OlsSalt

Quickly scanning HAL's Asia itineraries and if you want a 14 day cruise, I would pick anything that includes Singapore, Bangkok and Hong Kong for your most comprehensive survey of major Asian cities. Bangkok is the true stunner due to its lavish architecture and cuisine, but unfortunately today requires a long bus ride from the commercial port - though some cruise allow and over-night in the city for a more extended experience. However, both Singapore and Hong Kong beg for a few extra days too.

Online resale can be your friend for that item too - plus they don't have to be wool today. Lighter-weight packable fabrics work for men's formal wear too. Or, just plan to pass on dinner that evening ---but that is the whole point of choosing Cunard - indulging in their quickly disappearing cruise formality. Good questions to ask on the Cunard forum - how are people working around their formal dress requirements? They could answer if they have them for rent too - which used to be the case on HAL ships - formal wear for both men and women - women got a sparkle top and long black skirt, and they even had dress shoes too. But that was several years ago.

We found some our more formal travel mates on some cruises would often wear the same thing every night, and change only accessories. But did they ever start out with a very expensive suit or ensemble. So while more formal for dinner, on some of these cruise lines, it was never a daily fashion parade. Plus that old packing tip - only the top needs to change, if you want variety since you are sitting down at dinner. A few interchangeable and packable tops with a pair of black pants or skirt works for me. My own tip was to search for resale items online from a nice brand like Joseph Ribkoff (Canadian brand) - you could not get a wrinkle in their nicely stretchy and forgiving fabrics, even if you wanted to.

I personally would pick the Singapore - Vietnam/Cambodia over the Japan - for your most "exotic" taste of Asia, though that is very rapidly changing. But yes, considering the global importance of China today, an exclusive China cruise is not a bad option at all. It helps to put so many China policy questions in context when you actually see more of the country itself. In some ways, because Japan is so much more "orderly" as a travel experience, I would save if for when you want fewer travel hassles, while you are able can face the more raw experiences you can still encounter in the more off the beaten path choices - though nothing today is off the beaten path any longer. Though Singapore it as orderly as one could dream about, yet still has pockets of low key charm. Good place to land after a long flight. Plus Australians have been traveling into South East Asia long before we Northern Europeans started arriving in big numbers. What a surprise to see so much spaghetti and pizza already on the menus in impacted tourist locations in Vietnam! That was thanks (or not) to the Australians.

Agree, it is overwhelming when presented with the options. Good news is none of them are bad choices, and with your inherent curiosity I suspect you will find a way to do them all ......eventually. So just hold your nose, jump in and then plan on your next foray to finally get them all. I have been traveling widely in this area, ever since the 1970's, when it was barely emerging into the modern world. Then re-visiting it every few years since. The phenomenal growth and modernization has been both daunting and disappointing over time. But the future of the world belongs to "Asia" today, by sheer population numbers alone, so one really does need to see as much of it as possible since it factors so strongly in all our futures. Only one real precaution, and unlikely you will run into it- but we were on a fantastic HAL Maasdam In Depth cruise that went from SF, across Alaska and the Aleutians, Russia Far East, and two weeks around Japan ....... ending in August. August was fine for Alaska and Russia Far East, but the heat and humidity in Japan in August was crushing. The day we planned on visiting Kyoto, we ended up just staying on the air-conditioned train and went to the ancient capitol city Nara instead where we just sat on a park bench eating ice cream and drinking ice water. Spring or Fall are the better cruising times for "Asia" to avoid this heat/humidity issue - Singapore is almost on the equator so you almost can't win, but there are raining and dry (drier) seasons.

Chamber music belongs in an intimate setting. Surrounded by exceptional acoustics. Hope to God they do NOT amplify the classical ensembles whey they ask them fill the vast emptiness of the Main Stage Theater, like they do when they use these ensembles to back a BBC nature film. (Groan) It is a shame HAL is not honoring this more intimate classical option, as part of its touted "music walk"

Rome2Rio - as your failsafe last back up - 500 miles, you can rent a car and drive to Atlanta in about 7 hours. 😎 Have a great cruise. https://www.rome2rio.com/map/New-Orleans/Atlanta

Monetizing space seems to be a recent decision-driver. Not enough drinks sold, or fancy after dinner coffees ordered during the classical presentations? Too many like me, enjoying the free chocolates offered at the smaller ship Explorers Lounge during concerts.🤑

ronndonna, depending on where you are starting from, "Asia" is often a long way away for most North Americans, which means fighting jet lag for the early part of your cruise. This is one reason to favor longer cruises in this area, over shorter ones. Just a consideration, may not matter that much for you. One way around this is to add a few extra days to the trip to your departure city, just to have a slower pace to get on your new "clock". Singapore is always our favorite Asia cruise departure point for an extended pre-cruise stay. You ask an interesting question - what is it that intrigues you most about "Asia" since each itinerary will give you such a different exposure. Travel in "Asia" probably puts the most health demands on travelers - there can be more heat, humidity, traffic, pollution, noise, and tracel distances from port to attractions - so one must be ready and in good health to pack a lot into just two weeks, after a long and sleep robbing flight. I personally love the color and intensity of this part of the world and have done many cruises and land trips, to get a range of what it has to offer. But all our cruises have been longer, and the shorter trips were land trips concentrating in only one city. Just Singapore; just Shanghai; just Bangkok; just Hanoi ......

We went searching for a spot where there was no piped in music on her sister ship Konigsdsam, where one could just sit and read. To our surprise it was also the Deck Two Ocean Bar .... and one of the side "rooms" at the top deck Crows Nest, opposite side from the very noisy coffee bar which was planted right next to their lousy excuse for a "library". On most other smaller and older ships, the Ocean bar was often the most lively place on the ship. Agree, on these ships it is one of the quietest - during the day.

If walking is difficult, I would opt for a cruise that did not have a heavy port-port-port itinerary. Are there more sea days in one cruise over another? Because things are so close together in Japan, one does not have too much down time between ports. Both are very interesting, but maybe for a first cruise I would pick the more comprehensive Asia one for its sheer variety. Japan is a concentrated dose covering a much smaller area - and more modern than historic or even "quaint". But it is a must see country - some day. Japan felt safe and easy for self-travel, but it is not without challenges. But we found very friendly and helpful people when we needed them. But sometimes we felt quite stranded when suddenly we took a turn, there were no signs we could read or even figure out. We always had to be aware of how we could get back to where we started from.

The free loungers above the pool, while looking attractive quite frankly are not all that comfortable for any extended sitting. Perching on them for a while is fine, but I wouldn't count on a day by the pool on any of them. Best use for them is sitting there, people watching and enjoying their really, really good gelato from the pool side gelato stand ( small extra cost, but well worth it. ) That said, as our cruise went on I did notice they got "occupied" and staked out with personal belonging earlier and earlier in the day, so someone did enjoy them, whenever they finally showed up.

Many of the CBD products sold in California are in fact laced with Valerian - read the product label - which is a long known herbal sleeping aid. Might want to try Valerian instead - but be sure to read its side effect warnings. ' Me, I just drink chamomile tea at dinner - the European one size fits all sleep fixer

Our guaranty verandah cabin once got changed right at the check in counter, when she penciled out the cabin number and put in a new one. I caught my breath because it sure looked like a Neptune suite number to me, and it was. Took a while for our old cabin number tagged luggage already on board, and in room gifts to catch up with us. We certainly did not mind the extra wait. That was the old Statendam and it was a transatlantic so we got full benefit from our first, but not our last Neptune. Probably never would have tried them, had we not enjoyed our guaranty last minute (send?) cabin assignment.

Did I read this right, you "faked crying" in order to get leverage?

I gather from all prior discussions, they only stopped using the Lincoln Center brand and their in-house talent pool; but have not discarded classical music entirely. Much like they tried franchising the Oprah brand for a while. Or America's Test Kitchen.

I am one of those country collectors - Travel Century Club -. Mauritius was my 100th country - according to their TCC list of countries - rather loose, but still it was my very early travel goal to finally reach 100 countries. Now well beyond that early 100 country goal, thanks to HAL. So my favorite photo from Mauritius is just my feet on the ground, as soon as we left the gangway. #100! Mission accomplished.

For a transatlantic cruise I would get the indoor Thermal Spa pass, instead of a cabana. Nothing beats gazing over the waves from the heated loungers, and then sloshing about in the wonderfully warm spa paddle pool.

My guess is the cabanas may not be sold out for a transatlantic cruise. Might want to wait and rent on by the day to see if you think they are worth it, once you are on board. But there is no crystal ball to tell you if this in fact will happen. Good way to get a feel is to ask which cabanas are still available - if there are many to chose from that could tell you they are maybe not hot sellers for that potentially cold weather/ cold wind transatlantic cruise. When it is windy, the cabanas are also very noisy as the heavy drapes bang around and metal fasteners clang on the railings. There best time in my opinion, is when one is docked in port, and you not leaving the ship. The staff has more time to fuss over you then too.

They offered a fruit bowl and a bottle of chilled mineral water, but never saw a frozen grape the entire time. There is a disconnect between marketing and the actual experience. So you will need to be flexible about what you actually get.

We tried a upper deck Retreat Cabana on the Konigsdam over Christmas New Years; knowing it would be a very busy time and full of kids in the main Lido pool areas. We expected for the price and the promotion, that it would be a quiet retreat from the normal noise and bustle of the public areas during that busy season. But unfortunately six young children were allowed to join the parents who had rented a two person cabana, destroying any expectation of a quiet retreat space. Plus they piped in loud and very annoying music, which at least we got them to turn down. Several of us complained about the kids running around and making noise, but were told there was nothing that could be done about this. So don't assume this Upper Retreat space is adults only. Or that two person cabanas can not be used by a total eight people. Yes, you can order food from the Lido, Dive in or NY Deli, but it takes forever to have it delivered, particularly when the family of eight in the two person cabana takes up much of the staff time and got their orders in first. Use you onboard Navigator to make choices from the Lido or other venues but you then must order when the retreat staff comes around to take your order. You can try to get your order in first, and hope you can beat the long delay. Yes, you can order breakfast, but I would assume by the time it arrives it will be cold. We never tried this ourselves. The loungers in fact were not very comfortable, the view is static and depending on the side of the ship you are on and the time of the day, you may need to keep the curtains closed and the sun ard/or wind out. Which means you are in a closed small space. Might as well stay in your own cabin for free. Few used the additional loungers outside of the cabanas, due to no shade and full sun and wind exposure. The concept sounded wonderful and many reviews were very encouraging, but the execution on our cruise was a huge disappointment. But please note, others do love this option and we are glad we tried it. We thought they would be the answer when using these larger new ships, but it was a waste of money for us, on that particular bad holiday cruise experience. This may change entirely on a less impacted cruise, but then there is also less reason to pay for the space. Getting a few chocolate dipped strawberries and a glass of white sparkling in the later afternoon was the only value added for the price, but for what we paid for the cabana we could have ordered a few bottles to Vueve Cliquot on our own. We finally stopped using it towards the end. It was hopeless and became an irritant, instead of a place for relaxation. Once we learned it was not the adults only retreat space we expected, we tried to get our money back but were not given any guarantee it would be returned to us. So we gave it a few more chances, but it simply did not work out for us. I applaud HAL's efforts trying to create a special space - with all good expectations. But for the price, they need to really up their game a lot to make offer good value in return. Others have also complained it is not just kids making noise, but adults bringing in boom boxes and staff helpless to do anything about this. I would want 100% assurances these were dedicated Quiet Zones (no cell phone chatter either) and that any violation would require forfeiture of use of this space. HAL has a long way to go before ever offering those assurances. So currently, you "pays your money and you takes your chances". YMMV.

Near the top of the opening page, right hand side after you log on is a blue boxed "start new topic" button. You could title it 'What I learned from my own Zuiderdam medical evacuation". BTW: we had an overnight in Mauritius on another cruise line's Indian Ocean itinerary- shared one of those port days with the former HAL Amsterdam on her world cruise. We left port at the same time, but after few minutes out the Amsterdam headed one way, and we another - tooting greetings as we two ships passed each other..... on into the night. A wonderful low key port with many nice surprises, including the only remaining skeleton of a Dodo bird in their museum, a lovely outdoor French restaurant near the embassy district, a vine-draped tropical central park for people watching, and one of the most expensive postage stamps in the world, protected behind heavy security glass. Happy to hear they provided you with excellent care.

Sounds like using the HAL denominated credit card - points given for OBC.

From the website line: Something like getting AAA travel discounts with your membership? arrivia, Inc. d.b.a. Holland America Line PRIVILEGES, is a Registered Seller of Travel in the following states: California: CST 2066521-50; Washington: UBI 602 443 155 001 0001; Hawaii: TAR-5192; Iowa #1324; and Florida: ST29452 (c)2023 arrivia, Inc.

I always go with the smaller ships, when itineraries are equal. In this case you get the smaller ship, plus the better itinerary - so that would be the Eurodam. How important are the few things you will give up on the Rotterdam? A three week cruise causes different considerations for me, than a shorter one - the day to day routine satisfactions that come from a smaller ship, with the higher small space comforts onboard become more important, than any temporary novelties a larger ship may offer.