crystalspin

Pain Killer in the Crows Nest. It's rum and pineapple juice and coconut cream with a dash of nutmeg... which makes your brain think of egg-nog!

I doubt that e-ID is going to be accepted by the port/dock authorities. But you could test it and report back! (I'm only being a little fascetious; I have heard of people having to send their companion back to the ship to fetch ID. The admission desk can be some distance from the ship...)

Not the first or last night. Usually seadays, but in the absence of an appropriately spaced out sea-day, a port-day with early all-aboard may be used. The holiday may throw it off! What is the itinerary.

I feel strangely vindicated by this statement. We ate only our complimentary dinners (2) in PG on our B2B last New Years, but used up all of our leftover OBC dining in Canaletto. Yay for the crew party. *** Nah, I feature you a "jacket to dinner" fellow without the excuse!

This would be me. I can't go through a booking without choosing what I want!

For my chance at cheerleading -- for your future -- all of Holland America's eleven ships will have StarLink (LEO) internet by the end of this year. Currently six do. Great itineraries.

Interesting! On our K'dam B2B I tried to make reservation for the one night of Lamb shank (Dr'Spin's favorite) and was told the only available seating was nine PM at a shared table. So maybe we could have just showed up and gotten our pager earlier?

Oh yeah, they do, at least on the K'dam last Dec/Jan. After first night, all the people with "anytime" realize they need reservations, doing away with it being "anytime"!

The "complimentary" shorex credits are linked to your Mariner number and can't be given to someone else. What itinerary are you on? I have seen cases where the same excursion is available either standard or "handicapped".

So I had a fine capsule wardrobe in coral/teal/black -- but to some extent I felt like I was wearing someone else's clothes! And this is despite the fact that I buy A LOT of permanent wardrobe items on eBay!

One thing is the ship will get StarLink! All of HAL's ships are to have it by year's end. (Currently Volendam, Zaandam, Oosterdam, Westerdam, Zuiderdam, & Koningsdam do; Noordam, Eurodam, Nieuw Amsterdam, Nieuw Statendam, & Rotterdam do not.) One ship reportedly had StarLink installed WHILE on a Grand Voyage, so a dry dock isn't necessary, but mostly that is the process.

Hi and welcome to Cruise Critic! I think you will get a better answer on the ANZ board, here: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/564-australia-new-zealand-cruisers/

I think the incognito window does the same thing, without having to enter all of your passwords etc when you go back to non-incognito access to other sites.

Here are a few pics from the same cabin on the sister ship Zuiderdam, with a few words included. Looks good! https://halfacts.com/vista-class/5184-zuiderdam/

Hi and welcome to Cruise Critic. In addition to Ports of Call that Kat linked, your Roll Call should be very good help. When does your cruise sail? (Month, day, and year -- that's the way to find the RC!)

I post links to YouTube quite frequently and have not been reprimanded. The four mid-ship I-category are surely to be preferred to the Js. I found a you-tube of 1124 on the Nieuw Statendam (sister to K'dam).

Three of our friends are on the last week of preparation before their long cruise. Sailing from Athens with twelve ports-of-call, most packed into the first half of the journey! Hoping for fine weather in Europe for them. Fair winds and smooth seas on the ship! Bon Voyage on the Oosterdam -- 26 day Ancient Empires + Spanish Farewell: @Taters @cate54 @sailingdutchy

Continuation: I did not leave any garments behind (and I was perfectly happy with all items I took, and wore them all except swimsuit, not shown). HOWEVER. all or most of the clothes, shirts especially, are still folded in a plastic tub some eight years later, having been moved 750mi. three years ago. I now pack two tops for every bottom and don't worry about everything going together. I take clothing I would be wearing anyway! No more VACATION-WEAR for me.

I did a variation on @rtdiva's idea, back in 2015 for our first TransAtlantic and so-far longest cruise at 26 days (plus travel each end). I used eBay as my thrift-store and bought a number of articles to make up my capsule wardrobe. Here is a representative diagram of my packing (the actual patterns of the shirts are not all exact):

I had figured this out, but didn't want to be all Nanny on you to correct! The Special-K on N.Ammy is a great interior, the I-class on K'dam may be a let down. Lots of floor space, no sofa. Ask your Steward if there is an additional chair or seating cube to be had.

I see you posted to a Zaandam thread. The Vista Suites on Zaandam are so much bigger and better than the OceanViews! (There are no Verandahs on Zaandam.) We took a paid upgrade (upsell in CC lingo) on the Zaandam for the two of us and my mom. Could not have made a better choice! There was so much room! there was a bank of 3 drawers for each person, and at least one closet-door for each, plus one where the pool-robes hung that we used for outerwear.

We were booked on the Mar2020 as well. I think it was to have been the Oosterdam. We used the credit from the cancellation last New Years on the K'dam B2B and are booked for Feb 17 2024 for Hawaii-Tahiti. BUT we also have a reservation for Feb 15, 2025 (in case we have to cancel 2024 for family health reasons). The Roll Call is here: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2922162-february-15-march-22-2025-35-day-hawaii-tahiti-marquesas/

I swear Cruise Critic used to have member-supplied reviews of specific cabins! It's been a long time since I looked for one; now what I find is an overall review, here: https://www.cruisecritic.com/cruise/holland-america/rotterdam/cabins We stayed in a Vista Suite on the Koningsdam, 4100 -- equivalent on the R'dam of 4098. Loved the location! One staircase up from the Grand Dutch Cafe, elevator-close to much of the rest of the ship. No noise from the elevator despite being across the hall from the "back" of the elevator 'well'. No particular noise at all.

As someone said, the Signature and Elite Signature (alcoholic) packages are historically more expensive bought onboard. I do not believe this is true of the Quench or Unlimited Coca Cola packages. Quench is $17.95+18% ($21.18) per person per day, and fountain Coca Cola brand beverages are $8+18% ($9.44) pppd. Must buy for the whole cruise, but I think you can buy with your OBC for no penalty! Welcome to HAL!

When you sign into the HAL website (when it is up to it! many of us have been using an incognito window) -- go to My Account (top right drop-down). In the dark-blue header bar BELOW your name and Mariner level report, there are three choices: my profile, my bookings, and MY CRUISE HISTORY. Tada! The list refers to the cruises by their names and does not give the embarcation port, though.