Storylady

When you are at the Devil’s Throat, there is lots of mist. So much so that I only used my iPhone. My husbands glasses got droplets, but he didn’t bother to wipe them as he was too busy taking photos. Plus, we were totally wet. Also, the boat ride to the Devil’s Throat, you will get totally wet. But other than that, you should be fine. Be sure to take an umbrella in case it rains. That will prevent her glasses from getting wet also. We did only the day trip and we had a host, plus three guides. The guides were fantastic. We enjoyed the trip so much that we will do the an overland in the future.

I hear the quote from Cruise Critic and President’s Club members, Mary and Bill. They said, “the more you pay, the more you sway”.

We were lucky to be there on an incredibly beautiful day. Since the Prinsendam is bigger than the Seaborn ship, we anchored offshore. The harbor and the town were very nearly destroyed by the lava flow which stopped just on the edge. You can easily walk to where the lava flow ended. We did take tour to see the puffins which were on the cliffs at the opposite end of the island. They had a blind, so we could easily photograph the puffins coming and going with fish to feed their young. You are right about the entrance being very narrow. But oh such a picturesque port. Hope you make it t

My favorite Icelandic port was the island Heimaey off the southwestern coast. Absolute best place to see puffins without a boat ride. And the scenery is spectacular. The port is incredibly picturesque. Definitely as good as Greenland. Unfortunately, with the sale of the Prinsendam, I don’t see HAL going there in the future.

The Voyage of the Vikings is a fantastic cruise, but more expensive due to its unique itinerary. And even more expensive if you do one way. If you are interested in the Midnight Sun, I would consider doing it on the Volendam instead of the Rotterdam. Yes, you get a brand new ship with the Rotterdam. But the Rotterdam has more than twice the number of people onboard. But the main reason for doing the Midnight Sun Voyage on the Volendam is the itinerary which goes to Flam and Geiranger. The Rotterdam visits neither. These two port calls give you the best of Norway. Plus, Geiranger stop

If you are booked on the 2022 and are booking the 2023, the down payment for the 2023 is $2000 for a couple. If you are only booked just the 2022, the down payment is $7000. Your agent needs to talk to HAL as it is not visible on her screen. This has been discussed in the roll call..

Ruth, there are tables that are close enough that you can talk to someone without being at their table, if they are strict on the dining. But to be on a cruise ship again and have someone make my bed, clean my room, deliver my food and be able to sit on a deck chair and watch the sea while reading a book. Heaven.

Guess we are in the minority. It doesn’t bother us to wear mask. In fact, it might even help prevent me from getting colds, the flu and a hacking cough onboard. Also, when it is windy on deck, I don’t enjoy walking as I frequently end up with a sinus infection. The mask, I have noticed from wearing it when walking, has helped me this winter as I haven’t had a single sinus infection. Doctors have demonstrated that you could wear 6 surgical masks and still will have 100% oxygen level. I want to cruise and enjoy life at sea which I can do even wearing a mask.

Consequently, they shouldn’t be allowed to go to Svalbard as it is above the 60 degree line and isn’t part of mainland Norway. So there has to be a loophole we aren’t aware of.

I believe you maybe correct. The Volendam is in Europe. The Zaandam is doing the VOV and then probably Canada and New England.

62 degrees is actually south of 60 degrees. The numbers get large as we get closer to the pole. So if the rules are in effect, that would mean no passenger cruise ship would be going to Antarctica and sub-Antarctic islands without meeting the new polar standards. There must be some loophole that allows the ships to still cruise in Antarctic waters that we aren’t aware of. Surely, by this time, they would be not be allowing Antarctic cruising.

There are 10 overnights. Only one port call in Mauritius. The other is in Reunion.

Actually, we didn’t give them as big of an extra tip over the gratuities as we normally do. They were okay. We are not demanding passengers, but they didn’t seem to care to please us like other stewards we had. Surprised they were on a World Cruise!!!

Thanks Ruth, it is very possible. They were okay, but no way as excellent as Stewards we have had in the past. I didn’t pursue it as as the stewards on the 2018, made sure all 5 pieces luggage made it under the bed. But we didn’t have the spinner wheels. I thought they also wouldn’t store them. We had planned on replacing our luggage with another 25” spinner, but I may replace one of the pieces with two 21” instead with the hopes they can be stored inside the 25” luggage just in case the same thing happens again. This time I will talk to Housekeeping. Thanks Ruth!!!❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

We were told there was no room. We will see what happens on our next World cruise. But this happened twice on the World Cruise (2018 & 2020). And we weren’t doing segments. We did have friends whose luggage was stored, but they were onboard during the Christmas cruise. Probably all the passengers who were on the Christmas and Grand Asia had their luggage stored. By the time we asked our stewards to remove Our luggage, the storage area was full.