BTimmer's Almost Live from the Rotterdam 11/21/21-12/1/21

[wjslam]

 

13 hours ago, ger_77 said:

Did you just go to Guest Services and ask if you could upgrade?

Yes. Suzette handled it in short order and sent a trolley to our stateroom to move our things...less than an hour.

[wjslam]

7 hours ago, MisterBill99 said:

Did you happen to notice if the price for Wi-Fi on the ship was the same as it was being offered for on the website, or was it actually cheaper to buy in advance?

We prepaid wifi for $144.94. iirc it was cheaper to prepay. 

[wjslam]

Also, it itsfor 1 device, so choose carefully before you connect. We chose Android phone and used hotspot to connect Surface and DW phone. It appears that additional lines for full voyage /full internet are $119.95 ea. YMMV

[MisterBill99]

12 minutes ago, wjslam said:

Also, it itsfor 1 device, so choose carefully before you connect. We chose Android phone and used hotspot to connect Surface and DW phone. It appears that additional lines for full voyage /full internet are $119.95 ea. YMMV

 

Thanks. I only need one device. My wife and I can switch, she doesn't use the Internet as much as I do.

[jeh10641]

Hi, All,

I prepaid for WiFi and was charged about $151.00 on HAL's website.

 

nimiq- Thanks for the Keto tips.

 

Jim

[Al Aboard]

On 11/25/2021 at 12:04 PM, wjslam said:

Also, it itsfor 1 device, so choose carefully before you connect. We chose Android phone and used hotspot to connect Surface and DW phone. It appears that additional lines for full voyage /full internet are $119.95 ea. YMMV

The one device only means you can be connected from one device at a time.  You can switch devices at will.  After you create your sign-on for one device, when you try to use the sign-on on a different device it will ask you if you want to sign-off the other device and continue with the new device.  If you aren't comfortable doing this the first time, go to the internet desk and do it there under their supervision to see what will happen.

[MisterBill99]

On 11/25/2021 at 3:06 PM, jeh10641 said:

Hi, All,

I prepaid for WiFi and was charged about $151.00 on HAL's website.

 

 

Right, that's for the 11 night sailing. I ended up buying it today. Was going to ask if anyone who had Have it All wasn't going to use theirs, but decided to just buy it myself.

[Btimmer]

 

Departing Aruba.  Eurodam, Royal Clipper, and Freewinds.  The closeup is the Royal Clipper. 
 

Our last port, Bonaire, begins in a few hours.  It's been a great little cruise.

[Btimmer]

Here's some wildlife from our turtle snorkeling on Curaçao.

 

 

[Cruise Suzy]

On 11/23/2021 at 10:54 PM, MisterBill99 said:

My wife is definitely planning to have lunch at Dive-In the first day, and several days after that! I might try it, too, now that they've added a Beyond Meat burger option!

DH and I ordered a "regular" burger and one Beyond Meat burger to compare. VERY little difference in taste and texture. I even pulled out a small bit of each patty to compare without condiments. If asked in a blind test, I couldn't have said which was which.

[Roger88]

2 hours ago, Btimmer said:

Here's some wildlife from our turtle snorkeling on Curaçao.

 

 

How did you manage to take such a great photo of the turtle? What camera did you take with you underwater? The photo is spectacular, I never liked snorkling myself but these photos are worth trying it out 

[MisterBill99]

2 hours ago, Cruise Suzy said:

DH and I ordered a "regular" burger and one Beyond Meat burger to compare. VERY little difference in taste and texture. I even pulled out a small bit of each patty to compare without condiments. If asked in a blind test, I couldn't have said which was which.

 

I assume they actually gave you the Beyond Meat? But yeah, I've had the Impossible Whopper from Burger King and the texture is really good. My cat even ate it, thinking that it was real meat!

[Cruise Suzy]

22 minutes ago, MisterBill99 said:

I assume they actually gave you the Beyond Meat?

 

There was a visual difference, so I'm pretty sure one was a "regular" burger and one was Beyond Meat.

[Btimmer]

4 hours ago, Roger88 said:

How did you manage to take such a great photo of the turtle? What camera did you take with you underwater? The photo is spectacular, I never liked snorkling myself but these photos are worth trying it out 

I shoot with a GoPro Hero 6 in movie mode and then view the movie frame to extract the picture I want.

[calestultz]

2 hours ago, Btimmer said:

I shoot with a GoPro Hero 6 in movie mode and then view the movie frame to extract the picture I want.

Did you do any post processing?  I use a different company's camera and my underwater videos all look faded.

[Btimmer]

16 minutes ago, calestultz said:

Did you do any post processing?  I use a different company's camera and my underwater videos all look faded.

In this case there was no post processing.  If I post process I do it on my iPhone using Camera+.

[Btimmer]

We just departed Bonaire about 20 minutes late and left two passengers behind.  There were two announcements  asking for the couple in Stateroom 7156 please contact the front desk immediately by dialing extension 90. We then watched the ship's staff member hand their passports over to the port agent and with a second blast of the departure horn we left.

 

We now will sail at over 19 knots to make FT. Lauderdale by Wednesday morning at 6am at the pilot station.

 

An empty dock

Pilot departing the ship 

[canadianbear]

Wow…only 20 minutes… we had similar when in Curacao one year and the announcements.  Finally saw the family running and they made it luckily.  
 

We love Bonaire.  Quaint little place plus great snorkeling. 
 

Did you do all independent snorkel excursions on this cruise?

[AnnieBelle]

I’m curious if you’re having to stick to only HAL excursions or if you can branch out in your own. We will be on the 11-day Southern Caribbean cruise next month and even wondered if there were any ports that rented golf carts.

[Btimmer]

28 minutes ago, AnnieBelle said:

I’m curious if you’re having to stick to only HAL excursions or if you can branch out in your own. We will be on the 11-day Southern Caribbean cruise next month and even wondered if there were any ports that rented golf carts.

All ports have been wide open to independent tours.  We used an independent guide today in Bonaire.  Golf carts were available for rent.

[rkacruiser]

2 hours ago, canadianbear said:

We love Bonaire.  Quaint little place

 

Agree.  When I was last there, it was during election season for them and they had political activism like we witness in Canada and the United States.  No impact on this cruise guest, though.  

[MisterBill99]

1 hour ago, AnnieBelle said:

I’m curious if you’re having to stick to only HAL excursions or if you can branch out in your own. We will be on the 11-day Southern Caribbean cruise next month and even wondered if there were any ports that rented golf carts.

 

The 11 night itinerary goes to different ports than this sailing, unless there is a different version than the one I'm sailing on Wednesday. We have ports where you cannot go out on your own, such as Dominica (substituted for Martinique, which is not allowing cruise ships) and I think St. Kitts.

Edited November 29, 2021 by MisterBill99

[MisterBill99]

Can you tell me if there is a Chanukah event on the schedule each night (it began tonight)? Many years ago when we were on Celebrity over the holiday, they had something each night and actually had holiday food, which was nice. It was very well attended.

[Btimmer]

3 hours ago, canadianbear said:

Wow…only 20 minutes… we had similar when in Curacao one year and the announcements.  Finally saw the family running and they made it luckily.  
 

We love Bonaire.  Quaint little place plus great snorkeling. 
 

Did you do all independent snorkel excursions on this cruise?

Yes, we liked the quaintness very much.

 

For snorkeling trips, we found a private spot at HMC, used HAL in Amber Cove & Curaçao, and an independent in Bonaire. Bonaire was the best.

[Btimmer]

10 minutes ago, MisterBill99 said:

Can you tell me if there is a Chanukah event on the schedule each night (it began tonight)? Many years ago when we were on Celebrity over the holiday, they had something each night and actually had holiday food, which was nice. It was very well attended.

Not that I am aware of.