DesrtDrmr

Mixed up

One pair tansandals, one pair metallic sandals, one pair flip flops for showers.........that’s all. I used to take a suitcase full.....nobody ever noticed any, so this is easier,

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I'm so old I remember when adults didn't have to be told what was inappropriate dress for dinner out.

 

 

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Me,too! They also didn’t have to be told what appropriate dress was.

They wore socks, dress shoes, slacks (no such things as dress jeans——-jeans were work pants), a woven pressed shirt, and, depending on the occasion, a jacket and tie. This description covered private parties, church attendance, school special occasions, weddings, funerals, and, yes, office work. What a difference!

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We have stayed at the LaQuinta near the airport. Free shuttle from the airport, clean, friendly and a free breakfast. There are three or four in the area. The one we have been in had a pay shuttle to the port. Also, pets are allowed so you might hear a woof or two but never a problem for us, but someone with allergies might have a problem. People with pets are restricted to particular rooms so you won’t be in a pet friendly room. They do have a website.

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I was going to say the same thing! dh and I always use our passports when we fly. I am sorry for what happened to the OP, but each passenger is responsible for having the proper ID when boarding.

 

 

 

For the "Experts" could the op have used their "cancel for any reason" insurance? It says "for any reason" maybe they could have gotten some of their money back...

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Congratulations!!!

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I don’t think your husband would have any problems on sun decks. I go anywhere with mine and just stay on scooter or sit in chair with scooter right next to it.Have a great cruise!

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My husband may try using a scooter for the first time due to mobility issues when having to walk long distances. Going to be on a very large ship and I know he will want to sunbathe and just access the outdoor areas on the upper decks. While he would be able to walk from the scooter to a lounge chair, I’m worried about a place to park the scooter - perhaps somewhere not too far from an elevator lobby. Or anywhere out of the way on such a deck where he would still be able to access it to get to another venue or our cabin. I don’t think I’ve ever noticed anyone using a scooter on an upper sun deck or pool deck. Perhaps I just wasn’t paying attention. Anyone have experience with this?

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So sad.....

You can look up Cruise Ship Island Escape on You Tube. Island Escape is the name of the ship after RCI sold her. Last info I found was that she had a different name and was headed to be a refuge ship, or was going to the breakers, but kept having a new life suggested, but not finished. I saw she was still around in 2016. We loved this ship on our four day jaunt out of L.A. in 1995.

Spring 2018 can’t wait!

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Thank you very much.

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L1. Can anyone tell me about internet packages on HAL? How much? Any advantage to signing up before or after boarding?

2. Do non alcohol beverage packages include coffees

. 3 Does Carnival Corp offer onboard credit for stockholders? If so, where do we fax?

Thank you.

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We are on a cruise in October 2018. The excursions are already available and one that we were very interested in has already booked up and was wait listed by the end of September 2017. We've just joined a private shore excursion to the same place for that port. Never hurts to be checking and researching excursions far in advance.

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I'm sorry to read of your disappointing Christmas cruise. We had a numb er on HAL that were as I described. I know there sometimes is a lack of consistency but seems we got lucky. I know amongg the HAL ships we sailed for Christmas, were Maasdam, Rotterdam, Amsterdam, and I'm not sure which others. I should refer tomy Mrainer Society list of cruises on HAL web site.

 

The Best New Years cruise we had on HAL ship was Rotterdam where we ushered in the year 2000.. We sailed the Millenium Chistmas and New Years cruises, b-to-b and tthey were outstanding........ as one would expect ,for Millenium. :) year 2000

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1. Can anyone tell me about internet packages on HAL? How much? Any advantage to signing up before or after boarding?

2. Do non alcohol beverage packages include coffees?

3. We haven’t been on HAL since mid nineties, but are elite on Princess. Does Carnival Corp offer onboard credit for stockholders? If so, where do we fax our statement

I kept looking for answers to these questions, couldn’t find them, but knew that HAL afficianados would know......... Thanks in advance! We are really looking forward to renewing our acquaintance with the lovely Holland American brand.

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Well of course if the original price was too much anyway I probably would not get it. Right now I am wearing a darling sherbert orange, V-neck top with tropical scene on the front (says Princess Cruises on the bottom) that I picked up for $13.00. Original price tag was over $35.00. They had beautiful "yoga" type pants and tops in a mauve and dusky turquoise that were very reasonably priced as well.

Like anyplace you have to decide if the price and value is for you. I'm a watch gal and the BT $10.00 ones are great, I have dozens and so what if they stop or wear out/break, it's only $10.00 but all the ones I have have lasted and lasted. Costs nothing to check out the sales.

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Larking around happens and accidents happen, my sympathies go out to the parents. I just hope that this doesn’t result in some knee jerk over-reaction to raise every railing by 12 inches and put safety catch nets in every atrium. You cannot make everything in the world absolutely safe.

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The nice ticket folders that were sent out with our tickets,

The elegant "formal" not gala nights!

Crew show last night

Waiters, bartenders that knew your name immediately.

The bells personally rung on each deck before dinner.

Haven't been on HAL since mid nineties so don't really know what's there, But am looking forward to checking it out next Spring. We had such fun on those early cruises.

Tons of games with British descriptions. The Captain actually mingling with the passengers at Captains party........

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1995- Nieuw Amsterdam-7 day Ca ribbean desalinisation broke down....everything really salty..…they wouldn't even supply bottled water, not great for high blood pressure.

1996 - Veendam

Next HAL - 2018 - Rotterdam

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We had a special anniversary and booked a suite on the Royal. We were very disappointed that the balcony was about the size of the one pictured on this thread but twice as long. We've also been in a balcony and a club class mini on the Royal and they were almost the same as the picture. We had to have an accessible cabin so not much choice on location. We were on the first bump with the mini, which was a little tiny bit bigger. We will not book that class of ship again! I think Princess made a mistake with balcony sizing, but the ships are lovely. We have been sailing Princess for many years but our next cruise is on HAL which we haven't been aboard for 20 years........guess we'll see how different it is now.

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Thanks for posting these. Your other ones got disabled :(

Sometimes it helps to remove the arms of the scooter to make it narrower. We have parked it in the bathroom, closet, or behind the drapes. We also have disassembled it when necessary.

Have a great trip.

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Thanks - I'll try to get a little more "scooter education" before the trip. I've made a note to ask the maitre d in the main dining room to get a table near the door. I'm doing "open seating," so I think that will work just fine.

 

 

 

I live about 125 miles north of Pier 91, so I won't have to deal with airlines this trip. I'm planning to drive down the day before and stay with a friend overnight, leaving my car there, and taking a service like Already There or Lyft to the terminal the morning of departure. I'm trying to keep things as simple as possible as I tend to "overthink" things sometimes.

 

 

 

I hope I don't appear ungrateful -- I honestly appreciate all the tips and advice I've gotten and I've really thought a lot about it and even discussed it with some cruise-veteran friends who know me "up close and personal" and have seen me in action. And I will absolutely be putting a lot of the suggestions into practice. I understand that I'm taking some risk by not securing the use of a scooter for this trip, but based on the experiences I've had traveling, I honestly feel the risk is minimal. If I'm wrong, based on prior experience, the worst that can happen is that I'll end up spending a little more time in/around my room/veranda, and either grazing in the Neptune Lounge or getting room service, and frankly, I can think of worse ways to spend 2 weeks than cruising among incredible scenery, watching the vast array of mountains/glaciers/critters/towns, partaking of superb cuisine. I plan to take a lot of notes and will definitely report back as to how things went -- what things worked and what didn't, where I had the biggest challenges, what were the biggest surprises, etc. I don't know -- maybe my experience can help someone else who struggles with the decision. At worst, it can serve as a sort of "don't do what *I* did -- here's what can go wrong ... "

 

 

 

And if it looks like I really should use a scooter onboard in order to enjoy more of the cruise experience, I will gladly arrange to rent one for my next trip: July 18, 2018, 38 days, Holland America, Voyage of the Vikings on the Rotterdam. I'll have plenty of time to get more comfortable with the scooter machinery and with the idea that I need that level of "help." I know for certain that it will eventually become obvious even to pig-headed me that I need to use mobility aids -- I'm just not "there" yet.

 

 

 

Thanks again ...

 

 

 

Lana in Bellingham

Have a great trip, Lana,and enjoy all that beautiful scenery!

Laine

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Nassau, Grand Turk, HMC, and Amber cove: I'm trying to find out if any of these have the young men with the bicycle type transportation to take you to the cruise port. We've used this at cozumel and it worked out great!

When I was in Amber Cove in April, and Grand Turk a couple of years ago, I did not see any transport between the ship and the tourist area, just long docks. Both places are very similar with jewelry, craft shops, souvenir shops, tshirt places, Margaritaville or margaritaville type restaurants. They both seemed rather new and sterile, but, maybe have more landscapińg by now........

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It might be of interest to you to stop by a medical mobility shop near your home and check out the scooters. The people there would be glad to show you how to use one and what type would be best for you. You could also try out the ones in the grocery store. They are built a bit differently and are slower than the travel ones, but you could check out the motion. It might even be good to have that knowledge in case you are having a bad day one day and need one.

Also, ships move, and passéngers move. Even though you have done very well situating yourself near elevators, you may be standing there for some time waiting. The buffet is larger than you might think and after you hike around getting your food, you are going to have to find a place to sit. The crew members, think busboys and girls, always volunteer to carry your tray/plate to a table for you and that's a help.

Sometimes the gangways change angles between your getting off and getting back on the ship in port due to the tides.

When you embark at the beginning of your cruise you may wish to find the maitre d of your dining room and see if you can be accommodated near the entrance of the dining room.

Do carry a bunch of dollars for tips to the folks that push your wheelchair in the airport, the porters at the port, room service wait people and anyone else you might like to recognize along the way.

Please don't think any of us are criticizing you, we just want to help........we've all been there.

Have a great cruise and please come back and tell us how you did!

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