OlsSalt

Not ringing a bell about any book specific to this cruise, other than the heroic adventures of Ernest Shackleton, over 100 years ago. His ship The Endeavor became ice bound and eventually sunk after being broken up in the ice pack. His rugged rescue of all his ice bound crew bringing every single one of them back to South Georgia Island is a legendary adventure. The very recent discovery of their sunken ship The Endeavor in the Weddell Sea, may have been what I was talking about, since you do sail close to these same waters? Both are great books - the story of the original adventure and the equal adventure looking for the ship itself, 100 years later. And yes, they did eat penguins in order to survive. https://www.history.com/news/shackleton-endurance-survival The Ship Beneath the Ice - finding Shakleton's ship The Endurance https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/61281793-the-ship-beneath-the-ice

Showed up on a recent Noordam cruise as well - quite gorgeous, and once the crowd faded, one could choose and sample.

Clouds sometimes have curious silver linings ...for some. Last major Iceland Volcano that delayed flights for days, weeks was right before the start of our HAL Statendam Mediterranean cruise. We had arrived in Barcelona a few days earlier, and were more than surprised when on embarkation day, the registration clerk scratched out our cabin numbers and wrote in what appeared to be a coveted smaller 00 number. Yes, they had upgraded us to a Neptune Suite at check-in because there had been so many last minute cruise cancellations due to the Iceland volcano shut down air connections, the ship was sailing at far less than full capacity. Our already checked-in luggage with the old cabin number now had to find its way to its new home. It is never good to benefit from others misfortunes, so I do hope those passengers who had to cancel all got their full refunds. But it does make quite a story, since we were still fairly new to HAL. They made this complimentary upgrade "investment" in us, as new passengers. We have now returned this favor, with our own enduring long-term HAL passenger loyalty.

Noordam library was just installed during very recent cruise, while we were on board. Right next to the Explorations Cafe coffee bar. Expanded in size and collections, but few places to sit and read. That does make it more a "bookstore" (good description) than the former large library-reading lounges on HAL ships of yore. Has a "take one-leave one" section. And multiple copies of some books, which could facilitate a small book club -organized or informal. But it does allow some good browsing for titles, and even some serendipitous surprises to try out.

Any evening yoga or tai chi classes? Winding down the day.

When you board, go to the Dining Reservations desk - ask directions where it is located as this is different on different ships. Or visit the Dining Room front desk on the first night. Things settle out in a few days, so don't give up. I think you will eventually get what you want. We love fixed dining, but many find they do not once onboard so those are the tables that may open up for you.

At one time they tried to turn the Pinnacle into a high frou-frou experience - flaming kabobs etc. The menu improvements were greatly appreciated, the fuss and showmanship was too over the top. So it passed into the memory banks too. Looks like Pinnacle is still a specialty restaurant searching for an identity. Last Noordam Pinnacle dining was excellent at every levels. Hope this continues. Konigsdam Pinnacle a few months prior, was terrible at every level - food, presentation, decor, seating, noise, staffing and overall ambiance.

The Have It All (HIA) package of extras and benefits, as listed on the website. This is an extra cost package can choose when making your reservation.

We like late (main) fixed dining a lot too. That is always our pick and right, it can be either 7:30 or 8pm which probably explains why no time is listed right now. Just like the upgrade fairy moves in mysterious ways, there must be some rhyme or reason to the varying times for set dining - times in port, whim of the kitchen staff, timing of entertainment, numbers of tables to turn over from the earlier dining times. When it is 7;30 for "late" dining, is it a half hour earlier for early dining? Anyone know?

In the worst case, you pay upfront when you reserve, but get the charge taken off your bill when you dine on board. Nice to learn there is now a "complimentary dining" option to check, when making prior reservations. Thanks for the tip.

Hope you come back after 1521 days on that "other possibility", and tells us how it beat its predictability.

Even worse, WSJ just today claimed they were short-changing the cream centers on the Oreos.

The gooey Pavlova center actually proves it is the real thing -- down under. Not sure what the trick is, but it is what I shoot for when I make them at home. Topped with sweetened yogurt or sour cream makes all the flavors and textures come together. A very simple dessert to keep handy when you have some nice juicy fresh fruit - I even use powdered egg whites and it comes out just fine. NZ friends recipe: Just mix all the ingredients together in single mixing bowl: three egg whites, one cup sugar, one teaspoon malt vinegar, three tablespoons hot water. Then beat this combined mixture with a whisk attachment on high speed for 10 minutes. It expands into a stiff meringue Use a rubber spatula to shape meringue "bowls" (large or small) on a parchment paper covered baking sheet. I draw the shapes on the parchment paper with a pencil outline depending on how many I need to make. 250F oven for one hour. Then leave in the turned off oven for another half hour. You can make these shells ahead of time, but store them in a cool, dry place. They are somewhat fragile. Recipe straight from New Zealand - but then what do they know since the battle over who first served this to Madame Pavlova continues to rage today between Australia and New Zealand.

"Covid" knocked the socks off all cruise lines. CCL had to incur over $10 billion dollars of debt just to keep its inventory floating, while earning no income. Corners will need to be cut for along time until that debt gets paid off. That said, our pre and post-"covid" cruises have been very acceptable and we did not miss much - the basics are still there. And slowly some of the cut backs, and loss of experience crew and staff are slowly easing . If you still travel to see things and enjoy room and board included, you may miss nothing at all. But if you want/need a lot of on-board extras, they may not all be back. Which also sounds like the case in other cruise lines too, with similar price points.

Wasn't it advice columnist Ann Landers who years ago said, no one can make you feel bad without your permission? HAL is a "middle America" egalitarian cruise line choice. Long may she sail. Know this upfront.

After so many years of California drought, many of us got used to "shipboard showers"- sponge baths, instead of full showers. They seem normal now. I cringe at the waste of water caused by showers and full bathtubs. But this is probably a California thing.

May 14 day Alaska was our favorite of several Alaska cruises. Great time to be there. Not surprised it booked up so fast. But you never know until after the final payment date, what might open up later.

Another old fashion hack to at least try when the electronic gremlins play tricks, just unplug everything from the wall and let it "rest" for at least a few minutes and reset. Was told this by early computer geeks (the old Kaypro crowd) that electrons can back up and they need to bleed out. Electronic devices being very different animals, than just electricity driven devices. Capacitors and all that.

Did the Oosterdam get some later aft deck cabins added later after the original build? Or, am I confusing that with another HAL ship, where similar cabin utility problems were later reported. I believe they did this aft block of cabin additions to the old Prinsendam and the old Rotterdam, with unhappy issues showing up after the re-fit.

Sorry, I had missed your comments about your unhappy spa experiences too. Cancel that suggestion to use the Thermal Spa facilities, while waiting to get your own suite deficiencies fixed.

I think I will have the Jerk Lamb, the Flat Iron Chimichurri; the Turkey with Dressing, and the Seafood Newburg .............thank you very much. Too many good choices, and I don't want to spoil my appetite for the Strawberry Pavlova and the Chocolate Caramel Tart. Thanks for sharing this. Hope they soon add a Micro-portion Tasters Menu, so we can truly have it all. 😁

Westerdam is also doing a grand RT to Japan - Fall 2024. Via Midway Island. Seattle-Seattle. Looks like Noodam and Westerdam keep getting these routes. 2025 - is it time to share?

Inconvenient I understand, but can they offer you a Thermal Spa pass to compensate for the lack to hot water in your Neptune Suite, until this issue can get resolved?

Wow, you get South Georgia too. Fantastic. Sign me up!

Last Medallion Ceremony on the Noordam was probably five star only- smallish group in the BB Kings Lounge, with a separate recognition for those with high Mariner points too - 1000+. A hybrid. And only mimosas. Mariner/Medallion ceremonies are the only time I quaff a Bloody Mary. Missed it. But, I am not trying to whittle down $10 billion dollars in CCL corporate debt either.