Blackduck59

It is possible to refit old ships and not all work has to be done in a "Drydock". Cunard took QE2 (the one that is Dubai now) was taken out of service to completely replace her propulsion system during her cruising life. I wonder how much it would cost to take a ship out of service for say 3 months and do a proper refit and interior restyle as opposed to the 480 million euros it cost to build the newest HAL ship MS Rotterdam.

I'll have the sushi and coconut crusted shrimp to start. I think a Riesling with these. The prime rib (medium) and add the beets from the appies section (horse radish thing on the side) Pair a Cab Sav with the main. Ricotta raspberry tart for desert. I think blueberry tea to finish.

Definitely a valid point. So many people chime in about the HAL fleet being "old", the oldest ship in the fleet is 24 years old. They have been refitted with new ships systems and have had several refits through the years to upgrade the passenger spaces. RMS Queen Mary was in service for 31 years and is still an icon today. HMY Britannia was in service for 41 years and is a floating museum today. The entire fleet is well maintained and the "small" size of the ships in the fleet are a draw for many people. You could take a ship out of service and completely redo all the interior compartments, and update mechanicals for a fraction of the cost of a new build.

Lynn wimped out and took a smaller than normal piece, I didn't want to heat it up again. Tortierre is a minced pork pie. Traditionally served in Quebec during the holidays. It's available year round here. My mom's best friend made very good ones. This one is quite good but like many things it doesn't come close to my childhood memories of Ida's tortierre.

I'm going to try Hoonah Alaska, often called Icy Strait Point.

Tortierre for supper

You will be coming off while we're coming on. Have a great voyage. We are looking forward to this trip. It will be 3rd time lucky we hope, we planned this trip twice just to be canceled by world events.

Which dates are you travelling? We are in a signature suite on Westerdam in March of 2025, maybe we're on the same cruise,

I'm not sure this is true. The rules are different for different situations. I think the question comes from an Alaska resident, I assume an American. So if he's flying within the US no passport is required. Also not all destinations have the 6 month requirement. Being Canadian I'm not sure of the "rules" for Americans on "closed loop" cruises. One thing is certain the renewal won't be "expedited" by next week and a valid passport with a short expiry is better than no passport at all. I would suggest that @akcruiser21 should get in touch with the appropriate agencies to get something more than our opinions from CC.

Thanks Leigh, I remembered you still had family there. It was just interesting to meet someone from your old home town while on a cruise on the east coast of Canada.

@possum52 Hi Leigh, I was reminded in another thread that you are from Warnambool. While we were on our east coast adventure we met a very nice lady from there. We have of course added a stop there in our road trip plan; we were going to be in the general area anyway. Her name is Robyn Logan and wouldn't it be a "small world" moment if you happened to know her. It is nice to see from that other thread that an American actually took the time to research a long land trip and was able to enjoy so many parts of OZ. I'm afraid that we won't be able to see as much as they did but I'm really starting to dislike flying so we will be covering what we can on the ground and I'm not sure Lynn would want to be away from home for 8 weeks.

I think I got the clue Linda but it's 2300 hrs. here on the wet coast (it's been raining heavily all day) and I don't want to hold up the game. It is Lynn's mom's 91st birthday tomorrow so we will be visiting her in the morning.

Safe travels Mic & Rosie

Happy to see your wonderful report. We planned our down under trip twice and Covid got in the way both times. We will have booked our cruise portion for March of 2025. That is mostly New Zealand, we plan on extensive road trip while we are in OZ. We won't see much in reality but there are quite a few CC friends to meet up with and that will be the highlight of the trip.

I think @OlsSalt has a point, that being said most that have reached the lofty 4* status and free laundry really don't look at what that cost them. It is a free bonus on money they would spend anyway, it's all about the cruising; if they want to give away laundry service...cool. I think there are some though who feel the need to mention their "status" to point out how special they are.

So for how we got 2* status with one 11 day cruise, @kazu has it about right. It was an 11 day cruise, we were in a vista suite (I know it's a veranda cabin but they call it a suite, we'll take the points thanks). We got 11 days credit for on board spending, that was a mystery to me until @crystalspin gave an explanation as to how they calculate the on board spending credits with regard to the HIA perks.

The $400.00 OBC had nothing to do with "Mariner status" that was probably part of another promotion. I think every cabin has the canvas bag, ours did.

I really don't know the ins and outs of the whole "Mariner" thing works. After we finished our first 11 day cruise with HAL we were suddenly "2* Mariners". We really don't care about "status" we will appreciate any perks that it brings but other than that, who cares? We came aboard as new guests so I guess if we get anything for being a 2* it will be on our next cruise. If it works out the same as last cruise we will actually have 3* "status" when we complete that cruise.

That works for you because of your 5* "status". The OP asked about HIA and how it worked with the mini bar, the simple answer is it doesn't. Like others have posted use the HIA drink package to get included beverages at the bar and bring them to you cabin, putting them in the fridge that you asked the steward to clear for you.

There seems to be a common thread here. We like the HIA package and understand the limitations of the beverage portion of that package. Like others have said get the steward to empty the "mini bar" set up. Keep track of your beverage count and at the end of the day grab some water, pop, beer or cider and stock you personal HIA mini bar.

I just logged on to our cruise 14 day unlimited is $119.00 on our Westerdam cruise in Australia/New Zealand. This is per cabin not per person.

are we in Alaska?

We found that a lot of tge 2 tops are right at a serving station. Wait staff sorting trays of food, lids on lids off. We have had good luck sharing a few times, others not so much.

@bundtkate I'm with you on the wine thing. My only thought is "does it taste good to ME", that should be the only criteria.

Thanks Mic. I don't really follow football, it was more about Christine leaving team Canada. I believe she will play one more year with the Portland Thorns in the National Women's Super League. Hopefully team Canada will continue to play at a high level even without her leadership on the pitch. It was a poignant moment when she left the pitch and passed the Captain's arm band to another player. While football is becoming more popular here I dare say the only reason these games sold out in short order was because Christine was retiring. Actual attendance last night was more than 48,000. Hopefully these matches were beneficial to both sides as they prepare for the Olympics.