Ottawa traveller

I was on a HAL cruise last fall which stopped in Vietnam. I took my guidance about whether HAL woud get the visa (yes) from the CIBT Visa Holland America website. I let HAL get the visa because our stop was at Phu My for Saigon. Phu My was not on the list that you see on the Vietnam Visa site. Apparently, it is part of a larger port. It is also not Ho Chi Min(Saigon) which is in the city itself. I decided it was safer just to let HAL get the correct visa.

On my cruise in 2022, I booked the Mendenhall Glacier tour. Unfortunately, Juneau had terrible weather as an atmoshpheric river settled over the area. It was virutally impossible to see the glacier in the distance. Of course you can't predict the weather but if it is bad, you might have the same experience that I did.

I just got off the Rotterdam. There was no classical music that I saw on the program.

Correction regarding filling your water bottle. Yes you can do it but you have to first fill a mug and then pour it into your bottle. I was just on the Rotterdam and I asked if I could fill my thermos directly because I do not drink from it and the staff said no, that you must use a mug. There are lots of staff to pour you water or lemonade at your table. The Lido is so big on this ship that is never really gets crowded.

Onn my recent cruise on the Rotterdam, they had all of these types of performers on the main stage in addtion to the Step One Dance company.

I was at the Mariner ceremony today on the Rotterdam and asked the person responsible for Mariner matters for the answer to your question. She told me you would receive it in your cabin. Only persons receiving silver medallions and above receive it at the ceremony. Additional guests like me who are invited to the ceremony are 5 star and President's Club.

I am on the Rotterdam. They had a ceremony last week for Silver Medallions and up. Not sure if those receiving bronze were invited to attend. There was a large crowd in attendance. I know that Platinum medallion holders and President's Club were invited. It's likely that it was 4 and 5 star Mariners who were invited.

I use this plan all the time as I have a pre-existing condition and the plan lets you cancel for any reason up to sailing. That is you can cancel if you simply change your mind. There is some medical but I also have an annual plan with an affiliate group tha makes sure I have all the medical I need. You would have to decide exactly what you think you need it for. It is quite expensive but for me not so expensive that I know I can cancel if need be and still get 90% of the fare ( not including the cost of the premiums for the plan) back.

The Navigator App has a section where you can link to Newspapers via the ship intranet. The complete daily versions of many newpapers are available. I was able to read my Ottawa newspaper as it was among about 5 other Canadian newspapers. I believe I saw the New York Times among some other American newspapers.

I was on 3 cruises this past year. For the first 2, I had ship internet and got my news that way. On the recent Oosterdam I did not bother with the internet but checked out the newspapers on the Navigator app. To my surprise I could get the full versions of 6 major Canadian newpapers including the one from my home town on the app via a Pressreader site. I didn't miss the internet at all.

I was on the Westerdam twice last year in Japan and Southern Asia. I worked extremely well in Japan and very well in Indonesia. I just came home from the Antarctca cruise on the Oosterdam. At times it was non-existent and very slow most of the rest of the time. As Heidi13 said it is entirely dependent on where you are.

In a VA there are also 2 usbs by the bed

Mary 229's advice is good. Look up how to ride the metro. You have to buy a card to which you then have to add money to pay for your trips. I believe you can use one card for two people as you would just have to tap it before each person goes through the turnstile and it would charge the 2 fares. You need cash to pay for it. Download Google translate Spanish to your phone as practically no English is spoken (unless of course you speak Spanish.) The streets are crowded as it is school summer holidays until March 2nd so pack your patience.

Thanks for doing this blog. I've been following since the beginning. When you disembark on Sunday, I will be getting on. Right now l am enjoying the warm sunny weather in Santiago. I hope you will be staying awhile to enjoy Santiago. It has a lot to offer.

Yes, I just looked at my passport. The entry stamp was Nov. 27th for 30 days and the exit was Dec. 6th. We spent the time in consecutive ports in Indonesia but we did not leave the country other than going to sea between ports until we left to return to Singapore. The visa type was Visa on Arrival.

Just looked at my statement from November and it was $60. US

Looking forward to following you once again. As for Hong Kong, you don't need anything. HAL can get the visas on arrival for Vietnam with the fee chargeable to your account. As for Singapore, they have an online arrival document that you have to complete within 3 days of arrival. However, HAL gives you a 3 page instruction sheet which includes everything you need to know to complete it and if you don't have a smart phone, they will help you use their computers and print out the document for you to take with you.

I was just on the Westerdam and they had a special ceremony for all Medallion recipients. I asked the Hotel Manager what the policy was for these ceremonies and he said it depended on the itinerary and the potential numbers of recipients for the ceremony. If there are few sea days and lots of recipients, they they would likely restrict who would get the medals at the ceremony. He said that on 7 day Alaska cruises they may not have any ceremony at all. So it seems that it all depends upon logistics.

I am on a cruise and I found that the massage therapist was quite assertive about an extra "tip." It ruined the experience for me as she was not the friendliest. I have prepaid another booking and if it is the same therapist she won't get an extra tip unless her attitude has changed. The massage was quite good however.

I was on a Japan cruise in April. I arrived in Japan by plane. We visited 19 ports in Japan and three outside Japan. The only times we had to go through an immigration procedure was when we were returning to Japan from Taiwan and then from Korea. In the other ports we only had to show our passports. So if you are first arriving in Japan in one of the ports you will have to do immigration. If the next ports are still in Japan, you will only have to show your passports. The immigration procedure can take a long time. It is face to face and they stamp your passport and take your photo. We had about 1400 passengers on the ship (HAL - Westerdam) and it took about half a day to clear all passengers and crew. We had a lottery system to get a disembarkation time and if you were on a shore excursion you went first. I don't know how Princess would handle it

I never did get my 4* or 5* pins but I do get an acknowledgement of my 5* status on both the ship and when on the phone with HAL and I feel that I get some extra attention. I will have my platinum medallion on my upcoming cruise but that gets you nothing extra in perks. As one woman said once in a medallion ceremony - it was the most expensive piece of jewellery that she owned. HAL does at least give it to you personally or did. I will see what happens on my next cruise.

My travel agent retired and suggested that I just deal directly with HAL as I pretty much know what I am doing. I have done that for 3 current cruises and I have had easy acces to the 800 number when needed and I get all of the emails directly from HAL that used to go through my TA. However, I do keep getting emails from a PCC who says she is my PCC but I don't intend to deal with her for the time being.

Thanks for correcting this.

I took a 28 day Japan cruise on the Westerdam in April. As there was a shortage of tour guides and very few excursions available, we had to do most of these ports on our own. The cruise director posted videos of where to go and how to get there for all of the ports. We had only 6 sea days so she had very few live presentations and even those were recorded for viewing afterwards. I look at the shore excursions and the Japan guide to see what is available and I plan my trips before I leave home. I use Google Maps to figure out how to get places. I downloaded Google translate Japanese to my phone and learned how to use it and I didn't have any trouble getting around. Where shuttles were available there was usually a charge of about $10.00.

I was on the April visit to Japan. Normally, I like to tour on my own. However, at the last minute, one space came open for an all-day tour in Hakodate and I took it. We started at the Museum and the guide gave us an excellent overview of Ainu History while we looked the exhibits. We then went to the fish market and had about 45 minutes to look around. We then went to the ropeway oin Mt. Hakodate which was closed due to high winds but there is a road up and our bus took us to the top. A handful of HAL passengers had taken a taxi up. It was windy but the view was wonderful. That was followed by the Red Brick Warehouses where we had a very nice Japanese lunch that was ready and waiting for us. We had enough time to do some shopping. Lastly we went to the opposite end of town from the ropeway to the citadel, Fort Goryokaku. This is a classic European citadel like the one in Halifax, Canada which is a sister city to Hakodate. There is a high viewing tower which has 360 degree views of the city and we could see the ship and Mt. Hakodate in the distance. The best part of it was that the citadel has been turned into a park and 1600 cherry trees have been planted there. They were at their peak bloom and it was a spectacular sight. We had time to walk in the park and go to a replica of the old administration building where the guide gave us a history of the citadel aand where there were some artfacts and a pictoral history of the citadel to visit. We got back to the ship in time to board. For me that was one time I was very glad that I was able to take a tour because I don't think I could have done all of it in the time available. If you visit Hakodate during cherry blossom time, the citadel is a must-see. If you want to see some photos of this visit and of my sightseeing at other stops, here is a link to my blog. Leslie's Travel Blog | Travel the world with me (wordpress.com)