Dobby36

Zuiderdam September 2, Quebec 7 days

thanks!

On 4/3/2023 at 4:48 AM, sailing sue said:

Just wondering if there is a store at the Tortola cruise port where I can purchase beer and wine to take onboard. Thank you

There was a rum and speciality liquor shop in the area you walk through while exiting.  But it didn’t seem to be any savings and we were walking further anyhow so eventually we found a drugstore that had a full, chilled selection of beers and liquors.  You should be fine to find something easily along your way.  

Haven’t been anything longer than 2 weeks yet, but have my eye on a few longer voyages in years to come. Thanks all for the tips and inspiration. Cheers! 

9 hours ago, pirate cruiser said:

Since we are on this topic-we will be on the Oosterdam in the Med. in sept. The ship info says there is some type of gameroom/arcade-would someone give me some specifics on what this is ? Thanks.

On our last Oosterdam sailing last month it was closed to grownups in evenings (I assume the few kids on board needed care then?) but otherwise open to all in days.  It had a few skeeball machines, a few video arcade machines, a couple pinball machines, a giant Jenga set, a number of physical game sets (think cornhole) and some other built in puzzles and activities in the space like a children’s museum might have.  Looked fairly new, prob done in the past few years.  All the machines were free for use without any payment.  

Thanks Nancy.  That 15 counting “alcohol only” was the way it was explained to me on the Oosterdam last month, but I can’t say I kept an accurate tally (I was throwing them back trying!) so I really can’t say with confidence.  But nothing ever showed up on my bill and I feel like I was north of 15 if they had factored in all the waters, coffees etc…

RE: your have it all question, sounds as if you got it as the “ have it all plus” that is a benefit of early booking and includes crew appreciation.  That Elite designation means your drinks can each be of a higher dollar amount, and can total 15 of the alcoholic variety per day.  The nonalcoholic beverages are unlimited in the elite (not capped to 15) and don’t affect alcoholic drink limit.  The HIA you got also should include “premium” internet….time will tell what that means with Starlink in 2025.  

I was on the Oosterdam last month and they had Tango lessons the first night.  I figured it was just a daily special feature since we were in Buenos Aires that day and the day prior. Nope, as it turns out they offered some dance lessons on each day of the cruise. (I suppose the dancers were already onboard, so might as well keep them working?) Not sure if there was ballroom, but there was more than just tango. Not my thing, but I walked by Rolling Stone Rock Room twice while they were going on and they surprised me by how well attended they were! Especially given there were only 2 teens, and mostly an older crowd aboard.  

3 hours ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

 

That's what I do. I tend to book early, so it's easy to get the category I want while booking the least expensive category. 

 

 

Have you actually done CO to get a price drop after the original booking is made? The info I can find only says something about an "alternative benefit."

 

yes, I’ve done the CO add to get a price drop after original booking was made. Just last week for a Sept cruise on Zuiderdam, for 2 cabins.  It brought the price down hundreds of dollars by adding CO and adjusting from the top of the category price to the lowest. I used a PCC through HAL directly.  It was originally a booking made onboard. I even retained the same booking# which makes me believe it really was an adjustment, not a cancellation+rebooking within their system (makes little difference to me, but FYI)

On the Oosterdam last week, the Captain said during his talk (someone asked) it’s likely Galley tours will come back at some point as things stabilize post COVID restart, but that engine or bridge tours  are likely a thing of the past. They are also working on expanded “virtual” tours for what that’s worth…

On 3/13/2023 at 1:07 PM, 0106 said:

@GeorgeCharlieThank you for your detailed trip report. I appreciate your private tour info. We are thinking about booking a cruise on the Oosterdam which includes Antarctica in January 2024.  What do you think is a better embarkation port, Santiago or Buenos Aires?  I was wondering if east to west or west to east made a difference in the Drake channel too.

We are in Oosterdam now heading to Santiago from Buenos Aires.  Embarkation in BA was a nightmare last week, during the late AM. Costa and Seabourn also had embarkations that morning which made the process a big mess, with some functions of bag drop and security and holding areas intermingling the three groups, which seemed to cause more confusion.  They were calling groups by numbers and by letters, and everyone seemed to be stretched thin.  But once on board, was fine.  The port in BA is industrial, so you need to be bussed to the gate FYI.  You can’t just come and go on foot, and the nearby area is pretty rough. 

1 hour ago, gregma60 said:

How the heck did you get up to the elevator ceiling?  Inquiring minds wanna know....

 

-gregma

Well, I’m six-foot-five, so I saw it wedged up in the ceiling panel and just reached up and pooped it out.  Couldn’t have been their long, as I suspect the cleaning crew wouldn’t have left it like that if seen. 

I found one on the Oosterdam yesterday in an elevator ceiling. Re-hid it in the casino (shhh) 

the tag on it indicated it’d been on the ship since May 2022!

On 3/1/2023 at 2:35 PM, GhettoCruiser said:

Nope!  Not yet.  Thanks for the defense, it's appreciated, since we did absolutely everything we could and followed the government's guidelines as you kindly pointed out.  

 

It absolutely is a dumb move to cruise without a passport - who knows if you have to dock someplace due to weather that wasn't originally on the itinerary?  We get it.  We aren't trying to flaunt the rules but we're past the point of cancellation / refund and we have jumped through all the hoops the government gave us to clear since we paid for expedited service and shipping that was supposed to deliver our passports within 3-5 weeks.  The information on the state department website says that if you have travel within 14 days to call and make an agency appointment but after you hold for over two hours to speak to a human and make that appointment, they tell you that the website information is incorrect and they won't let you book an appointment until it's FIVE days from travel.  Well, that means that the earliest I can call for an appointment is this Friday, the 3rd of March for travel that is going to occur (initial flight to Miami) on Friday the 10th of March.  And, one of the agents said when I called them on February 24 that the earliest Chicago (our closest agency office) was booking was Friday, March 10.  The day we are to board the plane at the crack of dawn from Indianapolis.  

 

Thankfully the advice above by FFMilesJunkie, neverendingcruising, Fogcityca13 and you, cantgetin,  seems to be our saving grace and for that we are incredibly appreciative!!!  We've been in touch with Virgin, they're giving us consideration since we can prove this fault doesn't lie with us and we're taking birth certificates, our marriage license, their correspondence accepting of our situation, our expired passports, and our state issued IDs. 

 

*sigh*  😝

Sooo, did it arrive? Did Virgin let you use the other docs?

I predict it will be something smaller than Pinnacle class, given they have retired some of the smaller oldest ones.  My rationale is they see the premiums that smaller ship lines can demand, and they can maybe even devise a "brand within a brand" concept, or something to so the Pinnacle class remains biggest, but some to-be-named class would be the most luxurious (or at least the HAL equivalent of it).  They have the chops to run global voyages, and the clientele to fill longer ones.  

However, in the Dec 2022 earnings call, CCL said they are not putting any new ships on order for many brands, likely until 2026 and that puts any new build out toward a 2030 timeline:  https://cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/2022/12/carnival-corporation-to-trim-down-cruise-newbuilding-pace/?feed_id=35&_unique_id=63a990e6f184d&fbclid=IwAR0oU5z-oZGwahcuy3PoExrr13irUj1KrzgczWdvJj4PtchvGCDwCf2fIMQ 

Ditto to many of the above - i've cruised out of San Diego twice in Jan, and had sunny 70's and smooth travels both times. This year is just an anomoly. 

On 2/19/2023 at 12:02 PM, lackcreativity said:

I have no doubt she can do just that! Your point about the sign-up bonuses does open my mind to that possibility. Thanks.

I totally second the strategy of going after intro bonuses for points. 

A few reasons: 

-you are flying in late 2024, so you have the better part of a year to rack up points

-your daughter seems to be a resource, tap into that (also google Prince of Travel or Thee Points Guy or Ask Sebby if you want to read/watch youtube on the topic)

-i believe one post mentioned you/spouse own a business - if the possibility of opening a business card exists, then bonuses become even more lucrative. 

You can largely keep your preferred cash back card, and just open a few choice cards that provide intro bonuses in transferable points, and use them only until you get the points bonus threshold met - need not switch over permanently. 

I'd pick a couple Asian carriers known for their business class seats and work backwards from there - (think Singapore, Cathay Pacific and JAL) depending on your destinations.  Alaska Airlines has a strong network of relationships beyond just OneWorld in Asia, and offers both a personal and business co-branded card through Bank of America.

When we went last summer, it was the Anchorage Alaska Railway Depot - i was worried it might be hard to find, but it was  north of the airport by a couple miles, an easy uber in the AM after staying at a airport hotel (we did, like you will be) and everyone we talked to seemed to instantly know what we were referring to. 

It seemed that day we were the only game in town - there was a huge bin with porters taking luggage, clearly marked HAL with the ships name, and only one train leaving to Whittier.  Your day may be more crowded, but the place is certainly no Union Station - the entire train depot is the size of a large barn and they have the cruise train routine down to a well oiled machine, it seemed. Couldn't have been more intuitive.

You aren't supposed to bring back plastic bottles of water, but I've often mistakenly left one in my backpack that i picked up during a hot port stop, and not had security mention it on the way back onboard. I find they are much less concerned with the prohibitions on plastic, alcohol, etc on the port calls than on the actual embarkation screening. 

I would always appreciate when they sold the metal bottles of water on the way out the gangway during port stops, but the last couple cruises they have been cans which cannot seal back up, making them not ideal to throw into a bag or bring aboard a vehicle. I do bring a reusable water bottle, but often find i've left it chilling in the mini-fridge where it will do me no good on a warm afternoon in port! 😛

My experience is the same as NCTribe's - on both Eurodam and Rotterdam I've had my card in the slot machines and been approached (quickly and again once i'm empty!) by the gallery bar staff who simply took down my room number on a post-it, and then quickly remembered it/me/my order. I was always quite pleased with the service. 

We have a cruise in March (HAL in South America) and got a notice re: COVID today too.  But ours said masks "may" be required, so it is not dependent on just the line and month, but locale also.  See below snip from email:

"Masks may be required to be worn at times during your voyage to protect the health and safety of all on board." (emphasis mine)

You can see each others sending on the cabin TV, in my experience but i don't know if you can be granted permissions in the app - i think it is limited to one sign in by mariner #/email, at a time. 

2 hours ago, Divi said:

Our wine always arrived quickly on the Zaandam, 8pm fixed dining. The first night in the MDR, our wonderful server asked, “would you like a double?” Hmmmm, what a good idea. ☺️

Yes, I was taught the double “trick” too, and on the Rotterdam last year the staff quickly recognized me and (maybe I drank too quickly! 😜 ) would just confirm I wanted double wine.  It always worked with HIA, unlike double bourbons which depending on who rang them in would sometimes trigger a more expensive price which knocked them out if the HIA price guidelines and showed up on my bill.  But even those could be removed by a call to guest services.  
 

ALL that said, it’s not a bad idea to walk into the MDR with whatever you’d like to drink, as there is almost always another bar on the way there any way you walk,  and the servers don’t take drink orders directly-they refer you to a MDR beverage staffer. 

3 hours ago, SSBrickNJ said:

Thank you for quoting me and giving a helpful response.  We will likely use NAL excursions and it seems to me my choice of a 5:45pm daily dining reservation will be fine. It's late enough to get back from an excursion and early enough to be done "just in time" for the evening musical offerings.

Do people reading this agree? 
 

Sounds like a plan! You can always mention to the wait staff when starting dinner that you have a time-specific commitment for X time and they can usually speed up service a bit if need be ;)

1 minute ago, Iamthesea said:

 

We didn't even know about a Club Orange when booking our cruise.  And I really don't think that my TA has heard of it. or at least she is not familiar with the perks.

 

Do you have a link to the PDF, or how I can find it?  I did not know about "shorter lines and expanded room service".

 full Club Orange benefits 

try that link above or just google HAL Club ORange.  The shorter lines are at guest services there is a special lane for CO, and at embarkation. The expanded room service at breakfast has additional hot items that are not offered in other guest rooms, and some without charges that usually would have charges (steak, and mimosas, i believe?) but i cannot find that spelled out well anywhere. 

8 minutes ago, SSBrickNJ said:

Thanks for taking the time to post a response.

Tell me about the hosted games please.

there are entertainment hosts that run games beyond trivia.  Think charades, musical chairs, majority rules, or other board/activity games that can be played in groups.  There is also a "20-questions" kind of game that the crew plays where the audience watches and they have to guess what famous figure they are, things like that - depending on the entertainment staff (and some are DUDS) these can be very well fun and fun - hope you enjoy!