OlsSalt

If you bring a "power strip" be sure to have it checked out onboard by the cabin steward before you use it. The key is NO surge protectors allowed on any power strip.How many items do you need to plug in. It does seem to be (inconsistent) policy to unplug items when you are not in the room. Always a surprise when one leaves their camera, etc, charging and then come back and find the steward has unplugged it .... per ship policy. Plan charging time carefully, limited to the times you will be in the cabin should any problems arise. Painfully this was brought home after a weekend scuba dive boat caught on fire, almost instantly killing all on board. Best explanation was too many devices being charged at the same time on the limited onboard circuits - leading to a very explosive fire. So this is not just a theoretical concern; but a very real one. Failure to have an on duty watch person was also a major issue, who perhaps could have caught this before it became such human tragedy.

Been looking a the commercial luggage handling services myself, and found FedEx might be able to handle this, and it is cheaper than Luggage Forward which is the other major luggage handler others have used. (Not just the complimentary Port Valet that some ports offer- free from the ship to the airport.)

You piqued my curiosity about my own first cruise ship - the Chandris Fantasia (former Duke of York) which I see now also started out as a car ferry to - 520 passengers. That started my own love affair with cruise travel after a 1960's cruise from Venice to Greece and Egypt.

PSSSST: The HAL taco bar is not authentic either. Nor is their Lido sushi or pizza. I refuse to make claims about their Yorkshire pudding or Swiss roesti too. But we survive and enjoy the novelty Seems to be some controversy over use or non-use of Old Bay Seasoning in the seafood boil. The salmon they pick up for the Alaska cruises however is dreamy beyond belief.

Recent Noodrem Alaska cruise went to Valdez, where the local museum features the entire saga of the old Prinsendam sinking off their shoals. Even one of Prinsendam's life-boats is on display outdoors. The town remains proud of their immediate efforts taking everyone in and offering shelter. Quite a story. Valdez has a lot of offer as a port stop - hope more HAL cruises can go there.

The old passenger ship joke: the higher you pay, the more you sway. Since usually the top deck cabins were where they put in the more expensive suites or first class passengers. But that was well before advances in marine engineering and stabilizers. The old Maasdam with its fixed screw propellers would really give the aft cabins jolts, when it popped up and down in rough seas.

Is this cost per person, or one boil to share? Thanks.

PS: Are you trying to tell us to arrive with empty suitcases when taking this cruise, instead of starting with full ones? 😜

Did someone mention egg tarts? I am so all in! Apparently the early Portuguese traders brought egg tarts to Asia. Something to look for in Lisbon too. Wonderful adventures and photos already, and you have not even gotten on board. Glad to hear HK is still worthy for spontaneous exploring ...after reverting back to China.

That is a fantastic itinerary NYC-NYC, or FLL -FLL. Hope you are very happy if your finally that choice. 5-6 at-sea days coming and going across the Atlantic, and then pretty heavy port-port-port. So once you make it across, the rest should be easy cruising. If the Transatlantic part is too terrible for you going over, and you don't want to face going back, you could always jump ship fly back home. (???) It is just so hard to predict, except they don't really schedule cruising during known rough seasons .Passenger ships that used to go point to point had to take what they got, but tourism cruising can pick and chose what routes to offer and when.

We got neither, from our Konigsdam Christmas holiday cruise retreat cabana. Caveat emptor.

Can you try a shorter cruise first to see if you like it or if you find you do get sea-sick?. The Atlantic can never be predicted, but we love the Volendam and would not hesitate at all. But that is us and we now have hundreds of days on small HAL ships and long-distance cruises. HAL ships are built to take rough seas and do ride well. Captains also like to sail around bad weather if they can avoid it, because they don't like unhappy passengers or crews either. But sometimes when it cannot be avoided, it might only be a day, or even a few hours of rough seas. They will warn you up front if high seas are ahead, so you can plan to lay low for awhile if this affects you. There are medications and options others have tried that do work very well for sea sickness, from acupressure bands, ginger to Bonnie and stronger. Also check out the website "Windy.com" and track the Atlantic ocean to get an idea of how often, how high, and where the seas might be rough.

He was high energy, low content and sometimes just plain wrong. But he apparently did great Tai Chi classes on our Maasdam In-Depth. I hope he is not on the upcoming Majestic Japan in September this year - I would like more content, since we visit important WWII sites and a Midway Island drive-by.

Jan Snoeck - Dutch ceramic artist who made many of the large ceramic whimsy pieces on the smaller HAL ships: https://duckduckgo.com/?q=jan+snoeck&t=osx&iax=images&ia=images

We learned from a group search here a few years back for the ceramic plate artist on the old Rotterdam, those quirky cows by the aft pool and other ceramic whimsies on other ships are the work of a famous, contemporary Dutch artist who likes to put every day objects in unexpected places.

Prinsedam - now the AMERA - much has changed decor wise, but the photo of the Pinnacle restaurant on the AMERA took my breath away - nothing changed - out Neptune Suite perk for breakfast there every day.

Seems the most material differences come down to Princess as 24 hour cafe food is available, with more entertainment option. Whereas HAL has better free 24 hour room service, but more limited entertainment options, except for the larger newer Pinnacle class ships. HAL has better libraries whereas this gets little mention on Princess ships, if this is any concern. Others say HAL ships feel more open and have more access to sea views and 360 promenade walking deck; where as Princess feels more closed off and makes the cruising a more interior experience. Not sure if this is true for all Princess ships. For myself personally, I would choose the smallest ship and the one who has the fewest other ships in port on the same days - takes bit of research to find this out. Or pick one that leaves mid-week and avoids the multi-ship 7 day format that impacts essentially the same ports at the same time. Both do Alaska well, so you really have a six of one half dozen of the other type problem. One is a blue-hulled beauty; the other is an ugly floating box - which one do you want in your photos? 🤭

The smaller upscale lines are too "upscale" fussy for our own tastes. I don't like paying extra for "butlers", overly-rich dining, full complimentary alcohol, very plush decor, hackneyed and generic enrichment, and intrusive to the point of annoying service levels -I don't need my tray carried, I don't need a personal escort into the dining room..... etc. (We obviously did not get "Crystalized" after two cruises) Something as basic as the old Voyages of Discovery" model which used the old Ocean Princess ship was good enough for those like us who chose primarily to travel and explore. Great BBC based enrichment -three excellent lectures a day, limited evening entertainment, no casinos, no children's programs ,very adequate mainly buffet dining breakfast and lunch, nice main fixed dining room dinner option with one limited use speciality restaurant. Well, this model did go bankrupt, so what can I say, but mainly it was a Brexit foreign exchange issue that caused its sudden downfall; not its well- earned passenger loyalty.

Get your Kleenex out, photos of the "Prinsendam" today - now sailing as the Phoenix Reisen AMERA. She looks lovely. Too bad we lost her. (Auf Deutsch) https://www.phoenixreisen.com/der-zauber-norwegens-zwischen-fjorden-und-nordkap.html?source=overview&searchIdCruiseDate=3081097 Click the far right blue button at the top "Ihr Schiff" for photos.

Upsell offers can be nice if you know the cabin number; but agree no to random "up grades".

Smaller HAL ships do the 14 day Alaska cruises - they are the best of all, and often have new ports too. Noordam or Zaandam, you can't go wrong.

Anything with Baby's Breath and Peruvian lilies, I find are the longest lasting.

Last cruise, their discounted "Birthday arrangement" lasted for two weeks, almost as long as the balloons on the door. Took a fall mid-cruise and was laid up in the cabin for the third week. The steward surprised me with a brand new complimentary bouquet, after I had finally been taking out the few dead stems one by one every day from the first one.

The old R-class Rotterdam took us to the most places on multiple cruises - even with her weird new bird bath rear-end we loved her colors, dining room layout, decor, art and whimsy. The dear Maasdam did get shaky over 20 knots, and three elevators are better than just her two. Loved our Prinsendam Black Sea cruise our last minute upsell special "named" suite, but did not fall in love overall with the ship itself. But she could take us anywhere and was able to be flexible to add new ports mid cruise, when weather and tides took one away. Plus the Prinsendam park in the middle of the Istanbul harbor, which dazzled at night and captivated by day Just like the wonderful Volendam was able to dock in the middle of the dazzling light displays on all sides in downtown Shanghai.

We were on the Konigsdam under the Lido and no problems with noise at all. We always pick one deck away from the Lido deck, and now that deck is even cheaper than other decks. We love the easy outdoor (and quick food) access. Shhhhhhh, don't tell anyone they are not that bad. But we still do look to see what is directly above us. Never had smoke come on to our balcony and the Lido carpet pretty much muffles any Lido Buffet noise. At worst is some deck chair scraping when they clean up the pool deck area, but that is very time limited. Have not been under the Pinnacle outdoor movie screen. Worst complaint I had heard was a Neptune Suite that was under the ping pong table another ships.