wdw1972

You should also be able to get them at Grand Dutch Cafe, which is midship. You can get one (for a fee) in the MDR as well. On the Eurodam they also had them in the Pinnacle Bar starting at 7am, but Eurodam doesn't have a Grand Dutch Cafe so I can't imagine Koningsdam using Pinnacle Bar for that purpose. Sue/WDW1972

I believe the invitation is to the xxxxx party. I'm just off the Eurodam, where I shared a stateroom with my husband. I'm 4-star, he's 2-star. We didn't attend, but I'm pretty sure the invitation was addressed to (last name) Party - not my first & last name. Sue/WDW1972

Also sent an email - look forward to being able to follow your blog! Sue/WDW1972

This may be a crazy, radical thought - but it's crossed my mind. I keep reading (here on Cruise Critic) of people who masked religiously, didn't use elevators, didn't attend shows, washing hands frequently, sometimes wiping down their stateroom, and didn't eat in crowded areas coming down with covid. Could it be the people have unintentionally damaged their immune systems with all these precautions that they're far more susceptible than those of us who go about enjoying our cruise in a carefree manner as if covid had never happened? We never wore a mask, didn't hesitate to ride a full elevator, attended shows & musical performances, took shore excursions, ate in restaurants, didn't bother washing hands except for after bathroom use, and didn't use hand sanitizers or wipe down surfaces - none of us got covid (or anything else). It's starting to look funny to me that the ones who report getting it are the ones going to such extremes to avoid it. Sue/WDW1972

Yes, they hold the event - typically the afternoon of the first sea day. You should receive an invitation prior to the event. It's 4 wines - 2 red, 2 white. It's worth doing once, and then if you feel it's worth your time you can do it each cruise. Once was enough for me, partly because I don't like red wine but mainly because I'm not willing to leave the Retreat to get dressed & sit in the MDR for a wine tasting. Sue/WDW1972

I just got off Eurodam this morning and the pool roof is open about a foot. It never moved the entire cruise, even when it was pouring rain. Clearly it needs to be fixed - it was strange not being able o look down at the Lido pool. Sue/WDW1972

Sitting in the priority waiting room at pier 26 - hope to be onboard Eurodam in the next 45 minutes! Sue/WDW1972

I had the same thought Jacqui, but then thought I might need something to ***** about. On my HAL cruises I tend to be happy about everything, lol! Also, I'm curious what they're going to say - what excuse will be offered for this stupidity. In the end, I'll have my refund, but I'd rather have the Rudi's meal. Sue/WDW1972

This is one of the annoying things about HAL. I booked Rudi's as a pop up on my Eurodam cruise that begins Wednesday (3-4 days). When I saw the mention on cruise critic that they were no longer doing that as pop-us I checked my booking and sure enough it's not available to book. However, HAL hasn't canceled it - my itinerary still shows my reservation for Rudi's. If it's going to happen, great, but I assume it will not and I'll have to request a refund onboard. I don't want it changed to a Pinnacle dinner since I already have that booked and once is enough. Wish HAL would get their sh** together - this isn't rocket science. Sue/WDW1972

Yes, they should probably modify it to say "make dining reservations at some point, probably close to embarkation day when you've given up on checking to see if it's friggin' available yet" 😉 Sue/WDW1972

That offer would be $398 total for the cruise. Sue/WDW1972

It also doesn't change the square footage - the stateroom will be the same as a non-quad stateroom except for there being a pull-down bed from the ceiling (usually right over the main bed, which is ridiculously stupid) and the sofa being convertible to a single bed. Although I'd never consider it, there are people who don't mind cramming 4 people into a single stateroom to keep the cost down, which is why there's a limited number of staterooms that accommodate that many. The only negative I can think of is perhaps if it's for a Thanksgiving or Christmas/New Years cruise you'll have LOTS more families onboard and many of them might choose those staterooms so you could experience more noise than usual. If it's not during that time, then it shouldn't be an issue. Sue

Another option is to work with your healthcare team to make the cruise happen, by scheduling treatments accordingly. My first time having cancer I had a cruise to Alaska booked and told my team I'd do what they recommended, but I needed them to work with me on this cruise. They did, and I went/had a great time, then resumed the cancer crap after getting home. In my case it was only radiation therapy and not chemo - so it was much easier to accomodate. My 3rd time with cancer I was coming up on final payment for a cruise a few months away. I sweated that one a bit, but got assertive with the surgeons, oncology group, etc to get appointments soon enough to know my prognosis/treatment plan prior to final payment. I decided to keep the cruise. I was solo on that one and had lifting restrictions still and was just started on the reconstruction process, but I made it work. Somebody else probably would have canceled, but cruises bring too much joy to me to let one go without a fight! Good luck to you, whatever you decide. Sue/WDW1972

Looks like Rotterdam is making her approach. Sue/WDW1972

Missing HMC wouldn't bother me (I stay in the Retreat) but I'd be sad at missing Curacao. We missed it last cruise (for the first time ever) because we were slated to dock in town and the wind/currents wouldn't let us safely enter the waterway. Looking forward to getting back there on the Nov 30 sailing. I imagine the passengers onboard are chomping at the bit to get docked so they can hopefully make it to their flights. That's assuming the airport is open, of course. Sue/WDW1972

A shore excursion booked through HAL would be refunded. A shore excursion booked independently would not be their responsibility. That's why people booking independent shore excursions generally don't prepay - they make arrangements with the tour provider to pay in person. I also got an email last night changing Key West to Nassau. Nassau is an armpit, so it's definitely a stay on the ship day for me. Chances are I would have done the same thing in Key West, unless we docked at the very convenient piers. When docking at the Navy pier I don't bother getting off the ship. And yes, it's been known for many months (possibly years now) that Key West doesn't want cruise ships and although I think some law prevents them from banning ALL ships they're able to maneuver around & it seems pick & choose who they let in. The bigger the ship, the less attractive that cruise ship is. Sue/WDW1972

I saw MCO is closing 4pm (Wed) and of course the airlines are free to cancel specific flights at their whim 😉 It's 9pm Tuesday now and Disney hasn't updated any closures - I'm assuming what one does the others (Universal, Sea World) will follow. We should definitely know more "for sure" by Wednesday afternoon. Wed/Thurs look poor for chances of flying into MCO. Beyond that I would think it should be business as usual (except for the backlog of stranded passengers). Hopefully Rotterdam can dock safely in Port Everglades on Thursday, which is what HAL is expecting. It sucks for the people booked to sail on 11/9 but beyond anyone's control. As someone who's primary home is in SW Florida (Ft Myers) I have had enough tropical storms/hurricanes at this point! Sue/WDW1972

Not true. Disney updated at 3:45pm today 11/8 that the water park and mini golf was closed but theme parks are open. They're continuing to monitor the storm. I wouldn't be surprised if they closed on Thursday but that's not been announced. Friday it's supposed to be mostly sunny, with isolated showers, so no reason to have theme parks closed. Seriously doubt the airport would be closed on Friday either. Sue/WDW1972

You do not - only Retreat cabana guests can use anything within the Retreat. FYI, there's no hot tub in the Retreat on Nieuw Amsterdam - only Nieuw Statendam & Rotterdam. Sue/WDW1972

Typically, no. It's never been the case with my last couple cruises where my reservation was linked with 2 others since we were traveling together (including arriving & departing at the same time). Sue/WDW1972

Thanks for the update. Have a great cruise! Sue/WDW1972

Wow - that's disappointing that they're charging the same price as parking at the port. The advantage w/Park n Go would be they drop you at the terminal and then pick you up from there and drop you at your car. But, that means potential wait & transportation time. The disadvantage to parking at the port is if you're not on ground level you may be waiting for space in an elevator to get to your floor. Also, if you've got a bunch of luggage you're dragging it a further distance. I've used Park n Go for years, and have been very happy with them. I've got them booked for my 10-day Nov/Dec cruise. When I looked at my 7-day March 2023 cruise the difference in price was around $14 so we're going to give parking at the port a try. For $14 savings I'm not sure it's worth booking w/Park n Go. If the price was equal, I'd definitely pick the port and be done w/Park n Go. Sue/WDW1972

I didn't hear them either. I was at a standing happy hour/lunch with a friend and brought my ipad so we could watch the sailaway. The video part worked fine, but I didn't have the volume set I guess - although being inside a restaurant having a ship's horn blowing 23 times might not have been as welcome to the other guests 😉 Sue/WDW1972

In this case it was a mudslide that blocked the only road. Since it was an excursion through the cruise line, HAL put the people up at a Marriott hotel (on *that* side of the mudslide) and flew them to join the ship at a future port a day or 2 later. Had it been an independent excursion, those passengers would have had to make their own arrangements, at their own expense, and since their passports would have been left at the pier they may have been further delayed until the mudslide was cleared. Problems are rare, but they do happen. Sue/WDW1972

I've been told if both parties have had HAL enter a note that they're "traveling with" the other party then assuming specialty reservations are made for the same date/time HAL will automatically seat them together. Despite doing that I still stopped by the podium at embarkation day and let them know we (3 staterooms) wanted to dine at the same table - wasn't willing to risk it 😉 Sue/WDW1972