OlsSalt

This person offers traditional at-sea, after-dinner digestives: ginger; mints, figs, apricots. Also ringing the chimes to announce dinner is being served in the public rooms. And you see them polishing the brassware in the gangway embarkation areas.

Are there no jogging signs, because they got taken down, or are there "NO JOGGING" signs? I hate to think of what jogging sounds like in all the cabins directly below.

A couple of ways to make traveling in a solo inside cabin feel more "spacious and gracious"while on a HAL Pinnacle ship for less costs than a veranda or Neptune suite: consider both adding Club Orange for their special dining room, and a cabana for reserved outdoor space.

Good place to start - visit HalFacts and see passenger submitted photos and comments for cabins on the Pinnacle ship you are choosing, several photos of the single/ solo cabins on Deck One - people seem happy with them: https://halfacts.com

Sounds like more passengers are now making more individual demands is part of the equation too. Before dining was pretty much a group affair. You ate what was put in front of you. You ate around what you did not like. HAL was much more a meat and potatoes standard banquet type dining setting when we first started back in 2009. "Vegetarian" options were just starting to make inroads beyond a plate of steamed vegetables. Factor in now the large number of individual dietary accommodations and personal consultations required of dining staff for every meal, that did not happen even a few years ago. Fact of life now. Same numbers of staff perhaps, but the individual diner attention demands have grown tremendously. There are only so many staff beds available on any given ship. There is a limit to what staff members can offer individual passengers. Have we reached a tipping point?

Honestly, do expect to try another cruise line - one that is much more high-touch and most likely a lot more expensive than HAL. Unlikely you will ever come close to your expectations on a mass market HAL ship.

We like using the glass dome covered Lido area for leisurely viewing in Alaska, even if we have a balcony cabin. It feels like a toasty sun room when the glass dome is closed, which is will be for many Alaska cruises. Chairs and tables lined up to look out the windows instead of towards the pool. Occasional need to wipe the fog off the glass if it gets too steamy. But a great place to warm up and get something to eat, while not missing any passing scenery. Honestly, there is no problem finding viewing areas on the smaller HAL ships, whether indoors, covered or outside. Only the brand new Pinnacle class ships short-change you on covered promenade viewing areas, because they are so narrow. When you reach a particularly spectacular area, they have always opened up the forward bow deck where large crowds can gather and they hand out hot soup because it is windy and exposed. Just dress for this and you will be fine. If you need extra protection, every port in Alaska has packets to sell with additional scarves, hats and gloves.

MS Nieuw Jakarta - Holland America Line Training Center in Indonesia. I believe it was closed during "covid" - is it back on line again?

I personally would never choose open dining. It can't help but be chaotic in this setting.

Done both to Alaska, only difference is in degree but not really in substance between the two ships themselves. That said, we always chose the smaller ones ourselves. I would also research who is sharing port with you on the same days - look up some of the marine traffic websites for that information, the fewer other ships in port the same day the better for me too. Particularly on embarkation day - Vancouver can be a nightmare; Seattle less so. But honestly, here are no deal breakers between the two ships themselves. Routes and departure/disembarkation ports would be the only other factors I would consider if you are still splitting hairs between the two. Alaska itself transcends all other factors.

With new lava flows near the Blue Lagoon now gobbling up houses, I think you can count on this. 🌋

I think cabanas are probably best when you have a lot of at-sea days with NO scenery, in warmer part of the world. And when there are a lot of chair hogs in the Lido area and you really want your own lounger.

Good for HAL -whatever you call these offerings they are pretty fantastic - with twists on the usual routes. I like the direction they have now chosen to go - lead with their strengths - their legendary strengths .

We are on a 53 day "Majestic" cruise. How do we fit into the pecking order?

C'mon Mary. Cruising long distance all the way from San Pedro to Catalina on a 2000 passenger cruise ship was kind of legendary. Doesn't happen that often. Particularly when arriving at Santa Catalina the fog was so thick we could not even see the island ......26 miles across the sea. It was a legendary Camelot moment, when finally Avalon appeared through the mists.

I believe the pools all have seated "lifts" on a swing arm as well, for easier access.

Recently had a Thermal Suite pass on the Noordam, and it is pretty much like the other photos posted. Different colors. Slightly different layout. But not enough to make a difference, lounger room probably smaller since this a smaller ship, but the views from the lounger room were still great. The moist saunas were very Arabian Nights looking - colorful and patterned gilded tile. And the heated pool was large enough to paddle around, with both central jets and a row of underwater bubble recliners.

Deck Two aft on the old Rotterdam: This was a "secret back deck", with loungers open to anyone. But a real treat for those in ocean view and inside cabins on Deck 1 & 2. It was our shared "verandah". Except on one segment early in the day, a few people up-ended a couple of loungers on their sides, draped towels and created a hidden fortress. Then left trays from the Lido with empty plates all around it. Back then the Lido had trays. Or who knows, maybe they were also ordering room service delivered to their own private Chair Hog Haven.

One of the recent HAL survey questions did ask if we would pay extra to have a reserved Lido lounger, along with the question whether we would also pay to have a staff member apply sunscreen. (!) I guess this is where they felt they needed to go, after hearing about chair hogs. I wonder what the final results of that survey turned out to be. I do think applying and noticing timing restrictions are the best way to check this issue in the bud. Plus a "pre-flight" video explaining some of the onboard courtesies, now that one has chosen to share limited space with a few thousand other people.

Better question is do I have room to stack up all the plates and trays in my cabin, when I order the full MDR dinner. Some cabins are more accommodating than others.

What better use for one's phone camera - than to record the time and the condition of the lounger? Tick tock ..tick tock ....tick tock ...... then POUNCE. No excuses when you can show them the proof.

On the HAL two week all around Indonesia cruise a number of year ago, we picked up a bag of the infamous..... (ahem) ... "civil cat digested"..... coffee beans. With great trepidation, we served it at a family dinner with full disclosure . We all looked at each other as we took our first sips, and to a person we all said the same thing , wow, this is really good. Though I admit, it is still hard to shake the bean "harvesting" imagery.

We noticed after getting inundated with Oceania mailings, their offer prices in the mailings are always loss-leaders. When you call in response to the mailing offer price, those cabins are no longer available, but we can offer you this for $$$++++. If Oceania didn't keep sending us so many mailings, they could have offered us a free cruise instead. That said, this brand can have something to offer for what it is - a smaller ship, but too often fairly routine itineraries. And not easy to reach departure/embarkation ports.

I have had good luck with several hair-highlighting at very fair stateside prices. But my one pedicure was way over-priced compared to stateside, and I even ended up with abrasions on my toes.

If unused for 20 minutes, I believe you can remove the belongings and claim the chair for yourself.