RMLincoln

For reference, we saw Northern Lights mid-October from Reykjavik and from northern Norway coast the week later. You need clear, dark sky and be relatively far north. Equinox times usually have high probability but of course weather can blot all that out.. m--

If you book a 21 yr old with a 19 yr old in each stateroom that should work, unless it's Carnival. Once on board you can have the room keys changed re-done so that you are arranged as you want. But I'm not saavy on every lines' rules. m--

We were on Volendam LA to Sydney in an inside, Main deck but midship. Of your choices I see there's only one Inside room forward on Lower Promenade - L3308. It's a sideways room and may be very small. Being forward will have anchor noise but you will have more sea days than port days. We just got off Maasdam, Lower Promenade, bow partial obstructed, and had a LOT of noise in each port, anchor or thrusters. So, although I usually prefer that deck for proximity to the outside, I don't think that's a good choice.

So looking at Main deck aft you'll have close access to the outside door to the small very private aft deck but it is a noisy retreat with the wake noise. At least you'll have only rooms above and below you on Main deck; you'll be in "line" with a direct run up to the either the MDR or the Lido, and I think the ride will be better aft than in the bow.

So unless you can find out if there is some very good reason to take the bow location I'd opt for the aft choice.

Wishing you the best. The Pacific crossing was wonderful with many sea days for relaxing and then there are the Oh so beautiful islands.... ahhhh. A great cruise no matter what room! Enjoy, m--

I have a feeling that the "Atlantic Adventurer" was almost considered as just one cruise. Fewer than 100 people boarded in Civitavecchia (83, I think), and there were a lot of other things that made me think "one cruise"; only one (4-star, for us) cocktail party, one Mariners' Lunch, one of each crew show, and a number of other individual events divided between the two segments. I imagine there was a private muster drill for the newcomers in Civi, but as we didn't get back from our tour until late, and we left at something like 9 p.m., it was all very casual.

 

I don't think that it will become the norm to have just one muster drill for every b2b.

Yes, we were among the 80 who joined the ship in Rome and we had a small muster drill late that afternoon. We very much felt like we were joining a cruise mid-cruise rather than the beginning of another B2B. We had a small cocktail party with the captain that first night but felt overlooked in other small areas... for example, I had to go request a shore excursions booklet as there was not one in our stateroom upon arrival. Not a big deal and we had a great cruise! Felt like home away from home after our complex travels :D m--

All I FAX is a copy of my statement, on with I write our NAME, BOOKING # and DEPARTURE DATE and SHIP. I circle the shares and send it. And I take the hard copy with me! Best of Luck, m--

Hurtigruten 11 night “Costal Steamer” Bergen – Kirkenes – Bergen, Oct 20 – 31, 2014.

OVERALL EXPERIENCE: This is a ferry cruise along the western coast of Norway. Hurtigruten has been doing this for over a hundred years, originally as a mail route. The scenery is the entertainment; the route is point-to-point transportation for a few, and for cargo. The ship stops 5 to 7 times per day (or night), often for only 15 or 30 minutes. But the longer stops of 2 to 4 hours warrant a walk into town from the pier to visit some of the cultural sights and markets, or a shore excursion for a city tour or to less accessible highlights (North Cape, fjords) and adventures such as snow-mobiling, dog-sledding, sea-eagle viewing, etc. Depending on the season, experiences may include: Saami culture, traditional music, a snow-hotel tour or a Viking village visit for a dinner feast. This is a cruise to experience Norway through scenery, foods, history, culture and exploration. There is minimal entertainment although we did have three events of local musicians/dancers come aboard to share their traditions and culture with us. In the darker seasons there may be the thrill of the Northern Lights (we saw them several times); in summertime you will experience the Midnight Sun. We spent 6 days north of the Arctic Circle and had King Neptune ceremonies on both crossings.

SHIP: We cruised on Midnatsol, built in 2003.Most of the Hurtigruten fleet is modern and very attractive. Midnatsol has a 5-story atrium with glass elevator (plus aft elevator). It carries 30 cars and berths about 400; we were about 200-240 passengers (ship felt fairly empty) most of the time but passage may be purchased for segments of the cruise; point to point passengers may purchase food a la cart in the café or may buy meals in the dining room. Midnatsol has attractive décor, a lot of marble and granite; a very large, comfortable 2 storied panoramic front lounge for viewing the scenery; there are 2 hot tubs on the top deck and M/W saunas plus a very small fitness room. There are many lounges around the ship for reading or “webbing”. FREE WiFi internet is throughout the ship (and fast). There is one bar (beer, wine, mixed drinks) with adjacent lounges (one with piano and dance floor but we had only piped music, I assume because we were off-season); an internet/computer room, a full time program director for shore excursions and other help including the daily detailed events sheet; 24 hr. reception/front desk (they provided street/point of interest maps for every port), self-serve laundry (which we couldn’t figure out, but because we didn’t ask for help I can’t fault them - we chose to just wash a few things out in our bathroom sink); gift shop; library (with books mostly in European languages, fewer in English) and board games; topside viewing deck has lounge chairs. Passengers were mostly Norwegians, Germans and Brits; North Americans and Australians were a small minority although most passengers spoke English. All announcements were in 4 languages: Norwegian, German, English and French but we got quite used to that and it was not a problem. All staff spoke very clear English. The program director would announce over PA when Northern Lights were visible; one can choose to have these announcements come through your cabin phone or not by toggling a button on the phone. I believe there were no announcements at all after midnight, except of course for an emergency, of which we had none. There is no physician aboard but urgent needs will be arranged for in ports; muster was demonstrated before boarding.

DINING: Surprising to us, Very Good to Excellent

Hurtigruten’s dining experience is hard to judge against ocean cruising but we were very pleasantly surprised. All meals were served in the very attractive and comfortable full windowed aft main dining room. The layout has the buffet oval in the room center with the tables arranged to the outside. The breakfasts and lunches are served buffet style, open seating, open hours (breakfast usually 7-10; lunch usually 12:30- 2:30 but may be earlier for excursions).

For breakfast there are no made-to-order dishes. But there is a wide variety of food, enough to satisfy most palates and tons of it. Some selections change daily, e.g, there may be platters of eggs, or pancakes, or meatballs but always hard and soft boiled eggs. Bacon and/or sausage are usually available. Always gravlax and condiments, three kinds of herring plus other fish and caviars; cold sliced meats and sliced and whole cheeses to hunk off a chunk; sliced and whole fruits; platters of sliced vegetables; hot and cold cereals, nuts and seeds, multiple kinds of yogurt; platters of breads and spreads, pastries and crisp breads. Water and juice are obtained from dispenser machines, plus coffee, tea and luscious, rich hot chocolate.

Lunch is the meal with the most variety: soup; prepared salads and salad bar; hot and cold vegetables, always potatoes (a Norwegian staple), meat, fish and vegetarian casseroles, carved meats, cold meats, platters of cheeses, hot and cold fish and an extra-rich, big spread of desserts daily including: home-made ice creams attractively served molded and turned onto platters and decorated with piped cream and swizzles of chocolate; puddings; cakes; berries and cream; cookies and sweet sauces to pour over any or all! Coffee and tea are complimentary; bottled water is available for purchase.

Dinner has assigned time and seating (we had a lovely table for 2). We had only one seating/serving time, usually 7 pm. It is a set 3-course menu; the foods are all local and all were cooked perfectly! A vegetarian or alternative dinner can be requested at lunchtime when the dinner menus are presented (a 4-page card with pictures and descriptions of the foods, sources, traditions are set out on each luncheon tables.) Dinner mains included several fish meals: salmon, char, halibut, cod; but more meat dinners of locally raised, free-range meats: lamb, pork, beef (multiple nights) and reindeer filet, which was the best steak we’ve ever eaten! There was one dinner buffet extravaganza with tons of seafood, fewer meat selections. Bottled water for the meal is available for purchase only – they do not permit you to bring your own water bottle into dinner L. Coffee and tea are complimentary after the meal in the lounge upstairs until late into the evening. Wine purchase at dinner (or lunch) comes with a bottle of water. Wine/beer is offered (at common Norwegian bar rates – expensive to us) by the glass ($10-12 and up) or bottle ($60 and up), beers priced similar to wine. You can bring your own alcohol on board to drink only in your stateroom.

Water, wine and coffee “packages” are available for the whole cruise.

CABINS: Well laid out with en suite bathroom of shower, toilet, sink, quite similar to ocean cruise ships. Our stateroom was OV on deck 4 and had 2 perpendicular twin beds (most rooms have this configuration; suites have a queen bed): one bed was under the window and folded into a couch for day use; the other bed folded down from the wall. We had a double closet, drawers, shelves and cabinets, so plenty of storage room; a mirrored vanity/desk with chair plus a small table completed the room. We felt we had plenty of room either with the beds open or folded. The room temperature was well controlled by our in-room thermostat; the bathroom had a heated floor which we could switch on or off. The shower had a clothesline; there are dispensers of all-in-one soap/bath gel/shampoo (bring your own conditioner and lotion). Rooms were well cleaned once daily. Our deck 4 room was a bit noisy at docking times – we did get used to it; the higher decks may be less noisy. We had no TV in the room.

SHORE EXCURSIONS: There were 16 excursions offered, we took 3. They are more expensive than on our usual ocean cruises, mostly $100 - $200pp, a few less, a few more. The experiences were what I would categorize as scenic, cultural, or adventurous. The meal schedule was sometimes changed to accommodate the excursions. A few excursions left the ship in one port and rejoined it in another port. We enjoyed a fjord excursion, including a stop at a historic hotel for a light lunch of traditional soup, bread and cheese ($98pp; this was after the big lunch we’d already had onboard); the excursion to North Cape took us through scenic countryside, a stop at a Saami trading post with reindeer presented to us and the excellent North Cape center with beautiful video theater presentation, museum with excellent historical diorama and an extensive gift shop ($150pp); a midnight concert of traditional music at the Arctic Church ($74pp). All were worthwhile experiences. We also purchased a transfer to our hotel upon disembarkation for $14pp – well worth it to us to not have to find our way in the drizzle with our suitcases.

PRICING: For this off-peak-season cruise in an OV room we paid approximately $250pp per night including fees and taxes. Hurtigruten does not charge, nor encourage, any tipping, gratuity or hotel service charge; internet is complimentary. There are Inside room available and suites (which have a double bed and large bay window) but there are no balcony cabins. Bottled water is $4/half liter bottle in the dining room; a water package is about $75 for the full cruise for one bottle at each lunch and dinner. The coffee/tea package is a little less than that, about $55 for the full cruise – you get a small (~8 oz) mug to keep and refill at the bar anytime; decaf coffee is instant; coffee mugs are not allowed to be taken into dinner.

GOOD, BAD, UGLY of our experience: The experience was very good, very relaxing, very well organized, very comfortable. The time of year was bad for scenery with many drizzly or rainy days, dark early – we had 2 or 3 days with sunsets at about 2:30pm, but the up-side is that we were thrilled by the Northern Lights! The ugly for me is the ridiculous water policy: to have to pay extra for water at dinner, even when one purchases a full-board fare. One can be philosophic about it, weighing the water fee against no fees for internet or gratuities.

Stay tuned - I'm putting the finishing touches on the Viking River Cruise write-up but have to go out today. "Talk" soon :) m--

Terri,

Please take very good care of you! during this stressful time. Remember to breathe, and think about "What's good right now." I'm sure you'll feel the many blessings being sent to you all. m--

I'd look at which ship has better viewing inside and outside, especially shaded viewing. Maasdam now has lanai cabins with fewer deck chairs for the rest of the guests, though I'm usually walking around the decks to see it all!

I've never been on NA and not sure I would care for the Asian food Tamarind serves but I've been through the canal twice, both in December, and it was very hot there. You will want some covered or air conditioned viewing areas any time of year. The transit through the canal is most of a day and one can get very sunburned or overheated - I did.

The canal is our favorite itinerary for it's balance of ports and sea days, plus the canal is so fascinating. Enjoy, m--

We traveled in Europe and the Mediterranean during the fall of 2014 from Oct 15 – Dec 12, a trip comprising 3 cruises: 11nights on Hurtigruten’s Coastal Steamer, 14 nights on Viking’s Grand European Tour, and 21 nights on HAL’s Maasdam for the return half of the 42-day Atlantic Adventurer.

If the Hosts will tolerate, I will post the reviews on this thread, one at a time, as each review is lengthy; this will allow for questions and comments in between. I will post a review of each cruise using the same format; the Maasdam review will be last, as that is the experience we, on this board, have most in common.

Our itinerary involved “on-our-own” transitions and I will not include these in the reviews but I am happy to answer your specific questions about any part of our itinerary. The flow of our itinerary was this: fly overnight Boston to Iceland (to break up the long flying eastbound; 3 days/nights in Reykjavik apartment; fly to Oslo, one night stay Oslo hotel; train Oslo to Bergen across the high mountains, same-day embarkation (late afternoon embarkation, very late evening departure) on Hurtigruten Midnatsol, 11 nights R/T Bergen-Kirekenes-Bergen; disembarkation and overnight in Bergen hotel; fly to Amsterdam; 2 nights in Amsterdam hotel; embark Viking Embla for 14 night Grand European Tour Amsterdam to Budapest; fly to Rome; 4 nights in Rome apartment; Maasdam embarkation in Civitavecchia for 21 nights Mediterranean and Trans-Atlantic to Fort Lauderdale.

Stay tuned my friends and we’ll “talk” some more! m—

What time does you ship leave port?

We were in Ushuaia for a port call. We had a ship-sponsored boat tour excursion that day which met on the pier.

We walked to the excursion along the pier and there were several shops on the pier. One had post cards and stamps for mailing to the US. It was a bit crowded but I was able to get cards and stamps... then I quickly wrote the cards that day (on the excursion boat) and dropped them at the shop on the way back to the ship. The shop took US$s, gladly - Argentinians give a premium for US$s. I think I paid $20 for 4 post cards and stamps to USA, foreign mailing is expensive but the exchange was good. I recommend you leave your ship as early as possible before your excursion.

There are money changers who walk the pier and the streets and give a good exchange for US$s so I would not bother exchanging money while still in the states, other folks might....

We did purchase a few things in Ushuaia and always used US$s.... same for our other Argentine ports. Ushuaia is a busy port and a busy town with streets full of shops, much local commerce is just 1 or 2 blocks up from the pier. It's a nice place with plenty of infrastructure and very friendly helpful people, many of whom speak English. We found a camera shop and managed to buy an extra camera battery in addition to the usual souvenirs. I love my Terra del Fino T-shirt!

Enjoy your exciting adventure. m--

No visas needed for Europe. Just back from Iceland, Norway, Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Hungry, Italy, Spain, Gibraltar, Morocco, Portugal, Bahamas. European Union and Schengen Treaty make it all very easy.

Visas are needed for Brazil, India, China just to name a few.... others will chime in.

Enjoy, m--

I love cruises with sea days so I can relax and enjoy the offerings of the ship. I especially like the enrichment lectures and try to squeeze in some of the digital workshops. I always bring something to read to an outside deck chair but usually just watch the sea (I can read at home!). So many other activities to enjoy as others have mentioned. Plus time to relax.

One thing to be aware of regarding longer itineraries - and this goes for all cruise lines - is that the passengers tend to be an older crowd who have more time to travel. This can be a very good thing if you enjoy meeting well-traveled people and learning about their experiences.

Happy planning, m--

I second Ruth! Her insights are usually spot-on!

Ryndam was our first OV cabin upgrade and loved it, mid-ship on the Main deck. If mid-ship you will have a short walk to the elevator (either fore or aft) but it is a smallish ship and nothing is very far.

We're just off the Maasdam, sister to Ryndam, and had a "partially" obstructed OV (but we had very good view anyway so that wasn't an issue) on Lower Promenade deck, the one with the walk-around deck. I like the OV rooms on that deck because of their proximity to the big outside deck, but bear in mind that OV's on Lower Promenade are a bit shorter and only have a loveseat instead of the full couch you will find in the OVs on Main and Dolphin.

Having the Lanai cabins does limit the availability of deck chairs and that is my favorite spot on the ship, so I'd go for Ryndam. Mostly we prefer to be mid-ship and lower deck for a better ride.

Frankly I can't think of any advantages of Rotterdam, but someone will. Enjoy, m--

Just off the Trans-Atlantic from Rome to Port Everglades, Dec 13 Maasdam. The Neptunes played every evening in the Ocean Bar, lots of dancing going on. Also the showcast had ballroom dance lessons on sea days. Plus there were the sessions for the Dancing with the Stars competition and show. Enjoy, m--

Granada is a great place to purchase spices for that care package if it's going to anyone who enjoys cooking! A few stalls can be found if you pass through the terminal and turn right, just about 100' IIRC. The packaging of the spices is small, so, easy to pack or send. Enjoy, m--

FWIW our last booking was our first with a HAL PCC instead of our usual on-line TA. PCC had more OBC and gave us PG dinners, also gave us assurance that if the prices dropped even after final payment he would work with us to get OBC or and upgrade. This is something our TA has never done for us when prices have dropped.

As it turned out the prices went up but we did get our better OBC and enjoyed our first PG dinner. Worked for us... this time. Not sure what we'll do next time, every time seems unique. m--

Merry Christmas to all and especially happy to see that Joanie and DH had a grand time on their NA cruise and made it home ok.

Peace and Blessings, m--

I'm with Sails on this one, to cold.

My issue with the solstice time of year is that it will be too dark to enjoy the scenery. I'm not sure how far north a winter cruise might go (probably not as far north as the Hurtigruten to 72 degrees north latitude) but if the sun is setting in the mid afternoon we'd miss a lot of the beautiful scenery.

As for too cold, that depends a lot on personal comforts. We were there is October and during the southern parts of our cruise the temps were what I'd call cool, 40s. I don't think it gets a lot colder in the southern ports due to the tempering of the ocean waters and the Gulf Stream has a positive impact. But the temps in winter will be less due to less sunshine and will vary less, not warm up a lot during the day.

I wore jeans-type pants with a thin merino wool layer underneath. On top I wore a thin silk turtleneck layered with a light no-collar knit top most days. For being outside more than a few minutes I added a scarf, a light fleece jacket and a hooded rain jacket/windbreaker. (When we got to the far north I added more.)

The northern lights were thrilling! and I'd love to see them again but I would not do this cruise in late December. Plus getting there could be miserable....

m--

oops, fish was char not chad. m-- too late to edit.

I've considered Hurtigruten so many times, but just can't seem to bring myself to do it.

I'm afraid that the food just would not be to my palate (I'm a really finicky eater), so that's what's holding me back.

 

One frequent poster on this board recently returned from a Hurtigruten cruise, and I am looking forward to the report she posts. It just might be enough to get me to take a chance and do it.

I want to get a good review together with correct info form my notes but here's from my memory of my Hurtigruten 11-day R/T cruise in late October. (After that we did a river cruise, time in Rome and a HAL TA crossing home, so we just got back recently and I've been trying (unsuccessfully) to get Christmas under control! But here goes, from memory:

Full Board means 3 meals a day. Breakfast and lunch are buffet, open seating. Dinners are assigned seating - one special dinner buffet the rest were a set menu for dinner, 3 courses. If you need to eat between meals there is an a la carte café or if you are fast and adventurous you may be able to hit a market in some of the many ports.

Breakfast buffet always had hard or soft boiled eggs, sometimes scrambled or oven "fried" sunny side up. No omelets or to-order eggs. But lots of other foods available.

Meats and cheeses: bacon and/ or sausage, maybe hot ham, maybe meatballs (like bitterballen?). Cold meats - hams, turkey, salamis, several wonderful cheeses (I was so disappointed in the cheese on HAL after this experience, oh well), especially the wonderfully rich, slightly sweet, creamy "brown cheese" (actually the color of coffee au lait) which was the most amazing cheese I've ever had - had it every morning!

There were vegetables platters (for breakfast!), fruit platters (piles of multiple fruits served separately), bread platters - rolls, sliced - light dark and pumpernickle, crisp breads, and sweet breads. Sometimes pancakes, sometimes French toast. Always a selection of jams, plus nutella, butters, peanut butter. Always potatoes, usually different kinds available.

Fish: Always excellent cured salmon, maybe two kinds and cream cheese and condiments; 3 types of herring - which I also had every morning, and maybe another choice of fish. Plus caviars, black and red.

Always oatmeal and cold cereals and yogurts. Plus the best hot chocolate!! (listening Ruth?) the best, rich, creamy hot chocolate!! Coffee and teas. Juices dispensed from machines,.

Lunch was always buffet style and had the most selection of the meals of the day.

Always delicious soup. 2-4 Hot casseroles, always a hot vegetarian casserole: good lasagna, a traditional lamb and cabbage dish was available a few times (but It didn't appeal to me), pork and sauerkraut; pork and other stuff; ham; sliced beef; chicken with other stuff.... always hot fish casserole too.

Several cold salads plus a salad bar. Always potatoes. Always platters of sliced fruits.

Cold meat platters, cheese platters with scrumptious whole cheeses served on platters with knives to hunk off what you want. Tons of breads: sliced, rolls, crisps, and cookies.

Desserts: Every lunch they served multiple flavors of ice cream on platters (turned out of loaf-shaped forms and decorated with piped cream edging) so you could slice as much as you wanted, served with pitchers of sauces and fruits plus cream. Excellent caramel sauce, vanilla custard sauce, and chocolate sauce! Then platters of custards, panna cotta, and mousse. Always all of these. Also cookies, and a few pastries. This was my downfall - I had to try everything!

Coffee and tea are available. Bottled water is available for purchase.... more about that later.

Dinners: Served as a set menu... the menu is out at lunchtime for review. If you don't want what's on the menu they will arrange an alternate meal for you - but we never asked for an alternate so I'm not sure how that worked. I know some people didn't want fish and always got meats... others asked for fish instead of a particular type of meat. The menu is presented as a colorful 4 page card with photos and explanations of the preparation, the locale of where they purchased it (maybe a local farm or fishery) and maybe a description of the tradition behind the food selected for that night, usually related to the area being sailed.

Every dinner entrée we had was cooked perfectly! Every meal. They really know how to do it.

The set dinner is: Appetizer, main and dessert. The portions were sometimes more than I could eat but not huge by American standards. I can't recall all the appetizers but they were all local. Sometimes it was a soup. Bread (and butter) was on the table in a basket but they remove the baskets with the appetizer course, so we'd just put the bread on our bread plates to enjoy with the rest of the meal.

Entrees were usually meats: beef, lamb, pork, reindeer filet! the best piece of meat we've ever had!! Of course, it's very local, range fed. Some nights we had fish: salmon, chad (like salmon to me) cod, halibut. Always some form of potatoes.. it's a Norwegian staple, and vegetables.

Desserts were varied... berries and cream, cakes, puddings,,,, I'm not sure I recall.

Water: They do not pour glasses of water at dinner. Period. They do not allow bringing bottled water into the dining room. They offer bottled water for purchase ($4/half liter) or you can buy a water package of 1 bottle per lunch and dinner. (At lunch we drank coffee or tea, provided).

We thought all this was stupid for a full fare booking. So we bought a bottle of water the first night and refilled it and secreted it to our table each dinner (we had a 2-top). It was a bit of a protest action. If I had it to do again I think I'd just buy the package.

Hurtigruten does not charge any gratuity or hotel service charge, nor does it charge for their excellent internet! So they charge for water!!! Oh well.

Wine is expensive, maybe $65 a bottle lowest, but it comes with water! Or about $10 -12 per glass.

OK, I have to go make dinner now so send me your questions and I'll try my best, checking my notes. Bon Appetite! m--

PS I think I gained most of the extra 10 pounds which I brought home during this part of our trip! We really thought the food was surprisingly good and very special being from local farms.

After two days of consultation with our oxygen concentrator folks, more than enough battery power is available to fly home.

 

I have become quite savvy on lithium-ion battery packs. When a tech person asked me if my batter packs had been calibrated, I asked where that was located in the Owner's Manual. The response, "Its not in the Owner's Manual but you need to completely discharge your power packs each month and recharge to recalibrate them" was irritating. I wonder how many other devices have similar "unpublished" requirements.

Now for a comfortable flight back with no delays to strain those batteries! More blessings, m--

Glad you had a relaxing cruise or should I say cruises:).

Wishing you a safe road trip if that is the way you have to get back, at least you'll get to do some visiting along the way. May all the roads be clear for you. Getting a lot of wind today, only a few snow flurries in these mountains but still hoping for some more.

Happy Christmas to you and yours. Blessings, m--

Amazing that this refit was only a couple years ago and that fabric on the seats (benches and chairs) looks so incredibly faded and dated. The other S Class ships looked better on this portion of the refit. (Veendam excluded). Statendam's is gorgeous but certainly not for everyone.

The chairs' fabric has a nap and a rich feel; I think maybe the photo flash or general lighting causes the poor representation in the picture. I was also on this cruise and sat in many areas of the show lounge for various reasons (shows, afternoon lectures, shore excursion meeting place... ) and I can assure you that the furnishings are not shabby. m--

Thanks for posting this review. We joined the ship in Rome for the westbound TA. I enjoyed reading about the ports you had on the eastbound TA. This itinerary has a lot of diversity and balance. And a lot of interest because HAL will do it again next year adding Istanbul and a couple of Greece ports.

We enjoyed many of our ports but DH's knee started giving him issues (not surprising with all the touring we had done before we boarded Maasdam) so we chose to go light in the later Med ports, but they are beautiful places. So if I may I'll a bit to add to the list:

Messina Sicily: We really liked the tour to Taoromina with the beautiful views and the Greco-Roman amphitheater.

In Gibraltar we had the grand tour :City Under Siege" which took us all over Gibraltar. It involved a lot of walking and steep slopes and stairs but it was well worth it if you can do it.

In Cartagena we stayed close to the ship and walked over the Underwater Archelogic Museum which showcased history through shipwrecks and salvaged treasure. It was beautifully presented with modern audiovisual displays and traced the commerce routes from Roman times to present.... fascinating stuff.

We did do a tour in Sorrento, just average but glad we saw what we saw - beautiful views. I always say that even on an average tour we see more and learn more than if we'd stayed on the ship.

I will add that the westbound crossing had more rolling than other crossings we have done, not that it seemed to bother the seasoned cruisers on this long itinerary. Captain Smit did what he could to take the long route around a storm to try to keep things calmer for us but that requires catching up at faster speeds towards the end so we could get into Half Moon Cay on time, which we did. I think it's good that HAL gives that margin to the Captain for the comfort of the passengers knowing that it costs more in fuel... but maybe they know that seasick passengers don't spend money! I hope they broke even.

That's for the review and the chance to add my thoughts, m--

Just the facts, I mean, the lights, Ma'am

Thanks John, you made me laugh:D. m--