Sounds like fun!

17 hours ago, erewhon said:

@richwmn  Rich,  have you discovered the name of the gentleman who will become the Captain on January 3rd?

20 minutes ago, rafinmd said:

I am nearly the ultimate geek when I create fleet maps.  I use 2 almost hidden windows utilities to do it.  The first is "Snip Tool" to capture the map from cruisemapper.  I save the image to a file and then edit it with "Paint".  There's a little "A" in the group of icons at the top.  I click on that and then move the mouse next to a ship, click once to open a box and type in the ship name.  There's a newer version of paint, Paint 3a that should also work.

 

I have no idea how I would do it on an IPAD or a phone.

 

Roy

Working from a desktop or laptop all you need to do is place the mouse pointer on the image and right click. The menu will include copy. You can then paste into paint, or any other graphics program.

3 hours ago, torybruno said:

Is there a way to pre book the 9 of us when we decide which night before boarding?

For a group of 9, if possible you should contact ship's services in advance. (800) 541-1576

December 31, 2023 – Manzanillo, Mexico – New Years Eve!

It is afternoon, I went into port for a little while this morning. It is a beautiful day and the port area was very nice. According to the Cruise / Travel Director last night the port area we visited is new, but he didn’t mention how new. It has a very nice promenade area on the water front with several nice pieces of art. Quite a few vendors were set up, but it is hard to tell if it was just for the ship, or if it is a normal occurrence. The people seemed very friendly. The area looks like it would be a nice area for locals to use when ships are not in town.

15 minutes ago, VMax1700 said:

Do you know if the Acqua Panna 6 x 1 litre bottles are subject to the mariner discount?

As far as I know, everything in the Mini Bar is.

23 minutes ago, kazu said:

 

That seems strange since your internet seems to be working well?  Is the lack of reception just in port or also at sea?

The official line is that geographic conditions make reception of the tv channels poor. Funny thing is that the tv reception seems to magically appear about the same time as the casino and shops open. IMHO it is a licensing or government thing, not a reception problem.

Food Offering -- Complete

December 31, 2023 – Manzanillo, Mexico – New Years Eve!

Good morning from Volendam. I was surprised to see the Lido open at 6am for breakfast since arrival time is 8am, I would have thought 7am or maybe 6:30am. So breakfast is out of the way, along with the menus being available. We should be close to the dock for our day in Manzanillo.

Here are today’s activities –

And the various food offerings –

I was unable to load the other images. I'll try again later.

December 30, 2023 – Zihuatanejo, Mexico

Well, it is evening on Volendam. I have had a very nice day aboard. I didn’t feel like tendering today and maybe that was a good idea. Several people mentioned that the process was a bit rough.

General trivia at 4pm was pretty good. A three person team came in second with one less point than the winning team. They still aren’t giving out much in the way of prizes, so it is all for fun and second place is fine.

The 7pm trivia was beverages and we (team of 4 – different) were again one point behind the winner. That seems to have happened quite a few times this cruise. The questions were pretty good and Rose, who unfortunately is leaving in San Diego, is a good trivia host.

I did the 9pm show in the World Stage because Cantare was again featured. They did a very good selection of love songs. The group harmonizes well, and provide a high energy show. I just checked and they are scheduled for a show on January 5^th, which appears to be different than the two shows from this cruise. I will be glad to see them again.

Tomorrow is New Year’s Eve. There will be two parties, the big one on the Lido Deck in the Pool Area, and a smaller one around the Ocean Bar. They are scheduled to last from 10pm to 12:45am. Should be a good time.

FWIW -- I just checked with the bartender in MIX and it appears that we will not be seeing any of the College Bowl Games on board. At least not the ones played today.

9 minutes ago, LAFFNVEGAS said:

I tried processing my August cruise and it came back stating that I must wait Till August to submit any cruise after July 31, 2024. So what happens if your cruise is the beginning of August.

I find this really strange. I figured I would wait an attempt to do it between March and May.

The stock perk runs from Aug 1st to Jul 31 and has to be renewed at the annual meeting in late April each year. After the meeting you should be able to submit your request.

32 minutes ago, Dismomx5 said:

Can someone direct me to where you see this on your sailings? Mine have never shown up
"in my account" nor on any sailing page, or on my invoices. I'm always "surprised" when I walk into my cabin and check the OBC on the t.v.

The total amount of all HAL/CCL provided onboard credit shows up on your Booking Confirmation, AKA Invoice or Guest Copy. Unfortunately not all travel providers forward this information to you, you must ask for it and sometime push as your agent might not know what it is.

For a discussion, see this thread.

December 30, 2023 – Zihuatanejo, Mexico

To start off, here is our position when I ate breakfast this morning at 7:00am –

I haven’t posted since yesterday morning, so a bit of catching up is in order. I ended up staying on the ship yesterday. Just the way things happened. I did take a few pictures from the ship of the port area.

At 4:15 the Captain had a reception for those of us continuing on to the Grand Australia. Shortly after I arrived I started talking to a nice gentleman who ended up being the Captain who will be taking over on Jan 3^rd. He is a very nice gentleman and we had a good conversation. I also had a chance to speak to the current Captain, Ryan Whitaker, and the Hotel Director, Leonie Henry. I also had a chance to talk to several Cruise Critics members. The bar staff kept the wine and drinks flowing for the length of the meeting, about 45 minutes.

I left there and went to the Dive In and grabbed a quick burger, always good. I then went to the Mix and did trivia. My team did well, 15 of the 17 possible points but four or five teams did better. It was, as always, an enjoyable time.

I stayed in the rest of the evening and slept late this morning. Our port time today is noon to 5:30pm. It is another tender port, but I don’t know how long the tender ride will be.

One thing to note here is that we have not had TV reception in any port. The channels listed are NFL Games, NCAA Football, BBC News, MSNBC, FOX News, Prime One, Prime Favorites, Food Network, HGTV, Travel Channel, Bow Camera, and Aft Camera. The NFL link lists one game today and five tomorrow, while the NCAA link doesn’t list any. I am hopeful that at least part of the Orange Bowl today.

And finally, the menus for this evening

December 29^th, 2023 -- Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

Tonight’s Menus – Main Dining Room and Lido

December 29^th, 2023 -- Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

HAL’s weather lists the current temperature as 63°F/17°C. My phone tells me that the high today is expected to be 80°F, another beautiful day in Mexico. Our position at breakfast was already at Puerto Vallarta.

Today’s stop was one of the frequent stops on the old TV show ‘The Love Boat’. I almost expect to see Gopher, Doc, and Julie somewhere around town. They were usually the ones who got to visit. We arrived and were fully berthed at 7am, but as the Cruise Director said at the show last night, he did not make the announcement until a little after 8am.

Those of us continuing on the the Grand Australia cruise have a meeting with the Captain and Staff this afternoon at 4:15 for cocktails and I suppose instructions for turn around day, which is coming up soon.

Last night I was surprised to see another port map in my mailbox, so here it is –

Along with today’s activities –

I hope everyone has a great day!

I have not been as lucky as some of y'all with the various travel providers I have used. Most of them had no idea what the HAL Invoice was until I convinced them to find it. I also see many replies on this board from people asking what we are talking about when we mention the HAL Invoice. It would be nice, particularly in this electronic age where there is no waste of paper or postage to provide it.

December 28^th, 2023 – Mazatlán, Mexico

At the end of a very good day on Volendam. The weather has again been fabulous. Mild and sunny, with little cloud cover. I had spaghetti for dinner which was good, followed by cherry pie and ice cream – all from the Lido. Four pm trivia went well, but not great. A little relaxation followed by the 7pm trivia which was all about money. My team was me along with a couple and their son. This has been my team for several of the trivia sessions. We did pretty good, scoring 14 out of 17 but not winning.

At 9:00pm I went to the show. The performer was a Ukranian billed as an instrumentalist. He started out with two very good songs by Billy Joel, then touched on Classical, and the Beatles. Over the course of the show he played Piano, Accordion, Trumpet, and a small island instrument. It was a very good show and well received by a good sized audience. I believe he said he will be continuing on to the first part of the Grand Australia.

5 minutes ago, crystalspin said:

My PCC sends me a new one with any and every change.

You are lucky, could be that your PCC knows your preferences and does it. I had several PCCs before I tried a Travel Agent that would not send one unless asked.

On many threads some of our long term posters answer questions with something like it is on your invoice, pg so and so. This puzzles many people because they have never seen what we are  talking about. In fact, many travel providers including PCCs, TAs, and HAL agents don't bother to send it. I was talking to my current agent and I was told that the company has a policy that they don't provide the HAL Invoice. I get them because I have been very pushy about them sending one each time something changes.

I thought I would show a HAL Invoice for an upcoming cruise, with my personal information removed.

This is page 1. Note that it contains the basic information about the cruise, the price, who booked it for you and any onboard credit you might be getting from HAL. It also shows if you booked air, cabin, and category.

This is page 2. Note that it shows your total fare again, with a line for what you have paid.

This page also shows if you have purchased the protection plan from HAL, and the penalty dates.

Then it shows anything included such as wifi, drink package, excursions, etc and information about those items.

This is page 3, with some information about your particular booking, such as this particular cruise for me is a guarantee.

Any finally, page 4 (and to the end) which shows your itinerary and any special instructions for the ports you will be visiting. This information includes tender ports, wheelchair accessibility, tide warnings, over nights, and any other information that might effect your cruise.

Again I must state loudly -- A large number of Travel Providers do NOT provide this information unless YOU tell them you have to have it. You must be pro-active. This is the official record of what HAL is providing. Your travel provider may add items over and above what HAL provides.

December 28^th, 2023 – Mazatlán, Mexico

And we are off to our next destination. We do have a time change again tonight, back to West Coast time. The weather here has been great and the air fresh. I didn’t go into town today, and enjoyed a relaxing day aboard.

A couple of images from the ship –

December 28^th, 2023 – Mazatlán, Mexico

The ship has been cleared, but before I head off, here is tonight’s menu for the Main Dining Room

29 minutes ago, StLouisCruisers said:

I remember those wine names that I couldn't figure out, too!  I'm certainly no expert on wines!!  I believe what I finally ended up doing is to copy and paste the name of the wine as shown on Halfacts.com/daily.  Then I pasted into my search engine and it nearly always came up with the proper name.

The garble comes from special characters that I can't figure out how to get the halfacts server to display. When I am at home and posting in the morning I do put what exists into a search engine it it does come up with other entries for the same wine. I generally try to correct it when I can.

9 minutes ago, julia said:

@richwmn

When you get a chance, could you please post the latest minibar menu here on this thread? Thx!

I am in an outside cabin, so my mini bar is not as extensive as the larger cabins. I'll see if I can get one from a verandah.

Acqua Panna (1 Liter) $6

Soft Drinks (Coke, Diet Coke, Sprite) $2.95

Acqua Panna 6 1 liter bottles for $27

Open Water 12 12 Oz Cans $33.75

only the 1ltr and 6 sodas are in my outside cabin

The "no host mini bar" is not free. You will be charged for anything you take from it. It is also not included in any beverage package. However, if you are 3 star or above you will get a discount on the items you use.