terrydtx

Getting our Covid quarantine FCC reimbursement in less than 6 months is what has kept us cruising with HAL. First we needed to use the credit for a cruise this year and then we booked the Volendam for our Canada cruise next year because of the great deal we got for a suite. We also have been sailing with Celebrity in only Sky Suites. We have 4 booked over the next 2 years, but the current pricing increases for Suites and Aqua Class cabins had a lot to do with us staying with HAL and booking with Oceania as our alternatives. Our future cruises include 4 Celebrity, 2 HAL and 1 with Oceania.

Looks more like a safety drill. LOL

That is what I thought too. After the second terrible experience last year on the Reflection with the Boulud Moroccan chicken I asked our server about the dish. I was told that the Chicken is pre cooked then frozen and reheated when ordered before the sauce is added which is why it tends to be so overcooked and dried out. He also told me, so few even order the chicken anymore which is why it is prepared in advance. I agree about the fish, always is cooked prefect, unlike the MDR, and I tend to now gravitate to the fish dishes in Luminae, as long as they do not try and do any Tilapia.

I tried his chicken on the Equinox in 2021 and it was totally inedible and gave it a second chance on the Reflection last year and it was even worse. Can't believe that Chef Boulud keeps his name on this, it keeps me from ever trying one of his land restaurants. Of all the Luminae dishes this probably gets more complaints on CC than anything.

I will wear a nice golf or polo collared shirt on any non-chic night, have for years. For dressy chic nights I will wear one of my Tommy Bahama button up Hawaiian shirts both plain and bright print types. In both cases long pants like light weight Kakis will be my attire. When I retired in 2020 all my dress shirts, ties, suits and sport coats went to Goodwill.

I would bet that if the soda brought on board was in plastic bottles, they would have not let them go through security.

I went back on the above cruise pricing, if we bought all of the HIA promo items ala carte the total would have been $1393pp. The Premium early booking HIA promo with OBC and crew appreciation only cost us $605pp over the non base no HIA price, we are saving $788pp.

Was the soda in cans or plastic bottles? The issue with plastic water bottles is that when empty and left on out on the decks they often blow overboard. I doubt the plastic coffee bottles will be left on the deck when empty. The cruise industry is doing its best to limit the amount of plastic that ends up in the ocean. Plastic water bottles and straws are the biggest culprits or so I have heard.

We got the early booking Premium HIA package for our Vista Suite on the 11 day Volendam NE/Canada cruise in August 2024. I priced out each HIA component by itself and the promo we got for $55pp per day was way less than ala carte pricing. We got the Elite Drinks, $200pp shore excursions, 2 each specialty dining, $200 OBC, Premium Wi-Fi for 2, Crew appreciation and the low price guarantee. The Elite drinks package alone is $62pp per day, so the HIA for this cruise is one fantastic deal and why we booked this over 2 other cruise lines we were considering.

We got this for our early booking of the Volendam in August 2024, I was told by HAL it means if the price drops for our cabin (Vista Suite) prior to final payment, we automatically get repriced to the lower price. Will see if this it true or not.

Last year I used refillable insulated plastic water bottles on and off the ship. The Ship's store even sold logo HAL plastic bottles. The policy only bans disposable one time use plastic water bottles. The purified water provided in your cabin will be in a aluminum can, unless you buy the one liter glass premium bottled water for the cabin, like we did.

That is nothing like what happened to my generation when soldiers returned from Viet Nam and where called baby killers, accused of war crimes and spat upon by the haters. The down grading of loyalty benefits is not only in the cruise industry, look at your frequent flyer and hotel loyalty benefits, nothing like they were pre Covid. We no longer cruise, fly or stay based on loyalty accounts, we do so based on the providers we like best and in most cases could care less about status benefits.

I have the same problem with my hearing aids.

If you are on the June 4th Equinox cruise, you should join our CC roll call for the cruise at:

We did the ABC islands cruise on the Equinox in August 2021 and loved the ship; we had upgraded to a Retreat Sky Suite with the extra FCC we got for 2 canceled Covid cruises. We will be back on her in June with our granddaughter. Since you have a drinks package make sure to visit the martini bar, it is a really good show and good drinks. I believe they stopped punching sail cards, but you can check it out at guest services when you board.

Thank you for your insights, this makes perfect sense and explains a lot.

It looks like it will be very scenic and interesting sail away up the river to the sea from Rotterdam.

Last August we used Bob's limos to and from Civi. It was over 100 degrees F that week in Rome and the few people who took the train from Rome to Civi on our cruise were a sweating mess by the time they got to the ship.

We were pleasantly surprised as I remembered the old tents terminal for 2009. The retreat VIP lounge had drinks and finger food while we waited to board.

They were highly recommended by someone on our roll call.

We sailed on the Reflection from the new cruise port at Civi and it is a long ways from the train station as I recall, not at all walkable. That new terminal is really nice and has a VIP lounge for Retreat guests before you board. Our driver dropped us off at the entrance to the new terminal and was waiting for us when we returned to take us to the Rome rail station.

Tipping in Europe is much different that here in the US. Last year in Italy we tipped drivers 5-10% of the trip cost, if I remember correctly. We had our driver at the Rome cruise port drop us off and give our luggage to the porters, and when I turned around to tip him, he was in his car and driving away. I never saw one driver with his hand out at the end of the trip.

For that reason, last year we took a private transfer from Civitavecchia to the Rome train station to catch our train to Florence. Didn't want to navigate the stairs and changing trains in Rome. I will say the high-speed express trains are amazing to Florence traveling at over 150 MPH. When they say they depart at a certain time they mean they will depart at that time by closing the car doors.. They wait for no one. Last year the Italian government required that all passengers on public transportation (trains included) had to wear a mask for the whole trip. In our car to Florence there was a couple who refused to wear masks after the train started moving. After a much-heated argument with the conductor, they were escorted off the train at the first stop. There were police waiting for them on the train platform.

Before I started using Relaxium I would wake up between 2 and 3 am and toss and turn for hours. Now I sleep through the night, even with a pee break or two and feel well rested in the morning with no prescription hang over. My doctor who is 70 years old told me about the product and highly recommended it to me.

I agree, the email we got months ago when our September 14th cruise departure moved to Rotterdam referenced water levels and quality issues with the Amsterdam cruise port. Not sure what the real truth is?