Djptcp

There is also a classical music venue. We found the rock venues on the Koningsdam to be sooooo loud we just couldn't stay very long and we were up a deck looking down on the venue over a balcony so not even on the same level. At the time, the two piano players on the Oosterdam rock venue were not very good players or singers. The best entertainment we ever saw on Holland was Feb. 2020 on the Veendam - a group of dancers that were wonderful and gave brilliant performances.

Oops, mea culpa. Our Rotterdam cruise is booked for Feb. 27-March 6, 2022, not Jan. 27th. We have a cruise on another cruise line booked for Jan. Sorry for my mistake!

One of the perks we have especially enjoyed in all of our Neptune Suites is that we received the dinner menu in the afternoons and we made our selections. We gave them to the Neptune Lounge concierges and they placed our order. The dinners were always delivered to our suites on time and picked up later.

Rotterdam VII :

29 January 2022 – 05 February 2022 : Caribbean : Legendary Rhythm & Blues Cruise.

Those dates can't be right as we have had the new Rotterdam booked for a 7-day cruise on January 27-February 6, 2022 for a long time (since sometime in 2020). 

I think the Love Boat series was a great influence on getting Americans to start cruising. I remember watching the show and thinking taking a cruise looks like a lot of fun.  55 cruises later and yes, it has been a lot of fun and I look forward to many more starting in Dec. 2021!

CDC trumps DeSantis and according to a public health law professor at the Univ of S. Florida the cruise lines are not FL businesses as they have foreign registries. It is unfortunate we have a governor who is shooting himself in the foot and cutting off his nose to spite his face when it comes to Florida's biggest industry - tourism, including the cruise industry.

We had a premium balcony cabin behind the aft elevators and were concerned about noise but wanted the extra large cabin and balcony. No noise whatsoever or elevator dinging. In fact, we have another one booked on the Pride for Jan. 2022.

I get them a lot and always upgrade us to a verandah cabin or suite as we don't stay in inside o ocean view cabins. Six times we've been able to get Neptune Suites for only $799 per person for 7 day cruises. Great deals!

The Rotterdam Verandah cabin balconies are 48 square feet as are the Koningsdam Verandah cabin balconies, according to cruisedeckplans.com. 

 Some ideas for a gift basket:

Sunscreen

Visor

Travel guide that includes the islands/places you will visit

Tote bag

Other non-basket ideas:

Order flowers for your cabin

Order a birthday cake to be delivered to your cabin on her birthday

Make reservations for dinner at the steakhouse on her birthday

I hope you both have a wonderful cruise!!

We have the Pride booked for a 7-day cruise out of Tampa for Jan. 2022, so not sure how long she will stay in Baltimore. Glad to hear ships are moving into Baltimore, Galveston and S. FL. We are so ready to cruise again. Our first is an 11-day on Holland America sailing on Dec. 1 2021.

I just went to the Holland website, logged in, and did a booking with the Have it All Sale and my name came up as the primary person. I tried to change the name to a friend who has never cruised with HAL and it would not let me change it. If you did as you suggested and booked two cabins with one in your name and the other in your spouse's name, what about onboard accounts? I agree with Taxmantoo and just play by the rules and have your relatives make their own reservations.

I booked 2 back-to-back cruises using the free balcony casino offer for late Nov. 2022 and early Dec.. A 7-day on the Pride followed by a 6-day on the Pride in the same balcony cabin. About $450 per cruise with $200 OBC on each cruise. The $450 included a $200 deposit and the rest fees, taxes and port charges. The $200 deposits were turned into the $200 OBC. Great deal!

We always choose cabins by elevators as I have some mobility issues. 55 cruises and have never had a problem with noise. Cabin below common area like the Shops shouldn't be a problem either.

Fascination, Feb. 1995, 7-day winter vacation

We sailed on the Koningsdam in Jan. 2020 before the cruising pause and really liked the Pinnacle class ship. We now have four cruises booked on the Rotterdam, beginning with an 11-day S. Caribbean cruise in Dec. 2021. Hope she sails!! Get vaccinated!

We have 4 Holland America cruises booked - Dec. 2021 (11 days), Feb. 2022 (7 days) - all paid for with future cruise credits, then April 2022 and Jan. 2023, both 7days.

We have a Carnival Pride cruise booked for Jan. 2022 with future cruise credits and $800 in OBC, plus two back-to-back Carnival cruises on the Pride for Nov.-Dec. 2022 booked with the free balcony offer and $200 OBC and free drinks in the casino on each.

7 cruises booked on two cruise lines - let's get started already! We are fully vaccinated since Jan. 2021 and raring to start cruising again!

I don't see a problem with no self-serve buffets. On our Holland America cruises the past few years most of the food on the buffets have been pretty much served by crew and it's never been an issue.

Wearing a mask onboard throughout the cruise only makes sense as there will probably be unvaccinated passengers on board. DH and I are fully vaccinated since January, but we still wear masks. Efficacy rate of 95% still means there is a 5%, albeit small, chance of contracting Covid. I would think unvaccinated passengers would want to wear masks to help protect themselves from other unvaccinated passengers. Get vaccinated!

I posted a little while ago that we booked a 7-day on the Pride with the free balcony offer and just booked the 6-day Pride cruise that leaves the day the 7-day returns. Same cabin. We have free laundry so we don't have to bring double clothes. This will be our first BTB cruises and will be Diamonds on the second one. Woo Hoo!

With the free balcony cabin offer I got a 7-day Pride cruise for only $490 total plus $200 free play and free drinks in the casino. That offer is good for 7 months in 2022 and it took me awhile to find a cruise out of Tampa or Port Canaveral as the balcony and suite cabins were already booked. Finally found the Pride one we booked. We live 45 minutes from the Port of Tampa. So many offers, but we already had 5 cruises booked, 1 on Carnival and 4 on Holland America. The Pride cruise will bring us within 6 days of becoming Diamond and we will become 4* Mariners on Holland in 2022. Now we just need to start cruising again!!

Our first booked Holland cruise is for Dec. 1, 2021 and I suspect it might be one of the first cruises to sail. It's an 11-day Caribbean cruise on the new Rotterdam. DH and I have no intention of cancelling and eagerly await the sailing. The only rub is whether or not vaccination proof will be required, which we hope is the case. We have been fully vaccinated since January.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-04-13/carnival-cruise-ccl-ceo-arnold-donald-on-covid-travel-restrictions

Arnold Donald's interview in Bloomberg Businessweek this past week:

Will you require passengers to be vaccinated, like Norwegian Cruise Line just announced it will?
No, absolutely. We would encourage everyone to get vaccinated, but today vaccines are not accessible to everyone. In some places it is illegal to mandate. And we respect personal choice and personal liberty. So we’ll follow what the regulations are wherever it is.

This is such a shortsighted and dangerous decision. He seems to be getting his vaccination information from the Facebook medical school instead of from the CDC scientists and physicians. Words cannot express how disappointed I am with this ludicrous decision. We'll see how he changes his tune when the first Covid outbreak occurs on a Carnival ship.

My concern is whether or not Holland America, as part of the Carnival Corporation, can mandate vaccination proof on its own. We have 4 HAL cruises booked beginning Dec. 1st. I guess we will have to wait and see what happens if Carnival begins sailing this summer and there are Covid outbreaks. I wouldn't want to wish it on anyone, but it might be what it takes for the CEO to realize his dangerous mistake. Why is he blind to the other cruise lines that are making vaccination proof a requirement for sailing?

Without vaccination proof as a requirement for cruising on Carnival I want to cancel our one booked Carnival cruise for Jan. 2022. However, we are conflicted as it's all paid for with future cruise credits from 4 cancelled cruises and we have $800 in OBC.I guess we will wait to see what happens and if there are Covid outbreaks on Carnival ships due to the CEO's shortsighted and dangerous decision, we will cancel for sure. His decision is a political one not one made for concern for our health and safety. He seems to be getting his vaccination information from the Facebook medical school, not from the CDC scientists and physicians.

My main concern is that we have 4 Holland America cruises booked and worry that HAL will have to follow suit with the lack of vaccination proof for sailing as it is part of Carnival Corp. Maybe HAL can make its own vaccination requirement as we fit the HAL demographic much more than the Carnival demographic.