496and706

Do NOT pay that much. Wait until you board and then go to the spa and check out their special for your cruise. Are you doing 2 11 day cruises? You might only want to get the package for one of the two cruises.

My husband and I were looking for a cruise that starts in Montreal and finishes in Victoria. It is do-able, but it takes a while. A Montreal to Boston, repositioning down to Ft. Lauderdale, switching ships in Ft. L and do a repositioning cruise to Alaska going through the Panama Canal with a Mexican coastal cruise and maybe going to Hawaii and then over to Alaska and then down to Victoria. Possibly 3 ships with a day or two between the different ships.

The only problem is that my husband doesn't want to be away from home for that long.

I leave my cell phone at home and my inlaws don't even have a computer.

So, no.

When you are in the library, stop and look up at the ceiling. Especially the one on the Noordam.

(Look at my stats, it's my favourite ship.)

Not cool, hot. Buy a spa pass and spend 30 minutes (or more or less, depending on your personal desires) in the hydro therapy pool and then go on the heated ceramic loungers.

Heaven!

In where the ceramic loungers are, there is a eucalyptus scented steam room and a citrus scented steam room and the one that everyone thinks is broken, is a cold room. One of the staff told me it was intended as a quiet meditation space. So I guess that would be the cool thing.

Wow! Read the article. It said that he was mad all day because she had called him a "son of a ...".

The victim could not have possibly known who was knocking.

How often do you swear or cuss or curse in what you think is the privacy of your own cabin?

I'm out of this thread.

The timing for this is so funny. The Canadian shopping channel has Morganite on today. Everything is selling out and the presenter keeps on repeating "pink emerald" "pink emerald".....

I don't like the Morganite, I don't like the chocolate diamonds and I think that some (just some, not all) of the Caribbean shops are vastly over priced for what they have.

But opinion is opinion, and that was mine. :D

It's very unfortunate that this crew member did not realize that saying "son of a " doesn't mean that she was demeaning him or his family. She couldn't possibly have known who was outside of her door. What if she had said the "f" word instead, would he have thought he was being invited in for something?

Language and slang are hard to learn and understand. How many other countries has anyone here traveled to where there may have been a notice in the daily Explorer stating that we should be careful about something.

A 4 wheel scooter is less likely to tip than a 3 wheel scooter. Better for people that are new to scooters.

That guy is always smiling and happy. Breakfast and lunch. "Goooood morning ma'am!"

Sit on the side opposite to the Cannelletto and you will be sung to, no matter what time you see him.

Our pets (which are fish) are the reason we cannot take a world cruise. Our reef tanks would die and the water would evaporate, therefore causing the filters to go dry and burn out. As much as we love HAL, my dh loves his tanks more. a 21 day cruise has been our limit so far until this upcoming cruise, which is 25 days.

I did fill in the survey and even after answering no to all the questions, they won't let you complete the survey without answering a, b, c or d.

Just out of curiosity... does anyone think HAL might use the wine coming on as a learning opportunity and start stocking wine that the passengers actually enjoy and get rid of some of the horrid stuff on their wine list?

My favourite tip for Alaska... try to buy stuff made in Alaska. There is so much "Made in China" stuff up there that can be purchased in any other place in the world, with the only difference being the place name stamped on the souvenir. (Actually, that is my favourite tip for any country, I try to buy something only available in that country.)

My husband always packs a Champagne and an Ice Wine. I can't remember names at the moment.

We always enjoy the reaction when the wine guy sees the Ice wine. ("Please chill this until it's time for dessert.")

Last year we had a storm about 200 kilometers behind us all the way from Ft. L to Lisbon. Ponta Delgada was skipped after numerous announcements by the Captain and a letter of apology along with a free glass of sparkling wine at dinner that night. The Captain did his best to stay away from the storm, but these things do happen at sea. A lot of passengers were complaining and being very vocal, but in the end, the Captain knows best and it's his ship. The last thing HAL wants is a damaged ship and docking would have possibly damaged the ship or put some crew at risk.

I'm not sure that a toque is necessary, but layers are a good idea.

My husband and I hope we get to Ponta Delgada this year. We have our documents now, so we are starting to get excited.

Thanks Lou and Dave for the non close ups! A very fast un-zoom was a thing of beauty, as compared to what that guy wasn't wearing...

Regarding the fountain in the atrium... I asked about it. They are only allowed to have the fountain on in Alaska and Northern Europe. (Norway, etc.)

The rolls calls tend to get busier as the cruise gets closer most of the time. It's still 3 months before you go. Plenty of time.

Darn, I thought the HAL employee was actually right.

Sorry John. Have you ever seen anyone actually dive off of them? :D

Rick's Hemingway talk was played on HAL TV a few times later the same day when we were on the cruise in November.

Thanks for the great pictures.

Where are you from?

The only scheduled thing that we come close to worrying about is getting to the dining room in time for dinner every night.

We are on vacation. All of the electronics stay at home. :cool:

Thank you.

I wish I knew you on FB.

I think I've asked about the Noordam cruise for the TA in March at least twice, and nobody seems to know who is on that one.

The airport in Toronto had a ground closure today. It was too cold for the outside workers.

They did a piece on the early news showing all the luggage waiting to be moved, and people sleeping on the floors, line ups for men's washrooms and a woman washing her hair in a sink. A lot of the airlines have put people up in local hotels for the night as well.