AllureOfVacation

It is almost 26 years ago that I have been on an MSC ship, it was my first cruise ever.

I remember that the whole cruise was a very formal and traditional thing. My parents still have a folder with dailies, dinner menus, confirmations and so on.

 

 

We now decided to book a cruise on Euribia.

 

We had a cruise on another line last year which was so disappointing that we wanted to have a break from cruising, but the MSC offer was too tempting.

 

Some general questions,

we have the "Easy" drink package, are energy drinks included, and if so, is a sugarfree energy drink available on MSC?

 

Do they offer fitness classes like Spinning or Yoga? I could only find information about the fitness studio itself, but not about any classes.

 

How strict is MSC on boarding times? They pushed our boarding a few hours back which makes our planning a tad more complicated.

 

 

We are looking forward to this cruise 🙂

 

I can not find in their documents what "vaccinated" means. We are double vaccinated and boostered. But the booster shot is like 10 months ago. Are we still considered vaccinated? Is this somewhere to be found in HALs protocols?

We just booked a new cruise including the Standard Cancellation Protection Plan

 

We want to add a flight with HAL Flight Ease shortly. For our preferred flights, there are no flexible rates available. What if we book a non-refundable rate, is the flight also covered within the CPP?

We did it!! 
😁😁

 

Really looking forward to our first Oceania cruise

Hi,

 

we are new to Oceania! This comapany is like completely unknown here in Germany.

I remember that a fellow cruiser on the Royal Princess recommended to try Oceania. That was more than 2 years ago. Now we found a cruise that perfectly fits into our holiday schedules: a 20 days Med cruise on Oceania Riviera starting mid-October, so already next month. The price seems exceptionally low.

 

We originally wanted to sail with Celebrity Edge in the Caribbean in October, but due to not-yet-lifted travel bans to the US from the EU we had to cancel.

Like many others, we are used to cancellations and messed up vacation plans. But we are glad to be healthy, safe and vaccinated. But now it is vacation planning time again.

 

The majority of the Riviera cruise is within the EU, so if anything happens, we know where we are. I should mention that we were on that "famous" HAL Westerdam cruise in February 2020 that ended up in Cambodia....so we know how fast things can get out of hand.

 

Back to Oceania.

Some questions:

 

1.

Are there any reports and reviews yet from first Oceania cruises in the Med from this year?

It seems the Riviera starts its season with that 20 day cruise. Any comments about first start up cruises? Is Oceania all set?

 

2.

All inside and outside (without balcony) cabins are said to be "sold". That is what it looks like. But something tells me that they do not sell those for Covid-Capacity-reasons. Am I correct? By the way, there is plenty of other cabin options left.

 

3.

The O-Life offer says we can choose one extra option. In our case, 12 free excursions are tempting. But are these only like very cheap excursion options? Fine print says that some types of excursions are excluded. We do not want a free helicopter ride, but we certainly do not want an excursion that is a bus tour to a shopping center just to think we should have chosen the 1200 $ option instead.

 

4.

Soft drinks are really free? We are not heavy alcohol drinkers. A wine here and a cocktail there. So free soft drinks would be good.

 

5.

What is the typical crowd like? I guess it is less family orientated and rather low-key, relaxing and quiet. That would be exactly what I am currently longing for.

 

6.

Are there any information if we can roam free without Oceania excursions on a Med-cruise?

 

7.

Is there a noticeable step up from cruise lines like Celebrity, HAL or Princess?

We really enjoyed HAL and Princess, so if Oceania is only a tad better, that would be amazing.

 

8.

Did anyone stay in one of the forward facing balcony cabins on deck 8? One of them is available. Is the view very much intruded by the front of the ship?

 

 

Thank you for your comments and help in advance.

Maybe we will book tomorrow 🙂

 

 

2 minutes ago, Loracpin2 said:

That is obviously a t-shirt, but to be honest, if worn with a nice pair of trousers and maybe a sportive jacket, it is perfectly for the MDR non-chic evenings

Does anyone know if they serve Batida de Coco, Licor 43 or Passoa Passion Fruit Licor on the Edge?

We are booked on the 11th July 7day sailing. We are in the team "on a cruise everyone should be vaccinated" if it sails.

 

I am not vaccinated yet because it is not my turn yet. Too bad, if I would get Astra Zeneca today, the second shot would be somewhen in July. If everyone needs to be fully vaccinated, I would be out of the game with Astra Zeneca. But I would rather take AZ today rather than declining it. I am not supposed to get AZ because of age restrictions, but I would be more than happy to take it right now!!! We will see what happens
 

Final payment is not due until mid June. But currently I am more concerned how to get the vaccination soon for being safe rather than making any detailed vacation plans. 
 

 

The first I was thinking about is an S1 with a connecting SV (both aft). SVs have a "real" balcony, not the Infinite Verandah setup.

 

Never: TUI and AIDA - I can not imagine flying abroad, e. g. to an embarkation board somewhere in the Caribbean or in Asia, just to board a ship with 2000+ other Germans. No, Thank you. By the way, I have no doubt that the service is excellent, there are many great reviews. 

Always: HAL, Princess, RC, X, NCL - this is all we cruised with yet. Each has its advantages and disadvantages, so we would always cruise with those again. 

 

Try: Oceania. I see that I am not the only one who'd like to try. They currently have very tempting prices. I am not quite sure about cruising with smaller sized ships, but I would give it a try. Once I was ironing our laundry on a Princess ship in the laundry room and there was another guest telling me many good things about Oceania, it was like a Oceania-laundry-sales-promotion - I was willing to book afterwards.

Yes! 
 

We were on the HAL Westerdam cruise that ended in Cambodia after days without a place to disembark. Little did we know about the future at that point.

 

We have two cruises booked. But we will only go with vaccinations

I see that there are many topics and heavy arguments on CC about Suite Lounges, or generally about lounges.

 

What is the rush about that?

Maybe here in Europe a lounge has another significance. I mean if I would not have access to that particular SL, I would go to another lounge.
 

I understand that Pinnacle members should be rewarded somehow, but if there is hypothetically no access to a particular lounge because it might be reserved for other guests, why is there so many arguments about that?

 

Did they reduce the rewards for Pinnacles over the years?

When I think of our first and last Celebrity cruise in 2017, the following things come up my mind: too many dishes including arugular, dirty plates in MDR and pickles on ocean facing windows in the buffet. This did not ruin our vacation, but that first impression was not up to par with what Celebrity positionts itself. But, it is time for a second chance.

 

We are not loyal to any mass market line, so why not giving Celebrity another try? We now booked the Edge. After watching the promo videos, I imagine cruising on the Edge will widen your cultural horizon and positively tangle all your senses. At some point I lost track counting how often they said "sophisticated" in the videos.

 

Only a few cabins are booked until now on that particular sailing , so we were overwhelmed with making a choice. But the agent from the Celebrity call center was so helpful, I think I have never spoken before to someone from any company who had such a good knowledge about a product. Even if this sailing will not go (late October 2021), I will let Celebrity know about his customer-oriented skills and know-how.

 

After booking, there are now some questions left, maybe some of you can help with your experience

 

1.

With what we booked, we now have the Premium Drinks Package. Is it possible to upgrade into the Drinks & More Package? We would have spent the $ in the Casino anyway, so with the daily replenishment of the minibar it seems like a good deal. Is it possible to make a choice what the minibar shall be stocked with? Like soft drinks only? Maybe someone has some experiences with that Package

 

2.

We are interested in three of the speciality dining restaurants, but we understand we can book them directly in the cruise planner or as a package with a better rate. But it seems we have no restaurant and time choice with a package. Is it difficult to change assigned restaurants and times once onboard? e. g., we do not want to rush from an excursion back to the ship to catch a very early assigned reservation for a restaurant we do not prefer to dine at.

 

3.

Do all people on board move in slow motion like the people from the promo video? Will they give us a glass of wine for all the day to look more elegant while doing the slow motion? I can not wait to take a seat at the Martini Bar, in slow motion, with my merino wool pullover carefully placed on my shoulder.

 

4.

We had some general discussion about the Infinite-Verandas. While I understand the concept, I am not very thrilled about it. We did not book one, but anyway, is it correct that the captain ultimately can control them? Or is this just a myth?

 

5.

Is the Retreat area, especially the outside area, often crowded? From what I have seen it looks rather small, but there are lots of suites on the ship so I imagine lots of people there, not a very serene concept in my imagination.

 

 

Thank you and stay safe

 

 

 

It leaves me a little puzzled 😉

 

they mention for the suites 5 perks:

- premium drinks

- streaming wifi

- tips included

- OBC

- shore excursion credit

 

so I do not understand why OBC and the excursion credit is only one credit, but maybe it was too good to be true to think there might have been some extra $ for excursions

 

 

edit: I found it in their terms and conditions, it is OBC 150 $ and another 150 $ shore excursion credit for this sailing. I was just wondering because during booking it only mentions the amount of the OBC (300 $), but it also says excursion credit (without an amount), but this is obviously already in the 300 $ included

 

Thank you anyway 🙂

Thank you @CHEZMARYLOU, I thought it is two different things because they state OBC and Shore Excursion Credit as two different perks

We wanted to try the Edge someday and are now getting into the details :-)

 

Unfortunately the call center is already closed, so I am asking here.

 

 

There are 300 $ OBC mentioned for our particular cruise per person when booking a Retreat Suite.

Is it correct that this OBC can not be used BEFORE the cruise for booking any extras or excursions?

 

Once on board, can this 600 $ OBC be spent for available shore excursions?

 

 

There is also a shore excursion credit mentioned for Suites.

Is this always the same amount depending on the length of the cruise? I can not find an amount when trying to book.

It is a 7 day Caribbean cruise. Maybe someone knows how many shore excursion credit this might be.

Can this secret amount be used for booking an excursion before the cruise starts?

 

Thank you for your support

 

 

 

I just browsed some pictures and found this one, us leaving the ship, shaking hands with Orlando Ashford

 

 

one of many puzzles. It was like yoga for my mind

@sailingdutchy thank so much for posting your story. It is so interesting to read different stories. Almost everyone has some more things to tell what happened to them after disembarkation

I am glad the first segment was better!

It must have been an interesting sight when you saw all the masks in the ships terminal in HK the first time.

 

 

Do you remember when the embassies were on board in the dining room? Was it the day before the prime minister came by helicopter?

 

 

For the Joy"s Oct. 19th 11 day Caribbean sailing all Haven Suites seem to be booked. Neither NCL nor other TA sites show a Haven suite available. 
 

I think that is a little odd. How to check if there is some kind of large group on the ship? 

1 hour ago, NavyCruiser said:

We took our first & only wonderful HAL cruise 25 years ago.  Now after 30+ cruises, mostly on mainline cruise lines, we're back to HAL, as just booked 7 night cruise to the Norwegian Fjords in Aug 2021.  Got great pricing for flights, drinks, wifi, etc... so we went for it.

After 3 ocean & 2 river cruises cancelled in 2020, we still have lot$ invested with them.

But with half of our family, all of those 65+ all vaccinated, & have appt at VA for one-shot J&J vaccine in early March, things are looking up.

So hopefully the Aug cruise goes...!!!

 

We booked on of these for July. Fingers crossed. We also got an amazing deal with drinks, prepaid gratuities and so on.
 

We saw that promotion the last day it was valid and we had to act quickly: an inside room for free with any balcony booking (only port fees and such). My husbands' mother wanted to join anyway, so we paid less than 100€ for her inside room with single occupancy. No perks like drinks for that extra cabin, but best promotion ever.

2 hours ago, USN59-79 said:

I really enjoyed your narrative of the Westerdam adventure.  We had a similar experience with some differences.  We stayed on the ship in Sihanoukville until they arranged a flight for us back to Seattle, Washington.  Left the ship about 6:00 AM.  Rather than a bus to Phonm Penh, they flew us there from Sihanoukville on a charter plane.  It was a really bad day.  We stood in about a three hour line to get our luggage to the ticket counter, got our plane tickets, then went upstairs thru customs and immigration, where they stamped our passports as leaving Cambodia.  Then went to the exit terminal to await our plane.  About an hour after it should have arrived I asked the agent there "Where is our plane?"  He replied "I haven't the slightest idea".  We then found that our plane had never left Malaysia for Cambodia.  Back in the terminal waiting around noticed our U.S. Embassy personnel were in deep discussions with the Cambodian authorities.  Apparently, since our passports were already stamped, we could not leave the airport as it implied we had already left the country.  Eventually the embassy people got the Cambodian officials to ignore that bit of legalese.  It was now about 12 hours since we had left the ship.  They arranged busses to take us to a hotel and we went to baggage claim to find our luggage.  We boarded the last bus, drove about an hour thru the city and were dropped off at a hotel.  Took our baggage into the reception area and the bus went away.  People at the front desk said "Who are you?  We know nothing about rooms for you here."  The bus had dropped about 25 of us at the wrong hotel and none of us were told what the right hotel was.  It was about 8 at night now.  No one panicked as we knew that HAL would eventually find and take care of us.  They had a nice bar there, so I bought a double scotch on the rocks and just waited.  After about two hours a bus showed up to take us the really nice hotel where everyone was staying.  HAL and some embassies had desks in the lobby and we were well cared for.  After about 2 days Orlando Ashford showed up with some clerical help and things got organized for our flights home.  We also got the stick-up-the-nose thing from the Pasteur Institute while at the hotel.  Got the results back the next day.  But as I mentioned, the day we left the ship was a really bad day, but things looked up after that.  

Thank you so much for sharing that!

 

Personally, we had no contact to someone who left the ship in the first wave. But we heard some stories of others that things went not very smooth. But your experience is really crazy, especially that they dropped you off at the wrong hotel.

 

 

Your double scotch makes me remember the moment when I ordered a Jägermeister after we were told we can not leave the ship in Sihanoukville. No panic, but we got a little nervous.

 

Thank you all for your nice replies, so good to read.

 

My husband is better by the way, his treatment is not over, but it was a success until now.

 

Sorry for double posting some pictures and some missing or wrong letters, I had no more time to edit after some minutes.

I have wanted to write down down this story earlier. Almost one year ago, on Feb. 1. 2020 to be exact, our personal Covid-Story on Westerdam began.

 

In the beginning of January 2020 we got married. At that point I can not remember if I have heard of some kind of new virus yet. But I think I hav heard on the radio that something was happening with an unknown virus in China.

 

Our marriage day was beautiful.

We got married in some kind of little castle which is used as a museum in my hometown, along with our relatives and our closest friends. When I was younger I never thought about being married, especially not to another man instead of a woman.

 

Both of us always wanted to travel to Asia and we also wanted to do another cruise. We saw that 14 nights HAL cruise from Hong Kong to Shanghai and we immdiately booked it. The price was so low we could not believe. We have never taken a HAL cruise before, so we were very looking forward to it. Well…little did we know at that point.

 

We travelled to Hong Kong one week before the cruise to have some time to explore.  Meanwhile, short before we travelled to Hong Kong, the Corona-news got more and more, but we decided to fly anyway. The flight was uneventful. When we arrived in Hong Kong we realized almost everyone wore masks. So we immediately went to the next pharmacy and bought 50 masks for around 15 $. The next day masks were out everywhere. There were news on TV with people queuing for hours to buy a mask.

 

We stayed at the Hyatt Centric Victoria Harbour on Hong Kong Island. The hotel was clean, modern and service was very good. The breakfast buffet was amazing.  They had a nice penthouse fitness room with a great view. We had a room with a view and could see Kowloon and the port, many cruise ships were to be seen that week. One one picture is also the Westerdam on the morning of Feb. 1. The windows were tinted, so sorry for the colour.

 

 

 

 

 

 

After a few days more and more Covid measurements got active in the hotel. Elevator keys were desinfected, temperature checks at the hotel entrance and so on. But all in all, we felt very safe because everyone handled the situation so well and got along with the measures.

 

We saw a lot in Hong Kong, it is so vibrant. We really want to go there again. We also went to Macao one day. A few days later it was not possible anymore. We checked out different hotels and casinos and wanted to see the historic parts of that place but we were so tired and got back to the ferry to Hong Kong. We also went to Stanley which was quite interesting. I wanted to go to Disneyland, but one day after we arrived it was already closed down! My husband was so happy that we can not need to go to Disney.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

During that week, we watched a lot of disturbing news and one evening we heard that the virus already made its way to Germany. Then we received the message that the cruise is ending in Yokohama rather in Shanghai so we re-booked the flights and cancelled the hotel in Shanghai. We were almost sure that the cruise is not going to happen. But it was. Again….little did we know!! My husband was sure thre will be no more cruising soon for a long time – well he was so right.

 

So after touring through Hong Kong, eating so many different things, seeing many interesting places it was finally time for the cruise. I was a little sad because I was feeling that Hong Kong vibe and would have loved to walk through the streets for another week. Still, I was not sure if we would really enter the ship. We were already informed that you were not to be in Mainland China like 14 days before. Glad we had a direct flight to Hong Kong, but for many people the cruise was not happening due to that rule.

 

I remember sitting in the ships terminal and one lady was coughing. Everyone was like „NO!!!!!“ and she just said „oh someone has a strong perfume, sorry I had to cough“. When sitting in the terminal my husband and me immediately realized I set the age bar down LOW! My husband is some years older than me, so I really stood out in that guest group.

 

Before entering the ship they checked passports for stamps if anyone was in China before. After getting on the ship we felt somewhat relieved, but still not sure if we are going to leave Hong Kong with this ship. But we did.

 

We booked a Signature Suite Guarantee at such a low price. By the way, our TA was horrible. So horrible I contacted HAL at some point because we wanted to change cabins and the TA was just not able to give us correct information.  They gave us a Signature Suite with a connecting door. So we made our way to Guest Service and it was no problem to change the Suite. I guess many cabins were just left empty. We saw before that the ship had many cabins left for booking and there was now also that 14-day-no-no-China-rule and I guess many people just cancelled by themselves. We also asked if we can pay to upgrade to a Neptune Suite. We had a limit in mind and what they quoted was a little above, so we declined. Glad we did, because I was able to take a look into one during the cruise and size-wise I think the Neptune Suites are just not worth it.

 

But back to topic. Many things happened within the next more than two weeks. Please excuse if I do not get the chronological order correct. There were so many announcements, rumours, posts, news…but first of all: bye bye Hong Kong!

 

 

 

We checked out our suite and were amazed how large it was. And that there were indeed two sinks, a jetted-tub and a very nicely sized balcony. The ship was also nice, but you could feel that it was a little older than the ships we have been on before. But we liked it that it was not a glitzy-dizzy-chandelier-high-end-golden-handrails-ship.

 

 

 

 

 

The first bad news: We can not go to Manila! No way. Sure, everyone was bummed. But imagine, all these workers on the ship who were planning to see their families. Their kids. And they went on working so hard and tried to avoid letting the guests see their frustration. I felt so bad! For us it was just a comfort thing not being able to go there, but for them it was a real personal struggle. We have heard that many family members already travelled to Manila on their own expense. With bags full of surprises, to see their daughters and sons working so hard on the ship.

 

The next stop was Kaoshiung (Taiwan). When I remember correctly, we arrived a day earlier than planned and wanted to make it an overnight stop. We were able to get ashore and we explored the city on our own. Saw some temples, went on a Ferris wheel on a shopping mall for a good view and enjoyed some Taiwanese food and went to lots of cool stores. In the evening, we were told that no one would be able to debark the ship anymore - Covid-related! We had a private guided tour planned for the next day and so had to cancel it, too bad.

 

 

 

Sure, the port of Keelung (near Taipei) was also already cancelled. So we went off to Japan. I was 99,9 % sure we are not able to go there. And surprise, no Japan for us. Everyone was bummed again, but I did not witness anyone who was really stressed with it. There was a positive vibe on the ship. The interaction of the staff with the guests felt very personal.

 

Meanwhile, Busan (Korea) was also already cancelled and now it was time for HAL to make a decision. Well, the rest of the cruise was cancelled and they were now trying to bring this to an end. But – where to go? No one knew. Neither the guests, nor the captain.

 

So we floated around the ocean. The crew was the best! They provided such a good service. We never felt unsafe and they just kept us happy.

 

But still the question, where to go? Some people guessed we go to Guam. But how should Guam have handled that? There was a steady flow of announcements „This is the captain speaking“. Often this was bad news. One time it was like 6am in the morning and that must have been bad news when it is so early. We got the information that we will go to Bangkok. So we re-booked the flights again. The few telephone lines were open for free, and there was free internet (slow…when everyone uses it). After about 100 times trying to get a free line we were able to re-book the flights. We will never do a cruise and book the flights on our own. Lessons learned. Everyone had to be checked for temperature, and again, all passports were collected. They re-checked if really no one was in China before. It was coordinated very well.

 

 

 

 

 

I think it was the next day when we heard the rumor that Bangkok will now not allow us to debark. They even sent us a marine ship that prevented the Westerdam get near the port. What a nice gift. So we cruised next to a marine ship for some hours. With our binoculars in the signature suite we had a very good view. I tried to picture it nicely:

 

 

 

So there was again the question – where are we going now? Meanwhile, many news agencies contacted me on Instagram. I think they looked for the hashtags HAL and Westerdam. I gave an interview to local news station from my hometown. After that I received so many messages from friends and relatives like „YOU ARE NOT REALLY ON THAT SHIP??!“. At work everyone followed my facebook posts like a good book. My boss told me not to worry if I come back later then planned. Wise man, he knew that it will take some days longer. I am very thankful for him that he told me not to worry.

 

There was some kind of crew farewell show one evening. Many many crew members attended and, I think it was the hotel director, talked about that Manila situation. He started crying. Many of the crew started crying, many guests also did. The next evenings there was also an Indonesian and Philippine crew show. They have so talented crew members. I volunteered doing (or better trying to do) some kind of cultural dance with bamboo logs.

 

So many „ding dong ding, this is your captain speaking“ later we learned we are going to Sihanoukville / Cambodia. Some other guests have already been there before. We were so thankful that Cambodia lets us debark.

 

HAL announced to pay for all the flights back and organizing that. Next day, it was planned that everyone is going home. They sent out some testing samples from certain persons to test them on Covid-19, all negative. So were were about to go home!

 

After dinner, everyone had a scarf in the cabin. It was a gift by Cambodia. We were supposed to wave these scarfs the next morning when…..the prime minister arrived. By helicopter, with his whole entourage, also arriving in helicopters. Ever seen helicopters landing next to a cruise ship? The cruise got more weird every moment. There were endless reporters and you could see many Cambodians in the distance out of the port area watching all that.

 

 

So the first guests left the ship. They were brought to a local airport and flown to Phnom Penh from where they started their journey home. And we still did not have our new flight information. The night before we got that information, but it was a connecting flight through Beijing. The information sheet stated „PEK“. So with all that news and rules, we absolutely did not want to connect in PEK. We went to guest service and the very polite staff member said „oooh, no, do not worry, it is not Beijing“. Then she typed it in her computer, her eyes suddnely WIDE open, and off she ran to he back office after she said „OH MY GOD IT IS BEIJING“. When she came back she told us to wait for further information. We would be in a later group.

 

We were allowed to leave the ship. So we went with a shuttle bus to the beach. That place was really some kind of different. All roads were to be re-built, it was so bumpy. So many construction sites, many unfinished buildings. But we were thankful to be there and that we were allowed to leave the ship. The beach was nice, we swam around but it was also blazing hot. Like cooking hot. After swimming into a wooden pallet I went out of the water and we hang out some time in the sand before we got back to the ship.

 

 

Meanwhile, we had new flight information. There were only about 240 guests left on the ship. DING DONG DING – this is your captain speaking: NO ONE CAN LEAVE THE SHIP! No flights tomorrow. WOW! This was after dinner and we just went to the cabin. We go to know some new friends on that cruise and we immediately all headed back to Crows Nest for some kind of personal emergency meeting.

What happened? We learned that one lady was tested positive to Covid-19 when connecting in Malaysia.

 

So the result was: no more flights for the remaining guests, some guests were stuck in Malaysia and many guests were still in Phnom Penh. They were brought to a hotel. We imagined they were in some kind of weird hotel, but more about that later.

 

So now we were on the ship and not allowed to leave. No information when we will go home and no information about what the next steps might be. I once met the captain at night. He looked so worried and stressed out. I told him that he and everyone else is doing a wonderful job.

 

The crew still provided a wonderful service. We shared our fears with them and they were also some kind of worried. But it was the fear oft he unknown. We were just waiting for the next information.

 

We enjoyed the empty ship. Ever been to a dining room with just a few tables occupied? Empty sundeck in the afternoon? Yes! It was bizarre, but what should we have done other than enjoying it? We solved all puzzles with others in the Crows Nest on that cruise by the way. So many time to do so. And they had still so much food on board.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The next we knew was that everyone will be brought back home, but first everyone, crew and guests, have to make a test on Covid-19. This was again organized very well. We were called down in little groups to one of the meeting rooms. There was personnel from the Pasteur Institute Phnom Penh.

  

My name was called before my husbands name, so I went in and I was really nervous. First a temperature check and then one of the institute’s staff, fully wrapped in safety clothing, came with that cotton swab. I thought they were supposed to put that in my mouth, the next moment I had it in my nose and I just thought „WHAT IS THAT NOW?!“. They put it really deep. I wish I knew before. Then they took another sawb for the mouth. The ships card was punched afterwards. When my husband came out 5 minutes later. He was also a little out of it after this experience.

I think it was two days until the results came. So more time for enjoying the empty ship. Again, the HAL crew provided such a good service. Our room attendant was also so friendly, I wish I could recall his name.

 

The Diamond Princess was already docked in Japan for many days with many infected people. So we were lucky as there were no signs of people with symptoms on the Westerdam.

 

The last evening, everyone was invited to the Pinnacle Grill for free. The captain and other important staff members were also there. One day we had a video message from Orlando Ashford on the stateroom TVs. He also made his way to Cambodia.

 

All tests were negative and we were told that the next morning busses will bring us to Phnom Penh. Wait what, busses? Yes. An around 5 hour bus ride to Phom Penh. This was another bumpy experience. But we were thankful that all this was arranged. I was sad to leave the ship, it almost felt a little like a new home. No more spinning classes with those two great trainers, no more empty dining room, no more buffet, no more perfect crew.

 

Staff from embassies built some kind of little offices in the dining room. We talked to them and they gave us some advises. We already contacted them a few days before. Our German embassy was really helpful! We did not know that a picture of us was already in newspapers and on TV. I learned that from friends. My mom cut out all news from the newspapers.

 

The gave us a lunch box and off we went on the busses. We gave a TV interview to a Cambodian news station, shook hands with the Captain, Orlando, and other officers and adminstratives. The cruise was planned for 14 days, but I think it was now already about 17 days until it came to an end.

 

The bus ride was not too bad. They even closed the roads in Phnom Penh for us. That was weird. It seems in the city everyone knew who we are. They were smiling and many waived at us and we drove through all these closed intersections.

 

It was already dark when we arrived at the Sokha Hotel. A huge hotel. Huge, modern, wow. Like a palace. And then we also met those stranded people there that were stuck in Phnom Penh! They were at this luxurious hotel all the time. And we thought they were just in some motel. We were so happy to see familiar faces! And they were also surprised when the busses with us arrived.

The room was huge. I think we were on the second to top floor. We could see the Mekong River. There was a bath tub with a panorama window. The shower was like so huge like it was its own room. And we had one of these fancy toilets with a „backdoor“-cleaner. You could even choose if the water shall oscillate, the pressure and so on. It even had a bum-blow-dryer.

    

 

In the evening there was a meeting in a very huge, elegant meeting room. It was crazy huge. I read that the final of Cambodias Next Topmodel was taped there. Orlando Ashford and his team were giving instructions what will be next. We shall come back the next morning, with all bags packed!

 

In the morning everyone was ready to go and there was a board with hotel room numbers for the first flight. We were on that flight and went back to the room for our bags and got on the bus to the Airport.

 

 

Our chartered plane was a little delayed, but we were trained now with delays. We were supposed to fly from Cambodia to Turkey. And then split into groups to be flown around the globe. The flight was uneventful…until a certain point. Suddenly the on board entertainment went out. When it came back on later, I watched at that map where you can see this little plane and I questions myself why we are flying into the wrong direction. Other people were seeing the same and off went the discussions. No one knew what was happening. The HAL person on board had no clue. The flight attendants tried to calm everyone down. There was no panic or such, but when you are in the middle oft he night in a plane and this plane suddenly turned around for no reason, thats a strange moment.

 

We then landed in Karachi. Pakistan. We were there for a few hours and we were not allowed to leave the plain. My guess was that there was political phone calls and decisions to be made between, HAL, different countries and authorities.

After these hours we were informed that we are going to Amsterdam! There were also some Australians on board. Their facial expressions were easy to read after this new information. We were happy that we fly to a country within the European Union.

 

In Amsterdam, we were greeted in an empty terminal. If I remember correctly there was another temperature check. After sitting in an air craft in the middle row in an economy seat for about 19 hours, I felt like my back is going to crack and my head will explode. I had no more emotions, I just did not care how long this ordeal still might take.

 

We were booked on the next flight to Frankfurt. We sat on the flight and were informed that there was a delay. Oh, a delay. That means nothing to us anymore.

 

When we were home, it felt like a movie ended. So many things happened within the last weeks. It was just crazy. I made many phone calls and I was just so glad to be home again.

 

To sum it up, this cruise was really an adventure. There were many places we missed, but we also learned a lot about ourselves. About what is important and what is not important. I somewhat found some kind of inner peace on that cruise. We got to know so many people – guests and cew. HALs service was exceptional.

 

We received our HAL FCC while still being on the ship. And while everyone we talked to already had their money back from their TA’s of from HAL, our horrible TA took about 16 weeks and a letter from our lawyer to credit us the money back. Our airline was until today not able to send us clear invoices stating the costs for the fees and for the tarif changes itself – we were supposed to get some costs back by HAL, but our airline is not able to fulfill this request.

 

Greetings to everyone who was on that cruise, guests and crew. Thank you HAL for keeping us safe and happy. We will never forget this cruise, or better, this adventure.

 

 If there are some chronological errors – sorry for that. I should have made some notes, but sometimes it was just a little overwhelming. A rollercoaster of news and emotions.

 

With our FCC, which would have been due shortly, we booked a 7night cruise on Niuew Stantedam for summer 2021. Fingers crossed it might happen, but we all knew in 2020 that things can get worse quickly.

 

Our 2020 had many downs. My husband had some waves of back pains while being on the Westerdam. The medical center treated him well, but it turned out to be some symptoms of a multiple myeloma. So 2020 was full of treatments. In December my husband’s father died of Corona. So we have high hopes in 2021, it can only get better and we are eagerly waiting for further truckloads of vaccinations.

 

Keep safe everybody!

We sailed 16 nights in a forward facing balcony on Marina deck on Royal Princess and the balcony was never locked. The weather was mostly calm, so we used the balcony a lot. The balcony was huge!

 

Like other said before, the view is incredible. Our M-deck center cabin was a little more obstructed because of the bridge and we would have preferred the ones on Lido deck, but it was the only one available and I would immediately book it again!

 

 

 

 

Well...not NCL, but we boarded the Westerdam (HAL) almost one year ago in Hong Kong. Little did we know what might happen in the following days!!

Does HAL typically offer these kind of 14day Asia trips every year?