MissJammin

Love that picture! One day we will cross paths again. It would be nice for it to be down island.

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Would love to hear more about the current Mandalay trips. Going in Feb. 2018

Looks like you'll be sailing thru the Leeward Islands. We did that trip in February 2015. Here is a link to our photos from that trip:

Great trip, beautiful Islands, but we had a bit of rough weather one night and one passenger decided to go up on deck to see why we were rocking and rolling so much...he went home with a broken toe. So, if it gets rough (it won't last long) stay in your cabin until the captain gets the ship into safe harbor.

Try the bang bang calamari at the Green House on St. Maarten.

Order a large Killer Bee at Sunshine's on Nevis.

Stop by Le Select on St. Bart's for a few cold beers, but honestly not the best cheeseburger even though it is supposedly the inspiration for Jimmy Buffett's Cheeseburger in Paradise.

And plan to spend some time at the Sunset Bar in Maho Beach on St. Maarten, order a few cold Carib beers and a tasty cheeseburger while you watch the airplanes fly low over the beach.

If you haven't been on the S/V Mandalay before expect a casual laid back not always on schedule but awesome vacation.

Bostonjetset the bag was pretty full, but we still could close the draw string...so maybe a few more socks/underwear.

Before our trip we wondered just how much could be stuffed into the laundry bag, so attached is our laundry/cleaning list for one of the $20 bags for any future cruisers that are wondering the same question:

2 jeans

6 polo/t-shirts

6 undershorts

1 brassiere

2 pars of socks

2 shorts

Thanks everyone. I am never surprised when a "home office" has no real clue of the stuff that actual happens on a ship or tour.

I have $550 onboard credit from different sources for a 14 day cruise.

And just got of the phone with HAL to verify that all amounts are showing. :-) The HAL customer service rep went over the rules, she said that we would not be able to apply the OBC towards the gratuities...but confided that she knew some were able to but on others that usage was denied.

Forgive if this topic has been beaten to death, I couldn't find anything newer than 2013 on it.

What have people been experiencing lately using OBC towards gratuities?

Thanks!

Thanks everyone! Great info, hotel suggestions and thoughts on excursions!!!! I hadn't even thought about the moonlight effecting the visibility of the bioluminescent bay experience.

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New to HAL but not new to cruising. We have cruised twice on Celebrity, twice on Carnival, once on Dolphin, and once on The Big Red Boat. Most of the time we prefer to sail on the old Windjammer type ships having logged over 10-weeks on the majestic ladies of Windjammer Barefoot Cruises, Island Windjammer, and Sail Windjammer.

We have booked an aft veranda (7138) stateroom for a 2-week cruise (B2B) on the Eurodam in December (holidays). I have not yet signed up on the meet & greet thread for our cruise, but I will.

I have read all the pages on the thread HAL for Dummies. We have one star Mariner status due to our cruises with Carnival (and have an online account with HAL showing that). Here are my notes & questions:

We plan in flying into FLL the day before our departure. We are looking into hotels that have free shuttles from the airport to the hotel and from the hotel to the cruise port, Springhill Suites perhaps.

Since we are allowed to carry on soda & water to the ship, we would like to find a hotel within walking distance to a store where we can buy those things. Any suggestions/comments?

We will probably bring clothes for 7 days and utilize the "stuff the bag" laundry service. And sink wash some things. Is there a "clothes line" in the shower in our stateroom?

As a Mariner member, lunch "may" be available on embarkation day in MDR from noon - 1pm.

We should get an invite to the Mariner luncheon/brunch during cruise. Since we plan on making reservations for lunch at the specialty restaurants, is the Mariner luncheon "usually" later in the week and on a sea day?

Most contributors to the forum state that the specialty dining for dinner is well worth the cost. So, we will probably buy a dining package before we depart and adjust the reservations assigned if needed.

Tamarind Dim Sum Lunch (free) - reserve early. Portions are small. Can you order double portions?

Tamarind Dinner stateroom delivery bento box (~$10), is this available every night?

Tamarind dinner - mango cloud dessert. What are some other favorites? Someone posted that you can't go wrong with any lamb dish that HAL serves.

Who has pics of the food? Is there a food thread showing pics of the deliciousness being served on HAL?

Order room service breakfast (especially on disembarkment day). Write in items from onboard restaurants not on breakfast card are allowed.

Any MDR item can be ordered between 5:30-6:00 for room service delivery between 5:30-9:30.

There is a Yum-Yum Man (near dining room door) who gives out mints at the end of dinner (MDR).

Someone suggested bringing ziplock baggies, collect cheese from buffet, put in minibar to enjoy afternoon/evening cheese plate. Not sure I will need all this food, but I do know that at sea I get hungry every two hours!

Are nachos in the Lido area near indoor pool still available most afternoons? The burgers and hot dogs from the Dive In look tasty, but I love Nachos!

We do not have a drink package and don't drink enough for one to be worth it to us. We will look for Happy Hour drinks, buy one get one for $1 published in the daily agenda. Are there any "pubs" with beer on draft? My DH likes darker beers.

In evening at the Crows Nest, we can order complimentary hors d'oevres.

Closets are dark...no inside light, bring flashlight or use phone.

Limited power outlets, bring power strip (surge protector NOT allowed).

The recommended dress code at the specialty restaurants: Canaletto is casual (even on Gala Nights?) Tamarind is resort casual. Pinnacle Grill is dressier/more formal.

We will probably spend a lot of time on our balcony and order more than once dinner delivered. I read about bringing a table cloth to dress up our little balcony table, but for us, it's not necessary. Crossing my fingers that there will not be any smokers close to our balcony (not judging those who smoke - I don't like to be near ladies who wear excessive amounts of perfume either - bothers my sinuses).

I am still researching excursions for our ports. We have been to all of these islands before except Turks and Caicos and of course their private island. And after sailing to out of the way places on the Windjammer ships, where you have a beach nearly all to yourself, sharing a beach elbow to elbow with 1,000+ people has no appeal to me or my DH.

Here is what I am thinking right now:

Grand Turk - one tank SCUBA dive then check out the pool at Margaritaville

San Juan - night kayak thru the mangroves to the bioluminescent bay

St. Thomas - Hate shopping, beaches will be crowded with 4 large ships in port that day, maybe we'll take a ferry somewhere else!

Half Moon Cay - ?? Beach day, the issue is no available shade, and the chairs with shade, that you can rent, seem close to each other and location of your chair (first come first serve) will determine the amount of breeze you will or won't get. We may check it out for a few hours and return to the ship.

Grand Cayman - we haven't done Stingray City, so we may do that or we might SCUBA or snorkel (http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=520080).

Cozumel - SCUBA or VW Safari tour. My DH has a VW Beetle.

Key West - I might book a flight to the Dry Tortugas and Fort Jefferson (expensive but very interesting).

We will unlikely need internet while we are on the ship. We have AT&T so we will be able to check email and phone messages in San Juan, St. Thomas, and Key West. As we get closer I may check their wifi packages and if reasonable, we might purchase a wifi package.

Thanks everyone for all of the great info already posted! More than 6 months away, but researching and planning early so we don't miss anything important!

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Our first trip on the Mandalay was in the BVI's during the old Windjammer Barefoot Cruises days. Great island chain for a sailing vacation. I've had my eye on Arabella for a while...just not enough vacation days to do it all!

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SailorJM we couldn't swing 2-weeks in February but we are going for the 1-week sail out of St. Maarten. So, currently we have one week booked for winter 2014 and one week booked in February 2015. We love the Mandalay!

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SailorJM we sailed the Island Windjammer's Diamant in 2012, I love the Jammers that manage that ship! My heart however is with the Mandalay and her crew (as you could tell by my report), that is why I have booked on her again this year and next.

I couldn't quite swing a 2-week vacation during the same time, but the Mandalay is making a 2-week run all the way from Grenada to St. Maarten next year. Check out their "News & Updates" page. Oh, those lucky people.

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I meant to post this a long time ago... every day since coming home I have been thinking about getting back on the decks of the S/V Mandalay. And since I just booked two more weeks on board posting this review here came back to mind.

To quote a Jimmy Buffett song “Some never find it, Some only pretend… I just want to live happily every after every now and then”. The moment I stepped foot onto Sail Windjammer’s S/V Mandalay’s deck I had that “happily ever after” feeling! I had sailed on the S/V Mandalay with the old Barefoot company and I thought those days were long gone.

The Sail Windjammer's crew has a contagious smile. They are truly having the time of their lives welcoming long time Jammers home and showing those new to Windjammer what the Caribbean really should be. In the 2-weeks I spent on board, Captain Sly and the crew did their best to ensure that each passenger had the best vacation ever.

Old Windjammer traditions of captains story time, dancing on the decks to island music, crab races, sea hunt and raising of the sails to Amazing Grace were honored. We rode in the widows net (in a safety harness) while under sail back to Grenada. Sly held several star gazing classes. I finally saw the Southern Cross and now can easily identify it (Thank you Sly). A very special Mandalay pirate flag was raised, and we even fired the canon on the Diamant. We visited Bequia, Tobago Cays, Carriacou, Chatham Bay & Clifton on Union Island, Palm Island, Happy Island, Sandy Island and Mayreau. Sea life was abundant.

The turtles did not disappoint, as we visited them on Bequia at the sanctuary, swam with them in the Tobabo Cays, and also, the purser, Ciara arranged a special tour for us to see Leatherbacks nesting & hatching on Grenada (very awesome)! We saw lots of stingrays and even had a special appearance by a large eagle ray while swimming with the turtles at Tobago Cays. There were lots of tangs, parrot fish, trumpet fish, puffers, squid, a few eels and even a juvenile shark was sighted. The Grenadines gave us perfect robins egg blue sky and calm seas both weeks.

I don’t remember seeing the Mandalay in better condition. We had the King cabin with its huge bed and a shower sized for a normal home. Every cabin that we took a peek at, looked to be very comfortable. Every morning Captain Sly asked if there were any problems with the cabins; any issues raised were addressed and corrected… duct tape is no longer needed to adjust the temperature in your room like in the old days!

Philbert and Ren did their best to see that we all gained weight during our vacations. I can’t think of one meal that I did not thoroughly enjoy. I even threatened that if I win the lottery I’m coming after those two for my personal chefs! One passenger had a wish to assist in the galley and it was granted. His comments were “it is clean back there” and about what an amazing job they do difficult conditions… the ship was under sail and while he was sliding all around as he worked, Philbert and Ren were steady and a rock.

I can’t tell you enough how much the crew makes the trip. I’m not sure that I can name all 20 of the crew… I know I will miss someone and everyone of them worked so hard to make our trip, but here it goes. Captain Sly doing his job (which is to look good, just ask him). Blaze making sure that Sly didn’t get us lost. Ciara organizing all the paperwork and great tours. Grandpa (Marlon) and Rocky serving our meals and making towel animals for our cabins. Rocky had a birthday that we all celebrated, too. Mashup and Conrad served up creative drinks and potent rum swizzles. Philbert and Ren making such awesome food. Quinty and Spice kept us safe as they shuttled us to and from shore in the launch. The deck hands and engineers that we didn‘t see as much but appreciate all their hard work keeping the Mandalay in such fine shape: Brian, Squall, Yellow, Chippy, Blair, Lennox, Browne, and Joseph. Joseph, also, had a birthday that we all celebrated. Squall made a new rope anklet for me. Thanks everyone for the best 2-weeks!

For those reading this; I would like to echo Jimmy Buffett’s advice:

“Take it from me ‘cuz I’ve found , If you leave it then somebody else is bound, To find that treasure, that moment of pleasure, When yours, it could have been“.

Go find the Mandalay and “that moment of pleasure”. Don’t let it become a “could have been”.