1 hour ago, MommaShandy73 said:

2/27 NCL...DR & Turks/Caicos cruise booked and they have cancelled the Turks/Caicos port... how do I find out why? Wondering because it's the reason we booked this trip...

As an FYI, never book a cruise to guarantee to see a particular port. Land vacation only for a guarantee. 

You can always check on the official port schedule website for information. Do not look at a third party site, official only for real information. 

My last two cruises had significant port changes. I really didn't care, and I was anticipating changes. 

Turks and Caicos is a nice spot with nice beaches. It really isn't much different than many other Caribbean islands.

On 1/12/2023 at 10:36 AM, jpcdds6 said:

We are on the Escape 1/28 sailing, and as of today the Amber Cove port schedule has 4 ships listed for 1/30. The Escape, 2 Carnival Ships and The Virgin Valiant Lady. If Taino Bay isn't ready for Breakaway Plus class, I guess we would head to Nassau changing sea days? Nothing from NCL or my TA.

I am looking at the schedule for Taino Bay, Virgin Valiant Lady and NCL Escape are supposed to dock there 1/30.

In Amber Cove on the actual website, it is Carnival Spirit and Carnival Magic are there Jan 30th.

I have been to Amber Cove a whole bunch of times. I have only seen two ships there at the same time. 

It is best to look at the actual websites, and not one that is a general one for DR. 

On 12/20/2022 at 11:58 AM, MISTER 67 said:

We saw the piano and scratched our heads as is to why no one played it the whole week we sailed which was from Dec 4-11.

Maybe an illness but we were on the Rotterdam in April and there was no live music in the Ocean Bar on that cruise either.

Bottom line is that HAL has cut back on too many things and we just don't care to sail with them anymore.

I was on the NA from Nov 27 to Dec 4th. One of the piano players had covid, I guess the other one got it too. 

There is minimal entertainment on HAL. There is music at night in the BB King Club, and maybe a bit where there is dualing pianos. The National geographic thing in the main stage was so awful on one ship I was on, I walked out. I have no interest in seeing animals killing other animals to a live quartet. 

There is little to do for kids. The kids clubs will have activities, but they have no real dedicated entertainment. 

The comedian was dreadful, so much so he made jokes about not getting any laughs. 

The movies on demand are extactly what is on Netflix right now. I just got off the Nieuw Amsterdam on the December 4th.  So I was hard pressed to find a movie I haven't already seen. 

If you wonder why your cruise fare is so cheap, this is one of the answers. There is a reason why you pay a lot more on RCI or NCL. They have real entertainment for all ages.

I am on the NA right now. Internet is dreadful. Very slow. Won't load basic apps and pages.

Yep I am on the NA right now. Ever single crew/staff member has an N95 mask on. I am masked up indoors. 

One of the shoppies told me he had the flu and was quarantined for 2.days. he also told me he lied to say he felt well so he could go back to make commission $.

I have had my flu and 4th covid shot.

On 11/15/2022 at 9:02 AM, AryMay said:

 

Thanks! Sounds like I was concerned for nothing. In fact, our day at Half Moon Cay may end up better with the bonus music! 

 

 

You should have a blast!

I have done at least 10 LRBC cruises. I can tell you there will be nothing closed or out of bounds.

Often one or two of the bands will set up at the pirate ship.or the stay here forever bar. 

We have shared stops in Tortola, and bands are set up at margaritaville. 

The guests on the other ships got caught up dancing and having fun where a some from the other ship nearly missed their sail away time 🤣

I can confirm on our Feb 4 to 20 Panama Canal cruise there were no straws to be found. I didn't go into cocos. I had a few straws in my purse, because I like my plastic straws.

I had a lot of people ask where I got my straws from. Sadly, I had none to share. So people did I like did and got them when they were on shore. 

Bring your straws if you like them!!

I personally would not purchase CAA insurance. A colleague of mine slipped and broke her leg and required surgery while in England. She had called CAA about the emergency treatment/surgery while in the hallway after being prepped for surgery in the hospital in London. The rep from CAA insurance asked to speak with the surgeon. Apparently the CAA rep asked the surgeon was she stable enough to put off the surgery for a day. He said "I guess so" WRONG FRIGGIN' ANSWER. CAA told the surgeon that the insurance would not pay for surgery. 

My dear colleague had to leave the hospital in extreme pain, with her 90 year old father, and flew back to Canada. In agony. Another friend got her from the airport and took her directly to the emergency room. The surgery was performed that night. She was off her feet for several weeks. The jostling around in transport with a broken leg that required surgery made it worse, and made her recovery longer.

I will never, ever purchase CAA insurance. I have in the past, but no more.

No problem using shoppers for my last couple of flights into the US.  The pharmacist was very careful about names and dates. 

It gets shown to the airline before you board.

3 hours ago, gubby said:

I just ordered a pack of 20 of these. I will let you know how my spouse feels about the head band. They should be here this week. Although a registered letter I sent via Canada Post mailed on Dec. 23 was not  delivered less than 5 km away until Jan. 6. Christmas Rush????

I was chatting to a friend last week, she works for canada post. She said covid has been ripping through canada post employees at the sorting station. They were very short staffed.

Some doctors will provide a letter stating that you are past your quarantine period.

The travel clinic in Ottawa has this service. Sadly, they are closed til Jan 31st, but google in your area to see what you can find.

You just need the antigen test to get in the US. It takes 15 min at shoppers. They will give you an official signed receipt for travel. It is the $40 test.

Have an enjoyable cruise. I am glad to hear you made it, aching and exhausted, but better than missing the ship.

Our planned cruise in Feb. we are leaving from Montreal, rather than risk short connection times from the Ottawa flight. I am so sick of all the changes in the flight schedules. The one thing I have found throughout the pandemic, is that I am glad we only book business class on AC. They definitely have worked hard to accomodate all the flight changes, hotel stays etc. We have travelled a fair bit in the past two years. 

We are back to panic stations in Ottawa again, even jerk Watson has covid. So enjoy the sunshine and being pampered!!

41 minutes ago, KruisingKaren said:

It's our first LRBC.  Can't wait.  If I spot that black and pink bubba mug I'll introduce myself!

I hope you are on the lrbc fb page too. Lots of info!

See you on board.

Sheila from Ottawa 

7 hours ago, KruisingKaren said:

Hi all.  I see that I can order a bottle of liquor to be delivered to my stateroom.  Am I allowed to mix a drink and take it out of the stateroom or does it have to be consumed in the room?  Also, do you know if they provide glasses with the bottle or do I need to use the stateroom tumbler?

 

Hi Karen! Fellow blues cruiser here! Yes, you can order bottles of liquor on the HAL website.  Bring canned mixers on with you or just buy pop etc on board.

Even on regular cruises everyone walks around with drinks in their bubba, tervis or yeti mugs. Everyone. It is not coffee in those mugs. 

Dont listen to some of the nonsense spouted here.

Bartenders know full well when you hand them a mug full of rye to top up with coke. They do not care. Not once, not ever.  We do this most cruises unless we have a beverage package.

See you on the blues cruise! I will have my black and pink bubba mug with me 😁

I found out the trick to opening the balcony partitions. A regular key, like a house key or car key. It worked between our balcony and our friend's balcony. We kept asking the cabin steward, he said "later" which never happened. I noticed a row of three balconies were open next to our friend's cabin, so we asked one of the people. They had the same issue with the tardy steward. She told me the trick. It worked.

21 hours ago, TonyC1952 said:

"nothing worthwhile until you get to 4*; I guess I got ripped off when I got a 25% reduction in the prices of my wine packages and meals in the Pinnacle and Tamarind, while I was a 3 star... if you don't use the benefits you've earned, they are worthless.

Perhaps you don't get those benefits on a LRBC? Call me confused.

 

We get some on the blues cruise. 50% is a decent deal for 4*. I know what isn't allowed for 4* on the blues cruise is the 50% mini bar purchases. I have friends who have complained about that. 25% off of a terrible wine list isn't very enticing. We eat almost exclusively in Tamarind and Pinnacle, so it is nice, but there was a big price hike a couple of years ago, so it sort of makes up for it. 

On 11/10/2019 at 12:29 PM, Roz said:

I wonder why they don't get Mariner points?  

Yes, we do get Mariner points on LRBC.

I have done about 10 LRBC, we are back on in January 2020.

I am a three star Mariner on HAL. They are my least favourite cruise line, so I would never have reached 3* without LRBC. Not that it matters, there is nothing worthwhile unit you get to 4* and get free laundry and priority embarkation and tenders.

I have been on Carnival, NCL and HAL all lots of times. I would say HAL is a step down in many aspects from Carnival and NCL. Yes, a step down for those cheerleaders.

The food has been better with more variety on the larger Carnival and NCL ships. Thank goodness you will be going on the Koningsdam. The food venues have very limited hours on HAL, so be aware of the hours on the daily schedule. If you like ice cream as a treat, be aware that they close it at 3pm on the Koningsdam and will direct you to the pay gelato place. 

The entertainment is absolutely dreadful on HAL. My last regular HAL cruise was on the Oosterdam last December. So many complaints from the cruisers at dinner each night. I went with a friend who is elderly and a die hard HAL fan. Even she complained about the food and entertainment. HAL does not spend money on entertainment like NCL, RCI or Carnival.

I am sure you got a cheap deal on the Koningsdam. It is a nice ship, with some nice decor. The cabins are smaller than the older HAL ships, smaller than Carnival cabins, but about on par with the newer NCL ships.

You are there to see Alaska. Enjoy! Just remember that if you got a smokin' hot deal on the ship, there is a reason and roll with it. 

I hate to break this to you who don't know what the pool was ACTUALLY like on the Oosterdam.

There was green algae, absolutely not floating sea weed in the pool. Any pool owner can show you what pool algae looks like. It forms a green slim in corners, ladders and areas that have less circulation. If the algae is bad, it grows at a rapid rate. This is clearly what happened in the Oosterdam pool. A couple of days of lack of maintenance is all it would take. 

The ladders had slimy green algae on them and behind the ladder in the corners there was algae growth in the corners. Heat and bather load will make it worse in a matter of a few hours.

For those of us who spend a lot of time at the pool we know what it looks like. As a pool owner (I have a salt water pool) I know EXCATLY what I am talking about.

Sadly, the pool area was pretty neglected on the Oosterdam. Broken buttons on the hot tubs, broken grills around the hot tub rim, missing tile in the pool etc. It is a old ship, wear and tear is expected. However, this is a serious lack of care for the health and safety of guests.

On ‎12‎/‎23‎/‎2018 at 11:44 PM, jwh said:

Thank you too bluegiraffe.  I will make a note to avoid that one.  It's a while since I was on Zaandam, but I do remember the airconditioning to be a challenge.  We just couldn't get it cool enough and numerous attempts by the maintenance crew to fix it were unsuccessful.  Did anyone else find aircon a problem? 

We were on the Zandaam years ago. It was awful. Hands down the worst cabin ever. On the main deck, port side aft oceanview. NO a/c at all. It turns out there hadn't been working a/c in that section for months. So years later, it looks like it never got fixed.

In my opinion, selling non functioning cabins is fraud. Disgraceful.

The pool is very poorly maintained. I was on the Oosterdam Dec 1 to 8th. The aft pool was GREEN with algae. There were huge pockets of algae in the area by the ladders.

The pool was closed one day as supposedly a glass was broken in the pool. I saw an officer standing by the pool as it was being drained. I spoke to him about the disgusting condition of the pool. He just shrugged his shoulders. I told him they needed to scrub that pool properly and get it balanced. It was pretty damn clear to me that they don't know what the heck they are doing.

They clearly don't clean or test the pools regularly. The algae was a floating mass in the corners. I am a pool owner, I know that it would take a few days to get that kind of algae growth. I was wearing my dark sunglasses and didn't realize how bad the pool was until I was getting out.  

Sucked. Very expensive as well.