pengu1n

Do you have a Princess cruise number? There's a thread on here where people's HAL numbers have changed to their Princess numbers, and also the other way around. Our Princess numbers have changed to our HAL numbers. Also make sure both your phones operating system is updated and the app is updated. My app is on version 4.41.1.

Not exactly! You've already PAID for the food in the Dutch Cafe, Pizza, Deli and Dive In (and Lido and most of the food in the Main Dining Room.)

One thing we like about HAL over the other lines: if you want to eat more quickly than in the main dining room, the Lido buffet offers about 90% of the same options of entrees, plus many additional options. And you don't have to get dressed up.

Don't they use a hose to squirt off the deck? Wrong kind of water?

I have short hair and it dries quickly with these dryers about the same as my one at home. But it seems to blow hotter and with less air flow.

I've heard the door frames and ceiling hold magnets on Zuiderdam. I don't know about the sister ships.

Zuiderdam is one without magnetic receptive walls.

Wow, I eat early, but that's (5:00) really early!

I'm in favor of inside/14 day option. We cruise in both balcony and insides. Love the darkness of the inside cabins for sleeping, although usually there's a good gap under the door and room is bright enough without a nightlight. Leave your TV tuned in to the forward deck camera if you want the room to brighten with the sun. A balcony will be limiting for what you can see, you're going to want to be on a deck where you can move from port to starboard, because you can bet the whales will always be on the side you're not! Something no one has mentioned is that the airfare to Vancouver or Seattle will be cheaper than that to Alaska, so you may save some $$ that way too (unless you live in Anchorage!)

Also, make sure your cabin stewards know. Usually they do, but one time, they thought we had abandoned our stuff and they were going to pack it up.

Hi, I'm enjoying your daily postings. Are your pictures available somewhere to see? I haven't seen a link.

We're on the 21 day on Zuiderdam, and had booked the same as you, guarantee verandah. People on here and FB are getting upsell notices on our cruise. With that, some aft verandahs became available. We booked Club Orange (which I was surprised still available) and were able to get one of the aft balconies. It allows you to switch to the highest available room in your category (e.g. verandahs). So we booked VH and got a VC (which we preferred to available VB cabins, no VAs available but also not preferred.) Someone on our roll call said about 75% of the cabins that appear unbooked are really guarantees. Not sure how he knows that.

Unlimited depends on length of the cruise. For our 21 day trip, it is 178.50. You can check for your cruise were you order the extras on the website (beverages, shore excursions, etc.)

I can log in and my cruise isn't until October. Something is wrong. It has been updated. You should be on version 4.40.0. For me, I can see a countdown to my cruise, menus for each day (for the current cruise, I guess) and check in. Somethings seem to work through the app and some go to the HAL website.

The picnic tables around the bbq buffet are all under pavilions, but the walk there is not shaded for the most part.

If you go to My Account > My Profile > Future Cruise Credits, at the bottom of the page there is a section called Onboard Credits. These are the credits that have not been applied to a cruise, I think. So, before I booked a cruise, it showed my healthcare worker credit. Once the cruise was booked, it disappeared. Shareholder credit showed there for a day or two, then disappeared from the list. AARP also was on there for a while, now is not. I haven't confirmed yet with the TA but I think that's what this section shows, maybe a holding spot until it is applied. I currently have a $50 credit there that is a code number (the other ones said what they were).

I like that they serve the food, but on something like a salad, I would like to put on my own dressing and have a little more control of the amounts.

Is there another chair in the room or just the square stool at the desk?

I recently bought a new 90mm macro lens. Due to shallow depth of focus, I worked on practicing in-camera stacking. Between a windy day and shaky hands, this was somewhat of a challenge! I tried to use my right hand to stabilize the flowers, but it was shaking worse than the wind and I couldn't hold the camera as well with just one hand. Anyway, a few of the keepers: Large milkweed bugs (they were NOT very large, about a 1/4 inch long) This was on a tree, about 1/2 the size of a dandelion. Small flower, about 1/2 inch in diameter Leaf beetle and true weevil:

Our closest port is New Orleans, a 10 hour drive. Better than flying though! When will the cruise lines bring ships to St Louis - you could go right up the Mississippi! 🤣

To the OP, did you look at the cabin on one of the sites with room pictures? Sometimes the obstruction is not a big deal. One of our obstructed cabins had a life boat on the deck below. We could look out, have sun, and enjoy our balcony, just couldn't look directly down. Half the time when you look directly down, you just see other balconies anyway.

The wording is kind of funny. I bet they hired a "wordsmith" to come up with "you have been selected for a special paid upgrade offer!" Guess what - you get to pay MORE money!" In all our cruises, we have never been contacted to upgrade. We frequently book guarantees, in the category we would be happy with (although granted some rooms are happier than others!)

If you tell us which ship you're on, people could give more specific help on the dining. Each ship will have a lido buffet, open much of the day for breakfast, lunch, dinner and late snacks. No reservations available for that. Pick your food from a serving line, not much is self serve, but you carry your food, get your own drinks. Dress code is no swimming suits. Some ships have a New York Pizza with extended hours and I think most have a Dive-In (burgers, hotdogs) open mid-day. There's also room service. The Main Dining Room is open for breakfast, sometimes for lunch (sometimes closed when in port), and dinner, times more limited than the buffet. You can get reservations for dinner, which may be a good idea for large group. You may have been assigned early or late seating or open dining. If you have early or late seating, there will be a specific time you need to go to the dining room. You order from a menu and waiters wait on you. Dress code is a little more formal, i.e. no holey jeans. You might want to read up on that on the website. This is included in your cruise fare but there are a few things on the menu with an upcharge, like lobster. Specialty Dining are the restaurants that have an upcharge, 1 meal was included in the HIA. I think the gratuity was already charged to you as part of the HIA. You will need reservations which you can make once you are onboard but make it a priority. Many people make their reservations online months before boarding. That will be complicated because you've prepaid, but the online reservations doesn't understand that. You would have to pay then be reimbursed. I have not done that so can't explain it well. The specialty restaurants are Pinnacle Grill, Canaletto, Tamarind, Nami Sushi. These vary depending on the ship. If you download the Navigator app on your phone, you can see the menus for the restaurants. That might help you decide which restaurant to book. There's also deckplans, a countdown until your cruise, and FAQ.

I have a TG5 and would recommend the OM System waterproof camera also. It will likely have a cord for charging the battery in camera rather than a charger block. It will not have a memory card included, but those are inexpensive. It will have 1 battery, which seems to last pretty long, but for me, it's a 2nd camera so it gets less use. It takes great food pictures, better than my 'good' camera! I take it if it's rainy or if I go to the beach, because it is weatherproof. I have not gone snorkeling with this camera. I had a TG2 that got lost. I did use it for snorkeling, but I found it a challenge. I couldn't see the screen well through my mask, which was leaking and salt water was getting in my eyes. More my problem than the camera.

I called Princess today because while my number changed to my HAL number, I did not have any cruises listed (I have 3) on their website. He asked for my Princess # (I'm a B, husband A and kids C & D) and he could see the 3 listed there. He couldn't fix the website or link them together or fix it in any way. He just recommended giving the Princess # if I book a cruise.