BSinPNS

Seems they do it on the last sea day. Did it on O-dam in South America in February and on the previous seven day on Rotterdam. It is really a nice idea since they only do towel animals on dressy nights now. I do feel sorry for the cabin stewards who need to get up early to do this (about 0430) according to our steward. Combine it with all the work that needs to be done on the last day before turnover.

Currently in 6167 on R-dam. All cabins. No noise.

Currently on Rotterdam. No classical music anywhere. All traces of LCS are gone. Only BBK and RS for live music. Main stage shows on the 7 night were Step One dancers (x3), a saxophonist (x2), HAL history, and no show (x1). Now on a 14 day leg so we will likely see the same three Step One shows. Noticed David Copperfield is scheduled twice in the coming days. No guest speakers, just the cruise/travel director presenting from a memorized script. Food is excellent as is the crew.

We found there were several advantages of taking the southbound trip from Alaska to Vancouver. Based on recent reports, boarding in Alaska avoids the multiple ship problems in Vancouver that are more prevalent at the beginning of the season. If you do the ground tour in Alaska (which we would highly recommend), you will meet several other travelers on the coaches/train giving your family members others who they will see again on the ship. Also, the land tour is far more active and generally the first and or second days are sea days giving you a chance to catch your breath.

We did 22 days in South America/Antarctica on O-dam. Good clean ship, engaging crew. Same vintage ship as Island Princess. We would certainly book her again. Not sure any HAL ship would be classed as exciting. .

Having talked with vendors we have toured with before turning 70, they indicate it is their insurance that kept us from going with them the last time. They knew us and had no problems with our fitness. Remeber there are very few excurstions that are operated by the cruise line. The subcontract with vendors and they require insurance.

Second all what Ken said. Book it now.

YOu may want to avoid the AQ1 cabins on deck 11 as they are as far aft and as high as you can get. We love 1140, but it does move a bit in rough seas.

We second the Woodwind recommendation. Book early as they are quite popular. Aruba Bob provides a great snorkeling experience, obviously in Aruba. It's a long snorkel trail, but they provide scooters to help so it's no more strenuous than you make it.

We thoroughly enjoyed our Antarctic cruise on the Oosterdam this past January. We spent four days in Antarctica and were within a few thousand yards of the expedition ships like the Viking Octanus which was involved in the incident in the Drake Passage mentioned by Hank. One must remember that the O-dam is three times (GWT) larger than the expedition ships. While we cannot claim we walked on the continent, we certainly had a wonderful experience. Instead on boarding a zodiac to climb ashore, we visited penguins in Punta Arenas, Ushuaia, Port Stanley, and Puerto Madryn. We would highly recommend a visit with Magellanic penguins at the El Pedral Estancia. It's a private excursion that can be located on Google. One of our fellow passengers created several YouTube videos on the trip including this one in Antarctica. Bob

There is no separate dining room for suites on the older ships. There is an additional Club Orange menu item. The separate dining room is only the the Koningsdam, Nieuw Statendam and Rotterdam. Suite guests dine in the Pinnicle Grill for breakfast on the older ships.

The folks on the Holland-America boards are aghast when they learn a Carnival ship is visiting Half Moon Cay. When that happens HAL/Carnival ensure there is no overlap between brands being there at the same time. There are times that two HAL ships are there at the same time.

Only positive testers get the credits. We were on Oosterdam in Antarctica in January. TA couldn’t do it so we had to call customer service (about three-minute wait). She asked a few questions – ship, voyage number, reservation number, dates sick, etc. She was able to locate the record after a few minutes and said we would get a confirmation email within 24 hours and that the credits should be posted within 72 hours. TA checked after 36 hours and they were posted and she was able to apply them.

Antarctica (Santiago>Buenos Aires) 22 nights Voyage of the Midnight Sun (Norway) 14 nights Indonesia Discover R/T Singapore 14 nights

While I agree with what you said, barring her and her SO from even getting on board out of the sun and providing no support at all was not good.

Your treatment was good compared to what we observed on Holland America a few years ago. Our guide in Spanish Morocco directed all passengers to get their passports out as we were going to cross a border. One pax stood up to get her purse from the overhead bin as the driver made an emergency stop propelling the woman forward and into the front window of the bus. The HAL rep on board insisted we return to the ship. (The guide wanted to continue.) On arrival at the ship, medical met her pier side and refused to let her reboard as the incident was the responsibility of the tour vendor. She was transported the local hospital and then flown to Spain for treatment. She was able to rejoin us a day or two later. I am not sure if the fact that it was head trauma made any difference or not. So much for the ship taking care of you.

The letter we received on board following isolation only offered Future Cruise Credit. The FCC has an expiration date of one year from the time it was issued. The FCC was applied to our future cruise with final payment due this week.

Positive news for a change. DW came down with COVID on our Oosterdam Antarctica trip in January. She received the standard letter from the ship promising a FCC equal to the amount of the per diem for the five days she was isolated. After reading this thread, I was not optimistic we would ever see it, certainly not without a lot of follow-up. Final payment was rapidly approaching for our July cruise. Our TA checked with HAL and said I would need to contact Guest Relations to get the credit since it wasn't on DW’s Mariner account. I was pleasantly surprised to talk to an agent overseas (Philippines) within a minute after getting through the phone tree selections. After a few minutes search, she was able to locate the data and said that she would process my request. (I was speechless and thanked her profusely.) A few hours later I received an email stating the amount that would be applied to DW's Mariner account within 24-48 hours. My TA checked after 36 hours and her HAL contact applied it to our July cruise and paid the rest with my card. The amount was the total cruise cost (not including port fees, etc.) divided by 22 days and multiplied by the five days she was isolated. So, a very happy ending. I wonder if part of the problem may be in individual ship's providing data to Seattle.

I booked a $1 deposit cruise several months ago. Transferred it to my appreciative TA the following week. Final payment is next week - no price changes. I did add Club Orange two months ago via my TA. Got the cabin bump but they wanted the additional CO payment at time of request. It was $15/day/person on Rotterdam.

One of our fellow passengers created YouTube videos for several of the ports. .

As mentioned previously, you may stroll or dance with the penguins in Puerto Madryn, Punta Arenas, Ushuaia, and the Falklands. They are in their natural envionment, but it doesn't include snow. For us, it satisfied our desires to be with the penguins, but beat the cost of a true expedition cruise.

On our January Oosterdam cruise, we stopped at Deception Island during our transit from Ushuaia to Antarctica. Day 1 of our Antarctic Experience was spent in Lemaire Channel and Neumayer Channel along with the Viking Octanus, World Traveler and the HMS Protector where we were surrounded by high mountains with calving glaciers and various sized chunks of ice in the water and opportunities to see lots of penguins from a distance. The glaciers with their blueish striations were impressive. On day 2, we entered Paradise Harbor and Neko Harbor where we saw multiple humpback whales. Day 3 brought us to Wilhelmina Bay and Charlotte Bay where saw lotes of humpbacks beautiful mountains and glaciers. Temperature throughout was about 34F with wind and snow. Crew members from the Philippines and Indonesia were out and about taking selfies. One of the security team built a snowman and someone put a small orange scarf on it. Each day the captain opened the bow and forward areas on the upper decks. The overnights were spent in holding patterns in the Gerlache Strait. On day four, we stopped briefly at Elephant Island on the way to Port Stanley. We felt that four days was just the right amount of time to spend. We were concerned that the two days offered on Celebrity Infinity might not be enough if there were poor weather conditions. We were able to get up close (two meters) to penguins in the Falklands, Ushuaia, Puerto Madryn and Punta Arenas.

We loved the Bluff Cove tour. It is only bookable through the ship now. Here are the non-ship tours we enjoyed: -Santiago - Inca Lagoon in Andes Mountain Range - Visit Local Vineyard with Tasting included (Viator) -Puerto Madryn - Off the Beaten Track: Magdalena Penguin Reserve (Shore Ex Group) -BsAs - Tomas Hughes (Private Guide) Bonaventura Trips If you are starting in Santiago, read about the problems with taxis at the airport. Get a taxi at the taxi stand inside the customs areas. Do not take one from a walk-up offer once you leave customs. We mistakingly arranged one through Viator (MTO Tours) which was a no-show.

We returned in February from the 22 day HAL Antarctic trip. It was GREAT. While we like Celebrity, we opted for Oosterdam since it had four days in Antarctica. The master explained that when they said "expedition mode" it meant they (navigation crew) were free to cruise where they thought we would have the best experience based on weather and observations. We were hundreds of yards from the Viking expedition ships which were taking their guests aboard RIBS to actually step on the ice and penguin poop. None of the ships really go much further south than the Antarctic peninsula due to the travel time. The trip was Alaska on steroids – multiple whale sightings, surrounded by glaciers, icebergs, and bergy bits. We were able to get up close to penguins in Puerto Madryn, Ushuaia, Port Stanley, and Punta Arenas. Penguin viewing seems to drop off after early February as the molt is over and they return to the sea. We thought January was peak season. If we were to do it again, we would do East to West, Buenos Aires to Santiago, as the terminal facilities are right in Buenos Aires and it is set up for passengers. On our first of two days in BsAs, there were three cruise ships in. Oosterdam was the only one on turnover day. We boarded in San Antonio (HAL”s port for Santiago). The ship was late arriving due to seas in and near the port. (Not a problem in BsAs.) We waited for about five hours in a warehouse with chairs and few ammenities. Others waited much longer and had no chairs as there were only a few hundred available. Plus the drive from Santiago to San Antonio is about 1.5 hours without allowing for potential road problems. Feel free to ask other questions.

It has been that way for several years. BTW, it comes in a plastic container. On Celebrity it is complimentary,. Obviously a different policy.