JimnKaren

My offer yesterday for this Friday's sailing of the Rotterdam was from inside deck one to verandah for $1450/person. I passed.

Jim

I had the problem with not being able to print the boarding pass. Called Customer Service and he emailed me the stuff.Turns out his grandmother lives real close to me!

Of course, I printed the luggage tags on previously used paper. And, the boarding passes themselves on one piece of paper, front and back.

Jim

That cruise on Rotterdam will continue from Rome. The 42-day Atlantic Adventurer (from Port Everglades) has several folks who boarded in Boston, more are boarding in New York, but most are getting on the ship in Ft. Lauderdale.

There are a few who are embarking in Rome to finish the cruise back to Ft. Lauderdale that ends on December 9.

We have more than 220 people on our roll call. They are still offering cabins, so the ship is not full. If you can make it to Ft. Lauderdale by Friday, you can get a real deal going only to Rome. Spend a few days there, then fly home. It would still be priced very reasonably.

Come on, you know you want to do it!

Jim

I'll add my welcome to Cruise Critic.

Over the last 6 or so cruises, I have peeked into the area where the bridge players were scheduled to meet. Never more than one table.

If you are good enough, offer your services to Holland America. Typically, you would do your teaching only on sea day. For the days in port, you would be able to do whatever.

Jim

Squeaky wheel and all that.

Jim

For us, it is the ports of call and the time of year and the length of the voyage. We take all of those, and then decide which way to go. Carnival is fun (if you want a real blast, do New Years). Different demographics between the two.

Also, keep in mind that if you own 100 shares of Carnival Corporation stock, you get OBC with any Carnival Lines cruise ship. The amount of OBC is determined by the length of the cruise. Carnival stock pays dividends, it is almost like getting more OBC.

Jim

We were there. The weather was typical for that area. We went on a HAL excursion inland. Here is my advice - take lots of bug spray!!!

Jim

How about a simple 7-day cruise (that might include Livorno or not). When done with that cruise, rent a car and visit some of the interior of Europe. That might include going into the far north of Italy, Milan or Lake Como. Then into Geneva and a flight home.

Jim

Don't be afraid to go down some side streets, lots of interesting things to see.

Jim

Typically, the official departure time is 4:00 p.m. There have been a few times when it was closer to 5:00 p.m. Food service in the MDR won't start for a while after that. I would think that by the time you were there and ordering wine, you would be away from the tax situation. We always wait to order anything until well out into the water. For one drink or two for sail away, the tax situation is not horrendous.

Jim

I don't know where NCL ties up; but HAL is across Channelside Dr. and down a bit. One can always drop off bags and people, park your vehicle and stroll the 4 minutes to the pier.

There is a non-covered lot right next to the terminal. I don't know what restrictions there are, but it is a large lot.

Jim

Best: Osso Bucco in Canaletto (served only on longer voyages)

Worst: Some of their "Italian" sauces.

Coffee on HAL is soooo much better than the stuff on Princess!

Jim

A long time ago (when I had hair on the top of my head), we used to book specific cabins. However, something made us do the switch to guarantee. 8 cruises later, never a problem. We don't really need a balcony/verandah (although those have been nice) as we are out and about a lot. Sure, with a balcony/verandah the temptation would be to sit out there for hours on end. But what about goofing off with other CCers.

We prefer low and center and have been happy with whatever HAL (or Princess) gives us.

I will be sailing with Hflors on the 42-day Atlantic Adventurer (225+ on our roll call). If they want to switch, I might consider it. We have HH guarantee.

Jim

The Oosterdam repo changed other itineraries, too. We were booked on Amsterdam for a 14-day Alaska cruise in late May. They changed it from a Sunday to the preceding Monday. We were offered the Oosterdam 7-day to sail on the same date, but that ain't the same thing. 14 days is not the same as a 7 day B2B. Several folks on our roll call had already booked air. I don't know what they will end up doing as a result of the Oosterdam/Amsterdam thing out of Seattle.

Fortunately we can adapt, albeit with a lot of whining, and will depart May 22 instead of May 28.

Jim

I believe that most of Florida got by without too much wind/water damage. Yeah, there was some, but the eye stayed far enough off shore to keep damage minimal. I am sure that there are exceptions - it could have been much, much worse.

Jim

Sometimes the first 24 hours and the last 24 hours are a bit, but not so much that ''the bags" come out.

Tell your folks to ignore their friends' admonitions. In fact have them bet on the outcome, say 2 days worth of hotel charges one way or another.

Jim

I went to St. John when I was in the US Navy in the late 60s. Wonderful town then, I cannot imagine three cruise ships being in port as it was then.

Jim

Our first visit to the aquarium was in 1996 shortly after it opened. It was impressive.

We visited again January, 2015 (Ryndam was doing that itinerary then). It has expanded and it was more impressive.

It is less than 5 minutes to walk there. The is a small restaurant inside. We ate there because we didn't want to go anywhere else.

Here is their Web site: http://www.flaquarium.org/

Jim

I am wondering how many dance hosts were sailing with HAL. On our 42-day Atlantic Adventurer, there were four of them and they kept themselves busy. As the demographics change and as the dance hosts get older (and less agile), I wondered about the program as a whole.

Jim

One of the reasons we moved to Florida (from Illinois) was to catch those last-minute bargains that are out there. So many really tempting ones. Princess is offering some super deals from California to Hawaii. Too long in the air for me.

I can drive to Ft. Lauderdale, Miami or Tampa within 4.5 hours. All we have to do is make sure the cat sitter can be here. Then we be gone! Retirement is great.

Jim

In the good OLD days, the tendering to Charlotte Amalie was the way. As it used to be in St. Maarten, we got deposited in the middle of town.

Jim

I still miss the old piano bar. Having the current thing as part of "the mix" is not nearly as good.

Jim

That is our favorite HAL ship! Enjoy!

Jim

Every year we salivate about Voyage of the Vikings. Every year, we gasp and pass.

The Atlantic Adventurer is half the cost. We'll keep doing that. We really, really enjoy all those days of crossing the Atlantic. Yeah, Rome and Barcelona are not like some other ports, but we'll put up with that.

Now...if any wish to contribute to our cruise fund. Let me know, I'll provide the numbers and such for deposits into our banking account! OK? OK!

Jim

For me (not Karen), one of the draws of Maasdam is the library. We have never had a librarian who was not committed to making the experience great. If they drop that, then I gotta do some re-thinking about which ship to have as my favorite.

Jim