silvercruiser

Peter Bos is my alltime favorite captain. He did such a wonderful job on Voyage of the Vikings a few years ago and tried oh so hard to get us into Greenland, keeping us informed every step of the way. He'll surely be missed, that's for sure.

I had been booking a cabin right across the hall from the laundry room, then discovered that if we booked a cabin 5 doors down it put us in a different category and we'd save $300. That's when I started getting the $7/day laundry package. And when I was on Voyage of the Vikings about four years ago it came to only $6 a day because there was a top limit for the trip of only $200 for the 35 days. After the early days of travel, group land trips as well as cruising and doing all laundry by hand I decided it was time to pamper myself. When you're spending thousands for a cruise I think that the amount for a HAL laundry package isn't that big a deal. I love it even more since I became 4* and get it free!

Oh darn! Now everyone knows I'm a newbie, since I always wear a lanyard. :) (Check our my signature, pal.)

I too was bored on the Rotterdam in December and so were lots of others. If it had been my first cruise ever I wouldn't have wanted to take another one. As you can see by my signature I have lots of cruises to compare this one to. I obviously love cruising, but not this time.

The only Oceana cruise I've taken was the one-time-a-year Bermuda cruise that was r.t. trom Miami, the only Bermuda cruise on any line that left from and returned to Florida. I thought it was expensive and by the end of the cruise there was quite a bit of talk among first-time Oceana cruisers that no one thought it was any better than Holland America.

On the Rotterdam cruise I mentioned earlier we did NOT have BB King. In fact, even the music that was piped in was old, old, old. Every single song I heard was from WW II days. I'm already elderly, but I'm feeling too young lately for HAL.

At the Mariners luncheon on the Rotterdam, Dec. 3-17, I was seated with a group who'd just received their bronze medallions and I'd just gotten my silver medallion, so we were all experienced HAL cruisers. The general agreement was that if this had been their very first cruise ever, they probably woudn't ever book another one. The whole experience was just 'watered down' in so many ways.

SAIL, I agree with you totally. I'm still amazed that people refuse to shut up and listen to the captain. It's just as bad in the MDR when he occasionally makes an announcement. It really annoys me to miss what is probably important or he woudn't be talking.

shrimp66, I do the same thing, move the lanyard so that the card is on my back. I just do it automatically when I use the Kindle. I also bring my own punch, very lightweight, and punch the hole and put it on the lanyard as soon as I get it when boarding. Makes it easier to use when I board the ship and have my hands full with purse and carryon bags. I also found that few of my pockets were deep enough for the card to stay put and not fall out and get lost when I sit down.

I bought a sparkly lanyard in a ship gift shop for $10, later found that Walmart and the Dollar Stores sell the same thing for only 2 or 3 bucks.

Didn't realize I'm a Newbie because I always wear a lanyard. It's the most convenient way for me and has worked just fine for over 900 days of cruising. Of course, on Princess, my black card shows that I'm not really a newbie, but frankly, I don't really care what conclusion anyone wants to make.

On my last cruise, the Maasdam in September, there was no liquor of any kind in the minibar, just soft drinks and water.

Best CD ever, in over 900 days of cruising, was MARIO last year on Westerdam's South Pacific cruise. He managed to keep us pretty cheerrful despite the constant rain that kept us from visiting most of the islands. He had just the right combination of professionalism and friendliness. I wonder where he is now.

I live in a building that has hurricane windows, according to Dade County standards, but only good for up to 140 mph. We have three very large generators to keep up the air conditioning and elevators. One floor is a nursing home, so they have 100% power. Employees were able to bring their families here and the auditorium has been turned into Camp Irma. Yes, I feel safe, but still scared for the first time in the 27 years I've lived in Sarasota. I'm supposed to be boarding the Maasdam Wednesday to sail thru the Canal up to San Diego. Haven't packed yet, but the problem will be whether Rt. 75 is all above water for the limo to be able to get me down there. I figure that by Tuesday we should know. HAL has said they'll call or email me if their plans to stop in FLL change. Maasdam left Boston yesterday.

It took Antigua a full year to recover from Hurricane Marilyn. Cruise ships not allowed to stop there during recovery.

I guess I just meant that it may have some pretty rough weather trying to get from Boston through the Caribbean. This is a Category 5 hurricane, the intensity of which is 500 times that of a Category 1 and twice the intensity of a Category 4. It's also a very wide storm. I'm due to board Wed. the 13th in Fort Lauderdale.

And I'm wondering if Maasdam will sail out of Boston Saturday and if so, will it be able to stop in Fort Lauderdale on Wed., Sep 13 to pick up the passengers boarding there? There are a whole lot people waiting to board in San Diego for a 55 day cruise to Australia.

How about Captain Peter Vos? And what ship has CD Mario oboard?

And I carry a lightweight puncher in my travel purse.

The sparkly ones they sell in the gift shop for $10 can be found at Walmart for $6.

SAIL was not venturing out "on her own." On both cruises she had a buffer in the form of a friend travelling with her. This is not the same as being seated at a table with no companion and having to fit in all by yourself. I too cruise as a widow and find the experience quite different when with a friend or two.

I've used Sea Bands for many years and they work well for me, but I also buy a small bag of ginger candy at Trader Joes to take along just in case.

Frankly, if I were paying the solo price for a Neptune suite on HAL I'd think seriously about moving to Crystal and assume that the experience would be superior.

I second the suggestion to use a porter. Sure speeds things up.

Too painful to watch, because I was supposed to be onboard for a 30-day cruise. Extensive dental surgery got in the way, not over yet, and I had to cancel. Boo Hoo!

Is he (Mario) on another cruise line?