WriterOnDeck

Dress on Gala nights (as formal is now called) on HAL are all over the spectrum. When I am traveling light, it's easy to take a nice pair of slacks and a couple of dressy tops. No one else remembers what you wear, and everyone wears things over and over on long cruises. As the cabins have safes, I bring some nice jewelry I never have an opportunity to wear at home.

Most of the HAL cruises over 21 days are collectors -- b2b cruises. As one who seeks longer cruises, or itineraries that stack up nicely without constant repeats, I'm in the market for more long ones...

For the right price, anything can be sold. Of course, remember at one time HAL wasn't part of Carnival...

I've received good upsell offers and I always book through a TA. I have a great TA who doesn't sit on offers and even seeks them out for me. Just as with PCCs, it depends on the quality of the person.

The credit also is essentially per booking number. So if you are doing a b2b, if HAL considered it a "collectors" and gave you one booking number for both segments, you get the benefit by the total days. If you have two booking numbers, it is for each segment separately.

I usually give the driver half of what I give the tour guide. I mostly do independent tours.

Yes, it's new.

She also was my first cruise ship, on any line, in 1993 and again in 1997. Then in 2002 I sailed on her last cruise under the Holland America banner. She was quite the outlier -- no Crow's Nest and a different look and feel. The history was interesting.

HAL usually has a qualified bridge instructor on its grand cruises. Along with Tai Chi master, watercolor, arts and crafts, etc. etc.

That was before Omicron variant, which is much more contagious. I miss those days. I have several friends on cruises now who have covid. Apparently once the mask mandate was lifted, it really spread.

I've been on a cruise to Hawaii that skipped Kona. A passenger was injured early on the cruise, we backtracked toward California to get close enough to offload her on a helicopter, and they dropped Kona. I would just fly to Seattle with your luggage and sail from there. If you wanted to drop something off at home, I doubt it would be a problem if backpack size and not a suitcase. Check the laundry price and do it by the bag if not by the day. It's amazing how much you can get in the bag if you roll it tightly. Then cruise like crazy till you get 4 star! 🙂 BTW, I just signed up for this cruise this morning!

I've shipped suitcases with Fedex -- no need to box. Just FYI. It can be cheaper to ship to the pre-cruise hotel than to use Luggage Direct. But I don't have experience shipping home when it's international.

I've asked the original poster for the name of the paper. But here is the photo of the article, which is in Dutch.

Here's a Google translation of a section of a newspaper article that refugees will stay on the Volendam for months more, quoting a government official. No word from HAL. Of course it is good for the refugees, but it would be nice to hear from HAL, as we've already made final payments (booked July through early October on Volendam), sold the house and will need to find a new place to live.... "The reception of refugees from Ukraine on cruise ship Volendam of the HAL in Rotterdam will be extended by months, alderman responsible Vincent Karremans announced that there was already an option to extend the charter of the ship, but the order had to depend on sequential growth ..."