FrankieSue

Let me clarify here… My question was to ask if friends who are travelling with us as a party of 4 could board with us, in the same way as you can bring a non status guest to Specialty restaurants or bring a non status guest in most airport lounges… But the vitriol on this post leaves me speechless… We have Priority status because we earned it after a long loyalty to Holland, which used to be the only way to attain it; we did not buy it. I get it, we will wait with our friends and board with them…. But calm down please…. Geez!!!

We will very happily sit and wait with our friends…. After all, the ship will leave at its appointed time when everybody is onboard.

Actually I like to think of everybody as somebody….. thanks for all your inputs

Thank you very much…. We may ask at the Port (with a nice smile). Does not cost anything to ask…..

We are travelling with friends who do not have priority boarding, will they be allowed to board with us?

The irony here is that those passengers were left in a dire situation so that the Ship could make its next port on time, which according to reports, they had to miss because of adverse weather!

I agree that in some instances passengers who do not return on time are left behind. But the Captain must balance the need for time keeping with the safety and well-being of his passengers. In this case passengers were left on a small island of a so so safe Country without medication or luggage… what if these passengers come to harm, or get sick for lack of their medication? They were not left behind in Aruba! I think in this case, the Captain should have waited. If the Ship can wait because passengers paid more for their excursions, the Ship can also wait to guarantee the safety of its passengers…. And the “if they do it for them, they will have to do it for all” does not hold water for me (excuse the pun)… This should have been treated as an exceptional situation, which it was… In my view the Captain used poor judgement and I sincerely hope that no harm comes to those still trying to rejoin the Ship. This is a very bad way to promote the Ship’s expensive excursions with an “see what happens to those who do not book shore excursions with us”

I could not have said it better…. My feelings exactly!

yesI do, just not on embarcation day!

We have been cruising since 2006 and part of the pleasure on embarcation day is the relaxed main dining room lunch where we can sit, eat and relax without the queuing, pushing, shoving and clinging of dishes in the Lido. The Lido buffet is served indoors, not outdoors. We are very disappointed to learn that the main dining room is no longer opened on embarcation day

We did 32 days (Ft Lauderdale/San Diego back to back) on Zaandam and did an ocean view cabin for first time (previous cruises were always balcony)… we loved it….

As 4* Mariner we get discounted wine packages. We have purchased wine packages in bars, and taken the remainder of a consumed bottle to the dining room, to finish with dinner… and this at the suggestion of our bar stewart…

I totally agree with you Kazu and we also do as much travelling as we can while we are fit and healthy but I admire those with nurses and oxygen tanks who are still travelling rather than vegetating in nursing homes and I hope that when I need some nursing I am still out there enjoying life as much as I can

Last year, we spent a few days pre cruise choosing to stay in Civitavecchia rather than Rome, and loved it…. Civitavecchia is a lovely small town with a beautiful walk on water front, lovely restaurants, shops, etc…. And within an easy, rapid train ride to Rome….. we spent a couple of days travelling to Rome to see the sights but were happy to get back to Civitavecchia at night for the comfortable small town feel, lovely restaurants and very friendly B&B. We would do the same again, it is worth considering.

In November 2022, during a Transatlantic crossing, I was able to receive and make calls using Facebook messenger, while at sea without any problems.. I had the lowest cost Internet package allowing social medias.