ottahand7

Good morning from Manta, Ecuador. We crossed the Equator around 4 while all were asleep. We both are battling wifi issues because we had "vampire" Kindle readers eating up all our internet. I have been in Guest Services lines more than I ever have imagined. Our cruise has been wonderful so far other than a ship of sniffling, sneezing and coughing passengers battling bad colds. John is laid up with it currently. I am so glad I packed my nebulizer because I have been using it a lot. We had our Block Party last night and with free wines it was well attended and fun. Only thing that broke it up was it was Gala night and people had to get to dinner. Today we will walk around this fishing town and just relax. Food and service on this ship has been excellent and we are meeting some nice folks. Prayers for all on our Care list and the people of Ukraine. Photos sunrise at sea Tuesday,sloth reserve Gamboa Panama, Chaga (Crocodile) River Gamboa, Panama Canal viewing stands, last night's Gala dinner, Manta. Have a wonderful day! Nancy

We are past the first locks in the canal. We are inside because port side is frying us. I am still battling my cold and so glad I packed my nebulizer so I don't get bronchitis. Second time I had to go to my "what if" suitcase under the bed in 5 days. Day 2 I ripped my shin on the plywood corner of the bed so I had to fetch my wound care kit. Mishaps are over! I can't handle any heat though we did go on our Monster bus in Puerto Limon yesterday and it was well air conditioned and fun. Saw the poison dart frogs and a sloth in the wild. No monkeys but many pretty birds when I did my own excursion at our rest stop. Griping part 2. I did my feedback about lack of pm happy hours and I got a call yesterday afternoon from Fernando Chief Wine Steward and afternoon happy hours are returning . No it is still 50% off a couple of draft beers in Mix pre-dinner. Probably getting stale. It is 50% everything off in the 9-11 hours. Boo. I thought maybe it was to keep people from mingling prior to Covid testing but I guess not. Everyone on the Zuiderdam has to keep wearing theirs. We will have a relaxing day with canal transit and I hope that I am better tomorrow. Prayers for all on our Care list and the people of Ukraine. Have a nice Sunday. Nancy

Good Saturday morning. Prayers for all on our Care list including @JazzyV, @kazu and @Scrapnana. Thank you for the Daily and Fleet Reports Roy! We are at in Puerto Limon with the Zuiderdam. We have a shore excursion this afternoon to do a jungle tour. Sadly I have a bad cold so I had to drag my suitcase out from under our bed and get my nebulizer out. That is what I have to do whenever I get a respiratory infection. Thank God it isn't Covid. Our day yesterday. Canaletto, wine tasting and a beautiful sunset. Have a great Saturday! Nancy

Thanks for all your replies today. I can send some feedback that we are definitely an outlier and not directed by "corporate" to only have a night time happy hour. On a happier note the Volendam Mariner reception had free flowing sparkling, white and red wine. I am sure that many of us went back to our cabins for a bit of a nap and celebrating no more masks (we met our less than 2% threshold) and enjoying our Mariner reception. 🍾🍷

Printed in our Daily program. Responding to complaints I guess. 50% off some beers. Volendam Saturday events.

So sad to hear about Jacqui and Kathi. @kazu and @Scrapnana. Prayers for their speedy recoveries. Passed our Covid tests and less than 2% positive. Masks are off for now. 😀 A drunken afternoon with 3 and 4 Star reception on the heels of the 5 star reception. I think that Fernando the Chief WS said we went through 300 bottles Then the gratis wine tasting for 4+5 Star Mariners. We did get to the World Stage for the history of the Panama Canal. Everyone is having a.grand time. Some feedback on Happy Hour scheduling on BHBs. Waited for a wee bit more. Costa Rica tomorrow then our evening passage through the Panama Canal. Have a weekend! Nancy

Toot toot! 😂🙀

No deal on drinks makes for a dead.bar. A lively spot encourages more banter or casino time. Really lonely in Mix and casino. Might as well go back to cabin to rest up tomorrow. Boring.....

Holland ships are nicknamed Blue Hulled Beauties. BHB Check out Roger Jett photography he was photos of all things HA and probably a photo of the De Groff cocktails. No antibiotics in the cocktail.

We are currently on the Volendam and for some reason the happy hours have been moved to 8-9 in the Sea View Bar and 9-10 pm in the Mix. 20% off any drink. I was doing my usual wait in the Guest Services line and ahead of me an elderly gentleman was complaining about Happy Hour times. He said I go to bed at 8:30 and probably another 1/3 of this ship turns in early also. He was told that is the way it is. We asked our Mix bartender about this and he opined it was fleet wide. Now I heard from someone in our Daily and the Zuiderdam has usual Happy Hours in the afternoon to packed bars. Our bars and casino are ghost towns before we usually retire around 9:30. I would like some examples so when I gripe on Navigator I have examples. Thanks in advance. Complaining does work sometimes. On our NYE cruise on the Volendam we complained a key ingredient in the De Groff cocktail Penicillin was not stocked. Their reply to what they use is we substitute. Nothing is like Laphroaig. We griped about it and the chief wine steward stopped at our table and said Laprhoaig is back in stock. I hope we can get back to afternoon Happy Hours instead of trying to squeeze another quarter out of passengers that spend a great deal to fill this ship for a 74 day cruise. Cheers! 🥃🍷🍾

Prayers for your complete recovery @Scrapnana. 🙏

I have a question for all aboard BHBs right now. Our happy hours are now only from 9-11pm each evening in 2 different bars. This is already spreading round the ship and causing complaints. Please let me know if this fleet wide. That is the excuse we got in the Mix bar last night. What is happening on your ship? Bon Voyage @GTVCRUISER 🍾🍷⛴️

Good Friday morning! Covid test day today around noon. Great news! Our chief wine steward stopped by at dinner last night and my Laprhoaig Scotch has been restocked. It is a gray day but still early so it hopes it burns off. Busy middle day, Covid test, 3 and 4 Star Mariner reception then our complimentary wine tasting at 2. Thanks for the Daily, Fleet, Cares and Celebration reports @rafinmd! Prayers for all on our Care list and the people of Ukraine. Food porn from last couple of nights. Nancy

Another HA change which is kind of unfair considering the average age on this cruise. While doing my usual 20 minutes in the Guest services line an elderly gentleman was complaining about Happy Hour time changes which are now 20% off in sea view 9-10 and 10-11 in Mix. He said I go to bed at 8:30. 😥 She said there is a 50% off beer for an hour in the Lido. 🙄 Just trying to squeeze another nickel out of a loyal passenger. We did the math and we are buying 8 bottle wine package #1 and will consume them in the bars but for Mix we have to transport ourselves. At least they have gotten Coke zero back in stock but the whiskey/whisky selections are poor. All we got were excuses from the beverage manager. Probably too lazy to order and log them in.

Yes we can have all delivered to our cabin and I understand Ocean Bar will keep them too.

On the Volendam and have had issues with packages. We did figure buying the cheapest 8 bottle package with my 4 Star discount would be better than buying our wine by the glass. I had pre purchased 2 package #2 with 8 bottles. First night in the MDR we pointed out our sticker on the back of the card but I had to dispute a $66 charge for our bottle of Meiomi. We tried to buy an 8 bottle package 1 in Mix bar and were told it was not possible. I had to order a bottle from one of my 8 bottle package 2. We were told to buy our package 1 in MDR and carry a bottle to Mix. We did that but I was charged the full amount and had to wait in line for 20 minutes to dispute my charges. While waiting in line a.gentleman was quite upset there were no afternoon happy hours. He was told from 12-1 there is a half price beer in the Lido or at night in the Crow's Nest to which he replied I go to bed at 8:30. Haven't been able to validate it. Check your statements. Nancy

We are now in Jamaica. A couple of new things for our cruise. Happy hour is now 20% off not buy one second 25%off. Last night at our table of 8 in the MDR was a couple who are in a Neptune Suite. They were told they are not serving breakfast in the PG for this trip because of staffing issues though it was open during the NY cruise. They have a "special section" in the MDR where they can enjoy cold coffee and a 45 minute wait like the rest of us. We had gotten a NS quote when we booked last February. I would be really ticked after paying $100k to have a terrific perk taken away. We eat in the Lido after one try in MDR for breakfast. Coffee is hot and self serve means hot food. Tomorrow is Covid testing and after that I hope the masks can come off. I wore one all through the NYE cruise and am ready to get a break from them. I don't know if @lindalerwas on the Daily yesterday but she was signing us in at our Meet and Greet and she said her badly scuffed bags with all her clothes intact made it to her cabin late Tuesday night. So happy for her. Nancy

Good Thursday morning. I hope my wifi works better than yesterday. I had a long post wiped out last evening. We are having a great time, our Meet and Greet was nice with about 200 in attendance in the Crow's Nest. It seems almost all showed up, very few unclaimed name tags. Jamaica today at 10am we are staying aboard. It was great hearing the answering horn toots with the Zuiderdam and the Volendam when we left port. We will be in port with her in Puerto Limon and Fuerto Amador. Then we part ways with us going south. Big hiccup when we had our in transit day. I kept getting phone calls to see if I was aboard. Finally I was able to get to the front desk and they had switched my picture with John's so he was onboard twice according to facial recognition. She laughed when I told her I needed a new photo and saw what they had. All straight, hopefully my accounts and my internet will be back to normal. Prayers for all on our Care list and the people of Ukraine. Nancy

@ger_77bon voyage. 🍾 A day in the ether dark for me. HA is having a hard time nailing me down exactly who I am. After in transit yesterday checking out and back in I had two different calls to make sure I was onboard all the while

Some photos from our 2022 visit to Amber Cove. Thanks for the Daily Reports and the Care and Celebration lists again @rafinmd. Prayers for the Buffalo player, all on our list and the people of Ukraine. Have a wonderful day. Nancy

Good morning. We are in port in Port Everglades. We will go through in transit activities around 9:30 and will then be allowed to reboard. Our bags will be moved. Watch for us at sail away around 5 pm. We are port side Vista 6206. We will be on our balcony and I will wave my purple Ravens flag. Really excited about our upcoming adventure. Have a wonderful day! Nancy

Watch for Nancy and John Vista suite Port 6206 at sail away on the Volendam. We are on for the entire 74 days. I will be waving my purple Ravens flag. We are arriving now. Pilot boat woke us at 5:20 off our Dolphin deck cabin.

Good Monday morning. Thanks to the Fleet Report I see HMC will be rather quiet with just and the Zuiderdam. We will go ashore if it is the large tender. We passed our Covid tests yesterday and are preparing to move to our Vista tomorrow. They gave us our in transit packet but no cards. Called and asked for them but haven't been delivered yet. Probably another trip to the front desk. Thank you for sending the Daily and the Care and Celebration reports each day @rafinmd. Prayers for all on our Care list and the people of Ukraine. We have a gorgeous sunrise here today but not from our cabin. Have a great day! Nancy

@Cat in my lapHappy Anniversary! 🍾🎂

@XBGuygreat wine line up last night. Yes there was a bit of that Y'quem left. Probably there was some enjoyed by some officers last night.