BellKat

11 minutes ago, purrlinda said:

I have been going here for the official updates:

https://www.hollandamerica.com/en_US/news/amsterdam-maasdam-zaandam-updates.html

I will probably just follow the FB page since they are updating that more regularly.

https://www.hollandamerica.com/blog/ships/ms-zaandam/statement-regarding-zaandam/

2 minutes ago, purrlinda said:

Thank you, Sue, for posting this.  I've been looking at the website not the FB page.

It is on their website. They have a blog page.

Someone on the roll call just replied to me when I asked about what was going on. They stated the captain told them this morning 58 guests and 86 crew have whatever is going around the ship. We have a friend on this cruise but he is a HAL employee so is not leaking any info.

1 hour ago, redlady62 said:

Good day all: I was planning on checking in to see how the Silhouetter's are doing and I see some of you have all ready done so.  We are doing well, have two 'family' weddings this year (June here in Hamilton, ON and August in Seattle WA) so the cruising is next year (Aug 2021 from Southhampton to Boston via Iceland and Greenland aboard the Summit).  Trying to encourage clients that nail trims are not urgent medical appointments for their pets (unless the toe nail is broken and there is blood involved) and remembering to ask clients if they have been out of the country in the previous 14 days, have they been quarantined or are self-isolating due to exposure, limiting the number of clients coming into the clinic at a time..... and not to hug your favourite clients when they bring you a hot beverage (that part is tough) to help you through the day.  Sorry about the rant. Our 'normal' has changed a bit but we will be ok. 

Our new normal is anything but normal. Our day, partially, was FTing with friends in BC, friends in Leeds, England and having a 6’ apart cocktail party with our next door neighbors on their driveway. This was the 2nd time this week we did this since our weather was sunny this week. Today was actually warm. Do people not know how to trim their pet’s nails? I used to do it for the dogs I had - scary at times but i managed to do it. Both of Jim’s jobs are definitely on the decline - more cancelling cruises than anything else and schools are not in session so..... I could use a haircut and a pedicure but - oh well, not going to happen any time soon. I always like seeing your Twitter/Instagram posts so keep this up! Jim’s daughter is doing a personal blog/pics for this quarantine period which we love. No school for the grandkids until April 27 at the earliest. Yikes! 

Zaandam is off Chile March 16 & 17. They are waiting to disembark. Have a friend onboard but haven’t heard an update from him.

3 hours ago, hcat said:

Boo! Not funny at all.

I agree - bet he can’t crew a ship.

Seattle is not accepting the 1st 2 ships that were supposed to come in - April 1 and April 5

23 hours ago, daka said:

We are on board now, Sunday March 8, Great cruise, food in BLU is much better than what we remember from a few years ago, we have been on RC, Princess MSC and Norwegian mostly..

Our only complaint is that we have not been able to get seats at the MARTINI BAR.

 

We got off on March 2. If you like interesting drinks, go to the World Class Bar, Deck 5 and say hi to Oleksii from Kathleen & Jim. It’s quiet in there, most of the time, and you can have great conversations with new people. Oleksii is great and he’s been our bartender twice now. 

We had SD, same table every night, same waiter & assistant. Took them until the last night to remember all 11 of us wanted lots of breadsticks with real pats of butter. Not our best dining experience. 

13 minutes ago, The_Big_M said:

Nothing like a good coverup.

 

Now, if only Celebrity would worry about making a public announcement, available to all customers, instead of allegedly pursuing people sharing information to the privileged few. But "priorities..."

It will be public on Thursday, December 19th I believe

Well, a cruise line does it again! Travel agents are the last to know. We didn’t receive their email until this morning and reading posts I see they stopped the process on November 27. What??

1 hour ago, slei15 said:

Just got an official e-mail from Celebrity about this...

Travel Partners, Celebrity Cruises is committed to our Travel Partners and we have heard your requests to remove the Beverage Package Perk Fees. You asked, and we have removed the Beverage Package Perk Fees.   BEVERAGE PACKAGE PERK PRICING REMOVAL FAQS December 16, 2019 Talk Track until announcement of BPPP Removal on 12/19. Based upon the performance of our Black Friday/Cyber Monday offer, we will not be charging the Beverage Perk Pricing charge through the end of the November offer, December 17, 2019. 1. Q. Why did Celebrity decide to remove this upcharge? A. The satisfaction of our guests always comes first. Due to guest comments, we have reevaluated this policy and decided to remove. 2. Q. Will guests who have already been charged the $14/day upcharge receive any type of compensation? A. Guests who have already been charged will be upgraded to the Premium Beverage package. Or they can re-shop and book the updated Beverage promo with no charge at prevailing rates. 3. Q. Are guests permitted to reprice their booking to exclude the $14 upcharge? A. Yes. Guests can reprice to exclude the beverage charge at prevailing cruise rates. 4. Q. Does the change in pricing impact my commission? A. No. Unless you choose to select a different promotion. 5. Q. What are my options if I have a booking with a beverage perk charge? 1. Keep the booking as is, and Celebrity will automatically upgrade from Classic to Premium at no additional charge. 2. Choose another promotion (including current beverage perk options) at prevailing cruise fare. 6. Q. Will this affect my contracted group rates that included the beverage perk increase? A. Yes, however contracted Group rates can be reviewed on case by case basis with Revenue. 7. Q. What happens to guests that paid to upgrade from 2 – 4 perks who already had the Premium Beverage Package during the periods of 10/10 – 11/26/19? A. Guests will receive an Onboard Credit of $14 per day. Guests who qualify for this onboard credit must have booked under promo names 4PERKS or 4PERKS NRD during the offer period of Oct 10 to Nov. 25,, 2019. 8. Q. The current paid upgrade for a beverage perk from classic to premium is $11 pp per day, while the beverage perk charge was $14 pp per day. Will guests receive any refunds? A. No refunds will be issued. The beverage perk charge was not based on the paid upgrades. Guests have the choice of re-shopping at prevailing cruise rates so that they don’t incur a beverage charge.

This was an email to travel agents - not sure you should have posted this. I was going to copy it and leave out a couple of things that are for travel agent eyes only

2 hours ago, redjetz said:

 

Another vote for ReliefBand. Works great. (Hi, Kathleen!)

Hi Renda! Tell Jennifer hi from us. Hope you are both well.

Please have her try a ReliefBand. Works wonders for me. It gives you an electrical impulse & the charge can be regulated. I was very sick for 2 hours on a small boat, a friend gave me her band to try and within 5 minutes I was fine and starving! I had thrown up everything I had eaten that day. You can find them on Amazon or at their own website which currently has a 20% off promotion (at least they did yesterday). Also ask her doctor to give her some anti-nausea medication - I took that after a concussion & after a severe reaction to a food that made me very sick. 

4 minutes ago, redlady62 said:

Evening everyone! We have been home a week now from our cruise.  Who slipped the snow onto the ground while we were in warmer climes!? Ah, back to work routine. . . . . 

Morven, we are glad the you had a wonderful time in Montreal.  Lois, if we are in your area again. . .. will send you a note to meet up. 

If you picked up some good Quebec Maple syrup while visiting and wondering what else you can do with the lovely nectar, besides on your pancake/waffles or make Pecan pie I have found another recipe that looks really interesting 

Bacon Maple & Cheddar Shortbread may give this a go and serve as a savoury side to afternoon beverages.

 

Take care and have a great week,

 

Sue >M<

 

 

Sounds delicious! 

9 hours ago, BridgeMates said:

That video is a total waste of time as many people are in muster stations where they can't even see it!

We were on the Eclipse Oct 13th and assigned to the Photo Gallery, no seats, packed in like sardines.

One woman fainted!  Give me the old days when crew demonstrated the life jacket and we were told how to proceed in event of an emergency.   Comments above are correct.....in a real emergency, it's going to be a mess, especially for new cruisers or passengers who don't speak English very well.  Simple, straightforward explanation of the safety procedures would be much clearer.  They need to toss that stupid video!!  (ask me how I really feel about this.....😁)

We were on Reflection and also in the photo gallery. There was space for maybe 8-10 people to sit on some bench type thing. I can’t stand for long periods & so I was leaning backwards against a pedestal. The guy behind me was leaning forward on the pedestal. We got there early but it was already packed. The kicker was the guy with a sweater over his shoulders who decided to take it off & then flip it back over his shoulders - in a fully (by then) packed space. He hit me in the face with it! I was already in pain & that just set me off. Thought I was going to get thrown off the ship. 

DrKoob (Jim - my husband) did not notice you are in the UK so you may not have the same sale going on as we do. Since there are 4 of you going, you will be required to have 2 cabins. Not sure why this is but only 2 people are allowed in each cabin. I’m guessing it’s to keep the number of passengers down. I agree with Jim that you should read the thread he mentioned regarding the Flora. Also read all of the reviews. This is a cruise that you really need to do your homework for. It is not like other cruises.

1 hour ago, Traveling Library said:

Just saw the new TV ad for the Celebrity Edge.  To my great amusement I realized the music used is Jefferson Airplane's "White Rabbit"  (aka Go Ask Alice : "One pill makes you larger/One pill makes you small...."). Do you think anyone at the ad agency or Celebrity even listened to the lyrics and thought that this was quite the image they should portray?  And thanks to the ad my new ear worm is: "Feed your head....Feed your head." Yikes!

That’s hilarious! Whoever came up with the idea was probably too young to understand what the song was originally about.

4 hours ago, george35 said:

We were  supposed to be on a B/B on the Harmony leaving from Port Canaveral on Sept. 1st thru the 15th. We got a notice that we would be leaving on the 4th Then 2 days later we would leave on the 5th, thats were it stands now. So from a 14 day cruise its down to a 10 & not sure of that yet. Hope we make it on board on the 5th because we are celebrating our 62nd annv. & are expecting a gift from Mr Bailey, his sec. said it was a surprise, hope she didnt forget because we have been going nuts trying to figure out what it could be. Wish us luck.

 

george35

You are worried about your anniversary & hundreds of people no longer have a home?

1 hour ago, redlady62 said:

Umm, did not win the lottery, so would only be 14 day cruise   Doing some finger counting and this would have been Fraser's parents 64th anniversary and next week would have been my parents 59th.  We will be at 34 yrs the following week.   Checked the roll call for the cruise that I am interested in and it is very quiet.... 1 post Dec 2018. I did post a query about the ship and cabin selection recommendations. Have not put a deposit down and trying to convince the parents of the god-kids that this would be a fabulous idea...... 

 

Have a great day everyone,

Sue

Sue - I would avoid the Lanai cabins. They open right out onto the promenade so you would have not privacy but would have constant foot traffic right outside your sliding glass door. 

Alaska boards are usually pretty quiet as our Holland boards. Put the two together - almost silence.

12 minutes ago, DrKoob said:

 

You missed some of the best chocolates we have ever had. Tim and Perry bought us this box.

 

 

They were so good, they were worth a trip back.

 

Jim

OMG - those were soooo good!!! That’s also where we had the world’s greatest butter. 

When we got off the Ovation a few days ago a crew member was sitting outside the ship with all of the forbidden items. Two were full size irons!🙄

We usually sail Celebrity and have always requested one for our cruise. Only once have we not gotten it & asked for it as soon as we realized it had not been put on the bed. When we came back after dinner, it was there. We forgot to ask on Ovation of the Seas and I will be making sure we ask before our next cruise on Allure.

It was such an amazing trip. One of our best!

Just saw this on KOMO news this evening. My husband & other agents did a visitation this morning but no mention of any issues. Said she was on her way back to Seattle.