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Infi

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About Me

  • Location
    Ft. Lauderdale, FL
  • Interests
    Cruising
  • Favorite Cruise Line(s)
    Celebrity, Holland America, Princess
  • Favorite Cruise Destination Or Port of Call
    Antarctica, Mediterranean

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  1. On my last few sailings, I have also seen bread pudding offered nightly on the MDR dinner menu. There was only 1-2 varieties, including a Jamaican rum iteration that I remember.
  2. I don't think it was well-received by the passengers, so I would be surprised if it did. Never in my life have I seen so many people walk out in the middle of a show. I don't think their style of remixing/updating classics resonates well with the HAL demographic, which tends to be somewhat traditional. I'm much younger than the typical HAL demographic and found the PMJ iteration I saw to be a little cringe as well.
  3. Hi Jacqui, could you please add the following? Thank you in advance! Rotterdam - June 8, 2024 - 14 day North Cape and Land of the Midnight Sun Volendam - December 21, 2024 - 14 day Southern Caribbean Holiday (11th annual holiday cruise on HAL)
  4. Both the cooking classes (ATK/paid classes) and photography classes (Microsoft workshop sessions) disappeared before the pandemic. There are occasionally cooking demos, and sometimes the Cruise and Travel director offers brief tech tip sessions, one of which focuses on photography.
  5. We haven't had the Step One company on either of my last two cruises. One was because they were in transition between casts, and the second was due to the team learning new shows. I wonder if the future vision of Step One is a hybrid of those: a dance company that travels between ships (like a guest entertainer would) and also rolling out new show material. If anyone remembers the Post Modern Jukebox group pre-pandemic or the traveling edition of BB King's, I think it would be similar to those.
  6. I will definitely miss the MDR lunch on embarkation day. For me, it was the first moment I could truly relax and feel that the cruise had begun. I will say that since HAL shifted to the static MDR lunch menu, the embarkation lunch has held a little less allure because I know I will see the same menu again and again throughout the trip. I like to board as early as I can, and will still go anyway to have that cruise tradition moment, even if the menu is not exciting. On the Zaandam in December, I was pleasantly surprised that the menu was different and stylized as a "Mariner's Lunch". It was very seafood-focused and one of the best MDR lunches I have ever had. Needless to say, I was extremely glad I went, and moreso now that I know it was probably the last embarkation lunch I'll have. We did not have an official Mariner's lunch later in the cruise, which staff told me was due to the holiday cruise itinerary (not enough sea days) and all the other specialty brunches/meals offered. Fine by me. I would rather eat glass than participate in the typical running of the bulls entrance to the lunch for "sparkling wine" and a tile. Most of the people I have met at the lunch have also been status-obsessed and some have even questioned my presence at the lunch due to my age. Mariner's lunch day is always my Pinnacle lunch day, and it's a lovely, calm experience.
  7. The Volendam and Zaandam never had dueling (duet) pianos, as they have the Mix location for their piano bars. Not enough space, and I prefer the piano bar experience in that venue as opposed to the larger ships' (now former) dueling/duet pianos model.
  8. Sailed the 2023 VOV on Zuiderdam, which was one of the first voyages advertised as "legendary" when the term appeared last year, even if it wasn't originally marketed that way. Service was a cut better than other cruises, and it appeared the crew was more seasoned/GV folks. (This was likely also a corollary of the Zuiderdam having sailed the WC a few months earlier and those crew still being aboard.) Food was a cut better, with more menu variety. This was the first cruise where I experienced MDR daily breakfast specials, which at the time I was told were for legendary voyages, but now apparently have been rolled out to all ships. In the Lido, each day had an elaborately themed specialty section for lunch: Dutch day, Mexican festival, chocolate extravaganza, etc. We also had sashimi and specialty sushi rolls each day (never seen this outside of GVs) Hotel Director was Henk Mensink, and I believe his presence played a role in special events onboard: "Let them eat cake" dessert extravaganza in the Lido, a Lido carnival fun faire with food and games, an elaborate wine and cheese sailaway party, and a cabin block party. These events - all of them seen on other GVs - were really what made the cruise feel "legendary" or more special than the norm to me. Seafood boils were offered twice (I don't consider this legendary, but many passengers were eager to try them out) We had 2 Tamarind pop-ups in the Pinnacle We only had "free lobster" once, which made all the passengers cheer when it was shared at a coffee chat. No tote bag or commemorative item (not expected, just wanted to note).
  9. Boarded Zaandam in Boston in June 2023 and the process was very smooth and easy. I just checked my photos and I arrived at the pier 10:40am and took my first step onboard at 10:54am, so it was a pretty quick turnaround. The staff was friendly and helpful, especially the porters. The boarding area feels a little cramped, but it has a nice view of the ship and you likely won't be waiting there long. The only negatives I remember were that several of the staff were confused when I asked for 4 star priority lanes, and the overly aggressive security. As you likely know, HAL now tries to prevent plastic water bottles from coming onboard, and the security found one in my backpack pocket. (I did not know they were checking for this; if I had, I would have thrown it out.) They wrested it away from me in a very aggressive way and chastised me like I was carrying some severe contraband. I have been on over a half dozen cruises since HAL began their anti-plastic water bottle campaign and Boston was the only port that was nasty about it.
  10. I stayed in this cabin in June on a Canada/NE cruise and unfortunately cannot recommend it. You will not experience any noise from the elevators, as others have mentioned. One thing you will encounter is a LOT of foot traffic and noise from the gangway and long line ups for the tender in front of your cabin door, as the stairs to A deck are right outside your cabin. There were several mornings where I woke up and stepped out of my room to be "greeted" (blocked) by a line of folks anxious to get off the ship. This was a last minute booking and it was one of 3 remaining cabins, which is why I chose it. I would not book it again. I also sailed Zaandam this past Christmas and a friend of mine had cabin 1829. I shared my experiences from 1827 and she confirmed that she also encountered long lines of eager-to-disembark passengers on port days and the noise from the foot traffic. Once, while exiting her cabin in the morning, she was even told to "get to the back of the line" 😮
  11. Also got the survey yesterday evening and was pleasantly surprised; I never get interesting HAL surveys. I am booked on the 2025 WC so figured that was likely the reason. I wonder how this survey will intersect with the current WC, as it seems like they usually present several itineraries to those pax and have them vote. There's likely a lot of overlap between the survey population and that group as well.
  12. A Dutch night menu in the MDR was paired with Orange Party evening on my last cruise. It was a nice touch.
  13. During my last visit to HMC, I watched the couple on the loungers near me proceed to drink white wine (in wine glasses from the ship), poured out of a stainless steel reusable water bottle. It wasn't even 9am, but to each their own? 🙃
  14. Oops, all this time I thought it was gin! I stand corrected.
  15. HAL doesn't have anything similar to Celebrity's martini bar in terms of the "show" of bartenders performing, juggling bottles, doing multi-pours etc. The bars above are good suggestions, but just wanted to share that in order to set expectations.
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