Lesinindy

The lock is now open and we will not be changing ships. Good news!!!!

We are currently waiting to find out if we will swap ships due to lock damage . We were told yesterday that due to lock damage we may need to swap ships. We left Wurzberg last night, 

Thank you, much help.

If you submitted by mail for the CCL shareholder credit, how, where and when will it show up. Thanks in advance.

Thanks for the encouragement and to the old friends. I remember when we were going through the BC treatment and folks on this board and the ship made a real positive impression on both myself and DW. Nice folks here.

I just was a little worried not to have made all my own arrangements and it is great to hear that folks have had a positive experience with letting go control and letting them handle all.

Started my increased workout schedule already, DW booked hikes and bike rides for some of the excursions.

First off; this is the first time I have tried this.

I have always done my own Air, Ground transfers, hotels and I used to do my own cruise online after my first cruise 2007.

My how times have changed

I hope the “cruise angels” are looking out for us on our cruise/Denali May 16th 2018.

I must have been impaired some way when I did the deed, but I did it (heavy sigh)

Going through our cruise consultant at HAL that we have used before, I turned it all over to HAL (heavier sigh)

From what I have been told; all I need to do is show up at the right time at the Indianapolis Airport (btw best small airport around) get on the plane and everything is taken care of (including our flight, transfers, post cruise hotel) everything!

Hey if this works out…I have found easy and that is always important to me.

Update:

For the old timers that remember me and DW Carolyn, we both retired, Carolyn’s cancer never came back (all those prayers that came her way), we now have a Lawyer DD1 and Physical therapist DD2. And as things happen we now have 3 grandchildren. I am still battling Parkinson’s, spending much time at RockSteady Boxing for folks with this wonderful condition.

We received an upgrade offer from a EE ocean view to a CA Lanai for $249 pp. I have never taken one before but the price seemed reasonable to me. We are on the Sept 9th Veendam out of Montreal and I thought the ability to step outside and see the country pass by was a good idea. We have never taken one of the Canada/New England cruises before and do not know what to expect.

Any comments are appreciated.

It has been almost 2 years since our last cruise and HAL has always been a favorite line for us. After home remodeling, hot tub, new patio and also a new grandchild, we have made the move back to the sea.

Are there any changes that happened since we were last on HAL, that come to mind both positive and negative? Almost nothing can ruin a cruise for us (except for that nasty case of noro I picked up that last night of one cruise).

This should be a real laid back cruise for us. My Parkinson's has changed some things for me and the idea of getting a full rest is something that I really crave.

Does any change stand out for you?

If smoking drives your DW crazy, then why did you sail on HAL knowing smoking is allowed on balconies? You knew it would be possible your neighbors might be smokers. You took a chance, it didn't work out, so why come here to bit*h about it?

Did you fail to notice that I thought the cruise was great!!!!!! I came here to report on a great cruise.

The fact that we couldn't enjoy our veranda completely was not bit**ing but rather an observation. I happen to be a major HAL chearleader and have been on the board for years. In other words keep your snide comments to your self . Times change and just maybe HAL might want to look at the issue again.

OP, please take the time to let HAL know about your experience.

I took your advice and forwarded a copy of this posting to HAL. It will be interesting to see if I get a response and if so how they word the response.

First off this was one of the best two weeks I have spent in a long time. The ship was spotless; the crew was most helpful and professional. The food was totally out of this world. Our weather was perfect, not too hot, and not too cold. Transition to the second leg of our BTB Collector could not have been easier; get up meet, get off the ship, wave at customs, get back on. I left the cruise relaxed, overweight and happy.

We tried something new for us and it is a great addition to our cruise experience. We arrived 2 days early left for home on Monday. Not only was it less stressful, but the reduced airfare on Monday vs. Sunday paid for 2 of our 3 hotel days.

The Big But for the cruise had to do with verandas. It was our luck to be surrounded by smokers. Now I used to smoke and it does not bother me much, but it drives DW crazy. On many occasions we were forced back in our room by the smoke. Even for me that does not go nuts at the smell of smoke, it is a shame that that wonderful odor of the open sea was covered up by smoke.

Being able to enjoy the outdoors on our verandah is a big part of our cruise experience. Reading for hours out there, having breakfast (via room service) with that wonderful fresh orange juice cannot be beat. But for two weeks we really could not do that. I did not order once from room service, it was just not worth it. There were times that the wonderful verandah experience was available to us, but soon the smokers would emerge.

I can see my three star mariner status on the horizon, but I am going to have to think about alternative lines where the smoking is more restricted.

I know how it is to be addicted to cigarettes, I was for 20 years. I know the feeling of needing a smoke and the relaxation when you light up. Not being able to feed your addiction makes for a horrible time.

I am not out to ban smoking totally, but why can they not make at least half the ship (as is done on the outside decks already) non-smoking.

My only cure for this problem is to reserve aft deck rooms, rarely did we get overcome by smoke there. I must admit that we were blessed by wonderful weather with calm winds that exacerbated the problem, but it was a big problem.

I forgot to mention that this ship is spotless, the crew is great, the food is great and I find nothing to complain about. great first 7 days.

Short note, will do review when we return. Today was reallly strange. We went through the first for us IN Transit today. They had us walk off the ship, walk through customs, walk back on ship. This process made little sense to most of the folks. I explained to our non US passengers that this is how our government works and it does not need to make sense. Also our fellow in transit folks made me feel young at 62, the mean age must have been 80! Overall the cruise has been great, nice weather and the corneyest if that is a word shows ever. all is good and the new folks are coming on. A word about Half Moon Cay; it has grown up a little over the years, not sure if I like the changes, that Pirate ship needs to be washed away in the next big storm,other than that the natural beauty is still to be seen and enjoyed.

In less than 2 hours we will be on the NA. The wait is over. Let the sloth and gluttony begin.

It is a good cruise:

If I gain weight

I'm totally relaxed

My body is worn out from having fun

I have forgotten how to make a bed

See a phone and think room service

Look over my pictures and remember the moments

Meet new friends

Can now place faces with the names on CC

Start figuring out when and where to cruise next

I woke up today and for the first time in my life realized that I now can retire from the university, I can collect SS, I can begin to draw off my IRAs and I now am getting 100% disability from the Veterans Administration with free medical (for Parkinson's, I am still mobile, but also see the handwriting on the wall) . I have been truly blessed, thanks be to God. (put happy dance here)

My bucket list contains much related to HAL which I prefer to sail on to see distant shores, foreign lands and the gentle relaxation that I crave from my favorite cruise line.

We are going to be comfortable but still will need to watch our funds and spending.

What are some of the tips you can share that will help us (and others) so we can cruise more, save some money and still enjoy the vacations both DW and I love?

This sounds like a new adventure.

I am sure this has been covered more than one time, but without the search feature I can not fine the info I need.

This is our first BTB and wondered what the process was the NA.

I used to have this wonderful App on my iphone that counted down the days in front of a picture of your specific ship.

 

When I booked my upcoming cruise I went to find the App and upon noticing that I had probably deleted it from my phone, went to the App store to try and find it again and re-download it but was not able to find it. I was sad.

 

Did anyone else use this app? I, of course, don't remember the name of it. I do remember that you picked your cruise line and ship and it pulled up a picture of your ship as it's background. It also tracked your on-board spending which I had fun using each day. ....again....sad....

The one I have on my tablet and phone is called Ship Mate Holland

I woke up this morning with a fresh coat of snow on the ground, current temp is 27 degrees and going down from there. No matter what Caribbean music I played on the way in today it was still winter and cold. I am down to less than three weeks till we sail and less than that before we leave for Ft. Lauderdale.

Lately I have found that I cannot get away from the thought of warmer weather, HAL soups (I like them) and the ocean. Daily I have visited the numerous web cams of ports and destinations. I have been on Amazon stocking up on underwater cameras and accessories. I even visited a local dive shop and picked up a new set of dive fins and also a new mask with prescription lenses in them. My packing is starting this weekend and all I want is out of here!

For those in the northern and sometimes southern climates this has been a bad winter. I have been on almost every board of interest on CC and still looking for more.

Thank God I can afford the luxury of a two week cruise this is helping me stay together. My previous supervisor at the university used to say that she could tell when I was in “Full Cruise Mode”. Well I am there again.

After years on the fire department I have a bunch of then around the house. They will work for me just fine. I will put them in my dive bag. Thanks

In the past I have always dived with a blunt end knife. I used to do shore dives off the SoCAL coast and much diving in Kelp beds. I really don't want any hassle on the ship so I thought about bringing EMT shears instead of a knife. Has anyone had any experience taking these on and off the ship?

When I scuba dive I like to have a dive knife with me. It is not an offensive weapon but is a safety device to be used to cut fishing line, nets and anything along that line that would entangle me at depth. I know this is not an option on a cruise but wondered if the cruise line would be okay with a pair of EMT shears. These have blunt ends and in the past I used them to cut clothes off victims (such as a pant leg) to get access to wounds when I was on the fire department. These will work the same way as the dive knife but I would think it would meet security demands.

Has any divers taken these on-board HAL in the past?

Can't beat breakfast on the balcony on a nice day in the Carib or somewhere else warm

Got that right!!!!!!

I am also grateful to have read her posting over the years. But one thing I always remember is her tag lines. The one I especially like and always remember is"

"I'd give up chocolate but I am no quitter"