RMLincoln

@Cruising-along congratulations on DH’s last treatment 🔔. I hope he got to ring the bell! That was a big day for us after 39 radiation treatments for prostate cancer. We went to Houston in 2020 to MD Anderson, stayed 15 weeks! COVID started while we were there but they didn’t miss a treatment. What a time of uncertainty. @rafinmd Condolences to the Baltimore Fire Family. I’ve rung the 4 5s too many times😢. Makes me cry even now just thinking about it…. Thank you for the 🙏. Just getting the complex eye surgery and pre-op physical has taken a set of miracles! We’re working around a family cruise on Rotterdam Feb 25-Mar 8, there’ll be 8 of us. Plus 3 day drive here to Ft Lauderdale then back. Pre -op physical has to be within 30 days. Results have to be faxed 7 days or more prior to surgery. The math got complicated. First date for surgery got nixed by the surgeon… scheduler then became inaccessible! But we’re set up now, hoping we can stay well enough through all that’ll be in-between! Amazing we’ve made it this far 🤣!

We made our open dining reservations at the MDR podium or by phone. They will reserve two or maybe three nights out. They do not reserve for times between 5:45 and 7:15, or so. We got a 5:45 but in the books it was 5:30. We were going to Lincoln Center Stage 5:00 performance and their sets were usually 30-45 minutes but we were at the podium about 5:40, worked great. m—

Best upgrade we ever had was when our assignment wasn’t available until we were at the pier. We tracked down the shoreside porter with the assignments clip board to get assignment and luggage tags. It was a nice surprise. Here’s hoping! m—

Good morning all. Love this group! So much to admire! Compassion, edification, nostalgia, humor, food and drink, hopes dreams and challenges. Collectively you’ve got life covered! Thank you for welcoming me! love the snow cartoons, passing them to friends back in my New Mexico mountains. There, the rule of thumb was that we needed a 10 foot winter to avoid an intense fire season, so a foot a week for ten weeks. When we’d get to100 inches I’d stop “holding my breath” and at 120 inches I’d breathe a sigh of relief. I don’t miss it. Maryland winter is kind… Jacqui, you are an inspiration! And managing very well, give yourself a big hug! (compliment… 😉) And hugs and comforts to Carolyn and all of Patricia’s family. Chili Mac works for me, not DH. Not happening here…. Can’t drink red wine anymore. Too many beer cans need to be collected from the roadsides! IMO. Today is groceries day, tomorrow eye appointment for DH, then a treat to go hear Chamber Music at Kennedy Center in DC- one of the reasons we chose to move to this area, Maryland side of DC. (And why we’ll miss Lincoln Center Stage on HAL, love the quartets.) More another day about our eye challenges with DH… grateful for making progress! Surgery scheduled for late March. Miracles getting that scheduled last week! Blessings to all, in needs and celebrations. m—

Thank you all for your warm welcome. I’ve met some of you over the years and miles… and emailed with others- Jacquie helped me with our first visit to Spain and Lisbon. Jeanette and Phil have “been with me” a decade now. I remember meeting Ann and Pat but not sure which ship! Maybe Amsterdam, Panama Canal? Sorry, it gets blurry. Thank you Carolyn for the sad update. Strength and comfort to the family in releasing Patricia’s tether to a life she could no longer live. Hoping for news from Kathi. Thank you Roy for the maps! And to those with photos of Riatia, great memories! Unlikely I’ll return but glad we kayaked the river there! The sailaway took us through the pass between Ta’ha and Riatia… stunning. Blessings to all facing challenges, and to those celebrating! Off to book group tonight, busy week. Thanks all for being here! Please be safe. m—

Thank you for these suggestions! m—

We are driving to Ft Lauderdale in late February, day before cruise departure. Family are flying in also day before departure, flight arrival early afternoon. We all have accommodation together for that night up in Orchard Park area, rental house. Seeking suggestions as to where we can park ourselves while we wait for their flight arrival. Is there a cell phone lot? Short term parking that’s convenient to pickup arrivals? Or should we plan to park off-site near FLL? I don’t know which terminal Delta comes into; we have only arrived on Southwest Airlines flights into Terminal 3 I think, walked towards Terminal 2 to the area for hotel shuttles. That’s all I remember. Thanks! Maureen

Greetings Dailyites! I’ve been following this thread , marveling at how it reflects all of our ups and downs, joys and sorrows. Blessings to you all as you show the uncommon strength to be strong enough to lean on others, to be vulnerable, and to be bouyed by the joys of others through our own troughs. I had a second career as a rural volunteer fire department EMT for 18 years in the mountains of NM. I soon learned that not everybody who dies is old! It is not possible to be prepared for loss, most especially loss of those younger. Over half of my patients who died were younger than me at the time, and I began this work at 48. I had 2 patients die with me at 40. They both had complex medical conditions. Of course everything we knew to do was done but they weren’t coming back. When we rarely could get a conversion from cardiac arrest to a heartbeat, it meant the family would have a little time to say their goodbyes. I learned in a new and visceral way that we don’t get to choose who lives and dies, we get to choose how we live our lives… with love, with courage, with hope every day no matter the odds. And we have the privilege to walk the path alongside those we care about, near and far. The Dailyites do that with grace, trust and compassion. Thank you! Carolyn, your family, Patricia and her Care Team, you are in my heart and prayers. And all on the Care List, and those celebrating - having gotten through your challenges! Waiting to hear news about Kathi! Blessings all, near and far, Maureen - now in Maryland, retired again….

My experience has been that in the MDR you can select from the offerings the night before and request specifics such as, no gravy, no sauce, no stuffing, maybe no breading. The “no breading” might or might not be possible, it varied. But we had no luck with them making something individually for us, just altering the plating. The MDR did offer GF breads, pasta, waffles, bagels, cereals, upon request. Also in the MDR they were helpful to bring out a container so we could read the label (we had a granddaughter with complex food allergies, not just gluten). In the Lido, we talked to the Lido Chef. He/she is on duty whenever the Lido is open. We’d get to him by telling someone in a jacket that we had food allergy questions for him and usually he’d be right out. He addressed questions as to what was safe. He was extremely helpful but this was on an older ship, not Rotterdam. Do check the ALLERGY box on the online checkin form; your room number will be flagged on ship and no matter if you are in open dining or fixed your server will be alerted. And if you’ve alerted them, it’s in their best interest that you don’t get ill on their food. m—

Question of ignorance: Is the Retreat’s central lounge area also restricted to only those who rented cabanas? I ask because the Retreat is available on other cruise lines where it is adults only and has shaded loungers like on Carnival, for example. Our adult granddaughters liked the loungers on Legend. They’ll be with us on Rotterdam next month. I figure best to understand beforehand. Thanks, m—

We went to the MDR for embarkation lunch and made our first night’s dinner reservation then for Open dining. Then about every other evening we’d make a reservation for the next 1 or 2 nights. I think you can do up to nights in advance. You can also make reservations by phone, I think it’s 88. We were told to come to the priority side of the podium to be seated when we had a reservation. Worked great. This was last month on Eurodam, YMMV…. m—

Just to get you an early reply, though we have not made claims, have had Platinum plan multiple times. Others will chime in but reports are that it works great. You must purchase before final payment. If you cancel you will get back 90% of cruise fare. 100% of port taxes and fees will be refunded even without the Cruise Cancelation Plan 0% will be refunded for the cost you pay for the plan. I believe you will also get back 90% of anything paid for that’s on your confirmation such as airport transfers, pre/post cruise hotels. Hope it all works out for the best for you! m—

Wow! We were on Eurodam 11 nights in Dec. Not much on Main Stage- Step One did 3 shows. No Cantare. A very good movie one night- Maverick! The HAL history presentation embarkation night…. maybe also the last night too. BBC nature films were shown 3 nights while the classical musicians played but were drowned out by the soundtrack, hardly could hear them. On the music walk there was a comedian aboard who did a few evening shows in BB King lounge. when they weren’t playing; The dual pianos; Lincoln Center Stage 6 of 11 nights - 2 nights off, 3 playing with BBC. We’ll be on Rotterdam late February. Hoping for better, not expecting it. m—

Thank you for the Daily and further info on LCS. We are encouraged! Hoping they stay aboard for us. In Dec we were on Eurodam 11 nighter Caribbean/Panama Canal. We stayed aboard at most ports, great to have the ship to “ourselves”. Enjoy! m—

Thank you for this thread! We’ll be boarding as you depart Feb 25. As a party of 8, hoping all the family’s flights will connect us together in Ft Lauderdale! DH and I will drive from Maryland. We are most interested in, and somewhat distressed about, Lincoln Center Stage and changes being made. It will be what it will be, but if you can update us on what Rotterdam is doing, at least we’ll be prepared. Also interested in MDR noise - haven’t been on Rotterdam but K’dam was pretty difficult in 2018. 42 days in the Caribbean sounds excellent! Bon Voyage! Maureen

We were on Eurodam Dec 10-21. First HAL cruise since 2018. We are 4 star, probably for eternity. Overall we had a nice cruise, didn’t get sick! We were in a balcony room, sat outside a lot avoiding crowded areas. We go for Lincoln Center Stage music, enjoyed it thoroughly. Got seats early, front corner, wore masks. Did not get a tote bag. Have never gotten slippers. Room steward was attentive but asked if we wanted morning room make-up or evening turndown. Said he would try to accommodate requests for evening if desired. Too many rooms! We didn’t have towel animals except for a double heart Swan for our anniversary, very sweet. Chocolates only on dressy nights, only 2 dressy nights on 11 nighter. Ate breakfast and dinner in MDR everyday, Open dining to work around music schedule, requested table for 2, no problems. Service was decent, not perfect. Breakfasts some food was cold- always cold dry toast, gave up on that. One morning they didn’t have yogurt.. would have to get it out of storage…. would we like to wait or choose something else? Huh? Dive-in couldn’t get an order correct in 3 tries- how hard it is to plate a cheeseburger, no bun, no sauce, no salad…. Ketchup on the side. gave up, used room service sandwiches. Dinner Menus and food quality in MDR seemed noticeably declined. We always ate, but it’s nothing special anymore. It’s great for me to not have to cook etc, and I enjoyed it but struggled sometimes to find something appealing. I ate lunch most days in MDR. Open on sea days and days when we ported after noon. The fish of the day was very good. After a few days the static menu got me to the point where I’d tried everything of interest to me. Afternoon tea looked nice, but didn’t go. Only served on sea days. Went to a couple of Panama Canal documentaries, very sparsely attended. As were EXC talks… maybe everybody has been? I wouldn’t repeat the Marconi talk either. We are going on Rotterdam with family next month, concerned about noisy MDR after 2018 experience on K’dam; and not sure if Lincoln Center Stage will be as a frequent lounge performance or a one-shot main stage show, if at all. But hoping to enjoy the strengths of HAL and Rotterdam… just not sure what those are anymore. Wishing you a happy cruise. Thanks for all your contributions to these boards. Maureen

Was the Atrium a quiet enough venue? m—

We were on Eurodam in December. We chose HAL for the LCS. It’s a 3 day drive to a HAL ship but worth it to us for the music! We were at every set, worked our dinner around them, and met others who did the same. What amazing performances they gave us! The LCS musicians were finishing their 5 month contract with that cruise. They were outstanding musicians from US, Canada and Italy. Well educated, well trained and well disciplined. They said that auditions for these jobs are very competitive. They were all disappointed that they couldn’t renew their contracts. They loved playing their music nightly for people who really appreciated it. The venue was usually packed. They told us the venue would be remodeled and they had heard rumors that LCS might become a Main Stage show. We have a family cruise next month with 8 of us in 4 cabins on Rotterdam. We’ll find out what HAL has for classical music, if any. Our first cruise was in 2003 on Carnival with a classical quartet! We’ve seen the degradation of classical music over time from quartets to trios, duos and singles, then to nothing on Carnival, Princess, Norwegian and HAL. When HAL resurrected classical music with LCS it was a great step forward in improving music entertainment with the Music Walk, and the classical offering was a quartet plus piano so a quintet. We had had a 4 yr break from HAL( medical issues followed by COVID) so it was surprising to see just the quartet last month. But devastating to hear of the demise of the lounge venue. Next month we’ll find out if LCS plays at all on our 11-nighter. I doubt we’ll make the drive to Florida again after the family cruise if LCS becomes a hit or miss offering. We can cruise from closer ports. We’ll very much miss LCS but the rest of HAL is nothing special anymore. The enrichment is nearly non-existent. The computer and photography classes are gone with the pillow chocolates. The MDR on newer ships is too loud to converse, the service is not anything better than the other lines and sometimes worse - on Carnival there are no buzzers to wait for a hamburger at the pool, and you actually get what you ask for, with a broad smile! As 4 star Mariners it’s disappointing but we’re Platinum on Princess and Carnival, gold I think on Norwegian and similar on Celebrity. HAL might not lose much without us, others will fill in behind us, probably buying the HIA package! Nothing stays the same forever. Life is good, we’re grateful we can enjoy it, but HAL is not as good for us as it once was. Maureen

We just received notice about Columbia requirements. Our notice says: “No COVID-19 testing is required for guests who are fully vaccinated. To be considered fully vaccinated a guest must have completed their final dose of an approved vaccine at least 14 days prior to embarkation.” Fully vaccinated is the initial set of 2 Pfizer or 2 Moderna, or 1 J&J type. Those were the vaccines most commonly used in the US, not sure about other types or countries. No boosters mentioned. Boosters are for those who have been fully vaccinated. m—

Thanks for that info. I wasn’t sure if one could do that. Maybe those staffing the scanners for reboarding have bigger concerns than a few bottles of soda. m—

Room Service is another option. I’d rather order a sandwich and a salad delivered to the room while I unpack than fight the Lido! m—

Thank you all! I’m confident I have the best info to pass along. m—

We are booked on Rotterdam for Caribbean. Family member is considering joining us, but drinks large quantities of Mountain Dew. Does HAL carry it? Is it $2.50/can? Covered on Signature Beverage Package? Thanks for the help! m—

Thank you for clarifying. I’ll take it!

Finally! Received the last 2 of 5 TA approvals today, Wednesday before a Sunday departure. So what do we do with them? Are electronic versions on smartphone ok to show at embarkation? Or do we need hard copies? There’s a barcode on the Waiver so I m hoping somebody at the embarkation terminal can scan that. Will bring hard copies too but our printer isn’t perfect, and only B&W. Thanks for all the encouragement here! Maureen