regnig

And one more this morning for good measure.

CRUISING SHIPS to the tune of Jingle Bells

Sailing ore the sea, on a brand new Holland liner

Over the blue we go, nothing could be finer.

Meals we will not miss, at our waistbands we will tug

What fun it is to eat all day, oh dear our pants are snug.

Cruising ships, cruising ships, cruising all the way!

O what fun it is to sail a Holland ship today. Hey!

Cruising ships, cruising ships, cruising all the way!

O what fun it is to sail a Holland ship today.

A year or two ago on a cruise ship took a ride

The weather it was great with hubby by my side.

The ship was sleek and new, on the balcony we did sit

He got into the swing of things, the cruise bug had bit.

Cruising ships, cruising ships, cruising all the way!

O what fun it is to sail a Holland ship today. Hey!

Cruising ships, cruising ships, cruising all the way!

O what fun it is to sail a Holland ship today.

And now my life is grand, as when it begins to snow

Our tickets in our hands, a cruising we will go.

We’re spoiled that is true, our vacation it is bright

We’ve found the way to go, at sea we’ll sleep tonight.

Oh, Cruising ships, cruising ships, cruising all the way!

O what fun it is to sail a Holland ship today. Hey!

Cruising ships, cruising ships, cruising all the way!

O what fun it is to sail a Holland ship today.

Oh boy you have opened a can of worms here! :D Let me resurrect a couple from 2004 :eek: with slight modifications.

THE TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS

On the first day of our cruise

My true love gave to me

One breakfast on our Verandah balcony.

On the second day of our cruise

My true love gave to me

Two reserved loungers,

And breakfast on our Verandah balcony.

On the third day of our cruise

My true love gave to me

Three Spa massages,

Two reserved loungers,

And breakfast on our Verandah balcony.

On the fourth day of our cruise

My true love gave to me

Four slices of pizza,

Three Spa massages,

Two reserved loungers,

And breakfast on our Verandah balcony.

On the fifth day of our cruise

My true love gave to me

Five Volcano Cake deserts,

Four slices of pizza,

Three Spa massages,

Two reserved loungers,

And breakfast on our Verandah balcony.

On the sixth day of our cruise

My true love gave to me

Six cruise directors laughing,

Five Volcano Cake deserts,

Four slices of pizza,

Three Spa massages,

Two reserved loungers,

And breakfast on our Verandah balcony.

On the seventh day of our cruise

My true love gave to me

Seven future cruise bookings,

Six cruise directors laughing,

Five Volcano Cake deserts,

Four slices of pizza,

Three Spa massages,

Two reserved loungers,

And breakfast on our Verandah balcony.

On the eighth day of our cruise

My true love gave to me

Eight trivia 1st places,

Seven future cruise bookings,

Six cruise directors laughing,

Five Volcano Cake deserts,

Four slices of pizza,

Three Spa massages,

Two reserved loungers,

And breakfast on our Verandah balcony.

On the ninth day of our cruise

My true love gave to me

Nine bingo cards winning,

Eight trivia 1st places,

Seven future cruise bookings,

Six cruise directors laughing,

Five Volcano Cake deserts,

Four slices of pizza,

Three Spa massages,

Two reserved loungers,

And breakfast on our Verandah balcony.

On the tenth day of our cruise

My true love gave to me

Ten stewards cleaning,

Nine bingo cards winning,

Eight trivia 1st places,

Seven future cruise bookings,

Six cruise directors laughing,

Five Volcano Cake deserts,

Four slices of pizza,

Three Spa massages,

Two reserved loungers,

And breakfast on our Verandah balcony.

On the eleventh day of our cruise

My true love gave to me

Eleven waiters singing,

Ten stewards cleaning,

Nine bingo cards winning,

Eight trivia 1st places,

Seven future cruise bookings,

Six cruise directors laughing,

Five Volcano Cake deserts,

Four slices of pizza,

Three Spa massages,

Two reserved loungers,

And breakfast on our Verandah balcony.

On the twelfth day of our cruise

My true love gave to me

Twelve lobster helpings,

Eleven waiters singing,

Ten stewards cleaning,

Nine bingo cards winning,

Eight trivia 1st places,

Seven future cruise bookings,

Six cruise directors laughing,

Five Volcano Cake deserts,

Four slices of pizza,

Three Spa massages,

Two reserved loungers,

And breakfast on our Verandah balcony.

__________________

Roger when you get back home could you take a look at the link to the Canaletto Menu ($10 Nov 2015) as it apparently is not working. I keep getting the "This is somewhat embarrassing, isn’t it?" message. No big deal so please don't take you cruise time to fix it, later will be just fine.

Thanks

.............................

I also thought about just forgetting all that and presenting the tickets for the last night of Chaunukah and be done with it.

........................

I vote for surprising them no later than the last night of Chaunukah. It is possible they might want to pack "things" for the cruise they wouldn't be packing for just FLL. Additionally if they know in advance they can look at the excursions and perhaps pick something want really want to do at one of the ports. Additionally, stopping at park-n-go is going to be the real give away.

But, most importantly, let them share their excitement with their friends and so that they can let them know that they will probably be "off the grid" for a week while they are at sea.

Wishing you and your teens a wonderful cruise.

Thanks for keeping us updated even with the slow internet service.

Hummm, temp of milk seems particularly high and almost unsafe. :confused:

snip...............

It was nice to see most the dated floor mats again in most elevators and for tea devotees, the less-than-desirable tea brand in the Lido Restaurant has been replaced by Bigelow.

snip............

 

Oh thank you, thank you as that's one less thing to pack! And yes, goes to show sometimes HAL does listen and act.

Custom-made is still available in addition to the pre-made sandwiches her on the Oosterdam.

So many thanks for checking and reporting back!

Saw you and Joanie at sail away yesterday although the camera didn't get a close up you were easy to spot with your flag. I think from the port side you probably missed the sub in the harbor. Guess they were checking to make certain the Oosterdam had a safe path to the ocean. ;)

Hoping you and Joanie have a wonderful cruise.

While it's elimination would not be an earth shattering change would you report on the "custom made sandwich" situation in the Lido please? Does it still exist or have they eliminated it completely?

Thanks in advance. :D

Mary Ann & Bill I'm so sorry "our" cruise is coming to an end. Many many thanks for allowing us to come along. Wishing you a safe and easy trip home and look forward to "our" next adventure.

Barb

No way could you two be "two elderly bent over little old folks"! :D With as much walking as you do I've always imagined you both to be as fit as trainers in the gym. Add to that your youthful attitude and sense of adventure and at times I feel old enough to be your parents.

Shogun great seeing you here on the HAL board. Like others we are Elite on Princess but once we tried HAL we have found no reason to return to them. HAL ships remind us of the old Princess Star & Crown. Elegant is the word that comes to mind, but not "stuffy" at all, just no glitz & disco-ball kind of decorations. The beds are to die for, no need to order an egg crate topper to get a good nights sleep. The room service menu is more extensive and you can even order off the dining room's dinner menu. Debarkation day is far more civil on HAL. You can order room service and remain in your stateroom until your color/number is called. AND, IMHO the HAL staff exceeds anything offered on Princess.

Oh and on HAL you can get a regular veranda stateroom that has room for a love seat and a bathroom with a tub/shower combination. On Princess those require you book a mini-suite.

You are right about the PCC. The cruise pricing has me tearing my hair out of my head. No honesty there, whatsoever. But, yes, we can drop the E4, but why on earth should we have to. Ridiculous.

While I don't condone "horrible" service on the part of HAL customer service reps I am confused as to what you were asking them to do and just what was horrible with what they told you.

Your comment from above "But, yes, we can drop the E4, but why on earth should we have to. Ridiculous." seems to imply that you were expecting to get the $2400 price difference while keeping the Explore4. If so I can understand why the CSRs could not satisfy your request. The price you originally booked at included the Explore4 promo and to re-fare at the cheaper fare you would have to give up the E4. Many posters here on CC have stated that when they booked cruises that offered Explore4 they asked to be booked without the promo at a lower price. This is not an example of a scam.... Often when passengers ask to be re-fared they end up loosing OBC or some other promo. Is it possible that the source of your dissatisfaction is that you can not get the current lower fare AND KEEP the Explore4 promo?

Okay so next question. I have seen post about taking a tablecloth to use on the verandah and also something about putting decoration on your door so you recognize it. What size cloth and aren the doors numbered. ? I'm organizing my packing early because once Black Friday hits I'm at our store all the time and leaving everything till Christmas Day doesn't sound wise

ChristyS unless you have booked one of the suites the table on the verandah's of the rest of the staterooms have just a small low table that measure about 12" to 18" round at the most. There is a site that we are not allowed to mention here on CC, BUT if you Google "pictures of HAL stateroom" it ought to be the first link that pops up. There are oddles of pictures and other good information that has all been provided by HAL cruisers.

snip...."We saw one very nice necklace for l65,000 XPF ($1700 US)."

Awe Mary Ann, you could have gotten two, one for you and one for me! :D:D

If that balcony size is important I'd go with something on Deck 4 as the veranda staterooms there have a depth of 7.5 feet rather than the standard 6 feet. You would have to go up to category to a VC but there are several towards the aft still available. That is the area we normally book and no noise from foot traffic and the elevators are close. AND remember, everything is just a quick elevator ride away!

The higher up you go the more your DW will feel the motion of the ship.

Report # 28 Nuku’alofa, Tonga October 27, 2015 Tuesday Partly cloudy & 79 degrees Part # 1 75 pictures

.............................snip

Tomorrow is a new port for us……Vav u, also part of the kingdom of Tonga. Long live the King……..

 

Bill & Mary Ann

And long live you finding pizza in the oddest places! ;):D

Bill & Mary Ann thank you so very much.... I am thoroughly enjoying "my cruise" :p and all of you postings.

Gotta love it! :D:D Think I could get that "refund" before I cruise?? ;)

Thanks all.. I appreciate the responses.

 

...... I don't think my wife would have motion sickness but I just want to cover all the bases... :)

 

Can someone suggest a good agent or should I book direct? I understand that there are different perks available and that the different add-ons can add up quite quickly.

 

Thanks everyone

Since you will be sailing in the Caribbean the water is, usually, much smoother than in the Pacific. I'm apt to call it "gentle rocking" for the most part.

If you go ahead and book on-line with HAL getting the stateroom in the location you want you can then go ahead and follow that up with checking TA's to see if you can get a reduced fare for your booking (the cruise line pays the TA's commission you don't) or additional perks. If you find a better deal your HAL booking can just be transferred to them at no cost to you.

Currently the cruise you are interested in has a special going on that will get you On-Board-Credit and the Explore4 package. Details are: Ocean-view and above: Receive up to US$300 onboard credit per stateroom PLUS FREE Signature Beverage Package, FREE Pinnacle Grill dinner, 50% reduced deposit, and reduced cruise fares for 3rd/4th guests. Book a suite and receive the above PLUS US$300 onboard spending credit per stateroom and a FREE Canaletto dinner! Not only will you get OBC, the Beverage Package that can be used for special coffees and "smoothies" and you'll get dinner for two at the Pinnacle HAL's top line "pay for" restaurant.

Were I you I'd go ahead and book it now as this offer ends 10/31/2015 and if something better comes up later you can always change it. And, you've got nothing to loose since the money for your Down Payment is fully refundable prior to final payment.

Considering what you have posted here and on the "first time cruisers" board I think you have picked a great cruise (we're planning on taking it later in 2/2017 too). HAL is a great pick as it sounds like your DH interests are much like mine. She will be able to see many great islands and while a sea sit back and enjoy reading. I'd recommend "mid ship" and since you indicated you wanted a balcony perhaps something on Deck 4 as the balconies are larger there.

Other suggestions would be:

Do not over pack! Consider using laundry "by the bag" @ $20-22 a pop or going with the "unlimited laundry" @ $7 a day.

Arrive in Tampa a day in advance. Find a place to stay that will provide transportation to the port.

Don't over load yourself with "tours". Some islands are just as well seen without an official tour.

Google "pictures of HAL staterooms". The 1st site that will come up (we are not allowed to mention it here) will be a wonderful resource for you to use.

Join your Roll Call here on CC.

You have said that your DH likes to sleep in and that itinerary will give her the opportunity on several days and the drapes will more than block the light. Just make certain that if you leave the stateroom while she is still sleeping that you put the "Do Not Disturb" card on the door or the steward might come in to clean.

You will like the food on HAL, and yes I understand that is a subjective subject. Guess best said we like it better than Princess, Carnival or RCCL.

I'm sure as your plans progress keep coming back to this board and ask your questions as folks here can be very helpful.

Sure sounds like a wonderful anniversary/valentine's gift!

Well sammiedawg, couldn't you have found one good thing to say?:confused::D

Please, please, please.... "if it ain't broken don't try to fix it"! :(

There will be dining stewards offering to help you....

This is very true and on each of the ships we have been on. We noticed that they will visually recognize those in need after the first time or so and head over to help them.

 

harry

Although I don't need the help (Yet, :rolleyes:) I have pleasantly watched the dining stewards help others many many times. They all seem to take pleasure so just present yourself and you will be impressed too. Much better than juggling a tray!

BTW, must admit it was rare on Princess that I observed the same service except at dinner in the Café.

I see that now the charge is $28.75 for a bucket of beer pre-delivered. That is up from what it used to be. My suggestion would be not to order in advance and upon boarding stop at one of the bars and get a bucket of beer. You can then take it back to your stateroom. Just make certain that if you are getting beer that requires an opener that you bring your own. Your stateroom steward can always get you one but he/she will be pretty darn busy at embarkation time.

Report # 11 Lahaina, Hawaii October 9, 2015 Friday Mostly sunny & 87 degrees

.......

A different dessert was offered…….red cactus ice cream. Of course we all wanted to taste it, so our waiter brought a bowlful. We all came to the same conclusion that it reminded us of bubblegum.

 

Bill & Mary Ann

Ewwww :eek:, sounds like something my grandkids would like. Kudos to you for having tried it! :D