crystalspin

The H cabins 3372-3380 were quiet.

Currently on second day & second leg of a B2B on the Koningsdam. First cruises since spring 2019! First time on a Pinnacle ship. We are enjoying being back on a Blue-Hulled Beauty aka 'Dam Ship again! Have been thinking about the experience and what I will write on Cruise Critic as a review at the end! @OlsSaltmade some of my same points. We are mid-ship in a Vista Suite due to having substantial future cruise credit from March 2020. Very occasionally we've needed to walk fully front to back (forward to aft) such as Crow's Nest to Tamarind and it seems a hike; but we remind ourselves it's not like a mega-ship! Although I did move our cabin from forward high-deck to this very one for 35 days in 2024, and happy with that decision. I think my favorite thing is ALL the activities. There seems to be something for everyone, and mostly that means - even though the ship was at capacity last week and seems so this week - it rarely seems crowded. Happy hours (which don't have a fixed schedule) and trying to get a seat at open seating MDR are exceptions. We simply go somewhere else if the HH crowd shows up, and we have been dining in either the Lido (which is not chaotic) or specialty restaurants due to having a bit of OBC. The Lido menus being available on the Navigator makes all the difference -- decide ahead of time which station(s) to visit and save the milling around.

Currently on the K'dam and serendipitously just happened to share an elevator ride with Byron the Entertainment Manager. I mentioned that the word was LCS was going away... He was a bit guarded but allowed changes might be coming... What he strongly suggested was that - H/T to Mary - no particular kind of music was "going away", but that the branding was very costly! He mentioned all three: Lincoln Center, Rolling Stone, & BBKings, has having expensive royalties. I was left reassured and even hopeful that what is coming music-wise might even be better!

I hear you! All I can suggest is that you look at the Pinnacle class interior pics on halffacts.Com until you find one, then compare with deck plans for like arranged rooms. I believe there are a few interiors on main deck 1 that have a sofa. To be sure, a sofa with poor approach and little leg room - but with a back! Good luck!

That was supposed to be "$20/bottle", implying not worth it! OTOH I hadn't thought of it as a non-alcoholic and forbidden beverage!

I believe you could, in 750ml bottles and paying $2/bottle.

As You Wish (AYW) is just the official HAL name for open seating. It actually includes both open and fixed seating "as you wish"!

I don't recall! If so it's just cursory, like "has anyone unknown asked you to carry anything on board?" at the airport.

The questionnaire is like: "are you sick?" "have you been around sickness?" -- literally two questions.

Agree they cannot serve from MDR. May I suggest the Mongolian lamb? If she eats lamb... I had it and not particularly Asian in character. The lamb chops in all of the specialty restaurants are recommended by me. I think I have had them all! I'm going to try the ribs next time for appetizer. Also remember tempura is just breaded and fried, not some exotic thing.

Pre-pandemic, always as you wish except when our own party was a table of 8 or 10 and dinner was a good time to catch up with experiences and plans. Prior we would not make reservations but show up "as we wished" and tell the host to seat us wherever was easiest for THEM. Never got a pager or had to wait. Currently on the K'dam for a 16-day B2B. Went by the MDR the first night. People were no joke packed all down the halls with pagers. Especially as we are trying to go home without COVID, and so are not willing to sit at the big tables this trip, we passed and went to the Lido which was NOT chaotic, nor has it been since. Also as someone said above, we are taking advantage of the specialty restaurants more this cruise, due to our anniversary falling on NYE, HIA promotion, and finally getting to use stock holder benefits! I guess it will be five out of nine nights on this leg.

A short roundtrip cruise from Vancouver BC to Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway and Glacier Bay will be in sight of shore all or most of the time. Also usually very calm waters!

Haven't eaten in the Tamarind for dinner yet. Short ribs with gnocchi is a favorite at Canaletto and I'm going to try their lamb this cruise (two reservations there this leg of cruise). Was disappointed with the ribeye at Pinnacle; would stick with lamb there, or crab legs if you eat seafood. You have been answered about ordering...

On board now. Forgot orange accessories for the Holland America orange party (that I bought specifically).Forgot a medium size bag to carry just a few things like kindles and metal straws around the ship, but HAL gave us one today so that is sorted!

The OBC and Crew Appreciation come and go. We got $100 (split between us) OBC booking this coming new years B2B, on each 'leg'. I think I booked back in June 2022. We also got gratuities. The SBC, wifi-surf, and one or more dinners at specialty restaurant seem to be the core value for HIA, with the number of dinners depending on the length of the cruise. What is the cruise you are looking at? Someone could run a dummy booking...

Study the deck plans. They are mostly true to life. The large range of sizes mostly reflects standard vs handicapped. Be sure to check what is above or below (especially above).

As Suzy said, Premium is 20% less pre-purchased for the whole cruise. The internet (speed and bandwidth) is the same just more apps/programs are blocked and the data caps are lower for the non-premium packages. You can read here: https://www.hollandamerica.com/en_US/onboard-packages/cruise-ship-wifi.html

Note: to be able to 'check e-mail' you will need Surf package minimum. "Social" is confined to: "Message your friends and family on popular social messaging apps*, such as Facebook Messenger and others. Messaging Apps (audio/video features not supported)."

Chart attached. There is a discount of 20% (to anyone) on Premium only, if purchased before sailing by at least a day I think. You can find that in your booking on line. This makes Premium for the whole cruise only a little more than Surf, but pre-cruise it must be bought with credit card and not OBC. Just to be clear: it is the same internet, same speed and "bandwidth" only fewer sites/apps are blocked and the data cap is higher before it goes into crippled mode.

Swoon!!!

In general (as per reports on the various boards here), a couple weeks is probably average. But it can happen that you don't know until you get to the dock and the porters check their list and put a number on your luggage tag! Not that I know anyone that had that happen, but it is rumored to, occasionally! Here is the RCI board; there is a new thread about Guarantee Cabins right near the top! https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/51-royal-caribbean-international/

You need to be satisfied with the worst cabin they could assign you to go with a "guarantee". You might ask on the RCCL board about any change process if you don't like the choice (which will be a long way out).

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/386-florida-departures/

My introvert husband kissed the Stone and it worked! (The course in self-hypnosis aimed at making small-talk may have helped...)

Pre-new locks, I chose an NCL cruise through the PC, because of the same reasoning: I could get a balcony on the Norwegian Star for the price of an inside on a Holland America ship. The cruise was awful! Lots of people say, you didn't give NCL's new ships a try!!! To which I say, if a line can't keep ALL of their ships up to a minimum standard, why would I want to sail with them? I have not yet sailed with Princess -- a number of bookings -- I have a PVP! but the cruises have always wound up cancelled. Including two by the Pandemic... one of which would have been on the Emerald!