mhurdle127

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Copper10-8,

Seems like you know a lot about staffing on upcoming cruises. Perhaps you could help me with putting together this list of Piano Bar entertainers. Feel free to email me directly at Michael_hurdle@bellsouth.net. Thank you!

Can you find out what the piano bar entertainer Larry's last name is? Putting together a list of piano bar entertainers on all the HAL cruises and would love to find out what his future schedule is, and any review would be great too!

SoloCanadian,

Who was on the Oosterdam when you sailed?

RollieUK,

Jim Fischer's facebook page notes that he will be on the Zuiderdam for 4 weeks.

You are probably correct, RuthC. I took the end date for Derek Floyd based on Debby Bacon coming on the Amsterdam on September 21st. It is very likely that Diane is in there in between the two. I am a pianist myself and have played in many churches and with community theaters across the years, and while I have never played in a bar, I have great respect for those who do this. We always frequent the Piano Bar on HAL ships, so putting together this list is a natural extension of my talents and interests.

Realizing that several people might be interested, I am starting a list of the Piano Bar entertainers per HAL ship for the coming year, based on their websites and other information I can find. So here is the first attempt -- others may want to add information as they find it.

Barry Rocklin (Barry from Boston)

5/31/14-8/9/14 Veendam

9/14/14-11/16/14 Eurodam

1/13/15-7/25/15 Veendam

Michael Sara

4/4/14-11/24/14 Noordam

Jimmy Maddox

Thru 7/20/14 Eurodam

9/7/14-12/5/14 Oosterdam

1/4/15-3/22/15 Nieuw Amsterdam

Jamsheed Master

Thru 8/16/14 Maasdam

9/28/14-1/16/15 Statendam

Derek Floyd

4/28/14 - 9/20/14 Amsterdam

Debby Bacon

9/21/14-12/8/14 Amsterdam

1/5/15-4/30/15 Amsterdam

Please feel free to add information to the thread as you find it. There is an extensive list on the Carnival forum so we should be able to develop a similar one here!

I guess I was thinking more about the bottle water and sodas. We are renting a cabana for four people but there are only two of us. I doubt we will consume all the beverage (especially if we visit the bar a couple of times), but it would be nice to have the sodas for the drive home the next day.

I thought I read somewhere that people who rented Cabanas on HMC and had extra sodas, veggies and fruit left over COULD bring it back to the ship? After all, isn't HMC just an extension of the ship and we did pay for it?!?

Given that there is an air conditioner and refrigerator in the cabanas on HMC, is there any place to plug in other electrical equipment such as a cell phone charger?

Mandy, please join our roll call where you can find out about others who are going on this same cruise!

How much more is the Butler service and what does that get you?

Wish there was a similar list for Holland America! Seems like since they are a sister company to Carnival, that some of the same artists may appear on both lines. How would one go about getting/creating a similar list?

Realizing that several people might be interested, I am starting a list of the Piano Bar entertainers per ship for the coming year, based on their websites and other information I can find. So here is the first attempt -- others may want to add information as they find it. If this gets enough interest, we could post it as a separate thread on the HAL forum --

Artist Date Ship

Barry Rocklin 5/31/14-8/9/14 Veendam

(Barry from Boston) 9/14/14-11/16/14 Eurodam

1/13/15-7/25/15 Veendam

Michael Sara 4/4/14-11/24/14 Noordam

Jimmy Maddox thru 7/20/14 Eurodam

9/7/14-12/5/14 Oosterdam

1/4/15-3/22/15 Nieuw Amsterdam

Jamsheed Master thru 8/16/14 Maasdam

9/28/14-1/16/15 Statendam

Just wondering who we might expect to serve as captain, cruise director, hotel director and entertainment on the Westerdam in late October.

I don't worry in advance as to who is going to be on staff, but it is a pleasant surprise when we run into the same folks on later cruises. We had a wine steward whose name escapes me who was on a later cruise (she referred to herself as our "boozer") and it was a delight to have her serve us a second time. On a cruise we had several years ago with my DW's siblings and their husbands and her parents, we had a MDR steward named Hari, and when we were back on a HAL ship three years ago with our sons, we discovered Hari was working and actually changed our dinner arrangements so that we could have him again.

Thank you.

Is there someplace where we can find photos/features of all the cabanas and prices as well as proximity to (or distance from) the main part of the beach where everybody is?

We are booked on the Westerdam October 25th - November 1st of this year for the Eastern Caribbean cruise. We really want to reserve a cabana for our day at the beach on Half Moon Cay and since we haven't yet been provided the opportunity to book any excursions (since our final payment is not due until August 1), wondering if there will be a problem with being able to reserve it if we wait that late to submit our final payment.

I checked Jimmy Maddox's website and he came off the Westerdam on April 5th and will be appearing on the Eurodam and the Oosterdam later this year. Any way to find out who will be tickling the ivories on the Westy in October of this year?

We booked for an October 25th, 2014, sailing through Expedia/AARP with final payment due on August 1st. Are there any advantages to making the final payment earlier? Will we be subject to an upsell or upgrade offer?

Thank you Tom. This is our first time to drive into Fort Lauderdale rather than a fly-cruise package. We just want to make sure we get on the ship in time for the Mariners Luncheon that starts at noon but also don't want to have to stand in a line at the dock for an excessive period of time.

POA, thank you! We are arriving from Port St. Lucie that morning and will be parking at the Park 'n Go. Booking the reservation in advance and they ask for a time slot, so just trying to find the right time. I originally told them 9:30 but sounds like 10:30 should give us plenty of time.

How early should we plan to be at the port in order to ensure that we can get into the Mariner's Luncheon? We were told that nothing gets started until 11 AM as far as the embarkation process, and that seems to me to be cutting things short if you end up in a long line of folks waiting in the terminal.

We will be boarding HAL Westerdam on Saturday, October 25th, 2014, and are using Park 'n Go. HAL states that they do not start boarding until 11 AM (although somewhere I read they start the paperwork process as early as 10 AM). What time should we plan to get to Park 'n Go in order to board in time for a noon lunch?