Maya_C

Yes, the Pinnacle ships are the only ones offering no-charge freshly squeezed orange juice on the breakfast menu because Club Orange members eat in a separate dining room, along with passengers in the higher room categories. On the other ships, where CO members eat in the MDR, fresh OJ with no surcharge is only on the room service menu. At dinner in the MDR on non-Pinnacle ships, CO passengers are offered a menu with one extra entree choice. We had to ask for this menu on the first night in the MDR on the Zaandam, but after that the server always handed it to us when he gave out the menus to the other passengers at the table.

With Club Orange you get freshly squeezed orange juice only when you order a room service breakfast, not if you eat elsewhere. I knew that before I boarded, so that info is somewhere in the Club Orange write-up it on HAL's website. Freshly squeezed orange juice is on the Club Orange room service breakfast menu. I had to ask for our cabin attendant for that menu on the first day. It wasn't automatically placed in the room every day. This was on the Zaandam.

Thank you for the info about doing Porto on your own. About how long does the shuttle bus take from the port where the ship is to the center of town?

Thanks. I'll pack my orange top!

Is the Orange Party usually late at night?

We were on the Veendam with the same setup as the Volendam--loungers reserved for lanai passengers. We had no trouble finding free loungers in the areas of the deck Ruth mentioned. That was true for both a Bermuda cruise in June and a Greek island cruise in May. ~Maya

One difference between the largest Celebrity ships and HAL's Pinnacle class ships is the Passenger to Space ratio--the enclosed space (measured in cubic feet) per passenger. The higher the space ratio, the more guests will have a sense of spaciousness on board. The ratio for almost all of Celebrity's ships is in the 35 to 37 range. Most of HAL's ships are in 34 to 36 range. Not a big difference there. But K-dam, Rotterdam, and NS have a ratio of 31. I have only anecdotal evidence to suggest this number matters. Friends of ours were on the Konigsdam after several cruises on Celebrity ships. They reported that the K-dam felt crowded and they had trouble finding any public area that wasn't full of people. If you want to know more about this subject, google passenger space ratio. The only HAL ships I've been on, Veendam and Zaandam, have the highest space ratios in the fleet--36. The Celebrity ships I've taken have a ratio of 35. I never felt crowded on either line. The space ratio is based on a ship's capacity, so if a ship is less than full, passengers will feel it is more spacious. Your mileage may vary, as the saying goes.

I've cruised with Celebrity but never Royal. Can I join the Crown & Anchor Society prior to booking my first cruise on Royal? If not, how would Royal know what my loyalty status is on Celebrity and give me the equivalent tier's benefits? Thanks for your help.

I didn't know about the military OBC before booking a HAL cruise. Once the verification goes through, will we receive the OBC on an already booked cruise or does the verification have to occur before booking? Thanks for your help. ~Maya

I've seen rack of Colorado lamb on Celebrity menus. HAL menus don't seem to indicate the source of the lamb though Alaskan halibut and salmon show up. Since I much prefer US lamb to Australian, I'm hoping the servers know where where the lamb comes from.

We were in the farthest aft cabin facing the wake, Deck 7, on Zaandam in 2009. We felt vibrations in our room as did people in the last few aft cabins on port and starboard of deck 7. Maybe that issue has been addressed by now. I did not select an aft cabin for my upcoming Zaandam cruise. ~Maya

A question about menus on Navigator: Does it show menus for more than one day or only for the current day? Thanks for your help. ~Maya

The last time we were on the Summit, our favorite place for lunch or dinner was at the rear of the Oceanview Cafe where fish and meat were grilled to order. Did that food option survive Covid and staff shortages? Thanks in advance for your help. ~Maya