TiogaCruiser

The lines on Volendam last April were chronically long. I finally waited through once for a cappuccino. It truly wasn’t worth it. It was nothing like the delicious ones Veendam staff made with a different machine. So for me, no need to repeat. I’ll just happily get ice tea at the lido.

Just curious-what’s the difference between a limousine and a town car? (I thought they were the same.)

Thank you. I need to look into this.

Totally understand that one. I have not taken long trips (yet), but several years ago I set up a separate stand alone checking account that I keep a minimal amount in (enough so the account is complimentary). It has its own personal ATM card. When I travel, I put a couple thousand dollars in it (enough for lodging, food and return airline tickets) in case I have an emergency and need to access cash. If I were to set up auto pay for bills, it would be linked to that account. Should I need to transfer more money in, I could call my bank and have that happen. My “real” ATM card (the one that gives access to our accounts) lives in our safe.

We were on for Panama Canal in April, and there were 2 well-presented talks on the canal. No other “intellectual offerings” by the ship, but I did bring along “A Path Between the Seas”. Not much stimulating on Tv either.

If it’s the same rules as for health care providers, you cannot. We had a private sale that fell under the casino fare code and were declined. But the offers are not totally the same: Per the website, while military and educators can qualify when retired, apparently HCPs have to be active.

$20 per bottle

This is something you might want to run by the business that sold you the insurance. Was it a broker who knows their product? I’m wondering if insurance might question and refuse payment if you are choosing in advance to do only the first half of the cruise.

What port, and what airport?

On our most recent cruises (2 since the pause) they were no longer requiring you to register for disembarkation. For those who preferred to self disembark and handle their own luggage, they published the times when you could leave, It was pretty much whenever. ( you could have chosen first thing, or 9:30, or anything in between.) For those who chose to have staff take their luggage off, they just placed the luggage tags out for people to pick up and self select their group time. No one had to pre-register. In years past, there were more rigid times for self-disembarkation, IIRc, it was the first 2 groups only.

We were on Volendam in April and they offered pickle ball instruction for several days, then group play. At first they only had indoor balls, but soon received the order of outdoor balls staff had put in.

Which brings up: no mention of an extra charge for a second dessert.😇 And that just makes me believe all the more that the extra charge for an “additional” “starter” isn’t so much about the cost of food, nor food waste, but instead about abolishing the additional courses, (appetizer, soup and salad) which should be served separately. Offering ONE included decreases workload on the servers, and lets the tables turn faster. (Pax throughput) (Allowing more people to be served their HIA meal, or one they bought,

HAL platinum becomes a real insurance plan when travel begins. So if you have a covered loss, you get to file a claim and work it out with the insurance company. If you cancel before leaving, HAL returns 90% of your money. (Done that one twice.)

Cost for HAL platinum is roughly 10% of the cruise fare. If you booked flights or a pre or post cruise tour through HAL, they are also covered, but are not considered when calculating the cost of the plan. With platinum CPP, you can cancel for any reason at all (e.g. illness, work, dog not well, favorite team lost championship- they don’t care) and you get 90% back. The best I can find for CAR coverage through other insurance only returns 75% if ANY reason (e.g. decide not to go). If it’s a covered reason, (e.g. illness) 100% (-cost of plan.)

Cool. Do you both crochet?

On Volendam in April they had several beginning knitting classes. I did not attend, but someone who did told me that they supplied a small amount of yarn.

OP did not initially specify what type of OBC they had. The discussion started with making broad statements about OBC, ( which sounded like ALL OBC), some of which could have been incorrect depending on the type of OBC. Kind of like a thread some 8 years ago where some OP came on after having been denied boarding because they had been told by their TA and confirmed by HAL that they could cruise on their particular closed loop cruise with just their official US birth certificate. They were a US serviceman and had been all over with their paperwork. A few pages in it came out they were born on a US base in Germany, and needed one more paper (IIRC it was a type of registration) to make that work for their cruise.

We were in 7658 in April/May of this year. It was our first “nicer” cabin and second one with a porch. (Note to self- I need to send these to Hal Facts so they get shared.)

I kept my phone in my vest pocket and got a Bluetooth ear piece to listen to walking directions from MapsMe. I only took it out once or twice, and that when I was inside a safe feeling store. In Santiago Airport a security patrol came by and told me to hold on to my small bag, which was in the top of the luggage basket. I was sitting on the floor, the bag about a foot above me and no one around me. They said “it’s not safe to not have it on you here.”

What was the previous price?

I’d love to read it

+1 I would call them “juicy”

2 “service” dogs for same owner? By your inflection here I understand their true status was quite questionable. Which brings up a Legitimate question here: Why would one person need 2 service dogs?

So does this result in less upper management, or more?🤔

Not sure if it would be the same as they are different class ships, but last month for Panama Canal Volendam opened the bow and required entry via the show room ( instead of access from Lower Promenade and then climbing the ladder). They had several staff set up, and pax were able to walk a flat path to the door leading to the bow. At that point there was a short a-frame ramp covering the step-over lip. A lady using a rollator was supported by staff as she walked up and down the small ramp. Then they gave her back her rollator.