Zuiderdam

[Krazy Kruizers]

Just got home and read that Zuiderdam will not dock until Monday morning at Port Everglades as the port is closed down.

Had read earlier today that Disney's Magic was refueling in Galveston and not expected to dock until Monday.

[FlorenceItaly]

Disney Magic was indeed in Galveston today. I saw her on the web cam while in port, and then later as she sailed away..........

Marie

[JDee]

Just a thought. For those pax who make the cruise on Monday, how in the world will they be able to use the shipboard credits ranging from $200.00 to $600.00 PER PERSON. That's a lot of $$ to use up. You can only drink so much. Buy only so much booze togo. Only very little in shore excursions available. Jewelry?? Perfume?? More Booze??

As I understand the cruise credits, they must be used while on board or they are lost.

Don't believe they would be that stupid to allow you to buy chips in the casino which would be easily converted to cash.

For some local info on Frances, try www.sptimes.com

I reside in Tampa Bay area and expect lots, lots rain tomorrow & moderately high winds. Have a sturdy house, but still worry about windows (especially those big pool side sliders) and garage doors blowing in.... Oh well, others have it a h+++ worse......

[sail7seas]

JDee.....sending good wishes to you that your home escapes undamaged. Hope you 'weather' the storm fine. You and all the others in Florida are in my thoughts.

[Smoky]

HAL has posted the new 5 day itinerary beginning Monday. They have not adjusted the alternatives however, and still refer to the 6 day cruise with no change in the terms. Same deal even though the time is shortened???

It is now past 3 PM on Saturday when passengers had to commit and the revision was not posted until 4PM.

[Lois R]

KK...I am not surprised at all.....after seeing the news ALL DAY, I kept thinking "there is no way a ship can dock tomorrow". 500,000 people have NO POWER in the FLL area.....kept thinking, how is the ship going to get in the port?....
I know this weeks cruisers are very disappointed...but I would think safety for the ones on the ship now would be first and foremost.....

[Lovebirds]

Just a thought. For those pax who make the cruise on Monday, how in the world will they be able to use the shipboard credits ranging from $200.00 to $600.00 PER PERSON. That's a lot of $$ to use up. You can only drink so much. Buy only so much booze togo. Only very little in shore excursions available. Jewelry?? Perfume?? More Booze??

As I understand the cruise credits, they must be used while on board or they are lost.

Don't believe they would be that stupid to allow you to buy chips in the casino which would be easily converted to cash.

For some local info on Frances, try www.sptimes.com (http://www.sptimes.com/)

I reside in Tampa Bay area and expect lots, lots rain tomorrow & moderately high winds. Have a sturdy house, but still worry about windows (especially those big pool side sliders) and garage doors blowing in.... Oh well, others have it a h+++ worse......
There was mention on another thread that the shipboard credits can be converted to cash prior to leaving the ship. Another poster suggested converting the credit into casino chips, walk around the casino for a while and cash them in.

believe me, if i had a shipboard credit that had to be used, there are plenty of things in the onboard shops to buy, his and hers massage.... too much money?? No such thing!

[sail7seas]

It has to so nerve wracking for the pax who are currently on Zudm and do not know when they will get off the ship. For the retired folks who live near the pier and know that their kids or someone else is looking after their home.....lucky them, they got an extended cruise at no additional cost and do not have to worry about flights or getting back to their work.

For working folks who are due back on Monday morning for their work and have no idea how they are going to get home......it must be hard to enjoy extra free days on the ship.

I wish someone from aboard would post so we could learn the mood of all the pax.

We always have crew friends on all the ships I can e-mail....but I can't think of anyone on Zuiderdam at the moment. Darn!

[AV8OR]

It has to so nerve wracking for the pax who are currently on Zudm and do not know when they will get off the ship. For the retired folks who live near the pier and know that their kids or someone else is looking after their home.....lucky them, they got an extended cruise at no additional cost and do not have to worry about flights or getting back to their work.

For working folks who are due back on Monday morning for their work and have no idea how they are going to get home......it must be hard to enjoy extra free days on the ship.

I wish someone from aboard would post so we could learn the mood of all the pax.

We always have crew friends on all the ships I can e-mail....but I can't think of anyone on Zuiderdam at the moment. Darn!

Monday is a holiday so most won't miss a work day. The big problem for those folks is getting home. Hopefully they'll be able to make alternate flight arrangement from the ship and hopefully the airports will be operational. I keep wondering if there are enough provisions on board to feed the passengers and extra day or 2???

Chuck

[NJsharon]

[QUOTE=JDee]Just a thought. For those pax who make the cruise on Monday, how in the world will they be able to use the shipboard credits ranging from $200.00 to $600.00 PER PERSON. That's a lot of $$ to use up. You can only drink so much. Buy only so much booze togo. Only very little in shore excursions available. Jewelry?? Perfume?? More Booze??

As I understand the cruise credits, they must be used while on board or they are lost.

[QUOTE]

Ummm... spa here I come & shops if I had any left! lol

[JDee]

Lovebirds: Was not aware of the previous posts advising that the unused credits could be converted to cash at cruise end if not used. Am surprised that HAL would allow it, rather generous gesture. Only shipboard credits I ever had, had to be used during the cruise or they would just be forfeited.

NJsharon: Yes, a trip (or two) to the spa would eat up those shipboard credits rather quickly.

[elmorejj]

Well if I had extra credit from HAL that was not convertable and I couldn`t drink it all up in the OB, :o I think I would go to the pursers desk and just add the rest to the tips for the crew. I definitely wouldn`t let HAL get it back!!......jean

[jollycruiser]

The irony of all this is that it looks like it may be repeated next weekend again. Current projections puts Ivan in the Bahamas by next Friday and headed toward the Florida east coast.

[Krazy Kruizers]

We just heard from friends who live in Plantation, Florida - Ft Lauderdale area.

They still had power as of 7:30 AM today - spent an awful night - said the winds roaring were terrible. They are boarded up so don't know what their neighborhood looks like.


Reports say that over 2,000,000 people are now without power.

[Orcrone]

My mom lives in Boynton Beach, about 20 minutes south of W. Palm Beach. They lost power yesterday (Saturday) morning and phone that afternoon (cell still works). Last night was real bad. They slept in the living room with the hurricane shutters because they were afraid of the windows being blown out in the bedroom. But they got through it fine and things are rapidly improving.:)

[Lois R]

Orcrone, so glad to hear your Mom is doing ok:) ...I have had the news on ALL DAY.....except now...switched over to ESPN for a break;) .....

Frances literally went from County to County to County.......:eek: we are still having high winds and rain here In Jacksonville tonite....

[Krazy Kruizers]

Orcrone - so glad to hear that your mom made it through the worst part of the storm.

We are still waiting to hear from friends in Largo and several others in the Orlando area.

[elmorejj]

Anyone know if the Z docked this morning?....jean :cool:

[jhannah]

I'm guessing she's there. On Kroooz-Cams the Caribbean Princess is in Port Everglades now. I sure wish HAL would put their ships' cameras online so we could see where they are.

[spcl4cs_gal]

According to the information on the Port Everglades site, the Zuiderdam has docked at Pier 26 this morning.

[sail7seas]

Hard to imagne that if Princess is docked the Zuiderdam is not also.

[Krazy Kruizers]

I agree - sure wish that HAL would get into the "bridge cam" business like the other cruise lines.

[Orcrone]

Orcrone - so glad to hear that your mom made it through the worst part of the storm.

We are still waiting to hear from friends in Largo and several others in the Orlando area.
It doesn't sound like Largo got hit too hard so they should be fine. I was watching some show this morning and they were broadcasting live from the Embassy Suites in Orlando, so hopefully they're also OK.

With Ivan approaching I'm going to try to convince my mom to head up here and pray that Ivan doesn't decide to head up the coast. My brother in NYC would also be a possibility. Electricity can be down for a while and half of the community they live in is gone during the warmer months anyhow.