ORTravelGal

On 4/15/2024 at 12:43 PM, 1of4 said:

This difference goes to Scenic: toilet paper, unless HAL has upped their ply level from 1. Scenic uses quilted toiled paper that is soft and is 2-3 ply. 

I just got off HAL’s Rotterdam today and I’m pleased to advise we had 2-ply TP on the entire 14-day transatlantic crossing. 😉

We just got off Rotterdam today following our transatlantic crossing to Rotterdam from Fort Lauderdale. As @SeeSun&Sea mentioned above, Chordial Chamber Trio was onboard and they were great.

HAL really stepped up the entertainment on this trip. It appears they are listening to guest feedback and working hard to deliver a better experience (one that was more in line with the pre-Covid experience.)

I was quite pleased. 

We are currently on Rotterdam, left Ft. Lauderdale yesterday and are making our way to Rotterdam just in time for the King’s Day celebrations.

Food has been very good so far & I’m happy to report no signs of chair hogs. Plenty of seats around the pool areas and I have not noticed an overwhelming amount of cigarette smoke smell as I’ve walked through or near the casino. 

Gosh, thank you for so many warm welcomes. What a friendly group you are. 
 

@marshhawk Yes, onboard Rotterdam now. We left Ft. Lauderdale today and are heading across the Atlantic on our way to Rotterdam. 
 

In very sad news, and you may have already seen it elsewhere, the ship lost a crew member overnight last night. They discovered the employee was missing this morning as embarkation was underway and, after reviewing camera footage they determined the employee intentionally went overboard last night around 9:45pm between Cuba and the Florida Keys. The Coast Guard has been called in to perform a search. The captain announced all of this shortly after we left Ft. Lauderdale. Prayers go out to the crew member, their loved ones and the entire crew, who aren’t able to take a moment to grieve because the show must go on. Heartbreaking. 
 

As if the above wasn’t bad enough, about four hours into the cruise it was announced a crew member was critically ill and we’d be turning back toward West Palm who another vessel could retrieve the ill crew member. That process and been completed and we are truly on our way now. I’m sure it’s been an all around very rough day for the crew. 

@puppycanducruise @StLouisCruisers @kazu @grapau27 Thank you for such a warm welcome to your very special Daily. I hope it was not out of line for me to barge in and comment. 
 

I love the quote about not regretting one moment of life. It is worth remembering!

Greetings from Ft. Lauderdale! We board ms Rotterdam today to accompany her back home to Rotterdam, arriving on King’s Day. 
 

Jacqui, we have a most excellent Meet & Mingle planned thanks to your terrific information. Your time in providing details is most appreciated. 
 

Have a great day everyone!

@CateMD There are a few "roll calls" for this trip; one for the first two weeks and another for people who are doing the full three week trip.  Please check those out, if you haven't already and let us know if you're interested in joining our Cruise Critic Roll Call Meet & Mingle session on April 14, for a social gathering to meet other travelers on this trip.

3 hours ago, Horizon chaser 1957 said:

So three weeks out and our Standby cruise is now on sale through HAL for $3/ day less than what we payed for standby. That’s for an inside guarantee, which is what Standby gives us. For about $70 more in total, we could have chosen and locked in our favorite Special K cabin. However the point of this was to try out the program, so nothing lost.

Can you call HAL and just ask to be moved to the "confirmed" group of sailors and off the standby list?

3 hours ago, Laurie59 said:

Much happier 

The suspense is killing me.  So, did you take it?

6 minutes ago, Ipeeinthepools said:

 
 

I gave him the Stink Eye after about 4 minutes and he lowered the volume but continued the call.

I would flat out say very loudly “why do you think the rest of us want to hear your call, will you please take it off speaker or move elsewhere?”

What an awesome trip report! I thoroughly enjoyed following along & living vicariously through those on the trip. You should all receive compensation from HAL as I’m certain the bookings for the 2025 & 2026 sailings soared as people read what a great time you were having. I truly hope to join in 2026. Would love to join in 2025 but we are getting a new puppy this fall and it will be too soon to leave her in February. 

@Drcody Here’s the roll call for your trip. Hopefully you can find someone in the group who can join you. We’ll be on HAL’s Rotterdam for a transatlantic just about a week later. Looking forward to our own stop in the Azores. 
 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2905542-april-5-2024-oosterdam-eastbound-trans-atlantic-fll-barcelona/

It has been this way for my husband and me for years (maybe even decade +), regardless of how we book. It has never come up as a question at all. I traveled 50% with my job and not once was it a problem. 
 

Even then, the names are not 100% correct. As an example, let’s say husband’s name is Michael Kent Smith (it’s not), yet it will show up as MichaelKen Smith (without the “t”) and this isn’t an issue. I assume there is a character limit and the “t” exceeds that limit. 

As someone who worked from home, and considered myself a remote worker, the last 12 years prior to my early retirement, I was shocked just now to learn they are not the same thing. Who knew…

IMO, they are the same. 

We are booked on HAL for a transatlantic in April. Prior to booking I seriously considered Celebrity’s Apex ship but after doing a fair amount of research between the Apex & Rotterdam, I chose HAL. I found lots of poor reviews about the infinite veranda and, ultimately, HAL won out. 
 

I’ve never really doubted our decision to choose HAL for the TA (although the trip hasn’t even happened yet) but this thread confirms for me that we made the right decision.

Thank you to OP for your feedback. Hopefully the rest of your “sentence” goes by quickly. 

For anyone who wants to read the full NYT article that @TableGirl linked on the previous page, this link should allow you to view it without subscribing:

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/29/smarter-living/norovirus-prevention-stomach-flu-winter.html?unlocked_article_code=1.Zk0.tfqi.00dy8oNtKuuF&smid=url-share

On the other hand, you may not care much about reading about puke and other bodily functions when you’re on vacation, and I would understand that completely. 

@BermudaBound2014 Sounds like the PERFECT day to me!  My TA trip on Rotterdam is now officially "next month" and all the updates on this thread are really helping me to get even more excited.  Hoping to join you & the others on this Hawaii/Tahiti trip in either 2025 or 2026.

@kazu I emailed you directly regarding a Meet & Greet the April Rotterdam TA crossing group is trying to setup. Will you let me know here if you don’t receive it? Thank you. 
 

Jennifer

Ugh...playing music in public without headphones, watching videos on their phone without headphones (and they always seem to be political in nature, as if they really do intend for everyone else to hear the video) and phone calls via FaceTime or on speaker phone in public (where they always talk louder than their normal voice) drive me batty!  Why don't many people have a sense of awareness of their environment and what it takes to be courteous to others?  /off soap box

Thanks for the info @yellowjacket_cruiser and @crystalspin. Now back to your regularly scheduled programming…

@BermudaBound2014 I did see the photos and it looks pretty nice & spacious. I just worry about feeling “trapped” if I can’t sit on my balcony and enjoy the outside without being around other people. You know, sometimes just wanting & enjoying solitude. 
 

@canadianbear I would still buy WiFi as I wouldn’t want to not have any contact with my husband or other friends/family while on such a long trip. When I looked at adding HIA to next year’s Hawaii/Tahiti trip in a solo cabin, they wanted close to 5K additional $ for it. I’m pretty sure WiFi and by-the-drink costs would come in way less than that. I’d want to make sure AARP OBC & shareholder OBC could still be available, although not necessarily a dealbreaker. If you do the Alaska trip in a solo, I think it’s only available on Konigsdam as far as the Alaska ships go. For our upcoming transatlantic in April, my mom & I each have our own balcony rooms (connecting) and we paid the double occupancy rate for each of them. 

Thanks once again for the recommendation for Google Translate. We were in Hawaii a few weeks ago and we were trying to determine if a dish in the condo was microwave safe. Unfortunately, all the writing on the bottom of the dish was in Japanese. I launched Google Translate, held my phone’s camera lens up to the writing on the dish and was able to see all the writing in English. This thing is perfection and will really come in handy on our HAL transatlantic (at the ports) in a few months. 

My goodness…you sure are up early & quite productive this morning. 
 

Those of you on this trip have me looking at room options for next year’s sailing. I even found a solo oceanview stateroom. I didn’t really expect to see that online as I thought they required a phone call. I don’t normally look at anything less than a balcony, so that may be why I hadn’t seen a solo before. By the way, these were “private” fares that showed a bit of discount. Do people generally book HIA on these longer trips, or buy the desired extras separately?

@BetsyS. thank you so much. We’re really looking forward to it and think the separate, yet adjoining, rooms will be perfect. We’ll be happy to have the additional space and since our sleep cycles are not the same, the ability to stay up later (in my case) or wake up earlier (my mom) without impacting the other person should be really nice. I appreciate hearing from someone else who has done the same!

Thanks for the input on the thermal spa. Honestly, I think we’re more likely to use it 2-3 times max on our upcoming transatlantic trip, so booking individual days will still only be half the cost of booking for the entire trip. I’ll plan to stop by the spa on embarkation day & choose a few days then. I understand it’s possible they’ll sell out before then, but I’m willing to risk it. If I ***** & moan about it later, I hope someone will remind me of this post. 
 

The flowers are lovely, what a beautiful & unexpected gift! Speaking of flowers…just yesterday I purchased flowers online for our TA trip. My mom & I are going and we each have our own (adjoining) room. I ordered flowers for both of us and I chose the ones in the poppy vase for myself. The flowers & a robe are surprise (early Mother’s Day) gifts to my mom from hubby & me.
 

I am really enjoying this live thread. It’s helping me get more excited about our April trip and even has me seriously considering next year’s Tahiti/Hawaii trip. By the way, I believe HAL has it marked as a Legendary Voyage on their website. It only makes sense…legendary people go on legendary voyages, right?