AllTheSun

Was the alarm accompanied by a voice announcement so novice cruisers who might have forgotten about the final blast knew not to rush to the lifeboats?

It was rather odd, I almost wonder if she was a sub. At the end of the trip a guy introduced himself as the new art instructor at the towel folding seminar and said he had just boarded in Boston so maybe those on the Grand Africa trip will have a better experience!

Temper your expectations. The instructor literally just laid out different color papers then played a YouTube video, stopping it at confusing parts and rewinding it.

It was basically that, a number of pages to pick from and a large selection of colored pencils for each person. It was calming, though I think putting some out everyday like they do crosswords is a nice idea. I don’t think they can supply pencils because people suck and would just steal them. I didn’t mind the class setup- see I was the only person in “class” that needed help because I jammed my sharpener 🤣

Tried to do a free watercolor class on Zuiderdam last week. Art teacher had everyone clear the room while she set up. People were hovering all around the outside while she set up and she had to be strict on keeping people out. When she said we could come in she said there were only like 26 seats and you couldn’t do it if you didn’t get a seat- people swarmed like free booze was being offered. I’m talking elbowing, plopping down on seats as others are pulling them out for themselves- totally absurd. I left and had a drink at the bar instead. Turned around later and saw they were painting color pinwheels. All that nonsense to watercolor some pinwheels LOL. A pre-lunch cocktail was indeed the better call. ETA- prior to this I did adult coloring and an origami class, both of which you needed to arrive like 10 mins before the class but people behaved civilly when we were let into the room

HAL is joining in the festivities on Zuiderdam today! Thanksgiving dinner coming up tonight!

I didn’t bother with an alarm clock. I have a smartphone for telling time and I use the old school HAL phone by the bed for morning alarms to make sure I don’t screw up a time zone change.

Did this for my fam this morning and had the match by this afternoon. Our last sailing was back in ‘07, as others expected no issues. Looking forward to my free cocktail coupon!

I wonder if there is a time limit on this? My last cruise was almost 15 years ago but was carnival. Think I’ll give it a whirl and find out today…

I guarantee I am not showing up for check in at my boarding time of 3pm in Quebec next week with an all aboard of 4:30pm lol.

I’m about 2 weeks out. Printed off my boarding pass with its bar code. If my boarding time changes do I have to print a new bp? I plan on ignoring that nonsense 3pm time anyway lol.

Does HAL have card shufflers you can borrow? We use a hand crank one at home.

The daily activities for my 10 night Zuiderdam cruise in a couple weeks is starting to post and the dress code is listed as smart casual every night. Is that accurate meaning there are no gala nights, or just not updated yet?

I went back about 50 pages on the NEW to Hal thread stickied at the top of the forum and worked my way up to the current post over the course of a week or two. You would have most found all of your questions answered and you would have a lot more to consider that you didn’t think to ask about so I encourage you to do the same.

I google the name of the port and the word schedule.

Thank you for taking us along with you!!

Pardon me while I ask a dumb q- $5 Canadian or US? (Last couple times I travelled abroad I grabbed local currency and it was totally unnecessary but I’ve never been to Canada.)

Can you report back how this goes for you OP? Boarding Zuiderdam in Quebec later this month myself.

OP, do you (or anyone else of course!) happen to know if the kinda rough seas you’ve encountered are normal for that area of the Atlantic or is it due to Franklin?

I can’t wait to take a screenshot of that next month and tell my friends my ship has finally come in! …I’ll see myself out

Yes! OP, I’m glad you’re leaving all your tips in place because ^THIS^

If that is not a sign of enjoying your vacay I don’t what is!!

If you find out where the Chocolate Surprise parade situation starts at do spill the beans. Just read about it another thread and it has rocketed to the top of the family interest list for our Zuiderdam trip next month 😝

Have you happened to notice if there anyplace good for a late night dessert?

If not and you paid with a credit or debit card file a partial dispute for the amount of the binoculars. Not saying you will necessarily win (like you might, it’s not a worthless effort) but it will at a minimum bring the issue to the attention of more people at HAL and light a little fire under them to resolve it.