Blackduck59

4 hours ago, Sir PMP said:

Bring it on:

I don't think you will find that guy entertaining on a cruise. Imagine what the cruise fare would be.🤔

1 minute ago, MicCanberra said:

I know someone who does it and he is an Aussie. In sister he gets better service,  bigger pours, and such. I prefer to sit in my lounge chair and get the drinks as they come with the waiter providing good service without all the tipping. And the rewarding at the end of the cruise if they were exceptional.

Exactly Mic. The "tips" debate shows up from time to time on most boards (less here). Almost always when the subject comes up there is someone who insists they get better service using a particular unusual denomination of bill. I guess if you "think" it works it must be true.

That would be a great cruise for country music fans. I recognize several of the acts. I'm not sure I would be up for a whole week of it, but clearly it is popular and sold out.

I wouldn't mind a bit of country music in the 1990s vintage, like Garth Brooks, Alan Jackson, Keith Whitley etc. I think there are a few cruises (on other lines) that have actual "Country" themes with some pretty big acts. Of course I doubt you would see that on HAL. I think Country Night would be great.

If your "Gratuities" are included in the fare then consider yourself covered. You will probably have the going rate for "gratuities" added to every drink or specialty meal you purchase. Make sure you mention any crew member by name when they give you exceptional service. Take a moment to recognize those who you think deserve a bit extra and search them out close to the end of the cruise with a bit of cash (only if you want to) I have to say the whole "tipping" culture is out of hand in North America, with so many people thinking they can bribe "special" treatment with a couple bucks. We are so looking forward to our down under adventure where the servers don't expect an 18% reward for even the most basic of service.

Just now, Kristelle said:

 

 

I thought we had confirmed it was a Greek island?

That guess was for the mountain. There was some kind of lag because I didn't know there was a new image when I posted that...At least we know it's not Mount Shasta 😁😉

I decided to read through this thread, I took note when it started but didn't comment. We have not cruised Celebrity since before covid and had 2 cruises planed and cancelled because of covid; those cancelled cruises were both scheduled on Celebrity Eclipse. When it came time to try for a 3rd time to schedule that down under trip, Celebrity had changed to the "Edge" for that route and that was the end of that. I hate the edge class, they are ugly and the "Infinite Veranda" is an ocean view cabin with a large window that opens sometimes.

We then started looking at Princess and booked a shorter East Coast Canada cruise to try them out. Then Princess decided to go all in on the "Medallion" even though the system was full of bugs and failed often. We cancelled that and tried Viking, which was a one and done because we didn't think it represent value for money charged. We then decided to try HAL for the East Coast Canada trip we had cancelled on Princess.

We enjoyed that cruise even though it was the smaller, older Zaandam. This cruise suited our needs although the main stage entertainment was okay it didn't wow us. There was only one thing that was absolutely unacceptable for us and that was a "Presentation" in the main stage about "Canadian Icons" which this proud Canadian found offensive. It was taken care of in a satisfactory manner. We decided to book our Down Under adventure with HAL for next year (3rd time lucky?) while we were on board. We later decided to eliminate the long haul flight home by extending our cruise to include the 29 day trans Pacific which will bring us home.

One thing is certain we will never sail on a Celebrity "Edge" class ship and I guess we will continue with open minds about HAL in General and Westerdam in particular because that will be our home for 6 weeks next year.

I'm going to try Mt. Shasta in the USA

For us the long haul is about a month before the cruise and to a different country. Although there is the flight from Melbourne to Auckland, also a few days before the cruise. We will most likely use Air New Zealand for that flight. Everything about the Air New Zealand "Business Class" is just strange, best to stick with "Premium Economy" for that relatively short flight.

I am a pretty big guy and several years ago we decided if we couldn't afford at least Premium Economy we couldn't afford the trip. For others they would prefer to save that money for something else. We will be getting serious about booking our down under flight sometime in June. Right now we are leaning towards Qantas Premium Economy, with a direct flight Vancouver to Sydney. If we can get a good deal we may upgrade to Business class. That flight will be in the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. We decided to eliminate the return flight by cruising home.

That looks like Mount Fuji

 @OzKiwiJJ sorry I'm late to the parade...again. I bid you fair winds and a trailing sea. As others have mentioned, maybe get some Twinings English breakfast in Freo, that way you don't have to use all your precious blend. You should be able to make it stretch through the entire voyage. You will be able to get Twinings teas of all varieties at any of the Canadian ports. 

We look forward to following along your voyage.

On 4/30/2024 at 1:58 AM, MicCanberra said:

Also bigger on Reds than whites but don't mind some Pinot Gris, Reislings, Sav Blancs or Moscatos being sociable. We call them late harvest wines here, some Canberra wineries are doing them.

Late harvest and Ice Wine are actually 2 different things Mic. For Ice Wine the grapes are left on the vine and are literally frozen solid when they are picked in the dark (and cold) of night. Then they are crushed while still frozen and that is what makes it special. Even a cheap bottle of ice wine will set you back about $30.00 CDN for a half bottle and it goes up from there. Several of the wineries we have toured in the Okanagan have had late harvest wine and they all charge extra to taste it. The few that do ice wine charge even more for that, if they have a bottle open.

Sorry if I'm late off the mark I just started reading this thread.

I don't have a guess, just a comment. The fishing photo was very nice I thought. I was thrown by the number of people in the boat. Was it a fishing tour? We never actually talk much about the photo after it is guessed.

Is that light show always on in the evenings of whatever Botanical Gardens it is in Sydney? We would be interested in seeing it.

so as to be broad and include or exclude a place. Let's try North America.

7 minutes ago, dockman said:

once upon a time they featured heineken specials as being a proud dutch heritage....now just another beer

For many Heineken is "just another beer", it is brewed in many places by license and is not necessarily brewed in the Netherlands, just like the Tuborg sold here in Canada is brewed in Turkey, not Denmark. If you like Heineken enjoy it, for me it wouldn't be my first choice. If you are going to stock a "Dutch" beer to celebrate the Dutch heritage, it should be a bit more exclusive than Heineken and definitely brewed in the Netherlands.

I am happy to see that some of the items that were once "exclusive" to the "Grand Dutch Cafe" will now be available fleet wide. I have never had one (my only HAL cruise so far was on Zaandam) my ship didn't have the Grand Dutch Cafe, but that Bossche Bol looks amazing and we will definitely be sampling them next year on Westerdam. We didn't really have "Dutch" food when we had a short visit to the Netherlands several years ago. I suspect we will try several things from the "Dutch" menu next time we cruise with HAL.

I see a figure posted of $200.00 USD as being acceptable but $300.00 CAD as being outrageous. At today's exchange rate $200.00 USD is $275.00 CAD.

I agree Vancouver is expensive, just like any major city.

1 hour ago, POA1 said:

Wow. I would not have guessed that. You post well beyond your days. (This is a compliment.)

Thanks Brian, I appreciate your comment. Our next cruise is 6 weeks so I guess I will gain a little more knowledge. I really enjoyed doing the "observations" thread from Zaandam last year. Of course it paled in wit and humour compared to the research papers you post.

I think my lack of previous HAL experience gives me a different perspective because I'm not mired in what HAL "used to be". I come with the thought of "was it worth the money?", so far it has been.

15 minutes ago, Vineyard View said:

thank your for clarifying. I appreciate this. We haven’t been on HAL for years, and it seems to me that PG lunch was only open on sea days?  I may have that wrong. Regardless, most every port day we DIY, eat in port, and don’t worry about lunch on ship. I really do appreciate your perspective! 

Pinnacle Grill is only open for lunch on sea days. On most port days we would definitely dine ashore. Why visit far off distant lands if you aren't going to check out the cuisine?

While the idea of an "apology" seems straight forward enough, it has implications. The apology infers wrong doing as opposed to a poor business decision. There would be those who would take the apology as an invitation to demand compensation. I stated earlier that I would be demanding compensation for their very poor "business decision". Now they have changed that bad decision, I guess I would be placated but still unhappy.  I would definitely think twice about booking again though. A lame apology would make little difference. That being said for us itinerary is the top motivation and many of HAL's are not offered by other lines.

1 hour ago, Petronillus said:

Best wishes for your 2025 6-week cruise. I am green with envy.

We recently experienced a Tamarind pop-up on the Westerdam. It was in the Canaletto space and was not equipped with the full range of Tamarind offerings (no sushi) or level of service (no saki vessels). It was more like Tamarind Lite.

I understand that, but having never had the full Tamarind "experience" then I can't be disappointed that it really isn't Tamarind. We may sail on a pinnacle ship some day but don't have anything booked yet. Maybe HAL will realize Tamarind is very popular and they will add it to the older ships (one can live in hope).

1 hour ago, Vineyard View said:

Have you noticed that having one included in the HIA fare is making it difficult to make additional reservations if you wanted to?  
When  you say that you wouldn’t go more than included, is that because of food/dining experiences you have had there in the past?

We are very much HAL rookies with one 11 day cruise with them. We enjoyed our PG (included with HIA fare) dinner. It was embarkation day which by coincidence was my birthday. The food was nicely prepared and the service attentive. We just didn't think it was $100.00+ better than the MDR. I think lunch is a better value and it is worth the extra (to us) above the included in our fare lunch in the MDR. I think one of the advantages of being relatively new to HAL is that I don't lament what "used to be" or how things have "gone down hill". We ask "did it meet our expectations?" As an "Included in our fare" special dinner Pinnacle met our expectations. As an extra charge of about $100.00 destination dinner, perhaps not.

I think that for those including us who opt for the HIA fare one Pinnacle grill dinner is included, so it isn't "extra cost". We enjoy that dinner on that basis. The pinnacle lunch is a cut above the regular MDR lunch and well worth the reasonable upcharge. We have a 6 week voyage coming next year and I suspect we will enjoy lunch in Pinnacle several times over that time. I'm not sure we would go for dinner there more than those times included in our HIA fare. I do hope we will have an opportunity to enjoy a Tamarind pop up (Westerdam doesn't have Tamarind) on that cruise.

I think we are beginning to swing towards Qantas business class for the long haul Vancouver to Sydney. We will probably use Air New Zealand Premium Economy for the hop from Melbourne to Auckland, it is a much shorter flight and I doubt we would even attempt to sleep on it.

Like Linda we would rather stay home than fly coach ever again. After the last short hop flight through a full blown claustrophobia event, I decided I was never flying in a Dash 8 aircraft again; we'll rent a car and take the ferry over the day before we fly out. We aren't sure how much more travelling we have left in us. Although we are relatively young we are really growing weary of flying. There may be a couple of cruises left, perhaps an Alaska/Yukon cruise tour and maybe a UK cruise with a Trans Atlantic on Queen Mary 2 with a cross Canada train trip home.