done very few of them: twice in the Prinsendam, and once on the Nieuw Statendam. I am primarily an inside cabin gal, as that is what has allowed me to afford those longer cruises! But I certainly wish you the best of times in that VB cabin on the Westerdam. I know I had a good time on that ship (in an inside).

The Zaandam doesn't have Signature Suites. It has Vista, Neptune, and a Pinnacle suite. It also has inside and outside cabins.

As of now, you can still have as many of each course as you wish. Order as much as you want, but please eat what you order. You can order a specific starter in an entrée portion or an entrée in a starter portion, too, if that suits you.

I did the last two segments of the World Cruise a few years ago; only a few of us boarded when I did. There were groups of cruisers who knew each other well from several World Cruises, several more groups of first-time full World cruisers who mixed and mingled with each other, and what are called 'segmenters' who fit in with various groups. Some people were more welcoming than others in each group. Isn't that always true, though? I found when I first started cruising decades ago that it's important to be outgoing if you want to meet up with others. Dining at a large table introduces you to others who you will run into again and again. You have to participate in activities if you want to be in the loop. There will be people who will be friendly. There will be other people who will be less friendly. Both will be true whether you are joining at the tale end of a long cruise, or just starting a cruise with everyone else. Slap on a smile and have a good time.

If you want to check from the ship, you will need an internet package, although I do understand there is a daily plan, that may add up to be less, if you don't want to check from the ship often. If you have a smart phone with you, you can check while you are ashore, or docked. I wouldn't know where to find that in the policy, but do know the rule: Each adult is allowed to bring aboard a 'reasonable' amount of wine; the term 'reasonable' has not been defined. Each 750 ml bottle is subject to a $20 corkage fee. You carry the wine aboard, and report to a designated table where your fee is charged to your cabin, and the bottles get a sticker to show the fee has been paid. You are not allowed to bring water on board, with the exception of distilled water for DME.

If you take a look at the Rolling Stone Rock Room stage, you will see that it is on port side; the entrance is on starboard. That's about as far from a starboard outside as you are going to get. I have been in the insides, and never heard a thing, while friends on port side heard it all. I don't know what is in the white space on deck 2, but I know on one ship or another I was in cabin 1043 (more than once, I believe), and loved it there.

I didn't say 'aft of the mid-elevators', though. There are some offices just aft of the mid-ship elevators, then a few cabins before the aft elevators on both sides. What I was referring to were the starboard cabins from half-way down the passageway to the mid-ship elevators. Those are fairly quiet. The only time those become crowded/noisy are when shore excursions are meeting in the show lounge, and entrance is on starboard side. People are heading that way in droves, and coming out of your cabin to head aft is like swimming upstream. But port side is worse, when the excursion groups are dismissed! Then, you can't get out of your cabin at all!

Heading from North America to Asia you will be sailing against the Japan Current. Expect strong waves and a lot of bouncing around. If it doesn't happen, you won't be disappointed.

Generations in my case, too. IIRC the Boer War was 1898, or so. It was a Canadian regiment, fighting for the British, of course.

As a fellow solo cruiser, I think you have a great solution. No excess schlepping of luggage, and less expensive than hiring a private car. If you can get a later transfer you won't get to your hotel too early to check in, either. I use a HAL bus most of the time, but I also fly out the day of disembarkation. I have found only two ports where it costs less to use a taxi.

I just answered where you asked in another thread. I did forget to mention, though, that there is nothing wrong with the connecting cabins. The only time I ever heard anything when I was in one of those, was when the woman in the next cabin was having a total meltdown at the top of her lungs. You would have heard her through a solid wall, or from two cabins away in the passageway, too.

StLouisCruisers, if you choose an outside on starboard, more toward mid-ship (starting about halfway down the passageway), you should be in a quiet neighborhood. I have been in most of the inside cabins on starboard along the back half of the passageway on all the Vista and Signature ships, and have never heard a thing.

Except for the time I wasn't brought aboard until after 4:00 PM, I have always been unpacked by 4:00, or shortly thereafter. Since I am disabled, it always takes me longer than when I was able-bodied to unpack, too.

Those look like a set I have! They had belonged to my mother's father, who (IIRC) had them from the Boer War. If not that war, then from WWI. Haven't thought of them in years. I think they are gathering dust on a closet shelf.