Harry1954

We bought a brand new D7200 Nikon to replace our elderly Nikon 8800 for WC 2016. It worked great; however we also had an elderly Nikon coolpix s4000 that was compact and was a 2d camera to take when we didn't want to lug the big one.

the latter s4000 died during WC. After much research we chose a Canon SX710 HS as the replacement 'small' camera and took it on the Grand Med this year (56days). It far surpassed our expectations! Not only did it take great pictures, it took better low light pictures than our expensive Nikon. Additionally, it had the most easy to use on/off for videos - a separate button on the top that you depressed to start video and re-depressed to stop it. Wonderful method.

Anyway, if one is looking for an inexpensive yet very good alternative to the big cameras, I strongly suggest looking at this one.

harry

ps: I have no interest/stock/etc in Canon - in fact, that was the first one I ever bought having always had Nikon.

The only problem we have found with ending cruise in Venice is the choice of flights and the cost. We discovered it was cheaper to rent a limo service and go to Milan and fly from there - many more options and flight cost was much less after deducting cost of limo.

harry

As mentioned, the concierge service is excellent and one of the big benefits of a Neptune Suite. Don't make the mistake we did on our first NS many years ago - we never even used the NS services as we had no clue what it was all about. Those folks are there to handle any of your needs - and that includes issues/problems you encounter in general.

Augmenting what has been said, we always go in early in the morning before we go down for breakfast and get a couple of cups of coffee from the coffee machine - it provides espresso, cappuccino, latte, normal american coffee etc - the key is that the quality of coffee is much better than Lido. Also, they have breakfast stuff out that some folks use as their breakfast. Later in the morning, they put out lunch type foods. At about 4pm or so they put evening snacks.

You will love it ..

harryu

We have used taxi many times and it will always be cheaper that HAL. This is one of the few places where it is a no brainer to use taxi. Typically we pay 20-25, including tip, depending on traffic.

harry

It is interesting that you have the same feelings about Prinsendam and Crystal as I have had. We have completed many cruises on both Crystal and on HAL. We find that Prinsendam is so much like being on Crystal, save the shows.

Enjoyed your post.

harry

Sure wish I was cruising into Guam....:)

 

This is a photo of my arrival on Guam in January 1947. My father and all military personnel were ordered to carry arms as there were Japanese soldiers hiding in caves on the island.

 

We lived in a quonset hut on the beach at Camp Asan....Headquarters for the U.S. Navy Seabees...

 

It is now a National Park - Asan Beach....

That reminds me when my mother and I joined my father in Hawaii in late 1948 .. we too lived in Quonset hut and I thoroughly enjoyed the time there.

harry

We have always found the embarkation luncheon to be well done with very good food. Most of the time we have made it to that but when we were late arriving, we went to Lido which was fine.

However, after flying for 6-8 hours, it is nice to sit and have a glass of wine and a decent lunch.

We are glad it is open to everyone now as it seemed a bit of negative marketing before.

Regarding some who boast of their number of days - I suspect it is just over exuberance for the wonderful memories they have ... nothing wrong with that. I recall years ago when we had been on three cruises, a couple was explaining they had been on 14 of them .. we just thought that was so cool.

harry

According to the documents we just received for the Grand Med 56 days starting 11 March 2017, Capt. Ane Jan Smit will be the captain on this cruise.

harry

Do know for a fact that they are holding some cabins so if you really want to go, have your TA call HAL. Had some friends just book the entire cruise and they were able to get a decent cabin.

 

Would guess that as HAL is going back to Africa, which the world cruise has not done since 2014, plus the many ports in NZ and AUS may be big factors in why the cruise sold so well. Just really glad I booked early as have watched at least 2 rather large fare increases. Maybe there will be many of these ports repeated for 2019.

There are always folks who sign up and wait till cancellation date begins to cancel ... as suggested above, getting on the Waitlist is the tactical thing to do ... we would love for you guys to join us.

harry

I am pleased to see that Carnival is continuing to attempt to improve its technology. Recognizing that it doesn't always turn out the way the IT folks want, it still is a step in the right direction .. 21st century.

harry

Formal nights are a tradition of cruising ... my parents over the 50+ years and 50+ cruises looked forward on formal nights while cruising to those nights to dress 'to the 9s' whatever that meant.

DW and I have followed that tradition and dress with tux and ladies' evening wear. We are not attempting to impress anyone .. we are merely feasting on the occasion of such a tradition.

As HAL diminishes this tradition, we find it disheartening. I suppose HAL is keeping step with some many others desirous of doling out stone soup rather than meat and potatoes for reinvented traditions.

We find it sad, especially for our children's children.

harry

I hope St. John stays that way!!! Spent a week camping at Cinnamon Bay in VINP. One of my favorite vacations of all time. Let the thousands who descend on St. John for a few hours from a ship go to Trunk Bay and leave the rest for us ;)

Yes, I agree .. Cinnamon Bay is one of the world's best camping grounds ... and St John has stayed pretty much pristine because the Rockerfellers donated the 80% of the land to be national park.

harry

We have spent many years at Caneel Bay which is on StJ. Cruz Bay is very small. If they are going to stop there, they would have to tender .. physically there is no other way. Further, there is little to do on that island unless you are camping or staying at one of the one main resort.

harry

Received notice from HAL that my 2 stops in Turkey in April 2017 (Istanbul and Kusadasi) have been cancelled. Feel bad for the people! The replacement Greek ports look interesting.

Same for us on Grand Med next year.

harry

Before cards, there were the stickers to put on your passport. But, those are not issued anymore, you get the card instead.

If you don't have your card with you, I would just say I have GE and ignore the sorter - there would be no reason to not go there if I knew how to operate the kiosk...

There were stickers indeed before .. now we have the card .. we returned from trip to Canada two weeks ago and if I did not have my card, they would not let me use the GLobal Entry Line at FLL ... even though my passport has been tied to my Global Entry for almost six years now. This was a newsflash for me. We will carry our cards with us along with the passports.

harry

We always tip the concierge personnel - the amount has been commensurate with the amount of interaction. Longer cruises seem to warrant more dependency and thus higher tips.

harry

It appears that they are attempting to compare HAL mid-sized ships with activities etc on much larger ships for instance and pan them for not having as many ... that alone struck me as being a bit obtuse in trying to 'compare' cruise lines ..

harry

We just got off a 13 day Canada cruise and we had the 7:30-8pm 'get together' (not a cocktail party) hosted by the Mgr of Culinary Area.

We had an Indonesian luncheon that we skipped so we don't know how well it went. Nothing else ... seems they are cutting back some more - and

not just in Suite area, but all over the ships.

Hope they don't end up like Royal Carib. where they did that and tanked their ratings.

harry

Coffee is one of those things, where everyone has their own opinion. The regular free coffee served in dinging rooms is what I call diner coffee. On par with regular coffee like you would expect in an American restaurant. This is fine with me, that is the kind of coffee I like. I don't like specialty coffee, such as Starbucks.

But other people hate the regular free coffee. So they end up having to pay extra for specialty coffee.

I always order my coffee at the same time as I order my dessert, and I have never had a problem getting it.

That is well stated ... we often opt for the specialty coffee and use the 5-star discount to make it more attractive when we really want good coffee.

harry

We have booked several GV and the TA has always deducted the 3% before we made final payment. However, it was not on the full price, but only on the portion excluding fees/taxes and any discounts.

harry

While it is sad for those who look forward to having someone to dance with as they are traveling solo, I am not the least bit surprised. From a strategic viewpoint HAL must measure the return for investing in assets for any cruise.

Having been on 3 World Cruises and having a pre-dinner cocktail most nights, I have observed the dance hosts at work. They have performed remarkably well, searching out solo ladies who might want to dance -every night. The problem is that it appeared statistically to be the same few women almost every night.

Considering we averaged about 1,100 on the World Cruise and that there were about eight to ten women who would be at the Ocean Bar to dance in early seating, that was a very minimal number of guests being handled by these assets. Granted we would have to interpolate to add late seating, but still, it won't put a dent in the minimal effect of Dance Hosts.

Hence, I believe that HAL has made a reasonably astute decision overall. I don't believe their decision is proper for the WC 2017 (which we are not on - not till 18 again for us). That is in poor taste and should be reconsidered since they announced it AFTER cancellation date.

harry

Thanks for the post .. that is good news indeed for when cruises leave on Sunday ...

harry

That is a shame .. fortunately, no one was hurt and the ship got them back ok.

harry

We have done this cruise several time and the weather is all over the board. We have had wonderful sunny days, stormy warm days when we skip a port, very cold raining days, and then just plain cold days - all in October.

As previously mentioned, best advice is pack for both unfortunately.

harry

we have been to Edinburgh several times and attended the tattoo. It is always packed and chaotic ... I would highly recommend using HAL for this one. If the ship overnights, then you have some cover if you don't. But it the ship is leaving late that same night as it did last time we went, it would be very difficult to get a taxi or whatever on your own. This is not like going to the theater in a town .. there are far too many folks and the pathways are a bit confusing coming/going. Oh .. and it rained the last time ... as we were leaving ..just to add to the flavor.

harry