vms

Dubrovnik sounds wonderful if hard on the knees. Glad that you both held up so well and enjoyed your day. And while it's never fun to miss a port, it certainly sounds like you made the best of things!

Looking forward to more!

What a stunning photo! Hope you enjoyed your day, rain or shine.

What a delightful adventure! Enjoying this very much and looking forward to more.

Bon Voyage!

Bon Voyage!

Wow! What an adventure to explore the Amazon! Bon Voyage.

May this cruise be as smooth as the last one was not. Bon Voyage!

What an interesting and exciting itinerary. You are sailing on my dream cruises! I hope you are enjoying every moment. Bon Voyage!

I enjoy the specialty restaurants and try to indulge at least a few times a cruise. I look for deals or lunches on sea days when there is usually a price drop for a smaller menu.

The biggest difference I've noticed is a higher level of service. The sommelier who wants me to try wines not on the wine list because I have the premium package and I should be able to explore some interesting choices. The server who takes time to understand my likes before recommending dishes. The calm of not trying to serve hundreds of people at the same time.

My last few cruises, the servers in the MDR were somewhat relentless on the last few days about reminding us to fill out the post-cruise email survey and rate them highly. I never got that pressure from those in the specialty restaurants.

The Alhambra is as stunning as I remember. Great photo. Hope you enjoyed your day!

I've enjoyed your previous reviews and the NE/Canada itinerary is on my bucket list, so I'm excited to see this review!

Your sail away from NYC was just beautiful! Looking forward to more (Especially the Lobster porn! ;) )

What fabulous itineraries! Bon Voyage to you both- may you have smooth seas and amazing adventures!

Leaving Nov. 8th on Koningsdam, just got room assignment tonight, have just been checking 10 times per day. LOL Booked cheapest inside guarantee and got interior spa stateroom. Pretty happy with the location, really high up though.

I hope I get that lucky! I would love for my cabin to be that close to the cabana I have booked! :) Only a year or so to wait for my assignment. LOL

What a fun and exciting itinerary. Enjoy every minute! Bon Voyage!

There was a good amount of fish and coral at the Pink Beach on Komodo Island. Be careful- there are some strong currents if you get a bit away from shore. Bring your own gear including fins, or double check with your tour operator that they provide fins. I was not the only person who got caught in the strong current and almost got pulled out to sea- our tour operator had said all snorkeling equipment was provided, but they only meant masks and snorkels- no fins.

Yes, many times. But I dine out by myself all the time, so I don't ever worry about what others are thinking of me- the answer is almost always that they aren't.

I've also connected with others on my roll call and made plans to join them for a specialty meal, both other solos and sometimes couples or small groups.

And once, I had just barely been seated at the specialty restaurant when a mother & her two daughters who I'd ended to dining with several times during anytime dining entered the restaurant. They sent the waiter over to ask if I'd like to join them, and since I had previously enjoyed their company, I did.

Go and enjoy!

I've only cruised Celebrity previously and now have my first HAL cruised booked, with nothing booked on Celebrity for the future.

As a solo traveler, I've grown frustrated with Celebrity's policy of rarely offering cruise fares for solos under 200%, and often on last minute cruises, asking more than 200%, or not offering a solo the ability to book. Yes, the double loyalty points are nice, but my upcoming HAL cruise is only costing me $300 over the per person double occupancy rate. I'll be taking an 18 day cruise for the same amount I spent on my last Celebrity cruise which as 7 days.

My dining table on my last Celebrity cruise was 3 couples all in their 80s and myself, at half their ages. I was younger than any of their children. And we had a delightful time with lovely conversation. So I'm not at all worried about the age of the HAL clientele.

I have no idea how accurate the information is, but a cruising website that has a lot of information about deck plans & cabins has a Eurodam dry dock listed as April 8-17, 2018.

There is no information provided about what would be done during this dry dock, assuming that the information is accurate.

Weird trivia item of the day:

 

Our room is on the port side of the ship, but we were docked portside out the whole trip.

LOL- that happened to me on my last cruise. We were sailing north to south, so I chose port side cause we would be facing the land as we sailed. Of course, we were far enough out in international waters that there wasn't much land to see most of the time. And then we docked portside out in every single port. Even the tender ports had portside facing away from the shore.

So much for watching for pier runners from my balcony. ;)

Thanks for this delightful review! You and Pooby Joe convinced me to book a cabana on my upcoming HAL cruise and now you've got me looking at NCL cruises!

What a wonderful itinerary! Bon Voyage to you all!

Welcome! I just recently booked my first HAL cruise and I've found the people on the HAL boards very welcoming and helpful. There are some great sources of wisdom and information here.

Hope you have a wonderful cruise!

Agree that I've never had an issue bringing my own mask/snorkel.

You may want to confirm with your tour operator that they are providing fins/floatation vests. I've been on a few private snorkeling excursions that have said "equipment included/provided" but the only equipment that was provided was the mask/snorkel. That way if fins/vests are important to you, you'll have an opportunity to bring them with because you'll know in advance they aren't provided.

Side note- the dive in the Seas tank at EPCOT was so much fun- guaranteed fish sightings and very comfortable water temps. :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

For the first time, Celebrity credited me with my double points for sailing solo without my having to call and ask for them after the fact! :D Given that they rarely have deals/reduced supplements compared to what I see with other cruise lines, I'm glad that they do give double points. But I'd join the chorus of those encouraging those who think they should have gotten double points to call about them. My 2 previous solo cruises I had to call and it was quickly taken care of.

It appears that Holland America does not, but since my supplement was only $300, I can't complain. ;)

I assume that you can arrange with the MDR wine steward to have it delivered to a specialty restaurant. Do you need to do that the day prior, or will the specialty restaurant know that you have the package and just handle it?