SusieKIslandGirl

Another perk of the Nexus card is a dedicated car lane at border crossings (or at least some of them) which speeds you through much quicker. The line-up at the Peace Arch going to Blaine, WA can be quite long and we sped through the Nexus lane with 2 cars in front of us.

On the subject of toffee, I tried the Betty Crocker easy toffee recipe for the 1st time this Christmas. Sounded crazy but turned out delicious. It uses Ritz crackers! 

Glad someone finally mentioned the closet area. Nice long bar so it's easy to make choices, good shelf above and plenty of floor space for luggage and shoes. The International Cafe is a major plus! Be sure to buy a coffee "card" if you don't have a complete beverage package. 

@LaurenranYou should post the photo on Halfacts.com for future reference. I'm sure there will be others who it will help.

@pichulitawe're not allowed to name names so you can email me at s.k.hill at comcast.com (replace the at with the appropriate symbol). Put cruise critic question in the subject line.

It's the warehouse store that has large buildings around the world. Their website has a travel section where you can research vacations and they also have real people you can call. 

1 hour ago, pichulita said:

 

 

Here's another question for you:  Through whom do you make your cruise reservations and why?

 

I am trying to weigh my options to see which route we will take. Have a great day!

We use the big box "C" store. They have the same prices as dealing directly with HAL plus they offer extras at times. With each cruise we do get one of their shop cards. Amount depends on price of cruise but generally $200-400. They have always been good at contacting HAL to get a better price of whatever I'm asking.

On our recent cruise on the Eurodam from Barcelona I pre-ordered 2 gallons for 2 CPAPs. Waiting for us in the cabin were 2-2 liter bottles. My conversion skills aren't great but I knew that wasn't close to 2 gallons. It took a bit of back and forth but finally received 2 more bottles.

@marshhawkWe had a fussy cat who didn't care for pate but would eat it if I mixed it with some warm water first. It made it much easier to lap up-a bit messy but at least she ate it.

Well said! And Happy New Year to you.

@Vict0riann My niece found the Hummer Hearth in Bellingham at the Wild Bird Chalet. It attaches to your bird feeder and has a lightbulb which keeps the liquid from freezing. She thought it might be available at Amazon.

22 minutes ago, Quartzsite Cruiser said:

 

Carolyn, earlier wished candy canes came in chocolate.  This might be something you would like.  Our DD and DSIL gave us this candy canes for Christmas.

 

Sorry it's sideways.

 

Lenda

I bought the same ones for my DGC at Cost Plus World Market.

What was confusing to me (and I hope I can explain it without confusing everyone) is that on the tv you had to look at my husband's page which showed the 2 totals and then switch to my page. My page showed an amount of refundable $. But it wasn't accurate. It had been taken off the on the master (husband's page?) so it really wasn't available. 

5 hours ago, marshhawk said:

 

@marshhawk

I got my Christmas bonus yesterday-a gift card for Starbucks.   Think I need an eggnog latte. 

 

Hate to be the one to disappoint but Starbucks doesn't have eggnog lattes this year. They decided we all need to try new flavors. Bah Humbug!

 

 

We were on the Eurodam last month and had the internet package for the 1st time. It was the basic one device plan so we had to keep logging off so the other person could log on. Sometimes it worked very well but others, not so much. Of course we were in the middle of the Atlantic part of the time so that could have been part of the problem. It was our 1st time on the ship but found it very familiar and easy to get around. Enjoy and Merry Christmas!

Great review! Thanks for posting. And best colorful sky I've ever seen.

We hadn't booked a Black Friday fare, rather booked this on the Eurodam last month. Our original booking didn't include gratuities, just dinners, wi-fi, shore ex benefit and onboard credit, all of which we kept plus stayed in our chosen cabin.

@Vict0riann I've been curious about which goodies you fell for at Trader Joe's in Bellingham 😊.  Hope you were able to find some new favorites.

@erewhon We're on the Noordam from Auckland to Sydney-14 nights. Looking forward to spending a few days in Auckland before the cruise.

Just read about the new Fare Upgrade Event. I called our big box TA and our fare for New Zealand Feb. 2023 is now $1160 lower. Yippee! Same cabin and all perks still included.

Thanks for the info. Just saved nearly $1200. refaring our Feb. 2023 cruise. Was able to keep all the previous perks too.

5 hours ago, canadarocks said:

  My amazing TA spent four hours today trying to fix what they have done with no resolution. She's hoping Monday will bring smarter HAL people to the table.

I think she mentioned the TA in the original post?

I just happened upon Mighty Cruise Ships on the Smithsonian Channel. There were several shows that included various cruise lines. The episode I saw was about a HAL cruise from Amsterdam to the north of Norway but I don't remember the ship (and it was only 2 days ago 🙁. We're on a different HAL ship but a similar cruise. It was very informative.

Not sure if it makes a difference but using my non-Apple laptop everything looks normal on my account.

4 hours ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

  I didn’t receive a call within the 15 minutes after my covid test either.  

I did receive a call just after returning to the cabin after my covid test.😲 But it was the Shops clerk letting me know our liquor order was ready to be picked up-phew!