mightycruisequeen

I agree. I don't dislike Koningsdam, but I loved HAL's older, smaller ships on that itinerary. The Statendam, the old Rotterdam and the Maasdam were pretty darn perfect for cruises to the South Pacific.

We did a variation of this itinerary for the first time in 2012, we were thinking it would be a one-and-done check off the bucket list, but we keep going back. It's just flat-out wonderful, and the best snorkeling ever! Too bad it doesn't include Bora Bora or Rangiroa anymore, but glad to see Fanning Island is still on the itinerary.

Exactly what I wanted to know, thank you so much!

I remember that agency, and actually used them once shortly before they went belly-up.

Have a great cruise! I really like your screen name! 🤭

In my experience, a good TA gives much better prices than PCCs, and the OBC from the TA is just icing on the cake.

Whenever we've cruised on that class of ship, we've always booked an outside cabin on the lower promenade deck, usually under the main dining room. It's not a bad view, and it's so handy to go right outside to walk laps, or just watch a sunset.

Yeah, a lot of us were once smokers. I remember the intense discomfort of not being able to smoke in more & more places; it was a big problem for me, and it was one of many things that led me to the decision that I needed to quit. As a smoker, though, I was desensitized to the smell, and didn't understand why non-smokers were so put off, but the past twenty years of being a non-smoker have educated me about that.

I think pretty much everyone is aware that secondhand smoke is harmful, including the smokers on this forum, most of whom probably don't even smoke inside their own homes. But then, they come on here, and insist they should be allowed to stink up the inside of Holland America's beautiful ships. Go figure.

But pushing back is how the rules get changed. It happens in increments, but it happens. We've come a long long way from the days of trying to eat in the same dining room where smokers were allowed to light up!

One comedian named Ken Boyd whom we saw on a Nieuw Amsterdam b2b never even repeated the same show twice in the same night! You could go to his early show and late show, and they'd be completely different. He told very few actual jokes through his shows; he mostly just messed with the audience members, and he was absolutely hilarious. If Holland America had more acts like Ken Boyd, they would really up their game with onboard entertainment.

(Koningsdam, Nieuw Statendam, Rotterdam Sea View Bar area Casino-smoking is allowed in designated areas for active players only and only when outside of 12NM from the Netherlands

Hope that little tantrum made you feel better...🤭

Smokers essentially have two small areas to smoke. They won't cease to exist if they can't smoke.

The real question is why would Holland America want to make their casino a place that a good 90% of its customers want to avoid like the plague (instead of going there to make donations), just to accommodate maybe 10% of its customers? This is a question that non-smokers should be posing to Holland America, instead of arguing with people who are addicted to smoking, and will evidently use any ridiculous argument in order to keep as much dedicated smoky space onboard as possible.

So glad that you get to go on your cruise after all; have a wonderful time!

My understanding is that they're keeping the classical musicians, but just phasing out the "Lincoln Center" room on the ships, and relocating their classical performances to the main theater.

So glad you had a happy ending, and your mom is okay! Thanks for sharing your story. Thanks, also, for the reminder to always, always, ALWAYS buy travel insurance!

Everybody understood what you meant. That whole smoking thing really paints people into a corner, doesn't it? I remember.

Smokers are not limited to that one area; they have free run of the whole ship, just like non-smokers. Smoking is limited to that one area. (If only the smoke would stay right in that area.💩)

Sure they can; they just can't smoke elsewhere.

Non of our future HAL bookings have the Health Assessment anymore, not even the 35 night Hawaii/Tahiti/Marquesas sailing for next Winter.

But no one in the vicinity of the drinkers is forced to take sips of every glass of booze being consumed around them.

No more HEALTH ASSESSMENT to answer in order to complete HAL's online check-in!