JAFM

Yep, the cruise that left on Saturday was delayed until 7:30 p.m. I believe it was originally scheduled for 3:00 p.m.

Are bonfires allowed in the staterooms? We like a nice evening bonfire. Does HAL provide kindling?

We're also getting the AARP OBC. Well, at least I hope so, I applied for it AFTER booking, so they may not do it. But at least we're getting the educator discount, which was done at booking.

Confirmed as well with our TA. Thank you! @POA1

If we're both educators, can we each get an OBC or will we get just one OBC for the stateroom?

I just applied for my OBC. Here's the link so you can too: https://www.hollandamerica.com/en/us/cruise-deals/community-appreciation-cruise-offers/aarp-member-benefit-offer

No, there are no water slides on Explorer OTS.

On the November 26, 2022 cruise to the ABC's, we stopped at each island as expected. Departed Miami, Terminal G.

Deck 4, "The Tavern," will have the game. If not, you can request the game be put on (particularly if you are early) and they're really good about granting such requests, even the Thursday night game on Amazon Prime, which we saw during our cruise.

Thank you, donaldsc, for the post. Binoculars are a fantastic addition to a cruise! I'd like to piggyback on your discussion. Once you get over 8x magnification, binoculars will show you just how shaky your hands are! Years ago, when I started birding, I did some research on binoculars. Lots of great pairs our there, including stunning clarity from manufacturers like Swarovski. But our human inability to hold things steady over 8x means that unless you have a tripod/bipod/monopod, you won't be pleased, regardless of the lens quality (and who wants to carry extra stuff around). There was only one solution: Canon binoculars with image stabilization. My pair is the Canon 12x36 IS III, made in Japan. It's absolutely stunning what happens when one presses the stabilization button on top! It's so good you can use it in a moving vehicle! They are expensive (~$700) but they'll be the last pair you buy and will greatly increase the pleasure of using binoculars to pick out details. I'll never go back to unstabilized binoculars, period. -Eric