cruisebie

4 hours ago, Copper10-8 said:

 

Nice uniforms, but I sure hope they remember to remove those hats in the MDR😉

It looks like when tenders retire they move to Florida like the rest of us! 😅

I travelled solo on the Veendam last October in a lanai.  Loved it and would do it again in a heartbeat, even though it was too cold through much of the cruise to make use of the deck chairs. (It was Montreal to FLL).  Dont know if some of the lanai's are different but the silver coating on the sliding door kept anyone from being able to see in at night. I left my curtain open & went out on deck to see for myself. I still felt more comfortable with the curtain closed after dark so that's what I did.  Also, although the sliding door is heavier than a regular door, I didn't have much trouble opening it. Just be sure to take the proximity card with you when going on deck since the door can close behind you. 

I do agree that you can hear the crew spraying down the deck in the early morning.  Also, I did hear some noise from what I think was the plumbing from the cabin next to mine.  I always travel with ear plugs so this didn't really bother me much, but could be a factor if someone is a light sleeper.

Whew! When I saw the title,I thought you were going to tell us RCCL was building their latest Megasaurus of the Seas. 😂

It's nice that they gave you something to commerate the milestone.  Hope you had a great cruise.

In the letter that I received HAL didn't say that they didn't give this information, only that it was not impacted by the breach. That leaves it open to interpretation, but you would think if they had not shared it they would have been interested in very clearly stating that.  I'm really more concerned about the practice of unnecessarily sharing information than the fact that my passport number was hacked. Hopefully this will be a wake up call for HAL & they will implement some changes.

I'm sorry to hear you maybe caught up in the Capital One breach.  That is a very serious concern and I hope your data is not misused.  There are so many ways that our information can be compromised in our increasingly cashless society.  

No future cruise credit wanted, needed or requested on my part.  

I'm not sure that HAL or BAGS deserve a break in this situation. As a customer I should have a right to expect that information I share with them is secure. And in the case of HAL, not unnecessarily shared with a 3rd party vendor I am not even using.  I do hope that HAL will review it's policies and make changes to avoid this type of exposure for its customers.

Yes, I'm aware that many organizations make an extra buck or two by selling customer lists to other parties.  A shoddy practice in my book, but not the same as a data breach.  Those organizations are not giving my DL #, passport #, and financial information to a 3rd party.

I received one of these letters dated July 19 (but just received 2 days ago). The time frame for the breach must have expanded because I didn't sail between mid November 2018 and  mid January.  I cruised on the Veendam on the Atlantic Coast route from Montreal to FLL in October.  So, different region, earlier time frame. 

The letter did specify that DL numbers, phone numbers, email and physical addresses, credit card or other financial information were not impacted.

I can't imagine why HAL would share information on passengers who didn't utilize the service. How many other 3rd party vendors are they sharing our information with?  I also have to wonder why BAGS would retain that information in their database once the cruise was over. What use could it possibly be to them?  The letter doesn't make clear when the breach occurred, but it was reported to HAL on May 30, which would mean, at the least it had been stored for several months.

8 hours ago, *Miss G* said:

Did they offer you a free credit monitoring service at least?

Lol, no but they did tell us how to get a free credit report.

Beautiful view from your hotel.  I'm looking forward to hearing more as I hope to do this cruise one day.

I've sailed the Veendam twice over the past year or so.  Loved both of my cruises on her.  The crew is fabulous and the ship was very clean both times. Food is really subjective, but I enjoyed everything I ate. I really enjoyed sitting in the Explorations Cafe/Library with a specialty coffee and watching the sea go by. Also, the Veendam has a nice wrap around promenade deck. Great for those morning walks.

The complaints I heard mostly centered around a couple of elevators in the rear bank that were not working.  I understand that has been fixed in the dry dock.  The ship doesn't have all the entertainment options of the newer, larger ships and the cabins still have the old type non-interactive tv's.  At least on the Veendam, you will still have a place to sit in your cabin, lol.  

This thread has some information and pictures posted from someone who was onboard after the recent dry dock.  It looks like some of the public areas were updated.

1 hour ago, catl331 said:

No, they do not count.

Thanks for the info.  I guess it makes sense since those aren't purchased for on board use, but would have been nice. 😄

Does anyone know if they give credit for flight ease purchases, or if you book a pre or post cruise hotel stay?

16 hours ago, Roz said:

Is the Lido Crush anything like the Lido Shuffle? 😎

 

Roz

Well, I have seen people making a beeline and going for broke in the Lido. 

Did you mean to post this on the HAL board? You should post this on the Oceania board or the Alaska port of call board.

It was the Embassy Suites on Rue Street. It was very nice and my room was spotless. The Embassy was near the Notre Dame Basilica.  I had planned to walk over to see it the morning of embarkation but it was raining fairly hard, so I scrapped that plan and just got a taxi to the pier.  There are also some interesting boutique hotels close to the pier that looked nice online.  I was last minute booking my cruise so many of those were sold out or sky high in price.

I booked on my own and not through HAL.

You might also check and see if you could pre-order water to be in your cabin when you arrive.  It would be more expensive than what you could pick up at the grocery, but would let you eliminate one of the heavier items from your carry ons.  

I did this cruise on the Veendam last October from Montreal to Ft. Lauderdale. I haven't sailed on the other two ships but have been on the Veendam twice and had good experiences both times.  She is an older ship without the bells and whistles of the newer models but she suited me just fine and the crew was fabulous!  The Explorations Cafe is a nice area with a coffee bar (for extra $), library, games and seating. So nice to grab a coffee and relax in one of the chairs by the windows and watch the scenery.  The one issue on my cruises (and one that has been mentioned several times on this board) is that one of the elevators in the aft bank was not working.  I have heard that the elevators are going to be repaired in the Veendam's upcoming dry dock so that should be corrected.

I was only able to fly in the day before the cruise started, so I didn't get much time in Montreal to sightsee. My hotel was only a few blocks from the terminal and embarkation was a breeze.  I was only in the check in line for maybe 5-10 minutes. Boarding had started so was able to go right to my cabin.

That is the funniest thing I have ever read!  My glasses of blue, red, mandarin and green curacao are raised to you.  Well done, Mr Huntington-Smythe, III.

Are most of you taking longer cruises or do you have friends & family sailing with you that makes your business more attractive to these agencies?  Since I'm still working most of my cruises are the 7 day variety and I'm usually cruising solo. I probably average 2 cruises a year. I cruise mostly balconies, but occasionally a suite if I see a good deal. Will I have any traction with agencies?

No.

Some people have said that they are able to navigate better if they try different internet browsers, like Chrome or Firefox.   I haven't tried that yet.  But it seems counterproductive to have a website that won't work with almost any browser.

I have that same spinning ball problem when I try to choose a cabin when I'm using my iPad which is several years old. If I use my desktop with IE I'm sometimes able to get past it to choose section, deck and cabin.  It's certainly a frustrating process.

To add to what Crew News and Kazu said, I also like the library on the smaller ships. Still stocked with some interesting reads and just a nice space to relax and watch the scenery go by.  The coffee shop is also in that space, so it's great to grab a coffee and read for a while.

When I was on the Veendam last October, I received my cabin assignment at 10 days out.   I have heard that it can be as late as when you arrive at the pier, but that was not the case for me.

2 hours ago, Alphen said:

Was surprised to learn from an interview with one couple that was airlifted, that they ended up on shore, without passports. Do not know how Viking drills are, but during HAL drills, one of the things that are emphasized in bringing with you, are prescription medicine, glasses and identification and or travel documents, if I recall correctly. Since everybody is mentioning that situation on board was calm and very organized, it apparently pays to listen closely to these drills in the future! Having said that, going through the “real thing” in this case, no matter how much one prepares, you never know what one will do when dot dot dot dot, hits the fan.

 

I wonder if the situation developed so quickly that passengers were not able to return to the cabin to retrieve their essentials? I read a post on the ongoing thread on the Viking board that someone's relative had tried to enter their cabin (an ov or balcony, I think) to get their passport but were unable to do so because the cabin was so trashed. 

I quite agree with with you on the importance of listening closely during the drill!

What a terrifying situation!! I hope all are taken to safety soon and the injured passengers have a swift recovery.

I know I will be doubling my attention at muster drill on my next cruise. You hope you never need the information, but this shows that bad situations can and do develop.