All Aboard for CC's 1st Ever "HAL-O-Ween Dam Cruise"

[ekerr19]

Well, if you get the Aft Suite - we know who will be having the parties! LOL! :D

 

If for some chance the S category is at all reasonable, we may consider it but it will be a stretch... then we could host the parties!

[ekerr19]

The cabin we want now happens to be in the VD cat, (no comments please! :))

 

Welcome home Heather!

 

Ziggy - you would think that this designation would have "rang a few bells" over HAL headquarters, wouldn't you??? I almost died - first time I saw it was in an email, "get great deals on a VD!" Boy, I bet they had people lining up for that one, LOL!

[Ziggy7]

hehehe you should have heard our daughters when we told them we were thinking of getting VD hehehehe :) They think were nuts already, why disappoint them now hehehee :)

[trubey]

I get kind of jealous when I hear about your cabin selections. I'm looking at the cheap seats: an inside.

 

Life is about choices. Lane and I both retired at 50 years old which means we don't have to go to work everyday and we do have the time travel, but we have to do it cheaply.

 

Can anyone recommend something for us that will allow me to sneak out and smoke without having to go to another deck?

 

susan.

[ekerr19]

Ziggy -Which deck are you looking at? I don't have my brochure in front of me... so I can't remember where the VD's are...

[ekerr19]

I get kind of jealous when I hear about your cabin selections. I'm looking at the cheap seats: an inside.

 

Life is about choices. Lane and I both retired at 50 years old which means we don't have to go to work everyday and we do have the time travel, but we have to do it cheaply.

 

Can anyone recommend something for us that will allow me to sneak out and smoke without having to go to another deck?

 

susan.

 

Susan - We usually are in the cheap seats too. On the Amsterdam, my DH loved the fact that Main (or A deck, I'll have to double check) had a door to the outside, not a lot of space out there, but just enough to stand outside, watch the wake and have a smoke... (one of the crew left a an ashtray for pax use too) - I will look at my deck plans for Westerdam and see if I see anything similar. It was really nice, as it was only half a hallway away.

[trubey]

Susan . . . - I will look at my deck plans for Westerdam and see if I see anything similar. It was really nice, as it was only half a hallway away.

 

Thanks, I tried but couldn't really tell. susan.

[Ziggy7]

Ziggy -Which deck are you looking at? I don't have my brochure in front of me... so I can't remember where the VD's are...

The one we want is on the Upper Promenade deck :)

[bepsf]

I'm still going! :> At the moment, I'm being optomistic that the wife will be able to go as well, and she wants an S Aft. Who am I to argue with that! :) If she isn't able to go, then I'll be bunking with Brian. Right Brian? *grin*

 

Of Course!

I'll keep ya an honest woman!;)

[Iggipolka]

Of Course!

I'll keep ya an honest woman!;)

 

 

*laugh* Ohh..even the wife won't believe that about me! :)

[Pudgesmom]

Heather-

 

I haven't been posting as I'm waiting to get a little more information on the prices. I am considering an S or an SS, and that's one of the catagories we don't have finalized.

 

Not upset or anything, just had nothin' to say. (Unbelievable, I know!) :D

 

Beth :)

[HeatherInFlorida]

Hi, Beth! I'd been wondering where you've been! With group cruises they never post prices for every single category. On the HAL site they post prices for the 3 "S" categories, but when you look at the deck plan they don't show you which is which!

 

LauraS did write me that other categories would be available, but you would have to ask the TA specifically when you call to discuss the possibility of booking. This is not unusual. Whenever I see a group cruise advertised they list 1 to 5 categories and state other categories available upon request.

 

Susan, wish I could help. Did you try going to the link I posted awhile back? When you bring up the decks on that you can magnify them tremendously and that might help you.

 

EKerr, if you go for an "S", how 'bout 5186 or 5187;) ? I read that the verandahs on those are huge. Plenty of room for all of us to come lounge with you:D . Heck, DH and I could just book the regular Verandah cabin next to you and open it up!!!! Hahahahahahaha!

 

Just this minute I got a jolt back to reality with a phone call about a painful problem in our family. Nothing to go into and we'll get thru it as everyone gets thru this stuff. I mention it only because it does put things in perspective as to what's important and what's really not. I just feel fortunate to have such a wonderful life, a pretty fantastic husband, wonderful friends, and now my extended friendships thru these boards ... all of whom I'm really excited about cruising with next year.

 

Back to the good stuff!:D

[Cruising Jake]

If you look at an early 2006 cruise on the Westerdam on one of the travel websites, you can see how they differentiate SA, SB and SC. If I remember correctly the SA are near the Neptune Lounge, some SB are on the deck above and some SC are the aft S cabins. Don't know if this site got it correctly or not.

[richcrow]

Well, we have a great group of folks so far - and I am looking forward to this one!

 

I think it's important to keep everything in perspective and remember this all about having fun and meeting up with those we gotten to know on these boards!

 

I was looking over my brochure for the Westerdam trying so hard to make preliminary cabin decisions... talk about difficult! What to do?

 

What is everyone leaning towards? S, SS, A, B... I am curious - we will not be bringing our kids, so we don't need a huge amount of space but I got spoiled by the S on the Volendam! That's for sure! We were looking at a few of the SS's and they look nice - I've never stayed in one, but have seen one.

 

I know we don't have the pricing tied down yet, but is anyone else thinking about locations????

 

Laura,

 

We are presently booked in a VD Deluxe Verandah on Zuiderdam sailing on Oct. 1st. So, if that works out, we would probably look for something similar.

 

Richard

[Oceanwench]

I get kind of jealous when I hear about your cabin selections. I'm looking at the cheap seats: an inside.

 

Life is about choices. Lane and I both retired at 50 years old which means we don't have to go to work everyday and we do have the time travel, but we have to do it cheaply.

 

Can anyone recommend something for us that will allow me to sneak out and smoke without having to go to another deck?

 

susan.

 

Susan,

 

When we sailed on the Zuiderdam and the Oosterdam, we had 6003/6004, the handcapped accessible rooms all the way forward on the Upper Verandah deck. My mother and sister stayed in inside rooms just down the hall -- I don't have the deck plan in front of me, but it was something like 6007.

If you look at the deck plans, you'll see that there's a small open deck forward of 6003 -- it appears it's part of 6003's balcony, but it is not.

There are benches out there -- not sure if there is any prohibition for smoking, but it certainly would be a convenient place to go if you were in an inside room on this deck!

[stanford's girl]

We're booked in a SS on the Oosterdam in Oct. :) I'd like to do the same but will wait to see what HH has in mind. I don't care which cabin I'm in as long as I'm there!:D

[Oceanwench]

Boca, Boca, Boca!!!

We refuse to go south of Okeechobee Boulevard, unless it's absolutely necessary!

Hope you took the turnpike on your trip south.

 

We have booked SS cabins for our two cruises this year, the second cruise being on the Westerdam in November. We have had verandah cabins in the past and have been happy ... but now we just might get spoiled!

 

I think people are probably taking a breather as reality sets in ... and doing the math to see what they want to book!

I know I've been sharing a lot of this with DH, and it can be overwhelming. He is just now paying the balance for our 5/14 trip [we're picking up the tab for our daughters & their boyfriends, too] so he is not in a good frame of mind to hear about paying for a 2006 trip. :(

[Iggipolka]

 

EKerr, if you go for an "S", how 'bout 5186 or 5187;) ?

 

No no..that's mine Mine MINE! *manical laughter*

 

Ahem..sorry...got a little carried away. :rolleyes:

[Ziggy7]

Boca, Boca, Boca!!!

We refuse to go south of Okeechobee Boulevard, unless it's absolutely necessary!

Hope you took the turnpike on your trip south.

 

We have booked SS cabins for our two cruises this year, the second cruise being on the Westerdam in November. We have had verandah cabins in the past and have been happy ... but now we just might get spoiled!

 

I think people are probably taking a breather as reality sets in ... and doing the math to see what they want to book!

I know I've been sharing a lot of this with DH, and it can be overwhelming. He is just now paying the balance for our 5/14 trip [we're picking up the tab for our daughters & their boyfriends, too] so he is not in a good frame of mind to hear about paying for a 2006 trip. :(

Wow, can I be your daughter and my DH can be my boyfriend for the Westerdam cruise (wink wink) :)

[robntawn]

EKerr, if you go for an "S", how 'bout 5186 or 5187;) ? I read that the verandahs on those are huge. Plenty of room for all of us to come lounge with you:D .

 

For sure, my wife and I are interested in one of these. And, like I said earlier, we would be more than happy to host a party or two!!!

 

 

BTW, Brian, we are hoping for 3rd seating if you're still keeping track.

[HeatherInFlorida]

Good morning, everyone!!! I just sent out an email that I want to qualify just a bit. I mentioned that we might want to give some thought to booking individually instead of as a group since so many of you are unhappy with the offer we've received.

 

But I want to be really clear that this would not be my personal choice!:D I would like to travel as a group. I think we will have a lot more fun with the anticipation and also on the ship because we will be treated as a group. We'd be better able to coordinate activities, table groupings, etc.

 

So I wanted to be sure you all know that I'm still totally ready to go forward as a group no matter how many we are. Even if we're only 8 cabins, we'd still have a heck of a great time.

 

So we'll see if I hear more from Laura today.

[thulewx]

I suggest that Heather dress up like Cleopatra, and all of the guys dress like slaves. We'll have a cardboard "barge" in the atrium and then take her from there into the dining room every night on one of those litters. The other women-folk ;) could dress like her attendants, feeding her grapes and a couple guys (me included) would be the fan bearers.

I think she'll deserve the attention after putting up with the frustration of organizing this cruise.

[K&RCurt]

Cabin catagory:

 

DW & I would also like a VD on this cruise! We had a VD on our first cruise this past January on the Westerdam and we still haven't gotten over it! We would like to book the same cabin, if possible, for sentimental reasons, so we'll have to get a VD again. I won't mention the cabin number so I don't start a fight!

 

We prefer the later seating for dinner but don't really care if it's 8:00 vs 8:30. It would be great if we could get a few tables together. I'm sure Brian will be able to charm HAL into doing this for us.

 

We have already decided what our costumes will be for the grand masquarade party! But I'm not telling!:p

 

OK.....back to work!

[HeatherInFlorida]

Now THAT'S a costume idea!!!!:D Thanks, Phil .... hysterical.

 

And quite possibly an excellent plan!

[K&RCurt]

Phil:

 

 

 

I was typing my post when you posted yours.

 

 

 

I LOVE IT! As long as we don't have to be Eunichs!