Photo Gallery. There are many opportunities to have your photograph taken, with no obligation to bu

Open seating for dinner in the dining room begins orlando hotel reservation at 5:15 and the tables fill up quickly. orlando hotel reservation   If you don't get there in time for the first seating you won't be able to get in until about 7:30, so people are lined up by 5:00 pm.  In the upper dining room assigned seating is at 5:30 and at 7:45.  Few people have selected the later time.
Evening entertainment in the large theatre is scheduled for 8 pm and again at 10 pm.  Before cruise lines introduced open seating in the dining room, half of the passengers ate at 6:00 and attended the 8 pm show, while the other half ate at 8:00 and attended the 10 pm show.  (Of course, orlando hotel reservation there are always those who choose to dine in the cafeteria on the lido deck, but they are relatively orlando hotel reservation few.  We learned of at least one selfish husband who refused to wear appropriate clothing for the dining room, so was not permitted to eat there.  His wife had the option of going to the dining room alone, but )  Now, at least on this ship, the majority of people are done dinner by about 7:15 and immediately rush to the entertainment lounge to find a seat for the show.  We quickly learned to take along something to read while we waited for the event to get underway.  It was especially frustrating when the cruise director showed up late to start the show after we had already been waiting for 45 minutes!
Of course, we would have had our choice of seats at the 10:00 pm show, but Hal has the annoying habit of waking up early whenever we are on vacation.  Normally he sleeps while I tiptoe orlando hotel reservation around the house and dress in the dark as I get ready to leave for work shortly after 8 am, but when I am able to sleep late he is suddenly bright eyed and bushy tailed at 6 am.  Why he cannot quietly leave the room to engage in his own pursuits is beyond my comprehension.  (This is a common complaint among my women friends, some of whom have decided that until their husbands cease and desist they will no long be considerate when they have to get up earlier than their husbands, choosing instead to turn on the lights, radio or television and making no effort to be quiet.)  In any case, it is difficult to stay up past 10 pm when you've been awake since 6 am.
One night Hal was not interested orlando hotel reservation in the entertainment and said he was going to bed early. orlando hotel reservation I had slept in the afternoon and was not tired after the show ended.  Being a considerate companion I wandered around the ship by myself in search of a comfortable place to continue reading my book rather than going back to the room and interrupting Hal's sleep.  What I found surprised me.
We have been on other cruise ships, much larger than the Zuiderdam, orlando hotel reservation where finding orlando hotel reservation a quiet place away from the crowds (other than our stateroom) orlando hotel reservation to curl up with a book would have been impossible virtually any time of the day or night.  The entertainment in lounges and other venues throughout those ships was raucous and lasted until the early hours of the morning.  This is not surprising given that the cruises were shorter and the passengers younger, looking to let loose for a few days.  Still, the incessant noise and the difficulty of making orlando hotel reservation our way through the crowds were often tiresome.
orlando hotel reservation Not so on this cruise.  By 10 pm it was eerily silent, like a ghost ship.  A smattering of people could be seen in a few of the lounges listening to live music or dancing, but most of them were totally empty.  The pool areas mid-ship and at the rear of the vessel orlando hotel reservation were deserted.  A few staff members were playing some pick-up orlando hotel reservation basketball on the sports deck, but other than that there was little sign of life.  Had I been there with a group of friends who stayed up past 10 pm we could have enjoyed the facilities and entertainment without having to share them with anyone else.  It would be a great place for a family get together.  No one would have to do all the work involved in serving as hosts, there would be a wide variety of things to do, and no cooking or cleaning would be required of anyone.
For those who like to watch movies, Holland orlando hotel reservation America ships have large screening rooms with comfortable seating, where recent movies are shown.  Popcorn is usually provided, although sometimes it was overlooked, much to my chagrin. We saw Argo (which won for best picture at the Oscars this year); the newest orlando hotel reservation James Bond movie, Skyfall; Life of Pi; Les Miserables; Silver Linings Playbook; The Hobbit; Quartet (about a home for retired musicians); orlando hotel reservation Gangsters; Promised Land (a Hollywood propaganda piece about fracking), Stand-up Guys; Oz the Great and Powerful; This is Forty; and Jack Reacher.  (Having read all the books loaded on my Kindle, I subsequently found the latest Jack Reacher orlando hotel reservation novel by Lee Child in the ship's library, entitled "A Wanted Man."  The author portrays Jack as a tall, big man but in the movie his part is played very effectively by Tom Cruise.)
Ship Flicks, a catalogue of over 1,000 DVD titles available for stateroom delivery and viewing is another option, albeit disappointing.  On a couple of occasions the wrong movie was delivered, orlando hotel reservation and on others the DVD was too scratched to play properly.  Most often, we were advised the DVD had gone missing on previous cruises.  We managed to watch a couple of movies in our room, but the television screen was small and hummed loudly.
Entertainment orlando hotel reservation was provided on some nights by young, talented and energetic singers and dancers wearing stylish costumes on elaborate stage settings.  On other nights we were entertained by a gifted pianist; a comedic juggler; the aforementioned Tribute to the Beatles; a mentalist and illusionist; a Latin singer; "Divas of Motown;" world class international orlando hotel reservation ballroom dancers; an amazing orlando hotel reservation guitarist, Fabio Zini; ventriloquist Phil Hughes; singer Sonia Selbie; comedians Andrew Kennedy and Jim McDonald; illusionist James Cielen orlando hotel reservation (who has been in Vegas for the last 14 years but is from Winnipeg). One night Indonesian crew members put on a show and another night's orlando hotel reservation entertainment was provided by Filipino crew members, but both of those shows started at 11 pm, by which time we were fast asleep.  That is unfortunate, as I watched a show put on by Filipino crew members on the cruise orlando hotel reservation to Alaska, and it was excellent.
Holland America has introduced a Dancing with the Stars at Sea Competition on its cruises.  The Zuiderdam dancers (who are not only gifted but also delicious eye candy) teach interested passengers a variety of dances throughout the cruise, including the Tango, Cha Cha, Waltz, Fox Trot, and Jive. At the end of each class you have the chance to dance against your fellow guests as the judging panel looks for finalists for the "Dancing with the Stars At Sea:  Final" which served as our entertainment the night before we reached orlando hotel reservation San Diego.  The winner was an older man from Australia who had come to America orlando hotel reservation with his wife, "to see an Aussie win The Masters golf tournament."  The cruise was simply an add-on.  He danced the waltz so elegantly and looked great in a tuxedo.
Internet stations (the literature said Wi-Fi was available on the ship, and like many other passengers and their travel agents I understood it would be free like it is at Starbucks, McDonalds and Safeway,  so did not purchase a roaming plan for my I-Phone.  Soon after boarding the Ship I learned that if I were to use Wi-Fi it would cost me 75 cents per minute; $55 per 100 minutes; $100 for 250 minutes; $175 for 500 minutes; $250 for 1000 minutes.  In all cases I would also be charged orlando hotel reservation a one-time activation fee of $3.95.  We subsequently learned from fellow passengers who had used this onboard service, that sending two email messages consumed almost 100 minutes because the system was so slow.)
Photo Gallery.  There are many opportunities to have your photograph taken, with no obligation to buy.  We purchased a couple at $20 each and even sat for black and white photos, orlando hotel reservation after which we were advised orlando hotel reservation the minimum package we could buy was 5 mounted 8 10 photos for $550.  Even if we had been prepared to pay that much, there were not 5 photos of us that we liked.  Cameras are very unkind.
Shopping orlando hotel reservation in the stores onboard.  (Unless you need something desperately, it is best to wait to make a purchase until items are offered at discounted prices at onboard events, orlando hotel reservation at which time the cost is more in line with what you would pay onshore, or less.)
Trivia, game shows, board games, puzzles, karaoke.  Once when we were playing backgammon (I won!) a man kept hanging over us, asking when we would be finished, because he wanted to play with his friend.  Finally Hal had to fix his stare on the man and tell him to go take a seat where we would find him when we were done.  Like I said, some people can be extremely rude!
A library in the crow s nest, with comfortable chairs facing the windows.  Good luck finding one that is vacant.  We observed people staking their claim early in the morning and refusing to allow anyone else to use them, by leaving some of their belongings on the chair when they left for any reason.  Chairs around the pools were to be vacated every 30 minutes.  No so in the library.
We had decided we would fully engage orlando hotel reservation in a variety orlando hotel reservation of onboard activities, but I succumbed to motion sickness the first couple of days at sea, unable to even eat.  I shudder to think how ill I would have been had I not been wearing my Relief Band.  One evening a few days later one of our dinner companions said she used to be a travel guide, and had been told that if a right-handed person who is prone to motion sickness plugs their left ear, or a left-handed person their right ear, they will not become ill.  She even went to her cabin and got me a package of ear plugs.  I have not yet had occasion to use them, as I am afraid to risk not using my Relief Band, but will have the ear plugs on standby should the bracelet's orlando hotel reservation battery die.
On the third day after we left port we arrived at the first of our 10 ports of call (not including the Panama Canal), and the heat was exhausting (a fellow passenger told me he looks after 5 acres at