vicd1969

Not as much as Alaska, at least from the ship. I saw zero whales on my 7-day cruise. There may be excursions that are more focused on wildlife, but the best time for marine life is more towards the early late fall from what I understand.

Great review. Too bad about the Billboard piano singer’s attitude, hope you wrote about that in your post-cruise survey. While not exactly the same, at least you will have amazing onshore food experiences in Japan in lieu of Tamarind for your next cruise!

My vote is for Northern Europe - Norway likely to restrict cruises after 2024. South America & Antarctica - save up and take an expedition cruise instead if you are physically able to. Much different experience than a drive-by cruise. Japan cruise - Japan will always be available, unless China or NK get in a war after 2024. But if so, there are other issues one would need to worry about.

At least for the USA, if a cruise ship is operating at a US port, all foreign crew require a work visa: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/other-visa-categories/crewmember-visa.html Crewmember Visa Generally, a citizen of a foreign country who wishes to enter the United States must first obtain a visa, either a nonimmigrant visa for temporary stay, or an immigrant visa for permanent residence. Crewmember (D) visas are nonimmigrant visas for persons working on board commercial sea vessels or international airlines in the United States, providing services required for normal operation and intending to depart the United States on the same vessel or any other vessel within 29 days. If you travel to the United States to join the vessel you will work on, in addition to a crewmember (D) visa, you also need a transit (C-1) visa or a combination C-1/D visa. Travel purposes which require Crewmember (D) Visas - Examples: pilot or flight attendant on a commercial airplane captain, engineer, or deckhand on a sea vessel lifeguard, cook, waiter, beautician, or other service staff on a cruise ship trainee on board a training vessel

How does the spa pass work in these grand voyages? Are you able to buy for a week at a time, or do you have to buy for the entire voyage and pay $$$$? My ideal sea day on a grand voyage would be a gym visit to lose a bit of that weight gain and then after a shower, a nice relaxing session in the thermal suite.

EZE is a relatively compact airport compared to US or European ones. The charter and domestic flights leave from Terminal C - make sure your ride/driver/cab is aware of that. You likely will board the plane using outside jetway stairs, not a bridge. Plan on leaving the city about 3 hours before the departure. If your flight leaves at 2 PM, I would leave downtown Buenos Aires at 11 AM, for example.

I've never been on Seabourn or Regent, but based on my experience onboard Atlas, these seem to be the main differences: Smaller ship on Atlas with about 150-200 passengers compared to twice the number or more in Seabourn or Regent (except for Seabourn's expedition ship but I doubt that will be used in the Med) Food is more on the level of Oceania/Azamara than Seabourn/Regent Pre-cruise experience (ie, booking, confirmations, support pre-cruise) is less hand-holding and a bit more "trust us, we'll let you know" until about 2 weeks before sailing. You literally will get closer to the sea on Atlas - the viewing areas can be 30 feet from the sea and there should be more water-based activities. Given the ship size, less entertainment activities but a more intimate and close-knit vibe on Atlas among fellow passengers Atlas has some nice discounts, but it's hard to get the clear picture on their website without calling a travel agent. One nice discount they have is that active and retired military get a 20% discount that is combinable with all other discounts you are able to get.

Wait a minute - are you going on SAS's site because your United booking is a codeshare with SAS and the actual plane is an SAS flight, or is it the other way around with an SAS booking but a United airplane? If it's the former, not sure you will be able to select seats since most European carriers require a fee for advance seat reservations. If you're flying on a United plane, you should be able to reserve seats.

Maybe it is a US-visa thing or maybe it depends on which area in the ship you are hanging out at. Summer in Europe on Rotterdam - no noticeable crew staffing issues, though I was in Club Orange. Best wait staff ever for me on a HAL cruise. November (before the infamous Thanksgiving cruise) on Nieuw Statendam - no issue with cabin attendants or pool area, but anytime MDR service was inconsistent and one time the only reason why we didn't walk out was that the buffet was going to close soon.

Gee, that stinks. Bonaire is so much better than Aruba for me. And then you are limited in Aruba beach time (if any) as the ship is arriving at 5 PM. I do understand that a broken azipod limits the ship's options, but at least HAL ought to bump up the compensation. $50 is too low of compensation.

Unfortunately your options will likely be pricier for PHL but unrestricted Flight Ease usually is cheaper than normal restricted airfare if you check often and rebook before final payment. Last year my nonstop went down by $150 to Europe before final payment was due.

I normally get the laundry by the bag or unlimited, but I've never gone on a cruise longer than 14 days. During my recent expedition cruise to Antarctica, the cruise line didn't offer laundry by the bag so this $7 clothesline was very, very useful. I probably am not allowed to provide a link but search your giant online retailer for "Retractable Portable Clothesline for Travel，Clothing line with 12 Clothes Clips, for Indoor Laundry Drying line, Outdoor Camping Accessories" item with the colorful clips. Most Hal ships do have a clothesline by the shower stall, but you'll have to bring your own clothes pins/clips.

Have been on two HAL cruises post-pandemic. Food has been very good for the most part, though one of the cruises was in a separate Club Orange dining room. Service was spotty in the MDR during the other one, but I haven't been on any other mass market cruise line since COVID to compare. My sister did recently sail on Princess and seemed to have enjoyed it, though some of the food offerings based on her photos were at best in the "questionable" category. As for entertainment and activities, HAL has always lagged all the other mass market cruise lines and there are fewer non-sales related activities than before. But I've enjoyed the onboard music offerings on the Pinnacle ships more than the main stage shows HAL had in past years, for what it's worth. HAL still is a good value proposition for its itineraries in Alaska, Europe, and Asia, but I wouldn't sail them on the standard 7-day Caribbean / Mexico ones unless one lowers their expectations about those cruises.

I think I got my leather binder around 3 weeks before the cruise. You should get it within the coming week, it will have the charter information. You should also get an email from Atlas around the same time. I do agree that the pre-cruise experience is not the "hand-holding" experience some may expect at this price point. I also relied on a social media Atlas passengers group to get additional information or confirm news. For example, I got an email from my TA a couple of days before the cruise that the charter flight was going to USH two hours later, but the two other bookings from a different TA in my group didn't. But the hand-holding does start once you arrive in person at the airport terminal. Also, I do recommend that you verify you're on the return passenger manifest. There was a mixup and two of my friends weren't put on it, but fortunately they got it resolved at the airport with the charter airline when we got back to Ushuaia a day early.

The nice bag is also given out to Club Orange passengers. I brought mine to two subsequent non-CO cruises, it's a very nice bag.

Isn't it possible for the OP to see the Northern Lights in her hometown of Saskatoon (or at least in Saskatchewan)?

I was part of the ill-fated group of passengers who had their Atlas cruise cancelled at the last minute in January 2022. But I was able to rebook with Atlas still paying for airfare to this January 2023 sailing, with two extra days as a bonus. Still, I had a sense of dread that somehow my cruise wasn't going to happen, until the moment I got my room key this time. From that point on, it was a magical trip of of a lifetime. Would highly recommend Atlas for Antarctica. For more details, read below: Embarkation - Surprisingly very easy, despite the late boarding time. We checked in at Terminal C at EZE and it was seamless from there to being onboard. After arriving at Ushuaia and getting luggage, we were bused directly to the ship. Atlas had agents guiding us at both airports. The actual ship check-in was in the ship lounge after boarding, where I presented my passport while sipping on a glass of sparkling wine. Very civilized. The only hiccup for some would be that the charter flight is not exactly luxury and I was assigned the dead last row. But everyone had to wait for their luggage at the carousel, so being in the last row didn't matter. Then, the safety drill - more involved than your typical cruise ship drill. They actually made you wear your life vest and assemble at the muster stations. Drake Passage - Going to Antarctica, we had like 3-4 meter waves. The return had 4-6 meter waves on the first day but was a bit calmer on the second day. I didn't get seasick and even didn't take any medication, but the rest of my group did get hit with the Drake Shake. A couple of my friends were out almost the entire first two days. The helpful hint is to apply your patch and take your medicine before going to bed when you leave Ushuaia. Definitely got the feeling it was an expedition, not a cruise when your dishware and cutlery start sliding off the dining table, and when you see waves go over the deck 7 viewing platform. One expedition guide joked that getting seasick is just a tax payment from Poseidon to see the wonders of Antarctica. Cabin - I originally was to room with two other friends but the Deluxe Balcony room turned out too tight for us three. The front desk offered me an additional room for only $300, which I gladly took. I guess they were able to do so because we only had 116 passengers onboard, so there were a few extra rooms. I ended up in a Horizon Deluxe one with plenty of closet space and the wonderful window that can be lowered - better than a balcony for Antarctic conditions in my opinion. However, the standard non-suite cabins didn't have as much storage space. I don't recommend bringing more than one check-in luggage per person. The amenities were awesome - love the L'Occitane soaps and the bathroom was spacious. Shower was something to look forward to! Drinks were amply furnished and the huge glass water bottles were refilled each day. There was an Nespresso machine but I didn't use, since the coffee at Paula's Pantry was so good. TV had lots of movies and streamed the main auditorium, along with the bow and stern cameras. I also used it a lot to view the upcoming restaurant menus for lunch and dinner. Which brings me too... Food - Atlas did a few things really well but had room for improvement with some areas in the food and beverage department. Given that one is on a small 10,000 ton ship, it's a bit unfair to compare the food to that on a big cruise ship. I liked the breakfast offerings, but the offerings tended to change little. The best part was the raw juice bar where you can custom order a freshly pressed juice. The lunch buffet dishes included one carving station and a freshly-made stir-fry/cooking station. They usually had good stuff going on there. Also there were two choices of soups each day. I don't think I had a bad lunch onboard, but I don't mind going the buffet route. Dinner was a sit-down affair except for the first night and for the Indian-themed night. The presentation was usually beautiful, but the fish dishes didn't live up to their looks (didn't taste fresh) and the desserts were often too sweet for me. Meat dishes were usually tasty, however. The theme nights that I enjoyed were the two Gala dinners, the French night, the Brazilian night, and the Arabian night. The Indian night was actually good but I understand some aren't into that type of cuisine. Of course, Atlas did save a bit by scheduling the first Gala dinner on the first night of Drake (half the passengers were too sick to eat) and on the last evening when quite a few were doing their own thing in Ushuaia (more on that later). Can't say enough good things about the Paula's Pantry and the afternoon teas at the Deck 7. I'm not a big alcohol drinker, but the ship house wines didn't wow me and the cocktails tended to be too sweet. But nothing worth rejecting. Ship Crew - Super nice, on par with the excellent service I usually get on Holland America. While sometimes our dinner orders got mixed up, the restaurant staff were always willing to bring out additional menu items we would request. The various waiters also learned to serve our preferred lunch and dinner drinks. They also brought to the table our soups and juices during breakfast and lunch. Where they really stepped up was delivering to my seasick friends in the cabins whatever my friends or I asked, from plain bread and crackers or two bowls of soup to the lobster dinner of the gala night. Bar and Paula Pantry Staff were equally nice. With a small ship and since I had to run between cabins helping out my sick companions in the first few days, a lot of the cabin attendants got to know me and greeted me by name whenever I ran into them. My cabin attendant Agung was excellent without being intrusive. Atlas trained them very well. Expedition Crew - Top-Notch. A few of them really made my trip a memorable one with their friendliness and expertise. Their different backgrounds complemented each other and they seemed to genuinely love what they are doing. Fernando and Marco were great ambassadors with the passengers. Chris was a terrific presenter on the history of the Continent, really loved his presentation on Scott and Amundsen. Yes, he also gave a very thorough presentation on Shackleton as well. Laura was always approachable after we got to know her as our very first zodiac guide, and gave great presentations on whales. Our expedition leader Jonathan was not as outgoing, but he was a true professional who had safety as the top priority for the passengers. We had four amazing days in Antarctica thanks to his planning. Unfortunately, it was too windy to do a landing on the fifth day at the South Shetland Islands, though the expedition team gave an honest attempt at taking out the zodiacs to see if the wind conditions were acceptable. We ended up leaving a day early to avoid high winds and poor weather, which to me ended up as the right decision since the Drake return passage would have been a lot worse. Plus, we got a full sunny day in Ushuaia, where Atlas stepped up and arranged a bus tour of the Tierra Del Fuego National Park for us. One piece of warning about the expedition aspect - there was a mandatory in-person session on day 1 regarding safety and environmental rules. It was a struggle for some to attend because of their nausea so you may want to ask for extra seasick bags. Activities - Our cruise director Nathalie was super friendly, and has a really wonderful voice. We had a real treat listening to her sing on two occasions. The piano player Paul played very well, but didn't have the vocal chops. But given that he also pulls mud room duty to help passengers suited up for the landings/zodiac cruises, he's an important member of the team as well. The presentations by the various expedition team members were all very informative, even though sometimes the energy in the room wasn't there because most were viewing via streaming instead of being in person. Everyone also got a nice tour of the bridge on the last day at sea. My favorite part of the trip activities was the crew talent show - some of the crew had amazing singing voices and we had a very lively auction conducted by Chris to help out the crew fund. Debarkation - While we were assigned in 4 groups, it doesn't really matter. Most of us are taking the same charter flight back. You do leave your check-ins out the night before, and Atlas handles them through to Buenos Aires where you pick them from the luggage carousel. Only negative was that our charter flight was around the same time as an Aerolinas Argentina flight so there was a bottleneck in the security line. Hope this gives you a flavor on what to expect. I won't spoil the experience for you with my favorite photos, but rest assured the scenery and wildlife you will encounter were amazing. But here is a link to some photos I took of the ship itself. https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjApBHs

I think the ban on non-zero emission ships, if enacted, won't be official until 2026. The ban may not be applicable to some of the fjords that aren't UNESCO world heritage sites. In any case, it may be too soon to know for sure how the ban is going to be implemented. You should be safe booking in 2023 or 2024.

I took an inside on main deck as a solo cruiser on sister ship Nieuw Statendam. It was fine for me, and decently located near a stairway. Ample storage space for a solo. But I also got the thermal suite package to avoid feeling cooped up inside.

Maybe HAL is discovering its differentiating niche in the highly competitive Caribbean market - be the cruise line of choice for gamblers (they're probably one of the few lines still offering smoking in the casinos).

Did they remove the "Art Gallery" for the new non-smoking room? Looking at current deck plans, I don't know what other room HAL was able to use. No great loss if it was indeed the art gallery.

Best coffee is at the Grand Dutch Cafe on deck 3 and the Explorations Cafe on deck 12. Don't get coffee at the bars in the lido - you have to pay as well but the quality isn't as good. (I'm not referring to the free coffee in the dispensers). Given the $18.50 per day, you're ahead if you get 2 cappuccinos and 2 mocktails each day.

The appetizers may pose a dilemma for his wife as well.

Agree completely - HAL's competitive strength is not its 7-day Caribbean sailings (hence the discount to entice passengers).

The Lido big screen TV does play a movie at night, when it's not playing football games. During my November sailing, I remember Top Gun Maverick and Where the Crawdads Sing were featured. However, there is no movie or music video played during daytime. The Club Hal center on the Nieuw Statendam has two air hockey tables and about 5 video game stations. Unfortunately, adults can't use them with their kids after the first night.