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BSinPNS

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Everything posted by BSinPNS

  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.
  16. Edgar goes home to Manila in early October and Arif shortly afterwards. Edgar will be back to R-Dam just before Christmas.
  17. Totally impressed during our 21-day cruise with the service and professionalism in Club Orange. We tipped Edgar, his assistant, our waiters (Arif and Bonny) plus the always smiling assistant waiter (Galih) who kept us well supplied with fresh OJ in the morning individually using envelopes provided by guest services. Wrote an individual note to each on the envelope. Also commented to the Food and Beverage Director and wrote comment on Navigator app. Edgar has a well oiled professional operation in CO where they all work together. We are early diners and often heard Edgar talking to the crew before opening about teamwork and other bits and pieces.
  18. There are busses (X99) just off the tender pier at South Queensferry that will take you to a drop point near the Scott Statue in Edinburgh. There are two ticket options - transportation only and transportation plus hoho bus tour. On August 10, 2022, we took the combo ticket which ended up being $35 per person. The busses stop running in the late afternoon. I think the last bus arrived back at the ship around 1730. We returned to the ship in mid-afternoon and went back to the tender pier to join the ship's tour to Tattoo. As others have mentioned, HAL has an excellent process to get you to the Tattoo with lots of time to spare before the performance and get you back to ship expeditiously. Not sure how we could have made it without using the ship's tour as we left just after the performance, walked almost a mile downhill to the bus and departed as soon as everyone was on board. We got back to the ship about 0015 and the last tender was at 0030. (Not concerned as we were on the ship's tour.) They were using both a large commercial tender along with the ship's tenders. I did not see any taxis as we were walking back to the bus. The ship's tour was well done. Although our tour indicated sideline seating, we were in the corner only one seating block away from the prime seats. FYI, there are only a few restaurants and souvenir shops near the tender landing.
  19. Cost on the stuff the bag on Rotterdam last week was $39 per bag. Inflation.
  20. Just off Rotterdam. Dutch Cafe had good coffee and other treats, but the poor service in the morning was a total turn-off. Waiting behind ten or so people in line to get coffee was acceptable, but the unsmiling faces and staff that at most we just doing their job was not pleasant.
  21. I think it depends where you are cruising. We just got off the Rotterdam (Scandinavia from Amsterdam). Water was 330ml cans with pop tops.
  22. We just got off Rotterdam. Great ship and crew. If you are in Club Orange, you will enjoy the special service from Edgar’s team.
  23. While you booked a 25-day cruise, it is probably made up of several segments. We just completed a 21-day cruise that was really a B2B 7-day followed by a 14-day. You may want to check this by going to the HAL website and seeing if there are “other” shorter cruises departing the same day as yours from the same port and same ship. While HAL is not really a kids oriented line, they do offer a kids club and with only a few kids on board, yours will receive special attention. We find many of the staff really enjoy seeing your kids as they miss theirs who are at home.
  24. Shore excursions in Argentina, Falklands and Chile permit you to get real close (one meter) to penguins though.
  25. Seems they do it on the last sea day. Did it on O-dam in South America in February and on the previous seven day on Rotterdam. It is really a nice idea since they only do towel animals on dressy nights now. I do feel sorry for the cabin stewards who need to get up early to do this (about 0430) according to our steward. Combine it with all the work that needs to be done on the last day before turnover.
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