GeezLouise1

Just now, GeezLouise1 said:

 

Pssst Tim,  they are Heeland Coos,  but the are indeed hairy!

best wishes for a wonderful anniversary and happy birthday wishes to Angela-  

cheers, Kris-  Singapore, Malaysia Maasdam cruise 2019

On 6/7/2023 at 9:42 AM, Btimmer said:

 

We just enjoyed a wonderful private excursion out of Greenock with Sixstar Coach Tours, Ltd.  David, an owner, guided 7 of us to the Stirling Castle,  Duone Castle, the hairy coos (highland cattle), and Loch Loman. He's witty and conscientious.  They service Greenock, Glasgow, and Edinburgh. Contact them at info@sixstarcoachtoursltd.com for further information.

6 hours ago, antsp said:

Thats the world we are in, no one is worried anymore, we did out bit for nearly 3 years. If you are worried about Covid don't get on a ship with 3000 people 

Reasonable enough, but if people refuse to quarantine when they are  ill,  they will

continue to infect innocent bystanders.  I have had my share of noro and “ship’s kennel cough” on past voyages as well.  After 20+ cruises,  I am done.  Bon voyage to you!

35 minutes ago, Mike45LC said:

On the website, this is hidden on the very top line, towards the right.  Easy to overlook.

 

The porters will have luggage tags at the port in case of need.

Thanks Mike,  feeling a little sheepish here.  I think I need a cruise!

Many thanks Coolmama, much appreciated. 

Omg,  has it been so long that I can’t recall where and how this works?  First cruise since 2020 coming up and I can’t find where the luggage tags to print, are hidden.  Are they in the app somewhere?  Please help.  Many thanks,

We are 3star and Platinum level on both lines.  We did a similar itinerary last Christmas (2019/20)on Caribbean Princess and had a wonderful time.  The ship  was designed for the Caribbean with lots of deck space and open pool areas. St. Kitts is a terrific port.  The people were very outgoing, friendly and happy to see us.  Mrs. Moore's Snackette was an experience in local cooking!  The ship is old,  no question,  but has been well maintained.  The Balcony Dinner for Two is fabulous.  Entertainment, food and itinerary were all excellent - Princess International Cafe is a winner.  The passengers were generally a little younger than HAL. We have not sailed on a new HAL ship but have enjoyed wonderful voyages all over the world.  Terrific hospitality. You won't go wrong with either!  Have fun!

2 hours ago, JF - retired RRT said:

 

"Do Not Upgrade" is a request. If Princess wants your cabin, you will be moved.

That is absolutely correct.  And they do have the right,  small print in the contract.  However,  it does leave a bad taste.  Bottom line is that we ended up near to original cabin and that is going to be fine.  An apology would have been nice,  or a bottle of wine.... however we recognize that this is indeed a first world problem......

12 hours ago, cng062000 said:

Welcoming any insight on why this happened, what the differences are, or advice on how to best move forward. Thanks! 

We had a similar issue.  We got notification that our cabin had been "upgraded" from Caribe to Bahia one week before final payment!  Our Portside Caribe cabin had been specifically chosen and marked No Upgrade.  We were travelling when they sent the notification.  Because we planned to be in Europe ( about to board another Princess ship) we had paid in full,  two weeks before final payment (Seemed like the best way to deal with the final payment date as we would be overseas).  We were notified on a Friday afternoon and told to respond if this was not satisfactory.  With time changes (8 hour difference), etc.  we responded a few hours after the initial email was sent.  Our room was gone.  They said the only Caribe available was one two from the back of the ship.  Our Princess Rep. finally managed to nab one Starboard,  but a few back from the original choice.  They would not upgrade us to a more midship location,  even though they had "upgraded" us to Bahia initially.  All of this went on while we were touring Britain before boarding our ship overseas. A difficult and unnecessary situation on their part.  They refused our request for any compensation.  We very nearly cancelled and this cruise might be our last with Princess.  We are Platinum and really resented the treatment.  Bottom line is that they can do what they want and "do not move" apparently is not fool proof. 

14 hours ago, Cruise Raider said:

 

We've seen it on our sailings of 10 days or more and once on a seven night sailing.   

 

Wine-Menu Princess 2018.pdf 604.53 kB · 12 downloads

Thanks for attaching the wine list!

We were able to order wines from the package in Adagio on the Crown in October.  We were limited to wines appearing on both their bar menu and the MDR list, and for consumption in Adagio. It wasn't possible to request this in Crooners, so perhaps it depends on the bar staff? I guess it doesn't hurt to ask. 

We're on CB soon,  will see if they will permit it there. 

2 hours ago, Btimmer said:

 

 

 

The only program tonight was the introduction of the EXC presenters.  They are:

 

Dr. Ronald Orenstein - zoologist

Nigel Atherton - photographer 

Chef Hiroko Shimbo

Terry Greenberg - History & Culture

Yoko Oikawa - Japanese culture & women's issues

 

Terry Greenberg is one of my favorite HAL presenters and he received a resounding welcome from his fan club including me.

 

 

 

Hi Tim,

Late to the party,  but playing catch up with your blog and new adventures!  Thanks so much for doing this,  your posts are wonderful.  Delighted you have Terry with you again, he was a highlight on the Indian Ocean itinerary.  Best wishes to Angela,  safe travels, 

Kris and Doug (Maasdam Jan./Feb. 2019)

1 hour ago, Heidi13 said:

 

 

We were in UK for a month and had baggage in accordance with International allowances. At Edinburgh we were only permitted domestic baggage allowance, as we did not have a through ticket to Vancouver. Cost almost a couple hundred quid in excess baggage, so unless you are connecting on a through ticket, best to check the baggage limits.

Thanks for the head's up.  We will have carry on only,  we're checking the main luggage at LRH to be retrieved en route to Southampton.  The joys of travel! 😎 We're from BC too, alas no UK address or passport.   

4 hours ago, John Bull said:

 

Or rent a tandem bicycle  

 

BTW there's some great scenery on the railways out of Inverness, esp. to the Kyle of Lochalsh.

And the West Highand line between Glasgow and Fort William / Mallaig

 

JB 

Well,  we actually did try to rent bicycles for the bit of the tour in the Borders.  Got a prompt response from the local bike shop - no!🤣.  And he sounded like he meant it!   So likely that bit will be in a rental car!

We have arranged to see Skye, The Kyle of Lochalsh and even a little stop to see if we can spot Nessie.  I appreciate the travel tips.

We are now thinking that we'll just fly up to Edinburgh and save ourselves some aggravation.  We'll organize the train from there,  qualifying for "advance" prices and Nat. Rail cards as well.  Again,  thanks for all your help!

2 hours ago, John Bull said:

Spoke to a rep by phone today.

Hard work - English wasn't the guy's first language & strong Asian accent (a frequent problem when talking to call centres) and technology's not my thing, but here goes.........

 

He said you can buy a digital Railcard of any flavour (eg Senior's, Two Together, etc) on-line  - no physical address needed -  and download the Railcard App.

You will get your Railcard code, which you enter when buying tickets in advance through the website to get the discounted price. At the station you show your Railcard  on your phone, you don't need a physical card.

I can't do a dummy booking on the website to the point where a code is requested without entering my e-mail address, so this technophobe stopped short - not keen to buy a ticket just to see how it works 

 

He also mentioned downloading passport-size photos, but by this time my eyes had glazed-over. 

 

So I suggest you take it from there and play with the website.

Or wait for a reply to your e-mail.

Or is there anyone else out there who knows a lot more technology than this dinosaur?

 

JB 

Thanks so much for going to the trouble of investigating.  I just received a response ( two days early 🙂 ) from Nat.Rail and they explain it differently unfortunately.  I will have to do it in person at a manned station ( with photos and application form in hand).  The digital glitch happens when a cc from outside the country is entered,  they said the digital purchase must be with a credit card registered to a UK address.  So despite what they say,  looks like these perques are to be enjoyed by UK residents only.  Which is lovely,  but they don't say that clearly.  I'm very grateful for your attempts to help me muddle through!

1 hour ago, Heidi13 said:

JB - last time in UK (2017) we purchased the rail cards at Leuchars Station (St Andrews), which is a manned station. My understanding is you can purchase at any manned station, as we are planning to purchase them at King's X next year. Hopefully it hasn't changed since 2017.

 

Thanks for pointing out the Two Together option.

In 2017 did you wait until you had the rail cards before you purchased your train tickets? Or  did you have your tickets already, as online purchases prior to arriving in the UK? Thanks for any help, 

6 minutes ago, John Bull said:

 

Ahhh, now that's something I don't know.

Any idea, Heidi?

Or I can see if I can get an answer from the operators tomorrow.

 

JB  

Thanks for your help,  much appreciated!  I have posed a few questions to the Rail Service and they informed me by computer generated response that it will take up to 3 days for an answer.  You are so much more efficient!

51 minutes ago, John Bull said:

 

 

Not having a Railcard in advance isn't just a matter of convenience at the station.

Many journeys are significantly cheaper if you buy in advance - usually half-price, sometimes as little as 1/5th of the price. It's difficult to be precise because advance ticket prices are fluid (cheapest about 6 to 8 weeks out), and don't apply to all routes. Those advance tickets are only valid for the train journey and train time that you book, but if you're confident about your plans you'd do better to buy tickets in advance (UK address not required) rather than wait until you're in the UK to get 1/3rd off the walk-up fare.

If your trip is more than 6 to 8 weeks out,  check the advance ticket prices for your journeys at different dates from 24hrs to 6 weeks from now. Use random sunday dates only for any journey you plan to take on sundays.

 

The rail operators don't like to make life easy 

If you can post a vague idea of your train travel plans we can mebbe be a bit more precise.

 

http://ojp.nationalrail.co.uk/

 

JB 

You're brilliant!  Thanks for the Twofer suggestion!  Am I correct in assuming that we'll get that card from a manned station prior to boarding a train as well?  And as long as we have the card in hand,  they will honour train tickets purchased on line in advance?  We won't need to quote a card number online to purchase the train tickets?  Hope that is the case.  JB, you've been very helpful,  thank you!

Thanks both so much!  Hadn't even considered the Two Together Card.  Will investigate that option.  We're spending a few weeks in the UK, up to Scotland from London,  as far north as Inverness, south to the Borders, then across to the West Coast and over to N. Ireland. We'll stop in Portrush too!  Have already booked that segment via Stena and LHR to Southampton with Nat. Coach.  Just filling in the blanks 😉

HI,  can you purchase train tickets in advance online and use the Senior Card pricing before you actually have a card?  We don't have a UK address and can't get a  Senior Card pass digitally without it.  Our option is to buy one when we get to a train station in the UK,  but we'd like to have our train tickets ready. Anybody know?  Many thanks,

HiUsnooz - it doesn't look like it,  the Green Elephant Sanctuary doesn't put saddles on any of their elephants,  in fact,  they rescue them from those who do.  If you contact the Sanctuary,  they might be able to put you in touch with a private tour organizer.  Sorry,  can't be more helpful.  Ex Norwood and River Heights gal here 😉

On 6/6/2019 at 4:56 PM, M Clarkson said:

 Also, any suggestions of what to do or what to give a miss would be greatly appreciated.

In February of this year,  we visited the Green Elephant Sanctuary,  just a short drive from Phuket.  The tour was organized by the ship, included the sanctuary and a short stop in the town of Phuket.  The elephant sanctuary was absolutely amazing,  we fed the elephants, went into the mud pools with them and ultimately gave them a shower.  This was followed  ( after a shower in their excellent facilities) by an excellent Thai luncheon on site.  One of the very best ship's tours ever!  The thirteen female elephants residing there with their mahouts,  have all been rescued and will live out their lives in this fabulous facility developed by a Swiss man.  There were two very young ones,  one just a few months old.  You can google the site for more information. We stopped in the town of Phuket for a walk in the old colonial part of the town before returning to the ship.

6 hours ago, edward01ca said:

We have to agree with what you say.  Our cabin temperature, 544, was up and down all day long.  After awhile, it seemed that they actually turned off the A/C at night since it really warmed up night necessitating not sleeping with even a sheet on.  This went on for the  entire 40 day cruise from Perth to Singapore and Singapore to Colombo and return. On aboutt the sixth day of the cruise, I came down with the cruise crud and I still have it.  I think it will be a long time before I cruise again.

4 hours ago, scubadawg said:

Hi Dale, I still have the cruise crud too, even after being home for 4 weeks and meds from the clinic. Joanne ended up in the hospital for 6 days with pneumonia so whatever respiratory thing going around the ship was a bad one!!

4 hours ago, CJcruzer said:

A bit related to cruise crud - on the Indian Ocean Explorer voyage, roundtrip Singapore - my eyes were irritated, red and bloodshot the entire cruise,.  The only relief was when I put a cold cloth across my eyes when resting - they would clear somewhat AND they cleared when I was off the ship for a long day excursion (probably humidity helped that).  I had Systane Ultra eyedrops, which I use when my eyes are dry, but this was more extreme..  Usually I get 1-2 days of slight dryness from long flights - but I never had a problem with my EVA air flights, both coming from and going home.

 

So, I tend to question the air quality/air filtering system - 

 

I had no infection, drainage, pus, only very dry, irritated red bloodshot eyes.. First time on a HAL ship that I experienced this,

I was on the Indian Ocean Segment too. I got the "crud" on day 4,  my husband got it on day 6.    Including eye problems. Air quality/air filtering system issues is an interesting theory.  We are both still sick.   I've written a letter to Mr. Ashford outlining some of our problems with this program and ship,  perhaps more letters would be in order.  Reinforcement?  We also are not sure if we'll cruise again. Sorry for the thread hijack,  I think the issues are related and that Seattle should be advised. 

I agree with the OP,  there are issues with the a/c system.  We were on this segment as well,  on level A also.  Our room temperature was warm during the nights and slightly cooler during the daytime.  The final few days were especially warm with no air conditioning on the final day.   We did not complain as this seemed to be a ship wide issue.  On our last visit to Asia on Volendam we had no problems with room temps. at all,  although the outside temperatures were high as well. 

Second "Catherine the Great" by Massie.  Excellent read.  And you might like "The Siege" by Helen Dunmore and "The Madonnas of Leningrad" by Deborah Dean.

We just disembarked Maasdam in Singapore after visiting the Indian Ocean.  There were quite a few time zones and the ship changed time with them all.  You will be switching your watch back and forth.  And back and forth 😉