Westerdam Panama Canal April 15, 2011

[bcirish]

Welcome to all of our new cruisers - sorry I have been busy planning our 6 week winter away and not cruise critic for a couple of weeks - came in today and noticed we have several newcomers - welcome!

 

George - I just found your message and will email you this morning - sorry for the delay. Can't wait to hear your ideas!!!! Think this is going to be a great trip.

 

In answer to the Meet and Greet - thanks for all of the help but believe I have that under control - Thanks ML for letting folks know I am doing that since I was not around. It is too early for anything - when it is time I will take care of it - it is one of the reasons for maintaining the roll call and why it is important that we keep everyone on the list. When it gets closer to sailing time I will be asking for contact information to add to our list so that you can get up to date info by email after you have left home if needed. I do have a suggestion for that - I do not know how many of you are going to be using internet on the ship - I turn off my phone after we leave the dock - too pricey and ( personally) complicated once we leave port. More about that later.

 

All that being said I have a yahoo account which I use only for travel so that when I want it - I go through Yahoo for the emails and do not have to sift through all of my other emails to get to those on the the cruise. Just a thought- keep in mind I have many email accounts so it is a good way to keep my main accounts bug free. That being said - I was advised several years ago that when I use my email on the board that instead on using @ and . write out the words so that the email address cannot be picked up and used in spam - so a couple of months out - I will start using bcirishtravelerat yahoodotcom and when I ask for addresses - you will have the option of posting on this board or sending the information to my email address.

 

Hope all are doing well - I have been - yeah - traveling and getting ready to travel - gotta take advantage of this awesome fall weather. next week - we fly to Va to see that gkids for their birthdays.

 

In a bit I will do the update of the roll call- am going to check for personal info on the newbies!

ML - are you doing the countdown yet?

[bcirish]

BCIRISH - Ed and Barbara from Chicago first posters

NOWHINERS - Mary Lynn and Doug - first posters

BOARD NAME? - with nowhiners Carol and John from Michigan

BOARD NAME - with nowhiners Kitty and Jim (also in Albuquerque)

BOARD NAME - with nowhiners - Jim and Cindy from Saginaw Mi

HIGH SEAS TEXANS - George and Rand - Fort Worth Texas

RAJKR74 Rick and Joyce - Springfield Oregon

SKI WW - Allan and Marlane from Victo Harbor, Ontario

BOARD NAME - with nowhiners Bill and Kay from Albuquerque

cardev - Mike & Karen from Alberta, Canada

NO BOARD NAME - with cardev - Don & Brenda from Edmonton Alberta

dontspin - Ann & Don

buffdored - Dorothy & Ed

mjtigger -Pat and Bob Longmuir from Moosejaw

SE4Deb - Deb and DH from Washington State

Mad Jayhawk - Dennis and Karen - Sun City West Az

lorekauf - ?? - ?? - Canada

user8 - Lee and Virginia - Lake Jackson Tx

canuckcruiser0711 - Terry and Jack Calgary Alberta

fixeaudon - ??

 

I went through a couple of pages looking for the newbies and for personal information - those with ?? - it would be great if you could help me by posting additional info to me so it can be added- thanks in advance

 

I will try to watch until I go to Va so I can catch things - if you would rather you can email me at bhodgsonatcomcastdotnet

[ski ww]

Thanks bcirish for being the keeper of the list. I did not mean to step on any bodies toes about the meet & greet. It was just that on some of the other cruise lines the ship hosts a meet & greet for CC members and I don't know if HAL does this, when I phoned their 1-800 line the guy didn't have a clue what I was talking about. The list does seem to be getting longer and it's good to see more people joining up. Looking forward to meeting everybody.

 

Allan & Marlane:D:D

[bcirish]

Not to worry - we have not even talked about it for quite a while and I know how things get lost along the way- just like me - heh heh!. I can't remember anything anymore and actually have given up trying - hence my new found friend - the note app and calendar on my phone.

 

HAL does do a meet and Greet - find it fascinating that they all have to have a different name for it when it is the same thing. Maybe we should do a head count and see how many folks will be continuing beyond SanDiego and then look and see if there is a roll call that starts there- we might be able to get enough for another Meet and Greet around then - I will take a look. Our best M&G was on the Eurodam- transatlantic - mimosas and bloody Marys - I keep asking but end up with coffee and cookies - it is up to the ship person in charge at the time - all of the other M&G on Westerdam have been conservative.

That being said - is there any interest in asking for a member of the ship's staff - no guarantees but we can ask if there is an interest.

I am actually realizing we have several things in the planning stage

1. get together the night before the cruise

2. a sail away

3. the Wine Crawl or crawls depending on our stocks as the cruise progresses - might work on Sea day- I did discover that when we started before around 4:00 on our Crawl - we were not ready for early or late dinner - that was a night that we ended up in the Lido late

4. the Meet and Greet- during the early part of the cruise on a sea day

 

I have two more days to set for our Winter plans and then I realized I should be thinking about what we do when we get off of the ship in Seattle. Have not been there for a while and am thinking about stopping to see a sorority sister and some of HD's family so that will take some time The weather should be good.

Well - back to the games - I love this time of year with lots of fotball!!!!

[bcirish]

OMG - how long have there been dots beside our board names and if they are green does it mean that you are online?

 

I see that fideauxdon is from Ormond Beach - we will be there a couple of days some time in January - counting out last year which was just plain strange - what's it like in your area at that time of year - we always figure as long as we are further south than Chicago we will be okay!!!!

[NoWhiners]

In a bit I will do the update of the roll call- am going to check for personal info on the newbies!

ML - are you doing the countdown yet?

 

I assume you mean the retirement countdown!! I have been doing it for 6 years--almost anti-climactic at this point ;)! Gave my official notice 3 weeks ago. It has been very hard to care about what is happening at work...

 

I started the countdown to the cruise the second I hung up after booking it. As to board names for the various friends and family coming with us, I will ask them again but they seem to be a singularly uncooperative group. I can't get them to discuss excursions, think about hotels they need pre-cruise, or anything else. Finally did get some of them to book air travel!! I have reminded them that if they wait until the last minute to book a hotel room they will be competing with the crowds for Eater/Spring Break. Oh well--we are all set (except for a florida rental car--they are VERY expensive for some reason). I will try and get board names (I think only 2 of them are CC members) and try and get personal info from them when we get to that point.

 

 

I am a huge football fan--watched Michigan lose to Michigan State yesterday and just watched my NY Giants knock off the Texans. Now watching the hated Cowboys losing to the Titans!! I have 2 fantasy football teams (and will lose both games this week--grrrr!). We also get NFL ticket so I can watch what I want--now in HD.

 

ML

[cruz chic]

BCIRISH - Ed and Barbara from Chicago first posters

NOWHINERS - Mary Lynn and Doug - first posters

BOARD NAME? - with nowhiners Carol and John from Michigan

BOARD NAME - with nowhiners Kitty and Jim (also in Albuquerque)

BOARD NAME - with nowhiners - Jim and Cindy from Saginaw Mi

HIGH SEAS TEXANS - George and Rand - Fort Worth Texas

RAJKR74 Rick and Joyce - Springfield Oregon

SKI WW - Allan and Marlane from Victo Harbor, Ontario

BOARD NAME - with nowhiners Bill and Kay from Albuquerque

cardev - Mike & Karen from Alberta, Canada

NO BOARD NAME - with cardev - Don & Brenda from Edmonton Alberta

dontspin - Ann & Don

buffdored - Dorothy & Ed

mjtigger -Pat and Bob Longmuir from Moosejaw

SE4Deb - Deb and DH from Washington State

Mad Jayhawk - Dennis and Karen - Sun City West Az

lorekauf - Lorene - Calgary,Canada

user8 - Lee and Virginia - Lake Jackson Tx

canuckcruiser0711 - Terry and Jack Calgary Alberta

fixeaudon - ??

 

I went through a couple of pages looking for the newbies and for personal information - those with ?? - it would be great if you could help me by posting additional info to me so it can be added- thanks in advance

 

I will try to watch until I go to Va so I can catch things - if you would rather you can email me at bhodgsonatcomcastdotnet

 

I've filled in my info above.

[fideauxdon]

OMG - how long have there been dots beside our board names and if they are green does it mean that you are online?

 

I see that fideauxdon is from Ormond Beach - we will be there a couple of days some time in January - counting out last year which was just plain strange - what's it like in your area at that time of year - we always figure as long as we are further south than Chicago we will be okay!!!!

 

Daytona will be quiet in January. Nothing really happens in the first quarter of the year until events like Bike Week and the Daytona 500 kick off in February and March. Be aware that Daytona is not sub-tropical, so while you might experience temps in the 70s and 80s, you could also hit temps in the 30s. It's warmer than Chicago, however. We lived in Massachusetts before moving here 31 years ago, and after living during New England winters, everything here except the hurricanes, which are rare, is OK with me.If you play golf, there are a lot of courses in the area, and hotels and restaurants are plentiful and fairly expensive. You can even drive your car on the beach, but watch out for the soft sand.

[NoWhiners]

I've filled in my info above.

 

lorekauf

 

so cool to see you will be on this cruise. i have enjoyed your posts and look forward to meeting you in person!!

 

ML

[cruz chic]

lorekauf

 

so cool to see you will be on this cruise. i have enjoyed your posts and look forward to meeting you in person!!

 

ML

Thank you...I feel the same about you. Glad to hear something good about my posts since I get flamed on occasion:D. Nice to read this after a brutal day at work yesterday. Thank goodness I'm leaving on Saturday for a cruise.

[NoWhiners]

Thank you...I feel the same about you. Glad to hear something good about my posts since I get flamed on occasion:D. Nice to read this after a brutal day at work yesterday. Thank goodness I'm leaving on Saturday for a cruise.

 

nice--have a good time! where are you off to?

ML

[cruz chic]

nice--have a good time! where are you off to?

ML

Western Caribbean for 2 weeks:D. I'm also leaving my old job and coming back to a brand new job (at the same company) so cause for celebration. I'm sure I won't be so happy when I have to come back:eek:.

[NoWhiners]

Western Caribbean for 2 weeks:D. I'm also leaving my old job and coming back to a brand new job (at the same company) so cause for celebration. I'm sure I won't be so happy when I have to come back:eek:.

 

very cool--and even though you won't be on a cruise, a new job is always a nice change!!

 

have a good time. i am off to the thread on new wine cards--i posted something 2 people didn't like and now they want to go to war with me!! not sure why people take things so seriously, especially when we are all entitled to our opinions?

 

ML

[cruz chic]

very cool--and even though you won't be on a cruise, a new job is always a nice change!!

 

have a good time. i am off to the thread on new wine cards--i posted something 2 people didn't like and now they want to go to war with me!! not sure why people take things so seriously, especially when we are all entitled to our opinions?

 

ML

Thank you. Yeah people get upset on the main boards, many times for no reason. There are a few people that are not my favorites. Good luck with your battle.

 

Edited to say - Just took a look at that other thread. Your comments were right on! Those 2 are always there to defend the company man. I think one must be his mother and the other the MIL. I've had the same tangle with them.

[NoWhiners]

Thank you. Yeah people get upset on the main boards, many times for no reason. There are a few people that are not my favorites. Good luck with your battle.

 

Edited to say - Just took a look at that other thread. Your comments were right on! Those 2 are always there to defend the company man. I think one must be his mother and the other the MIL. I've had the same tangle with them.

 

It was sort of funny. They think that anyone who speaks out against their company should be fired--i wonder how old they are?? this is the kind of logic that let wall Street brokers just pile up debt so they could get rich!! i decided this argument wasn't relevant to the wine card question so I'm not going to respond to them. i was thinking one of them was DBA!! And who is this John guy (from Carnival)?? I will be more careful with the 2 of them in the future.

 

As to wine cards, i guess i have to call HAL and get a refund. really annoys me that they sell a product, then remove and act like it's all peachy keen!!

 

Have fun on the cruise

ML

[cruz chic]

It was sort of funny. They think that anyone who speaks out against their company should be fired--i wonder how old they are?? this is the kind of logic that let wall Street brokers just pile up debt so they could get rich!! i decided this argument wasn't relevant to the wine card question so I'm not going to respond to them. i was thinking one of them was DBA!! And who is this John guy (from Carnival)?? I will be more careful with the 2 of them in the future.

 

As to wine cards, i guess i have to call HAL and get a refund. really annoys me that they sell a product, then remove and act like it's all peachy keen!!

 

Have fun on the cruise

ML

I've heard the guys name from Carnival before but not really sure who he is.

 

Those 2 are old cranky ladies.....especially the one. The other one almost always tells you that she travels in Suites. I'm surprised she didn't say it on that thread. That's really something else about HAL doing that but it doesn't surprise me. I've sailed with them for years and they seem to do stupid things on a regular basis. It got to the point when I wouldn't even sail with them anymore because I got so irritated with them. The last couple of cruises they have redeemed themselves so I'm back with them. After this cruise I'll have 200 days so I'll have the top tier of bennies....such as they are.

 

I've got the alarm set for 2:30am. My guess is that I'll be awake before that. I'll be glad to hit the pillow in Tampa tomorrow.

[rajkr74]

Haven't posted in a while. I have been spending each weekend helping our daughter remodel her kitchen. I been doing this for 2 months. Hooked up the dishwasher today and the hot water dispenser also. She now has a functioning kitchen. YEAH!!!! Remodeling is not my skill level.

 

Just booked our flight from Oregon to Orlando FL where we will be spending a few days with a friend who lost her husband this year. We will then drive down to Ft. Lauderdale from Orlando.

 

We have gone thru the excursions and have most of our picks. Finalizing a couple remaining excursions and we will post our list shortly. We can add our thoughts on some that we took last year and others we have had experiance with.

[bcirish]

Lorekauf - thanks for your update and welcome to ur crew - 200 days - that is great. Know you will enjoy your 2 weeks although you may not see this tl you get back. ML - now I will have to go and see what kind of trouble you have found on the the main boards - what is the deal with your wine card? I finally gave up on both of my RC boards - they ost too much and are way over the line - they have I believe over 10,000 posts and we do not sail for over a year -the guys from G&L invited the wel behaved to their board and now this same trip there has ( I think this is close) around 4,000 posts. Our roll call is so nice and friendly and pleasant and more of what I am used to - am beginning to wonder if I am just a HAL person. We will see since we are doing Celebrity this winter and RCI in the late fall next year - I did it cause it is a nice repositioning from Spain but I do not see me on the flow rider wall climbing ships on a regular basis.

BTW - my OSU tanked badly on Saturday ( ouch ) but the three Fantasty teams I am coaching are winning this week and mine - could go either way. Our son is very invested in the process with two other leagues. When the gkids go to bed we sit and discuss the whole thing and I am learning by leaps and bounds. He laughs at my strategy which stangely enough brought me the championship- if they have a Q - they will be active and high scoring, P won't be on the bench at all, if they sit on my bench - they will score and if they did really well for a week or 2 they will be useless if I make them active. Okay - stop laughling - I realize that why some of that worked but hey - it is working this year too - go figure - must be my team;)

 

Well off to see what you have gotten into on the other board.

[NoWhiners]

Lorekauf - thanks for your update and welcome to ur crew - 200 days - that is great. Know you will enjoy your 2 weeks although you may not see this tl you get back. ML - now I will have to go and see what kind of trouble you have found on the the main boards - what is the deal with your wine card? I finally gave up on both of my RC boards - they ost too much and are way over the line - they have I believe over 10,000 posts and we do not sail for over a year -the guys from G&L invited the wel behaved to their board and now this same trip there has ( I think this is close) around 4,000 posts. Our roll call is so nice and friendly and pleasant and more of what I am used to - am beginning to wonder if I am just a HAL person. We will see since we are doing Celebrity this winter and RCI in the late fall next year - I did it cause it is a nice repositioning from Spain but I do not see me on the flow rider wall climbing ships on a regular basis.

BTW - my OSU tanked badly on Saturday ( ouch ) but the three Fantasty teams I am coaching are winning this week and mine - could go either way. Our son is very invested in the process with two other leagues. When the gkids go to bed we sit and discuss the whole thing and I am learning by leaps and bounds. He laughs at my strategy which stangely enough brought me the championship- if they have a Q - they will be active and high scoring, P won't be on the bench at all, if they sit on my bench - they will score and if they did really well for a week or 2 they will be useless if I make them active. Okay - stop laughling - I realize that why some of that worked but hey - it is working this year too - go figure - must be my team;)

 

Well off to see what you have gotten into on the other board.

 

bc

 

Lorekauf is off cruising for 2 weeks--the lucky dog! If i can remember, I will post a welcome home thread for her when she gets back. You may have to go pretty deep to find the thread--it is something like "new beverage cards posted...". The old wine cards are no longer available, now you can only buy a beverage card, which is really a debit card. The card doesn't include the tip and you only get a 10% discount. We won't use them but I bought 4 wine cards for this cruise and HAL isn't going to honor them, even though they offered them and I bought them before they removed them. And then i caused a problem by saying that DBA wasn't much help, that he told us to do what we were already doing, and said i was glad I never posted on his blog. that was when the 2 (old) people went nuts on me!! It was funny--they think if you criticize the company you work for you should be fired. Maybe, but (as I noted to lorekauf) if you always support the company you may not be doing what is right! Anyway, it all blew over and I need to call HAL and get a refund--I don't want the "new and improved" card.

 

football has me totally depressed--I lost both fantasy games this week due to some real flukes (Phillip Rivers, Miles Austin, sat the wrong RB) so I had a bad week. Interesting logic--I might give it a try, can't be any worse than i have been doing!

 

And michigan lost (again). i don't really care but Doug went to school there (are we going to have any OSU/Michigan issues on cruise??) so i follow them. I think they made a huge mistake hiring rodriguez but we shall see.

 

ML

 

PS: Oddly enough, I can picture you on a flow rider and a climbing wall!!

[bcirish]

Thanks for the heads up on Lorekauf - will try again when I see that she is active again.

 

I am such a Buckeye and only you would probably get this - my last boss was a Mich fan and the big boss was a Boilermaker and 2 of us on staff were Buckeyes - football season was always a hoot. One year when Mich beat OSU - I presented my boss with a Christmas present wrapped in Michigan paper but inside was wrapped in Ohio State paper so he was laughing and surprised to see an Michigan flag which I laughingly explained to him that I got it on clearance at the sports store - since nobody else in Chicago thought it was valuable. The rest of the staff was like - can't believe you did that and I said - no problem - the big boss is a Boilermaker and the rest of us are free to harass Mich folks. All of the Big Ten people spent most of the season trying to outdo one another. It was always good clean fun. WE had a couple of students who on 100 day ( big deal for the little kids- they made a football field with OSU and MICH and on the OSU side put 100 footballs - my boss laughed every time he walked by and especially when they were having a winning year.

 

As for Fantasy- I have Rivers - he did okay for me last year but with the additional teams this year - it has been interesting - like this week - my entire bench is on bye and I am playing one of the most powerful in the league who has no on on bye - so I will concentrate on helping my gdaughter to pad her team this week since I have no chance. Right now almost the entire league is in one game of each other so the points are going to be big - those I have - just can't seem to get too much in the win column but not too worried since I won last year. I was telling my son about you - and he is very impressed with your interest and passion for football - thinks we will have a lot in common. When we are together during this time of year - we spend a lot of time talking about the games ( he is the Boiler maker). I have not talked to our Buckeye ( youngest son) since the Wisconsin game which was very ugly!!! Personally I think Boise State should be first - they are a fascinating team to watch.

later

b

[NoWhiners]

bc

 

love the wrapping paper story! I love to torture all the Big 10 fans here--they have been pretty bad this year, with the unexpected exception of (hated) Mich State. Doug always says people who can't get into Michigan go to Michigan state. We have lots of fun with this since Doug's family is from Michigan and several have attended Michigan (the rest have gone to Kettering, Central Michigan, Mich Tech). His family is mostly either teachers or engineers!

 

Just lost my tight end on one of my fantasy teams--Dallas Clark. And the hits just keep coming...At this rate I won't have anyone standing by the end of the season. I hate bye weeks--grrr!

 

Is your son coming on this cruise--it would be fun to have fellow football fans to talk to!

 

Have to go clean up the kitchen and start looking for a new TE!!

 

ML

[NoWhiners]

Hi gang

 

just stopped by to check for new posts and noticed that this thread has the 2nd highest number of views!! Lots of lurkers maybe??

 

ML

[fideauxdon]

I've been doing some research on independent shore excursions, and wanted to share the information with you in order to determine your interest in sharing the bookings, and possibly saving some money, compared to what the ship will charge for the same trip.

 

Look this info over, and if you're interested, contact me directly at fideauxdon@att.net, and I'll send you more information. No commitment required on your part now. All of the companies are very good and very reputable according to my research onTripAdvisor, VirtualTourist, etc. They all have good prices, especially since the tours include pickup at the pier for transportation to historical cities. Prices per person will be in the $40 to $50 range if we can get eight to twelve persons. I still have to get commitments to not charge us if HAL cancels to port visit, and payment to be on the day of the tour.

All excursions that I researched are history related only because we aren't scuba or snorkel enthusiasts. These activities look like fun, though!

 

Sat, April 23rd

Colonial Leon (by Bus from Corinto, Nicaragua)

 

Sun, April 24th

Colonial Antigua (by bus from Puerto Quetzal, Guatamala)

 

Lots of pictures available on wwwdotflickrdotcom (replace the dots with a (.), and lots of info available on the web, or I can send you a link.

Joanne and I are going there, even if we have to pay the ship's price)

 

Fri, Apr 29th

Todos Santos (by bus from Cabo)

I'm not sure if we're interested in this tour, but you might be, and a lot of folks visit there. many like it; some do not. The main attraction seems to be what is purported to be the original "Hotel California" made famous by The Eagles. I've located quite a few tours to there, and I can share the info with anyone who is interested.

 

If you'd be interested in considering these tours, contact me. I'll give you the company names, itineraries, and try to answer any other questions that you might have.

 

Don Filiault

fideauxdon@att.net

[NoWhiners]

fideauxdon

 

Thanks for the offer. We will be discussing excursions with the gang during November. I will let them know about these options.

 

bc

 

good day for OSU--quite a rebound from last week! Now you can taunt your son (and all those other Boilermakers)! Still can't believe Mich State won--life is so unfair.

 

Watching LSU-Auburn now. Good game, I'm rooting for Auburn. for some reason i never liked LSU much.

 

And Monday night is the BIG game--my beloved Giants taking on Cowboys in Dallas. I almost can't watch!!

 

ML

[bcirish]

Hey there - you are so right - big Buckeye day - not ugly like last week - so ML what is the deal with Mich State? I guess this means that on the Saturday after Thabnksgiving we will not be speaking:D. Our Buckeye son actually has tickets to that game. Our Boilermakers usually says - oh well - I-m waiting for basketball for the boilermakers and our Illini really does not care- the BUckeye is intense - on game day their children change clothes at half time when OSU and Illinois are playing( wife is alum there and both are alums there for Law school - it s all too funny well...... that is until we play that team from up north - can you tell that I come from the Woody Hays and Bo era? what fun! For both of our sakes - may Rivers do well tomorrow - I need the points!!! He is my QB too.

BTW - is George off some where? have not seen him post for a bit?

 

ML - probably is a good thing we are not cruising during ftball season - that could be ugly.

Later

b