Reading your review was good,if you disliked the ship,we would probably like it,since you liked the NCL CROWN,and we did not care for it. But on the other hand i know what you mean about the noise in your cabin,we had the same things on the ROYAL PRINCESS because they upgraded us. But we werevery lucky on our back to back on CROWN DYNASTY,we had the same cabin for 28 days surfer e2468 I'm sure you would love the ship - dance floor and nice music to dance to and quiet shaded places to lie and read. (Not that I did that) Even though there were a LARGE number of children on the cruise (it was fully booked and was the Xmas-NYears cruise after all so there were at least 50 - 100 children and probably many more), I didn't see or hear them except occasionally at dinner. They were kept occupied although I didn't enquire how that was done. I don't know why it is so hard for someone to understand that when I book an inside center cabin (under other cabins and not under the kitchen or restaurant or someplace like that) that I do NOT want an upgrade to an outside cabin under the kitchen. You probably wouldn't have liked it either. I did sometimes take advantage of being able to look out the window and see stuff that was beside the ship and wasn't visible on the bow camera, but I would have been equally happy without it. As for a king size bed being too big - we've always slept (for 47 years) in a plain old double bed. I like to be able to be next to my husband and still be able to stick my foot out of the covers. A king bed is too big for that. A queen is OK, but I feel lost in the king. I either can't get my foot out or I can't get next to Bob. Even though the beds were quite comfortable, I was really glad to get back to my own bed even though it is small. I forgot to test the temperature of the hot tubs (they do have them), and I was too relaxed to get up and do the yoga and pilate classes. They always scheduled the yoga at 9 am and I can't eat beforehand, and afterwards I would have had to eat in the Lido. I'm going to have to work a little bit to get back into shape (or as much shape as I can be in) . I turned 56 today. But still I have to ask, what is it about older people and rice pudding? Me, I hate the stuff! On a Caribbean cruise most of the common rooms such as the theater are kept well air conditioned as many of the folks on board are nicely fried by the sun. They want it cool. Us sensible sorts who use enough sunscreen just have to remember to bring a sweater. As for the Lido Buffet, I've found that if I ask nicely of the person ahead of me who's waiting for something to be prepared...they usually let me step ahead of them. There are some usually from the UK who take offense even at the suggestion. In which case, I stay in my place. But with most people if you ask nicely, they usually don't mind. I don't drink either. So when given wine or champagne by my travel agent or some well wisher - I just bring it to my table at the main dining room. If you do HAL again sail on ms Zuiderdam. The cabins are more roomy. Everything is more roomy. Doing a balcony cabin is well worth it. It's a great way to wake up still in your night clothes with room service out on the balcony. You'd like the theater on Zuiderdam the audience area is a mix of raked seating (steps) and lounge seating directly in front of the stage (cocktail lounge chairs and cocktail tables). But generally I don't enjoy Broadway _style_ productions. So most of the time after dinner I go to the lounges that have either Classical music or Jazz. As for the snack bar by the Lido Pool, I've been on three HAL ships, ms Zuiderdam, ms Veendam and ms Amsterdam (lovingly called Hamsterdam by my TA). The menu changes it's not always burgers and hot dogs. I've had barbecued shrimp, tacos, guacamole, enchiladas or barbecue ribs. I've had them all and all are good. The temperatures in the hot tubs run from warm to just hot enough to fog your glasses. Pre-dinner hors d'oeuvres on the upper promenade deck are unique and so good you could make a meal out of them. Christmas time Christmas Trees and Poinsettias are basically all you are going to get. Unless you specify allergies the rest of the year you will have a bud vase of flowers in your room on the dressing table. There will be flowers on each table in Lido, Pinnacle, and the main dining room. Huge bouquets will adorn each elevator lobby and many of the public spaces. Guess you'll have to take another HAL cruise. Here's a tip the next time you find yourself in a King Bed. Get next to your honey, then hike the covers and quilt up so you can have that foot sticking out from the covers.
Here's another tip. This one is if you are driving. I don't know about Norfolk but at Ft. Lauderdale, Tampa and many other ports. Drop your luggage off with the porters and tip 'em. You won't have the hassle of wrestling them on a shuttle or whatever, and all your luggage will arrive in a timely manner. Tip number 3: If Embarkation is at 5:00 pm arrive around 3:45 - 4:00 I did this both in Ft. Lauderdale and Tampa. We breezed through check-in. I also called my TA a week before and 2 days before to reconfirm my room status. In my case I do want a free upgrade. But it could be done to reconfirm that the room class hadn't changed.
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