Moriah

Oh, and something I forgot to add. Best thing IMO would be to order room service breakfast and eat with your friends on the veranda of your Neptune suite. Much nicer experience, I think, than breakfast in the Pinnacle.

I really don't think this is much of an issue. I have always wanted to consider breakfast in the Pinnacle Grill a great perk of the suite life, but in reality it never panned out that way. Often in port the "view" from the Pinnacle Grill can be just a cement wall, LOL, for one thing, and if at sea, still, as was pointed out, you get the exact same food in the MDR, only it takes longer and is colder by the time it reaches the Pinnacle. Nothing special. i have never ever been to a Pinnacle breakfast that was even slightly crowded. Usually it's a ghost town in there during breakfast. I really don't think that you taking a table for 4 instead of 2, and having breakfast in there with your friends, is taking away from the quality of anyone's cruise. If, on the other hand, your friends were a family of 8, obviously, a different story. I think it's the Maitre D's discretion, and it's really not a big deal. It's not as if the chef is going to be creating some super special breakfast for your friends that "regular" cruise guests can't eat. I personally don't even eat in the MDR in the morning. Service is very slow. For both venues the only perk is the relative quiet. I get that people sometimes prefer the Pinnacle and/or MDR for breakfast to avoid the zooey atmosphere of the Lido buffet, and to each his own, but as for bringing "guests" to your perk-breakfast, if they say yes, then okay. If they don't, I'm sure they have reasons, so I would just go eat somewhere else with my friends. Wow, I must be more opinionated that I thought about this! What a long reply I've just given for something I myself just said is 'no big deal' LOL

Great! Sounds like my "complaint" had them check into it. Hopefully that means other activities are not left off in the app either. Enjoy your cruise!! (And you have permission to dance... LOL)

On my last cruise (Rotterdam in November 2022) there were paper programs, and they were NOT consistent with what was in the app. I was surprised to see that the paper programs were more complete! I happen to like line dancing, and one of the entertainment crew was offering it on our cruise most afternoons, calling it "Permission to Dance". I looked for it each day and it never once showed up on the Navigator app, even though it was on the printed program, and it did take place on the printed days and times. That's the example I am aware of, but I'm sure there are other discrepancies as well. So for my next cruise, next week, I'm planning to check both to be sure I don't miss anything!

Thank you!! I'm flying down to Miami on Thursday from VERMONT, where we've had a pretty depressing winter, so the sunshine is CALLING me! They cancelled one of our HMC days - I originally booked this cruise because there were two calls at HMC, but oh well, things happen, and it's still going to be a great time. Thanks for the Bon Voyage! How fun is this?

I'm not Dave, but last year I received a casino offer of a free stateroom, etc. and I called the same travel agent that books my cruises normally, and she had absolutely no interest, so I'm guessing that no, they do not get a commission. Since all I paid was port fees, that makes sense. So I called HAL and booked with them and it was seamless. They send the booking to the casino dept. You don't have to call the casino people directly. And after the Casino dept. makes final payment, you get a confirmation just as if you yourself made that payment. I'm leaving on a Casino offer cruise this Sunday, and I have another one booked in May. Easy peasy.

Yes, apologies for jumping in late, and all three cruises are 7 days. THANKS!

I am booked on this cruise as well, so perhaps we will meet on board. Meeting a friend in Miami on Thursday and of course headed to ship on Sunday. Hoping for great weather for our sail away from Port Everglades! On my last Caribbean cruise on Rotterdam we had such high winds that the port was closed , our sail away was in the middle of the night instead of 4 PM, and we missed HMC altogether! I have a feeling this upcoming cruise will have no such problems. Smooth and sunny is what I am envisioning!! Are all four of you ladies sharing a stateroom or suite?

Thank you!! I will check it out!

I always bring cans of sparkling seltzer on board. Usually 24 cans for a week long cruise for 2 people. It's just looked at as soda, and allowed. As people have already said, plastic water bottles are not allowed. And I'll also chime in that the water is good on board, and so I also bring a water bottle and just fill up on the Lido periodically.

. Thanks, I don't see any photos on that site. Just the standard diagrams, which are very often not reflecting of reality. I like the "Cabin check tool" though! I didn't know about that before!

Thank you! I had looked on hal facts but thought they were all older photos. That one is from 2021, so it give me hope! Thanks again!

What is the title of the monthly refurb thread, please? Thanks in advance~

For the first time ever I have THREE upcoming cruises booked at once! I'm so abundant in cruises to look forward to!! 1. March 19, 2023 Nieuw Amsterdam (Tropical Caribbean) 2. May 6, 2023 Zaandam (Boston to Montreal) 3. August 20, 2023 Westerdam (Alaska out of Seattle. This one is to celebrate my 70th birthday, my son's 40th birthday, and my daughter's one year anniversary of some very scary cancer surgery that was successful) I am truly blessed!

Can anyone who has been on Deck 4 of Nieuw Amsterdam in an obstructed Ocean View in the last 3 years (or at least since last refitting) tell me if the bed is next to the window or the couch area is next to the window? I booked an inside cabin guarantee and just found out we've been assigned 4102, which don't get me wrong, I'm thrilled about. I love the midship location and that we will have LIGHT in the cabin... I'm just curious about the layout. One of my pet peeves is staterooms where you walk straight into the bed when you come in the cabin and have to navigate all the way around it to get to the couch/desk area. I'm hoping this room with be the opposite - with the bed nearer the window. I've scoured the internet for photos but the only ones I've found are from early on... circa 2015. So... if anyone has been on NA recently in one of these cabins and can let me know, I'll be thrilled. Thanks all!

I was on Rotterdam in November and loved to "sit and chill" at the Sea View pool - even more than on other ships since there is a larger shaded area. Also, the library is really really nice on Rotterdam. It's own dedicated room - not just part of the Crow's Nest. I loved it.

It's not really so much a matter of where one sleeps as it is where one's key card it associated with.

You don't even have to tell anyone you are "switching rooms". Just tell them at the front desk that you have two rooms for your family and would like everyone to have keys to both. No problem. I did this when I booked my daughter and nephew into an inside cabin and she ended up wanting to sleep with us in the Neptune suite. I just asked for keys for everyone to both rooms and it was done in a flash. They even let my daughter and nephew into the Neptune lounge, which technically they were not entitled to. But that's another story.

We got our assignment yesterday for the March 19 NA cruise! An upgrade, since we booked an inside guarantee and were assigned an obstructed Ocean View on Deck 4. Doing the happy dance! (now if only they hadn't taken away our second day at HMC... grrr... but not on topic for this thread LOL)

Is the best place to check still the luggage tag docs?

Yes, absolutely worth it - Glacier Bay is awesome of course, but going into Tracy Arm is an experience of a lifetime! We saw HUNDREDS (no, I'm not exaggerating, really) of Orcas - and that was just the beginning. The scenery in the "arm" is just breathtaking. Would do it again in a heartbeat. It is pricey, but absolutely worth it. If I had to, I would make it the only excursion for that cruise.

We are on that cruise as well! Less than two weeks so I'm starting to check for our stateroom assignment every day.

Hm, in November on Rotterdam, I thought I had priority boarding being a four star mariner, but I just arrived with my daughter at the assigned boarding time and waited (quite a while) to board. I don't remember which boarding group we were assigned, but we sat close to an hour waiting for it to be called. My boarding pass didn't have the words "priority boarding" anywhere on it (although it did specify "Four Star Mariner") and there were no signs at embarkation for "priority boarding." I'm booked on NA out of Fort Everglades next week, and just got an email telling me my boarding time, in group C, is at 11:40. I think we will try Catlover54's advice and just show up at 11 and ask for "priority boarding"...

I always put a bright ribbon bow - something like you use for a gaudy Christmas gift, on our door or next to it - helps so much when our cabin is in the middle a loooong row of identical doors. Also I can just glance down the hall to be sure I'm in the correct hallway and get my bearings. ALSO, it's happy and festive, which is what the cruise is all about.

I’m booked on this cruise. It’s perfect - sort of a cruise to nowhere. Just pure sun and relaxation. I’m really looking forward to it. By the way there is a port charge for HMC. On my last cruise in November on Rotterdam we were supposed to have one HMC day. Our first day. But because of weather we left Fort Everglades late at night and we had to miss HMC altogether. We were refunded port charges to our OBC. If I recall correctly it was approx. fifty bucks per person.