crystalspin

Alas, Alaska roll calls tend to be very quiet. But of course if there is one, he should post!

I think there's plenty of room except for the very tall to sit up while swinging legs out to get up. Just reporting what I've read on CC.

This^^^ is me!

There used to be a section in the Ocean Bar's menu of non-alcoholic specialties. I can't recommend what I don't know! haha

@Galesa I forgot to mention "bottled" water. I put that in quotes because new policy is supposed to be fleetwide, water in cans or metal bottles only! You might want to bring a reusable flask or bottle. Also you don't NEED to buy water; the tap water is perfectly safe and tasty (or lack of tasty) -- you can fill your own bottle in the Lido by using a clean glass to transfer from the cold water dispenser to your container.

Here is a photo from Noordam's sister Oosterdam: https://halfacts.com/vista-class/10009-oosterdam/ Pullman is over the "big bed". Some have reversed the pillow-end of the main bed...

Thank you this! We will have $200 for each of our separately-booked B2B cruises, I believe all non-refundable. Must remember to spend it up!

Welcome back to posting on Cruise Critic! This cruise appears to be sold out? or is it a Charter? I can't run a dummy booking on it to have anything to base my answers on! I did bring up the return trip in December. 1) The HIA for 14 days should include for each of you: two Specialty dinners, two Excursions, Surf Wifi, the Signature Beverage Package, and (in the US, for a limited time) Crew Appreciation AKA Hotel Service Charge. This may be rolled into your cruise fare already in Australia? The Signature Beverage Package includes glasses of wine and bottles or cans of beer and probably soft drinks. You can, however, buy one or more beers and canned cokes (a few minutes apart by the rules, but in practice depending on your bartender), and ask that they not be opened, and take them to your cabin to put in the mini-fridge. I agree with @iceman93, you sound like this could be for you! Remember it also includes espresso drinks in the Crows Nest on Observation Deck! Fifteen total beverages per day each under US$11. 2) I believe the Sommelier Suites are your-choice of included "Cellar" wines, so yes on the all of one kind. However, Sommelier wines are to be drunk with meals or in your cabin, not in the bars and lounges, if you didn't notice that. You can empty the mini-bar (or ask your steward to do that) and have all the La Grande Courtage Brut delivered at the start of the cruise, lest they run out!

@Saint Greg posts a lot of pics, maybe he has bar menus? His last travellogue is 86 pages long and I can't wade through it...

Remember to re-check as you get closer.

Under "Report" is a choice: Thread Needs Attention. Then you can write in Duplicate. My report that got hidden I mistakenly chose "This comment is okay, but I want to tell a moderator about it"!

I did that and told chickadee but for whatever reason my message was "moderated" (hidden).

Yes -- my mom sleeps with an approved oxygen concentrator and we would not be separated from it! Better to risk using ship's tap water for a night or two than losing or damaging that very expensive device!

Where is that WOW emoticon when you need it?!!

@Charlene1985 I usually skip the surveys and open-ended vague questions "Why do you cruise?" et al. But yours caused me to draw up my cruise history where I saw that it was TEN YEARS between my first and second HAL cruises and five until my third. After that about one per year until 2019. Interesting to reflect on that!

THIS^^^ We had so much fun with my family on the Zaandam (and Volendam). It was in general very easy to find one another and esp. the last 14-day AK trip on the Z in 2018, due to my vivacious younger sister, it seemed that the entire crew (and half of the passengers) knew us by half-way through the cruise! My favorite class is actually the Vistas and I did try to go to So.Pac on the Oosterdam and then the Zuiderdam (both COVID cancelled) and also the Volendam in a Lanai. My husband liked the Nieuw Amsterdam best; I found it a little big and sterile! But keeping an open mind about the K'dam.

@Hlitner or @Ine may be able to answer your question re: La Palapa.

Yes, and the videos are from YouTube, which can be linked here (unlike the individual photos).

Where is the "Shaking My Head" emoticon???

If you sailed the Veendam, that was a smaller "S" class. Sailed twice in the (not Nieuw) Statendam with three adults in an Inside! Very roomy for an inside. Have sailed three times in "R" class ships: Zaandam with three adults in an upsell Vista Suite -- VERY ROOMY! -- and once each on Zaandam and Volendam on the Lower Promenade deck (the actual Promenade walkway location) in oceanviews, steps from the largest balcony on the ship. Two of our family joined later and ended up in a nearby Inside, and it did have a loveseat and a chair. The last was 2018 and there was a sing-along piano bar in "the Mix" and a small dance band (pre-dinner) in the Ocean Bar. I believe that entertainment has been cut!!! There was at least one canned music "production" show the last night. I have not sailed in a Pinnacle class ship (have three booked!), but I recently looked into some of the cabins thereon -- most of the Insides are VERY small with only a storage cube-stool at the desk for seating! Like a dorm room or smaller. But as others have noted, there are Verandahs that are not Vista Suites and are more economical. In the COVID age, I would not sail without a balcony, although that is not the only reason I'm booked x3 on the Koningsdam! (Itineraries and not having to fly being the major ones.)

OTOH, putting one 'sheet' of moleskin permanently in the skinny inside pocket of my (only) 21" bag adds little weight or bulk. Sometimes searching for things you didn't bring can be fun (thrift shops in Iceland? sign me up!), but sometimes combing store after store takes away from the fun (ShoeGoo in Ketchikan for us). Of course you can't plan for everything with carryon only...

Don't book immediately: follow it for a while until you see the trend. I personally wouldn't be looking to book (for next August) until after the holidays... But that could be pre-COVID thinking...

Following.

I suspect you are looking at an older website, or some website that has not updated its information to match the terminology HAL uses. If you go to cruisedeckplans.com and "Enter Public Site"; click the orange ship shape in the top left corner, choose ship by typing Z twice... when it loads, you will see diagrams of the three classes of suites on Zuiderdam: Signature, Neptune, and Pinnacle.

I think you will not be in the smallest insides on the ship! I recently had a reason to look at Spa Insides on the Pinnacle class (the NS is one) and they are definitely the smallest possible!