VMax1700

No HAL ship has high tea, which is different to afternoon tea. Afternoon tea is served between 3pm and 3.45pm onboard.

Generally accepted - no. Some stores in large tourist areas may accept them at a crazy exchange rate, but if you are only in one Croatian port for a short time then you may feel that the exchange rate is better than obtaining an unknown quantity of kuna.

We found the disembarkation very smooth and efficient. They did announce a 20 minute delay for one group due to baggage being late delivered because of a Port Police delay. Our pre booked taxi (staxi.nl) arrived precisely at the arranged time (9.45am) and we were soon on our way to Amsterdam Schiphol airport in a relatively new Tesla. On arrival at Schiphol the queues at T1 were very long, so I asked the driver to take us round to T3 where we were able to directly access the terminal building. Due to flight cancellations and changes our flights were not until 9.40 pm so we had a long wait. We decided not to take the train to Amsterdam itself and just wait it out at the airport. DW meandered the shops in the Plaza and we had a bite to eat and a coffee.........and a coffee............and a coffee....😱 My previous experience (numerous flights during my working time) of the late departures from Schiphol to Ireland has been that they use the very last gates on the D satellite and I knew that it was a very long walk to them, so when I was doing our online checkin on Friday evening (Aer Lingus opens checkin 48 hours prior to departure) and we were offered assistance, I selected that DW had walking difficulties and could not manage long distances (true) nor manage stairs (also true). At that time I had no idea that would be the saviour of us. Aer Lingus baggage drop/check in is in T3 and they had a four desks open as there were flights scheduled to both Dublin and Cork for 9.40 Sunday evening. The queue was horrendous at 6pm and the desks were not scheduled to open until 7.10pm (two and half hours before departure) so I went to the 'assistance desk' to see if anything had been registered. Well, yes sir, where is your wife? Do you need a wheelchair to bring her here? Please bring her here now and we will arrange your baggage check!! So, Peter introduces himself to us, takes us to the front of the queue at check in, insists that they take our bags 'NOW' and then wheels DW to the security queue. Which he bypasses and takes an elevator to the first floor, straight up to the front of the security priority queue, and helps Ellen into the 'machine' after which we are whisked to passport control and again straight to the front in a special line. Passports checked, Peter wheeled Ellen to another elevator to the ground floor again and wheels her through the shops (that did bring an anxious gasp from her!) and on to the gate. We asked him to drop us at the last food outlet (which is near the end of the satellite) and he left us with the wheelchair for us to finish the journey after our food. All in, from meeting Peter at the Assistance desk to sitting at the food outlet, 30 minutes had elapsed and we could see the gate from where we were sitting. Peter was wonderfully pushy but very polite. He was committed to his job and nothing nor no one was going to stop him completing it. After our food we were at the gate waiting for boarding. The incoming flight was on time and fliers were gathering at the gate, however I knew the flight was booked to capacity and there seemed not so many people waiting. We were called for boarding (first on the plane!) and slowly the plane started to fill up. As we approached our scheduled departure time the captain came on the PA and said that there were quite a few people missing and he was going to hold the flight for 20 minutes so that as many as possible could make it. Twenty minutes later the captain comes back on PA and says he will be waiting another 20 minutes as there are problems at security and people are taking a long time to get through. More people are arriving all the time, some completely out of breath, some with faces purple from stress and exasperation and a few were actually in tears. The late comers were saying that it took them two and half hours to get through security alone. (Bear in mind that the check in desks only opened two and a half hours before scheduled departure). Eventually, over an hour late, we pushed back and headed to the runway. 17 passengers were left behind. https://www.euronews.com/travel/2022/09/13/schiphol-queues-airport-slammed-for-flight-cancellations-and-four-hour-delays-as-lines-bui However, it was a great cruise and we really enjoyed it.

The disembarkation information for 4 & 5 star Mariners

The disembarking information:

And a few images of the Lobster mac and cheese, sweet selection....... And the chocolate selection....

Saturday's Dinner menu in Lido Really, really good!

Saturday's Daily Program (last day - Sea Day!)

I would suggest that you pre purchase the Internet package for a couple of reasons: The discounted pre purchase price of the 'Premium' package is only slightly higher than the 'Surf' package, which you can only purchase onboard. After using the 'Surf' package for a day or two, you will probably feel that you want to 'upgrade' at the special price, which will then be more expensive in total than pre purchasing the 'Premium package. With 'Premium' you can use 'wifi calling'. The price of both may well increase before your cruise. etc.

Absolutely! It is strange that even after a minimum of 12 days on a 14 day cruise some pax still did not know (or want to know) which way the line went. However HAL could really have helped pax and staff by having a few 'Line starts here' notices specially in Lido.

We also got off Rotterdam yesterday. I had pre booked a taxi with staxi.nl and the fixed price to Schiphol was €124. On August 26th the fare from Schiphol to Rotterdam was €108 also pre booked with staxi.nl. For us Schiphol was a nightmare. Our flight was not until 9.40pm so we had to spend most of the day meandering the plaza area. When I was doing the online checkin 48 hours before the flight I received a pop up asking if either of us needed assistance to the gate. Luckily I said that DW needed assistance to the gate otherwise we would not have made the flight. The captain even held the flight for 45 minutes beyond scheduled departure and still had to off load some baggage as the pax did not arrive in time.

Final update will follow tomorrow, I hope. We arrived home very late last night following a very long day and evening at Schiphol airport. They really are having problems still with security throughput. @MAVIPSorry that we did not say 'goodbye' properly, but our staxi driver was trying to stop to pick us up and he was being moved on by 'officialdom'.

👍 Arrived home late last night after the 'Nightmare of Schiphol Airport'! Still jet lagged from a 1hour 25 minute flight and 1 hour time difference 😟

Hi! I book online, but only with Holland America. My first ever cruise was on Celebrity and I booked that one with a Dublin travel agent. Since then I have found that Irish Travel Agents charge over and above the official price (what else would you expect?). I did book one online with a UK agency (one of eight, with cruise at the end of the name) and received a small discount. Also the Euro/STG exchange rate was at a great level. For my HAL cruises I have found that booking directly with HAL UK in euros was just as good as using US websites and having to deal with exchange rate fluctuations and lack of regulation.

Here is tonight's final dinner menu from MDR:

Hal did not provide shuttle buses in any of the ports. There was a bus at the pier that goes to Edinburgh. https://www.lothianbuses.com/news/2022/05/cruiselink-x99-returns-to-queensferry/

The monster was sitting in the bus, beside me. 😉 Yes we went to the loch and it was, well, the loch! Beauly Priory was very interesting.

If it is charged at all, then it will be charged to your onboard account. I have boarded several times in Barcelona and there was no check on bottles. But, budget for it to be charged to your account.

Confirmed that they sell Marlboro cigarettes, Red and Gold (and Menthol). Unable to confirm the country of manufacture as it is not stated on the outer wrapper, but I would be 95% certain they are American as it mentions "Surgeon General's Warning" and also "U.S. tax exempt - For use outside U.S." Pricing is marked as "Buy 3 get 1 free or $50 each".

Hoi Martha and Tony! Have a great Cruise!

Tonight's stations in Lido:

South Queensferry,

Rotterdam under the Forth Bridge.

Tendering today in South Queensferry was a lot better as they used 2 local ferry boats as tenders. The two ferries were about the same size as the large tenders used on Half Moon Cay. Using these during the peak hours and to transport those with HAL excursions really worked.

Answer: Chocolate Bread Pudding.. 😋😋😉