spleenstomper

9 hours ago, momof4girls said:

I know this review is older, but I just finished reading it. Excellent review! Loved your pics and commentary! Very helpful to me since dh and I would like to book a cruise to Alaska. We’ve never cruised on HAL but have been told it’s highly recommended for Alaska.  
 

I LOVED your idea about the competition with the walking track. We think alike! 
 

I’ve only ever cruised on Carnival, so I’ve been nervous about trying a new cruise line. However, thanks to your review, I feel better about scheduling a HAL Alaskan cruise. 
 

Not sure if it’s because we both happen to be from Missouri, but after reading your review, I felt like we could easily be friends. 😊

I had a great time on my Westerdam Alaska cruise.one of my top 2 cruises I would say. 

I’m glad we are doing Zaandam April 29 then. That third unknown ship was a talking point for us.

4 hours ago, CajunOyster said:

 

I think you MIGHT find that the amount of activity on the ship has a little more to do with the itinerary and passenger demographics than you think.  I hope not, but you might find that the "younger crowd with a little more nightlife" doesn't materialize on an Alaska itinerary.

 

Right, it’s an early itinerary crowd. Everyone was in bed early and up and off the ship early. 

I made it to Nola. Y’all take it easy.

I remembered, (I stopped for food) the first stomp breaks the ribs and the second stomp gets the spleen lol. 

@SmoothFlying Oh goodness. I didn’t know there might be 20 years of hot flashes. However, it’s a gift to get older so I guess we have to give and take. 
 

Yes.  New Year’s Day is usually a foggy one down the bayous and if you are familiar, much if I-10 is over or near water. It’s still a tad foggy where I live. 
 

I sleep with a Cpap and ear plus (DH saws logs all night) so I’ll bet that fog horn wouldn’t hurt me lol. Though I can imagine how high your wife jumped when they sounded it. 
 

ok. Time to get my driving clothes on and start loading the car. My target leave time is in about 25 mins. I was hoping DH might be able to sneak home for one last peck but it looks like that isn’t happening. 
 

and, yes. NOTE to all men: cruises are always welcome as gifts! Even thought it’s a vacation and you are going also. Quality time together is always a hit, at least with me. This year I received the HAL New England and Canada explorer. 

5 minutes ago, cruisinqt said:

Over the years I’ve accumulated a lot of stuff that’s mainly for cruising. I’ve started putting it all in a large plastic bin with a locking lid. It has my over the door shoe holder, folding laundry hamper, lanyard, clear cruise luggage tags, water shoes, magnetic hooks, waterproof phone holder for wet shore excursions,etc. Now when I pack I just pull out my bin to pack and everything’s there. And there’s always lots of stuff that I take out and say “oh yeah I forgot all about this! I’m glad I checked my bin!” You might try it, it saves me tons of time and reminds me of stuff I forgot to bring. I also keep a packing list in there that is specifically for cruising. As I pack things I mark them off of the list. 

That is a great idea. I thought I was doing that, but as you can see things walked away lol. I guess I’ll have to up the dedicated level like you did with it all in an actual container. It would help declutter my closet also. 🤩

6 minutes ago, Ferry_Watcher said:

@spleenstomper, if you want a distraction, could you tell us how or why you chose spleen stomper as your nom de plume?  Thanks!

Sure. lol. So basically any Spleenstomper online is either my husband or me. (unless someone took the name, I mean I can’t guarantee it’s only us but it is usually available). I am a woman BTW as you can probably tell from all the hot flash talk. 
 

He is a surgeon. During surgical residency at a top hospital, there was MANY a day that was long and weary and he thought about quitting. He decided if he quit, he would become a professional wrestler and the spleen stomp would be his signature move. It’s a double stomp: the first stomp gets the liver and the second one gets the spleen. (I think… it’s been a very long time). 
 

Maybe we can refer to it as his fever dream. 
 

DH gave me the Hawaii cruise for Christmas one year and so I registered here. The names I tried were taken, so I tired his old reliable of Spleenstomper and it was available 🙃

By the way, in his fever dream, no actual people or livers or spleens were harmed. It was a theatrical professional wrestling move/idea 🤪. He isn’t a maniac. 

Ok, drumroll please…. I have everything on my list. The suitcase is closed and zipped, I giant disposable bag filled and an overflow of this and that’s. I’ll have to compress it all (I didn’t want to bring the giant suitcase, so I chose the medium one. I hope my son has room in his…. I find usually the guys have extra room 😂

Ok, found one extension cord by the Christmas decor. Lol. I have to leave by 2 cst, and it looks like I’m going to make it lol. I will have to repack and reorganize in NOLA, but at least I can likely get out of the door here in time. 
 

it’s not helping my hot flashes that It’s 70 degrees here with 100% humidity. I know that sounds delightful to me but I don’t need added stickiness. It’s part of the reason why I’m staying on the ship. 

Dang it. My Cpap extension cords with the dedicated USBC ports aren’t where I thought they would be and DH is at work and can’t help me look. This isn’t a large problem, but these particular ones were just right for a cruise. GRRRR. Humpf. 

1 minute ago, CruiseScrooge said:

There is a Murphy's Law and joke about packing that goes something like if you have 10 minutes or 10 months that is how long it will take.

It’s true. So much wisdom there. Like a little Ben Franklin quip 

Just now, LatinaInTexas said:

I'm a last minute packer, always. If I start early I overthink it and pack way too much. So far haven't ever forgotten to pack anything important. I do keep my basic take everytime crap all in one place so that helps. I did leave something behind last cruise so check those closets carefully lol. Have a fabulous cruise!

 

Isn’t that the truth? Even if I did forget something, as long as it’s nothing important like my CPAP, I can buy onboard or at a port. Heck, one cruise one of my tweens didn’t pack and shorts or pants so we had to buy the smallest adult size onboard and we cinched the waist with a belt lol. 

Nobody better look at my Sasquatch toes when I get on board lol. Didn’t get a pedicure. Will consider adding that to my spa treatments. 

2 minutes ago, ninjacat123 said:

Or you might be fearful of making a mistake therefore putting off the decision process till the last minute and IF you find you make a mistake, it's because you didn't have enough time instead of choosing unwisely.  

Yea, ADD here too so yup, it’s been a steaming pile of goo ahead of me and it’s been hard to climb. I’m getting there. I’m cooling off from drying my hair. Lol

22 minutes ago, SmoothFlying said:

I've heard all of my entire adult life, 'If, you have a project and keep putting off a finishing detail that's supposed to be finished TODAY, you really don't want to take part in it'. Perhaps, you're not really looking forwards to this particular project (cruise)? Only YOU can decide if this is the case. Good luck.

 

Mac 

It’s actually very true. I kinda don’t want to go but that was also in the run up to Christmas. I have finished cleaning up after that whirlwind and did Marie Kondo— TKO everything goes lol. I have caught up on laundry and am now slowly making my way through my list. 
 

I am having bad hot flashes, so I have to take breaks after showering and then again after blow drying my hair, so that isn’t helping. 
 

I have booked 3 spa treatments and am only getting off the ship in cozumel, so I’m just now starting to look forward to it. 

22 minutes ago, jsglow said:

Go find your lanyard and get the sam hill outta here! Enjoy your cruise. 😆

Thank you! I’m making headway. I’m of a certain age so I have to come in the den to cool off between showering and then again after blowing dry hair lol.

4 minutes ago, jsglow said:

I don't believe anyone does a one way from Seattle. I also strongly recommend tacking on a land portion before or after.  Our trip this summer was spectacular. 13 days in total.  The Princess lodges up in Alaska are fantastic and the logistics are extremely well handled.  HAL also packages up with the Princess lodges. Absolutely the way to go. Wouldn't do it any other way unless prices for a Seattle Carnival R/T were super cheap and I just wanted a 'little taste'.

Thanks for the feedback. Yes, everyone who did the land portion were raving about it. 

I am very slowly making progress. I need to leave here around 2 though because I don’t like driving at night. Plus fog. 

1 minute ago, jsglow said:

Princess to Alaska.  Do the one way Glaciers cruise out of either Whittier or Vancouver.  You won't be disappointed.

This is the next Alaska cruise I want to do: anchorage to either Seattle or Vancouver. We seriously debated the New England cruise or the one way Alaska cruise, and NE and Canada won. One way Alaska will be next big cruise. 

34 minutes ago, LatinaInTexas said:

Good to know about smaller ships. I wouldn't mind a smaller ship as long as it has decent amenities.

They don’t. With Westerdam, you don’t even get a grand lobby or staircase. One dining room, one (two maybe) speciality dining. You do get a spa and a mini bar in your room stocked with water, sodas, cocktails etc. 

Room service is amazing and you can order the dining room or speciality restaurant menus. 
 

They do have solo get togethers and lunches. I found a solo group and the ship is so small that you see them everywhere, so 5 of us still keep in touch. 
 

Smaller ships might not be your thing. Just know that you might have to give up some amazing experiences with a larger ship. 
 

NCL epic was in Alaska with us and that is a mega ship. So larger ships do go to Alaska and I guess that is what excursions are for. 

It took me a while to figure out why we passed this celebrity ship at the glacier and after a while I realized it’s  because they were larger than we were so they had to stay farther back. The camera is on zoom so it’s father back than it looks and we were still going toward the glacier. 

Some Alaska pics from September 

Large ships have more amenities, yes. But for Alaska, you want a smaller ship because smaller ships can go closer to glaciers and inlets etc. Same with New England and Canada. For Alaska, I took HAL Westerdam with 1200 people and for Canada, Zaandam with 1400. We can stop at Bar Harbor, Maine and larger ships have to skip that port because the city can’t handle larger ships so they made an ordnance about it.  
 

I booked this Alaska cruise a week or two before, so it was very last minute for me. 

I’m due in Nola sometime today and my check in time is noon tomorrow on Glory and I’m sitting here half packed like I have all the time in the world. At least I have a selection of casual and dressy cruise dresses. That was easy. Now it’s the nitty gritty like where is my lanyard? It’s time to get down to brass tacks.