OlsSalt

Was it my imagination, or did I really smell a faint cigar smoke permeation still lingering in the Oak Room?

I found only the lightest dusting of salt can perk up favors that seem initially bland. They are doing us a favor not over-salting up front. Loved the "distant land" offerings in the Lido and the highlighted "crew food" options in the MDR on the Noordam recently. Plus the Lido sushi was actually pretty good this time, much fresher. Food was just fine on the Noordam.

Ship's photo department was offering various photo "swag" items too, if you want to wait and have an actual onboard photo used.

Always keep in mind "plastics" are forever, and this tiny isolated island has no means of disposing of forever-wastes. EG: A wooden pencil is far better gift, than a plastic single use pen or marker.

Take along Ann Landers 53 most memorable quotes, and you will have a wonderful time. https://winkgo.com/ann-landers-quotes/

Which ship has the Chihuly blown glass "flowered" ceiling in the Main Dining Room, in reds and purples?

Neptune Lounge is also a good place to wait, while your stewards are making up the cabin if you have no other plans for that time. When staying in a Neptune, I rarely ever go to the Lido for lunch. The small snacks are more than adequate during the day.

Three weeks on Noordam - Vancouver to San Diego. No problems at all. Lovely ship. Food was varied and fine.

Just off three weeks on the Noordam. Ship was lovely throughout and in excellent condition. Some scuffs in veryisolated places, appropriate for next dry dock repair. Deck 8 Signature cabins were beautiful; don't know how far other cabin renovations affected other decks.

Suggest you look into Resorts World Cruises, a restructure of the former Genting Star Chinese/Malaysian gambling casino cruise line: https://www.casino.org/news/resorts-world-cruises-splashes-first-cruise-out-of-hong-kong-on-china-tour/ HAL is a total mismatch for you.

Brrrrrrrrr ...... heading her way in a few days. Guess I won't pare down my cold weather clothes after all, trying to get the suitcase weight down.

Check out options on "Rome to Rio" website - just put in your desired destination and it plots out various options and costs.

"Electronic interface" is failing all over, not just FlightEase. Banks, hotel reservations, online shopping, fake charges on your credit card account. Bring back pen and pencil and guys in green eyeshades who balance the books every night

I learned to now order the least expensive one, and have always gotten something lovely and long lasting, regardless of what the photo promised. I try to stick to something with Peruvian lilies up front in it, since they always last the longest.

Looks like we also sailed the nearly last of the Maasdam too. Loved those ships and the main dining room ceilings.

Fine point: Canaletto was an Italian artist, well loved for his realistic and imaginative views of famous Italian cities during his era. Therefore, the HAL restaurant is not "Canaletto's" - Just Canaletto. Giovanni Antonio Canal (18 October 1697 – 19 April 1768), better known as Canaletto (Italian: [kanaˈletto]), was an Italian painter of city views or vedute, of Venice, Rome, and London. He also painted imaginary views (referred to as capricci), although the demarcation in his works between the real and the imaginary is never quite clearcut.

I thought assigned boarding times might also be related to where banks of cabins are located and when they could be made ready for boarding - since the crew can't really have all the cabins ready at the exact same time when people randomly show up. Turn-around days must be punishing for the crew - their regular duties, close out duties, inventory duties, and off-loading and on-loading all those passengers and their luggage in a few short hours - starting at midnight when our bags get silently whisked away, to the task of directing the crops of passengers new to the ship how to find things. Staggered boarding would certainly help smooth registration back up, which is when I thought this became part of this relatively new HAL procedure having your cabin ready as soon as you board. It was not always like that - you often had to wait - mill around the ship for a while - until there was an all-clear announcement you could now go to your cabin. Of course, staggered boarding was part of the "social distancing" protocol too. Lots of things could make assigned boarding times a mystery. Or even random.

It does matter. Work with the guidelines.

Lifehacker weighs in on "confusing' dress codes": https://lifehacker.com/what-all-of-those-confusing-dress-code-terms-really-mea-1724671659

Closest to "high tea" was the Royal Dutch Tea that provided hot delicious entrees, which sadly they no longer offer nor do they offer the Indonesian Tea. Daily regular tea served with sweets and savories still offered. You may notice the biggest improvement is the much more subdued decor. It is more coordinated rather than the garish mist-mash decor that HAL ships suffered from a decade or so ago. Bilious carpets, fire sale closeouts from defunct casinos, and where on earth did they get some of those overly large hallway decor pieces? Did the infamous Blue Boy statuary passing as benches in the elevator foyers ever get keel-hauled. That said, HAL will never be trendy, just sold and comfortable but with a little more design sense now than in the past. The warm welcoming HAL crew and staff remains exemplary. Food is fresher with a lot more variety, than a decade ago when it was pretty much meat and potatoes. Buffet food has great variety and appeal. Sadly the daily home made fresh bread has become frozen dough offerings which are still good,, but not even close to the daily from scratch breads in the past. No more final night MDR grand finale with juggling waiters and parading staff between courses. Classical music offerings severely limited now. No more male dance hosts. Most ships lost the larger dedicated library spaces. Most staff-passenger interactive programs are gone. No more Float Your Boat competitions. Some things not missed, but many improvements have occurred over the past 19 years ago, but the basics are unchanged. HAL remains a high value cruise line for what it charges. I hope you report back what you notice most after your own HAL hiatus.

Do consider the shape of the arrangement - tall vase, short vase, spreading arrangement, triangle shape arrangement, etc .... when considering where the arrangement can be placed in your cabin. And how "tippy" it might be. They have always been very lovely and very lasting arrangements, no matter which one chosen.

Thermal spa pass is not a "salon service". Like a massage, hair cut or pedicure. It is a special venue space rental.

What is the point of mocking travel safety advice when someone is planning a DIY trip to Sintra?

CO got off to a very pokey start - no one could figure out what it was, or why they wound want to buy into it. I remember when CO was merely some duct tape on the carpet, in front of the Main Desk for priority line-ups. And one other menu item in the MDR. Priority tender and embarkation offered only limited appeal. Then came this cabin upgrade perk and everyone was talking about CO. On the larger class Pinnacle ships, CO is almost required if you want any semblance to a sane dining experience. That alone is a CO value. Plus they are now filling their cabins with regular reservations. They don't have that many left over now to hand out upfront at a discount. So does HAL need to offer this additional cabin upgrade gimmicks any longer, or does CO have stand alone value as just a quieter dining venue on the larger ships? After our own Konnigsdam experience, I would never sail on her again without just the CO dining option.

Too many people now know about "gaming the system" with using CO. Scarcity is the first law of economics. There are only so many seats to sell. Best they just sell seats to the CO Restaurant perk, and stop engaging in the cabin upgrade lottery.