JennysUncle

We hope that HAL will be asking Captain Albert back into active service so that he can resume his informative blog posts - and for the valuable crew training exercises and safety inspections that benefit us all. He is still updating the Current Captains list, and says he is working on his HAL history. The direct link to Captain Albert's blog seems to have disappeared from the top of the Holland America blog (www.hollandamerica.com/blog) in December, but it still exists at its own address www.captainalbert.com

I believe someone has posted that you browse to navigator.hollandamerica.com/#

Just speculating, but here are likely locations for the added casino spaces. On the Pinnacle ships there is a room between the Lincoln Center balcony and the casino, across from the liquor store. Early, on the Rotterdam I think it was the photography studio. This spring on the Nieuw Statendam it was an art gallery (just art to view, not auction). This fall on the Rotterdam it was empty and closed off. If that is going to be the casino annex, it better be non-smoking and with quiet machines. On the Signature ships there is a space between the casino and the BB King (soon to be Rolling Stone) lounge. Originally that was the Northern Lights disco (a flop) with adjacent bar, and lately ? an art gallery / game room. It's too bad if this will be annexed to the casino - it would have been an excellent place to add the Grand Dutch Cafe to those ships.

Was that just in the Pinnacle Grill ? Was it true when you checked your statement ?

A lot of angst could have been avoided if the HAL management had announced what was coming at the same time that they announced what was going. Surely they know ?? Perhaps nothing is changing but the names. Certainly Rolling Stone Magazine is not assembling the bands in the RS Rock Room, and it is unlikely that Lincoln Center in NYC is providing the string quartets, or BB King sending the blues groups. They are coming from agencies, and HAL is paying a licensing fee for the names - which could be substantial. Going back to Adagio, Neptunes, and HALcats labelling would save money, probably without much changing the experience.

Wow, an actual answer ! Thank you VMax1700. It's a kind of depressing answer; it means that passengers and even staff have no influence. At best there is a review by whoever is the head of Entertainment overall for the HAL fleet. Maybe someone with poor hearing, burnt out from listening to music too loudly. Noting the mention in another thread that the threshold for hearing damage is two hours at 91db - the level in BBK.

There were many disappointed CC comments when HAL phased out the libraries, and many appreciative ones when libraries began to appear again. However, the old libraries served two functions, and HAL is only restoring one of them. When you think of "Library", you think "Books". The old libraries were great for this, with many bookshelves full of a wide variety of genres, classics and current titles. The new libraries (at least as seen on the Rotterdam) are again featuring an assortment of real readable books, as opposed to the pitiful collections in the mini-"libraries" that were installed in the Crows Nests. But it's not going back to an extensive library; now there are multiple copies of dozens of titles instead of single copies of hundreds; but it is a real reading resource. However, the old libraries also served a completely different function. The old libraries were sanctuaries; quiet places with comfortable seating to just relax in, or play chess, or read your own book or Kindle, or watch the ocean, without other people chatting and milling around, and canned music. In other words, more like the "libraries" portrayed in English manor houses or gentlemen's clubs. That's a different dimension from the "library of books", and I think that aspect of the old facilities is the one that many people miss. The new Rotterdam style library room does not address that need at all.

The BB King and Rolling Stone bands generally do three 45-minute sets each night, with one night a week off. That's about 13 hours of play, so you can see why people who really like them and attend every night complain (or at least note) the repetition.

Here are a couple of pictures of the Library on the Rotterdam. It is just forward of the Rolling Stone venue, in the room that on the Koningsdam was the Microsoft demo room and on the Nieuw Statendam was the Arts & Crafts (replacing Microsoft) room. Perhaps they will be made over in this form at their next drydock. The content is good - there is an assortment of current best sellers across many genres, with multiple copies of each. My opinion is that instead of duplicates, they should have more variety. The room is bright and spacious - actually wasteful of space. The door is very heavy and the room is fairly soundproof. The chairs are very comfortable, but there are only about a half-dozen. The intention is obviously that you pick a book and take it away.

There are many complaints on Cruise Critic that the sound levels in the Rolling Stone and BB King venues are too loud. Countered by comments that this embodies high-energy performance, and that R&R & Blues are supposed to be LOUD. Granted, the right loudness is a personal preference. But that brings up the question -- Who actually determines the sound level? In the first instance, it is the sound technician in the control room at the back, with the volume knob and (probably) a VU meter. But who decides what the level should be? Just him? or the Music Director of the group? or the Lead Entertainment Host? or the Cruise Director? or a clause in the contract with BBK/RS?

We really like the BB King and Rolling Stone venues, but find the sound level almost unbearably loud. Aside from making conversation (and ordering drinks) nearly impossible, pumping the amps up that much muddies the sound and buries all the instruments into one sonic smear. We were on the Rotterdam in October on deck 4 midships, and as someone earlier noted we could hear a faint bass thump coming up through the atrium over the BBK stage. The sound meter on my smartphone measured the level in both venues at 90+db. This is controllable, set by the sound guy in the control booth at the back. Who knows who decides what the level should be ? Interestingly, between sets the recorded music fill-in was dropped to 80db.

Mid-Pacific on the P&O Arcadia, 1960.

Coffee is an individual taste; what some people like, others don't. On past trips we have thought that the coffee in the big pots in the Lido has been just OK. I have seen the brewers being loaded from bags of Beukenhorst, which is a reputable commercial brand from the Netherlands. On our recent cruise on the Nieuw Statendam we thought the Lido coffee was much better, and I found out the 'secret'. The brewers were being loaded with half Beukenhorst, and half Mondrian Espresso (which is a Beukenhorst brand). https://www.beukenhorst.com/

Viking advertises a really nice breakfast buffet, but without details. Does anyone recall if they have oatmeal ?

We had plane reservations, but luckily live near enough to drive home - assuming our systems stay mild. HAL is letting us order meals from the MDR, and will escort us off to a taxi stand.

But Covid is still on the ship. Most passengers ignored the mask mandate, so those who came aboard pre-symptomatic (or lying) kept it circulating. We were both hit yesterday, now in quarantine.

Has anyone who recovered a lost or delayed bag reported how the tracker helped in that ? Do the airline lost-bag offices have a way to use the location information ? I did read about someone who flew from the US back to Schipol (I think) and got permission to paw through a mountain of mislaid bags in a storage room. I think trackers are more likely to be useful for bags that are mislaid (e.g. forgotten in a taxi) or stolen (e.g. from a train) or pick-pocketed.

Is there a "traditional" piano bar, or the "Billboard" dueling pianists ?

Does that work if you just are using WiFi on the Apple, without a cell phone contract ?

On the NS they had the 12oz cans and the 16oz bottles. The official Signature Package statement had been revised to specifically exclude water over 12oz, but the cans were still included. Some bartenders were not up to speed on the change and would give out the bottles, but some knew the rule and charged. Bring your own bottle and refill it from the 'free' (in the package) cans.

I suspect that it was a consequence of deciding to ban plastic bottles. They then realized that many people would prefer bottles to cans, but that the 16oz aluminum bottles were substantially more expensive than mass-produced cans.

On the NS in April the bars had 12oz cans and 16oz aluminum bottles with screw caps. Our pre-cruise printout of the Signature package said that water up to 500ml was included, but onboard there was a little card saying that the cutoff was 12oz. I complained at the front desk and was told that that was how it was. The cans are not convenient in the room or to take on excursions, so we paid for a bottle and just kept refilling it from cans. You can't bring bottled water onboard, but you can bring an empty bottle that will be convenient for you and keep it refilled.

Interesting. I supposedly have the current Navigator, downloaded from Google Play. Here is my screenshot - below "Casual Dining" I have "Coffee & Treats" and then "Bars". Could you check your version # ? Do you have the iPhone/iPad version - that's not always in synch with the Android version.

duplicate - CC didn't refresh after first Submit.

How exactly did you get to this page on the Navigator ? I do not find it. I do have some future cruises booked, but not to Alaska. I have version 4.13.0 on my Android phone (go into Settings/Apps to check this). Clicking the Experiences button at the bottom, then Dining & Drinks, there is a Bars section with no mention of HIA. On the Home page, under Featured Offers there is a HIA choice that opens to a long page that eventually says it includes the Signature package, and further down defines that as being for drinks under $11 with no mention of offsetting the cost of those costing more. It seems that HAL is generating different Navigator pages depending on what cruises are coming up, and setting up an experiment on a few cruises to see what effect this different policy has on revenue. They might net more by encouraging people to spend $7 for an $18 wine than $0 for one at $11. Anyone who is seeing this probably ought to take a screen shot and print it to take along, in case they need to go to the Front Desk to get charges adjusted.