AKJonesy

I book a lot of last minute cruises and most of the time have really done well over the years. I will compare the total all in cruise price including fees and add ons such as upscale dining to let's say an airbnb all in vacation. I recently compared staying in FLL area, on the beach requirement plus car plus food, etc to a cruise out of FLL and found them comparable. My lowest stateroom category is Oceanview. I now require port heavy cruises over many sea day cruises. On a previous cruise we had 4 medical emergencies and missed two ports. It was already a bit sea day heavy so now I hedge my bets. I like the HAL crews even though I barely interact with them other than our cabin stewards, who I've always enjoyed talking to. But, I am also confident in the experience of the HAL crew. Mariner status isn't worth much anymore so that's not really a consideration for me. Since opting for some upscale dining on board, I don't have issues with the food and think you can usually find something good to eat. I'm not hard to please so as long as I have comfort, some nice amenities, decent food and some good places to explore that's good for me. I've seen a lot of the world so I'm more into relaxing and getting away to put it into perspective and not having to do much planning. Cruising for the most part checks off that box for me.

I was sick far more sick cruising before covid than after. I think SOME of this has to do with protocols and most has to do with my own self awareness. I don't want covid and I don't want to spend my cruising vacation in my stateroom. Prior to any travel or any cruise I start updosing on supplements and I continue that through my cruise and all the way back home. I have many of those little wipes they handed out to us like candy on flights, etc so I bring those and I wipe down contact points (on the plane, my stateroom and hotel) especially that nasty remote control. I am very mindful of my hands touching where a lot of other people have; such as handrails. So, before I walk into the dining room, I stop and wash my hands. I don't mask unless forced. I do stay away from people that are coughing, but you can't avoid someone coughing next to you on a plane. That is why I start high dosing supplements weeks before I travel. One good thing post covid; everyone doesn't get to touch all of the food now which I think has gone a very long way to keep people healthier.

Unlike others, I would say your chance of picking up something is greater from the flight to or from; not necessarily on the ship. Being mindful of contact points for spreading sickness such as handrails, etc and washing your hands after you touch those things will go a very long way. I also bring those wipes with me we've all collected from pandemic, and when I'm in hotel, I wipe down contact points; especially the tv remote and things like that. Post pandemic, I have not been sick, but have been sick many times with norovirus or a cold/flu far more before the pandemic. I think much of that has to do with "awareness". Also, before any travel I start high dosing on supplements such as Vitamin C and others, then keep up that high dosing on the cruise; which is what I am doing now in preparation for my upcoming cruise. Best wishes and stay well.

I didn't see much in the way of snokeling; which I would prefer. I don't know if that island is known for it's snorkeling. We'll have to see what comes up on the HAL excursion list. I'm doing a tour if nothing else comes up.

There are multiple posts for this now; one in this thread and also in the Roll Call for this sailing. I am trying to arrange a private tour.

There will be new excursions posted. Already, the itinerary is posted in the ALREADY BOOKED section of HAL. I'm looking around for excursions and see that Fraser Tours has 5 star reputation and I've reached out to them. Not sure what the snorkeling is like there but I didn't see much on Trip Advisor for that. I'm keeping my eye on what HAL WILL post on the ALREADY BOOKED section. I didn't notice if you have been on the roll call board. That is where I posted I am looking for excursions from private vendors.

These ships seems to be selling out recently so you might not be able to change rooms. I've been on RD in obstructed and this time I will have one of the rooms between the lifeboats. But, I am not bothered by this. Most of the time I'm in my balcony relaxing, enjoying the sun or reading a book. I can always pop down onto the promenade or up to that wonderful walking area on the top deck if I want to get a real good look at something. I think you will really enjoy your stateroom. Have fun.

Hopefully someone else who has actually booked this stateroom might be able to answer your specific questions. You are below the SPA so that will be good in terms of no early morning or evening noise. Here is a review I found on another site. The only thing it mentions is a bit of noise from staff. There is nothing on Halfacts or YTube for this stateroom. Sounds wonderful for you. "This was our first cruise. It was the most relaxing vacation I have ever experienced. We disconnected and let the world float by - wonderful! I am told we were lucky with the weather given that we had about half an hour of drizzle and nothing more. Our suite was 7002 which is very generous in size. On the plus side you only have another verandah on one side of you and the verandah is large. On the minus there is a staff service door in the hallway outside which occasionally has a fair amount of traffic going in and out which you can hear."

I have been on multiple sailings since HAL reopened after pandemic. After pandemic many of the ships were not at full capacity and people at that time were moved to balcony staterooms. Since then, ships are sailing with more passengers and it has been the policy on sailings to isolate in original stateroom. At least, that is what has happened on MY sailings since reopening. We have been booking balcony rooms since this happened; just in case we have to isolate. I grab a few books from the libary or from the Crow's Nest (depending on ship) as soon as I get on board, and have a backup plan on entertaining myself in my stateroom in case I am isolated. I have a sailing coming up on the 18th, and this time, I am bringing my laptop; not to connect to internet, but work on organizing all of my documents, photos, etc. It's a mess. With little enrichment on HAL, I need something more to do on cruise days other than the "been there did that many times" enrichment. From now on for me, it's port heavy cruises.

I usually look at the charges each day on the TV in my stateroom under my account or check the Navigator App. I find it best to deal with the mistake immediately and not be surprised at the end of the cruise when everyone is standing at the customer service desk on board.

In their day, the older ships were great. But in recent times, I've sailed the old ships and am tired of the leaking ceilings in common areas, carpets that are old and worn and some of the rooms that still have the old tvs and no mini refrigerator. I do love the wide promenade deck where you could sit and read and people would be out walking about. On Rotterdam, the promenade is shared with the lifeboats so the promenade is still there, but more narrow and no chairs. However, if you have a balcony, even an obstructed is nice and you'd probably be sitting on it vs the promenade. The vibe is completely different between the Rotterdam and older ships. Now, if you had said you were sailing a longer itinerary on Oosterdam, Nieuw Amsterdam or Eurodam, I might pick one of those over Rotterdam, depending on the itinerary. If I had to choose a vacation where I looked forward to going back vs I can't wait to get home, I'd pick Rotterdam.

I recommend a few websites: Whats in port dot com AND Trip Advisor. When you look at TA, just type in the name of the place you are going to in the search bar and then Things to Do. It will also give a list of things to do in Ports of Call.

We've used Cellular at Sea. They have various plans. I haven't used it in awhile so I would not want to try and answer specifics. We needed it when my husband's mom was sick and we had to be in contact with her caregivers. We used it since then but just for texting and no data. It worked very well. Not sure if this would work for your application, but you can look them up. I remember that we had to use it ONLY at sea about 15 miles offshore. On shore, we used the same company and plan for international calling.

I think there is a huge disconnect between the ships and the home office on this policy. This question has come up over the years over and over with some people saying yes and some people saying no. Those saying no point to the policy which makes sense. On our November voyage, I did not bring on soda at the beginning but waited until we had a port stop. On the port stop I asked SECURITY if I could bring on soda and they said yes. I bought a 6 pack of cans and brought it right through security. On many other cruises, I did the same thing and security ALWAYS said yes. I no longer bring it on at embarkation, but wait for a port stop and then ask when I pass security.

If there is one good thing that came out of covid it is less self service.

Same for us except cruise date beginning March 18 so I guess we'll see what happens. We paid for ours in advance through credit card so that we could get the reservation. Last cruise we did not book any specialty dining until we boarded and the availability was not good.

LOL..yah I guess from various perspectives. But, point is, sb easy for them to find cab or better yet as another poster mentioned; don't take the shuttle from the train station and just get a cab from there to PC.

Just in case you did not know, people talk about Vista Class, Signature class, etc. Nieuw Amsterdam and it's companion ship Eurodam are Signature class. Go to halfacts.com, pull down the Signature Class near the top of the page for NA, then scroll down the list for floors 4,5 6 and you will see these rooms. However, keep in mind that some posts are old and do not reflect current conditions, so look for the date of the post. 4th floor would be SB4176 and SB4183 5186 and 5187, 6164 and 6175. I'll contact my friend who knows everything about HAL staterooms and see if he has any comment.

Not sure if you mean can you take the tri rail from FLL to Port Everglades, but answer is no. You would go between airports then grab a cab from FLL to Port Everglades which is easy and cheap. The FLL airport is small and easy to get around in and easy to find the cabs. There are also shuttles from FLL to Port Canaveral and I believe those are outside of baggage claim area. Also failed to mention that for tri rail a shuttle takes you from the train station to FLL airport.

I can't remember where I read it, but I think the taxi fare and Uber/Lyft were fairly expensive. But, I can't say for sure. But, I do know that the Tri-Rail goes between MIA and FLL for pretty cheap and I know they had daily passes for $5 and senior rate less than that. Here is the link for that. https://www.tri-rail.com/pages/view/fare-information-calculating-your-fare Taking a cab from FLL to Port Everglades is cheap. It's just a quick hop skip. I'm not sure if the old shuttle between MIA and Port Canaveral still runs. Hope this helps a bit.

I would not get a stateroom under the Lido, the pools (both), but would get a stateroom under the spa area. You may hear the carts rolling or the chairs being moved in those areas.

Wow. Thanks for posting this and thanks for the responses. I hurt my back on a cruise and while in port in Key West I bought a heating pad and brought it onboard. Now, I won't do that and for some reason, I didn't even think about potential danger from it! That ThermaCare is a good idea. I have used them. Also, good old fashioned Ibuprofen in 800mg has helped as well. Just a thought.

My husband wants to do this cruise from Miami and I said no way. We did the Buenos Aires down to Antarctica and up to Santiago and it was a great trip PRIOR TO PANDEMIC when there was still full staffing and more enrichment opportunities. We have sailed now a number of times post pandemic and the cut backs are significant. So much so that on our recent San Diego to FLL through the Panama Canal two week trip I could not wait to get off the ship. I vowed that we would not sail UNLESS it was a port heavy cruise. At least that way I have some entertainment to look forward to. The good ol days before the pandemic and cut backs...I long for those. Thank you for sharing your pics and story and I will continue to read on as you post.

To the OP, and others...the OP clearly said that he already purchased the HAL transfer and wanted to know how that worked. RuthC and others that commented on "how that works" and said to look for the HAL rep. I've done the transfer a few times and the HAL rep will be there with a placard that says Holland America Line so there is nothing to worry about. Hopefully, your timing will be good and you have only a brief wait. Now you also know for the next time that at FLL the fastest and cheapest way to the port is a cab. Have fun on your cruise.

On way to town I listened to a national radio program. Both people recently had NORO. Interesting, they did not know what it was until they heard it elsewhere and that it's at high levels. That reminded me to bring my wipes for my March Caribbean trip on RD. I also wipe the surfaces of everything in my stateroom as soon as I arrive and after anyone has been there. I had norovirus on an Alaska cruise and was sooooo sick and NEVER want that again. It really knocks you down.