*Miss G*

We had a very delayed departure from the original 3:00pm sailaway they had set. The Captain made an announcement following the sailaway celebrations to report that — after a search of the ship and a review of the CCTV recordings — sadly, the missing crew member was seen jumping into the sea at 10:00pm the night before. 😢 We were all so very sad and I am sure the crew was devastated. I can’t even imagine the nightmare his family must be going through. The Captain said that other ships in the area are keeping a lookout. Only a few hours after leaving PEV, we turned around and headed back to shore due to a critically ill crew member. After a transfer via the Coast Guard we resumed the voyage. The next day we found out that he had passed from a heart attack. Wow. More devastating news for the crew and families. 😢

Here is Andy — the amazing Entertainment Host — leading everyone in the line dancing and YMCA dance during sailaway. This was the most energetic sailaway I have ever been to on Holland America. Go to anything Andy is leading… especially the Music Trivia… and hope for a dance-off. He is soooo funny.

SATURDAY, APRIL 13th EMBARKATION DAY At 10:30am we head down to the car. Argh! I left the car keys in the room upstairs! It is also where I left the room keys. I cross my fingers in hopes that I can catch my sister but she is exiting the elevator as I am entering. Yes, she too has left her room key on the table. Sigh. I take the lift to the 4th floor and try to find someone from housekeeping to let me in but hey have all disappeared. It must be break time. I head down to Reception to ask them for another key and return to our room. Yay! Keys are where I left them! We are back on track, albeit a half hour later. But, oh oh! The ship is not sailing at 5:00pm like usual. It is now sailing at 3:00pm! Glad I double-checked. I now have two less hours to drop everyone at the port, return the rental vehicle, then get back to the port before the 1:30pm all aboard. I’m going to need that sailaway party beverage. Thirty minutes later, parents and sis dropped at port and I head back to the airport area to fill up the car. Except now it is gridlock on a Saturday afternoon in Fort Lauderdale. Will the fun never end? I fight my way through traffic, get my gas, and fight the traffic back again. Where is that drink? After dropping the rental at Hertz, I decide to head down to baggage claim to see if there’s room on the coach. Super nice guys at the HAL stand sign me in, contact the rep at the bus to say there’s one more to come, then walk me to where it’s parked as I am the last one to board at T1. I jump onboard and we head to T2 to pick up the remainder of the transfers. Texting my daughter at 12:30pm to say that I am on my way, she tells me that boarding is on hold due to a missing crew member. Oh oh. The coach arrives at the terminal around 1:00pm but boarding has not yet commenced. I hope everything is okay. Just after checking in, it re-commences and I am scanned onboard. My mother had wheelchair assistance so she and my Dad and my sister were already onboard. I head to our assigned room. ROOM 7163 - STARBOARD AFT This was a nice room and I would be fine with it again. The only down side was that it had a connecting door. So, I think… but I can’t quite recall from her sister ships… that it robbed us of a bit of cupboard space. Our neighbours weren’t the noisy type but you could hear them every once in a while, as I’m sure they could hear us as well. The three drawers underneath the refrigerator cupboard only pulled out halfway, (meaning they were half the depth of a regular drawer) so that was a bit annoying. Two adjustable chairs, with footrests, and a small table on the balcony. I see my sister made it onto the ship! I drop my things to head for a much-needed sailaway bevvie but I was not quick enough! Bambang, the head room steward, was at the top of his game and welcomed me onboard with a list of questions and information. He has already spoken with my sister. He is a very capable young man indeed! Briefing over, I head to the Seaview Pool to see if I can find anyone.

Well, my goodness, doesn’t time fly? I finally have internet access and am able to catch up. I was going to keep a running dialogue but we have been run off our feet on the cruise and something had to go. Sorry. APRIL 11th - 13th WASHINGTON, DC and TORONTO, ON to FORT LAUDERDALE, FL WEATHER: HOT Storms in Florida and the Metropolitan DC area are causing havoc with the flights. Mine has been delayed, literally right after they called for us to start boarding. The flight before mine — to Orlando — has been completely cancelled. They are trying to fit people from that flight onto ours, but ours is full. The gate attendants are good at keeping us informed. Luckily, we are only delayed one hour. My parents and sister are not so lucky. Their flight was delayed for almost five hours, which means I am picking them up from FLL at 1:00am instead of 8:30pm. Oh well. I am happy they have finally made it. We are staying at The Residence Inn Plantation. The rooms have had a lovely upgrade since our last stay in 2022. We have one day for shopping, which makes my mother and sister happy. We stop for a really great fish and chips at the King’s Head British Pub in Sunrise. @bennybear and @Turtles06, this place is definitely a contender for the Fish and Chip World Challenge™. Yum!

Thank you everyone! On the HAL transfer bus. Driver went to wrong ship. Daughter texting from Pier 21. They’re holding all boarding due to a missing crew member. Lots of unhappy passengers. More later as we are about to get off the coach!

Dear Bruno, I am so very sorry to read of your loss. I know you will feel it deeply. Wishing you peace and love to get you through the coming days, and hoping that the memories you shared will bring light and comfort as you transition to the next phase.

Less than three weeks till sailing and it’s been radio silence on room assignment. I’m getting antsy! 18 days from sailing and there is another offer: Definitely will not take them up on that. “Best Available” will now be whatever’s left. We’ll take our chances with the obstructed rather than chance a disappointment. Hoping my PCC can nab the best “best available” when they give him the all-clear. Twelve days till sailing and no assignment yet. Received another offer. Now down to $109/pp. Parents received their assignment a few days ago; went from a VH obstructed to a mid-ship VA. Well done! Daughter and SIL wanted a specific suite so they already have theirs. Sis and I have decided to take our chances. 10 days from sailing and another offer. Same one as two days ago. I guess they thought I wasn’t paying attention. I am not taking your offer! Just assign the room already! 8 days from sailing and yet another offer!! At least, this time, there’s a suite involved: 7 days from sailing and we have a room assignment! We are happy. 🥰

Okay, most tasks completed and it’s time for a little break! To backtrack a bit… The day after booking, we received an upgrade offer. It is, after all, a few weeks from sailing. The offer is $199/pp to move from obstructed to unobstructed. Pass. I am hoping for a better offer. Aaaand…. you win some; you lose some. I checked the following week and it seems this ship is sailing full. No suites for you! That’s okay. I will be on a ship with my happy family and we are going places! The first place we will be going is Fort Lauderdale. More coordination. My sister flew from England to Canada so she could fly down with my parents. I flew from Washington, DC, and will meet them there. Why is the Dulles International Airport code IAD, you ask? Well, originally it was DIA but they kept getting it mixed up with DCA (aka National Airport or Ronald Reagan Airport, depending where your loyalties lie). Aoccdrnig to rscheearch, it deosn’t mttaer whcih oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, as lnog as the frsit and lsat ltteers are in the rgiht pclae, the mnid can raed the wrod as a wohle. Since both airports started with a D and ended in an A, there was trouble afoot. Much safer to boggle Dulles’ letters to prevent a whole host of problems which I’d rather not think about.

Hi everyone! I came to check which pier we were at (thank you) and it seems our sailaway is at 3:00pm. Weird. I am used to the usual 5:00pm. Had to reschedule all my plans when I saw that one in the Navigator. Glad I double-checked!

This year’s journey will be an adventure. Mum and Dad and Sis and I arrived in Fort Lauderdale a few days ago. My daughter and son-in-law flew in last night. Today, we board Holland America’s flagship, the Rotterdam VII. I am very excited to see what she’s like and we’re all really excited, in general! The stars have to align, quite precisely, in order to get here and we are very thankful. We (my sister and I) were enticed by the Private Fare, but the guarantee status on the obstructed balcony we chose had us slightly hesitant. But, not to worry, our trusted PCC came through and assigned us an unobstructed on Deck 7! Life is good. My parents have a great room on a different deck. My daughter and SIL chose a specific suite, on yet another deck, because they liked the same one on the Nieuw Statendam. Right now, I have tasks, so I shall try to get back to this thread soon!

Thank you, Jacqui! We will be taking the P&O overnight ferry from Rotterdam, and then the train. First time on P&O!

Wow. Talk about a wild ride when booking last minute! There are far too many moving pieces when trying to coordinate multiple schedules and obligations across three different countries with six different people. It’s like nailing jello to a tree! The main goal is to get to England. This TA gets us close. It’s not our first choice in itineraries but it’s a cruise and we are happy. Today is embarkation day!

Oh, for sure. I am a notorious checker of price fluctuations. Like you said… you win some; you lose some. I won this one! That makes me happy. 🥰

When the June 9th westbound TA hit a certain price point, I began monitoring it daily, along with the sailings in late May and June. When it dropped from my “I’m interested” price by 14% (two weeks ago) I decided to make my move. But then life got in the way and schedules kept sliding so I hesitated and couldn’t commit. Last week the price increased by 7% and I was a little unhappy because I have to take the single surcharge into account. I continued to monitor the same sailings and they remained static. Yesterday, I decided to book at that price but ran into a delay as I investigated locations and dealt with other commitments. This morning, the price hadn’t moved so I got all my ducks in a row to make the call about two hours after looking. When opening a window to the Cunard site, I couldn’t believe my eyes. Not only had the price dropped by another 20%… the Balcony was now lower than the price I was going to purchase the Inside for! I am now booked. 👍

I’m going to take a wander past as I explore. Will report back!

It will definitely be warm the first few days out of Florida. Mid-Atlantic will be cooler but still nice. We did a March TA in 2022 and it was a bit chilly for a couple of days, but once we got away from the storms we had from FLL to Mid-Atlantic it was sunny and warm. Honestly, you’re not going to need anything more than you’d wear in Chilliwack at this time of year. I’m on this sailing and am bringing sweaters and a raincoat. The sweaters are for morning and evening, and during the day in case it gets chilly. The raincoat is for, well… rain. I’m leaving tomorrow so I guess I’d better pack. lol

Thank you so much, everyone! Your posts have been very helpful. I was thinking it must be okay since there are suites right there. I had been leaning towards an Inside but then I noticed the free upgrade from OV to balcony. Now I’m thinking I might do that instead. (I am sailing solo.) Which means I now have to study which balconies would be my best choice. I’d better get a move on since I have to book it today.

The Koningsdam for me, too. Alaska.

Oh, I see what you mean! Thank you. That is very helpful!

Thank you, @Pushpit. The room I am looking at opens onto the starboard corridor. I was hoping the lounge would be enclosed with a smoke mediation unit to keep it contained. For some reason, cigar smoke triggers migraines and I’d like to avoid that. 😄

I couldn’t find an answer to this question. Does anyone know if the smoke from the cigar lounge drifts out to public spaces and, specifically, the rooms on Deck 9 of the Queen Mary 2? Thank you.

I think this is why I loved our Avalon river cruise. We were up at dawn and it was go go go from morning till evening. But that was our choice as there were so many great included excursions mornings, afternoons, and full day that we wanted to take advantage of. Returning from one full day, we were welcomed back with warm brownies, wash cloths, and a shot of something… with just enough time throw it back then dress for dinner! I found out that on river cruises it’s important to attend the pre-dinner port talk/happy hour gathering (with hot and cold hors d’oeuvres) before you head off to dinner. It was a wonderful experience and proved to me why I don’t care if HAL has a production show or not. I am more interested in the ports and being on the water than I am in a show at sea. By the time we dropped into bed we were out like a light. It was almost like running a marathon! And I loved every minute.

Here’s the schedule. The South Pacific sounds good to me!

Thanks for the reports, @CruiserBruce! I am hoping someone will post pics from the ship. I enjoyed watching the eclipse across North America and seeing 90% totality here. The birds all went to bed!

Funny, it just dawned on me that you are traveling with Lynn Crawford and Lora Kirk! (Sometimes I am pretty oblivious.) We spent a lot of time at their restaurant and private parties. Amazing chefs and very lovely. Enjoy! Glad you made it to Amsterdam. Love your view! It looks like you were on a Dreamliner. Love that plane. Swiss Air is amazing. I would choose them over any other airline in a heartbeat.