Skorpora

Another vote for Flybus! We stayed for a few days in Reykjavik before our cruise in July, and we pre-booked a car with Iceland Highlights to take us to the the port. 

Our embarkation was the fastest and smoothest I have ever experienced. We arrived at the Port and were on the ship within 10 minutes. 

14 hours ago, Blackduck59 said:

 I pre-ordered the distilled water and 1 gallon was fine for the 11 day voyage. Our next voyage is 43 days so I think I will pre-order 3 gallons for that voyage. The price is inconsequential in the grand scheen of things, my CPAP is worth about $1,000.00, I'll use the tap water for drinking.

I am on the Nieuw Statendam and I had pre ordered a gallon of distilled water. When I boarded, there was a 5 gallon jug waiting for me! Purchasing messed up and ordered 5 gallon jugs instead of 1 gallon jugs. I only had to pay for 1 gallon, but what a waste of water. 

I was told by one of our cabana attendants back in March that the tips are pooled. How it is distributed once the "pot" is divided up I don't know. We had this discussion when one of our cabana attendants was reassigned to the MDR midway through the cruise, and I was concerned that he was not going to get his fair share.  I managed to track him down in the MDR one evening so I handed his tip to him there.

I will be on a cruise in July, embarking in Iceland and visiting a couple of ports there. Next we cross over to Scotland for several ports. Then one port in England, and finally disembarking in Amsterdam. All my previous cruises have been in the Caribbean, and we have tipped at the end of the cruise in USD. Since this cruise is sailing in uncharted territory for me, I have no idea what currency is acceptable for tipping onboard. I would think that USD are not appropriate since the crew would have to exchange it because they are nowhere near the USA. Can someone advise me on this please? 

If it was me, I'd just show up at the Pinnacle at my reservation day and time. If they try to redirect me to the MDR, I would say no, my res is at the Pinnacle and I am not going to the MDR, so find me a table. 

We were on a cruise immediately following a nudist cruise once. I think that one was a full charter. I couldn't see them having regular passengers mixing with the nudists...

7 hours ago, LocoLoco1 said:

I disagree. Seems HAL is headed for a ‘WalMart’ business model while pretending it’s something loftier. Booking a Penthouse Suite and dining in Pinnacle still doesn’t provide that guest the fuller experience of what it COULD be. In my opinion, they tipped their impoverished hand when they sacked the Librarian and the ‘Yum-Yum’ boy. 

Yumyum boy is back - at least he was on the Eurodam a month ago. Just on the dressy nights. 

It seems a shame you miss all the fun because of your dinner time. Can you not change your dining time on those special event evenings so you can participate in the fun?

Koningsdam, Rotterdam, and Nieuw Statendam all have the big screen at the Lido pool. During the day, there is just a boring screensaver on it. They could put the daily program up there, or the ships location, or a slideshow from the photography department, or the weather report. So many things they could do with that screen. 

5 hours ago, Ipeeinthepools said:

My limit was 5 minutes.  The conversation was in German, so I didn’t understand the conversation.  After 5 minutes I told him that a lot of us don’t want to be part of the conversation.  He left without saying anything.  AITAH?

NTA

We were on this deck, but on the Eurodam. Basically the same ship. We loved it. One flight of stairs down to the Lido deck, and one up to the Crows nest. Minimal movement, but then the seas were quite calm in the western Caribbean. Here we are sailing in to Nassau. 

Sounds like the beancounter who dreamed this up didn't think it through. 

I was at HMC day before yesterday. Construction has begun (just). Expected completion is November 2025. 

10 hours ago, POA1 said:

While I have been known to embellish, or even make things up**, this topic was discussed on a recent earnings call.

 

Reducing fuel consumption helps to keep the cost down because of better "milage*".

 

** Wait?!? POA1 makes things up and embellishes?? Behold my shocked face. 😯

 

* I don't know what the shippy term is for mileage. Feel free to chime in and educate me.

Knottage. 

PS I made that up🤣

2 hours ago, OlsSalt said:

When so many here recommend ignoring staggered boarding time assignments, how does that impact "priority" boarding since large crowds still gather early anyway. Were staggered boarding times intended to smooth out the boarding process?

 

Nor does "priority boarding" avoid the  free-for all required to go through security first. Even worse when the port facilities are handling several ships at the same time.

 

With your key card now waiting at your cabin door, photos uploaded ahead of time, the long lines waiting to check in individually at a reception desk have now been shortened for everyone. And the rush by many to get on board early, regardless of assigned times,  continues to create crowding impacts.

 

 

They have done away with the staggered boarding times. 

2 hours ago, colin v said:

I bring adapters and use the European plugs

I do that too. My adapters also have usb outlets built in to them. Very handy. 

7 hours ago, *Miss G* said:

 

I wouldn’t call it “rights” so much as “consideration”.  Just as one has consideration for small children who aren’t situationally aware; one would/should expect the same consideration for the elderly.  As an in-betweener who has finished raising children, I now find I am using those same skills when travelling with my elderly parents.  It’s just common decency.

I have observed declining situational awareness at the retirement home where my mother lives. I think it's part of the aging process unfortunately. There are many there in their high 80's and 90's. Even a couple over 100. Watching them all heading to the dining room for a meal is something else! It's like rush hour on the 401. If you've ever driven on the 401, you'll know what I mean.  

1 hour ago, SilvertoGold said:

Has anyone used the CHAT feature? This morning I spent 20 minutes trying to interfacing with what I am thinking must have been AI. What a waste of time. The HAL website is so miserable to use I though I would us Chat to ask about why, when I look at a specific cruise, one page says insides and balconies are available (with pricing) and then when I click "continue" it shows everything is "unavailable". I wrote in Mariner numbers and CND pricing: got a quote in USD. Wrote I wanted CND and asked them to use my Mariner number as the quote was not even close to what I saw yesterday (higher by $1000s). What a turn off! Has anyone figured out how to use Chat with good results?

I found the chat to be a bit of a joke. I would type something, send it, and then I'd get a reply asking if I was still there. After going back and forth like that a few times I just gave up and called. 

15 minutes ago, ontheweb said:

Ice skating is also counter clockwise.

And racecars!

Easy way to know you're going the correct way on the promenade: whenever you have to turn, it's to the left. 

My pet peeve is people who stop and block the path for everyone else. They're usually oblivious.  this happens on land too. Often a the top of an escalator I find. 

2 hours ago, sagavista said:

Hi Bill & Mary Ann,

Shawarma is a Middle Eastern dish that originated in the Arab world consisting of meat cut into thin slices, stacked in an inverted cone, and roasted on a slowly turning vertical rotisserie or spit.  Have enjoyed your posts to date.  Smooth seas.

Best,

Ed 

 

Shawarma is delicious!

Is artificial sweetener used in the NSA desserts?

Hmm interesting. Not a phone call, but I had emailed my PCC a few days ago, and I never heard back. I called her and left a message. She never received the email! She said ever since the new system has been in place, some (not all) emails just vanish. Sounds like their comms system is as bad as their website. 

We had a situation where our cruise was delayed getting back to Port Everglades. We had booked through Flight Ease and they did all the flight rebooking for us. No stress for us. Other passengers however, who had booked flights on their own were having a heck of a time trying to rearrange their flights. We were at sea for 2 days before we reached port Everglades. No starlink internet at the time, so people were getting very frustrated. Huge lineups at guest services. I'm so glad we used FlightEase!

I prepaid my daily gratuity in 2023 prior to the fee increase in 2023. When I was on the cruise, I looked to see if I was charged the old rate or the new rate. I was not charged the difference.