RuthC

The Coke machine was on the port side, across from the Lido Bar, near the entrance to the inside dining area when I was aboard in August.

I don't know the Pinnacle Class ships well enough to be sure if there isn't one inside cabin that would be suitable. I do know the other ships well enough to know that there are large, comfortable inside cabins on all of them, so your statement that 'all inside cabins are tight' is not correct. Those are what I have booked for most of my 60+ HAL cruises. On a Pinnacle ship, however, I will only book a balcony or above category. The insides on a Pinnacle class ship don't offer enough room to change your mind. Good luck in your quest.

Not true. There are some very large inside cabins on some HAL ships. The Pinnacle class aren't three of those ships, though. If you want a large, comfortable inside cabin, you just have to know where to look.

Interesting. Thanks for the information. Strange how Internet worked so well on the Nieuw Statendam in August, and has gone so downhill now.

The Crow's Nest on each ship should be about the same size, as the ships are (essentially) the same size. The Nieuw Amsterdam is larger, but that's because there is one additional deck. Otherwise, the public spaces and the cabins are the same. The Nieuw Amsterdam has the Tamarind Restaurant, which the Noordam does not. That's the major difference between the ships. If you are interested in Pan-Asian food, then you might prefer the Nieuw Amsterdam; I believe the Noordam still has a library, if that matters to you. Otherwise, either ship will provide a lovely cruise. Why not just choose by most convenient date of sailing.

I have to wonder if the wired full computers in the Internet Center had the same problem as those with their own devices. When I was on the Nieuw Statendam, at a much more extreme latitude, I didn't have a problem with the internet connection on the ship's computers, for the most part One or two days there were some temporary connection issues of short duration, but that was about it. I would expect a cruise in the Caribbean to be at least as good. The worst time was the last night when so many people were trying to check in for flights. By then we were back to civilization at a more moderate latitude, so it was clearly demand that slowed things to a crawl.

If you choose a cruise on the Zaandam, then an inside on Lower Promenade is an excellent choice. I would (and have) taken an inside between the forward and mid-ship elevator banks many times on the R-class ships. They are spacious (larger than the outside cabins across the passageway, even!), easy to get to either side of the ship, and close to everything you could want to get to (or come home from). I would be a little careful of the few cabins close to the mid-ship elevators on port side. In very heavy seas you could hear the crashing of dishes in the Pinnacle Grill above. Friends of mine were kept awake one night when that happened. Personally, I would take the longest cruise possible on their dime. You may want that longer itinerary someday, so why not get it free. Take the shorter cruises when you are paying full freight. Think about getting away during the Vegas summer heat, too. It was brutal out there one August!

You are correct. My last pre-covid cruise had four slices of the candied bacon. My first post-covid cruise had three. Very disappointing.

Thanks for the warning that things are so strict there. 😞

The inside cabins on the Pinnacle class ships are tiny. The one I visited in did have a love seat, however, but the 'arms' of the love seat are hardly attached to the rest of the piece, so can't be used to push yourself up when getting up. Or for leaning against, for that matter. And the TV is behind you when sitting, so you need a hand-held mirror to watch (don't even try to use closed captioning!). I typically book inside cabins as my preference. The Pinnacle ships are the only ones where my starting choice is a balcony cabin. Oh, and crystalspin is correct that the larger size cabins are the ones for the handicapped.

Your itinerary should list out the ports, with times in port, whether it's an overnight, and other assorted info. Tender ports will have a 'TR' next to the port.

Not always.

Not in the dining room.

Or, you bring a baby monitor. Place the 'baby's' portion by the TV speakers, and take the 'parents'' speaker out on the balcony with you. The monitor doesn't take up a lot of space in your suitcase.

You can still go to lunch in the dining room on every day it is open. Meet all the people you want. No loss here.

To answer your question about VeriFLY, no, you don't have to do it at all. It may shorten your time to check in, but it may increase your frustration level in the meantime as a trade-off.

My feeling is if HAL can't get its IT Dept. to provide the tools they want us to use for embarkation, they can't insist we use them. I give it one shot, in the correct timeframes. If it works, fine. If not, also fine. Not my problem---it's theirs. I see no reason to frustrate myself, nor use my time to load, remove, reload, or keep printing until HAL decides to provide what they want me to have. Somehow, they let me board anyway.

The OP is the same person you quoted in your post.

I would be FURIOUS to come back to that. I usually am dashing in to the restroom, with no time to spare to push that out of the way! I always tell my stewards to leave the bathroom door open just for the extra time.

Even though you are no longer positive for Covid, you will be tired for a while (I was needing naps and extra sleep at night for 2-3 weeks). This might not be a good time for very long tours, or tours very early in the morning.

Freedom! Halleluiah! Enjoy it (and stay away from germs).

The bigger question, at least to me, is why wouldn't HAL, if they did implement this new changed policy fleetwide not publicize it? They sure made an announcement several years ago when they attempted to change the wine policy from bringing all you want for in-cabin consumption to no wine allowed. (that lasted what, two days?) Oh, yeah, that's right. They didn't want to hear the screaming and yelling, and have to backtrack like they did with the wine policy. At the very least this change in policy should have been made known on the ship before passengers spent money to purchase flowers for their cabins.

They should have it onboard. I say 'should' because on my last cruise I ordered one bottle, but needed a second during the cruise; there weren't any more bottles on board, so I had to make do with tap water. Order it in advance, and order as many bottles as you think you will need for the entire cruise.

My HAL hotel package in Athens included a transfer from the airport to the hotel (in a car, not a bus), and a bus transfer to the pier the next day. The transfer to the pier included a tour of the city and the Acropolis Museum. Since I travel alone, schlepping my own luggage and being somewhat disabled, I find having a HAL hotel and transfers worth any extra cost for the service I get out of it.

Before that, it was buy one---get one free. And that, also, wasn't very long ago. I remember that rule on a 2019 cruise, obviously before the covid shutdown.