10th Hole Slice

Were you aware that full suites Neptune and Pinnacle, codes SA,SB,SC but not the other suites, offer breakfast service in the Pinnacle Grill? Same menus and same times as the MDR but much better service and environment.

 

There are also 'small bites' available in the Neptune lounge for full suites. You could make meal of them.

 

We are also on the 150 yard marker. Our house is older built in the 1970. It's been completely updated within and without. We replaced the windows using champion (saved a ton on utility bills.) We have a replacement for breakage at no cost, even if caused by an errant golf ball.

 

Have you visited Roger Jetts site. Complete menu's, etc. Worth a visit.

 

http://www.rogerjett-photography.com/

Thank you - I'll check it out.

We share a similar outlook. We were considering a Florida retirement and would probably have purchased at Del Webb, Then we found a wonderful house just across the street from a wonderful country club. To be honest, it would be very simple to tour the Del Webb facility near Ocala. We discussed but have not visited since we think it just might be too tempting. We can be a bit impulsive.

 

We love dining as you've described. We usually do 2-4 dinners on our balcon

Suggest you check out the aft wrap SB suites especially those on deck five of the Vista class. Simply perfect for dinners.

 

We built a 'lanai' over looking the ninth hole and club house. We have most of our dinners there once the temp is above 65. We will probably do more breakfasts there too. (I just had shoulder repair today and will not be playing much golf for 2-3 months.)

 

We actually considering just ordering from those delivery services for a week, a 'staycruise' if you will.

 

Holland is just about the best cruise line fo dining as you describe.

LOL - as you can see by my user name, we are on the 10th hole (actually at the 150 yard line, so if someone slices, it lands in our yard. We have quite the golf ball collection but as of yet, no broken windows!)

And I've been using several meal delivery services for a few weeks - enjoy them immensely.

We are extremely happy at Del Webb, although I suspect they aren't all the same. In fact, not all neighborhoods within the community are the same, but most are very happy here and if they move for some reason, it's generally to another Del Webb or similar adult community.

Back to topic - I'm sure we'll dine in the MDR a few times. I would like to say for breakfast, but we aren't early risers so room service is phenomenal for us in the morning. We almost always make it out for lunch. Dinner is hit or miss, but I'll definitely keep in mind that there are hours if we want what is being served in the MDR. We did HAL from San Diego to Hawaii a few years back and I wasn't aware that it was an option so we ended up in the Lido when we were bored with the regular room service menu. I'm not a huge fan of the Lido for dinner.

Unless we were in a suite (not likely ever) I can't imagine trying to eat a full dinner in the cabin. We've done room service lunch sandwiches in cabin (on RCCL but principle applies) and it was terribly cramped and eating off the little, low, coffee table was really awkward not to mention pretty cramped in the cabin. Ditto for balcony. The whole concept just does not hold much appeal for us compared to MDR but perhaps I'm missing something about it. :confused:

We actually will be in a suite, but even when we aren't we just typically prefer to dine in our room on occasion. Our ideal vacation is to have someone take us somewhere, bring us food, and let us spend the time together that we don't typically get to during our normal work week life. Spending an hour or two dining with someone else just isn't our thing and a two-top is never a guarantee. We also prefer that our vacations are completely unscheduled, so dining times just don't fit our (lack of) plan. We're the people that will take a 2 week driving trip with no particular destination in mind and just follow whichever road looks interesting at the time and then turn around and head back in the direction we came from at the halfway mark. Or not.

That's the beauty of a cruise - if you are the type that loves to join in and meet new people, it's perfect for you. If you prefer to stay in your room or sun on your balcony and slip off to the spa, it's perfect for you.

Different strokes and all that.

(And just so I don't put off the wrong impression - we aren't antisocial. In fact, we live in a Del Webb retirement community (not yet retired) and love it because it is so social. But vacations are different for us. It's alone time, not join in time)

This may be a dumb question but are passengers provided a printed copy of the menu for they day or do you have to go somewhere to view it? I've sailed on other lines before and HAL once, but I don't ever recall getting a daily menu.

I didn't even know this was a thing since I usually knit in our room while waiting for my husband to get ready or if he's taking a nap.

We're cruising next week on the NA and I'm going to make a point of knitting in public just on the off chance there IS a group getting together and someone sees and invites me. (I am a rebel at heart and I don't take to being told "we don't do that here anymore" very well.)

We are staying in 5002 next week, so I will take photos and post them.

I'm not sure about having 3 people stay in the room though - from what I've seen, the sofa is actually a loveseat (probably to save room if someone needs it for a walker or chair).

Thanks everyone. I'll just buy the package and then pay for it ASAP. I'm sure that will be sufficient for my tax records.

And I'll hot foot it to the spa right away. We booked it a couple of years ago on the first day but I recall that they weren't offering any specials (other than reduced pricing for 2). Either way - It's worth full price to me no matter what.

Two separate questions:

1) Do they ever "sell out" of the week long (or cruise long) spa packages? It doesn't look like something you can buy ahead of time and it's vital to my mental health (LOL) that we get it! I know we can head to the spa when we board the ship right away, but in reality - has anyone ever heard of it being sold out.

2) If you make a purchase on the ship (in this case I'm talking about an internet package), can you go to the purser's desk and make a payment specifically for that? Specifically, can I choose one payment method for one service and another for everything else? I am going to need the Internet package for work (see question 1 above) so I need to pay for it with business funds rather than personal funds. I can't purchase that ahead of time, can I?

Redneck Bob has know problem with a sign on the cabin door. I recently put a sign on my cabin door during our selling on the Konniesdam. When me and the Mrs got to our cabin we did not have one of those "Privacy Please" things to put in the door slot outside. So I saw this cute sign displayed in one of those music areas on the ship, I beleive it was called the Lincoln Center Stage. I borrowed this sign to put on my door late at nite. It said, "Quiet Please, Performance in Progress". :)

:') I'm just tacky enough to actually make a sign like that. And beyond tacky enough not to care what someone else who is renting a room for the same $$ that we are thinks about it.

In all seriousness, what exactly is it that people don't like about door signs (assuming they aren't rude, hateful, racist, or vulgar). I love seeing them. It's a little bit of personalization in a hallway full of sameness. I would never consider putting out something that would be offensive to children or even overly religious, but I can't guarantee I'm not going to offend someone who simply has a stick up their rear end about door signs. And I honestly don't care if some stranger just doesn't happen to like my sign because it is 11x14 or the color blue or just because it is there.

We love door signs although we have only put one up over several cruises. We do intend to put one up this time because we always travel for our anniversary and it has become a tradition to have a sign on our car that says "Just Married . . . ## years ago and still happy about it." Since we are cruising this year instead of taking a driving trip, it's going on our door.

We actually like to walk the hallways of each floor and look for door signs. I think they are fun.

It is not necessary to refrigerate insulin as long as you keep it at room temperature. Avoid having it at temperatures above 80F for prolonged periods of time. Should be no problem in a regular cruise ship cabin without being refrigerated. I am a retired nurse, and we did not refrigerate our insulin given to our inpatients at the hospital.

Perhaps the storage is different for different types of insulin. I would imagine it is gone through pretty quickly in a hospital. I was very distinctly given instructions on how to store it by both my MD and the dispensing pharmacist as well as instructions on how to warm it before dispensing. Also, it was a long cruise so I had quite a lot of insulin with me.

We renewed our vows on a 15 day to Hawaii a few years ago. We were told that it was up to the Captain as to whether he performed them as a group or privately. Ours were all private but there was a group reception held afterwards. It was lovely and I would do it again. Every one of the couples (I believe there were 4 or 5 along with us) said that it was truly special. Ours happened to fall on a formal night but given that it was a longer cruise, we had 6 formal nights, so the odds were good.

It was assigned at time of booking - I think that it was only 1 of 2 suites left and I suspect the other was the other handicapped suite in that category.

It's probably complicated by the fact that it's a charter (but then the charter released about 700 rooms to interline travel, which is what we booked through) so I doubt there will be much reassignment in any case.

It's neither here nor there to me - I got a suite like I asked for and the handicapped features don't bother me at all (except maybe for the single sink but that's not a deal breaker). I was more curious if it was likely to get bumped but I didn't even think about them not really knowing if there was an actual medical need or not.

I was comfortable with the room fridge after my experience. I think ice would actually be too cold but I'm not familiar with the storage requirements of all of the different pens and vials. I think they all vary somewhat.

All I know is that it was a miserable experience having to constantly go to the med facility. It's possible that other ships or cruises might not have the same issues as we did on that trip.

The people assigning upgrades have no idea that you really don't need the handicapped cabin.

So don't count on a free upgrade.

If you want a different cabin -- you can call Hal and request another cabin. But be prepared to pay more for another cabin.

No, I really don't care. I was just curious. Given the reasoning that they don't know, it seems like it would be less likely for an upgrade since the assumption would be that it was booked because there was a need. The cruise is 5 weeks.

We were booked into a handicapped suite, but don't have a need for one. I think it was a case of what was available.

I'm fine with the room, but I'm curious as to whether a handicapped suite/cabin has more of a chance of being changed to a different room since they are limited and someone may have a need for it in the last week or days.

This post first appeared on the Holland America board. I thought it would be useful for those who must travel with a supply of insulin. http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2088428&page=83 [see Post # 1660].

Gloria - HAL does NOT recommend that you keep meds in the fridge in your room as they do not guarantee the temperatures. A regular ocean view room does not have a fridge but you can rent one - but I recommend against that.

 

I also travel with temperature sensitive meds and always have them stored the medical facility as they monitor the temps of the fridges. I just put them into a zip bag, add my name and cabin number to the bag and they store them. Also do the same to the freezer packs and they will put those in the freezer for me so it is ready to go when it is time to disembark. The medical facility opens at 8 am on most days and stays open until about 6-7 each evening, with an hour break for lunch. Have asked the staff if they could open early one day as we had a 1st off tour to the pyramids and one of the nurses opened up at 7 for me to get my meds.

 

Please reconsider keeping your meds in the room fridge as we have had soda freeze in 1 fridge - it was a mess!

If it's really important that they be kept at a certain temp, then the medical facility is the way to go, but we were on a 15 day HAL cruise and I kept my insulin there as instructed. It was a major pain. At least 75% of the time we went to get it, they were closed, out on a call, etc. Other times they were open, but we had to sit and wait until someone was available to go get it. I fully understand that people with urgent medical needs take priority, but this was almost every time. Last but not least, we were waiting - quite a long time because the nurse was involved with a patient that had been brought in and then suddenly he coded. We left so give them room to work, but they had the medical facility closed for several hours and I wasn't able to get my insulin or eat. I went several times and was sent away. I finally had to get an officer involved to go retrieve it for me. I had them get all of it and I took my chances with the room fridge from then on.

Gloria - HAL does NOT recommend that you keep meds in the fridge in your room as they do not guarantee the temperatures. A regular ocean view room does not have a fridge but you can rent one - but I recommend against that.

 

I also travel with temperature sensitive meds and always have them stored the medical facility as they monitor the temps of the fridges. I just put them into a zip bag, add my name and cabin number to the bag and they store them. Also do the same to the freezer packs and they will put those in the freezer for me so it is ready to go when it is time to disembark. The medical facility opens at 8 am on most days and stays open until about 6-7 each evening, with an hour break for lunch. Have asked the staff if they could open early one day as we had a 1st off tour to the pyramids and one of the nurses opened up at 7 for me to get my meds.

 

Please reconsider keeping your meds in the room fridge as we have had soda freeze in 1 fridge - it was a mess!

If it's really important that they be kept at a certain temp, then the medical facility is the way to go, but we were on a 15 day HAL cruise and I kept my insulin there as instructed. It was a major pain. At least 75% of the time we went to get it, they were closed, out on a call, etc. Other times they were open, but we had to sit and wait until someone was available to go get it. I fully understand that people with urgent medical needs take priority, but this was almost every time. Last but not least, we were waiting - quite a long time because the nurse was involved with a patient that had been brought in and then suddenly he coded. We left so give them room to work, but they had the medical facility closed for several hours and I wasn't able to get my insulin or eat. I went several times and was sent away. I finally had to get an officer involved to go retrieve it for me. I had them get all of it and I took my chances with the room fridge from then on.