cabinluvn

Just off the Oosterdam in a SS. Had a door sign that indicated need for tidying up, otherwise no one came into the room. No flower, no stationary, no pen. Called the concierge for help with an excursion and he said I needed to go to the excursion desk. Tried calling for dinner reservations 3 times. No one ever answered the phone. Used the dinner reservation number after that. Did get ice when they came into the room,, which we asked for once a day. Room was kept tidy and clean, as was the bathroom. Never have required fruit in the room, but flowers used to be nice. Got chocolates twice and towel animal once.

Just got off the Oosterdam. Only place for specialty coffee was in the crow’s nest. Some mornings the lines were long. Staff was overworked. Watched them make my “skinny vanilla latte” and every single time they just grabbed whatever milk was handy. Don’t think I ever got skim milk in my latte. Probably not sugar free vanilla either. They were so busy I was not going to make them do it over. On the Noordam for Alaska in May and the cafe on deck 3 as wonderful. It would be nice to have 2 cafes for so many people

Requirements for sailing the South America Cruise. I think it is a HAL requirement, not a country requirement

No, I was saying that in May, sailing from Canada required proof of negative covid test to enter the country to sail on HAL to Alaska. HAL did not require it, Canada did. We are sailing from Bueos Aires in March and HAL requires a negative covid test to board. I thought covid tests to sail was a thing of the past, but apparently not

Glad they stopped it. Guess the requirements are from HA, not the countries? In canada, HAL did not require it, but Canada in May

They are sailing from Canada. We sailed to Alaska from Canada. You needed a negative test to enter the country

Apparently, unless you are boarding in Australia, they will accept antigen home tests from the government

Just looked up the requirements for our March 10 SA cruise. I guess I thought all testing was a thing of the past, but it says they need a negative test uploaded to VeriFly 3 days before embarkation. It says “medically observed or home PCR test. I looked at the covid tests from the government and cannot tell if those are PCR tests or not. Anyone know? And if they are, how do you upload the results to Verifly?

I just mean for texting. I know there is no internet with Navigator. I would replace internet texting with the Navigator texting if it has improved since the last time I used it for texting.

Thank you for posting that. Wondering if it would replace the ship’s wifi if you don’t get an internet package?

Wondering if they have improved the Navigator app in regards to notifications with person to person texting. Last time I used it was 2019 as I have had internet included in my package since. In 2019 there was no sound when you received a text. Has that changed or does one still need to keep looking at your phone to see if a text has come in?

No way would I do it. The airport is not close to the port. Getting off the ship, even with your own bags, and getting to the airport before 9 am would be difficult. Of course, there is no TSA. Lines are horribly long. We stayed an extra night and flew out the next day. Got to the airport 4. Hours ahead…took 3 hours just to get through luggage check and security. That was 4 years ago. I am sure it is worse now with fewer personnel.

Which is why we always arrive at least a day before embarking

Also on this cruise. We are planning on going out on our own in most ports

We have done the Panama Canal twice. Once a partial in a corner aft Neptune suite. The second one was the full transit in an aft vista suite. I would not do it any other way. You get the full 180 degrees as you are going through. Grab food and plenty of water and settle in. The only negative is that you cannot hear the narrative from the expert they bring onboard. It is over the PA system and also in your cabin on TV. You can’t leave the door open, so you either do your homework ahead of time and miss the narrative, or you go out of your room and fight the crowds for a good view and listen that way. We chose the former and have not been sorry

No, it does not

Deleted post. Realized you wanted traveling land first. Sorry

Stayed in the corner aft on a pinnacle class going through the Panama Canal. Only Neptune we have ver stayed in. It is definitely smaller than the Neptunes we have taken a peak in when we were able to. The deck makes up for it, so if you are the kind that spend a lot of time on the deck, you will love it. We didn’t care if the sitting room was smaller. Never used it. Didn’t dine in, etc. Just wanted it for the larger deck and views going through the canal

Took the train from Whitaker to Denali and back to Anchorage. We tipped the beverage server and the travel guide on the train as well as the server in the dining car. There was no housekeeping in the rooms in the resort. A linen cart that was not restocked was in the hallway. Restaurant servers were tipped as usual. Excursion driver/guide was tipped as usual at the end of the tour

Had fixed dining first seating. Sailed May 15 Alaska on the Noordam. Upper dining room was closed. Was squeezed between two other two top tables that were not fixed diners. Had the same servers, but it did not feel the same.

We just returned from an Alaskan cruise. Are 4 stars. No special line for anything. No special anything except free laundry and discounts on specialty dining.

We recently returned from a 10 day sea/land cruise, leaving from Vancouver. Cruise departed on Sunday. We got our antigen test from the Walgreen’s drive through on Saturday around noon, flew out Saturday morning and boarded the ship Sunday afternoon around 1 PM. Loaded results into Verifly. No problem whatsoever

I am on the Noordam now doing Alaska. I usually order a skinny vanilla latte with sugar free French vanilla and skim milk. No skim milk. But they have almond and soy milk. Also the sugar free vanilla and also sugar free caramel. You will be happy

We are currently on the Noordam doing Alaska. We are in 6162. We almost always sail in an aft cabin. This one is by far the smallest aft we have ever had. They have changed the bathroom door so you cannot open it flat to the wall where a magnet held it flat. That means the hallway for the closets is always dark, even with the hall light on. Two people cannot be in the hallway at the same time. If one is in the bathroom and one in the hall it is a traffic jam. Space between the end of the bed and the wall is narrow as is the side of the bed by the wall. Two people cannot move about in the cabin without bumping into each other. It is a configuration issue along with cutting cabin size for the deck space. For a long trip I wound opt for the larger cabin size. They have removed the makeup mirror on the desk and it seems they may have made the desk smaller, in my opinion. Not sure I would opt for an aft with that many sail days. Won’t do it again on this ship for sure.