Oak Hill Cruisers

And your Diamond status becomes Elite status on Celebrity. 

With Elite on Celebrity you get a much nicer 90-minute free internet package that you can turn on & off so it can last lots longer than the RCI 24-hour package that runs out in 24 hours after logging in.

Take an internet screen shot of your C&A Diamond status so you can transfer your Diamond status to other cruise lines, like MSC, which will grant you Black Card status.

Really enjoying this blog.  Bringing back memories of our 2018 WV on the Amsterdam.

BTW, was Dolly on-board?

And, who was the regular piano entertainer on your WV?  Was it Jamm?

We noticed, during our visit to the Rotterdam V museum ship, that the teak deck chairs are exactly the same ones we've seen on the current Rotterdam & Amsterdam.

Of course, most of these beautiful (and comfortable) chairs are now for the lanai staterooms.  Don't like those new plastic & aluminum lounge chairs we're seeing.

We visited the Rotterdam V today in Rotterdam. Had lunch also.

We're wondering if we would like to sail on her now, especially with the dedicated smoking room and perhaps unlimited smoking in the other public areas.  Still, it was fascinating to tour this ship.  The yellow and orange leather/fabrics reminded me of the home of the TV series The Brady Bunch. 😉

One of our guides was a British lady who was married to a ship's engineer.  She worked several of the shops on this ship -- first name was Amanda.  She was very nice and lamented the loss of this ship to active service.  She also lamented the loss of the Prinsendam.

It was also cool to walk the sloping promenade deck -- downhill, level, then uphill.  Amanda also pointed out repairs in the dance floor caused by stiletto heels.

While we were on the 2018 world cruise on the Amsterdam in 2018, we were awarded our Two-Star & Three-Start Mariner status while on-board. We got our medallions but did not really take advantage of any enhanced perks. We are 32 days away from Four-Star Mariner.

Other cruise lines, such as RCI, do not award your new status until after you complete the cruise whence such new status is gained.

So does it follow that, while we are on our 77-day South America & Antarctica voyage on the Volendam, we will be awarded our Four-Star Mariner status? Now this is the one with complimentary laundry so we'll be looking for this perk.

First time  we sailed MSC, they took our RCI Diamond Plus status and made us 'Black Card''.

It would be great if HAL took our 241 days at sea with RCI and made us 4-Star. But, sadly, we're 32 days short of free laundry.

Thanks. Now we'll have a backup coffee machine!

We're still seeing, on RCI web pages, that the Vision OTS still has Concierge & Diamond Lounges, no Suite Lounge.

Just checking to see if the Concierge Lounge hasn't already be converted to Suite Lounge with only P & suite guests allowed.

Not an expert, but you could try online with RCI. Their website has a C&A button. Otherwise, guest services on-board could probably sign you up.

About half of our 40 cruises have been with RCI. One of our best set of memories was sort of a B2B on the Brilliance OTS in 2013.

First leg was a Baltic cruise from/to Harwich, England. Second leg was a TA from Harwich to Boston. But wait, did we have to do a standard B2B? No. We took the second to last Baltic cruise of the season and then got off the ship for 11 days.

As the ship got ready to depart for its last Baltic cruise of the season, we took the train back to London. We then walked all 80 miles from London all the way back to Harwich on the Essex Way path. With a rest day in London and then a rest day in Harwich, we had 9 days to do this walk. It was a successful walk.

We re-boarded the Brilliance OTS for its return TA to Boston.

But what about our bags & cruise clothes during our walk? We had made arrangements with with a hotel in Harwich to hold our bags for us while we walked from London to Harwich. When we mentioned our baggage plans to our Diamond Concierge, he suggested that he could hold our bags for us until the next cruise. Great! I quickly gave him a 30 Euro tip and, voila!, our bags were waiting for us in our new stateroom upon re-boarding.

It was great to sandwich a walking holiday between two cruises -- great memories!

1 hour ago, Oak Hill Cruisers said:

During online check-in, just after setting up our on-board expense accounts, I getting an error message saying that I can't proceed to the next step before entering all information for each guest. I'm not seeing any empty entry blanks in the online form.

 

But...I did not input the 'Security Photo' when asked to do so. Must I input this security photo now in order to proceed with online check-in?

 

This is an Adriatic cruise stating & ending in Barcelona. Could it be that the Barcelona port needs this photo now?

Was able to get our SetSail passes printed out. Instead of doing both of us at the same time, we went separately, DW (primary) first and then DH. Had a hickup with DH but solved it by checking 'cash' onboard account instead of with DW's credit card. Will fix once we're onboard.

During online check-in, just after setting up our on-board expense accounts, I getting an error message saying that I can't proceed to the next step before entering all information for each guest. I'm not seeing any empty entry blanks in the online form.

But...I did not input the 'Security Photo' when asked to do so. Must I input this security photo now in order to proceed with online check-in?

This is an Adriatic cruise stating & ending in Barcelona. Could it be that the Barcelona port needs this photo now?

Some of you may have learned that HAL is now running a pilot program on a number of their ships where, in the main dining room, if you order a 2nd entree, you get charged $10. No limit on appetizers and desserts. HAL CC boards are lit up with comments on this. If this program sticks, it could spread to Carnival and other cruise lines.

Reasons are food waste and maybe disruption of service to prep & serve 2nd entrees. 

Remember when the first airline had the idea of charging for checked baggage????

Oops, looks like an old inquiry got posted.

Check out Maris Freighter Cruises. Maybe their link below will work. Sometimes, you can book directly with the freighter companies.

https://www.freightercruises.com/voyages.php#anchor_menue

20 hours ago, lynne2fl said:

I had my first TKR July '16, second TKR on Dec 13th '17 and due to a deep tissue infection had to undergo a revision Dec. 12th '18.  I don't know what the temperature where you live, but please try and find a pool to exercise in,  Water PT is the BEST way to achieve perfect results.  good luck

Thanks for the pool tip. Yes, we have access to YMCA heated indoor and outdoor pools.

What specific knee flexion exercise did you use in the water?

After four months post total knee replacement in my left knee, I'm stalled at 110 degrees flexion (target was 120 degrees). My physical therapist said he didn't want me to leave but intimated that there was no progress in the last two months. So I have stopped going to therapy.

Orthopedic surgeon offered a manipulation under anesthesia (MUA) but I can't stomach the thought of a forced tearing of scar tissue.

Otherwise, the operation was a success -- no problem walking 10K steps per day over moderate terrain without pain. Main obstacle is finding a parking spot where I can open my car door all the way so I can get in. 😉

On my exercise bike, looks like 110-115 degrees flexion, so I'll continue that along with my usual home PT.

Advice for prospective TKR patients, work a LOT harder than I did at PT!

Wondering if Air2Sea will book a return flight for us like 12 or so days after disembarkation from a cruise. Upon completion of our cruise in Barcelona, we would like to hang around for a while and return using the Air2Sea program.

Does Air2Sea require flying very soon after completion of the cruise? The Air2Sea program terms & conditions link does not open, so we can't see what their requirements are.

Thanks in advance.

Watch out for 'Photo-Taking-Impairment Effect'.

Two studies examined whether photographing objects impacts what is remembered about them. Participants were led on a guided tour of an art museum and were directed to observe some objects and to photograph others. Results showed a photo-taking-impairment effect: If participants took a photo of each object as a whole, they remembered fewer objects and remembered fewer details about the objects and the objects’ locations in the museum than if they instead only observed the objects and did not photograph them. However, when participants zoomed in to photograph a specific part of the object, their subsequent recognition and detail memory was not impaired, and, in fact, memory for features that were not zoomed in on was just as strong as memory for features that were zoomed in on. This finding highlights key differences between people’s memory and the camera’s “memory” and suggests that the additional attentional and cognitive processes engaged by this focused activity can eliminate the photo-taking-impairment effect.

One way to do it is to use your browser's zoom function. On Chrome, when I reach 175% zoom, the right-side panel with those pictures disappears.

Great recommendations on hotels.

Question: if we book for two nights in the port area, are there places to see or things to do in the port area or will we be sort of confined to our hotels?

On 1/16/2019 at 1:04 AM, Go2See said:

Perfect timing!   I have been considering a freighter cruise.   I would be traveling as a single 60 yr old female.  Any thoughts?  Safe?

too lonely?

Probably Transatlantic, but maybe to Asia

I am thinking of only being out about 12 days maybe 15.

Did you have elevators?  or stairs only?

We make no claims or representations as to how safe it would be for a single female. But we have never heard of any instances of passengers being bothered by the crew. The officers & crew are quite professional. As for loneliness, you could make efforts to join the crew for afternoon coffee & tea. Also, you could chat up the crew during mealtimes. They would probably, during sea days, let you visit the bridge and chat up the officer(s). Based on blogs that we have read from other ships, if there are a number of passengers onboard, it's easy to get together to watch movies, play cards, and the like. Except for five days with an extra passenger, we two were the only ones aboard for the remainder of our 25 days.

Can't speak for the more modern and larger ships, but ships of our size don't have elevators. Stairs only. You'll have to get medical clearance from your doctor. You have to be 'able bodied' to participate in the crew safety drills which include actually getting into and out of a lifeboat perched at a 45-degree angle. The outside decks could be slick with oil/grease so some good mobility is a must.

On 1/15/2019 at 11:06 AM, DandDM said:

I was really surprised about your notes early on about a pool.  The concept of a freighter having a pool just seems bazaar to me!  Did they ever fill it?  Got any pictures, by chance?

This 'pool' was essentially a cube-shaped vessel on the B Deck about the size of our day-room in width and depth. There was a very small painted-steel deck next to it with a rickety wooden picnic table. The pool was empty. We understood that, when filled, it was with sea-water. Because the crew was so busy hustling aircraft parts to France, they never filled it up. It was essentially a plunge pool for cooling off in hot weather. We took no pictures.

Looking to replace our old Nikon Coolpix AW100 with the new Panasonic Lumix FT7 which has a viewfinder, a first for this class of camera.

Have not seen any reviews or comments from our CC members.

On 11/16/2018 at 8:58 PM, kochleffel said:

 

In Curacao, a guayabera shirt is considered formal (depending, somewhat, on the quality of the embroidery).

Guayabera shirt FTW, especially for Caribbean cruises.