Seafoam Green

My sister and I just returned from the 16 day Panama transit on the Oosterdam and we truly enjoyed Half Moon Cay. Too little time in heaven IMHO. We did the horseback riding and it was great. Contrary to the feedback on the tour - the guides were bossy but it was for our own safety. Who wants to have their horse kicked in the face by another horse. These guys worked very hard and we tipped the leader $7 each that is what we had brought with us, they earned every penny. They had an efficient operation and they made sure we were safe. They also did their best to capture our photos as we were the last day of the long cruise and there was no ship photographer. They knew their stuff. Will post a long review of the cruise when I get caught up at home.

Thank you so much for taking the time to share this. What a great way to wrap up an adventurous cruise!

Grand Cayman, hands down!

On our last visit to Grand Cayman, my husband did a dive on the USS Kittiwake wreck while I snorkeled the same site at the surface. It was amazing!

Old Man Winter just wants to hang around and won't let go. These lucky cruisers are going to escape his grip and enjoy lots of sunshine and warm weather.

Bon Voyage to Eurodam - 7 day Western Caribbean:

Seafoam Green - hope you have great fun celebrating your DH's birthday with the kids, - B2B with Apirl 1st

 

 

Bon Voyage everyone!!!!!!

Have a great cruise and a WONDERFUL time!!!!!!

Thank you, Kazu for a great send off and to all of our well wishers! We are facing another in a series of 'weekly' nor'easters, after having a couple that arrived with a Super Moon and her tides. Since we will be staying in, packing should be 'perfect', if such a thing exists.

We are looking forward to our aft balcony for two whole weeks!

I can't add much about tipping (but agree with those who tip when happy with the service). But I wanted to say I *loved* the horseback riding excursion and would do it again in a heartbeat!

 

 

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Thank you for sharing this! Our daughter asked to book this and she's very excited about it. I think what appeals to me most is that we will be riding on land and in the sea!

Thank you for your responses. It seems that tipping is not mentioned, but will be cheerfully accepted. That's good to know.

When you are on a HAL excursion in a port, the tour operators mention tipping, have tip containers, etc. On Half Moon Cay, beverages are charged to your cruise card as if you were on the ship and gratuity is added. It seems to me that the excursions on Half Moon Cay somehow 'ignore' tipping and make it a 'gray area', definitely a disadvantage for those providing the service.

This cruise will be the first time we've ever booked an activity on a private island. Usually we just walk around and snorkel off the beach. We will be horseback riding on Half Moon Cay next week and I'm wondering what the procedure is for tipping??

Any input is appreciated, and if you can share any experiences from the horseback riding excursion, that would also be helpful.

Also heading out for cruise departing this weekend, but I think the cleanup should be complete by the time we fly out. Best of luck to all of us making our way out of 'the winter that just won't quit'! :cool:

Love the aft balconies! I would always book them when available, especially if the price difference is minimal. It's great to enjoy the wake of the ship, very relaxing. Aft balconies are longer and you don't feel so cramped. It's nice to have guests visit and enjoy the aft balcony.

Enjoy your cruise no matter what you select.

I have done a Princess excursion with Sea Cow and had a lot of fun (definitely drift snorkeling, saw many turtles). I have also booked privately with Renee and that was excellent for all of the different types of sea life that we saw.

So happy to have those shares! Just got OBC for our next cruise.

One note: It's been 2 years since our last cruise (I know, way too long!) and we received an email with the CCL shareholder benefit OBC then. This time I had to call HAL and ask. It went through immediately, but without confirmation. Is this the norm now?

So happy to have those shares! Just got OBC for our next cruise.

One note: It's been 2 years since our last cruise (I know, way too long!) and we received an email with the CCL shareholder benefit OBC then. This time I had to call HAL and ask. It went through immediately, but without confirmation. Is this the norm now?

So happy to have those shares! Just got OBC for our next cruise.

One note: It's been 2 years since our last cruise (I know, way too long!) and we received an email with the CCL shareholder benefit OBC then. This time I had to call HAL and ask. It went through immediately, but without confirmation. Is this the norm now?

So happy to have those shares! Just got OBC for our next cruise.

One note: It's been 2 years since our last cruise (I know, way too long!) and we received an email with the CCL shareholder benefit OBC then. This time I had to call HAL and ask. It went through immediately, but without confirmation. Is this the norm now?

So happy to have those shares! Just got OBC for our next cruise.

One note: It's been 2 years since our last cruise (I know, way too long!) and we received an email with the CCL shareholder benefit OBC then. This time I had to call HAL and ask. It went through immediately, but without confirmation. Is this the norm now?

Any suggestions on locations, excursions, or private tours.

Renee Snorkel Tours!!

She is the best and you will be amazed at all that you will see.

Regarding one of the ports you will be visiting, a great tour in Cartagena is the 'City By Land and Sea'. We took this tour when we did a partial transit of the canal on the Coral Princess. It's a cruise around the harbor and then a bus tour of the city - great photo ops and different perspectives than if you just saw the city by land. I recommend it if HAL offers it.

We use both ship and private excursions. If we are in a port that is known to have safety issues, we definitely book with the ship. When we book private, it's usually just for the two of us. I don't organize for groups, although sometimes we might end up in a group with a particular tour operator.

The first time I booked a private tour it was because the tours on one island were 6-8 hours from the ship and there were only 2 activities on the tour that we were interested in. I contacted a private tour operator and asked to just to those 2 things, so we had a 4 hour tour with a guide in an SUV. We enjoyed conversing with our guide and she showed us the island and talked about her life there. My husband was really impressed with the private tour and said it was one of the best we had taken. After that, I have enjoyed finding things to do that match our specific preferences, as opposed to joining a more generic ship tour.

Enjoy your cruise and happy planning!

Bonaire has incredible snorkeling within walking distance of the ship. Curacao has a great downtown right at the port and it's a short ride to many beaches, for swimming, snorkeling and diving. I would recommend going to both.

Aruba is OK, but I prefer the B and C of the A-B-C islands. The snorkeling is boring. The beaches are nice. There are many different types of tours. There's a brewery with a nice little pub that's not exactly close to the port. Many American fast food and coffee franchises are near the port.

When the wall calendar in the kitchen notes how many weeks to departure date...3 weeks this Friday!

On Koningsdam in January, the "In Transit" passengers did not have to disembark as a group - but we did have to get in the long line with the passengers who were doing their final disembarkation, so it was quite slow. Once in the terminal, we were able to "jump" the lines there because we had our Nexus cards, but I don't remember an "In transit" line at all. It was pretty chaotic. Then, once outside, we were in competition with all those people getting taxis to go to the airport, while we wanted to go to the Galleria.

 

BTW, we were really disappointed this time with the Galleria, some stores closed, and the food court depleted of the interesting food places they had before. I did manage to do a bit of shopping, of course!:eek:

 

As KK said, getting back on board was easy.

Thanks for sharing this. We usually leave the ship very early for final disembarkation, so we really have no concept of how long the process can be.

I'm really looking forward to this cruise. :D

On the last full day of the first segment you will get a letter explaining what you should do on turn-around day. You will also be given an In Transit card(s).

You will have to go through immigration -- so get your passports ready the morning of turn-around day.

You will be given a time and place to meet to go off the ship as a group -- usually happens around 9:30 - 10 AM. IF there is a large number of you staying on for the second cruise, then immigration may happen on the ship.

Thank you so much for explaining this. It's always good to have an idea of the timeframe to expect paperwork in case it doesn't arrive.

On our first HAL cruise, we received a promotion of dinner for 2 in PG and Caneletto. Of the 2, we preferred PG, and already have a reservation there for our upcoming cruise. We enjoy good steaks and everything was just perfect when we went to the PG on the Oosterdam. The MDR is very good, but the PG just seemed to have many terrific extra touches, in addition to delicious food.

I'm just hoping for some info on the procedure for getting off the ship while in port on turnaround day. I haven't noticed much mentioned about how it works on HAL. I'm not interested in the Fort Lauderdale excursions offered and I have verified that Total Wine IS open on Easter Sunday (closing early at 6PM, not an issue as we will have sailed out again by then.) :)

I would appreciate input from those who have been through it before. Should we just do our errands and get back onboard, or are there any other ideas?

Thank you.

We've had aft facing balconies on the Eurodam, Nieuw Amsterdam and Zuiderdam. Most days there is no soot at all but occasionally there can be a small amount based on the wind direction. The stewards wiped down the balcony in the morning and sometimes flipped over the lounger cushions at night as as precaution.

+1 Soot is not a problem, as your steward will stay on top of it. I have had an aft balcony on the Oosterdam and will have one on the Eurodam soon. I find these cabins to be exactly what I like in cruising.

OP, I hope you enjoy your aft balcony, too.

Thanks for all the good wishes. After booking a year and a half ago (and pre-booking a month before that) I can't believe that the time is almost here! Now if my last suitcase will just weigh in at under 50 pounds, all will be wonderful!;)

Have a wonderful time!

Definitely book it. Your credit card provides you protection and the excursion is the activity that you want for that port. The company has let you know that they intend to stay in business.

Enjoy your cruise!