WisRiver

 I am not quite sure what you mean by "inaccurate prices".    If a vendor quotes you a price in USD and pesos, they often will build in the cost of exchange.   The vendor may set the price based on how you look, the time of day or remaining stock.  Exchange rates vary.  Today's (11/6/19) exchange rate is about 19.1 pesos to the US dollar.  Since we winter in Mexico, we always have pesos.  When we take friends to the cruise ship markets to shop, the vendor will usually first quote us a price in US dollars.  We usually respond by asking the price in pesos.  The peso price is a better price than the dollar price.  

Almost every vendor in the cruise ship area takes US dollars.  The beachside bars take dollars.

Part of the Nuremberg to Budapest is on the Main River Canal, which is not very scenic.  Access to the roof top deck may be restricted because of the low clearance.  We did the Budapest-Bucharest cruise on Viking.  The river has become much larger, and you enjoy the top deck.  I would spend extra days in Budapest.  Also, on the trip to Budapest you may have a chance to see Croatia, Serbia and Bulgaria in addition to Romania.  Having traveled in Germany in the past, I liked seeing Eastern Europe.  

In the past four years we have booked transfers from Civatavecchia to Rome and Rome back to the HAL cruise terminal and the airport with Bob's Limos https://www.romelimousines.com.  This company picked us at our apartment in Rome, and dropped us at the HAL terminal at Civatavecchia.  They have also picked us up on the pier at the terminal and dropped us in Rome with absolutely no problems.   Cannot speak to other companies.   

I misread the map of the Eurodam dining room.  We were at Table 163, a table for ten.  Since we were a group of six adults and four children (6,12,15,17), we prefer(as we do at home) to sit around a large table.  This way all of the children can be under the grand's eyes.  

We were on the Eurodam in July, 2019 on a 7 day Alaska cruise with a group of ten.  We had initially asked for AnyTime dining.  By the time we boarded, we had decided to try to dine together.  I had a Neptune Suite, so I asked our concierge to book us a table for ten for all seven nights.  She booked us table 103 which we had for all seven nights.  It was more than comfortable for 10, and you should be able to squeeze an 11th chair.   We also booked our table for 8 PM.  Late dining had a lot more tables available than early dining. 

What are the outlets like on a Vista Suite on the Maasdam?  We are doing the San Diego/Sydney transpacific next year.  Are there bedside outlets or USB ports?

Can you use Euros in French Polynesia?

Last year we were on Longships.  I think the beer on draft was Bitburg on the Budapest-Amsterdam leg.  We were also on the Bucharest-Budapest leg, but I do not remember the kind of beer on draft.  The beer drinkers on board seemed happy.

Another option in FLL just down the street from Embassy Suites is Holiday Inn Express.  We stayed there last year while the hotel was undergoing expansion.  Free shuttle from airport, and short Lyft ride to ship.  Skip the paid shuttle from the hotel.  It will be more expensive and crowded.  You are close to Total Wine, Publix and many restaurants.    Not bad for one night.

Our experience on the K'dam, Zuiderdam and Eurodam in the past year is that you will get better service on the second seating.  It is less crowded.  Our wait staff have told us that the 1st seating is the most popular and is usually full.  Second seating also means a greater choice of tables, ie easier to find two tops.

The beach in front of the malecon, beachfront road, is cleaned every morning, so most of the sea shells are removed.  If you walk east along the beach you will come to an area that is not cleaned daily.  Along the high tide mark you will find shells.  The City of Progreso has rehabilitated a new beach area to the west of the big pier, but I have not walked along that beach.  There is an excellent small seashell shop (say that three times) on Calle 78 across from Barlavento Restaurant, that has a wide variety of shells.

We disembarked from the Zuiderdam in Boston three weeks ago.  The immigration and customs were handled on board.  We had to wait until our color (the same color on our bags) was called.   We wait in the Ocean Bar.  Our ship card was scanned by HAL staff and we showed our passport to a US immigration officer.  He looked at the passport, looked at our face and waved us through.  No passport stamp, no Global Entry, no customs form and for me no questions.  The immigration officer asked the person in front of me if he had purchased anything, and he said no.  He was waved through.  It was 15 minutes from the time our color was called until we were outside.  The longest line was for taxis.  We used Lyft ($16 including tip).  Lyft had a shorter wait time than a taxi.  We were at the airport in less than an hour from our color group being called.  

We were on the Zuiderdam on the Voyage of the Vikings in August, 2019.  We missed two ports because of weather, a tender port in Greenland and St. John's,  Nova Scotia.  On our final bill we had a refund of about  $10 per person for the Greenland stop and $115  per person for St. John's.

We just ordered the bottles of gin, rather than the G & T package.  Remember the limes.  One year on a transatlantic we ran out of limes in mid ocean, so we had to go to the bar to get a glass of cut up limes.   

On our July 2020 cruise we bought three bottles of Bombay gin, one was Sapphire and the other was  Bombay Original.  The one bottle of Bombay Original was 37 ½ % alcohol while the second was 40 % alcohol.  The Sapphire was 47 % alcohol.  We like our G & T's in our room before dinner, so we brought our own Fever Tree Tonic and limes on board.  For us there was not much difference between the Sapphire or Original when mixed in a G & T.  When we ran out of tonic we picked up tonic in ports.

We have taken five transatlantic on HAL and one on Celebrity.  The Celebrity Constellation was similar to the the Nieuw Amersterdam and Eurodam.  We would choose our transatlantic based on itinerary.   The Constellation went to Rome while other HAL TA's went to Rotterdam, Copenhagen, Barcelona as well as Rome.  However, since we are 4* on HAL, the free laundry is nice.  Next year we are looking at transpacifics.

We just got off the Zuiderdam.  When we boarded in in Boston We had a carry on that included an 8 pack of Coke Zero, 6 pack of bottled tonic water, two one liter bottles of cherry juice, half dozen limes and two bottles of sparkling wine.  It was heavy lifting, but no problems with all the non alcoholic drinks.

In July, 2019 we had an aft wrap around cabin on the 8th deck.  You would be right below the lido deck.  Only once did we hear noise from the deck above us, and it was at 8:00 AM as we were entering Glacier Bay.  The extra steps were not a problem.  The views are extraordinary from the aft cabins.  In a veranda cabin you might be worried about missing the view from the "other side of the ship" .

We had an aft wrap around Neptune  on our Alaska cruise earlier this year.  You are a long way from the Neptune Lounge.  However, you can order canapés and snacks for 5 PM cocktail hour delivered to your cabin.  It is usually a selection of what they put out in the Neptune Lounge.  We were traveling with other people (not in Neptune) and we would order for 6 or 8 people.  No problem.  The cabin was small, but the wrap around balcony was great.

We were on a Viking River Cruise from Bucharest to Budapest in June, 2018.  Weather was cool and cloudy in Romania and Bulgaria, sunny and pleasant in the Balkans and Hungary.  Who knows what the weather will be next year.  I understand it has extremely warm in Central and Eastern Europe this summer.  

If you want a certain cabin, you should book early.  On an Alaska cruise in late June we wanted an aft wrap around Neptune Suite (great views), so we booked in November, 2018.  We were also able to lock in a great plane fare at about the same time.  We checked with our big box travel agency just before our final payment was due, and were able to get a slight price reduction.  For other cruises we might be more last minute, but for Alaska it was nice to book early.  

Last week when we were on the Eurodam to Alaska, the key cards for Neptune Suites did not have a hole.  However, the key cards for veranda cabins had an opening at the top of the card to attach to a lanyard.

We were in London in May, 2019.  We enjoyed Come From Away.  We bought our tickets online directly from the theatre.  We also  saw Witness For the Prosecution with tickets purchased from the the Half Price Ticket booth.  Finally we saw The Play That Goes Wrong last year.  I liked the play, it was stupid funny.

We just returned from our Alaska cruise.  We had a family group of 10, so we booked a boat with Harv and Marv's.  It was an excellent trip.  I would book with Harv and Marv's again.

We make frequent use of the TKTS booth in London.  They sell discount as well as full price tickets.  Their website lists availability for two days https://officiallondontheatre.com/tkts/ If there are shows you must see, then contact the box office directly.  In May, 2019 the two best shows we saw were Six and Come From Away.  Both were sold out productions and we had booked tickets on line.  We bought tickets Witness for the Prosecution at TKTS.  In May the lines were not bad.  The TKTS website also has a link to directory of all shows on the West End.