OlsSalt

Yes, never again. Done it several times on different ships, Hated it. Fixed does not work for you; it does for us.

Your travel agent it right, The aft wraps are a hike to get to the Neptune lounge, so lounge access may not even matter that much - you are buying the view with Neptune aft wraps, and all the other Neptune perks, which still are plenty.

They are premium real estate for Alaska cruises, since there is so much scenery to view from the ship itself. And there are so few of them.

We got an unexpected very strong wind blast on the New England cruise on one of the smaller HAL ships, somewhere around Prince Edwards Island - sent dishes in the dining room clattering all over the floor. it surprised everyone, though it was thought to be a residual of a prior strong storm a few days earlier further out in the Atlantic. So, you never know. Each cruise has its moments - wind and waves are part of the at-sea experience. No guarantees anywhere.

Just looked at the HalFact aft wrap photos for 4,5,6,7,8. and they all look pretty much the same- and get enthusiastic reviews. Maybe how one chooses to arrange the deck furniture for themselves makes a difference in how they look. I would not worry about noise or smoke coming down to Deck 8 but if you have a choice, pick which decks you want to be closest too -and distance to the Neptune Lounge can be key too. The best part of any aft wrap is the very corner of the deck is where your views extend 180 degrees - those are the moments to love the most and any aft wrap on any deck will offer you those perfect views. Have a wonderful cruise and enjoy your indulgence. Good place to have such sweeping views.

We love fixed dining, and we choose if we want to fuss finding the table in the beginning or or not. Once. Then we have a wonderful time with the wait staff getting getting know and anticipate what we want, like and don't like - please no more carrots! I wouldn't have it any other way. Love avoiding the hassle of anytime dining - which is the way we see it.

We had what looked like a stacked apple slice pastry at the Dutch Cafe - Dec/Jan 2023- not quite a pie, not quite a cake, but it was very tall and full of apple slices. Might have had a crust around it - top or bottom.

HalFacts website has dining room maps for many ships - so you can find your table ahead of time before you show up at the dining room. But we do the same thing first when we board, find our late-fixed table and see if we can arrange another one if we don't particularly like the location, if possible We also avoid the first night line and just go directly to the table. I think that helps the dining staff, and everyone else waiting in line too who are waiting to be be escorted to their table. Often the table numbers are missing or hard to read when we go exploring before dinner, and no one is in the dining room at the time. Nor do they even make numerical sense. Table 70 may maybe right next to Table 34. So the dining room map up front is a great help.

My favorite is the next door balcony neighbor, when coming into port, loudly describing the scene to each and every multiple member on his cell phone call list. And then later lighting up a cigar.

From the Way Back Machine 9 (1960's): College nutrition class had us memorize what constituted adequate serving portions of what was then called "The Basic Four": 2-3 ounces was a serving portion for cooked meat; 3-4 ounces when raw before it was cooked was the adequate "meat" portion of the Basic Four for nutritional needs - with two "meat" servings per day. Peanut butter and eggs could be substituted for "meat" back then. (1960's).

I always ask for a "half portion" and they try, but some things just can't be cut in half. Or I order an appetizer for my entree, which they sometimes double to make it a little more substantial, but still a relatively small portion size.

Good idea. Adding "clam shells", instead of the current unprotected loungers, could also make this space more welcoming. Yes, even a bracket for a portable shade umbrella could work.

Have never sailed on Royal Caribbean, but from your own descriptions my guess is you would like HAL ships a lot.

Our mothers also knew how to deal with left-overs. Ship sanitation rules require everything not consumed gets thrown out after four hours. A trip on the Trans-Siberian train followed different rules - what we did not eat one day kept showing up later in different forms from soups, to stews to sausages until every bit left on our plates was gone. So cutting down on food waste in this setting is not just about "saving money". Though you can't blame them when they got shut tight rather arbitrarily tight for 2 years and are floating now on mountains of debt to repay. I don't mind doing my part to help save the industry right now in these little ways, if we can. Even cookies do not escape the tossed out food rules, when I begged our waiter to see if he could find some of those yummy palm sugar wraps after the Indonesian tea. He looked at his watch and said they had probably already been thrown out.

There is always room service or late pizza, before and after dinner at the Pinnacle if one is worried about teenage appetites not being satiated at the Pinnacle itself. Food waste was just one of the many "green issues" tha have now affected all cruise ships. Various ways of tackling this - smaller portions; limits on extra portions, less self-serve, getting rid of the former Lido trays. Lots of people besides passengers are now looking over the shoulders of cruise ships and one of the loudest are the environmental activists. Read some of their websites (Friends of the Earth is a good one) and you will not even recognize their version of cruise ships compared to our own realities about them. However, these groups do carry a lot of political weight and are shutting down some ports because they are active, organized and relentlessly vocal. Food waste and ship waste disposals are very high on their lists of cruise ship crimes against nature.

VSP - Vessel Sanitation Program requirement can be very strict about surface materials in food service areas - maybe a softer flooring material would be impossible to clean and pass inspection. Fatter rubber tires on the carts might help too. but a lot of it is just plain dish rattling noises too.

There was a public bus that went to the port area- but it did require rolling your luggage quite a distance to get to the ship. And the schedules were not totally convenient since this is a remote location. Agree with defilpiis post #2 - getting an overnight hotel close to the downtown Metro port shuttle departure point, allows some touring before the cruise. Very walkable and compact city. I also recall the Metro airport to downtown connection was fairly simple, but watch which elevators to take to reach ground level once you arrive and you will be juggling your luggage if choosing public transportation.. Plot out your route and connections ahead of time if using public transit, but also just ask - Danes were very helpful. We had a wonderful time choosing two days before departure, for exploring the city and dining very well. ($$$). Nothing is cheap, but the quality is very high.

I believe it is now printed on the menu that ordering multiple appetizers are charged extra in the Pinnacle. Which means they won't be able to literally be in hog-heaven ordering repeats of their yummy Hanging Bacon. Though some do order two appetizers, but in lieu of a main entree choice at the Pinnacle. Pinnacle has surcharges for some more premium menu items, but the regular menu is quite substantial for the original Pinnacle surcharge amount.

Shops on the Konigsdam were "under-utilized" in the evening. This was because the noise from the nearby and open BB Kings performance area was so deafening and we avoided this area completely. I believe the "space" in the atrium needs to are kept relatively open and free, so it can be utilized as an emergency large crowd gathering area?

Cabins under the direct food service ares (carts, tile floors, banging) and near crew stairwells (some of the inside cabins) under the Lido deck are problematic- but the vast majority on this deck are not. We have often stayed in cabins under the Lido deck with only the occasional late afternoon "chair scraping" when they clean up this area. I assumed they would be noisy during the day with pool noise coming over to our balcony. But the never happened. One more value paying the extra to "choose your own cabin", rather than taking a guarantee..

In the past, we have cancelled a prior cruise booking (when there was no penalty) and then rebooked at the lower price - may not get the same cabin but in those days we did not know enough to be choosy about our cabin locations. At that time, one did not amend the reservation to get the lower price but needed to cancel it entirely. You can always ask. But it could be this new lower price is because they have only less desirable cabins left?

OBC is not "real money"; but taking out cash for winnings is. OBC winnings could be paid in more OBC, if at all. Are you on a casino deal? Maybe they have special arrangements.

A long time HAL poster here offers a cabin review website with passenger submitted info and photos, called HalFacts. A cabin close to yours is reviewed with no mention of any complaints and picture of a happy passenger sitting on the bed in this similar ocean view cabin. I have also found just by putting the name of the ship and the number of the cabin into your search engine, you may turn up some personal reports found elsewhere on the net. We like the Zaandam a lot and have spent many, many days on her. She would always be our first choice among all HAL ships. Hope you have a wonderful cruise and love her too.

Fire hazards to all passenger can and should outweigh any individual passenger's special need. Apparently, that is why this plug in heating device got put on the prohibited list. Hope you can find a safer alternative for similar results. Are their not individual use heating or cold packs - no plug in required. Maybe they have some approved heating pads on board for this use - wiring and electricals checked out, with perhaps on an automatic timer. Check with special accommodations services to start - let them know what you need.

But what do the men wear?