VMax1700

I know that you will remember the golden rule - speaker in stateroom/earbuds on deck (or verandah)! 😉

Bon Voyage! Enjoy your cruise and Alaska. Hope the internet keeps up for you.

Another thing I do when I have HIA, is on the embarkation day. I order a lot of water and soda cans to have a 'stock' in the room. No way will we hit 15 drinks on embarkation day so it is better to stock the water and soda than to let the daily limit not be used.

I have found that if I go to get sodas/water at a bar and take DW's card with me, then no problem to get 4 cans (all the same or mixed). Many times at a bar the server will ask if you want a double. Being a nice guy I agree with them 😉and if the drink is within the HIA price limit then it just counts towards the quantity limit** or if it is over the HIA price limit, then the difference +18% doubled is shown on the account, but ofcourse it still counts towards the 15 a day! **presumption on my behalf as I have never gone over 15 a day (yet)!

I doubt that there will be shuttles as both docks are very close to the city. In Stockholm we dock at Stadsgarden, which is a short walk to Gamla Stan. In Copenhagen we dock at Langelinie (not Oceankaj), and it is served by HO HO bus (red sight seeing). The only port I expect a shuttle is Talinn (provided by port €10 return) but it is only a short walk to the centre.

Depends on length of cruise. 7 day is $100. 14 day is $200 etc.

The Rotterdam arrives on Sunday 1st October at 8am and departs at 6pm on Monday 2nd October. (OP mentioned September, because the cruise embarks on 23rd September).

I have found no further information so far! The ship will be in Singapore on 24th November and will also sail from Singapore on 8th December, but I have no concrete information on what is happening on those two weeks.

Agree, probably JoCo and Legendary R&B or Sandy Beaches or......

Here is the price of laundry on our recent Nieuw Statendam cruise. It should be the same price on Rotterdam.

and instead are using.....

That is Canadian Dollars (Not USD) as the option to pre pay is quoted in the currency of booking. This is an opportunity to get a good rate of exchange and save a few dollars.

Not born in Cork, moved there in 1969 from Belfast. Unfortunately Cork Hibs are long gone. When I moved there first it was my regular Sunday outing at Flower Lodge, which now is a GAA stadium! Wife was born in Cork though!

It was $50 to upgrade from surf to premium for 14 days recently.

We were in Copenhagen last week and the closest we came to being 'unsafe' was being stabbed in the eye by tourists using umbrellas in the rain. 😉 p.s. never felt safer in a city!

Not only do you require timed tickets to enter Alhambra and you will see Generalife and gardens. You specifically need additional timed tickets to enter Nasrid's Palace, which is really fantastic building. Make sure to use only the official website https://tickets.alhambra-patronato.es/ Bring plenty of water, high spf sun protection and a hat. You would need to allow 2 to 3 hours inside the grounds to see it. If the Celebrity tour does not mention timed tickets for admission or timed tickets for Nasrid's Palace, then it seems unlikely that you will be going inside. Driving from Malaga to Alhambra takes 1.5 to 2 hours depending on traffic etc.

Final Thoughts Generally we enjoyed the ship. It is in good condition and the crew are good. Captain Eric was visible, accessible and friendly. We noticed him most evenings in the Lido eating with the officers and crew. We found food portions in Lido more than adequate. We found that we had to ask for smaller portion sizes than were offered initially. Although there was a slight smell of stale smoke when we passed through the casino, it did not drift down to our room (immediately underneath). We did however get the bass and drum beat of Rolling Stone Rock Room, but it did not bother us. BB Kings band was good, perhaps reasonable new? as they just had not 'jelled' as a band. Fine talented musicians, but just not together as a band. However the Rolling Stone Rock Band were as if they were peas in a pod! Best RSRR Band I have seen on a pinnacle ship. If anyone has any specific questions, then ask away! Otherwise, it is time to wind down this thread and get ready for Rotterdam on September 23rd.

LG TV Functionality: As I mentioned much earlier I had expected Samsung TV in the stateroom and instead met a LG. I am not familiar with LG but I did try to obtain some relevant information for fellow cruisers. Having met my friend in Dun Laoghaire, I reboarded with a LG remote ready to go and see what I could do. Turns out very little. Remember that I had full access to the rear panel of the TV as it was on a full motion wall bracket. The TV's themselves are more than standard TV's. When I first pointed the full remcon at the TV a message flashed up "Enter following code into Management Tool Website" and I could get no further. Next step was to disconnect the network cable and doing this produced a message across the screen stating "Trying to Connect". Remcon still had no functionality. Next step was to disconnect network and power cable, wait a few minutes, and then reconnect just the power cable. This was interesting as the TV tried searching for an input and was showing an ip address of 0.0.0.0, which leads me to think that there is something in the BIOS of the TV that causes it to search for an ip address as soon as it is powered on. After powering up I was able to access the "Safety Menu" selected "input locks" (requires password) and saw that the USB and HDMI ports were locked. I was able to unlock the USB port, but I could not unlock the HDMI ports. Using the USB port I could view images and videos from a pen drive. As soon as the LAN cable was reconnected the TV attempted to connect (it was seeking http:// client.iptv.nsdmdomain.hollandamerica.com). When I was finished I restored all settings to the original! Summary: Although the USB and LAN2 are side mounted whereas LAN1 and the audio out jack is rear mounted, they are basically not accessible unless in a room that has a full motion bracket (the stateroom that run lengthways eg 4043/4045 on NSD). I certainly will not be bringing remcon or spending time trying to connect to the TV.

Quick answer - I got the LG remote, but it was not worth the effort! Long answer follows!

I think part of the problem is that they are hired individually and thrown together. Mostly they are talented individuals and only some gel together as a duo.

I think when the IT person got into middle school they hit the "Cat's in the cradle" moment and lost their drive and momentum. They were better before being "educated". Just as a bit of back-up I looked at the Daily Program for our completed cruise this month and there is no mention of HIA being available to purchase. Also, I do not recollect any signage on the ship that offered the opportunity to purchase it onboard.

Well, a slight misty sensation did restrict my vision for a few moments, but today when I open the Navigator and see "Your journey starts in 27 days 8 hours and 10 minutes" then I will make a little sacrifice (and hopefully lose a few inches/cm from the waist band!) 😉

Junk emails??? 🙄

AFAIK it must be done prior to the cruise.

A cruise ship is probably the worst way to try to see some of Ireland. Apart from the fact that the Irish Sea can be quite rough at a moments notice, you are only going to be in a couple of (probably) East Coast ports (eg Cobh, Waterford, Dunlaoghaire or Dublin, Belfast) for a limited amount of time during daylight hours. Mid May is a perfect time to visit Ireland, so please look at a land based trip, either car, coach or rail. There is so much more to see than a few cruise ports and they are still possible to see in a reasonably short amount of time.