trixiee

6 hours ago, Sue from Canada said:

Yes, I love to travel solo.

 

I would love to too, but my DH wouldn't appreciate being left alone at home! 😉

1 hour ago, Sue from Canada said:

Was your deposit for one or two people?

 Two - I suspect yours was for one?! 😊

8 hours ago, Sue from Canada said:

$390

Hmmm... mine was twice that.

I think I'll lock one in... I'm pretty sure we won't be able to take advantage of it,  but who knows?  We're both retiring in 2021, but I see one of our bucket list items on the list...  We've always wanted to take in a bit of Newfoundland, and there's one listed with 3 stops!

Thanks for your response Kazu!

Have these savings occured in the past?  We want to do something big - but it won't happen until 2021... I could certainly wait to book if we get these limited time offers once per year...

We had the Drake Lake - and I was a bit disappointed! LOL!  I had mentally prepared myself for the shake!  

Best cruise ever - don't hesitate.  If you can go, do it!

Normally they are ready to go by 10:00. However, we've had to line up outside of the terminal in the past.  I think we arrived around 10:30, and waited maybe 10 minutes. I don't recall how many ships were in port that day, but I do recall being hot and looking for shade.

... And voyage of the Vikings, or other far northern Europe/Viking areas.

Haven't been on NA, but love NS!

Just now, richwmn said:

At one time you could, but it no longer works. When you see your on board statement, any OBC from HAL or Carnival Corp has a notation that it is not to be used for cash or casino. When the night accountant checks on the last night of the cruise (s)he will make sure that no unrefundable  credit is used in the casino

Ah!  Thanks for the clarification!  I never have enough OBC to worry about doing that anyway.

Just wondering... can you use OBC in the casino?  Take all the OBC, turn them into chips, roll the dice or play a hand of poker, then cash in the chips (for cash?)

I was not enamoured with our aft balcony last year, and won't be searching them out again.  I do happen to love the "sea breeze", and like to see where we are headed, not where we've been...  I found that there was a lot more rocking at the back of the ship - but we had a rockier than normal cruise. We missed a port for the first time ever in 14 cruises due to rough seas.

looking at booking a HAL cruise... would an 11:55 am flight home be a safe bet?

30 minutes ago, Fouremco said:

As we had booked on the Koningsdam for its first Caribbean cruise, and have booked on the Nieuw Statendam for next June, I've closely followed the reports on their inaugural and following cruises. It seems to me that the NS, while not trouble-free, is actually doing very well in comparison.

Other than a hostile guest services clerk, I believe the cruise went really well.  I did not notice any glitches worth mentioning. 

Thank you for your review!  We did the Ultimate dining package and we truly enjoyed every restaurant.  I would rate them as follows (high to low):

Tamarind 

Cannaletto 

Pinnacle

Sel du Mer

Based on level of service and ambiance.  Food is so subjective, but the rating stays true for me for the food too! 

I love, love, love the ship! 

Sadly, my husband got the survey and not me.  He didn’t make any comments.  (Grrr)

On 12/11/2018 at 6:53 PM, Btimmer said:

 

 

My apologies to Btimmer for high jacking his thread. 🤭

We thoroughly enjoyed the 4 day cruise and the ship.  Of course all staff were marvellous and very accommodating - except for the guest services desk.  Our cabin steward made a mistake and charged us for a couple of cans of sofa we didn’t consume (he was very apologetic when he informed us of the error).  The front desk experience was almost embarrassing. The person helping us was not very discreet about trying to find someone to help fix a “mini-bar DISPUTE”. (Caps because she was speaking that loudly!).  After standing in line for 15 minutes, and then waiting for her to fix the less than $5 error, I just threw up my hands and walked away! I did have a few other questions for her which she was able to answer, otherwise I would not have even bothered to go to the desk. 

That experience just just left a bad taste in my mouth, and unfortunately it was the last interaction I had with anyone on the ship.  

Thanks for the water taxi idea!  I was wondering what to do between the time our hotel kicked us out, and the later embarkation notice received earlier this week...

It’s probably been answered already, but I’m too lazy to check, and it’s a very simple question.  Is there a clothesline in the bathroom? 

Thank you!

Happy to be able to get my “ droppie” fix!

Used Value Trips to book. Thank you for the tip

Thank you!  Getting excited!

Thank you for taking the time to post your experiences!