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cruzingnut

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    South Florida
  • Favorite Cruise Line(s)
    HAL
  • If you have a personal or hobby CRUISE or TRAVEL BLOG, include the url here:
    https://lindavesadventures.com/

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Cool Cruiser (2/15)

  1. @richwmn, I've been following the blogs of people on this cruise. We were going on but had to cancel it but i do have some friends onboard. One is coming with us on the Japan cruise so I gave her a heads up. I'm hoping she was able to attend; nice idea to have that get together! Linda R.
  2. They have indeed closed the DR on embarkation day this Sunday. I checked the Navigator app and in capital letters, it says DR closed. We always go there to avoid the madhouse up in the Lido..... Linda R.
  3. It WAS amazing! https://lindavesadventures.com/2015/04/30/april-8-2015-mariner-event-at-ephesus-turkey/
  4. I had "inside" info into what the plan was for the 2020 WC party so that would have been a big "do" off the ship. I guess I got spoiled with Kusadasi and Ephesus in 2015 and then the Rijks Museum on 2019. The big party in Bali (2013) was on the ship and that was pretty awesome. And, I think the 2010 WC had a big South African Braai onboard the ship. So, you're right, there are plenty of times that the celebration is held on the ship. Linda R.
  5. Is this fair the "big shindig" that happens on the WC? I'm still bummed over the fact that 2020 was going to be on top of the "surfboard" hotel in Singapore. I would hope there would me more to it than this.... Linda R.
  6. @jimdee3636, @OlsSalt, @DCThunder, @cruisemom42 The 2010 WC went east....we dubbed it "The Wrong Way Cruise". The time changed on sea days for the most part and was done midday. 2PM came along and it was immediately changed to 3PM. It made it a bit easier during the day, rather than at night but it was still pretty brutal overall. It was nice not to loose an hour at night but it was still hard. Plus, (not us) a lot of people were pretty peeved at NOT having their chosen activities happening due to the lost hour. The bonus of this direction was that we went to Asia area in the spring. Cebu Island had all the cherry Trees in blossom; that was amazing! We also went to Petropavlovsk before crossing back to the US and had a great experience there. I don't think Russia will be on any cruise anymore though... The other thing about this cruise was that it was NOT a true circumnavigation. It began in Ft. Lauderdale and ended in San Diego. Despite the direction of travel and not going all the way around the world, we loved the trip (of course, it was our first WC) and felt it was worth it overall. More "jaded" now, I'd prefer not to travel that way at this point. Linda R.
  7. I know exactly why they were asking about ship preference. Last year was the first year they did it on a larger ship. The smaller ships are set up for long cruises in that they have more storage below for supplies. They also have more storage in the cabins for passengers. You usually need different clothing for where you are going to be around the world. The larger ships were designed more for short trips and we heard stories of toilet paper and other supplies being stored in unsold cabins! On prior world cruises (I've taken several starting back in 2010) they had several Balls that were held in the showroom. There is a dance floor in that venue so it worked well for as many people that wanted to, to gather there. On the Zuiderdam last year, we had one "ball" and it was split up between 3 venues; Rolling Rock, Ocean Bar and Billboard Online. Each venue had music that represented those venues. For us, we wanted to go to Ocean Bar since that music suits us more than the others. We couldn't get near it so went to Billboard and at least found a couple places to sit. Rolling Rock was busy, but too loud and not really what we wanted. Not that we wanted Billboard, we just wanted to be part of the celebration SOMEwhere. We stayed a short while and then went to our cabin. All of the world cruises we did (4 1/2) were on the Amsterdam. I LOVED that ship. Just like coming home any time we boarded her. I tried, I really did, to transfer that over to the Zuiderdam. I even went around saying "Different home, same family". Meaning that the crew, who we consider extended family, was the same. They worked hard, really hard and did the best they could. Henk and his staff worked their butts off to adapt the world cruise to that ship. For us, it didn't really work, much as I wanted it to. Although, there were lots of issues along the way that didn't help the situation. Supply issues; one country wouldn't give us 8 whole containers of supplies that we were counting on, etc. I'll admit that I'm very biased towards the smaller ships and I'm not saying I won't go on a WC on one of the larger ones (we aren't on this years). We had over 900 days on the Amsterdam so it's quite understandable that she is/was our all time favorite ship. One last thing to consider with smaller ships is the places you can go! Over the years, we visited some very out of the way places and docked places that the larger ships will never be able to. And, considering some small ports around the world are beginning to limit the size of the ships they let in...I think it's wise to stick to smaller ships. Otherwise it will be the same old, same old for every world cruise. Wow, I didn't plan on writing all that but there ya go! Linda R.
  8. Yes, I've seen this twice on 2 different HAL World Cruises. Ashes were delivered to the ship at a subsequent port and the family or partner continued on. It's what I've told my DH to do and also, probably what I would do with him. Linda R.
  9. I guess I should have specified which Grands I meant. For years they used to have the Grand Asia (or some combination thereof) and the Grand Med. They stopped those and have added in the Grand Africa and now the Grand Au/NZ. So yes, they haven't really discontinued the Grands; they've just mixed them up. If they do have a Grand Asia in 2026, we would be VERY interested! Linda R.
  10. I've been noticing how they have been extending the season on the Med! I don't think that would be great weather wise. Not sure I'd want to be there either at that time of year. October possibly but I think November is stretching it a bit. Linda R.
  11. How far back WAS that? On our first Grand (and first Equator crossing), early 2000's we thought we'd get slimed so we dressed in our bathing suits and sat in the front row of chairs. Nope, no dice BUT, we did kiss the fish. To this day, you can still do that at least. Linda R.
  12. That would be a great idea since they've discontinued the other Grands! Linda R.
  13. @cruisemom42, @VMax1700, @AtlantaCruiser72, @SUESEABE As @WriterOnDeck stated, northern countries such as Japan and China are really not the best places to be in winter so that would be the main reason the world cruise doesn't go there. Just do a google search for various cities and you can see what the averages are in January and February. As far as not wanting to places when it's hot, you wouldn't want to go anywhere near the equator then since it's always hot in those areas. Cartagena? Hot.....always hot, no getting around it. Anywhere in Indonesia, Singapore, etc. are hot too. But, the world cruises go to southern Australia and New Zealand too most times. But, again, it's summer then. I know I wouldn't want to go to Australia or NZ in winter (our summer). As far as the Caribbean and the Panama Canal, the couple stops there are so that you don't get on the ship and sail for days. Never mind that the Caribbean is part of the world. Not everyone that cruises on the world cruises have been in the Caribbean very much. For the Panama Canal? I've been through there many times and each time I enjoy it. It's also the easier way to get to the Pacific rather than having to go all the way around S. America (which not everyone wants to do). If you want that, HAL has the Grand S. America every year. @whogo We have people on the world cruises that are yes, mainly North America, but also from all over the world. Usually a fair amount of British, Dutch and other assorted Europeans and even people from Australia. As far as "seniors" wanting to go places "safe and familiar places", you couldn't have that more wrong. There are a LOT of people that go every year. Some go less often and we've gone on a number of them since 2010. I can tell you we would LOVE to get to new places. When they had the Grand in the fall, they used to go to Asia at that time. Fall was the perfect time for it weather wise. In 2013 HAL had probably one of the best fall Grands we've ever been on. Chock full of WWII islands, and other destinations you would have loved. Check here for the itinerary that we did. https://lindavesadventures.com/2013/09/12/itinerary-for-our-cruise/ @OlsSalt This past year on the 2023 we went to Reunion, Mauritius and were supposed to go to Madagascar but weather cancelled that out for us. As far as the Black Sea, that was done occasionally when HAL was running the Grand Med. Another Grand that we really wish they would bring back! With any luck, we can get Gus Antorcha to bring the other Grands back. They would be a guaranteed sell out, especially the Asia, etc. Please, I don't want anyone to feel like I'm "lambasting" them; I'm just trying to set out the facts from my experiences on a number of Grands and World Cruises. 😎 Linda R.
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