Blackduck59

@Mareblu Thanks Linda, we are grateful for your offer and we accept. We are still more than a year out and we had planned a road trip before with several places to meet people. Of course there are more people now so we will be going out The Great Ocean Road as far as Warrnambool. Most of the trip was along the coast, travelling south west from Sydney. There were stops at Philip Island (we want to see the Penguins). I also want to see Ballarat, maybe overnight at Craigs Hotel. We will be in Oz about 3 weeks. With Mic & Rosie setting out on their Voyage on the 21st of February, hopefully we can meet up in Sydney on the 20th. We will arrive in Sydney on the 19th of February and leave from Melbourne on the 13th or 14th of March, the cruise boards in Auckland on the 16th.

The nice thing about HAL is you don't have to have "status" to get into the secret handshake event. There are a few invitation events for loyal customers and that is fine. The idea of having a separate special people lounge reserved for those of a certain level to keep the lowly masses away doesn't seem to be a thing. I find that for many HAL "Mariners" the only thing of much interest is the free laundry at the 4 star level. Enjoy your cruise, meeting people is easy, ask to join a table in the Lido, share a table at dinner, you will soon find your favourite lounge and will start to see the same people, strike up a conversation. On our last cruise we had a very nice lady ask to join us at an adjacent table we were happy for the company and talked all through breakfast. We saw each other from time to time and had some very nice talks. We shared each other's contact information and have kept in touch. We will be visiting her when we are in Australia next year. You don't need status just say hello.

Thanks Mic, I always thought it would be hard to find you at home. Hopefully we can at least meet up for a pint before you go.

@mr walker Thanks Neil, we will probably fly in to Sydney around the 18th of February 2025 maybe a little later. We are keen to meet the friends we have been in contact through Cruise Critic and will definitely plan to visit your part of OZ. I had hoped for about 4 weeks in Oz but it will more likely be 3 weeks. The road trip will start in Sydney and end in Melbourne. We want to choose a route that lets us meet people and see Oz. While I will use Motor Ways we would prefer perhaps a slower pace, so we aren't missing the very place we came to see. We want to be able to stop at local places to eat or buy groceries if we have arranged accommodations with a kitchenette. When doing road trips here we have a little power cooler that plugs into the car's power points. It works really well, we'll buy one of those because Lynn will need to keep her insulin chilled. We can leave it with @possum52 Leigh in Melbourne if she wants it. We will be flying out of Melbourne for Auckland on the 13th or 14th of March, we board the cruise on the 16th. There is a port stop in Melbourne on the cruise and also a day in Sydney (turn around day between the 14 day and 29 day itineraries) perhaps we can catch up with Graham @gbenjo while we are there.

So we have the new cruise itinerary sorted. With the previous booking in place it was best to do the booking as a B2B. We have the same cabin throughout. We changed cabin class for the first 14 day leg, we were in a signature suite but switched to an SA Veranda on deck 5. The original 14 day cruise was just over $14,000.00 CDN. This included the enhanced Have it all package including "Crew Appreciation", Elite beverage package etc. With the new 43 day cruise that has the enhanced Have it All package as well for a little under $30,000.00 CDN. So we think it is a great deal, not to mention we eliminate one long haul flight.

There is that too, although I'm not sure that is a big deal in Navy circles. First crossing of the Equator, Cape Horn and the Cape of Good Hope are all big deals.

it is billed as a 43 night "collector" cruise on Holland America Westerdam it begins in Auckland March 16th 2025 and ending in Seattle 27th of April. Of course there is a stop in Victoria on the 26th so we will arrange to get off here. The original 14 day cruise was $14,000.00, so by changing cabins categories we are adding 29 days for $16.000.00 and eliminating one long haul flight, of course we get to see more new places we haven't been as well. Then there is the whole crossing the equator by sea thing, probably not a big deal for Lynn but it is for this old Sea Cadet.

@MicCanberra Thanks Mic, we are sort of looking at this as a voyage of discovery. We did quite a lot of research on New Zealand and OZ during the planning of the cancelled trips. We both have an interest in seeing Fiji and aren't that keen on flying (especially long haul). The repositioning cruise seemed a great solution. As to our weather, we are in the middle of winter and the entire province is under extreme weather warnings. We had the warmest December on record here and now big arctic air flow. Apparently it will be cold for the next 4 or 5 days then easing off a bit. We have an appointment with our TA to sort out the details of the cruise. We are going to downgrade our cabin but then we lose some of the features of that booking with enhanced drinks and included gratuities being lost. Oh well, the switch from signature suite to veranda saves us $10,000.00 CDN on the full cruise price. The regular drink package works for us and I'm pretty sure we can cover the gratuities from the savings.

I have to wonder if the question about "men's" steam room is pretty specific. The answer is no there isn't a "Men's" steam room; there are steam rooms available (for a fee) for both men and women at the same time. So if you want to go for a steam in the altogether (as is common in some cultures or venues) that's not going to be on.

Did that show up on your account after the cruise? Apparently that can be a stressful overcharge 😉😇

I'm just having a look at the new itinerary and I don't think PNG is included. Of course my southern Hemisphere geography is sadly lacking, We have 2 stops in New Caledonia, and 2 in Vanuatu (is that one island or a group of islands) and 4 stops in Fiji which I know is a group of islands. We are having our first snowfall of the season and it is cold (for here in Victoria) -9 celsius with a wind chill as low as -20 celsius. We may get up to 5cm of snow, chaos will ensue on the roads as the yahoos in there bubba trucks with the 30" mud tires figure they have it made, until they're parked upside down in the median. Unfortunately the tires weren't suitable nor were their driving habits. I will be driving the Subaru tomorrow, it has very good all wheel drive and more importantly winter tires. Good thing I already planned for a short day tomorrow.

Gratuities, Crew Appreciation whatever you want to call it, are part of the package unfortunately. The whole thing has gotten out of hand especially in North America. We get "gratuity" prompt on debit machines all the time, more and more for things where a "tip" is not normally expected. I think that the whole "Crew appreciation" should just be included in the price. We are all shooting ourselves in the foot every time we tip more for drinks or your steward or any other crew member. We already paid the gratuity. This may come back to bight the crew in ways not intended. I think those extra cash gratuities will start to get smaller. As it is the new rate makes for another $86.00 for the cruise and more if they raise the rate before we sail in 2025. It's really incidental on a $30,000.00 cruise, but still just pay the crew properly and put it in the advertised price.

I think it is possible to reach the 15 drinks limit. We haven't so far. Of course there are those who definitely will and will pay the overage. We sort of keep track during the day and at the end of the day grab a couple cans of water, maybe some beer or cider we put them in our cabin fridge (which we have the steward empty) and stock our own HIA mini bar. For some the upgrade to the elite package is a no brainer, 15 Alcoholic drinks and unlimited non alcoholic drinks. We had the enhanced have it all for our next cruise but have decide to extend that voyage so we will lose those extra perks as we change that from a 14 day to a 43 day voyage. I don't think we will pay for the upgrade, it does not represent good value for us. I know we have some members who regularly choose the Elite package because it is vital to there ongoing research into cruising.

Technically you don't have to buy the upgrade. Depending on what your beverage of choice is you may still be under the cap. You have to do some math, how many drinks will be over the cap? how much over. Are you going to drink enough of the over $11.00 drinks to justify the extra cost of the premium package? We are looking to extend our booked cruise and may lose some of the perks from the original booking. We had the Premium drink package but will probably be going back to the "classic" package. We don't plan to upgrade the package and will simply pay the overage, that would probably be the best for us, others may take a different path.

Good luck with the move Les, packing is such a drag. Hopefully you will be comfortable in the new place. Live life full mate, Lyle & Lynn

I think we often confuse "Sauna" with "Steam Room" while similar they are not the same. I'm really not into either of them but have been involved in building both kinds. Saunas are a dry heat with the occasional addition of steam by pouring water on the hot stones. A steam room has a steam generator filling the space with steam. I think the OP is asking if there is a men's "steam room", I think the quick answer is no.

I think this is the best strategy for most people.

I think the price raise is a bit of a drag. Thankfully the new, only charge the overage is helpful. Say $.50 to $1.00 per drink isn't that much in reality. Still a bit of cheek on HALs part to go over the threshold with several popular drinks (including one I like and one my wife likes) perhaps they will adjust the drink price max on the package soon.

Some ships stop longer, some stops are ridiculous, arrive at 8:00 pm and leave at 11:00 pm. We will be on Westerdam as she repositions from Australia in April of 2025, her port stop in Victoria is a full day before the cruise ends in Seattle. We will be getting off in Victoria assuming we can make the correct arrangements.

If your Alaska voyage has you in Victoria for more than 5 seconds and you want to get together my wife and I would be happy to show you around.

If for instance you booked your Cabana in say 2022 for a cruise in 2024, the rules say 2 person cabanas are for 2 people (adults or children up to 16 years old). Never the less 2 people. Suddenly the 2 person Cabana is a 4 person Cabana, 2 of which are kids. So now they have doubled capacity but not square footage. So you are expecting a certain amount of people in the "Retreat" but suddenly that number is doubled and all of the extra bodies are kids.

We aren't really "Cabana People" but I'm pretty sure that if I reserved a "retreat cabana" thinking there would be few if any children there; only to find out it is now kid's zone with all cabanas allowing children I would be choked beyond belief. Talk about bait and switch. You book space in a place which is supposed to have a limited number of people, and a limited number of kids, suddenly they double capacity of people and kids. I think I could find other ways to spend 2 grand.

The Polynesian Cultural Center is a great place. Remember it is far from the cruise port and you need the whole day for your visit. I would also suggest that Chief's Luau is a great show if your cruise stop is overnight.

@Haljo1935 I read your post about the Pearl Harbour experience. I can understand your disappointment. I have to say the Arizona Memorial is a moving place. I was honoured to attend but have to say I won't be going back there. We weren't part of a tour so we planned our own visit, the priority was the memorial; like you said, do that first. We were not on a cruise when we visited. We had a rented car and made sure to be there when it opened. The public transportation in Honolulu is excellent, I wonder if for some people it wouldn't be better to catch the local bus from the cruise terminal to Pearl Harbour and get your tickets there. Thanks for sharing your disappointing experience, perhaps it will help others make better arrangements for their Pearl Harbour experience, it is a special place.

That looks very tasty Linda, I am a confirmed carnivore but the occasional vegetarian selection is nice change. I do like the toasted pine nut topping.