2frequentsailors

There is a 29 day cruise out of San Diego in April 2015 on HAL Statendam. Has anyone cruised on this ship lately?

No but we went on the HAL Ryndam last year and it certainly had separate steam and saunas :)

Hello all...My husband and I are arriving in Tokyo on the 6th and doing a Mt. Fuji day tour and seeing the sights in Tokyo prior to boarding the ship. Looks like a couple of others were on the Silhouette TA in 2012, so look forward to seeing you again. We always select the late seating for dinner since we like to have the same waiter, etc. See you at the Martini Bar !!

By the way interesting to see you did the Moscow to St.P river cruise..we are doing it the other way this August with another company Volga Dream..will chat to you about your experience

Rod and Barry

Hello all...My husband and I are arriving in Tokyo on the 6th and doing a Mt. Fuji day tour and seeing the sights in Tokyo prior to boarding the ship. Looks like a couple of others were on the Silhouette TA in 2012, so look forward to seeing you again. We always select the late seating for dinner since we like to have the same waiter, etc. See you at the Martini Bar !!

Hi Tim and Dale

Great to meet you, talk to you on board

Regards

Rod and Barry

Earlier you suggested lunch on Day 2...still up for it? Suggest a place. Lee

Sure Lee, how about just in the main dining room say 12.30pm?

Rod

Hi All, meeting on the second day morning sounds fine to us --- as long as it doesn't conflict with trivia:) Anyone else interested in a trivia team? We are morning people so available any time onwards from 8am...not sure this works for others but it's a starting point.

So if we see when the Celebrity meet and mingle is..and we are in the gift swap time also which maybe just after the meet and mingle, then we'll try and make a time on the 2nd day also sometime, not sure whether we'll be able to make it in the morning Lee and Noboru but no doubt there'll be plenty of early afternoon time available

Trivia....enjoy trying but find the questions so obscure it's rather depressing!!

Regards to all

Rod and Barry

G'day Rod and Barry, thanks for the kind welcome. We'd be delighted to share thoughts on Japan with you, although be warned my "data bank" is from a different era. I've already done a bit of intelligence work on Hakodate and Sapporo. Like to suggest a pre dinner meet on May 10? Goes for any and all.

 

Cheers, Lee and Noboru

Hi Lee and Noboru

Have you been reading the posts re a mtg? Thinking we could meet on the 2nd day, the sea day, and arrange it around the meet and mingle which will probably be in the morning sometime..maybe lunch or an afternoon mtg, what suits you both?

Thanks

Rod and Barry

Not quite sure I know what you mean about the "celebrity party thingo". During sea days many of the lounges are used for lectures, games, etc.

If we want to meet in the late morning of May 11th the best place might be the Cafe al Bacio since that area is not used for events because the ship always wants to sell coffee, tea, etc. Or opposite on the port side there are a few tables and chairs next to the Gelateria. Both are on Deck 5 midship.

Embarkation day is usually not a perfect time for a meeting. People are unpacking, waiting for their luggage, etc. so I would suggest sometime the next day.

 

Jay

Hi Jay, we were meaning the cruise critic meet and mingle which looks like Celebrity call the Celebrity party...these are usually on the first sea day sometime

Rod

Having encountered this question several times in the past I have always found that it is best to meet at a bar that is not too noisy so that we can chat. The noisiest bar is always the Martini Bar. The best place to meet would be Michael's Club on Deck 4 but you can never know if it might be reserved for a party of special group. If it is not open then I would suggest the port side of the Rendez-vous Lounge just forward of the mid-ship elevators as you enter the lounge past the door to the men's room:D. The one thing that can make the timing difficult is the fire drill. Since I think the ship departs at 8:00 and dining starts at about 6:00 it could be that the fire drill will take place somewhere around 5:00. If this is the case we can just say that we will meet 30 minutes after the fire drill ends. Also keep in mind that most folks like to eat early so that they can be up on deck for the sailaway. Sometimes we opt for Bistro on 5 the first night which is close by since it tends to not be hectic and the crepes are fantastic.

You're quite right Jay. Just realised the 2nd day is at sea so why don't we meet sometime during the day, as long as it doesn't conflict with the celebrity party thingo...they are usually in the morning aren't they?

G'day Rod and Barry, thanks for the kind welcome. We'd be delighted to share thoughts on Japan with you, although be warned my "data bank" is from a different era. I've already done a bit of intelligence work on Hakodate and Sapporo. Like to suggest a pre dinner meet on May 10? Goes for any and all.

 

Cheers, Lee and Noboru

Hi Lee & Noboru

Great idea, how about a 5.00pm get together somewhere? Have to have a look at the ships layout to suggest somewhere..does anyone know of a good place yet?

How about you other guys, Jay & Al, Tom & Al and Russ & Donnie, want to join us?

Regards

Rod and Barry

Konnichiwa and Hi...we are Lee and Noboru and look forward to meeting you on the May 10 voyage. We live in the Ft. Lauderdale area and going back to Japan is always a treat for us. I (Lee) lived in Japan for 8 years and Noboru was born there. That's where we met 42 years ago. Got married last year. We are on select dining as well. Was really happy to see the Petro... visa conundrum..I thought I was going nuts trying to find out the "answer"...so appreciated the comments...and will go with the flow.

Hello Lee and Noboru

welcome to the team! So good to hear from you. Great to have Japanese experience with us also! We area hoping to do our own thing in the Japanese ports and no doubt you'll have some wise ideas on ways to do things and areas to visit! Love to get a chance to catch up with you both early before the first 2 ports! Thanks Rod and Barry

Hello to all. We are Tom & Al from San Francisco.

Of course, we're looking forward to the trip; since we've done a couple of transatlantics it would be nice to have a change of itinerary. We avoid the generic Caribbean itineraries and prefer something a bit more exotic. Our most recent cruise last November was on Azamara from Athens to Dubai. through the Suez Canal (and the pirate zone).

 

Jay - we've sailed with you once before, but I can't recall whether it was the transatlantic on Equinox 2011 or the TA on Silhouette 2012. We chatted a few times at our evening GLBT gatherings in the Martini bar. We met several persons from Tucson that cruise, but I vaguely remember discussing Pied Piper travels & prison psychology. Was that discussion with you?

 

We arrive 7 May and have been to Tokyo on previous trips, so not sure what we will do. We've also been to Kyoto & Nara, so we will be looking for something new. Maybe just take day trips from Tokyo.

 

No plans yet for the rest of the itinerary; we tend to wander around on our own. The Russia port sounds miserable, so more research is needed for that port.

 

We look forward to meeting you all.

hi Tom and Al, great to hear from you and welcome! We are similar, planning to wander on our own and see what we will find! Look forward to meeting with you onboard

regards Rod and Barry

Hello Rod and Barry,

 

Not true about Petropavlask. Last time there we just wandered off the ship when we were ready. Of course there is little to see. Mostly sort of desolate and within a couple of blocks there is a poor excuse for a department store and a few other establishments. Otherwise you can take a bus into town if you have any Russian currency. To get an idea of the "town" you can use a couple of videos from YouTube as a reference. My suggestions are one from the cruise director of a Seven Seas ship and another that had slight interest. As for me, I am staying on the ship unless Al handcuffs me and takes me ashore;)

Here are the videos - don't get too excited.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjJjFRR881w (Seven Seas)

(Drive thru area - skip parts as necessary)

 

If it's a nice day there are probably some picturesque areas in the mountains but that's about it. So far Celebrity doesn't even list shore excursions. There is a discussion on the main roll call about the fact that a visa is not needed to go ashore.

 

Jay

Thanks Jay, I just received my information from Celebrity today about needing a visa to get off the ship, so we'll see what happens there!

Rod

Having different dining times can sometimes make it difficult to plan a LGBT meeting. I was wondering which dining times you all have. At present we have reservations for first seating. We prefer Select, especially on cruises with a lot of ports, but this cruise has just a few. We refrained from choosing Select when we first booked this cruise because that requires paying for the gratuities immediately which would have been cash out of pocket. So we have booked first seating which does not require a payment of gratuities in advance and then will probably switch to Select once aboard so that we can use OBC for the gratuities.

Our last cruise in January was in BLU on the Reflection so we are spoiled but the food in the main dining room is pretty good and we like being on a lower deck for trans-Pacific in case of rough weather. So we refused an upgrade to balcony even though it would have not been any additional cost. Actually on trans-Pacific there usually is not much use for a balcony. Our last TP journey was from Seattle to Petropavlask during a 64 day Holland America cruise that ended up back in San Diego after hitting Asia, Australia and the South Pacific islands. Happily we had very few rough seas in all that time but you never know.

hi Jay & Al

We always have open dining, or if it called select on this cruise, then that's it. We therefore pay tips straight away in order to get open dining which we prefer. We enjoy meeting different people and eating when we please. Have never had much problem wandering in and getting a table although not booked. We are on deck 2, so sounds like a good choice if as you say we may hit any rough weather to be down lower!!

Had it confirmed that the only was to get off the ship at Petropavlask is to do a ship tour when visa is arranged for you, otherwise have to get own visa and not doing that

Regards

Rod and Barry

Rod and Barry,

 

We have done multiple transatlantic, caribbean, panama canal, european and a year and a half ago we did a transpacific from Hawaii to Australia. We typically cruise on celebrity or royal caribbean. We are excited that this is our first trip to Asia.

 

Russ and Donnie

You certainly are experienced cruisers! and you've been to Oz...not all that many folks cruise out here! we have done many land trips around Asia, but this will be our first cruise leaving from Japan..we have been to Tokyo before and would have liked to have spent more time in Japan, but had to limit our finances to allow for other cruises this year! So much to see!

Hi Russ and Donnie, good to have you onboard, will enjoy chatting to you, where have you cruised before?

regards

Rod and Barry

Hello Rod and Barry,

 

We are Jay and Al from Tucson. You can read some of my posts on the main Roll Call for this cruise.

Our trip starts on April 12 - flying to Hong Kong and then to Shanghai. On May 7 we fly to Tokyo for three days and are staying at the Citadines Apartment Hotel. Great price and the studio apt. includes an equipped kitchen. Taking the commuter train to Yokohama is really easy if you don't have too much luggage. We have done it before and it is not difficult. The subway station is about three or four blocks from the dock.

I see from your post on the other Roll Call that you will be staying in Vancouver after the cruise. We will be at the Residence Inn in Vancouver for a couple of days. We love Vancouver and the timing is perfect since we arrive on a Friday morning, just in time for the weekend fun.

Having been to Japan several times and having sailed on most Celebrity ships I'd be happy to answer any questions you might have.

Look forward to meeting you on the Millennium.

 

Jay in Tucson

Hello Jay and Al, thanks so much for replying and it's good to meet you! We haven't yet planned our train from Tokyo airport to Yokohama dock, so interesting to hear you choose the subway and it's quite easy. We are about to go on a Sth Pacific cruise on Monday, so we will look at that subway connection when we return. We are staying with friends we met on the last cruise..a gay couple on Vancouver Island and they will be showing us their beautiful area for 6 days

Talk to you when we get back

Regards Rod and Barry

Anyone doing the 14n Venice around Mediterranean on Aug 30th? Hope to meet some friends onboard

Anyone on this transpacific cruise on May 10th? Hope to meet some like minded souls on board

Rod and Barry Australia

We are on the Celebrity Millenium May 10th, 2014 from Yokohama to Vancouver. First time transpacific and first time Celebrity, see how it goes. Hope there's some family on board!!

Regards

Rod and Barry

We are excited about finding Volga Dream, 5 star boat and cruising b/w St Petersburg and Moscow, Aug 14th 2014...1 night package. Anyone else taking this? Rod and Barry Australia

Whoops, that should have read as 11 night package!! (not 1 night :)

Hi Bill, our travel agent does all the visa..the Russian embassy officials collect our passports at home, take them away and return them, no hassle for us!.As to the cabin size..we knew it was not big, but we don't care as we are only there for sleeping! Will let you know how it goes

Regards Rod and Barry

Rod and Barry,

I would love to hear how your cruise goes, especially since you are traveling at the same time of year that we are planning. There were some interesting reviews about your ship on Trip Advisor.

 

We opted to go on a cruise that gave us the extra day in Moscow. I noted that AMA waterways also had an 11 day cruise, but my wife and I really wanted to see more of Moscow thus finding a cruise that gave the extra day was important. We did spend 2 days in St. Petersburg in 2009. What a fascinating city/country. That trip gave us the desire to go back and spend more time.

 

Have you made arrangements for your visa yet? Just curious if the requirements for Australian citizens are similar to the US. That part for us seems to be a pain. I am for sure going to locate a visa service agency to help out with the process.

 

Safe Travels,

That's Ok with us we always go away in an in side cabin as we are never in it! Always up on deck or onshore...save our money for better things!

We are excited about finding Volga Dream, 5 star boat and cruising b/w St Petersburg and Moscow, Aug 14th 2014...1 night package. Anyone else taking this? Rod and Barry Australia

I have heard that one of the cruise lines has decided not to do the Russian River cruise in 2015, opting to do a land tour between St Petersburg and Moscow instead. Not sure what cruise line.....but wonder why they would discontinue this popular cruise.

Bill we are going on the Volga Dream on Aug 14th 2014...the price is around $3500 for 11 nights, incl 3 nights in St P and 2 nights in Moscow. we found this a much cheaper option than many other boats and this is a 5 star boat also

Rod and Barry, Australia

Hi everyone, we are doing a RCI cruise from Sydney to New Caledonia Feb 14th 2014, Russian river cruise on Volga dream Aug 14th 2014, and 2 week NCL Jade Venice-Venice cruise Aug 30th. We always meet great family onboard and hope to do so on these trips as well! :) Rod and Barry