riverrat

2 hours ago, FLcruiser2011 said:

Speaking of running out of things, the first night I ordered a Hendrick's gin martini, and was informed that the ship was out of Hendricks.  I subsequently asked for a Belvedere vodka martini, and was informed the ship was out of Belvedere.  Since I rather doubt that San Diego was out of these two beverages, you have to wonder why they did not restock two brands that a lot of cruisers enjoy.

 

I realize that these are first world problems, but you have to wonder why Holland America is not stocking beverages people like -- since they charge more than enough for them.

I only wish. It is my understanding they opened the container in San Diego Oct 3rd to find none of the liquor on the manifest. They hoped it would catch us in Pape’ete. Are you all drinking on the Zuiderdam this week? I would think we would have heard as 1000+ have the drink package this trip thru the canal. 

1 hour ago, Sir PMP said:

Good decision, here are some of their comments and these are people ready to enter the presidents club and never complain:

The ports we did see kept changing dates 
* The food was very poor in taste, quality and selection
* Food supplies ran out after 30 days and so menus were changed to accommodate
* We ran out of Vodka/Drambuie/whiskey/Baileys/Kalua peanuts and a bunch of other things 

… another perspective…this 20 yr old ship is lovely and classy. We were onboard with the same shipmates for 6 weeks. Many received “pet names” good and bad. Sadly we noticed some passengers became more “entitled” and “demanding” as the weeks went by. So it goes….

For me, Hula and ukulele lessons were awesome and continued all the way to Pape’ete. Enjoyed the lectures and the captains noon talk. Bridge lessons and bridge play were wonderful and I came home sure of my ability to play. Loved going to bridge every sea day at 9:30am.  Permission to dance, movies, sauna, in-room dining, trivia, happy hour and our veranda cabin all 5 🌟.Yes we ran out of Vodka so we drank a lovely gin (Citadel) the last night. We ate beautiful omelettes, salads, a different soup every day on the lido and the “breads” oh my!! I can’t complain about the food but…we never do MDR for dinner because it takes so long. Often we arrived on lido to BUSY so we found something else to do and circled back in 30 mins. It wasn’t the trip of a lifetime but our lives were seriously enriched by the places we visited, the cultures we met and the people we shared it with. 

really like Trader Vic’s Mai Tai. 

On 9/11/2022 at 6:53 PM, Suslor said:

Thanks @The Inside Cabin  We did this with our fingers 🤞 crossed. We leave October 1, returning 11/17 so in DC we will miss receiving our ballot by mail, early in person voting and Election Day. We should receive our ballots by email, print them out, complete and have HAL fax them in. 

We are accomplishing this in Arizona with the...... Federal Write In Absentee Ballot (FWAB)

It is a blank ballot, but we can fill it in at home and take it with us to mail. We obtained it thru email after a phone call to our local "Elections Services" In Arizona 1-800-THE-VOTE

Love the ranger! Did you have the cultural ambassador on Indigenous Nations of Alaska too? Her talk was very uplifting. We just got off the Eurodam (fabulous cruise), at Captain Joost's talk, he showed a picture from Volendam bridge, water breaking across the Crows Nest! Gives me chill bumps to think. Enjoying your blog as preview. We join you in San Diego. If we can bring you anything, let us know.

On 1/7/2020 at 4:12 PM, HAL Sailer said:

 

One of the definite advantages -- to me -- is the ability to stargaze with no overhead obstruction. I spent every night on the verandah, drink in hand, listening to the sea wash by, and staring endlessly into the night sky. Delightful!

 

Here's a view of the verandah looking from inside N.A. 4053:

this balcony....4132 Eurodam this week. Music to my ears. Thanks for sharing.

Just a question….not insinuating you did anything on your part to catch the virus. 

Just wondering Why is Hal responsible for your room and board after you catch COVID and leave the ship? They are not able to make you take precautions on board or while on excursions or wear a mask. Why do we think they are responsible for our bills in quarantine? 

3 hours ago, Lido deck main said:

Please scan that document and share.

I can do. It's for the Nieuw Statendam

Where do I share? HalFacts?

3 hours ago, kstrittm said:

Add one more to the list for 14-day Alaska itineraries - and a stop in Homer.  It's my favorite spot in all of Alaska.  I did this on the Zaandam a few years ago, but nobody seems to stop in Homer anymore.  The trip I took was R/T Seattle, but Vancouver would be fine, too!

YES and lets stay long enough to fish for halibut! Heck I'd love an overnight in any port

42 minutes ago, DaveOKC said:

Just had Lobster bisque and crab cakes on the Eurodam 10 days ago - no upcharge.

 

Dave. How was the Eurodam? Did you write a review? We are boarding the 10th. 

Toot your horn more.... The artwork is stunning, but someone needs to build a brochure. Some folks like to stroll about the ship enjoying all you offer. Guest services did print me a 22 page color double sided document that gave photo and title. 

On 6/20/2022 at 9:25 AM, LJProk said:

We were on Noordam and did Whittier to Vancouver, amazing trip and would recommend to anyone! when you sail past the glaciers on Noordam they opened a forward deck on 4 that is normally closed. They had a bar set up outside but more people were eating the pea soup they were serving than ordered drinks. It was rainy and 48 that day! Skagway we did the white trail pass which fun, and the summer sled dog excursion which was a favorite for us. Juneau was whale watching and mendenhall glacier. And Ketichikan we did the misty fjords boat trip (do not recommend). Have fun, wish I could go back and we've only been home a week!

Can you give details on the misty fjords boat trip. Was this the kayak trip thru the ship? We are booked next week.  

5 hours ago, Navybikermom said:

I noticed one listed in the Navigator for my cruise this coming weekend on the Zaandam. It was listed for 9pm in the Crow’s Nest. I have cruised 9 times and don’t recall ever seeing that on the list of events, so I’m looking forward to my first Orange Party!

My cruise is two weeks out and the only events I see on HAL app are casino hosted. Is it too soon?

What am I doing wrong>

So just off phone with HAL as well...

Self test must be medically observed.

9/6 and after ...no testing required for fully vaccinated = 2 shots/full course of vaccine w/booster recommended 

Specifically asked... My RT - Seattle cruise stops in Vancouver on the last evening... any chance we will be forced to test ... answer was No... that stop in Vancouver will not cause testing.

1 minute ago, SusieKIslandGirl said:

 

If you snorkel, check out Patrick's tours. We loved the food trucks during the evening in Papeete and bought flowers for the cabin at the market.

I am hopeful, waiting for Patrick to email me back. Buying flowers for the cabin is one of my favorite things at the Seattle market too 🙂 so many choices, the steward brought me a vase to put them in. They stayed beautiful 14 days in Alaska. Kinda like being in the walk in cooler. 

4 hours ago, The-Inside-Cabin said:

HERE  is a link to my blog with a lot of information about South Pacific ports - we did the 35 day version in March

Read it last week. I loved your blog. Thank you. 

💦👗🐙🐟🐠🏖️  any knowledge you would share on the 45 day South Pacific cruise? 🐠

Crossing the equator, Halloween, Orange parties, packing etc. .....  🌎 🧡 🤓

How do I pull up my booking confirmation on the website or app to view the OBC for my USMC veteran and our shareholder benefit? 

19 hours ago, AKJonesy said:

But, even 4 star I'm not willing to put up with any hassles that involve ALOT of hoops anymore.  I can go on vacation many places without being stressed if I'm going to end up in covid jail on the ship.

IMO, HAL has already decided to do away with Q. The whole back of the ship verandas opened up on the 4th floor on some Alaska cruises. Thinking....they are now booking those rooms they previously saved for Quarantine. 

Diana 

Bayley said that the CDC shared some information with him in a call.

"The cruise industry sailing out of the US ports over the past 12 months and how many people have been hospitalized with Covid and how many deaths occurred from Covid from people who'd sailed on the industry's ships, which is in the millions," he said, "And the number of people who died from COVID who'd sailed on ships over the past year was two."

https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/news/cruise-line-drops-pre-cruise-covid-testing-rule/ar-AAZ9edh?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=U531&cvid=6e28cddd174d4cfebb865cf64dc8591a

On 6/11/2022 at 9:43 AM, mightycruisequeen said:

You don't run a successful hospitality industry by treating your customers like plague carriers until proven otherwise~ not for long, anyway.  Just my opinion, but there it is.

My husband and I feel the same. 8 days in ship Quarantine will do that to you. I look at the website, surf the wonderful cruises but, it was VERY stressful to be trapped in a room for week. Stomach turns just thinking of it. I will wait until testing stops. Carnival knows exactly how sick the 'vaccinated guests quarantined on board' have been. They certainly have the data. 

I didn't volunteer to test. I got 'retested' because my intransit group had too high a percentage of positives, so they retested us all. 

On 5/20/2022 at 5:43 PM, IPB4IGO said:

Arg! We will be on the NA nine days from now. Here on the Noordam I have heard of no covid cases, and, walking all the decks, I have found no quarantine spaces. We were booted off the Zuiderdam in January when I came down with covid the day we arrived in Florida in the middle of a back-to-back, and I don't wish quarantine on anybody.

Did you end up getting FCC for the days in Q? We were in for 8 days around the same time as you and received ~$30 day

On 4/28/2022 at 5:57 PM, cccole said:

homercrispy - How did you find room service for all of your meals?   If you found out you had Covid on day 6, you stayed quarantined for how many days before retesting?  Hopefully you had a balcony.  Did you bring self tests on board so that you knew you were positive?   I have a self test in my carry on but have not used it yet. Cherie  

Not the OP, but did spend 8 days in Quarantine from March 28-April 6th on the NS. Room service was as well done as possible. Foods were warm but still delicious. If you test positive on day 6 you remain until day 10 when you are released with out further testing. We were moved to a balcony from an inside cabin. We brought self tests and used them when hopeful about getting out of Covid jail.

The crew wears protective suits, face shields, gloves and have sprayer packs on their backs when they escort you thru the ship to the Quarantine wing. Everything is served on paper with wooden utensils. 

We tested negative three days prior to second sailing of our B2B so everything was great. BUT, Because our in transit group had a high percentage (60 pass) it forced a second testing of all the previously tested in transit guests and this snagged ~30 more of us on our 3rd day of 11 day cruise.

Are there positive people unknowingly walking around? I'd venture to say yes.

21 hours ago, matthewthompson87 said:

The eggs bhurgi in the MDR breakfast is the most wonderful thing on the morning menu.

 

Aloo Masala and eggs bhurji with paratha, rava dosa. So many of you know this dish. I only enjoyed it thru room service.  Was in Q for 8 days and could only guess and google …..spiced scrambled eggs, a spicy tomato sauce, sour cream, the other two cups is that paratha and rava dosa? I loved it all. 

Just completed 21 days on the NS. Our favorites:

Husband - seafood = swordfish, corvina and tuna (cooked perfectly), shrimp, fish cakes.

Me - beef = Crusted Prime rib, Rudi's bbq ribs, Rudi's brisket - not a fan of the strip.

Kristen Tish Croissant Pudding - amazing hot or cold (enough for two people)

Surf and Turf on Gala night was delicious.

French onion soup is my favorite, but I like all Holland soups

From the Lido - favorite night was three different curry options on the Far East Station