RMLincoln

Oftentimes there isn't much to do in that port after midnight or so, depends on the port. In Honolulu overnight there is tons of stuff to do; overnight in Bora Bora not so much. :D

And I think Bora Bora is a tender port... it was when I was there. So coming and going would depend on the tender operations.

But when docked, anytime goes. Enjoy! m--

Are you even sure that the 3-night cruise on HAL would have a formal night? I'd want to check with ship-services before I'd make my decision. DH may luck out and not have to even consider non-suit consequences.

And to do some walking on the decks, it's great to have HAL's walk-around promenade deck.

On formal nights most of the menu options are available in the buffet, though probably not all, but otherwise the buffet is a nice alternative dining venue.... but so would a room service dinner in your deluxe veranda suite! Nice.

Enjoy deciding! m--

Scheduled for MADM on that particular voyage are:

 

Capt. Ane Jan Smit

HD Francois Birarda

GRM Maja Milanoska

Ex CHK Agnello D'Souza

DRM Iman Sugondo

CD Unk at this time

 

 

A heads up; always subject to change

Thank you Copper John for always being 10-8 for us!

I hope Capt Ane Jan Smit stays on the Maasdam for her return TA voyage (westbound) as we will join the ship in Rome. We had Captain Smit on his first sailing as Captain, or Master, a few years ago and he took very good care of us ;) and I'm sure he will again. Quite handsome too! m--

Please post this question on the Ports Forum; put Venice somewhere in the title and I'm sure you will get new ideas. Best wishes, m--

From Piazzel Roma it is a land route to the ship. We did it ourselves by using the People Mover and a short walk to the ship, but there may be a land transportation option available, probably easier without having to climb into and out of a water taxi. I think I would contact the hotel and ask them what options are available. LOVED Venice! Enjoy! m--

I find the sea bands work very well for me... just pay close attention to the directions of where they are placed on the wrist so they hit the acupressure point, otherwise they are useless.

I was queasy on our first cruise out of Vancouver to Alaska when we hit open water and had a broadside wave front for about 5 hours. Lots of white bags placed around the ship! I saw crew wearing the sea bands and asked about them. I've become a big fan of them over our many cruises. Plus no need to worry about medication interactions, nor wine issues if those are of concern. Look for them next to the Dramamine and Bonine at your local drug store or order them from Amazon. m--

It's my experience that on the S-class ships HAL will only allow open dining reservations for 5:15 - 5:45, and similarly for 30 minutes later on (7:15 - 7:45?), but not for 6pm, 6:30 or other popular times because they can't turn the tables over enough times to make room for everyone. You may come to the MDR door and ask to be seated but you will likely wait for a table to become available.

On our 2 Celebrity cruises we found they had open dining down to a science! m--

Seems Tonya is busy have a great cruise! She did post yesterday. Thanks Tonya... and keep well so you can enjoy it all. m--

Realize that the ship may not have internet connection all the time... there are dead spots around the globe and I found last year that HAL was worse with dead spots than Princess (used one line going westbound and other line going east bound across the Pacific). HAL's signal was out for at least 3 days of a 21 day cruise. Very frustrating.

The slowness means that you will not be able to do anything of high megabytes such as video, Skype and even uploading photos is very slow. We have found it much quicker while in port when others are off the ship trying to find free wifi somewhere... that's a good time to use your ship time where it's air conditioned, no sitting on the floor in the terminal or having to find local currency to pay an internet café, etc.

Wishing you the best even though ship internet isn't the best. m--

Itinerary first. If that's a wash I'd consider vantage point for viewing the canal, assuming that the reason you are going on this cruise is to see the canal ( I understand that not everybody cares as much as I do about seeing the canal). I was on the old Regal Princess for my first canal transit and open deck space was difficult to find - people were 5 deep for the first locks. Even if you have a balcony I'd recommend wandering around to see the goings-on as you transit the canal from different vantage points including the aft.

Rooms: In general I like the rooms on HAL better because you don't have to pay as much to get a couch in your room. If you always buy a suite then it probably doesn't matter.

I've been through the canal on HAL Amsterdam and Regal Princess..... At the time I think Princess did a better job of preparing people for the canal experience through movies, lectures and offering an excellent book for sale in the onboard shop. That may be very different now anyway though. Their commentary through the canal was unintelligible on the PA system... so I was glad to have the book.

So I guess it depends a lot on what you want out of the experience. Tell us more! m--

We receive a copy of the bottle label with our receipt when we get prescriptions refilled. I can use that label to put on smaller bottles. If you don't get the extra label you can ask the pharmacist.... if you have one, but we get meds through mail-order and it's not that easy. m--

I want the categories back. m--

I think I read in the quote that Kruse told the group that HAL would send a note for the 25% discount... So does anyone know what the note says? m--

It would make logical sense to be able to bring on a new pair of wine bottles without corkage fee, but in practicality when we have turned around we had an 'in transit' pass and usually we were escorted off the ship, past the customs agent and back onto the ship... although we could have left the ship earlier and boarded again later in the day, but again, with an 'in transit' pass, not as a newly embarking passenger. I'd like to hear from those who have tired it recently. m--

Same policy on Princess as we found when overnighting in Tahiti.

This also may hold for B2Bs and I'd be interested to know if anyone has been allowed to "replenish" their wine without corkage fee on their turn-around day. I haven't had this issue but foresee that it is not allowed. As has been said, the policy is to bring wine onboard at embarkation only for no corkage fee. Thanks for this discussion. m--

Set it up before you cruise or as soon as you board or can talk with a maître d'.

On HAL with Open Dining you give our room number to the host(ess) when you arrive at the MDR. That room number is flagged with your needs and no matter where you are seated the server will know your needs and if you have made choices the day before.

When making choices on the menu the night before add notes such as, no sauce, no stuffing.... no gravy, etc. when questioned about what was in the sorbet they brought it out to us to read the ingredients for ourselves! They were the best. And they really don't want anyone getting ill.

In the Lido we sought out the Lido Head Chef (wears a chef hat and white jacket) and told us he was always on duty whenever the Lido was open, always to ask for him and he will answer all our questions, and he was most helpful identifying what our granddaughter could eat and not eat. (She had very complex allergies and sensitivities).

There is gluten free bread available in the MDR and upon request in the Lido. They also offered to make her GF pasta.

Open dining works very well, no worries even with special needs. Just ask and send back anything questionable. :) Enjoy, m--

To each their own.... I've been lucky enough to go through the canal once and then do a partial transit with an overnight in Gatun Lake on a later cruise. I go for the canal and love very minute of it... seeing the rock cuts, the navigational complexities, the other ships, just looking at the jungle and imagining how they ever cut the path through it, seeing the new construction on the new locks, watching the "mule" locomotives working to keep the ship centered and seeing the incredible steep angle they have to work on while the ship is raised or lowered..... Every lock we've gone through I've seen something different. But this is me! I have not chosen to leave the ship and do an excursion because I'm there for the canal.

Are you there to see the views form the train? the village life? It's all good and whatever you choose I hope you can go back someday and see another interesting aspect of this amazing area. Enjoy! m--

One more thing to factor in... it's hot there! Check what parts of your excursion may be air conditioned and be prepared for a long hot day on shore it that's what you choose... brings a hat, light sun cover-up and lots of water so you can be comfortable and really enjoy it!

Maybe this is a trend toward fewer formal nights. Stay tuned.... m--

Good information! We'll be on Viking on our first river cruise in Novemeber. Trying to envision it all! Glad to read that there is some flexibility. m--

Thanks for the time you are putting into this blog, it's fabulous!

And sorry I was confused about where you are from... no storms in CA, it's Hawaii that's getting dumped on. But more blessings to you both for a wonderful time and no high water issues!!! m--

The lasagna was the same as what was served in the MDR (not surprising I guess) and it was barely fair. DH gave it a try in both venues, disappointed both time so I would avoid that. I believe I had a decent veal dish, but again it was the same as in the MDR. And the 'gelato' was not gelato, it was ice cream from the ice cream bar, nice but I'd go for the limoncello cream. We were there a few years ago when it was complimentary. Maybe it's changed and improved now that they charge for it.

In fact we avoid Caneletto altogether now. We had tried it with new, onboard friends on a long cruise just for something different and to eat together, so it served that purpose... well sort of even though they couldn't seat us together because we were 10. There was nothing impressive about the experience but JMO and your mileage may vary. m--

We were on our second cruise and didn't know much...

In Jamaica we were told to only take taxies that were within the port enclosure (the gated machine-gun guarded, barbed-wire enclose.. and not just the port but the shopping area, the tourist locations....everywhere because you must be protected! ). OK, we did that and we were fine. The driver was very nice and made arrangements with all of us in his van and followed through and picked us up at the prearranged time after we visited our place of interest. I think overall we were very lucky and I would not do it again there after having seen what it's like. I can't image what a mess it could have been.

In fact we will not get off the ship again in Jamaica. And we're not timid folks... we've travelled on our own in many countries but not again in Jamaica. We'll enjoy the beauty elsewhere.

If you pre-arrange a tour through the internet please be extra cautious of your plans and your private information, use only secure website etc.... and only pay afterward.

If you are determined to do independent touring in Jamaica consider hooking up with some others, perhaps on your roll call, and doing one of HAL's Private Car or Van excursions... you will have a driver and you will be in charge of where to go. The cost will have to be split between the occupants and you'll have to figure that our among yourselves. But the ship will wait for you if you have a problem. m--

I started with HAL about a decade ago and haven't seen that big of a change. It may be that they are at a junction but I doubt I will see that much of a change in the next decade.

I expect HAL to have smaller ships than the other lines even though they may be larger than the current ones.

I expect a good MDR experience though maybe fewer or more relaxed formal nights. The itineraries may suffer if the ships are larger and can't dock at the smaller piers but they still will have tenders, so there's hope for itineraries.

There may be more charges... room service for example. The entertainment has suffered significantly and will probably continue to decline from what we had once. It's becoming more like Carnival with more Do-It-Yourself shows... where the passengers provide the entertainers... Dancing with the Stars, mock game shows and the like. The musicians have already been cut way back and we certainly have noticed that! We'll be dancing to more canned music.

I think different people cruise for different reasons, so the clientele may shift somewhat but I doubt it will be very noticeable.

I suspect that I will change more in the next decade than HAL will!! m--

Sounds like you've got a plan! A first flight in the morning is usually a good bet for trouble-free. Hope you get some sleep tonight and that all will be smooth sailing tomorrow! Have a great cruise and let us know how it goes!

Curious... did you book air through HAL and that is why they are sending a rep to meet you? m--

Sail, I'm so happy for you that you are considering new things in your life!

Yes, it is your life to live and all the uncertainty of what that will feel like has been in the forefront, but slowly, when the timing is right for you, that uncertainty will give way to anticipation.

We have cruised on NCL only a couple of times, but, as we have heard from others and said to others, a cruise is what you make of it... and you will bring a good attitude with you! I liked NCL better than my husband did... he felt like they had a "hard sell" attitude which put him off, but I overlooked that and focused on what I wanted and did fine. That was a decade ago, and now I feel like HAL and Princess and Celebrity have all had to adopt some more of that hard sell to make up for rising costs and not so much rising prices. There's more similarity than differences.

I can't tell you what to do... but I'm glad for you that you are "peeking" ahead to how best to take very good care of you!

Blessings, m--