lcand1923

1 hour ago, TableGirl said:

Would you consider sending a message through the Let Us Know portal and addressing it to Stone and Shore Excursion staff just in case they didn’t get off the ship and ask?

As soon as I got back onboard I sent a rather long communication via the Navigator App offering suggestions as to what could make the situation better for 2025. I said that these changes would have to come from Seattle.  I was pleasantly surprised that two of my suggestions MAY be implemented prior to the end of this cruise.  (Note heavy emphasis on the MAY.  I was most disturbed about the slope of the gangway, the HopOn/HopOff ticket sale and the extremely poor map in Dutch Harbor.)

Re Dutch Harbor:

I spoke with the young lady selling shuttle tickets.  She said HAL reached out to them late on Friday to arrange transportation.  She said they did the best they could at that late date,

I think this is why HAL did not have their usual Shore-Side Staff.  Someone in Seattle dropped the ball on arranging transportation, shore excursions, placement of gangways, etc., so they wanted to distance themselves from the non-standard HAL arrangements at Dutch Harbor.

I happened to be following a couple at the gangway.   The gentleman used a cane and was definitely mobility challenged.  I was very concerned that he would fall on the gangway, as were the young men standing at it.  His trip took about 5 minutes because the gangway was so steep.

I’m sure the Seattle office has heard plenty about Dutch Harbor and will straighten things out for future cruises.  The area is beautiful and definitely worth a visit.

I am currently on the 28 Day Artic Circle Summer Solstice Cruise.  Daily Mass has averaged 20 Attendees.  I cannot estimate the Sunday Mass attendance (no Vigil Mass, just one Mass on Sunday at 5:00pm).  I did a rough count before Mass started and had 80.  They removed a partition, to allow more attendees.  As I walked out of Mass, I could see that the second room was standing room only,

This is a larger attendance then at my home parish where the Archdiocese has decided to close parishes.

I sent an email to Gus when this change was first announced.  No reply from anyone at HAL.  I don’t know what is more bothersome to me.  The fact that HAL has made this decision or that it doesn’t care enough to send me even a form response.

I chose the Ship Sponsored Shore Excursion "A Pub Crawl in Ketchikan", because I had done just about everything else in Ketchikan.

The group was small, 15 People, and we had Conor as our guide.  He was TERRIFIC!  We visited three local bars (Arctic Bar, Totem Bar, Sourdough Bar), had a drink in each and got a bit of local history about the bar. 

If you are looking for something a bit different in Ketchikan, I can reccomend this one.

My Dad and I did a Land/Sea trip when he was 79 and using a cane.  It would take him quite some time to get moving in the morning (the knees don’t loosen up as quickly some mornings).  He did skip a couple of things to just sit and look at the scenery, but considered the trip one of the best he had ever taken.

I do remember a couple of mornings when we needed to be ready to go around 7:30am, so we just set the alarm clock extra early to make certain that we made the departure time, but other mornings we could sleep in a bit.

I had a great TA who was well versed in HAL and took excellent care of me.  She retired and passed me to a co-worker.  This TA has been OK, but she does not know HAL very well.  When booking, I specified the type of cabin I wanted, she told me that the ship did not have that type of cabin.  She booked me in a “good cabin” based upon what other customers prefer.  I found out after much research on Deck Plans that the ship did have those cabins.

I was assigned a PCC quite a few years ago.  She would not have made the mistake my TA made.  I have additional bookings with my PCC.

So, all I can say is, it depends.

I was on a Cunard Cruise several years ago.  The cruisers were primarily from the UK.  I would join the knitting group each afternoon to knit and discuss the various shore excursions, other Cunard cruises, etc.  I would estimate the ages of the knitters (and crocheters) to be from late 30’s to mid 60’s.  They were an extremely friendly group.  I was the only person from the USA and they gave me very may tips about places to visit in the UK.

Email has been sent.  Thank you for posting Mr. Antorcha’s email address.

My experiences agree with what ROZ said, 200% for a balcony cabin, roughly 178% for an OV or inside.  The Balcony never varies, the supplement for an OV or inside has a TINY bit of wiggle room.  I once paid 173% for a cabin way forward and on another occasion paid 180% for a cabin mid-ship.

On 5/24/2024 at 10:55 AM, POA1 said:

The country code for the US, Canada and most of the Caribbean is 1.

 

If you store phone numbers with a preceding 1, your carrier will drop it when dialing from the USA.

 

If you really, really want to have the old timey, just like grandma used to do dialing experience, it's

 

011+ Country Code + NPA + NXX

 

NPA is numbering plan area, or as you youngsters call it, "Area Code."

 

NXX is the phone number. 7 digits in the US.

 

 

NXX is the Exchange Code

The next Four Digits are the Line Code

{As us old Bell Heads (those who worked for the Bell System) would say.}

Are you going from the Atlantic to the Pacific or the Pacific to the Atlantic?

A full Panama Canal transit is my favorite cruise.  I’ve gone in both directions.  I can’t see any preference if going from the Pacific to the Atlantic.  If going from the Atlantic to the Pacific, I prefer Starboard.  You can see the remains of the original French attempt to build the canal.  After reading “The Path Between the Seas”, I was quite moved by the sight of them.

Safe Travels Home!

Thank you so much for the time and effort you put into your reports.

Thank you so much for taking us along on the 2024 World Cruise.

The time and effort you have put into your posts is most appreciated.

Safe Travels Home!

Congratulations on Platinum!!  

So sorry that your Derby Hat didn’t make the cut.

Thank you so very, very much for sharing your World Cruise experiences.

On 5/2/2024 at 8:41 AM, foodsvcmgr said:

Ten years ago or so their featured Dutch beer was Grolsch in the bottle with the attached stopper.

That Grolsch was sooooo good.  I was unable to cruise for quite a few years and was so disappointed when I found out that HAL no longer had Grolsch onboard.  I can’t even find it in any Beer and Wine stores in my area.

Thanks for taking us along on your cruise.  Sorry the temperatures were not better.

Safe Travels Home!

Safe — and Enjoyable — Travels!

Can’t wait to read all about it!!

My thoughts are with you, Bruno, during this difficult time.  Rest easy knowing you showed your love to your Dad over and over during the years while traveling and being his caregiver.  Take a Deep Breath, and a Long Rest, and then start looking at cruises.  You know your Dad would want you to take that next one and he will be sharing it with you.

Re the Alaska portion: do the land first then the cruise.  You will have busy days on the land portion and can use the cruise to relax.

Re the Rocky Mountaineer: all of the options are good.  I can’t think of one being better than the other.

Re August:  since you like scenery and/or wildlife and few children, I would try to schedule your trip towards the end of the month.  My trips have been in May/June/Late August/Early September.  You will want to see the start of the Autumn Colors, if possible.  It sounds like you are planning on one of the longer HAL land/sea journeys, so children should not be a major issue.  (The shorter Alaska trips tend to attract more families.)

Of course, these are just my opinions and I’m sure you will get many more.

I would choose the HAL vessel.  

I really like Alaska cruise and have done several on HAL and one on Princess.  (I wanted to try Princess because so many of my relatives raved about their Princess cruises to Alaska.)

HAL has plenty of outside viewing areas.

HAL tends to get the better docking locations in port.

I consider Alaska to be a quiet, calm, peaceful place to visit.  Princess constantly had activities happening around the ship.  These appealed to a lot of people, but I found them a bit disruptive to the calming nature of Alaska.

If you are doing a Land/Sea trip, I must admit that Princess beat out HAL a tiny bit on the land portion of the trip.  But, HAL won on the Sea portion.

I kept checking the website, saw that I had been approved and submitted my request for the OBC.   I got the email that the OBC had been applied THEN got the approval email from Stockperks.

Will I make Page 1?

Have a Great Day and an even Better Weekend, Everyone!

I’ve only been on one Pinnacle Class ship, but have found Shower Only cabins on a lot of the other HAL ships.  Sometimes they aren’t on my preferred Deck and/or location, but they are there.  You do have to study the Deck Plans (l think an Asterisk is the usual key for Shower Only).  I also think they tend to be Forward or Aft cabins, but could be wrong since I haven’t sailed every HAL vessel.

I booked a May Alaska cruise as a B2B with the final Panama Canal Cruise of the season.  It was quite interesting.  

Several people were doing B2B with the end of a World Cruise.  The ship was not full on the Panama Canal Cruise.  When we got to the California ports, a lot more folks boarded for a short Pacific Coastal Cruise.  When we got to Seattle, even more boarded for the Alaska cruise.  I can’t give actual numbers, but I would say that the Alaska cruise was fully booked, or very close to it.  

I have enjoyed and avoided the Old Style Piano Bar on HAL vessels.  I have enjoyed and avoided the Dueling Pianos and HAL vessels.  In each case it depended upon the skill of the pianists and their ability to “read the room”.  

Do I sing-along?  If I know the song, I do.  Do I ask for a mic?  No, because I know the pianist and the crowd don’t want to be entertained by me.  I react the same way if I am in a performance at the World Stage.