English_in_Spain

Sorry my memory was short :o

 

Lemon flavoured - there are options.

 

Definitely do some taste testing in FLL.

 

Hope you find something suitable.

 

And, I'm with you on the wine ;)

 

Edited to say - try Limonata - made by San Pelligrino - in a can. It might be quite close.

Thanks Jacqui

I Googled Limonata - it sounds very nice. I think I might like that.

The Aquarius that we buy here in Spain is non-carbonated. Coca Cola describe it as "an active hydration beverage - a lemon flavoured non-carbonated drink". I am surprised it is not sold in USA and Canada. I think it would be very popular.

My friend drinks several large bottles of it a day. For a few weeks he will just have to find something else - or drink water - lol.

It is his first cruise and he can't get over how much I will have to spend to have wine on the ship ($18 corkage :eek:).He owns a bar here in Spain and sells wine for €6 for a very large glass. I told him that I will be on holiday and I will not go without my glass of Cava or wine on the balcony or wine with a nice meal in MDR or Pinnacle.

If I recall correctly, that is a Coca Cola product that is a mineral drink tasting like grapefruit?

 

I haven't seen it in the U.S. Nor Canada.

 

The closest Coke product that I can think of taste wise would be Fresca (no sugar but not a mineral drink).

 

The mineral drinks they offer are Powerade. Powerade Zero had no sugar and is an energy/mineral drink but does not come in grapefruit flavour.

Yes, Aquarius is made by Coca Cola but is lemon flavoured (also available in orange but not so nice). It is very light and non-sweet and is similar to an Isotonic/sport drink but without the additives.

Looks like we will have to spend our 2 days in FLL trying to find something he likes.

We would be looking to take a pack onto the ship with us for 'balcony' drinks. Personally I will be drinking wine - lol

We chuckle when we see the comments about bathrobes. It is not uncommon to see them poolside in five and six star resorts. In North America and in Europe.

 

The basic issue is that there are people who actually believe that what is de riguer in their world or indeed their country must absolutely be the standard throughout the world.

 

Sorry, but that is not how it is. Maybe across the street, around the block, next state over, but certainly does not have to be so in another country, another type of vacation option.

Here in Europe it is acceptable to go from your hotel room to the spa centre, pool or similar wearing a bathrobe.

It would not be acceptable in the dining room or other public rooms of a hotel. The only difference would be at a health farm where you wear bathrobes all the time except at dinner.

A slightly different question about soft drinks.

We are boarding a 14 day cruise in Fort Lauderdale. The person I am cruising with doesn't really drink alcohol so we want to take some soft drinks on with us.

As you probably know, we live in Spain and are not sure what drinks are available in the US. Here he drinks a drink called Aquarius. Is that available there?

Website updates may take a while, especially the little maps. I think their first priority will be booked passengers so they can deal with cancellations (and maybe talk people out of cancelling). It takes a couple days for price changes related to promotions to be loaded, and this is a lot more complicated. My guess--purely a guess based on seeing how the site gets updated for other things--is maybe a week after they start telling booked passengers. Watch for the booking function to be unavailable and check back after that. (Or call ship services and see what they can tell you.)

 

I would do screen captures of the itineraries you like, and save them. When you check back later, you can see if they have changed. At this point, I would expect a Southern Caribbean to have fewer changes than an Eastern. The ABC islands are in good shape.

My bold

The trouble with Southern Caribbean cruises (like ours) is that, unless there are to be a lot of sea days, they need Eastern islands to call at on the way down and on the way back.

Did you folks receive your emails directly from HAL or through your TA if you're working with one? I'm still waiting to find out what will happen with our cruise. We are scheduled for Dec 8-22, 2017 Southern Caribbean on the Veendam. Tortola and St Martin are on our itinerary. I guess it may be too soon to hear about anything this far out. I imagine HAL is working very hard to make changes.

We are on your cruise and booked with a TA. We got the email directly from HAL. The wording is exactly as above.

I am surprised to see kettles on the list. I have always taken my travel kettle without a problem.

If you want to make tea you need boiling water - not just hot water - so getting it from room service would not do it.

Depends on the discount or the fare that you have currently booked.

 

I suspect that some others will be cancelling and that future bookings will be slow. It could well be an opportunity to rebook both at an even greater reduction than you already have. Or score a great upgrade for the same fare.

 

Cancelling will give you flexibility. It is a risk worth considering depending on your personality and your current fare rate.

 

Sounds like your airfare is locked and loaded. IF you do cancel, start watching other ships/itineraries. Early Dec. is a low price period...even more so with Irma damage at home and on the islands. There is bound to be some price elasticity.

 

But...we are used to booking late and playing the odds. Just make a decision and move forward.

Unfortunately, cancelling and re-booking another cruise is not an option for us in Europe. Even if HAL agreed to this it is unlikely that I could find a cruise fitting in with our flights.

The airlines (Spain to UK and UK to Miami) will not refund our fare. We have travel insurance (it cost us €900) but I am not sure whether this will be covered as it is 'act of God'.

We are already booked into a Neptune Suite so unlikely we will get an upgrade.

I would rather have extra days at sea than Western Caribbean. I don't like any of the ports of call there. The friend I am going with it is his first cruise and I am not sure how he would get on with more days at sea - we already have four.

As I said before, I hope HAL will give us enough warning so we can decide what to do.

Carol, I am so sorry you have to face this. Bad enough that you have to deal with your husband's death, but to have the lovely plans you had for his ashes ripped out from under you is pouring salt on the wound.

 

Chin up. You will come up with a plan that works for you, and you will be comforted when it's completed. And if HAL cancels entirely (not likely), you will get your money back, and another opportunity to go with Plan A!

Ruth, thank you for your kind words.

If HAL cancels the cruise or makes it a cruise we do not want at all we will lose the cost of our flights (Spain to UK, Return UK to Miami business class and then UK to Spain). We have hotels booked and paid for. Private excursions booked.

I have been planning this trip for over 4 months.

I am booked on the Southern Caribbean cruise on the Veendam on 8th December.

This cruise was going to be so special for me. My husband died last September. In our 47 years together we did 30 cruises. One of his favourite ships was the Veendam and his favourite island was St Martin.

I had arranged with HAL to scatter his ashes at sea and I was planning on planting a bush or something at Kakao restaurant at Orient Bay in his memory.

Among our ports of call are HMC, Tortola BVI, St Kitts, Guadeloupe, St Martin and San Juan. I don't know how many of those will still be possible.

This whole trip is costing about $18,000 for two of us including flights, hotels and transfers. Because of the rules for us in Europe I cannot cancel without losing a lot of this money.

I hope HAL do not cancel or make major changes to the itinerary like changing it to a Western Caribbean.

I guess, like everyone else, I will just have to wait and see. I just hope they give us good warning of the changes and not leave it until we have left home (which will be on the 5th)

A drinks package would make sense for me but the person I am travelling with does not drink. We would both have to buy the same package which would mean I would need to drink 10-12 drinks a day to break even :o:eek::wine-glass:

Exit the dining room, and take the elevator/staircase to the Lido level. The doors to the outside are just a few feet aft of where you come out, and the smoking section is just outside.

Very close to the dining room horizontally; three or four decks vertically.

Thanks Ruth

At restaurants here at home he just pops outside when he wants a ciggie.

I am trying to get him to quit before we go. He has 3 months to do it. Especially as we have a 9 hour flight plus time at the airport :)

I am on your cruise and my final payment date is Sept 24th.

Thank you

We have an SB guarantee booked and wondered what other cabins are still open. We would really like to stay in one of the two SB cabins but I guess we will get what we are given

Look forward to meeting you

We are on the Veendam on 8th December 2017

Can someone tell me when the final payment date is for US passengers - ie when people can no longer drop out without loss of deposit.

As you may know, things are different here in Europe. When we book and pay a deposit that is us locked into the cruise. We have just paid our balance.

We find that when the US final payment date passes we can get a better guide of which cabins are actually booked and which are just on hold.

There are two levels of the MDR (Promenade deck and Upper Promenade deck).

Can someone tell me on which level is open dining?

My partner is a smoker (no comments on this please :D) and wants to know how far the MDR is from the nearest smoking area (presumably Retreat Bar on Lido deck).

We need some form of printed proof that we are getting on a cruise for when we enter the USA at Miami airport. We also need proof of our return flight to show when we are leaving the USA.

It is much easier for all of you coming to Europe.

If you read what is and is not allowed aboard HAL ships,

The following is stated and clearly mentions heat pads are not allowed. As it is a source of heat

 

• Hookah and Water Hookah Pipes, candles and incense, strike-anywhere matches, clothing irons/steamers, heating pads, hot plates, kettles, coffee makers, toasters and other electronic cooking appliances.
  
• Alcohol in violation of the company alcohol policy.
  
• All illegal drugs, including medications without proper prescriptions. This includes legal intoxicant synthetic or “designer” drugs also known as “Legal Highs” such as Lysergamides, Opioids, Methoxetamine, Synthetic Cannabis, Betel Nuts or Kava (Cava).
  

I see that it says kettles are not allowed. Is this new? I have always taken my travel kettle.

I just booked the "Casino Special" on the Dec 8 sailing of the Veendam Outside cabin for $349 but had to take A deck Has anyone gotten that special on a higher deck?

I am also on that cruise.

We are in a Neptune suite and it is costing us more per day than you are paying for the entire 14 day cruise :o. Plus, of course, our flights from Spain via UK.

For those interested the itinerary (from FLL) is

Half Moon Cay

2 days at sea

Road Town, Tortola BVI

Basseterre, St Kitts and Nevis

Castries, St Lucia

Bridgtown, Barbados

Saint Georges, Grenada

Point-a-Pitre,Guadeloupe

Philipsburg,Sint Maarten

San Juan, Puerto Rico

1 day at sea

So what are the evening options on the Veendam nowadays?

It is a long time sine I was on there and can't really remember. I am happy with the late show and the casino but my friend is not all that keen on the casino.

It is a 14 day Southern Caribbean if that makes any difference.

We have a port call in San Juan in December. This will be our first time there. We are very interested in seeing the old part of San Juan.

HAL offer a walking tour around the old part. I am not sure whether to take this tour our just walk around by ourselves.

My question is - what speed do these walking tours go at? We are both in our 70s and, although both able to walk reasonable distances, neither of us can walk very fast. Also the ship's tour is $55 dollars each. Is it worth paying this or should we just leave the ship, get a map and find our own way around, at our own speed?

How far is the old town from where the ship docks? Do we need to get a cab there?

How easy is it to see the old town by ourselves with a map?

We will be there in December and have not yet decided what to do.Thanks for posting about your experience.

We are on your cruise and, like you, have not yet decided what to do (especially being there on a Sunday). I have been to Guadaloupe twice before and found it difficult to find somewhere that suited us. The second time we were there it was so hot and humid we stayed on the ship.

Hal's excursions seem very limited for this port. Maybe some more will appear by the time we are aboard.

Most of you seem to be from USA or Canada. I am from the UK, living in Spain.

Does anyone know if Casino discounts ever apply to us in Europe?

I play a lot of BlackJack when on a cruise (and video poker) but have never heard of these discounts until I read about them here recently.

Is Captain Chris Turner still with HAL? We first sailed with him (several times) many years ago on Windstar's Wind Song. What a great Captain.

Also, any idea who will be our Captain on the Veendam for the Southern Caribbean Cruise on 8th December?

I have a particular reason for asking this as I will be scattering my late husband's ashes while at sea and I would love it to be one of the Captains we sailed with previously.

Don't expect the Neptune Lounge to be anything like the suite lounge on RCI. It is not open 24 hours and there is no evening free drink service. Think of it more as a private front office where the concierge looks after your needs.

I'm told slot play is tracked automatically, though I've never played. I only play Blackjack. On any table game, you want to hand them your room card before you play. They'll "log you in" and the pit boss will watch a sampling of hands during your play. Length of time played, frequency of sessions, and average bet are the prime components of your "rating". They also keep track of your chip purchases and cash outs. Any HAL casino deals/offers will show up under your Mariner number.

I also play blackjack. It has never occurred to me to give them my room card when I start playing. I am sure the amount of time I spent in the casino on my last TA would have earned me some reward - lol