NaughtyNanna

3 hours ago, oakridger said:

I made these cards and put them on my glass or by my plate.  The waiters love it!  Works in the bar for trips to the bathroom too.  😉

 

~Nancy

I love that!!  🤣🤣

1 minute ago, calliopecruiser said:

I often find the MDR is too big of a production, but it is a nice way to find others to dine with.  However....

 

Just take a small personal item to leave in your place while you're away - a hat, a book, a pair of glasses.  They can even be props you use just for that purpose.

Yes, that is what I am planning to do this time! 😁

1 hour ago, Cruise Kay said:

If there is a staff member nearby, I point out my table and tell them I will be right back

Yes, I try to do that too!

36 minutes ago, Honolulu Blue said:

• I tend to line up early at the trough for breakfast and normally skip lunch

 

For me it's either late breakfast, or early lunch!  Rarely both!! 😄

15 minutes ago, RedgeToo said:

I don't eat in the buffet - I prefer the MDR

I don't eat in the buffet for dinner, but for breakfast or lunch, I find it is just quicker and more in line with my eating habits for those meals.

I came across this topic while searching for something regarding solo dining in the buffet!  I have been travelling solo for nearly 20 years after losing my husband.  That first time, I was a nervous wreck! However now I am fine, and I love it.  When cruising, I always try to get fixed dining on a table of 6 - 8 in the MDR for dinner.  I find it's nice to be able to see the same people each night and discuss your day with them.  I prefer sitting with couples or families.  I have found on Princess, they seem to seat all the singles together, which doesn't seem to be the case with HAL and Celebrity.

My biggest concern (apart from the single supplement) is breakfast or lunch, and what to do in the buffet when you want to get up to get something else!  It's fine if you had been sharing a table with others, as you can ask them not to let the waiter/tress clear your perhaps not finished food or drink.  But so many times when I have been at a table by myself, I come back to find the table has been cleared, my half eaten meal gone, and perhaps others are seated there!!  What do other singles do?  I have tried tilting the chair forward to try to indicate it's "taken".  Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't and the chair just gets straightened and table cleared anyway .  On my up-coming cruise, I am considering taking a book and an old pair of glasses and leaving them there.  Things that it won't matter if they "go missing".  I usually have my phone or tablet with me, but don't want to risk leaving anything valuable on the table.

I would love to hear what others do, or is there some cruise etiquette that I have yet to learn!! 😂😂

12 hours ago, ldtr said:

The rules limiting landings by ships with over 500 passengers were in effect long before 2020.

 

 

Yes.  On my expedition in 2008, the ship (MV Explorer II) had a capacity of 400, but for Antarctic sailings only 200 passengers allowed.  Interestingly, the previous year, only 4 months before I sailed, another ship also named Explorer had actually sunk in Antarctica after hitting an iceberg.  Thankfully, everyone was rescued and there weren't any fatalities.  Made me a bit nervous about my upcoming trip though!  😟

5 hours ago, OlsSalt said:

On drive-by cruises, you also won't see the infamous "mud room", and you won't be scraping the bottom of your boots and pants legs with a toothbrush after every landing on a drive-by cruise. And you most likely won't see the rental bill for the extra gear you are required to have when making landings on the Zodiacs. And you won't see yourself up to your knees in ice water as you make wet landings to get ashore.

 

We were signed up and paid for a Silver Sea Expedition cruise from Argentina to Cape Town via Tristan da Cunha, and it did get a little over-whelming when we saw how much necessary work we, as passengers, were required to do in order to rightfully protect the environment when we made any landings.

 

 

Perhaps if you consider an expedition again, maybe consider a different ship or shipping line!  Of course things may have changed since 2008, but at that time there wasn't an extra invoice for rental gear.  We were given an extremely warm and waterproof jacket, which was ours to keep, and we were all fitted for gumboots, which we kept for the duration and then returned.  And of course we all wore small lifejackets when boarding the zodiacs.  The cost of these was  probably built into the fare though.  There weren't toothbrushes to scrub our boots and pants.  Yes, there were however more sophisticated methods of scraping and dis-infecting our boots when leaving and returning to the ship!    The first day, we were given a talk on how we needed to be very respectful and thoughtful during the landings.  There was no work at all for the passengers.  Unless you consider the ten seconds it takes to disinfect your boots, and being careful not to take anything other than your camera ashore, and leave nothing but your footprints behind, as being work.  I can't recall ever being knee deep in icy water when landing either!  Ankle deep at most!  😁

12 hours ago, Linaeve said:

 

Unlike others, I understood what you were saying and was thinking something similar. It's one reason I have really only considered smaller ships if I were to do Antarctica. Thank you for sharing your perspective given your own personal experience! ❤️ 

Thank you @Linaeve!  I was beginning to think my communication skills had deserted me!! 🤣

31 minutes ago, POA1 said:

Now, now kids... Don't fight. I merely asked if HAL ran any excursions that allowed you to set foot on Antarctica. The way this thread is going, I'm half expecting someone to chime in with, "Expedition ships are nothing. You really need to live in an Antarctic research station for a few months to get the real experience." 😁

🤣🤣🤣  I had been thinking I bet @POA1 wished he'd never asked!!  I'm sorry!!  😉

23 minutes ago, Ipeeinthepools said:

I only read the words that were posted.

Well maybe I misunderstood your post.  I took it that you were telling and showing me all the things you did on your expedition to Antarctica, that made it different than a cruise to Alaska.  All of which, and more, I had also experienced, and that was exactly what I had said in the first part of my post!  It seemed to me you had just picked up on what I said in my last sentence - that I thought cruising Antarctica is the same as Alaska.  Maybe I need to be more specific.  I had thought that cruising around Antactica on a large cruise ship (without the opportunity to go ashore, see the wildlife up close and personal, have full access to the bridge, sail around the icebergs in the zodiacs, etc) would be the same as cruising through Glacier Bay, for example.

If that was not the intent of your post, then I apologise for the misunderstanding!

4 hours ago, Ipeeinthepools said:

Really?   How’s this for an example.  On the National Geographic ships,  the passengers have Bridge access.  I would spend every morning that we were cruising the Antarctica peninsula on the bridge with the Captain looking for whales, penguins, birds or just picking our way through the ice looking for a way to get to our landing spot.  As nice as the HAL trips might be, they are still very different from the expedition ships.

 

And don’t forget the pool on the expedition ships.

 

I don't think you read my post properly.  I was on an expedition ship and we too had full access to the bridge, which was fascinating in itself.  And the brave amongst us did swim.  That was the point I was making.  That I felt to have the full Antarctica experience, it needed to be done on an expedition ship, not a cruise ship.  However, that is just my opinion, and others who have done it on a cruise ship differ from that.  The fact remains, no matter how we experience it, we are all very privileged to be there at all.  That may not be the case in the future. 

18 hours ago, OlsSalt said:

 

It is hugely different, from having done both.

 

The "drive-by" Antarctica is very intimate even when not leaving the ship as one spends quiet time in secluded bays and narrow passages. Everyone is guaranteed these close up views regardless of weather or crowd management clothing and clean-up considerations required by landings.  But no, we did not step on the continent.  Our 2020 Zaandam "drive-by" was fabulous. 

I stand corrected then!  I have done both as well.  An expedition to Antarctica and and Alaskan cruise.  I had just imagined that without having the opportunity to leave the ship, and just sailing around, the experience would have been much the same as Alaska.  😀

6 hours ago, Turtles06 said:

Ten years ago, my wife and I were very fortunate to have been able to take an expedition cruise to Antarctica with Lindblad aboard the Nat Geo Explorer. “Trip of a lifetime” is a cliche, but that’s what this was. We had a mix of zodiac landings on the Continent and on the islands. There were fewer than 200 guests on board. Only 100 could go ashore at the same time.  The rest would be off in zodiacs zipping around icebergs, getting up close to ice floes with napping leopard seals, watching minke whales swim under the zodiacs, you name it.  Zodiac cruising turned out to be as much of a highlight of the adventure as the landings. 

 

Guests are not permitted to get within 15 feet of penguins. But penguins aren’t given that memo. If they come up to you, you don’t have to back away. And crossing the Drake Passage, twice, was amazing. 

 

If anyone is interested in learning more about the preparations for a trip like this and about the expedition itself, I have an extensive photo journal at this link:

 

https://antarcticjourney.wordpress.com

 

(photo by turtles06)

 

 

 

 

I did a similar thing in 2008 on MV Explorer II.  The most wonderful once-in-a-lifetime experience!

If you want to actually step foot on Antartica, then a large cruise ship is not the way to do it.  I was lucky enough to go in 2008.  It was on a small ship with a capacity of 400 passengers, but could only have 200 on Antarctica excursions.  (Captain got very upset if anyone referred to our journey as a "cruise" instead of "excursion"!!)  Each day we went ashore on zodiacs - a morning group and an afternoon group because only 100 allowed at any one time.  It was the most wonderful experience, and one I will never forget.  I can't really see how a Antarctic cruise on a normal cruise ship would be any different to cruising through Glacier Bay on an Alaskan cruise. 

On 3/2/2023 at 4:55 AM, Roz said:

I'm considering purchasing a premium internet plan for my upcoming 31-day South American cruise.  The premium internet plan was $287.99 yesterday and today it's $351.99.  What's up with that???  HAL is really ticking me off.

Yes, I've just been caught out by that.  My cruise is not until October.   When I first booked, just before Christmas, the Premium plan was around $314 for 34 days.  Today I was just thinking that maybe I should get it now in case the price goes up!!  So online I went, only to discover it is now $396!!  Adding to my misery is that it becomes $590 in AU$!!  😥  I then also noticed that previously there were 3 plans - Social, Surf and Premium.  Now the Social has gone, and there are only 2!  I am really hoping that these changes are because the Wifi has been upgraded!  🤞

23 hours ago, AuzzieCruiser said:

We cannot even leave Australia. We can't go anywhere and to be honest, I'm all for keeping our borders closed. Most of our new cases are international arrivals arriving on maybe 10 flights a day into the country.

 And in most states, even state borders are still closed.  Here in Western Australia where our border is still closed, we have no community spread at all, and as of today, only 1 active case.  Pretty much all of our cases have come from returning overseas travellers and cruise ships.  Generally, the public here are in strong support of our closed border until NSW and Victoria get their cases down.  I can't see our International borders being opened this year, and I for one am very happy about that!   If so, probably only the for the Australia/New Zealand travel bubble.

When I look at the graph of new daily cases in the USA and the world, it is frightening.  There is no flattening of the curve at all.  I feel it is going to get a lot worse before it gets better the way things are going.  It is so disappointing because I absolutely love travelling to Europe.  However, I can't see that happening again for a very long time.  😪

58 minutes ago, Merion_Mom said:

 

Of course he means all Royal Caribbean cruises.  That was your question, right?

Wow!!  I just wanted to clarify "all" cruises.  Sorry if you found my question superfluous.  🙄

1 hour ago, UKWLDCruise said:

Until a few years ago you could enter your check in details as soon as you had a number but they changed it to ninety days before sailing.  You can of course book things such as shows, excursions etc as soon as they appear in your planner.

 

Thank you!  Nothing much in Planner at the moment.  It's a long way out though!

Regards

Jan

53 minutes ago, Retired LEO said:

90 days is when check in opens on all cruises.

 

I assume you mean all RCI cruises?  Because with my upcoming HAL cruise, I was able to complete all details such as passport, emergency contact, credit card details, pre and post cruise flights etc when booking, which was back in October last year.  Of course boarding passes cannot be printed until closer to the sailing date.  From memory with HAL that is around 50 days before sailing.

Hello!  I am booked on Ovation of the Seas for next April.  This will be my first time with RCI, however have sailed many times before with HAL, Princess and Celebrity.  I was surprised to find that I can't get started on my Check-in until 90 days before cruise.  On other cruises, I have been able to start entering details pretty much as soon as my booking is confirmed and I have a booking number.  Is this the norm with RCI?  Obviously it's not a problem, but I am just curious as I am one that likes to get all the boxes "ticked" as soon as I can!!

Regards

Jan

1 hour ago, taxmantoo said:

No need to talk to the Maitre d' himself.  On the Koningsdam, they have a desk opposite the entrance to the Pinnacle Grill to handle reservations and table change requests.

Oh great!  Thank you so much.

Regards

Jan

Hello!  Can anyone tell me where the Maitre D' can be found on embarkation day on the Koningsdam?  I will need to see him to inquire if I can change my dining arrangements.  On the Rotterdam a couple of years ago he was in the Explorer Lounge and was very helpful in changing me from late to early traditional seating.

Regards

Jan

On 1/30/2019 at 3:14 PM, ozcruizer said:

Further to my post above, I just had the brilliant (ha ha) idea of trying to print the documents from Chrome instead of Edge.  Results?  Printed straight away, so this time it wasn't the fault of the HAL site.

 

 

Definitely HAL's fault when they don't think Dubrovnik exists!!  Doesn't matter what browser is used.  I need to fill in pre-cruise flight details on my online check-in.  I'm flying from Dubrovnik to join the cruise in Rome.  There is a drop-down list of departure cities, but Dubrovnik isn't there.  Can't just enter it myself either.  I am in Australia, and the office here can't help with a problem that is obviously a failure of the check-in software.  They have tried a few times though!!  I have sent an email to what I assumed was Head Office in the US, but they just forwarded it onto the Australian office.  Similarly, I used the feedback option while on the Flights section of check-in, and again, just forwarded to Australia, who can't help!!!  The latest is that the Australian office was emailing the IT department in Seattle.  That was 10 days ago, and still nothing.   Luckily I have 4 months before my cruise, so hopefully by then, someone in IT will have discovered that Croatia has an airport in Dubrovnik!!!  🤬🤬🤬

Regards

Jan

On 1/22/2019 at 12:58 PM, SeaTheW0rld said:

Next thing you know they'll be singing and dancing by the staff in the dining room. It's a slippery slope.

🤣🤣🤣