willoL

@kazu and @cruisepro19, my condolences to each of you on your loss. It's kind to share what you've learned about such a difficult situation to help others. When my mother passed away in 2019, I had to suddenly cancel a European (land) trip consisting of so many vendors. I was almost shocked by how much assistance various operators gave me, and the waiver of policies about fees. I know I spent some money on "nothing" (but the pleasure of planning that trip I couldn't take) as Mom entered hospice and slipped away within a few days... but it was much less than official policies might have suggested. I hope you ( @cruisepro19 ) and your mother have a wonderful trip together. Enjoy every moment together.

I will look for your post @atexsix. I find it so helpful when people describe specifics about access. My own limitations are minor (thank God) and sometimes variable (autoimmune disease that flares and remits), but there are details I've learned really make my life easier. Thanks for posting. 🙂

I discussed this with my regular doctor, and he is willing to write an approval letter for each member of my family if we schedule a tele-medicine appointment (which could be via Zoom or FaceTime or any video "call" system) and he observes my family self-administering any of the approved at-home COVID tests. Anyone can ask if their usual doctor would do this. I suspect it's easier to get a yes from small, physician owned practices, however. (My doctor uses the direct primary care model, so we pay him directly for a membership, never using our insurance for office visits with him.)

I wrote a very long post the other day that disappeared into the ether(net) when I tried to create this topic on the Crystal forum. Sigh! I love to travel, whereas my husband (DH) would rather stay at home. I did convince DH to try a cruise on Crystal for a "major, round-number milestone" birthday of mine, and he enjoyed that trip enough to go again on an Alaska voyage with our kids and me. (He'd always wanted to visit Alaska, but also feared seasickness, to which he remains prone.) We will attempt HAL in August of 2022, because the itinerary was perfect, but DH may never leave our Neptune Suite except to go to our reserved Family Cabana or ashore in Greenland/Iceland. I don't know how DH will handle lines on a mass market cruise line, but I hope the inconvenience isn't sufficient to make him regret 24 days away from home. I'm much more adventurous, and yet… traditional. I adore cruises because they hearken back to the golden age of travel. I love a good promenade deck, a library full of actual books, and at least a few formal nights. Excellent lectures and cultural activities are my happy place. Someday, I hope to circumnavigate the globe, perhaps via container ship. It is for my husband that I seek luxury lines over my own preference for more days at sea at a lower fare. DH, on the other hand, will stay in with room service if even a necktie is required! (He will tolerate wearing a jacket over a turtleneck or sweater.) Fortunately for me, my younger child enjoys dressing up--he asked for a tux for his 8th birthday--and accompanies me to formal nights. For DH, itinerary is everything. I can only coax him away from work (for more than a week) every two or three years at best, so visiting less accessible ports with gorgeous natural scenery close-at-hand is key to his enjoyment. Photography is his hobby, and he's a scientist by (a)vocation. (I expect he'll earn the Nobel Prize one day, though he's too modest to accept this as a given like I do.) DH has been able to work from home throughout the pandemic, so excellent internet connections *could* enable much longer voyages in future. He is required to use his institution's VPN, however, to access sensitive information, which I know is blocked on some ships. WiFi experiences would be helpful to me. DH is very prone to motion sickness, so we have some concerns about smaller ships. Sailing on Crystal Serenity, he was uncomfortable as we crossed the Gulf of Alaska towards Seward. (So was my youngest, also prone to seasickness.) Serenity's tonnage was 68,870 whereas HAL's Nieuw Statendam, upon which we sail in August, will be 99,500 tons, so I'll have another data point then. Historically, I often traveled with my two kids while DH stayed at home, but one is off to university this year, so only one teen is a current factor. Unlike MANY posts in luxury forums, I must emphatically state that my kids *hated* mass market kids’ clubs and are perfectly able to amuse themselves on a high-end ship without water slides. My youngest is history buff, sharing some of my interests. Our children have met nice, well-traveled kids (with international home ports) on our previous voyages and kept in touch, which is great, but no special child-friendly perks are required, though I do see a teen center as a plus. Information about a third bed in a stateroom, however, would be grand. I'm not interested in lines that only cater to people aged 18+ because DH and I prefer the option to bring our teen. He'll be home-schooling this year, so available to travel at any time. From my research, I think Hapag-Lloyd might be our best bet for our best cruise line to try. (My German is imperfect, but practicing it on a voyage would *add* to my enjoyment. I self-study several languages daily for fun.) Regent and Oceania seem next most appealing, though I wonder if Cunard's entertainments would be particularly up my alley, especially when DH stays at home. (The Royal Shakespeare Company is a definite draw.) Azamara and Seabourn are also on the list. I’d be delighted to hear what devotees of these lines have to say about their relative strengths given my wish list and this brief description of our interests. --willoL

Does anyone have experience using the Duolingo app (smartphone or tablet) or website (on a laptop) while on HAL's internet plan at sea? Per my Booking Confirmation, I've got the "Prem Internet Pkg" (included in the Have It All promotion) if that affects the answer. Searching the internet for my question didn't give me an answer, but I'm hoping Cruise Critic includes others who self-study foreign languages with Duolingo. I should have a two+ year streak going by the time I sail in August, so it would be a bummer to lose that. Also, daily practice helps a lot with language skills, though I use other methods, including some that offer downloaded content. Irrelevant, but for the curious, I study German and Spanish practically every day while also dabbling in French, Esperanto, Welsh, Russian, and Hebrew. I am a dilettante who loves the idea of knowing at least a few words in oodles of tongues. 😁 I believe Glossika may be a more powerful digital learning tool, but the game-ification in Duolingo is especially motivating. Thank you! --willo