scooter6139

We brought in food from the buffet on our last Bliss cruise during the "scenic cruising" in Alaska. We were with another couple. Once we had claimed a spot with a view, we went up in pairs to the buffet and brought back some munchies not available from the OL snack bar. FYI - As this was a late June cruise, there were TONS of kids (4800k+ passengers on a 4000k+ ship) and large family groups who took over large swaths of seating "zones" with bedding and pillows and everything else. They appeared to have moved in. 🤨

We loved most of the MDR food on our Westerdam cruise last August. In terms of MDR food, we found it far superior to NCL and better than Princess. Lido was also far better than NCL, but we didn't try Princess last time so I don't have a recent comparison.

There are just too many things not lining up here to make much sense. 1. Seasoned cruiser. Nope 2. Well researched. Not 3. One and done? Both to cruising and CC. Bye-bye now. 👋

Just my personal opinion, but NCL has the hardest beds afloat. We have to get two toppers each time we sail (unless in Haven, that King is nice). My wife prefers hard mattresses and she found these to be just too hard. Haven't had an issue with either Princess or Holland beds last few cruises.

Our MDR servers were more than helpful in "organizing" a meal for me. Many nights were part of this and part of that. We didn't do the Lido that much but I did find a lot of Keto/Diabetic friendly items there. Also loved that the Dive-In Burger place has a lettuce-wrapped burger version called the Free Dive to keep away from the carby buns. It was very tasty.

Looking at some pics from CruiseDeckPlans on Zuiderdam, cabin 10024 does have a fridge in the cabin under the desk. So unless they've removed them since that pic in 2016, it should still be there.

The inventor of the Nespresso machine also invented this version. My wife loved the Nespresso machines so much on NCL that I had to buy her one on the flight home. I think Lavazza might make the pods or similar ones to this. I think I tried one espresso from our Neptune suite, and thought it was very similar to her Nespresso one. It's not really "coffee", but espresso.

I don't have Chase Saphire, opted for a cheaper middle-of-the-road BoA Premium Rewards Signature card. For the life of me, I can't find any of the small print of theirs anywhere.

I really want to do the gift card thing, but then I would need to buy separate insurance as my current payment card covers all that. 😞

Yes, as these can be used to pay for your cruise itself. The up to $200 is just for being a member. Someone, please correct me if I'm wrong.

No, our PCC notified us that we had some special rate that we could use, so we took it. Think it was a re-fare with CO added.

Does anyone know if they are doing free breakfast in the American Diner anymore? If they are, they might also have some coffee there.

We had HIA and a Neptune suite last cruise, so no need for CO. We have purchased CO on an upcoming Veranda modified to a Vista Suite, as it financially made sense with the benefits. IN 2024 we are doing the exact same cruise (same ship and sailing and cabin category) but are not purchasing the HIA this time. Perhaps we will get the quench package and internet separately, but we hardly purchased any liqueur or even came close to the 15-drink limit to justify the higher cost.

My wife and I prefer fresh to concentrate. The only way we know it's Fresh Squeezed is if it states it's so on the menu we are looking at.

On our August Westerdam cruise, we were all "herded" into the Lido, which I hated. Lines were long, no tables and everyone was pushy. Once we left for our room, discovered the Taco bar and Dive In were available. I felt pretty stupid at that point. Never again will I follow the herd.

Also an NCL thing, at least on the Breakaway+ class ships. It all depends on if it's a 3 per cabin or 4 per cabin Balcony and/or Club Balcony. 3 have beds by the closet/loo, while 4 have beds by the balcony door as there is a drop-down bed above the couch/bed by the closet/loo.

We keep getting the offers, but none so far are ones we can take due to my wife's school teacher schedule. I tried to push for a nice Mexico one, but no. Told my folks to take the nice Hawaiian one they had.

"shout out to Ludacris!" Sorry, the Tony in me came to the surface there. Carry on.

My wife and I were scheduled to be on that February cruise. The Haven was pretty cheap comparatively, so we were looking forward to that. Worked with our PCC to schedule another cruise, but have to wait until the 25th for the 10% discount to work. Oh well.

We had Sheila and Gabriel on our August cruise. Both were very helpful and attentive.

Only from the best boxes of course!

I originally panicked concerning the standard drink package in the HIA group. 15 drinks of all types just sounded stupid to me, as I was used to other lines' limits. Fortunately, I never came close to 15 drinks a day. I am not sure if I just wasn't as thirsty as I usually am or if I was subconsciously trying to NOT get close to the 15 limit. Also, I was always served a full can of soda, my drink of choice. NCL and Princess do not do this. It wasn't until later that we were told we were being silly and we should just pick up the unused portion at night from any bar or the Neptune Lounge and keep it on our cabin fridge for later use.

Guess I am in the process of testing this out. Have a $1 deposit on a Dec 2024 sailing with/HIA and CO that we no longer want. Hoping to move it to another cruise this summer (new booking), but guessing by all the comments here I should just write that all off. Sad. As the OP stated, I do this all the time with Princess and NCL as our plans constantly change. Guess I'll need to be more wary when we make future plans with HAL. And yes, I use a PCC as they can usually beat any quote I can get using other sources.

We have scheduled a Christmas cruise to Mexico on Koningsdam in 2024, but, after reading all the review of how many kids that likely to be there, will move that booking to some other time. Sucks being married to a teacher who has limited time to take cruises!

It appears so, just not an entree. "A charge of $10 will be added to your check per additional entrée ordered."