'Twas the Cruise Over Easter - 9 Day Southern Caribbean - March 29 - April 7, 2024

[quilty964]

Thanks for sharing!  The "trash to treasure" artwork and the cassette tape pictures were on my "favorite" list! 

[POA1]

This was our first cruise over Easter.  We weren't sure what to expect, but we were absolutely delighted by the Easter Service.  As many of you know, all Holland America cruises have Catholic Priests onboard.  This was very fortunate for us, because the Very Rev. Louis Phillips of Portland Maine was on the Rotterdam and graciously volunteered to lead the interdenominational service.

 

 

 

I have attached a PDF of the "bulletin" if you are interested.

 

 

 

2024-03-31-Easter-Service-Rotterdam.pdf

[POA1]

The Easter Service was held in the Main Stage showroom. While not exactly packed, there were more people here than there were on the pub crawl, so that's a good sign.

 

 

 

We did not have musical accompaniment to the hymns, but there was a a family who definitely sang lead parts in their congregation's choir. They helped us to sound pretty good.

 

 

 

Edited April 16 by POA1

[POA1]

Daily Program from April 1, 2024

 

And, because we care, JPEGs and a PDF.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2024-04-01-Daily-Rotterdam.pdf

[POA1]

The Daily Program for April 2, 2024

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2024-04-02-Daily-Rotterdam.pdf

Edited April 16 by POA1

[POA1]

Daily for April 3, 2024

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2024-04-03-Daily-Rotterdam.pdf

[luvteaching]

@POA1. Thanks for the recommendation of the Finlay Donovan series. I loved the first one and have the second coming from Amazon! 

Karen

[POA1]

We're booked on the Nieuw Statendam for March 15th - 22nd, 2025. We snagged the same stateroom, Club Orange, and a Retreat Cabana.

[POA1]

The Daily for April 4, 2024

 

Note that the dress code is Casual with a Splash of Orange.  That's your cue that it's is Orange Party Night.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2024-04-04-Daily-Rotterdam.pdf

[POA1]

April 5th, 2024 Daily - Our 2nd and Final Formal / Dressy / Gala Night

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2024-04-05-Daily-Rotterdam.pdf

[POA1]

Our last full day on the Rotterdam - April 6, 2024

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2024-04-06-Daily-Rotterdam.pdf

[POA1]

The "Fix" for the Wi-Fi Disconnect issue:

 

I noticed that the ship's Wi-Fi kept asking me to login over and over as we loved about to different areas.  While it's tempting to blame HAL, the blame for this falls squarely on Android and iOS.  The latest versions of the operating systems generate an random MAC address each time you connect to a network.  That is more secure, but it causes the network to think that you are using a new device every time you connect.

 

Because you are connecting to different access points as you move about the ship, your phone or tablet is presenting itself with new MAC address each time,  The MAC (media access controller) address is normally a 6 octet address that uniquely identifies the hardware of your device.

 

Now that your eyes have glazed over from geek-speak, here's what you need to do to have your phone or tablet present its real MAC address to the ship.  (My diagrams are for stock Android, but the steps are roughly the same for iOS devices.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

You may still have to login occasionally when your network lease expires, but it will cut the number of logins down dramatically.

 

Please remember that you are only doing this for the ship's network. In my case that was Rotterdam-Guest,  You can leave MAC randomization on for other networks if you like. However, if you run into the constant login issue in the future on another wireless network, this is the solution.

 

 

[POA1]

I would like to add that this login issue is relatively new. The authentication method was different in December. They must have changed it between the end of last year and our sailing over Easter.

 

I saw on Rich's thread that they were updating the Volendam today. I don't know if that's the change they're making or not. But, since he's been on the Volendam for a third of year now, he's in a position to know.

@richwmn

[bajae]

On 4/16/2024 at 2:52 PM, luvteaching said:

@POA1. Thanks for the recommendation of the Finlay Donovan series. I loved the first one and have the second coming from Amazon! 

Karen

Agree, it was an enjoyable book. Thanks @POA1 for the recommendation. 

[richwmn]

13 hours ago, POA1 said:

I would like to add that this login issue is relatively new. The authentication method was different in December. They must have changed it between the end of last year and our sailing over Easter.

 

I saw on Rich's thread that they were updating the Volendam today. I don't know if that's the change they're making or not. But, since he's been on the Volendam for a third of year now, he's in a position to know.

@richwmn

I just ran into this problem (among others) on Volendam this morning. I did your fix just now and will see if the problem persists.

[POA1]

27 minutes ago, richwmn said:

I just ran into this problem (among others) on Volendam this morning. I did your fix just now and will see if the problem persists.

 

Once I turned off MAC randomization, the number of new login requests dropped dramatically.  There was still the occasional request, but that appears to have had more to do with the DHCP lease expiration than anything else. (Because you know what makes for a fun vacation?  Diagnosing and fixing network issues!  HAL may not have rock climbing walls and roller coasters, but they do have fun activities like this. And coloring for adults.)

[TiogaCruiser]

Thanks for this.

 

 guessing it’s a coincidence but I turned it off for our LAN, and so far i haven’t gotten the “wrong PW” and other assorted errors that iOS Mail has been throwing when it tries to retrieve Outlook mail.  This has been going on for a couple of months. It throws the error typically 4 times then delivers my mail (with me simply closing the Alert). And the crazier thing is I’m now running around the community on 5g and so far, it’s stopped that nonsense.

 

Probably a coincidence??

 

Thoughts?

[POA1]

5 hours ago, TiogaCruiser said:

Thanks for this.

 

 guessing it’s a coincidence but I turned it off for our LAN, and so far i haven’t gotten the “wrong PW” and other assorted errors that iOS Mail has been throwing when it tries to retrieve Outlook mail.  This has been going on for a couple of months. It throws the error typically 4 times then delivers my mail (with me simply closing the Alert). And the crazier thing is I’m now running around the community on 5g and so far, it’s stopped that nonsense.

 

Probably a coincidence??

 

Thoughts?

 

I read an article about randomized MAC addresses being a big problem with certain ISPs, so I would not be surprised.

 

A lot of large networks have issues with randomized addresses. In fact, if you search for how to turn it off, you'll find a lot of results from universities.

 

I bet it's causing significantly more problems than people realize. After all, this is not a super obvious problem. It took me a day and a half to figure out what the issue was. (In fairness, I was not working on the issue full time, and I did upgrade my beverage package....)

 

If turning off MAC randomization does, indeed, fix your mail issue, give yourself a pat on the back. That's some quality problem solving!

[Navybikermom]

10 minutes ago, POA1 said:

 

I read an article about randomized MAC addresses being a big problem with certain ISPs, so I would not be surprised.

 

A lot of large networks have issues with randomized addresses. In fact, if you search for how to turn it off, you'll find a lot of results from universities.

 

I bet it's causing significantly more problems than people realize. After all, this is not a super obvious problem. It took me a day and a half to figure out what the issue was. (In fairness, I was not working on the issue full time, and I did upgrade my beverage package....)

 

If turning off MAC randomization does, indeed, fix your mail issue, give yourself a pat on the back. That's some quality problem solving!

I turned it off on my devices for my home network, which is a very simple one - a single DSL modem that broadcasts WiFi - and immediately noticed a difference. A word game that I like to play was always asking for a login to FB after the latest update. It no longer does that! Maybe my calls won’t drop as often now, since I have to use WiFi calling (no cell signal here in the boonies). Thank you!

[leerathje]

On 4/3/2024 at 3:03 AM, POA1 said:

Both of our entrées bore the David Burke designation. Mine was the Barramundi with Prosciutto.

 

The Barramundi was quite good. It's Asian sea bass. We noticed that some people shied away from ordering this dish because it's unfamiliar. If you like sea bass, you'll be happy with this.

 

Michelle ordered Roasted Spice Crusted Prime Rib and a Baked Potato.

 

The minute our waiter delivered this plate, the jokes began writing themselves. First off, that's a full size baked potato. It's not a fingerling, baby, or new potato. That's a regulation sized spud.

 

The couple seated next to us had serious food envy. This properly medium rare slab of beef was begging for a name. Candidates are: The Man vs. Food Challenge Plate, or The Fred Flintstone Brontosaurus Platter. ("It's Yabba Dabba Doo-licious!")

 

This was excellent prime rib. Truly delicious.

 

My wife was born in Nebraska, so she's a good, mid-western, beef-loving gal. Even so, she was not going to be able to power through this juicy hunk o' beef. She did manage to make a serious dent, though, before the meat-sweats kicked in.

 

I think that I'm going to keep this photo handy. When someone posts, complaining about skimpy portions or cut backs, I'm just gonna throw this picture up with the caption, "STFU."

 

Also, there was dessert.

 

 

 

I thought my husband's Tomahawk was monstrous, but that is biggun'!  Did you know they cut the Tomahawk for you so you can see it is cooked to your desire?  When the waiter made the first cut for my hubby, he was concerned that the waiter was going to take the first bite, too!

 

L.

 

[POA1]

I found a nice Apple iPhone version of the MAC address fix on the Carthage College library site.

 

It's got nice, clear graphic instructions.

 

https://carthage.libanswers.com/faq/352277