AACJ

On our embarkation day two Sundays ago, we took off it was raining pretty hard. While I was sitting on our balcony enjoying the rain and lightning storms, a bolt of lightning clapped to what appeared to me to be within 100 feet of the ship (we were on the port side, closer to aft). The thunder was IMMEDIATE and the hair on my arms were standing straight up.

About two minutes later, the Captain came on the loudspeaker and said lightning was close but did not hit the ship. About 4 or 5 minutes later, he came back on and said we did in fact take a lightning strike. He also said it took out one of the strings of lights that goes from the antenna area to the smoke stacks AND one of the satellite receivers was demolished.

The next day, we went up to the top deck a bit later and saw that the center receiver (one of those golf ball looking things on a golf tee on the top of the ship) was gone.

Pretty scary stuff!

We just came in from the Niewu Amsterdam on Sunday and we had 5 bottles of wine with us. We walked right in after scanning our cards to board the ship and did not see any table to check in our wine, we were not trying to hide them either since we had them in a 6 pack wine carrying bag. So we just went to our room and dropped them off. After talking to others, they stated they didn't see a table either.

Walking Dead? :eek: :eek: :D

Why yes. Yes it is. My wife and I rented a cabin in Northern Virginia to do a few wine tastings (okay, a bunch of wine tastings), and the only TV they had was Netflix and the only thing available was The Walking Dead. We watched the first 4 episodes the first night, a few more the next night then rented Season 1, 2 and 3 from the library. We have been watching it after that.

Does anyone know if AMC is one of the channels available on the TV's in the cabins or in any restaurants or bars on the NA? My wife and I like to watch one of the shows on this channel and would rather see it "live" as opposed to coming home and watching from our DVR.

We're leaving in two days!

Please try to keep calm when someone politely asks you for another serving of Escargot !

I'll just go get it for myself! And a few more Lobsters for me and my tablemates! :cool:

I was actually referring to this thread (15th post down) that stated waiters wear black dinner jackets on the 1st formal night and wear white dinner jackets on the 2nd formal night. I also see she sails mostly with Royal Caribbean and has no HAL sailings, and thus no experience with HAL. So my main intent was to see what Holland's policy was regarding this.

I've never heard of anyone wanting to match colours or not clash colours with the serving staff before. What do you do when you go to a fine dining restaurant - phone ahead to find out what colours the servers wear?

Actually, I am trying NOT to match with the serving staff. I know my original question said I didn't want to clash, but thought at the time that was the best way to word it. I did correct myself in later posts...but no, I do not want to be mistake for wait staff.

Really? I would think this would be the perfect place to ask a question like this. It's the snarky comments that get me...entertaining? Sure, for the most part. I for one am thrilled that some folks are still interested in following a stated dress code and helping to enhance the festive atmosphere around formal nights! Yeay!

 

 

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Thank you. This IS the perfect place to ask a question like this. I don't mind the "entertaining" replies but the snarky answers I could so without.

POA, I actually use this site frequently.

Is this for real? You've got to be kidding.

What exactly are you questioning being real?

Hello Ira, I am keenly aware of this. I will be in an even more tropical climate, in the Carribean. So unless I am mistaken, tropics dictate a white dinner jacket.

HAL doesn't change the uniforms anymore. Formal night wear is just the same as every day for the waiters now.

 

Thanks for giving me a laugh, though!!

Glad you got a chuckle. :D In reality, I'm not trying to clash, but trying not to match...

It is my experience (July 2014) that the waiters will be wearing white jackets with black pants on Formal Nights.

 

Feel free to wear your white/cream or black tuxedo jacket.

This somewhat answered my question. I had heard the waiters switch from a white/cream dinner jacket to a black tuxedo jacket (or vice versa) on alternating formal nights. That is really what I am wondering, what would they normally wear on the first formal night, then on the second.

Thanks!

On my upcoming 7 nighter, I know the formal nights are on the 2nd and 6th nights. Is there a way I can tell what jacket colors the servers/wait staff are going to be wearing on any particular night? I have both a black and a white dinner jacket (tuxedo) and do not want to clash.

I just purchased a black tuxedo and am now in the process of finding a white (cream) dinner jacket. This would be a great addition to compliment two formal nights.

Quoting my own post, I just purchased and received my dinner jacket. My wife does not know I bought it but I think she will be pleasantly surprised. At least I hope.

Interesting. We like to cruise on RCI as well as HAL (not the huge behemoth ships, but their version of midsize - Mariner and Radiance) - and we have a wonderful time on them - we're no spring chickens, being very late 60's and mid-70's. You just cannot generalize about anything, including cruise lines, based on one or two incidents you may have had. I have a very genteel friend who regularly cruises on Carnival and loves it.

Oh, I'm not saying I won't ever cruise on them again, we are planning on one next year, I am sure I will still enjoy it. I've never been on a cruise I haven't liked. I was just saying my personal experience with the loud music at the pools and the screaming in the halls, well, we just don't care for it.

As far as generalizing lines, Carnival is known as being a low budget cruise, thus they attract a clientele that is noticeably different from RCCL, Celebrity and Holland.

Looking/considering a Western Caribbean cruise aboard the Veendam. The itinerary looks great featuring Banana Coast and Santo Tomas de Castilla. I haven't seen this itinerary anywhere else, We are 52 and 31 years of age.. You can see what/where we've been over the last few years. Definitely would book at the very least a Veranda cabin.

 

How do you think we'd fit in? Have basically enjoyed EVERY cruise. If this were once of HA's newer/larger ships I don't think I'd even be asking this question..

 

Thanks!

We actually chose HAL because it IS more subdued. The last few cruises we were on were RCCL and Carnival. When we would walk by the pool, there ALWAYS was a band that was WAY too loud (and the obnoxious kind too) to even sit close to the pool and enjoy it.

Every night around 2 or 3am, this drunken newlywed couple would scream obscenities at each other in the hall way after the bars closed. We talked to some of our neighbors and they heard them too. We all called security but no one did a thing about it.

At the ports, they were usually geared to power drinker with those types of bars close by. When we were in Grand Cayman, it was the same kind of loud music by their pool with the servers pushing shots to everyone.

We're both 47 and neither one of us are "partiers" although we like to have a good time in intimate settings.

I'm so pleased to report that I expect minimal disruption to "just plain cruisers" because of the Master Chef Cruise group on the Westerdam in a couple of weeks. You may remember I was pretty stressed about family members that could not switch cruise dates, and had decided we'd just have to find a way to make the best of it.

 

But, there's GOOD NEWS!

 

I've seen the itinerary and, aside from Sailaway at the Seaview Pool, all their events will be held in the Vista Lounge during daytime hours. Surprisingly, two of the Master Chef creations will be featured in the MDR, each on a separate night. Everyone on board will benefit from that one!

 

It looks to me like HAL did an extra good job with this, especially since they've managed to not tie up the Crow's Nest and the Seaview Pool area - which I was certain would happen. Just thought I'd bring you up to date and let you know my stress levels are back to normal. Whatever that is. :)

This cruise made our short list, but we decided the Master Chef cruise may be a bit too much for us. We ended up with going with the NA cruise that leaves on the 9th instead.

Less than two weeks for both of us!!

What I can't figure out is why did it gain time. A motor designed for 60 Hz should lose 17% at 50 Hz. And if it was electronic (no motor) it shouldn't have been affected at all. :)

This is correct. A clock designed to run on 60hz would lose time at 50hz or any frequency below 60hz. My thought it the ship frequency is really at 60hz and they were running the motor fast. Not sure though, I'd really like to get into their control room to see how they chase frequency and/or ace, if at all.

Ah, true, true! I should have realized that since I reported a few of them that were personal attacks. ☺

 

I agree with all these statements and am not the only one.

I was out last night and like at many gatherings of friends and acquaintances this subject arose. We had those who were on both sides. Some think there are those of us over-reacting and some were in agreement with those of us who are more concerned.

 

I did not see one post in this thread I would qualify as hysterical and panic. I think use of those words is gross overstatement and in itself 'hysteria producing'. There is such a thing as over reaction to what one sees as over reaction.

I don't see any posts either that would qualify as hysterical and/or panic posts. I see a discussion on differing viewpoints of the Ebola situation.

Here is the definition of scaremonger from Merriam Webster online, since it seems to be dropped as a label so frequently on this thread.

Scaremonger: one inclined to raise or excite alarms especially needlessly

And I still don't see any posts matching that definition.

NCBI is part of the NIH?!

Apparently so, they are part of the NIH.gov website, and that is how I found this publication.

That terrorist threat is also rather far-fetched. Their timing would have to be good to know when they are actually going to get sick and just before that actually happens, enter the country and get sick (not a given). And then when they are deadly sick they have to manage to get up and go get sick in public.

 

Highly unlikely.

I don't think it's that far fetched at all. We already know the timing, if they REALLY wanted to get themselves sick, I would imagine it wouldn't be that hard. With dead bodies piling up over there, they would have access to the live virus. If doctors and care givers are getting it wearing full protection, it should be pretty easy for them to pick it up as well. They also would know the incubation period, I mean, we all know it by now. Once they start feeling sick, all they have to do is put some of their bodily fluids in something that would allow for easy disbursement. If they are really set on spreading it, they WILL get up, no matter how sick they are.

I think it is entirely likely it could happen.

Another thing that worries me is that there are other countries that want to see us go away, permanently. I could see them sending some of their "suicide" squad into West Africa, intentionally infecting themselves, then coming into the US and other countries with intention of spreading it. I would think it would be pretty easy to do this too. A few spritzes from a spray bottle onto a door handle or a buffet line and it would be picked up pretty easily. Plus, if you look at this publication (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15588056) from the National Institute of Health website, it states Ebola is a Category A biological weapon.

We would never know what hit us if that happened and the hospitals could be quickly overrun with patients.

From what I heard reported, the staff in Dallas were not following universal precautions and did not have the ankles and wrists of their protective equipment taped off...so that was their portal of entry.

 

All the protective equipment in the world can't work if it is not used properly. Men no facial hair...every opening has to be taped shut....no hair in the masks where the mask comes in contact with skin. No make up. And change your shoes even if your wear the protective booties as you don't want to transmit anything from a hospital into your car/home!

I don't disagree with this at all. But I believe it also proves that Ebola is a lot more transmittable than what I believe the government is telling us.

I read it for the first time in my late teens- you can't tell someone who grew up on The Stand not to worry!

 

I think the point for the people who have worries is not that one person in the US has it and we haven't been exposed to his bodily fluids. That's clear and no one needs to tell us this yet again. We can read, we know how it's transmitted.

 

It's that it will get worse. More people will get it. Ebola becoming "aerosolized" is totally NOT on my radar. My concern is that we've got a total of 25 beds at the highest level isolation facilities. Further concern: all medical personnel who have caught it here or brought it back here were quite well aware of how it is transmitted and they still caught it. How are we to believe the endless announcements that it's so difficult to catch? Come again?

 

We shall see. But- we would do well to respect everyone's personal feelings about this issue. We all know how it is spread.

At my workplace, we have been taking it very seriously and even have people whose only job is to monitor the status and will jump into action if it happens to become more easily transmittable. As you said, one of my concerns is that some facilities only have a limited number of beds for those getting this virus. What happens if they run out of beds? I know in Africa, they are actively turning away those infected from the hospitals there.

I also agree if those wearing all the personal protective equipment are getting sick, that doesn't reassure me that it isn't as hard to spread as they say it is.

Additionally, I am not letting it keep me from my cruise. I'm more worried about getting Norovirus than Ebola on my cruise.