Mary229

Can you leave it at your hotel and retrieve it after the tour?

Here is a quote

For all cruises except Grand Voyages, your elevated benefits will take effect on your next Holland America Line cruise. If you cross a star level threshold while on board a Grand Voyage (based on days sailed), you will be upgraded to your new star level for the remainder of that voyage.

Unless you are on a grand voyage you are not officially a 4 star until your next cruise.  The tally is not done, except for grand cruises, until 7-10 days after the cruise.  You should get a pin on your next cruise. 

45 minutes ago, Haljo1935 said:

Thank you, Mr Samsung, for the play-by-play.  No steps recorded at exactly the start of a new day?! 🤔🙄

We'll see what he has to say at EOD cuz we are getting on a ship in just a few hours!

Can you tell I'm excited?! Like a kid getting a box of puppies!!🤭🥴

No idea what to expect for sail away - I haven't searched for pictures so I could be surprised. 

Breakfast in an hour - Samsung should be happy - it's about halfway to Termini, so I'll get in a few steps.🙄

You know what I am going to say…..

Apple

sounds like a wonderful trip so far.  I do like the N Statendam 

4 hours ago, ronrythm said:

Sorry, but you are totally incorrect about the bandwidth requirements for streaming. It is quite simply huge compared to all other network usages. There’s a reason streaming is the first thing throttled on congested networks. The attached image shows streaming compared to other media uses. Remember 1 Megabit/sec = 1000 kilobits/sec. On a ship you are in quite a different situation than at home. I doubt at home you are sharing one connection with several thousand other people. 

Tv streaming is comparable to zoom and that is not a huge number.  The ships now have the ability to throttle and could (and do) do so when needed.  Like coffee pots they certainly are happy to make it available if you are willing to pay  and do so NOW.  I don’t mind paying I just would like the ability and I would like that ability on their TV.  Let’s be clear we can (and I do) stream on my iPad now while on ship, I just want it on TV via app - the app is safe for the network as it does not require compromising the network safety.  They install the app, I sign in with my account.  Hotels worldwide use this system 

2 minutes ago, wdw1972 said:

One reason I usually don't cruise with my husband is he'd want to lay on the bed and watch tv most of the cruise.  I don't want the damn tv on at all.  If your priority is watching tv, then I agree - stay the heck home. I don't want to see it - I don't want to hear it.

 

Sue/WDW1972

Sorry but I won’t stay home.  Sorry to burst your bubble.   

I sail Holland a lot and occasionally use a guarantee for one reason or another.  If the room is not suitable I call and ask to move and am even willing to pay a small fee to do so.  I have usually gotten moved 

55 minutes ago, AroundWithMAPTravels said:

… and then there’s the laundry…. I put it in the little bag, but I am the one who needs to “attend to “ it. 🙁

(upside is no little tags that need to be removed)

Oh but the happiness when you have a scratch and find that little tag still attached

… memories and anticipation 

8 minutes ago, Haljo1935 said:

Yummy!

So much food, so little time😁. Enjoy!

53 minutes ago, Harters said:

The British government advice is only not to travel to very limited parts of Turkey, which border Iran, Syria and Iraq. Many thousands of Britons will be continuing to enjoy their beach holidays in the western parts of the country. Similarly, Cyprus (included the part occupied by Turkey) is also very much open to tourism, in spite of being a major operational base for the Royal Air Force. 

Safety on land and safety at sea are different even in the same region.  Additionally, cruise ships can be considered a high profile target 

9 minutes ago, AmazedByCruising said:

 

Hi Chief, 

I think there's a solution for that, by setting up a Content Delivery Server on board the ship. Most people will watch more or less the same content, so the on shore server can redirect the TV or browser to the ship's server.

Streaming simply is done through apps.  It is done worldwide in hotels and I doubt the bandwidth used is more than a blip than it is now.  With new satellites and new services internet is not as valuable as once was.  The only reason it is costly anywhere is it is an unregulated utility.  

I think before making any of these decisions you need to go on a long cruise or two.  This is akin to the advice I would give to someone who wants to move across country in retirement - rent first, in the case of cruising in retirement - try it first.  
 

We had a similar idea and are now plowing through a bucket list of cruises, we prefer to sail 30 to 45 days at a time. We found 1. Long term social life on cruises can become a bit stale 2. Just how many times do you want to visit the same ports over and over. 3. It may become difficult to maintain your exercise/health regimen.  As I did when I moved in my youth we chose the best area for our economic advancement close to 2 airports.  We find we now have a nice financial nest, can maintain that nest by our low cost of living and with two airports we can travel anywhere at a moment’s notice.  

Celebrity. According to my market research It fits a variety of budgets though not the cheapest and mainly caters to adults.  It also tends to attract your age group avoiding the party animals or the very quiet people.  You will get good cuisine, entertainment, a decent itinerary without excessive noise or boredom. 

I always carry at least one suit in case I want to go into the pool or hot tub.  If I am on a tropical cruise I bring two, one for the beach, one for the pool. I also usually bring beach shorts too that look suitable for the boardwalk/rambler and the beach.  I simply don’t swim too much but I do like beach walking.  

26 minutes ago, Caribbean Chris said:

HAL used to serve a large hot fudge sundae at lunch in the MDR on embarkation day with premium vanilla ice cream, rich whipped cream, and delectable hot fudge sauce. I think there were nuts sprinkled on top, too. It had a fancy wafer cookie. I looked forward to it.

Seems as though it was post-pandemic when the HFS appeared as a dinner desert with medium-sized chunks of marshmallows infiltrating the ice cream. (Not a good situation, IMHO.)

The latest version, served on Zaandam in September, had ditched the marshmallows but wasn’t quite up to the former standard. 

 

 

The marshmallows put me off from ever ordering it.  I just tried it recently, sans  marshmallows, and it was pretty good. Whipped cream would be optimal. 

I often carry cheese onboard - one of my favorite souvenirs.  Waxed cheeses, uncut, can last very long without refrigeration.  Also unopened hard cheeses last.  I have never purchased cheese in Aruba 

I hope this links works for you.  When HAL offers one of these promotions the easiest way to discover the included cruises is from the front page promotional link.  Here is the link for that promotion 

https://www.hollandamerica.com/en/us/find-a-cruise?dealId=EXPLORE23&csvFileName=multi_EXPLORE23_1.csv&ICID=INTHWEB202310127V0X2FV462

36 minutes ago, chengkp75 said:

The most frequently failed item on a coffee maker, tea kettle, or steamer (anything with a water tank and heater) is the "auto-off" switch.  Mr. Coffee almost went out of business a few decades ago because of lawsuits over fires caused by their defective auto-off switches.  The kettles and coffee makers that cruise lines allow in cabins are taken out of service every six months for inspection and testing, which is a whole lot of man hours, which is why most lines restrict the numbers onboard.  I remember one coffee maker on NCL that went up in flames while it was plugged in the electrician's shop for testing.

 

As for microwaves, you can put non-microwavable glass products in the microwave, and have them explode, or metal of certain configurations can cause sparking and cause the magnetron to fail, possibly causing a fire.  Also, how many times have people put food in a microwave, not knowing its wattage, and burned food (especially popcorn), which would then trigger the fire alarm, and cause the crew to respond to the alarm.  

 

As Andy says, it is risk analysis, done by the cruise lines' insurance clubs, that determine whether they allow kettles in all cabins or not.  Lines that allow kettles in UK cruises likely have policies that carry a higher premium than those that don't.

 

Hair care appliances are accepted by the insurance underwriters as acceptable simply because of the detriment to the cruise lines' business if they didn't allow them.

 

As for a "true streaming TV", I would hate to see what the cruise fare would be to cover the bandwidth for a thousand TV's on satellite internet.

One method is as RCCL does, as I mentioned earlier, is the rental method.  That pays for any man hours and any inspections 

2 minutes ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

Oh Please!!!  Handwritten.  Cursive only.  

And none of those devilish ball point pens.

You are being warned prior to final payment date that seems fair to me.  

7 hours ago, KAKcruiser said:

I can understand if Key West is limiting the size of ship or how many ships a day.  What I don't understand is why the port is put on the schedule in the first place.  They must know it is a problem.

I assume they were awaiting a final court decision.  I am too lazy to look up that date but that date was likely after voyage publication.  

9 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

BTW electric tea kettles are a fire hazard and banned on most ships – except when said ships sail out of UK ports when magically tea kettles appear in every cabin!

They once were but about 30 years ago they invented the kettle which shuts itself off, maybe in another 20 years HAL will discover those along with true streaming tv, a website that works and other new fangled inventions. 😁

9 hours ago, PhD-iva said:

This is where I am. I am certainly an O “cheerleader.” I have always been happy with my O cruises in spite of a few niggling things that might/might not arise.

 I was in the “itinerary changes are not refundable” camp. But when (apparently) O offered some FCC for those who requested it, I was happy to see them to “step up” and “do the right thing.” It’s NOT OKAY FOR O TO UNILATERALLY RESCIND THEIR FCC OFFER. 

What’s up?

Exactly.  The cruise contract does cover changes to itineraries and this is a reminder to become acquainted with those contracts. (I am absolutely certain O is not taking the originally planned voyage but they have that right). It is the tortuous twisting in the wind which is the problem.  

6 hours ago, Haljo1935 said:

@Mary229 Geez autocorrect. Nighttime tour of Rome. 🙄

I was wondering!  That’s alright I offered you a BIN Voyage so let me say it right

Bon Voyage, Clear Skies, Fair Winds

19 minutes ago, RuthC said:

I haven't see it offered in years, but the best dessert I have ever had in my (long-ish) life was the Chocolate Purse that HAL served. 

Those were popular quite a few years back, it has been a few decades since they disappeared from menus.  There were yummy.  My father and I used to share one as an entree while others at a real meal.