POA1

I know that, but after Alaska 2026, there's nothing to show that the Kdam is staying out west. She could be right back in the Caribbean after Alaska.

Are you sure? I didn't think Summer 2026 or Winter 2026 were even out yet.

You paid the 3rd party insurer. Why are they making you run down the solution? That's kinda the reason why you paid them.

I might have missed this, but did you have HAL insurance? Insurance through the airline? 3rd party coverage? Credit card coverage?

Sitting on Version:4.40.0 (Build 522202177) Stock Android 14, August 2024 update on a Pixel Pro. To be honest, I don't see anything visibly different. I assume it's just patches. (I miss changelogs. 😔) I wish they'd roll back the itinerary display and bring back the linear format.

App on a tablet when I saw availability. Booked on the website though.

Good luck and keep checking. I started checking pretty regularly waaaay too early and it worked out for me. To tell the truth, I was simply watching to look at the Lido & MDR menus. (What a fulfilling life I lead!) The menus suddenly appeared - much earlier than expected. We were able to score every single time we wanted. We are three couples traveling together, so I really expected that at least one was going to miss out on a time slot and we'd have to wheel & deal with the dining reservations podium to get things straightened. If you are able to catch the first day or two of reservations opening, you will likely get your desired times.

We did not pay with the Elite Beverage Package in December on the Nieuw Statendam nor in April on the Rotterdam. I even had the nice crew member make them extra thick.

Why don't you call Ship Services? They have a toll free number and you could get an answer right from the department which handles it? 800–541–1576 Not to put too fine a point on it, but calling them would seem to be more efficient than asking on CC or FB.

You can still reserve specialty dining on our March 2025 Nieuw Statendam cruise. All the restaurants are still bookable, with plenty of slots available. Our current reservations all show up on the itinerary page. BTW, the print version of the itinerary is a much more manageable size now compared to what it used to be. They got rid of all of the photos that used to make the itinerary super long. Granted, it could still be more compact, but it least it won't use up all your printer ink now. I'm not exactly sure why we can still book all the dining. We're still 206 days out. The obvious reason is the Bubble of Awesome, but there must be something else at work.

Really liking the new, enhanced ship locations, @richwmn Definitely a value-added service. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Five Stars, highly recommended.

You need to do the math. The normal basis is the Advantage Fare plus $55 pp/day. The Advantage Fare does not show up on the website, so you will need to talk to a TA or someone at HAL to get it. Next, subtract the Advantage Fare from the HIA fare. Divide the difference by the number of days and number of people. It's usually $55. However, I have seen it as low as $42. That was on a few longer sailings that I looked at last year and this year. It wasn't advertised as being on sale, but it was definitely less. My guess is that you aren't doing a long South American sailing or the Voyage of the Vikings and partying like it's a week in the Caribbean.

I've done Live Froms using both Premium (December 2023 on the Nieuw Statendam) and Surf (March - April 2024) on the Rotterdam. Both plans were fine for posting on CC. I upgraded to the Premium plan for a few days on the Rotterdam because I needed Wi-Fi calling. (I was worried about missing the opportunity to buy an extended warranty for my car.) Speeds were the same. The big difference was that there were additional service ports opened, most notably file sharing, gaming and the aforementioned Wi-Fi calling. I make a point of resizing my photos for upload and that helps a lot. We travel "heavy" - two phones, two tablets, a laptop and a super zoom camera. That's the beauty of living near Port Everglades. We're cruising with two other couples over St. Patrick's Day next year. That may limit my ability to do a live report; not because of lack of content, but rather due to lack of free time. (Also self-incrimination.)

Yes, because AARP requires you to retain membership. I think that the only one that stays on for an extended basis is the military veteran OBC.

I got them when I signed up for AARP last year.

The one in the Dutch Café seems to have come down to normal size. It was smaller in April than it was in December. IMHO, it used to be awfully big for one person. It's on the Dutch night dessert menu (which is not the same without the Dutch Hats of yore.)

Thank you. We tried them on the Nieuw Statendam in December - also at the Ocean Bar.

I just checked ours for mid March on the Nieuw Statendam and they're still there.

A couple of things - I don't think there is such a thing as a Club Orange rep. Is your fare eligible for free 3rd and 4th passengers? And did you book refundable deposit?

Tampa has that really low bridge clearance As the older ships are retired, there are fewer ships that can come into Tampa. I don't know if the port is exotic enough for Silversea or Seabourn.

The deposit only applies to the first two passengers. Passengers 3 & 4 don't require a deposit. (It's a little more "togetherness" than I'd like, but....)

Club Orange is per person, pax 1 & 2 only. It's $25/person/day on sailings less 14 days. It drops to $15 pp/day at 14 days. (Yes, a two week cruise costs less than a 10 day cruise.) Solos do not pay double. (Single traveler on a 14 day sailing in a starter level verandah is literally the sweet spot.)

Don't forget those sweet AARP packing cubes that you can get as a bonus. They're not in the same league as the Club Orange tote bag, but they are made of synthetic fibers and they have zippers.

Thank you to the people who pointed me to the right place for the verbiage. We did not have the hot hors d'oeuvres on either the Rotterdam in spring nor the Nieuw Statendam in December. Being a curious and investigative people, we made it a point to show up during the cocktail hour every single evening. The only food we saw was the lime slice in DW's Ketel One & Soda.

You cannot combine stock OBC with any comp room rates, interline, or some of the fares where you you only pay taxes, fees and port charges. If you get turned down, call and ask what the combibabilty rules are that prevent it. (You're going to need to get someone who knows how to look it up, and not everyone will. It's not something that comes up that often.)