lupaglupa

That sounds cool! We can always use more lessons. 

5 hours ago, Petronillus said:

On our most recent cruise on the Westerdam, we saw dancing in the evening at the BB Kings lounge. I'm not an aficionado of that style of music and can't tell rock from blues, but it was not ballroom dancing of any sort. The basic swing patterns would likely serve, but don't expect foxtrot or waltz.

That's very helpful - thank you!

9 hours ago, POA1 said:

We had Ballroom Dance Hour almost every day on the Rotterdam. It was usually at 4:00 pm in the BB King Lounge. I can't comment on the music or dance styles, but it was on the program

 

Hopefully when we are on Rotterdam it will be the same!

Just now, trickylibrarian said:

Next cruise try Cunard.  Lots of dancing in the ballroom with a live band.  

We've done Cunard! The lectures were wonderful, the food was only okay. We prefer HAL overall. 

I've seen people dancing on several cruise, which is one of the things that inspired us to learn. But I can't remember which particular dances people were doing. And I don't think we're talented enough or dedicated enough to learn them all in the next few months 😉

We're doing a 15-day transatlantic from Rotterdam to Fort Lauderdale this October. 

5 hours ago, acctgtogo said:

Thank you for the information.  Early seating was full when we booked.  We will head to the dining podium after boarding and hopefully will be able to reserve a table.  

This happened to us one cruise and we were able to make a reservation after we got on board for the same table every night at the same time - just as if we had had a regular assigned table. We even got a window table. 

My husband and I have started ballroom dancing lessons and we hope to dance on our cruise this fall. Can anyone tell me what dancing opportunities there might be? And what music is commonly played i.e. which dances we should focus on? Thanks in advance for nay info you have to share!

I was on HAL in Alaska and asked a crew member about people missing the ship. I was shocked when she told me they had left someone behind at least once every trip that season. 

What stood out to me in this story is that the group included several people with medical issues. My husband and I would never be so careless as to risk being separated from necessary medications etc. We explore independently when we know we will be in walking distance of the ship. Otherwise we pay the money extra for a HAL sponsored excursion. It's just not worth the risk. 

Can anyone remember a news story like this about travelers missing a plane or a train or a bus? No one expects other forms of travel to wait for them!

The menu pictures in the first post were taken at Morimoto when we ate there. It may have changed. 

We did it the first night, just happened to be on the right ship. It was very good, not unlike Tamarind but a bit more upscale. I would say that you compare the menu and prices between Morimoto and Tamarind to decide. For me as it wasn't a great improvement over Tamarind based on what I normally order but if you wanted one of the specialty dishes it would be worth it. 

I haven't seen a printed newspaper summary the last three cruises on HAL. We did enjoy having access to the New York Times through the navigator app. You can read it all you like even if you don't have a wifi package. And - best of all, it will recognize your New York Times account if you have one and keep your Wordle results. I was even able to share my Wordle with my brother every day. Since I didn't have the wifi package it sent the shared result to him at the next port when I hopped on mobile data. 

If we forget to tell the waiter we sometimes swing by to tell one of the maître d's at the door. Once we told the person staffing the desk which makes reservations for the specialty restaurants. They all have access to the same system. 

35 minutes ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

 

Now, there's a way to convince him to reduce his screen time. Keep logging him off!

It's usually only bad the first day. Then he gets a crowd of friends and spends his time with them, not online. 

We've had this happen when travelling with our son - we get two accounts for the first two passengers in the cabin with HIA and don't want to pay for him to get a third account. If one tries to log in when another account is active then the system will ask if you wish to log off the connected device in order to log in. When the other user is a teenager you see that message every time you want to use your device since he is always on. 

I think it's only okay if your ship is in (or soon to be in) Canadian waters. The crew do use their time on shore to shop and tour and having local money is nice then. But if you are on a ship that's not going to be stopping in Canada anytime soon I'd do as others suggest and swap your cash into a currency the crew can use. 

We usually get ours about a week out.

That German menu looks awesome. I know it must be hard for them to plan special meals like this but they are so fun I wish they would do them more often.  

1 hour ago, Petronillus said:

Would a Greek taverna be too much to hope for?

That would be awesome! 

I open up the HAL site in a different browser and, while it is time consuming, look at everything bookable for the particular cruise. I mostly do this when I'm already booked and I want to see how full the cruise will be before I get on. 

I make the final payment online and that works fine for my PCC. The only time I give her my card number is when I'm making the initial deposit. 

This low number per person, compared to what on land visitors spend, is part of what is pushing port cities to limit or ban cruise ships. Having several thousand people descend all at once to crowd streets and use local services is not very appealing when they spend only a fraction of what other tourists do. 

My cruise port spending, of course, varies but sometimes it's nothing. I may just walk around and see the sites. We are not big shoppers and rarely buy souvenirs. We do get a meal when we are on shore for a longer time. But we don't usually contribute much to the local economy. 

Thank you for answering! I'm guessing my husband will not want to risk the shuttle. He has a very strong fear of getting left behind. 

I've been to the museum twice and it's very interesting. It is not a far walk to get to the entrance. But there is a fair amount of walking to get to the museum itself. I would take a good look at the satellite view on Google maps and see the terrain before you go. 

We have a stop in Brest this fall and have booked an excursion that will return us to the ship with about 90 minutes of free time. From looking at maps online it seems that cruise ships dock at a fairly industrial port. Does anyone know if it is possible and/or safe to walk into Brest from there? And if not, is there a shuttle that runs frequently?