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LIVE Nieuw Amsterdam 11-18-2012

CruisingWalter

By CruisingWalter,
in Holland America Line

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Krazy Kruizers

Krazy Kruizers

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We had a nice day in San Juan. Full update after dinner but I just set up a shutterfly account and posted 24 pics so far of the ship and the Cabana Club.

 

Hopefully this link works!

 

http://nieuwamsterdam.shutterfly.com/pictures/8

 

Oh and the Disney Fantasy was in San Juan with us. The ship horn played "When You Wish Upon A Star". Made us smile.

 

Your link worked.

Great pictures.

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CR dude

CR dude

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We celebrated Thanksgiving last year aboard the Niew Amstardam while on a B2B cruise. This year we are at home high in the central mountains of Costa Rica. If I had my druthers would be out there with you guys.

Jim and Flora

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510picker

510picker

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Sounds like the cruise is enjoyable. We had the Naples cabana last week and judging from your photo it appears to be right next to yours. Our friends are still onboard and they have the first cabana starboard side next to the family cabana. I can't remember the name of it....maybe Marbella. They are a fun group of people. If you feel like having fun with them, walk by there and tell them Matt said to hold it down :)

 

original.jpg

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jaspersmycat

jaspersmycat

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Thanks - Your reports are great. I am taking my 21 year old niece on the NA in March and reserved the same cabana as you.

 

My niece is a vegetarian. Is your wife ordering the vegetarian dishes off the regular MDR menu or is she using the new Vegetarian Menu? It is great to read her meal selections.

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CruisingWalter Great Review Rare

CruisingWalter

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Day Five - Part One, St. Maarten, more thoughts on food

 

Hapoy Thanksgiving from the ms Nieuw Amsterdam!

 

Simply a picture perfect day in St Maarten, though a bit warm. *It was 80 degrees at 8am when we arrived, not sure how high it actually got out here today but its definitely toasty. *

 

We are here with the P&O Adonia, Royal Caribbean Freedom of the Seas and the Celebrity Summit. * Folks on land told us there were six ships yesterday. * The port is well set up to accommodate all the ships so don't worry about overcrowding even when there are a bunch of ships in here. *

 

The buffet continues to impress us with an excellent breakfast of omlettes and crepes to order. * Food is definitely much better and more consistent in the buffet than the main dining room. * *We also had lunch there upon our return and it was great. *As we have mentioned before, check out both sides of the buffet as they are not exactly the same and the buffet is very long on both sides which really spread out people so you don't feel like crowded cattle. *So we are warming up to the HAL buffet. Note that it is NOT 24 hours, it does have set times and does close At 11:30pm I believe. * *Room service is 24 hours though so you can still take care of very late night munchies.*

 

St Maarten and San Juan are both extremely well set up for just walking though there is far less car traffic in St Maarten. * When you do get out and walk, be sure to explore the streets back away from beach. *There are great shops, street vendors and restaurants for about 5 blocks back from the beach and about 20 or so blocks across. *And because all of the roads here are narrow and one way, it's very easy to walk around. * *There is a great water taxi service for $7 round trip that drops you off in the center of the shopping. *Easy on/off, or if you prefer you can walk right out to the shopping directly.

 

As with most of the trip we had nothing planned today but i would recommend the America's Cup excursion if you are looking for something to do here. * We did that a few years ago and had a ball. *They are the actual 12 meter boats from the mid 80's and you do a race out in the harbor. * Good fun. * And you still have plenty of time to explore the island. * *

 

There are two MUST stops for us in St Maarten. *The Guavaberry shop and The Yoda Man shop. * *We highly recommend the Guavaberry coladas though they are a little strong * So be aware of that. *All sorts of great flavored rums and hot sauces in that shop, it's on the right side of the beach about one block back. * Can't miss it, it has the image of an Uncle Ben type of character with a top hat and a sign proclaiming the World Capital of Guavaberry. *I will say we cam out with a bottle of their Mango rum as it was outstanding. *You can sample everything before you buy. **

 

The Yoda Man shop is literally what it says. *It's the guy who created the Yoda puppet for The Empire Strikes Back for LucasFilm. *When we visited four years ago the shop was in the Old Street area, but he has moved his shop to a larger space that now includes an interesting museum with Star Wars and other action film memorabilia. * Today I got the chance to actually meet Nick and we chatted for about ten minutes. *Super nice guy and if you are a Star Wars film fan at all, don't miss this shop. *Very cool full sized Darth Vader among the neat things in the museum along with a host of facial masks of a lot of famous folks *I picked up some artwork today too that he personally signed to me. *

 

As I have mentioned earlier, the ice cream has been terrible on the ship, except at Tamarind, so when I saw a cute ice cream shop on the beach, we stopped and it was a good thing we did. *Met an absolutely lovely British couple that is in the middle of a monthlong cruise on the Adonis. We compared notes as they are considering HAL for a future cruise, especially food notes. * The Adonis only holds 750 passengers so it's a much smaller ship, though quite pretty from the outside. *From their descriptions their stateroom, they are comparable size, though it sounds like the food is much better on the Adonis, at least in the main dining rooms. * *So if you are looking for a smaller ship experience, at least according to this couple, the Adonis is a good experience. *

 

Gotta say coming back to the Cabana Club after a day in port is very nice indeed. *They spoil you up here. * Also a note that the rear pool of the ship is Adults Only which makes it a bit quieter. * But keep your sandals and other footwear handy as the deck can literally turn scalding on a hot day like today. * There is almost zero shade around that pool and the Lido Pool has limited lounge chairs so shaded lounging is definitely a premium on this ship. *The main reason DW booked this cabana for the week. *

 

And an FYI, might want to bring ear plugs if you are renting a cabana. They're right in front of the rear horn which will sound at least four times in the last thirty minutes before departing a port. That's what I have been doing.

 

Tonight is our "Black Label" photoshoot so we will let you know how that goes after dinner. * **

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CruisingWalter Great Review Rare

CruisingWalter

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Thanks - Your reports are great. I am taking my 21 year old niece on the NA in March and reserved the same cabana as you.

 

My niece is a vegetarian. Is your wife ordering the vegetarian dishes off the regular MDR menu or is she using the new Vegetarian Menu? It is great to read her meal selections.

 

In the main dining room off the main menu, items are clearly marked vegetarian. In the buffet you have to ask.

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CruisingWalter Great Review Rare

CruisingWalter

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Sounds like the cruise is enjoyable. We had the Naples cabana last week and judging from your photo it appears to be right next to yours. Our friends are still onboard and they have the first cabana starboard side next to the family cabana. I can't remember the name of it....maybe Marbella. They are a fun group of people. If you feel like having fun with them, walk by there and tell them Matt said to hold it down :)

 

original.jpg

 

Will do, we are in Portofino!

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CruisingWalter Great Review Rare

CruisingWalter

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Day Five Part Two - Black Label photos, Dinner and Dessert Extravaganza. *

 

We had a good time at the Black Label photo shoot today. * As I previously mentioned, this is just like the other photos on the ship, free, no obligation to buy, except that it's a private photoshoot for about 25 minutes all shot in black and white. * *The photographer kept showing us the photos as she was shooting which is nice. * *You are much more likely to get a good quality portrait this way than the usual quick photos they take around the ship. *We have a photo review with the photographer tomorrow to look at everything. **

 

Dinner was a bit of a mixed bag tonight in the dining room. *DW enjoys the dining room experience so while the food has been mixed, the company at our table has been great so we keep going back. *

 

DW started with the vegetarian citrus and avocado appetizer which was ok, then the Cream of Asparagus soup. * The soup was not bad, not great but not bad. * Entree was a vegetarian stuffed cabbage which she says was pretty good. **

 

For me I started off with dual appetizers as I could not make up my mind. * An Ahi Tuna carpaccio was outstanding, one of the appetizers I've had on the ship. * The genoa appetizer was also good. * *I skipped soup in lieu of the Bibb lettuce salad with sundries tomatoes. * *Quite good. * Entree was a VERY dry red wine beef brisket with mashed potatoes. *The potatoes made up for the beef, not a very good entree at all. **

 

Tonight was the dessert extravagance up by the Lido Pool. *You can come up early and shoot photos of everything before they turn us loose on the food. * *So far the most intriguing thing for us are the candied apples. * Well, they looked a lot better than they tasted for us. *Well actually, the poor chef serving them didn't know the flavors correctly. * The caramel he gave my wife was actually lemon coated and my cinnamon was actually cherry coated. *Very sticky and not all that great. *But they make for a beautiful photo! **

 

The rest of the desserts are a mixed bag and far too many to mention. Basically when they announce the buffet is open, The line grows immediately. *One tip if you want to try the cakes. *They have cakes set up on the stage area opposite the main buffet layout. * *There has been nobody approaching that stage all night and there are about 8 different cakes up there. *I just walked up and had the chef give me slices of three different cakes, no line. * Now here again, the chef didn't know what the cakes were besides the red velvet but it didn't matter, i was just sampling. * *Most of what we saw is the the same as is what is on the buffet. **

 

It's certainly a fun social occasion though the Lido Pool area does get stuffy *when the roof is closed. *It was open when we started but then it was closed and it's getting stuffy pretty quickly in here. *Was MUCH more enjoyable when they had the roof open with the breeze. *

 

The styrofoam statues around are fun though. Big Ben (which kept falling into the pool), Pyramids, Leaning Tower of Pisa, all around the pool make for fun decor. * *All in all a fun event, but the deserts are definitely a mixed bag in terms of flavor. *You'll definite find something you like though. * For us it was a pudding cake I found on the stage next to the Sphinx. * *And that concludes day Five. *At Sea tomorrow relaxing in the cabana! *

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CruisingWalter

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Day six - General thoughts, Black Label Photography

 

A bit of a blustery day at sea today headed back to the Bahamas and the Half Moon Cay private island day tomorrow. * *It feels quite refreshing on the cabana club level though, clouds all day keeping the temps moderate in the mid 70's. * *Figured this is a good day to offer up some more notes and thoughts on the cruise and ship in general. * * First off, for whatever reason today is apparently hip hop day up here in the cabana club. * They change out the music each day and DW said they should just stick with instrumentals up here. **

 

If you plan to bring your own WiFi enabled device, it's definitely flaky even in good signal areas like the Exploration Bar/Crows Nest Area so bring a a good dose of patience. *I'm using both my iPad 1 and iPhone 5 onboard and even when either device has a good solid four bars of signal, the wifi will just disappear for no apparent reason. *The iPad is definitely worse than the phone at dropping the signal, but both devices do it. *Fortunately all I have to do is to go back to Settings >Wifi and reselect the correct wifi signal and I'm right back online. No need to log in again if the signal drops off during a session. *I have not tried to log in from the room again since our first night. *Signal is just too weak. * There is a good signal up in the Cabana Club though so that's been nice. * We purchased the 250 minute plan for $100 at Embarkation and got either 20 or 30 minutes added to the time. * That time is good across any number of devices including the onboard computers. *You just log in using your login and go. *Obviously for these long reports I type up everything offline and the just copy / paste into CC. * Today / tomorrow left in the cruise and we have about 90 minutes remaining in our plan. * *Definitely remember to Logout as instructed as soon as you are done. * The flaky wifi is probably a gentle reminder that we are on vacation so go off the grid for a while. *:)

 

It's been said on here a lot, but remember to bring a power strip, power squid or some other multiple outlet device if you need to charge up / power multiple devices. * There is only one accessible outlet in the cabin and it's above the desk in ours. *We found a neat dual power strip in Target that includes two USB slots so I can charge up the iPhone and iPad without tying up the power outlets. * I'll post a picture in the Shutterfly album I started. * *And as I noted in my first post, I would bring a battery powered tap light or two for the closets, lighting is poor for them. **

 

As we have mentioned before (DW is RebeccaC here on CC) the crew has just been incredibly friendly and helpful from the top down. * *Sure they have been friendly on the Princess ships but it feels a bit more inviting and genuine here. * At the buffet this morning I watched multiple stewards go out of their way to help folks carry plates and drinks to the tables, and the serving staff / chefs on the buffet lines are just incredibly friendly and tend to laugh a lot. That extends to our Cabana Stewards Mel and Maurice. *Just really make you feel at home from the first time you come in. **

 

Speaking of the buffet, in the mornings the made to order omlettes and pancakes are quite tasty and I'd recommend them. *In my quest to further deduce the coffee situation in the buffet, it does appear it's made from real coffee grinds as there are always a few grinds in the bottom of my cup. * So I guess the ground coffee at the top of the machines is not just for show. * *Definitely a lot better than the buffet coffee at Princess. *

 

Today the Flavor of the World at lunch was Indian, which happens to be one of our favorite cuisines. * Overall pretty good. *Of course they don't have a clay oven for the tandoori chicken but it was very flavorful and ridiculously moist. * The Potato Spinach paneer was tasty along with the lamb dish. * *I recommend this and quite honestly all of the Flavors of the World on the starboard side of the Lido buffet. *

 

If you don't know there is an added fee restaurant that operates in the buffet at night called Canaletto's. * Here on CC it gets mixed reviews and one of our fellow diners at dinner told us it was not to their liking. * The problem I have with it is that it's just a part of the buffet space so there's no "restaurant experience" like Pinnacle Grill and Tamarind. * Folks walk through the area on their way to the pools or to get drinks from the buffet area. * So I honestly can't see a reason to pay extra for essentially a sit down dinner in a buffet area. * If it was free, that'd be fine or just simply serve the Italian food as part of the buffet and leave it at that. *Seems like a forced attempt to have a third "restaurant" on board. **The Italian restaurant on Princess has been quite good and is set apart as its own restaurant. *

 

Someone on this thread asked about the Vegetarian menu in the dining room and DW asked about that last night. *She is a vegetarian and has simply been ordering off the main menu as there are multiple, clearly marked vegetarian selections each night. * Apparently you need to let the dining room staff know in advance about the vegetarian menu and they will then give you the menu the night before. * *You apparently would pre order your meal so that it's positioned where it needs to be. * *DW has been happy with the selections off the main menu so there has been no need to use that menu for her. *Basically unless you a Vegan, you should be fine just going with the main menu, HAL has done a good job of incorporating a good selection of veggy friendly options. *

 

We told you already how great Tamarind is, and we've gone ahead and reserved another dinner for our final night. * Gonna see if our dining room companions want to join us. **

 

We went down for our private photo session review from our Black Label photo shoot last night. *The review takes about an hour and I will say, these are definitely the best portrait photos you will get on board. *The photographer went through 90+ photos with us today. * * But we did learn just how expensive they are to purchase. *Again, NO obligation to buy anything, but know that the photos start at $200 for a single digital image and go into the thousands of dollars quickly. * Whether you just want only digital images, prints, or a combination of both, prices escalate quickly. * Note that they do go in and clean up the photos in Photoshop before you get them so you are getting some retouching done. *Definitely a good way to go for a special occasion, head shots, *or you just want to get a really nice photo vs the regular ship photos. *

 

The Lido Pool area is the covered pool on the ship and it's obvious the roof requires a lot of maintenance as they have worked on it each day we've been up here in the cabanas. * There is an alarm similar to a vehicle backing up that goes off when the roof is in motion which can be several times per day. * Unlike the Island Princess, this roof is only one story up so it does get stuffy when the roof is closed, but they do seem to keep it open as often as possible. * *The neat thing is that you can walk around the outside of the roof on Deck 10 which on Princess it's an indoor walk. * There is limited lounge seating around the Lido which is set up more for poolside dining. * *On the Starboard side of the Lido pool area is the grill that serves hamburgers and sandwiches. *And for you Vegetarians, DW did say the veggy burger available at this grill is quite good. *MUCH better than the one they serve on Princess. *

 

If you want more room to lounge around a pool, then you head to the Sea View pool on the back, which is also Adults Only. * There is essentially zero covered lounging back there though so be prepared to sit out in the sun and bring sandals or shoes as the deck will get scorching in the sun on hot days * *The covered areas again are for table seating. * *The Sea View pool area is also where you will find Slice pizza which as we described earlier is on par with good frozen pizza. * Not great but not bad. * * If the buffet is open, go in there to get a snack instead. *

 

I started off telling you about the saga of our beverage card. * So the fee was $225 for a $250 beverage card. *A small savings but a savings nonetheless. What you may not realize is that HAL will refund you up to what you paid for the card at the end of the cruise. * So any money you have not used by the end you will get back. *In that way, the card is not a bad way to go. * If you use all the money up, you've saved a bit over the per drink prices. *If you don't use it all, you're assured to get back at least what you paid for it. * *We most likely won't use it all up and we have ordered one or two cocktails per day and one bottle of wine, plus I usually get two or three coffees from the Exploration club each day. *I just stick to the Americano each day, I don't need the coffee "drinks" though I will say the iced Caffe Mocha is quite good. **

 

Speaking of drinks, we have been trying out various drinks and their "drink of the day." *Really enjoying the standard Mojito the most along with the Strawberry Basil Belissimo. * Another tasty drink is the Tropo Mango Mojito which is blended with fresh mango. * The Cosmo is also quite good on here as well. * *

 

DW ordered a bottle of wine at the first dinner, had it corked and at each successive dinner, the bottle has been waiting for her on the table. *Very nice touch and better than the system on Princess where they have to go fetch it. * And the dedicated wine stewards in the dining room are much more efficient allowing the food staff to get the meals out. * *When we dined in Tamarind, the wine steward went down to the dining room to get her wine, so you can have it anywhere on the ship. * * Again, dinner staff and the wine stewards just incredibly friendly each night. *

 

Yesterday being Thanksgiving the ship had all the football games airing in the Queens Lounge along with "game day food." * It was all in good fun with jalapeño poppers, quesadillas, hot dogs and cakes featuring the logos of the currently competing teams. * *We sat in for the Kenny Chesney halftime performance in Dallas. **A nice touch and nod to our uniquely American holiday. * We were on Princess in the Panama Canal during Super Bowl one year and it is definitely fun watching a football game with a few hundred friends at sea......

 

As for shipboard activities, well I can tell you there are a lot of them each day and there is a nice looking Culinary at Sea class area that we have contemplated at times. *Also a very nice Screeening Room that seats maybe 30 or so in very nice plush chairs for daily movies with popcorn. *But honestly this has been a complete retreat for us so we have not partaken of any on board activities so far. * *I will say that there is only one announcement in the morning and then sometimes a second announcement in the later afternoon on the activities. *So it's quiet out on deck with little distractions. * *I've already read through two books and working my way through a third. * That's what we love about cruising. *Lots of stuff to do if you want to, and no pressure to do anything if you don't. * DW is saving all of the Explorers from each day and will post them on CC after we get home so you can have an idea of what to expect onboard. *

 

And on the subject of reading, I mentioned I have the iPad 1 but DW has the Nook Simple Reader which is an E-ink device. * That means the device works just like ink on paper and requires light to see the book. *If you like to read and want to sit outside, these are the way to go. *Lots of glare on tablets mean you need to sit in the shade to read. *Her Nook Simple Reader works perfectly in direct sunlight. *Not fancy for sure, but for pure reading, it's great. *And on blustery days like today, no struggling with the book pages in the wind. **

 

That's it for now, more after dinner. **

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marti2282

marti2282

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So sorry your cruise is coming to a close--enjoying your posts. We will be on a week from Sunday -- same itinerary.

 

We have a cabana reserved as well. Had tons of trouble finding lounges --especially shady ones--on the last couple of cruises... Too many reserved with books and flip flops, so problem solved!

 

Enjoy

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CruisingWalter

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Day Six part two - Medical emergency, dinner, NYC Show

 

Around 3:45pm captain made an announcement that we will be making a stop in Grand Turk to offload three passengers in a medical emergency. * *He noted that this will delay our arrival in Half Moon Cay tomorrow by about 90 minutes but of course that is irrelevant.*

 

Everything happened on our Starboard side of the ship so we got to watch the entire operation. * The Carnival Glory and Ruby Princess were in port when we arrived so the captain put the ship into a holding pattern at the edge of the bay. * One of the diving tour boats rrom Grand Turk came out to meet the ship for the transfer. *Two people in wheelchairs and one other person were transferred to the boat along with some HAL medical personnel. * *I could see an ambulance waiting at the dock for the boat. *After about 20 minutes ashore, the boat brought the HAL personnel back and we were immediately on our way again. *Very professional operation by both the ship and the land crew, makes one feel really good when you know that in the case of an emergency, they've got you covered. * Hope our fellow passengers are all ok. **

 

After that we went to dinner. *What a mixed bag, mostly lousy. * I will give up on the main dining room for all future HAL cruises. * * DW had the dual vegetarian entrees which were Mushroom Ravioli (decent) and the grilled Tofu dish (better) and a salad for appetizer. * *I started with the shrimp cocktail that featured a mustard dip. It was ok. *Chicken and rice soup had a few pieces of rice and the broth was not great so I didn't eat it. *My table mates said the escargot appetizer was great and they were correct so I ordered one of those. *Probably the best thing I had in the dining room all week. *If you like clams in garlic and oil, you will like this. * Entree was a Parmesan crusted turkey loin with mashed potatoes. * Turkey was cold and dry so I didn't eat it, but the potatoes were good. * Table staff seems to have too many tables to wait on so i wasn't able to tell them about the problems. * They at very nice, but overworked. * **

 

Then it was comical because tonight was the baked Alaska parade, but our waiters had already served it to us before it started. * Featured the same lousy ice cream and honestly the dessertwas lousy. * Maybe it's tradition, but if you make a big deal out of this dessert, then at least make a decent one. *No other desserts served tonight, so we went for cookies in the buffet after the show. **

 

Speaking of the show, tonight was "NYC." The only way to describe this is one hour of my life I will never get back. * We never expect much from the ship shows, but this was bay far the worst show we've ever seen on a ship. *We felt bad for the performers because there are talented singers and dancers, but whoever designed this show really doesn't have a clue. *Poor song choice, poor arrangements, poor choreography, just a hot mess all around. * People were leaving left and right from the balcony where we were sitting. *We were trapped so we endured the whole show. *

 

By the way, great love seats in the back row of the balcony. * That's where we watched two shows. **

 

And I have definitive proof the coffee in the Lido Buffet is real coffee and not syrup. The attendant was adding fresh coffee grinds to all the machines while I was waiting. So the grinds at the top of the machines is not for show. Yay!

 

That's it for day six. *One last day tomorrow, we are staying aboard instead of going ashore to enjoy the pools. **

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CruisingWalter Great Review Rare

CruisingWalter

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So sorry your cruise is coming to a close--enjoying your posts. We will be on a week from Sunday -- same itinerary.

 

We have a cabana reserved as well. Had tons of trouble finding lounges --especially shady ones--on the last couple of cruises... Too many reserved with books and flip flops, so problem solved!

 

Enjoy

 

Yes, absolutely, you will enjoy!

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