sevenseasnomad

My DH used to write code so is very computer savvy. He loved the classes, couldn't keep him out of them during one cruise, so I went off & did the cooking classes. As others have expressed, he learned something at every session which I would have thought with his experience would have been impossible!

OP, why don't you accompany your dad for 1 or 2 sessions. Let him decide if he's benefitting or not. He may surprise you.

The quality of food on any cruise is probably the most subjective area of service on a ship. What one passenger raves over, another may complain of.

For us, MDR provides a time-out where none of us have to plan the meal, shop for the food, prepare/cook the food, set the table, serve the food, clear the table, or do the dishes. That in itself is a win for us. While I agree that food quality on most cruise lines has suffered due to cutbacks in recent years, the food overall is still pretty darn good for the amount of dinners they must prepare, and it is, in most cases, beautifully presented.

DH & I look forward to a table for two and reconnecting with each other. On those cruises we take with our 27-year old DS, we enjoy his company (when he joins us for a meal). We generally don't mind the time it takes for the courses; however, if there's some evening event that we don't want to miss, we'll order room service or we'll head up to the cafe. There are options other than MDR. Usually, however, when we dine in an alternative restaurant, we're observing a special occasion, not fleeing the MDR.

Congratulations! I'm 3-star too, but DH & DS are 2-star. I went on one cruise without them. At the end of our Christmas cruise, they should make 3-star. Now, as someone else posted, on to that coveted 4-star, where I will feel I've finally "arrived."

Like the nomads of the desert, I'd love to move from ship to ship as I sail the seven seas. Not even remotely possible, but I can dream, can't I?

Are we the only ones who do not eat many of their chocolates? The number we leave behind could satisfy a crewmember for a week!

Take them home! Place them in an airtight bag, stick in frig. Whenever we get a hankering to be on a ship, (ok, so that's every day we're not sailing, right?) we eat one. Just looking at the ones that HA gives out, gold-foil wrapped with embossed company logo, brings a smile to our faces as we recall happy times aboard their ships.

I'm looking forward to "collecting" those that Celebrity places on my pillow during April Reflection cruise for the same reasons.

This is not a Celebrity-specific secret, but it is a great tip.

We take a couple of bags of the mini-chocolate bars (Milky Way, Snickers, etc.) on each trip.

When we have someone bring something to our room, we wrap a dollar around one of those.

The crew loves them. The first time you hand it to them, they look puzzled at the lumpy dollar, but when they open it, they say, "Oh! Chocolate!"

You get amazing service from then on out. We have had extra canapes at night brought to us before dinner, extra strawberries, cookies with the decaff coffee we order at night and so on.

You also get service with a smile after that, too. Our steward said that they don't often have access to such things and that it was really nice to have it.

Great idea. Love it. I'd avoid anything with peanuts, though. As a teacher, I'm prohibited from giving anything out to my students which has any warning about peanuts or other nuts.

To ease packing, consider taking a long skirt or dressy slacks in a neutral color. Pair it with several dessy tops in chiffon/georgette, maybe with some sparkle. You could also add some knock-out costume jewelry to make an outfit pop.

Sometimes, I take a plain black outfit, use it both nights, but take different assessories, including different wraps. No one will recall what anyone else wears unless it's spectacular. On our Noordam Christmas/New Year's cruise, a young lady wore a silk embroidered kimono (sp) that was gorgeous. All the other passengers were talking about it because it stood out as the most beautiful outfit most of us had ever seen.

It's rare though that other passengers will notice from one formal night to the next what you're wearing.

DH always wears his tux. Immediately after we embark, it goes to the cleaners to be steamed, since it's packed with everything else and suffers from lots of wrinkles. Usually about 40% of the men will wear tuxes. The rest (of those who are participating) are in dark suits. And, of course, there are always passengers who don't dress up at all. A couple in cut-off jeans sat in front of us at the show on one formal night. That was the worst we'd seen. DH said that they could have been dressed to the nines and simply stopped by their cabin to change before the show. Lately, we've seen a lot of that.

Drats! We got this information in the mail, but I hadn't had a chance to look at it closely. I just booked a holiday cruise (Christmas) on Ryndam & got no offer, of course, since it doesn't go into effect until Monday. I'll call Monday and see if I can possibly receive it. If not, we still got the cabin we desired, and we'll have a fabulous time, so I won't worry about it. Extras though would have been nice.

We are extremely upset that HAL would give us incorrect information. To say that we have use of the cabana 24/7 when that is obviously not the case is deceptive advertising at the very least. Since this is an annivesary cruise, we're disappointed.

Wait a minute. . .What about the people who've paid for those cabanas? It's my understanding that if someone purchases a cabana for the duration of the cruise, it belongs to them. The service, however, is only available on sea days from 8 to 5. Rest of the time the person(s) who rented it have use of it. At least that's what we were told when we rented.

Anyone here ever experience anything else?

Thank you for your reply, HAL rep,sail7seas. Yes, having never been on a cruise before in my life, I was obviously concerned about the potentiality for confusion with my documentation. That is why I contacted Holland America Lines directly a month prior to our departure, as I explained multiple times in my post. After explaining in detail to them the exact nature of my documentation, and being reassured by a HAL representative, and her supervisor, that there would be no problem with going on this cruise with this birth certificate, any "hesitation" was relieved. As a "newbie", why should I have questioned the reassuring word and advice of the cruise lines "expert"?

Attaching a copy of the chat convo between me and the HAL representatives:

When in doubt about required documentation/visas, always call the U.S. State Department. Info is on their web site. Never trust a second source.

Advice our TA gave us long ago: It pays to study those deck plans before booking a certain cabin; however, if you book a guarantee, there's no telling where you'll end up. Sometimes it works out beautifully, but for those times it doesn't. . . .

As you've posted, chalk it up to a learning experience, the hard way. Glad you packed those ear plugs.

May, 1975, seven days aboard Sitmar's Fairwind to Haiti, San Juan, St. Thomas & Nassau. Italian crew who pampered and spoiled us. Room stewards sat outside our door 24/7 to anticipate any desire we might request. Outstanding food. Comedy week---Red Buttons & Henny Youngman performed, each doing two shows, with non-stop monologues for over 2 hours, never repeating a joke, nor ever inserting a curse word. Laughed until tears rolled down our cheeks. Still fondly remember the day in St. Thomas where we rented a dune buggy as one of the best of our 40 years together. Heaven to me would be to spend eternity reliving that day on St. Thomas with my dearest best friend and generous love of my live, my husband.

That cruise turned us into cruise fanatics. Since then we taken 9 cruises, (Carnival, RCCL, Celebrity & Holland America) about to go on #10 next year. HAL comes closest to giving us the same level of service & overall pleasure. We've morphed into HAL zealots. Our retirement wish is to sail on every HAL ship. We have 1 down, Maasdam, and many more to go.

Thanks for your well-thought out review. Glad we are inside cabin people, but now we feel we cannot sit in any lounge chair on Promenade. And this was one of our favorite spots for reading.

IMO, it's a lose-lose situation for everybody---lanai passengers as well as those other passengers who use the Promenade for walking, standing at the rail, or sitting in a chair! That includes a lot of passengers.