Alphen

We also found the entire plan pretty expensive, however, since most days are long and start early in the land portion (tripple Denali, land first), not knowing exactly what to expect, we chose to do the breakfast plan only. Was it more expensive than searching on our own?, probably yes, but we wanted to make a good start of every day and not wanting to wander around searching for breakfast options and we were glad with our choice. On dinner choices, we had a couple of extra excursion that included a form of dinner and for other places, we searched internet for dinner options near our hotel(s), which made it easy not to go searching to much, but go directly for a dining option, sometimes with not too much time on your hands. We were successful in every stop we had, to find affordable dining options, including the Denali lodge, where there are a couple of acceptable options right outside the lodge, across the street. You might find our report useful;

Here is a correction, with an official reply of "Keukenhof"; The sale of flower bulbs on the Keukenhof premises is managed by the bulb companies Frylink and QFB. At these companies, you can place an order to have them shipped abroad. These bulbs will need to be inspected and sent to the destination with official documents. Links to the companies' websites: Frylink: http://www.frylink.com/ QFB: https://www.qfbgardening.nl/

In the Keukenhof, just like other tourist spots where tulip bulbs are on display, there will undoubtedly be specially packaged tulip bulbs for sale that meet the agricultural access requirements of, among others, the United States. This is also the case at Schiphol Airport. You are not the first tourist, wanting to take bulbs to their homecountry and they will cater to those needs and requirements.

Have asked the question regarding luggage storage on other media as well, there I was pointed to a website giving information that there is indeed luggage storage in the terminal. I do not know if this information can be shared here, but the website is named after what we all like to do and followed by the words port and advisor, followed by dot com. I also got this information confirmed by people at the terminal itself.

Have used the search on this forum and found one or two suggestions for luggage storage close to the Montreal cruise terminal, but hoping someone has any experience in storing luggage close to the terminal with one of the storage options and can recommend a specific one. Have seen people mentioning Luggage Hero's, but also seen Nannybag and bounce. Experience/reviews would be appreciated.

Just looked, still showing here!

Found, bedankt!

Would be interested to know where you can see this in the Navigator App, I can only pull up one booking at the time and haven't found any OBC in the App yet, but that could be me!

We submitted our proof of ownership and recent statement in January and it was approved within 2 business days. Regarding your booking, ours is also in August, are you sure you entered 2024 for year, in stead of 24 like we did at first? Does it show that you are "eligible" for all of the Carnival Corp cruise lines in the App? Otherwise your approval of the stock might still be pending. It should show like this, if you select "Carnival Corp. & PLC" in the main screen of your App.

We have successfully requested and received notification of our OBC for two cruises, after figuring out you need to enter the year in four digits in the form in the App, instead of two digits 🤪

The new date was now announced for cruises from 31st of July onward, so guessing they will also announce new dates well ahead of the 31st of December, so should not be a problem?

Indeed, it used to be July to July the next year.

Shareholder Benefit website now updated with extended benefit, changed and extended from July 31st 2024 to 31st December 2024. They are now suggesting to use the Stockperks App to implement a more automated and streamlined process for the processing of shareholder benefits. https://www.carnivalcorp.com/shareholder-information/shareholder-benefit

Staff shortages have improved since the problems in 2022, still not perfect, but not as bad as they were when indeed there were large rows getting into the airport at times. There is a way of finding out what expected wait times are on the official Schiphol website: https://www.schiphol.nl/en/my-travel-day/today

Zaandam just docked in Miami, squashed in between Independence OTS, MSC Seascape and the largest of them all, the Icon OTS. Starting her Amazon adventure later today, something we hope to do in less then a year from now! https://www.portmiamiwebcam.com/

Thanks for the tips, we are doing FLL - FLL, so no Iguazu Falls, but we have done South America/Antarctica previously from BA (declined the falls because we did not have enough days off) and have also done San Diego to Lima, followed by Machu Picchu independently previously.

Yes, we are hoping to do the Amazon next year, thanks for the reply.

Just wondering if HAL is sailing to Devil’s Island, is the movie Papillon always available or shown on board beforehand?

Living in the Netherlands and having experience with cruising out of both homeports in the Netherlands and always using public transport to get to and from the ship, the 4 hours is too short to allow for unforeseen circumstances. Travelling on a Sunday, public transport is less frequent and if delays occur, there is not much room for alternatives. Train traffic is often disrupted with short or larger interruptions, especially the line to Schiphol airport is often struck by unforeseen interruptions. Also take into account that check in times, together with security clearance on the airport can also take a lot of time! I think it would cause a lot of stress.

On the ports website, you will find the ships in port on that day, with this link; Cruise Schedule | Massport

It will be in your booking confirmation/itinerary, where part of the detailed itinerary, is also which hotel you will be staying, but this is not for all of the locations. In our case, it remained listed as Anchorage area hotel, during the land tour we were informed that it would be the Westmark.

Question regarding the Amazon/Brasil part of your cruise; was there any additional VAT present on board, while in Brazilian waters and if so, was it only on purchases in shops, or also on bar drinks, drinks in the MDR and drinks and surcharges in specialty restaurants?

Excellent tip, thanks, not only for cold areas, but also getting from AC ship inside, to hot and humid outside, never thought of that!

We are looking at the pros and cons of the Quench package. I have read and searched for the coffee's that are included and found lots of info already and learned that also coffee's are included and understand this is also for the Explorations Cafe. My question is, if the Espresso/Cappuccino in the MDR is also included in the Quench Package? Beverage-Package-Contents.pdf

Thanks for all the tips, we have done almost 90% of our preparation and booking, just a few tours that are not open for booking at this moment. We already have noticed a price increase in a ships tour, after booking it, so the early bird...... 🙂