Beejay4016

15 hours ago, Mary229 said:

Qualtronics is a reputable survey host.   They asked no identifying questions.  What possible could be the scam?

I think it showed up here with the name slightly different, which is often a giveaway. I was a tad dubious because the email started "Dear" with no name, nothing after the "Dear". I know with banks etc. if an email  turns up and they don't have your correct name, that is often a warning. That's why I googled it to see if it was a scam, and there were lots of warnings about it being a phishing scam, so I deleted it. Perhaps it was just some scanners getting in on it and targeting Australians, who knows, but after the recent problems here with cyber attacks etc I simply didn't want to take the risk. I'm glad that it does seem, from all the answers, that it was genuine as it's good for companies to do a bit of market research. Bev

Wow, I thought this was just people in Australia who were receiving these emails. There are warnings online that this particular survey is a scam. I'm always dubious of such things and so I deleted the two emails and blocked the sender. I'm intrigued as to why you think they were genuine, for those of you who completed them.

My comment was not a case of supporting door decorations but merely went to sarcasm and nastiness being unnecessary on these forums.

15 hours ago, trivia addict said:

Wow, tunafish, a pretty harsh put down to the OP, who was only asking for advice not a critique on something he likes to do. I hardly think a few door decorations ruins the ideas of those tasteful interior decorators. 

 

Well said. Why do people feel the need to be sarcastic and nasty. Just so unnecessary.

6 hours ago, jhsocal said:

On our vacations, the hotel is basically a place to sleep, with most of our activities outside the hotel. Cruise is entirely different, the ship is a major part of the vacation experience.  cutbacks here are far less acceptable.

That's a really interesting point, and a good way of looking at the difference between hotel and ship.

4 hours ago, Brentt_M said:

Her email offers look like this.. 

 

while casino offers normally look like this....

 

So I really don't think it is a casino related.

I don't think those amazing offers are ever made to Australians, unfortunately, as I would certainly grab them.

11 hours ago, lyndarra said:

I've never really understood why we need a "turn down" service. Is it really that hard to get into a bed?

Daily fresh towels? Don't do it at home so why on a cruise? I'lI hang my towel up after use or leave it on the floor if, as suggested, I want it replaced.

 

On 10/7/2022 at 2:10 PM, johneb2 said:

Thank you for the kind words.

I totally agree with aungrl - that photograph is just stunning, and you should display it with pride.

6 hours ago, Elorac123 said:

I still wear stilettos, they can do all kinds of damage.

Cheers Carole

Killer heels. Wonderful. Nothing like a stiletto in the shins, so you'll be fine. 😄

8 hours ago, MicCanberra said:

I have a black belt, will that help me?

Only if it coordinates with your shoes.😄 Seriously, the opening of the new rail link was bigger than Ben Hur, as they used to say, and even the PM was taken for a ride.

On 10/7/2022 at 3:44 PM, Elorac123 said:

Just heard that WA have a capped fee of $5 for the airport train from Freo to Perth one change but same line it beats Qld. By a long way.

Cheers Carole

Hm, if you factor in the need for a few self-defence classes before jumping on a train here or hanging around a train station, it's not such a good deal. 😉

Have a wonderful cruise. I'll certainly be following your posts as we are sailing on her next April from Yokohama to Seattle. Sixty four days? Wow, that's what I call a cruise.

Thank you all for your responses; it's very much appreciated. It's just a mystery. His phone is not an old one, and he is running the latest version of Android. I have emailed the Navigator people, so hopefully they can offer some solution. At least we have it working fine on my phone so we'll be okay. Cheers, Bev

10 hours ago, secondtime said:

I can access Navigator on my LGK8S phone.  It did seem to take forever for it to load but now works fine.

Ah, that's good to know - the problem isn't just with LG phones. He loves his LGs while I'm a Samsung girl. We''re the same with cars - he's a Nissan man, and I love my Toyota. Thankfully, we both love HAL. Cheers, Bev

11 hours ago, 1025cruise said:

My guess is the LG is too old and the app is no longer compatible.

His phone is less than 2 years old. For business reasons it is a twin-SIM model, but I can't see that causing an issue. I might end up contacting Android regarding the issue. Cheers, Bev

13 hours ago, Mary229 said:

I am pretty sure Navigator, like most apps, only runs on iOS and Android.  If I recall LG has its own operating system .  

Hi. No, his phone is definitely Android. Thanks anyway, Bev

Hi all. I'm hoping somebody can help me. I have a Samsung smart phone and had no problem installing the Navigator app. However, my husband has an LG phone and he gets a message saying Navigator isn't compatible with his phone. Have other people had problems with phones that aren't either Apple or Samsung? Seems so strange. Any suggestions would be welcome.

On 9/16/2022 at 1:52 AM, USN59-79 said:

I think the issue would be the time and distance to get from Japan  back to Singapore or Indonesia or Thailand.  Two days to get there and two days back is four sea days for a single Southern port.  While the Westerdam is travelling up from Singapore, she is travelling around Japan for a couple of months, which would require the foreign stops.

Ray

Thanks for that; it makes sense now. Cheers

On 9/7/2022 at 11:43 AM, BruceMuzz said:

You can believe what you want.

I work at one of those Japanese tourism companies whose stocks have gone up. 

We are pretty sure that unregulated visits of foreigners to Japan will not happen until next Spring - and we all really hope we are wrong.

Permission for foreign cruise ships to visit Japan may be even further away. China, South Korea, and Taiwan also need to open up to foreign cruise ships before they can legally sail in Japan. All those countries - including Japan - have their own domestic cruise companies that have been very busy and very profitable these past 2 years with no foreign competition. Very few people in Asia want that to change.

Why are only China, South Korea and Taiwan relevant to this condition? Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, and possibly other Asian countries, are open to tourism, and the Westerdam is travelling up to Japan from Australia via Indonesia, Singapore etc. so there should be no issue in that respect.

6 hours ago, CruiserBruce said:

You sure it's not that you get a choice of having your complementary dinners at these 3 restaurants? For example you could eat all of your complementary dinners at the same restaurant?

I don't think so. Our booking details for the Westerdam show the HIA meals as one in the Pinnacle and one in the Caneletto.

We are booked on the Westerdam for the Tokyo to Seattle trip, but wouldn't be surprised if it is cancelled. Between Covid-19 and political and economic issues, I don't think we can be sure of anything for next 24. All we can do is keep our fingers crossed and try to maintain a bit of excitement.

Thanks so much for taking the time to post. It's exciting to follow you on your lovely cruise. Great stuff.

11 hours ago, arxcards said:

They have those itineraries available on Noordam already though, and I think they are looking to change-up their itineraries a bit for Westerdam. It reads as if they are targeting domestic itineraries for her.

That would be fantastic. Don't really fancy another NZ cruise, but a domestic Christmas cruise would be fantastic.

7 hours ago, TonyC1952 said:

Thanks to those who have answered- we’re presently on the Volendam and all the rooms have remodeled bathrooms with showers, and all the rooms have interactive TVs... same class of ship, same size as the Zaandam and Amsterdam, so it’s a question of HAL priorities. We love the upgrades!

Love the Volendam, and we will love her even more now. I'm assuming the showers are now like those in the lanai rooms - nice. Ah, this is such good news, almost better than a cup of coffee.

Cheers

9 hours ago, AryMay said:

Not sure what the upcoming dry dock will accomplish, but some of the cabins (including ours) were fitted with the nice glass showers in 2018. Here is a notice we got before our Panama Canal cruise in 2018 (the first cruise following the drydock.) At that time and also on our South America/Antarctica cruise in February 2019 the TV's were all still the old ones with DVD players.

 

This is to advise guests who've booked Ocean-view staterooms on board Zaandam
that during the April 2018 dry dock, the bathrooms in the below staterooms will
be updated to a shower-only configuration:

Lower Promenade Deck: D3331 - D3370
Main Deck: C2564 - C2647

Please note, this change does not affect all Ocean-view staterooms, only the
specific staterooms noted above. We thank you for your attention to this matter
and look forward to welcoming you on board.

Hi there,

That is fantastic news as we've done a few HAL cruises and I hate those shower over bath arrangements. We are toying with a Zaandam cruise in April of 2021, and the cabins I'm looking at fall within those C-category numbers. Just not sure whether to book early, with absolutely no sweeteners thrown in (we're in Australia) or to hold off and hope for some special deals to pop up later in the year.

Cheers.