POA1

They're everywhere. Unless there's something bar-specific, but I don't think there is.

Make sure you take care of contacting the Pinnacle Grill as soon as you board. Tables for large parties are limited.

In the past, I made the advance reservation for the date and time we wanted. Then, I asked the PG manager to apply our free meal to the reservation. Just make sure you follow up to ensure that the credit is applied. Some times, we were already slotted for another time slot by the ship. In that case, we canceled that's one and kept the one we made online. Try to get the bookings cross-referenced if you are traveling with others. HAL or your TA can request that "travel with" be noted in the system. It really helps to have everyone's booking ID /booking number when you are reserving for a group. The specialty restaurant online booking system can normally handle reservations for 6. If you have more than 6 people, the restautant will have to handle it. Our first order of business upon boarding is to confirm all our reservations. If you get that out of the way, you can relax knowing everything is taken care of.

Keep posting the memes. They're funny and they bring joy. Not every joke is going to land. (I know this.)

Be still my heart! A full English breakfast!

Thanks. As the owner of exactly zero orange items of clothing, this gives me months to plan... Either an outfit or a hiding place. Unclear as to which is best at this point.

Loving your reports. Michelle was seriously excited about your sled dog excursion, particularly the puppy part. Is the Orange party a feature on every HAL cruise?

While I think a leftover bottle would be an insult to Bacchus, I'd be inclined to gift it to someone who was continuing on the ship. Pick someone whom you met and give it to them. It teaches the value of befriending others. (The value of which is, apparently, 750 ml of mid-priced wine.)

True. 😇 I never really understood the appeal of figuring out OBC money laundering schemes. Hope you are having a great cruise! I hope to catch up on all my live report reading this weekend.

WRT upgrading the SBP: We would buy enough OBC pre-cruise, to cover the upgrade. Purchased OBC is like cash and is fully refundable if not used. Promo OBC is not refundable* and is, "use it or lose it." If we ran into resistance on the upgrade, I'd explain that we prepaid for OBC to cover the upgrade cost. If the bar manager didn’t want to upgrade us, I fully understood. However, it was MY money and I was perfectly happy to take it home at the end of the trip. We sometimes had to try to upgrade at more than one bar, but we always found someone who realized that HAL was better off making MY money into THEIR money. It'd be bad negotiating for HAL to leave money on the table. If you are dealing with promo OBC, like the $308 Amex Platinum credit, you're negotiating position is weaker. HAL is getting that regardless. (I don't know if the Amex promo is still in place. It's just an example.) *-There is a way to turn your promo OBC into "cash OBC," but that's for another day.

The master list on the Beverage Package *sales sheet" has always been smaller than what you can actually get on the ship. I think that they're shooting for a representative sampling rather than a comprehensive list. In the case of Tia Maria, it's probably stocked in all the restaurants owing to its popularly as an after dinner cordial. If you do favor something that's only stocked in a certain bar (or bars) make a note of where you saw it. This happened witt my brother in law and Patron XO, the coffee-tequila device. They had it in the Gallery bar, but not in MDR stock. We told our wine steward and he made sure to have it on hand. Needless to say, rwe showed our appreciation for the extra effort. The bartenders rotate (between venues, not in circles) so they'll usually know what's where, liquor-wise.

Signature is 15 total beverages, including alcoholic and non-alcoholic. Elite is 15 alcoholic drinks and unlimited non-alcoholic beverages. It's on the HAL site under the description of each. Once you have booked, it's spelled out clearly in the Navigator app as well.

We were on a Collector's Cruise (East / West B2B) on the Nieuw Amsterdam a few years ago. The 7 day Thanksgiving portion of the cruise was teeming with kids by HAL standards. There were 54 children on board, nearly two and one half percent of the passengers! In all seriousness, we never would have noticed if the CD hadn't mentioned it. We're a late, fixed dining kind of people. Unless there is a large European contingent, late seating is kiddie kryptonite. You should be fine. (TIP: Off! Spray for kids is actually a bug repellent to use on children. It does not repel the wee little shavers.)

I hate to ruin the surprise, but it's a serving tray. And, after a few more cruises, a coffee table is in the works.

@alwaysfrantic Did you get a booking confirmation? If not, try to view your itinerary on the HAL site. You should see what you booked in the proper place. If not, and it were me, I'd call.

Agree with Radboois.... Under the bed should be tone.

The HIA promo for next year's holiday cruises has the Elite Beverage Package and the speedy internet.

It's listed on our December cruise on the Nieuw Statendam. It's $24.95 and covers 15 beverages. That's some serious pounding for a short port stop. The bargain conscious may want to take a beach bag to fill with "room sodas" or "room beers" to take back to the ship.

Have a great trip!

Thanks!

If you look at the deck plan, there's a plus sign + between connecting rooms.

It's definitely 5:45 & 8:00 pm for fixed / assigned seating. IIRC, if you are too late, they'll send you to open seating deck 2.

Your guarantee is for the rate and a stateroom. You'll likely get something better than an N. You don't have control over where it will be, but the price is fixed.

By Whiskey, I meant the Notes bar