pirate cruiser

When we were on Oosterdam last Sept. the RS and BB Kings bands were the best I have heard on a ship plus our DJ Valentino played great music.

Sir,

As you are the CEO of the Institute of Cheer I am putting a motion on the floor for the board to consider-I am not completely up on Robert's rules of order but since my name is Robert here goes-from this day forward any and all posts that refer to packing and getting ready to come home be disallowed-violators shall be punished with long debarkation lines, cramped shuttle buses and crowded return flights-respectfully submitted for consideration, thank you.

We booked our next cruise on board last sept. The consultant was very helpful and we were able to get the aft veranda we wanted plus the HIA (including elite bev package & crew grats) and we only had to put a fully refundable deposit down. If you are interested in a room that usually sells out fast I would book as long as the deposit is refundable.

I was told we could add CO to our Rotterdam cruise in Dec. but since we are in the cabin we want (aft deck 6) we would not get anything in place of an upgrade. 

We went to Pompeii in Sept.-since it was our first trip to Naples it was awesome but if  we go back I definitely want to go to Herculaneum-if I had to choose one I would pick Herculaneum.

On the 3 different HAL ships we have been on there are plenty of spaces where people can play cards,etc. The Lido should be for diners only. JMO

On our Med cruise last Sept it was a lot less stressful knowing we had booked air thru HAL.

Glad you mentioned Capt. Kevin-we were on Oosterdam last Sept and he was the friendliest, most approachable Captain I have ever met.

We were on the 12 day Med. on Oosterdam this past Sept. and finished in Venice (Trieste ). It is misleading to say Venice IMO-Trieste was not crowded and very nice but since this was our first time we were disappointed not seeing Venice. If we had known how far away it was we would have looked into disembarking at Trieste and staying overnight in Venice especially since our flight home was from there-maybe next time.

When we were on Oosterdam last Sept. I happened to be standing on the rail behind seaview pool during a sailaway-I could see people on their afts on deck 8 and decided I would not want a room there even as much as we enjoyed our aft on deck 7 on NS. We were lucky as there was an aft available on deck 6 when we booked for this Dec. 

Don't want to open a can of worms but I have taken my can of beer into the hydro pool and put it on the edge of the pool after drinking it with no problem-this was on Eurodam and NS.

Remember part of a quote from the fleet report not too long-you will regret not doing things far more than the things you did so go for it !

I wanted to wish everyone a safe and Happy New Year-I enjoy following most of the adventures here-I decided several years ago I will not read the negative posts as they seem to get the most attention. We have been on 4 HAL cruises now and as much as I would like to try another line to have an accurate comparison we keep going with HAL-hard to explain but after we get on the ship it just feels right like an old shoe or comfy chair-thanks to the old pros for the live threads and current conditions (POA1 I want to reach my 15 drink limit with you ! ) Here's to a safe and smooth 2024 !

Yes, the mimosas I ordered with room service breakfast were not covered with the SBP.

We never go by the check-in time-on our last 3 HAL cruises ( 2 in FLL and 1 in Barcelona ) we were through security, in the terminal and in our room by 1PM so I say get there as soon as you want plus since this is your first one it's exciting just being at the port.

I have only been to a Mariner function once in our 3 HAL cruises but we are only 2 star. We have received the tiles on all 3.

I would like the sea days so I could get my money's worth on the SBP ! 😁

To piggy back on the above-is CO worth the cost if you are in a cabin that you want ?

I'm starting to think that if there are any places you have always wanted to visit do it as soon as you can-seems like more and more ports are restricting ships and people-we are booked on a Panama Canal cruise for next Dec. and they have already taken Key West off. With politics and protesters becoming more involved it will be interesting to see what cruising looks like in 10 years.

Our guide took us to the brothel and there was a friendly cat hanging around so I can say I have petted the cat at a brothel in Pompeii (lol-couldn't resist ! ).

I know this is trivial for a lot of people but we became 2 star on our NYE cruise last year so I was hoping to get the pins when we boarded for our Med. cruise in Sept. After a few days of nothing I went to GS to ask about our pins and the person did not know what I was talking about-she asked our cabin number and went to talk to someone in another room-after 5 minutes she came back with our pins so I wonder if it's just new employees that are not aware of the Mariner program.

Thanks for taking us along-I will be paying special attention since we are booked on the Panama Canal Sunfarer next Dec.

I also think it depends on the itinerary-we were on NS after Christmas thru Jan. 7 in the Carribbean last year-there were lots of kids and decorations. Kids don't bother us but they did take over both pools and we could tell some folks were not happy. It was festive and the NYE party was packed at the lido pool. 

I would think that they would know any restrictions before advertising a port stop-oh well, no big deal plus we have not been to Montego Bay and I really want to do the canal and Costa Rica anyway.

We booked a panama canal cruise for Dec. 24-we just got notice that the Key West stop has been replaced with Montego Bay- why would this occur on a cruise that's over a year away ? Just a little surprised.