RevNeal

What a nice blast from the past to come across on my first day back on Cruise Critic in a half year! :D

I especially loved reading some of the back remarks ... including my own from (yikes!) 3 years ago!

Now, to the thread topic:

In January aboard the Rotterdam, during a VIP party in the Crows Nest, someone asked the Captain if he liked driving. The Captain grinned and said: "Love it ... especially when using my new Callaway XR 16 Driver." The passenger who asked the question never got the joke.

I've done full transits twice -- once eastbound and once westbound -- and loved it both times. Indeed, I'd love to do it again, and probably will in order to see the new locks. Make sure you're up EARLY for the entrance into the locks. Go forward and go high for a good view of the operation as you approach and enter the first lock. Then, when you've gotten through the first one, go to the stern and get a view from that perspective as you finish the steps. The trip through the canal is also great, and especially through "the cut," and can be easily experienced indoors or from the promenade, where you'll have a little shelter but will still be outside.

In any event, full-transits of the Canal are a great experience.

Greg, How nice to hear from you. You've been missed.

Hello Judy!

Blessings to you. I pray you are well.

Good to see you here on CC. Congrats on the new endeavor! :)

Thanks! I appreciate it!

Hi Greg,

 

Yes, good to hear from you. Congratulations on the new job. Don't forget us.

 

Happy cruising!

 

Stephen

Thank you, Stephen.

I'm not forgetting about y'all, and I look forward to my next cruise.

This is one of the best posts I have read on CC. RevNeal, you seem to be loved by many...blessings to you and all of the lives you have touched. Happiness! (Not shouting just celebrating) [emoji3]

Thank you so much for your kind words. I have always appreciated the kindness I've been shown here. There are many wonderful people here.

Aw, shucks. That's so sweet to read. Last year was a fun time, wasn't it. I'll never forget the "laying on of hands" experience. ;)

OMG! That was a wonderful cruise and we had a wonderful time!

I hope we get to do so, again, in the future.

Greg Neal (Revneal boardname) is alive, and well, and so busy with his non-cruising life that he doesn't post here anymore.

Yes, he is still cruising on HAL. As Topsham said, Greg was on the Volendam from Hong Kong to Vancouver a little over a year ago; I was there, so know this for a fact.

Dearest Ruth, I most especially have missed you! It's now been more than a year since I've been blessed to be aboard a damship with you. I pray you continue well and I hope to cruise with you, again, in the near future.

Hello everybody!

I am, indeed, alive and well and greatly appreciate the concern over my absence. Life in the "Real World" has been very busy. In addition to having been moved to a much larger church a couple of years ago, which has occasioned my turning my focus elsewhere, I have also become very busy in my online ministry with a new phase of its outreach: live broadcasting.

I have always resisted talking much about religion on CruiseCritic, principally because this is a site about cruising and I've always respected that. However, I'll say a word about what I'm doing that is keeping me away from here.

I broadcast live on a service called YouNow every night (except most Friday nights) from about 8pm US Central time until about midnight (same timezone). It's a religion-oriented Q&A broadcast in which I deal with issues of Religion, faith, philosophy and other such matters. The largest portion of my broadcast audience is young people -- ages 13 to 25 -- and, it would appear, I'm rather popular among them. Over the past year since I began broadcasting I've picked up a fan-base of just a hair over 84,000 with an average nightly viewership of at least 35,000 (sometimes much higher) during the four-hour broadcast. If you would like to visit me some evening, please feel free to do so. I will not be live tonight (Thursday night) because I have to give a lecture at an out-of-state church and won't have time to broadcast, however I will be back on Saturday night for my normal broadcast at about 8pm US Central time.

www.YouNow.com/DrGreg (WARNING: YouNow doesn't particularly like Safari, but it works great on FireFox and Chrome)

If you'd like to read a news article about this new phase of my online ministry, you can do so here: "By day, an East Texas pastor. By night, a social media star to teens."

Again, thank you for your concern. I'm flattered by the interest after so long an absence. However, to paraphrase Mark Twain: "Rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated." :D

If we told you, they wouldn't be "secret" anymore, would they?

:D:eek::cool:

LOL

That being said, my favorite cabins on the R class ships are:

J-1877

J-2619

Both of these are inside cabinet, configured lengthwise with the ship ... they're huge inside.

On lower Promenade Deck:

I-3343

I-3347

I-3355

These three cabins are now I class, but used to be J class, and are traditionally designed inside cabins on the Lower Prom deck ... excellent location.

On main-deck, all the way aft, there are two outside stern-facing cabins that are VERY nice

For an outside amidships, try C2623 or C2620. Both are right where the midship's elevators can be accessed ... GREAT location.

DA-6100 is an EXCELLENT square-shaped cabin with a forward view and easy access to the forward top-side observation deck (just bellow the bridge). DA-6102 is also good, but it's a little more awkwardly shaped. Both have forward-facing windows.

Indeed, I was happy to hear from nearly as high-up as one can aboard ship that the Explorers Lounge remodeling disaster will be "fixed" this June. So ... take heart. I don't know the details, but it is supposed to look more like the remodel of the Amsterdam's Explorers Lounge. I've not seen that, but I was told that it will be a significant improvement over that indignity aboard the Volendam.

Well, I'm off the ship and up in the air on my way home from what was a wonderful month aboard the Volendam. I'm exhausted, but also happy to be going home.

I hope to have a mini review and a link to some higher-resolution photos of the ship and ports.

A big "thank you" clueless2 for posting links to my Twitter feed when I would update with photos from the trip. Using Twitter -- especially in China -- was by far the easiest way to send up a few sample photos and "take my friends with me." It also made it possible to post in nearly "real time" from shore excursions, which was fun -- as well as hazardous when auto-correct thought it knew what I was talking about better than I did!

Also, thanks to everyone for your kind remarks, both here and elsewhere. It was fun knowing people were following along.

Greetings from Sitka.

It is, indeed, a glorious day.

Not all cabins have the new bathrooms.

Correct. I'm in an inside cabin on the Dolphin Deck -- 1877 -- and I don't have a new bathroom. I'm not complaining ... I'm aboard this lovely ship, having a fantastic time, with wonderful friends, and my stateroom is clean, well-maintained, perfectly positioned amidships, and I can stand in the shower without a mat and don't have to worry about slipping. 😜

RuthC says "hi! There's a chocolate on my pillow!!!!" :D

Greetings from Beijing!!!

Waiting to be picked up for our trip into the city.

Thanks to clueless2 for posting links to my Twitter page.

Blessings to all!

Sounds wonderful and what beautiful and awe inspiring scenery you will see and things you will experience. Other speak so highly of you and what little I've seen of your posts I can see why. I totally understand why anyone would love to be in Ruth's company on a cruise. Happy sailing.

I'm sitting here, on the plane, blushing. :) You're very kind. Thanks!

Greetings from 31000 feet, going 601 mph! We're crossing over the US/ Canadian boarder as we are northbound on our way to Hong Kong!

GoGo Inflight internet is COOL!

Bon Voyage, Ruth and Greg! I'm sure you'll have a great cruise with your friends.

Thanks, Mary Ellen! I know we will! :D

Nah, they both play well with others, but they are great fun together (and individually :)). We were with them when they received their chocolate medallions from one HotMan. :D

What a great cruise that was ... and how much fun it was to be presented with those "Chocolate Medallions!" :D

We were celebrating an accumulated 94 days together on different HAL ships that night ... and, by the end of that cruise, we had hit 100 days. It made for a great picture:

Are most of these ports new to you Ruth and Rev Neal? Just wondering why you selected this specific itinerary.

In January 2014 I did the 14 day cruise from Hong Kong to Singapore. That was a wonderful cruise, with many stops in Vietnam, a port in Cambodia, 2 in Thailand, and of course Singapore. This year I'm doing going the other direction. :) I've never been to the People's Republic of China before, so this will be a "first" for me, as will South Korea. I've been to Tokyo before -- 3 days pre-cruise before my Southeast Asia cruise last year. However, that time I was only in Tokyo ... this time I'm visiting 4 other ports in addition to Tokyo.

Thanks, everyone, for the very kind Bon Voyage!!!! It's been a year and 3 months since I last had deck under my feet, and am so very much looking forward to this voyage!

I'm especially looking forward to seeing Ruth again. Being aboard ship and enjoying the dining room conversation with her is always a joy. She makes for the best table-entertainment! And, she's such a stirling soul ... God has given me a good friend in Ruth, and I will forever be thankful for that. Of my 421 days on HAL ships, 137 of them have been on cruises where Ruth graced my table and was always around for conversation and sing-alongs in the Piano Bar. I'm about to tack on an additional 31 "HAL Days with Ruth"! I should get another special medallion for that!!! :D

Zaandam and Volendam are among my favorite HAL ships so I'm hoping they will always keep that classic look I love.

I love the R-class ships ... 185 of my 421 days on HAL have been aboard these four lovely ships. Pulling from my Cruise History on HAL's website:

Zaandam -- 55 days

Volendam -- 53 days, with another 31 days to be added this April/May

Rotterdam -- 47 days

Amsterdam -- 30 days

Not shag but that color has been a fixture on many HAL ships, carpet and otherwise, for many years...

I know ... it's Dutch, don't you know. :D

The 'new and improved' :rolleyes: Explorer's Lounge does give off that 70s dorm rec room vibe doesn't it? It didn't look good in the 70s and hasn't improved with age.

What's next? Burnt orange shag carpet in the corridors? :eek::eek::rolleyes:;)

I will be aboard in 18 days for a 31 day voyage from Hong Kong to Vacounver. I will be looking forward to taking photos of everything public ... And what I can catch in staterooms ... And I'll make sure to post links to those photos when I can.

I like the look of the new showers, replacing the tubs.

Nice.