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BSinPNS

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About Me

  • Location
    Pensacola, FL
  • Favorite Cruise Line(s)
    Celebrity, HAL

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Cool Cruiser (2/15)

  1. Only pproble we have encounterd with the Avis shuttle to the port location is lack of cars early in the day. They turn around the cars being dropped off by those departing on cruises that day. We have had better luck with airport rentals as they are ready to go when you get there.
  2. Concur with Ellen. One only needs crisp and unblemished USD. Most vendors in Argentina prefer USD cash and will give you a significant discount over local pesos or credit cards. In Chile, USD was acccepted everywhere we went.
  3. We had a wonderful day walking amongst the penquins at El Padral. It was a small group tour (maybe 15 of us). Drive is about 2.5 hours each way. On arival met with some snacks and clean bathrooms. Then we spent about 2.5 hours walking through the penguins to the beach and back. Upon return we had a delicious lunch of lamb, epenadas, etc. Google Patagonia Ranch and El Pedral Penguin Colony Tour from Puerto Madryn. Edited to add tehe link https://www.reservaelpedral.com/en/full-day-trip-for-cruisers/
  4. The lack of days in Antarctica is why we booked a similar, but longer (22 days) cruise on Holland America )Oosterdam). It offers four days in Antarctica which is just about right in our opinion.
  5. We had a great time on this cruise pre-COVID on the Volendam. As mntioned before, the ports are not all that interesting, but there were several of us who joined for private tours at each port - they were fantastic and we got to see the real Indonesian countryside. As mentioned before, please plan on spending at least a few days in Singapore. They day you arrived doesn't count as you will be quite tired unless you sleep well on airplanes. ENJOY!!
  6. We had the same issue with the Port of San Antonio on last year's early January cruise. (The ship was delayed arriving since the port was closed and departure was delayed like your. It meant that we along with 1800 plus of new friends got to wait in the "lovely" passenger terminal.) Hated to miss Puerto Montt but we were well rewarded with what we saw in Antarctica. Reliving our great time thru your current postings. Have a great time.
  7. Another vote for the tremendous tour offered by El Pedral: Penguins and countryside
  8. Had a difficul time finding Rotterdam in the cruise review section. It is listed as Holland America Rotterdam. All other ships are listed with just the name, e.g., Nieuw Amsterdam, Oosterdam, etc. This may explain why there are so few reviews for this ship.
  9. Concur with Kazu. We really enjoyed CO on the Rotterdam. Never had a line and in 21 days, sat at the same table for all except one dinner but we had our usual wait team. You can also ask for special items that the chef will prepare in the CO galley. We loved the bok choy she fixed.
  10. Regarding HAL excursions, the vendor will scan either your ticket on your mobile phone or your room key card. May want to check with the excursions desk the day before to ensure they don't change the meeting time/place.
  11. Not all the car services have direct access to the terminal. I presume there is a fee or licensing requirement (or both). Concur, there is a separate shuttle for each ship. Perhaps later in the day, they consolidate down to one doing all the ships.
  12. We recently received links to submit excursion reviews about three weeks after the excursion. Timing was great as we were back home with good internet access. This is the first time in three cruises with HAL after COVID that we received a link to review. Hopefully they will continue.
  13. Just completed the 21-day (7+14 combo) on Rotterdam. The 14-day Norway/Iceland/Scotland was excellent. Adding the additional 7-day Norway cruise was icing on the cake. The 7-day drew a far younger crowd (mainly Dutchies) with children. We thought the average age of the 14-day increased by 15-20 years with it being the traditional HAL crowd. As others have said, if you can only do one, do the 14-day. Have fun!
  14. We disembarked the week before and there were large and small taxis available just outside the terminal. porters were available inside. Schiphol was a pleasant experience. No lines.
  15. Just off Rotterdam. It was exactly as Silver to Gold described in post 5. Very casual attire with prerecorded music. At most there were five couples, usually one or two and sometimes no one on the floor.
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