lupaglupa

We cruised last fall and booked for next year within the time limit. I have never gotten a code to use but our PCC knows and applies the credit. Both my husband and I got the credit for booking within the limit. I also got the AARP credit. So, for us at least, those were combinable.

I'd love to hear what folks who plan to spend time in Rotterdam recommend doing there. It seemed to me that there was more to see in Amsterdam, but I'm open-minded.

We are cruising from Rotterdam next October and plan to stay in Amsterdam a few days before our departure. I had originally thought to go to Rotterdam the day before our cruise departs but now, seeing little that interests me in Rotterdam, I'm wondering if we should just stay in Amsterdam and head down the morning of the cruise. Can anyone advise me on that? I know my husband will worry that we might not make it! But it looks like the trains between Amsterdam and Rotterdam run quite regularly. TIA

Except for those tables where they've increased the space enough to make the gap function like a second walkway. We were assigned a table on our last cruise which felt like sitting in the middle of Times Square. Staff were racing by, often with overloaded trays, on either side of us. We sat with our shoulders curved in and ate as fast as we could! It was not relaxing. Needless to say we informed then we were not returning to that table.

We received an email with a link for booking at Morimoto about a week before our cruise.

We saw several tables getting the sake flight. After the generous cocktails we were not up for that!

I heard a manager telling another table they will have it once per cruise in Tamarind's space, so I'm guessing that means not at all in the ships without a Tamarind.

My spouse and I ate at the newest HAL restaurant and, knowing people are curious about it, I thought I'd share my impressions. Obviously this is just one experience on the first night. We started with two of the signature cocktails, the Morimotini and the Yuzu cocktail. Both were excellent. The menu has a nice variety. We had the sushi plate and tuna pizza as appetizers. Both were good with quite generous portions. For our entrees we had the Angry Lobster Pad Thai and the Japanese Vegetable Curry. The pad Thai was spicy and nicely presented. It was a bit too salty for me. My spouse liked the vegetable curry. For dessert we had the tofu cheesecake and the sorbet. Both were good, especially the cheesecake. Everything was plated nicely and presented with style. All of the diners around us seemed to be enjoying their meals. Our only complaint was very slow service in getting our food from the kitchen. We assume that was in part due to it being the first night. Overall we had a very nice dinner and would be happy to go back.

Funny you asked. I booked it, then just as I went to pay realized I had put it in my husband's name. As I wanted to surprise him I deleted it and now I can't get back in to rebook in my name!

I'm hoping someone who has done the Muir Woods/Sausalito bus excursion can tell me where the bus drops the passengers off for their 90 minutes at the park. Is it by the visitor's center? Thanks!

I'm sorry you are missing the view sailing in and out - Portland is really beautiful.

The passengers on the Zuiderdam are in Portland, Maine on a foggy day today. I snapped this picture from a local ferry. Hopefully they enjoyed the city despite the weather.

Yes! Our first ship was the Maasdam.

My husband and son loved finding the hidden staircases in the front of the older ships. They could go from top to bottom! But they got stopped once and pointedly told these stairways were crew only <sigh>

Thanks for your review! Our son always loved being on a HAL ship. We will be on Konigsdam later this fall.

No shuttle at the lot we booked through Park Whiz but it's a very short walk.

We have not booked anything for Monterey either. I sympathize with the residents and don't mind too much if we miss it. I'm curious to see what we get instead!

Thank you!

Sorry you had a bad experience. We expect to lose the Monterey stop, which isn't such a loss for us as we have been there several times before.

My husband and I will be doing a round-trip from San Diego along the California coast this November. Can anyone who has taken one of these cruises tell me what, for want of a better word, the 'vibe' is like? Is it mostly casual with few people dressing up at night? We've been on HAL multiple cruises and find some (Alaska especially) less focused on formal nights etc. Thanks in advance for any insight you can share.

We are just back from our cruise. We parked at the lot located at 1 Black Falcon Ave, which on maps shows up as "Cruise Ship Parking - Lot C." We paid $185.50 for the week. We had no trouble finding and entering the lot, other than a short wait in traffic. We pre-paid through the park whiz website and got in with a quick scan of the QR code. We walked to the cruise terminal with our bags. The car was in fine shape when we returned. It was all very easy. www.parkwhiz.com

We're on the Pearl tomorrow as well. Crossing our fingers that the weather is good but.... we're not in control so in the end we will take what we get and still have a great time.

I would happily measure them for you but since I'm not back onboard until November it won't help you much!

I don't find the twins on a HAL ship to be tiny, they feel like a normal twin. But they are not the larger, longer twin beds that you see a lot nowadays (popularized in college dorms I think). King sized beds are longer than standard beds, as well as being wider. I have slept o the HAL beds both together and apart and they are fine.

We ended up booking parking at 1 Black Falcon Ave. through Parking Whiz. It's costing us $185.50 per car. I'm expecting the seagulls will 'decorate' the car quite a bit. But we didn't have lots of great options so....