TiogaCruiser

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.

Just curious. Where did you find the HAL promise?

Hi there! Hope you are doing well. The port is Topolobampo, México. It comes up on some of the 10 day Sea of Cortes itineraries. I don’t know if they resumed service. I never made it as my cruise was during the “pause”, so it’s still on my bucket list. I thought I saw where Kingkongdam was doing that port this winter.

Adding on to what Tuth said, and what you asked: The HAL CPPs do not protect the rate for your cabin mate should they decide to go anyway.

Yep. I’m one of it’s “victims”!

Good morning all, Lot’s going on this week: helping a friend pack up for a move out of state and preparations for VBS. Although the Apple Store is only a few miles from me, I’ve gotten stellar support by starting a chat or asking for a call from within my account. I had a synch problem when I changed my Apple ID, and the tech remoted in to my devices ( including Windows desktop machine that was using iCloud) and eventually (45 minutes or so) fixed the problem. (To remote in, the issue had to be escalated to a specific tech with the credentials to remote in.) I would only allow this if you go through the Apple website and your account.

As is “the New math”.😉

This brings to mind a series of reviews on the Home Depot website for strings of outdoor lights. There were numerous low star reviews saying that after they got the lights hung they had to climb up on a ladder to figure out which lights was loose ( and causing the string to not light up.). Clearly they had not tested it before installing.

Yes. Vista suites (veranda suites), A,AA, B,BB

Volendam has additional verandas on deck 7. Not a whole deck of them, but there are a significant number. We had one aft of the Neptunes 2 weeks ago. There’s 48 to be exact.

Good morning all, It’s hard to believe we’ve been back over a week. Yesterday the house got cleaned and today the suitcases go back into the garage. It was a great trip, and thank you again for all the help. @dfish Dinner looks delicious. I’ll copy a couple of those recipes. @ger_77 If it’s helpful, (assuming you are using an iOS device- I don’t remember you saying previously) if you keep your finger on a chosen letter, a bubble with other options (accents, other markings) comes up and you can slide your finger to select). We’re planning to try pickle ball at a local park later today. We were introduced to it on Volendam. Have a great day everyone!