zerbot

LOL ... A few days ago, people were supportive of another poster wanting to wear this outfit (http://khaoswolfden.wolfden-enterprises.com/lotgd/pics/Moreta/20140418_171716.jpg) and now they object to tails? Funny how one's sense of style can change so fast :rolleyes:

That was a question on whether the outfit would be appropriate for smart casual, not formal.

If someone is asking white tie with tails versus black tie without, I assume they are referring to the bog standard Western 20th century level of formality. If you're working on that scale, then white tie with tails is too formal, and that's as much a fashion blunder as dressing too informally for those for whom that is important.

In spite of the fact that I'm a big fan of wide diversity in formal clothing as opposed to a narrow scale, I'm just fine with someone else's personal taste for themselves being on that scale. I know a lot of guys who don't want to have to deal with fashion choices, and prefer to dress to a standard look. I wouldn't tell them, "yes, white tie with tails is fine!" even though it would be fine to me, because it wouldn't be fine to them. They'd be mortified at showing up overdressed.

Not sure he's all that great a businessman either. Throwing that much inventory into a soft market?

Since no one was hurt and all seems OK for now I will say my theory:

 

Word got out about the new fees for room service and passengers all started loudly complaining about it. the Captain heard the complaints and replied with "Don't make me pull this ship over".

 

the rest is now history

I think you have it! :D

I don't mind anyones age, or us being the youngest, as long as they are cool and fun people. With the baby we're usually in bed by 10PM or so, which means back to the cabin by 9. As to who would watch the baby; we would. Who else? :confused: I imagine they have a child care center/staff/activities for us to use during the day or am I wrong on that count?

Best place to get information about that is HAL's site. The following links may be useful:

FAQ

Specific information about children and babysitting

Note especially that there is no babysitting available while the ship is in port.

We're somewhat casual on vacation. My co-worker told us we must avoid the main dining room on formal nights unless we get all done up. Is this true? What is the HAL policy on bringing a baby to a specialty restaurant or are we going to be forced to the buffet? How is HALS dinner buffets?

The MDR on formal nights is jacket and tie for male clothing, nice dress or pantsuit/dressy pants for female clothing.

For $199 per person what are they omitting or cutting out? I just can't believe a 7 day trip is so cheap. Is it likely prices will be that low again this year? Does HAL have a baby rate or 3rd guest rate?

They are omitting taxes, fees, and port charges, which are mandatory (and likely more than your fare at that price). The HSC (hotel service charge), which is technically not mandatory, but it goes to pay the hotel/restaurant type staff, so you're a jerk if you take it off. It doesn't cover any excursions, nor most drinks. It's also likely an inside guarantee, which means you get no window, not even a porthole, and you don't get to pick your cabin.

I'd suggest you go to the HAL site and run through the booking process (without actually pulling the trigger at the end) on some cruises that appeal to you. You can also look at the ship amenities, and what entertainment is available on each of the ships.

When you research further you will find that the government has declared that they should only eat the whale meat once a month at most and most women and girls should never eat it due to the level of carcinogens in it. The meat is no longer any great part of any Faroese diet. Interesting.

Fantastic. Perhaps the Faroese government could give every other government around the world a lesson in how to get people to strictly follow government dietary advice.

Last year in July, a freak fog grounded these tours up on the glacier overnight. HAL arranged and paid for transportation to get those who had booked through HAL caught up to the ship. Those who booked on their own had to arrange and pay for this themselves.

I'd ask the independents if they offer similar service if for some reason, they don't get you back to the ship on time, whether it be due to mechanical problems or weather. If they don't, then the extra charged through HAL is basically insurance, and its your choice if you want to pay it or not.

Here is a recent account from someone who went on the dogsledding excursion:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=46538081&postcount=54

If the whales are non-endangered species and I do not know if they are, what is the difference between killing them and killing cows, sheep, and other mammals as long as you eat the meat and do not throw it out.

DON

Pilot whales are not endangered. I looked into this expecting horrors based on what was posted here, and found that the whale hunt is actually a lot more humane than what the cows your hamburger comes from go through. It is not gratuitous killing for fun, the meat is a vital part of the indigenous diet.

I'm not saying you have to like to be around when there is a hunt going down, but to say that these people have fun killing the whales as brutally as they can is simply an outright lie.

That seems counter intuitive. I mean, it's harder to stay cool in fancy clothing (especially men's attire!) than staying warm. I wonder why it works that way.

 

Anyone have any idea? Does it just have to do with customs in the region of the cruise?

You have to pack for a wide variety of weather when going to Alaska. That means there's less room for a lot of fancy stuff, especially if you are flying in. Not sure there's many other cruises I'd have to pack my winter coat for. And as I'm sure you well know, :p, the Pacific Northwest is just a lot more laid back than many other places.

Sorry to say we will not be crossing paths on a boat anytime soon. Our cruise is in July (coming up fast).

I can't answer your questions, as my first HAL cruise will be this summer, but should I run into you, I would be more than pleased to make your acquaintance. :D

IMO, nice clothes are nice clothes, shouldn't matter who is wearing them.

Yeah, can't use modern methods because that would take away their fun. This is a community event , slaughtering whales as brutally as they can . It's disgusting . The locals rejoice in the kill, they literally turn it into a party. I hope Paul Watson and the Sea Shepard continue to disrupt the grind.

Did you read the Wikipedia article? It's against the law to cause the whales unnecessary pain and suffering. I'm not sure what modern methods would result in less suffering, they do use a modern killing tool that severs the spine and arteries leading to the brain resulting in death within 2 minutes (usually around 30 seconds). That's a lot less brutal than most hunts of wild animals.

For those wanting to know more:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whaling_in_the_Faroe_Islands

Heading out on Veendam May 30. Our 4th time on her and we can't wait!

 

I do have a question. The Bermudian and US dollars seem to trade one to one. Did they accept American dollars or did you need to exchange money?

The Bermudian dollar is pegged to the US dollar at par (one to one). Virtually everywhere accepts both currencies interchangeably, you shouldn't have to exchange money.

Pennies haven't been used on US military bases overseas in... sheesh, must be 30 years or so now. IMO, I would be quite happy if they quit making pennies altogether, they're a pain in the butt.

Yes, someone who has contracted norovirus is contagious for about 24 hours before they begin having symptoms. That doesn't necessarily mean there's no point to quarantine, because someone who is vomiting/having diarrhea is even more contagious.

Wash yer hands, wash yer hands, wash yer hands. Try not to touch your face (difficult for me, but I do try to remember) or food (or anything else that will go in your mouth) with your hands. Try not to touch objects or surfaces that other people touch (a travel packet of Kleenex are great for when you don't have much of a choice about touching that serving spoon in a buffet). Hit elevator buttons with your elbow if possible.

Apparently, cabanas are on the forbidden list now. :D

Has she tried a vibrating alarm?

So exciting seeing all the people view our video and seems lots of you liked it! I am still trying to figure out WHY the video did not count all the views (411) seen by people yesterday and today on Cruise Critic. When I posted it there were existing 837 views and then 411 MORE have now seen it (by the count on this thread) and it only says 914 total views. Does anyone understand that part of YouTube? Why doesn't it count all the real views??

Anyway, Thanks again for watching our video :D

I read the thread but didn't watch the video as I can't watch video on this device. There's no guarantee that anybody reading the thread watched the video, especially since the thread title doesn't say anything about a video.

And calling someone's income a tip doesn't exempt it from income tax in any country I know of; it just makes it easier to evade the tax if an employee is so inclined. So that last point doesn't really hold water.

Doesn't necessarily mean income taxes. There can be taxes on the fare price itself, whereas separating it out as a "service charge" might not be taxable. Mandatory charges might be taxed, but charges that are at the customer's discretion might not be.

IIRC, HAL is headquartered in Washington state, which has a B&O tax on gross business receipts, and I happen to know that the Washington state law which applies to restaurants is, "Tips or gratuities representing donations or gifts by customers under circumstances which are clearly voluntary are not part of the selling price and not subject to tax. However, mandatory additions to the price by the seller, whether labeled service charges, tips, gratuities or otherwise must be included in the selling price and are subject to both the retailing B&O and retail sales taxes." I'm not in a position to know what applies to cruise ships or hotels, but it's very possible that if HAL makes the HSC mandatory, it ends up becoming subject to more taxes.

Wow. I never would have thought that was offensive to anyone, and I sure would never ask trying to figure out how much someone makes, because we sure don't care.

 

I would think someone who finds that offensive is insecure about what they do, or did.

 

Most people we meet while cruising are retired so they aren't even working.

I'm speaking specifically of the kind of people where "what do you do?" is almost literally the first thing out of their mouths (at a party or dinner, for example). When I was a wee tadpole just getting started out, answering those kind of people resulted in a quite visible loss of interest followed by lamely excusing themselves to to chat up someone else who might be worth their time. If someone does that these days, I will still claim tadpole status just to get rid of them.

Often, it comes up organically in conversation after extended conversation about other things. I don't mind that. But occasionally, I've found that even then some people will think they have a perfect right to know who my clients are and all the details about why they hired me. Besides, I go on vacation to get away from work, so the last thing I want to do is spend my vacation talking about work!

The only way gratuities will get rolled into the fare is if all the cruise lines do it at the same time, because any who don't will look cheaper at first glance, and benefit from the perception of being less expensive. It's a prisoner's dilemma, and probably only solvable by something similar to what happened in the airline industry in the US, with the government stepping in and making them roll all that stuff into the fare.

I think whether it is politics, religion, or veganism, the problem is not so much the topics as the very real issue of people who can't stand that someone else has different views on those subjects. It can be very unpleasant to end up at a dinner table with someone like that.

Off limits to me is "What do you do?" (for a living). I find that offensive and turn the conversation to something else, or just answer "enjoy my cruises" and on to another topic.

I would second that one. I've found over the years that the vast majority of people asking that question use it as a proxy for, "How much money do you make?" If the conversation lags, and I'm looking for something to continue talking about, I ask about what they enjoy doing, or something similar. If they work a crappy boring job, they probably don't want to talk about it on vacation, and it would be no fun for me to hear about it either.

The Russians might be more friendly to the Euro than USD, and Germany, Estonia, and Finland use the Euro anyway. I would be inclined to carry Euro if I had to carry cash.

And the other countries that use the Euro?

Their old currencies are no longer legal tender either.