cruisenfreak

Our lanyards are from Princess. To return to our ship we got in the HAL Maasdam tender line on Grand Cayman last December and the lady in front of us turned around and told my husband he was in the wrong line. We quickly realized she was looking at his lanyard. We all had a good laugh and talked with this couple all the way back to the ship. Any lanyard will work, also any logo shirt or hat will too although we have had some interesting comments from staff on board some ships. We just laugh. Mary Jane

As said front desk, shops and casino all will punch a hole for you. No need to pack a hole punch. I take the clip lanyard for around the ship and hand over the lanyard and card when purchasing something. I also use the sleeve type if I'm just going ashore and walking near the port. I add my driver's license, a few dollars, and my credit card to the sleeve. Then I drop the sleeve down my shirt - hidden and hands free.

I think you will be pleased with Christmas decorating on NCL - trees, wreaths, gingerbread houses, garlands, fake snow, caroling, religious services on Christmas Eve, Santa on Christmas morning, etc. The dining rooms will offer turkey with all the trimmings. Mary Jane

We have booked our platinum free dinner as soon as the restaurant opens, told them on making reservations we wanted only appetizers and a bottle of wine. Great experience! We are usually the only ones there so the entire staff will come over to chat with us. We love that.

You aren't able to get a bucket, but I had no problem asking for a beer unopened. My husband and I did this a few times and brought them back to the room to keep on ice.

Thank you. That was what we liked about the buckets - the beer was on ice and could be enjoyed really, really cold.

We have the UBP on our Dec/Jan cruise. We like to get the bucket of beers poolside. Can we do that with the UBP or will we need to order the beers individually?

We love seeing familiar faces - staff and crew. It feels like coming home.

We usually cruise at Christmas and have been on several different lines over the years. All but two had both a Catholic Mass and an Interdenominational Pristestant Service, one other had a Carholic Mass and invited anyone to come, the final one had nothing. On the one with nothing, I accessed my IPad Bible and read my own Birth Story.

Also one year a person from our CruiseCritic Roll Call was a minister and asked early on if the members were interested in having him set something up for several services that week. He did, it was in the daily, and the services were well attended.

Mary Jane

Have cruised on the Sun 4 times and our next cruise(s) will be on the Spirit. Love the smaller ships. No mega ships!

Absolutely love the spirit. Wish she was offering a 14 night cruise to the Caribbean so we could sail her again. We must now choose the dawn which is not even comparable with the spirit.

We are sailing on the Spirit for 28 days Dec and Jan. This can be booked as 4 7-day cruises or as 2 14-day cruises. Mary Jane

Thank you both for your answers.

I am looking for a site that will tell me whether the NCL Spirit will dock at Crown Bay or Havensight on 12/22/15 and on 1/5/16. Thx.

Princess and NCL make celebrating special. HAL...nothing.

Thank you , all. I'm one of those people addicted to my daily puzzles.

Mary Jane

Does HAL have daily puzzles? If so, where would I find them each morning? Thank you. Mary Jane

Similar to the hand towel idea above, I lay my necklaces flat across a jewelry cleaning cloth and roll them up. Also I took half a note card and punched holes all over it with an ice pick. Then I put all my earrings through these holes. No tangled chains. No lost earrings. Mary Jane

"Thank you", she says with a very wide grin.

Mary Jane

I too booked gty (BB) and got an A category on Deck 9.

Sorry, double post.

Probably. You can find similar tours cheaper with an independent operator. We always book with HAL. The cost is higher, but its cheap insurance you will be touring with a reliable company and you'll be back in time for departure.

 

We'll spend the extra money for peace of mind.

Ditto.

We've done private tours in the past but, as we get older, that " peace of mind" is very, very important.

We always enjoy the scenic sidewalk outside the city walls along the water. Sometimes we go through the red gate and go back to the ship through Old San Juan. Sometimes we walk back the way we came. Being cat lovers, we love "speaking" to all the feral cats on the rocks. One Christmas Day we did this usual walk then went to Señor Frogs...not your typical Christmas but we had fun.

After returning to the ship, we sat on the balcony in the warm sunshine and called family and friends back home. They were surprised to hear from us and it gave us a connection to home on Christmas.

Mary Jane

We often cruise during December and the above information is most likely correct, but three years ago (I think) it was very, very cool. We layered clothing, bought and wore sweatshirts from the on-board shop and then put our cheap plastic ponchos over that. We were on board three weeks and it was never warm!

We've cruised on the Regatta once before and will probably cruise with Oceania again in 2915. You will love this cruise line. Mary Jane

Agree, Folksinger. "If you love your freedom, thank a vet." Thank you, thank you, thank you to all of you who are veterans. Mary Jane

We once booked a cruise out of New York. I had a cousin living in Manhattan so instead of boarding as soon as we could, we went for a nice visit with family we had not seen in a while. Then we boarded the ship at nearly the latest time possible. We literally walked straight onto the ship. I remember that day as a great start to our vacation.