Petronillus

On our last couple of cruises the Promenade Deck was blocked off because of rough seas. We've seen lanai cabins on only a few cruises. When the Prom Deck is closed, does that affect the lanai cabin occupants' access to their lanais? I don't see a lanai in our future.

We're just back from an Asian cruise on the Westerdam. The bags are as capacious as ever, our charge was only $25, and the service was quick and top-notch. By all reports, this is one area where HAL outshines the competition, even competitors at higher price points.

A good place to start would be the website of Compass Speakers and Entertainers. I don't know if HAL is one of their clients.

From your lips to God's ear!

Thank you for all your postings. I'm glad you're feeling better -- well enough to go horseback riding and to savor the "food porn." This shot of the steak is to die for!

Thanks for the tip. Very creative.

Nothing is official, it seems to me, until you can print out the luggage tags.

I think that all the walls hold magnets. I've stocked up in what look like colored buttons (blue, green, red) that the Dollar Store sells in quantities of eight.

WOW!

I grew up in Detroit, and Detroit is a border town. In addition to WJR and WXYZ, I loved to listen to the CBC, especially the Royal Canadian Air Farce.

Our first HAL cruise was the inner passage of Alaska, including a day of scenic cruising Glacier Bay. Although it was early in the season, we were blessed with unseasonably warm temperatures. So, while the winds did whip around, it wasn't at all uncomfortable to be outdoors. I remember spending a lot of time along the railings at the aft by the seaview pool. At one point we heard a thunderous roar and got to see an iceberg calve off the glacier. It was thrilling. I suspect that we might have missed it if we were anchored to our verandah or sheltering in a cabana.

Would a Greek taverna be too much to hope for?

With reference to the photo of the lobster tail from PG, on another thread a contributor proclaimed adamantly (and authoritatively, so far as I could tell) that, contrary to its billing, it was in no way a Maine lobster. IIRC, the Maine lobster and the spiny lobster caught in warm-weather locales are not even the same species. Judging from the photographic evidence, the Morimoto lobster is way superior to the PG's.

Your photos are amazing and beautiful. Thanks!

How sad! HAL had a golden opportunity to forge a solid relationship with a relative newcomer -- this was only OP's 2nd HAL cruise -- and to gain some good publicity on this board to boot, and they squandered it utterly. In Stephen Covey terms, it was a huge withdrawal from the emotional bank account with major repercussions in OP's circle of influence. As a CCL shareholder, it disturbs me.

Illinois is the only state where you can pay highway tolls in pennies. Land of Lincoln.

I get the prevailing sentiment, but the basic idea is to show appreciation above and beyond the mandatory or baked-in gratuities. It seems to me that tipping your bar server with an occasional toonie is charming. BTW, I don't understand why we (US) Americans have been so resistant to the dollar coin. And the two-dollar coin is a brilliant innovation I wish we would emulate.

By cruiseline rules, Communion is provided only in the form of bread; only the priest consumes the consecrated wine. The priest makes a rough count of the number of hosts required and any left over are consumed on site. As a result, the Blessed Sacrament is not reserved.

Back in the old days, when HAL used to have the Lincoln Center Stage, in a Q&A session the LCS musicians said that per the contract between HAL and Lincoln Center it was specified that each musician gets his/her own solo cabin. At that time the cellist and the pianist were married to each other, and as a result the cello got a cabin all to itself.

It has been HAL's long-standing practice to provide room and board to Catholic chaplains whose principal duty is to conduct worship services not only on Sunday but on a daily basis. The chaplains receive no further compensation, and they are responsible for their transportation to the port of embarkation and from the port of debarkation. I have sailed with HAL eight times and each cruise included a chaplain. OP's post is the first I've heard that suggests HAL is discontinuing this practice. I too will be disappointed if that is so. I'm particularly surprised the opportunity to attend Sunday Mass was not offered. I've heard that other cruise lines (Celebrity and perhaps others) bring a priest aboard from the local area on Sundays when possible.

We have a winner!

I am so disappointed that they aren't reserved for the Yoopers of Northern Michigan. (UP = upper peninsula.)

The most memorable trivia question I've come across on board is as follows: Who was born on February 29, 10000 BC? To my great astonishment, there is a genuine answer. Assuming the question is still being used from time to time, what's the answer?

I am sympathetic and join in the resentment toward those who blithely take their own sweet time in rejoining the group at the end of a break. I think that was the original thrust of this thread. Shouldn't those folks be made to suffer some consequence. But I also have enough sympathy to feel bad for those who return late for no fault of their own, the dreaded unforeseen event. If such delay has held up the rest of the tour bus, I believe that an apology and some explanation -- some disclosure of the circumstance that caused the unforeseen delay -- are in order. It strikes me as harsh to characterize the latecomers' plight as a mistake; if, for instance, a private tour gets stuck in a traffic jam. the passengers in the bus are not at fault. They have run a risk, have experienced a setback, and have to deal with a consequence. That's one of the reasons why the worrywarts among us (DW is one) are willing to pay a premium for booking a HAL excursion. They manage the risk by buying a sort of insurance, in the form of HAL's assurance that it will hold the ship to accommodate its own excursion customers.

Those who are new to this board may not know that Ruth is our matriarch, and what a treasure she is. She chimes in frequently and ALWAYS has something worthwhile to contribute. Unlike me and my ilk, who like to crack wise, Ruth is a font of wisdom born of long experience.