Heartgrove

Last year in October 2022, our Transatlantic ended in Miami because the Oosterdam was only doing one port of call in the US before heading for South America. The reason given was that FLL had too many ships in port that day and we were the logical HAL ship to move. We did know about the change in advance.

Thank you Rich, thank you Debbie, thank you Vanessa, thank you Ann, and thank you Dixie for all your work. And thank you everyone for being here! Our cruise to the Caribbean Islands only has three more sea days before we reach Manhattan Island. We have been pleased with the Carnival Venetia. According to other passengers who are staunch Carnival cruisers it is different in a good way. Sea conditions have occasional deep swells today. Back home there is a forrest fire on the mountain by us in the Shenandoah National Park. We have been very dry with low humidity. It started from a vehicle fire and spread right at Rockfish Gap where the highway squeezes through. On Monday we need to travel through there to get home. Stay Safe, and prayers for those in need. - Jack

Thank you Rich, thank you Debbie, thank you Vanessa, thank you Ann, and thank you Dixie for all your work. And thank you everyone for being here! St. Thomas is our port today. The cruise is going fast with only St. Maarten tomorrow and three sea days left. We rode the aerial tramway to Paradise Point and a good vantage point for pictures of the cruise ships. I just watched the Nieuw Amsterdam lsail past on it’s way to Half Moon Cay. Stay Safe, and prayers for those in need. - Jack Carnival Venezia, Disney Fantasy, and Nieuw Amsterdam

Thank you Rich, thank you Debbie, thank you Vanessa, thank you Ann, and thank you Dixie for all your work. And thank you everyone for being here! Today’s port for our cruise is San Juan and we are sharing it with two other ships. Thanks to us and the other two, Nieuw Amsterdam and MSC Seascape, the daytime population will increase by over 11K! Dinner last night was fun at Bonsai Teppanacki, the Japanese steakhouse. Meals have been enjoyable in the MDR. What I do like with Carnival is requesting a table for Breakfast or Dinner on the app instead of getting a “beeper” to notify you that your table is ready. We can request a table while still in the stateroom and by the time we reach the restaurant it is less than a short wait. Stay Safe, and prayers for those in need. - Jack

After reading the article, yes it was a traumatic experience but did have a successful ending. The Viking Sky event in 2019 was far worse with over half of the passengers hoisted by helicopter successfully when it lost propulsion. And then there was the Prinsendam that actually sank in 1980, with passengers saved by the Coast Guard, and the Williamsbourgh supertanker assisting. Being at sea should not be taken for granted.

Thank you Rich, thank you Debbie, thank you Vanessa, thank you Ann, and thank you Dixie for all your work. And thank you everyone for being here! Today we are sharing the port of Amber Cove with the BHB Nieux Amsterdam!. The excursion for today is the “Mega Truck Adventure,” Stay Safe, and prayers for those in need. - Jack

Thank you Rich, thank you Debbie, thank you Vanessa, thank you Ann, and thank you Dixie for all your work. And thank you everyone for being here! I am not necessarily a huge fan of Carnival - but I have to praise the ship for the wonderful ceremony yesterday honoring the Veterans and families onboard! It really made me proud to have served and that I am an American! Stay Safe, and prayers for those in need. - Jack

Thank you, Sandi! I actually was going to post 54 years but Sue must want a younger man as she was the one that said 53 years. 😁 Interesting story regarding the astronauts. I was aware of the moon landing but on the day I enlisted I was sent to Cape May, NJ for recruit training.Total news blackout for nine weeks while I was going through basic training! We knew nothing about what was going on in the rest of the world including whether or not the astronauts returned safely. It wasn’t until completing my training in September that year that I knew the outcome.

Thank you Rich, thank you Debbie, thank you Vanessa, thank you Ann, and thank you Dixie for all your work. And thank you everyone for being here! Happy Veterans Day to my brothers and sisters that served. Stay Safe, and prayers for those in need. - Jack A LONG time ago - July 21, 1969. 53 years ago!

Thank you Rich, thank you Debbie, thank you Vanessa, thank you Ann, and thank you Dixie for all your work. And thank you everyone for being here! Our first day at sea and still only mid 50’s. Sky is overcast with an occasional sea shower. Our departure time was delayed by three hours yesterday afternoon for bunkering. With the original departure 4:00 pm, we chose 6:30 for our reservation at Fahrenheit 555 for dinner. During dinner Sue went outside during dinner along with a number of other diners to see the Statue of Liberty as we sailed by. Dinner was very good! Another sea day tomorrow along with a Military Appreciation Gathering tomorrow. Stay Safe, and prayers for those in need. - Jack The Costa stack in place of a Whale Tail

My fifth time to NY but have never taken time to sightsee. We did stay at a Holiday Inn Express (I feel smarter today!) last night and only a two block walk to the pier. Now just waiting for our boarding call.

@aliaschief Bruce, we traded our Android phones last week for I15 phones. Sue ran through a YouTube tutorial on the camera with the phone and decided to leave her camera home. I usually travel heavy on camera gear but I am doing the same! My only concession is to also carry my Sony HX90V because of the compactness and ability to have a telephoto lens to zoom to 720mm. I’ll report back. - Jack

Thank you Rich, thank you Debbie, thank you Vanessa, thank you Ann, and thank you Dixie for all your work. And thank you everyone for being here! Embarkation day after a longer than anticipated travel day. We boarded the train yesterday finally with a 2 hour delay. Things ran smoothly until when we were nearing Northern VA. Amtrak decided to run an on-time section to Boston in our place. That meant our train terminated at DC and we would travel the remaining distance on a different train that was already crowded. Kudos to Amtrak to arrange for less passengers to be delayed though. It just meant that we finally arrived in NYC three hours late. Then the normal NYC bustle. Found a nice Mexican restaurant down the block for dinner. Our hotel is only two blocks from Pier 88 so just a short walk later this morning. Overcast but supposed to start to clear mid-afternoon when we sail. Dinner tonight is in the Steakhouse. That way we miss the frantic 1st night in the MDR. Stay Safe, and prayers for those in need. - Jack

Thank you Rich, thank you Debbie, thank you Vanessa, thank you Ann, and thank you Dixie for all your work. And thank you everyone for being here! Travel day to NYC today for our Carnival Venezia cruise. We have yet to board the train as it is - at this point- running over two hours late. But we had nothing planned for tonight Stay Safe, and prayers for those in need. - Jack

We were in SS6099 on the Zuiderdam. This is the Signature Suite next to the last of the six Neptune Suites that are on Deck 6 Starboard side. Nothing really stands out about the stateroom but it was a Baltic Sea cruise that was one of our favorite cruises with HAL.

Thank you Rich, thank you Debbie, thank you Vanessa, thank you Ann, and thank you Dixie for all your work. And thank you everyone for being here! Busy day with finishing the packing, getting Sam's meds refilled, and voting. Stay Safe, and prayers for those in need. - Jack

Thank you Rich, thank you Debbie, thank you Vanessa, thank you Ann, and thank you Dixie for all your work. And thank you everyone for being here! Stay Safe, and prayers for those in need. - Jack

I agree with @REOVA regarding MSC's Yacht Club. We have not sailed in a HAL Pinnacle Suite but have sailed in Neptune Suites twice, Signature Suite once, and Vista Suites three times. Last year on my urging we tried the MSC Yacht Club Experience in a Yacht Club Deluxe Suite aboard the MSC Splendida which is a Fantasia-class ship. Their capcity is approximately 650 more passengers than a Pinnacle-class ship double-bunk. This class of ship in MSC's fleet are different than their newer ships in that the YC Dining Room is at the rear of the ship. The plus is that we walk our meal off walking back to the forward YC. The negative is that you are no longer in the self-contained YC. The only additional cost items were excursions, Specialty Dining, laundry, and if we ate the "Pringles" from the minibar (?). Premium WiFi is included though. Crew gratuities were a modest €10/pp per day, which is the same for all passenger experiences. One of the other attractions to MSC is the different ports that they use. We visited Syracusa, Sicily and Taranto, Italy besides some of the Mediterranean standards. You are escorted on and off the ship by YC butlers thus skipping the line. The Top Sail lounge (think private Crows Nest) has unlimited drinks, snacks galore throughout the day that change. "The One" Solarium has a lunch buffet and also breakfast available. You can have pizza delivered to the Solarium if wanted. And access to the Spa. We have booked for October/November 2024 two cruises in YC. One is a nine-night (MSC uses night versus HAL's day) aboard the MSC Splendida (again) to Italy, Greece and Turkey in a YC Deluxe Suite. The other is a twenty-night Grand Voyage (Transatlantic) from Genoa to Miami aboard the MSC Divina in a YC Grand Deluxe Suite. Sizewise the YC Deluxe Suites are sized just a bit smaller than a HAL Signature Suite, and the YC Deluxe Grand Suites are bigger than a Signature Suite but smaller than a Neptune. For further comparison MSC do have suites similar to the Neptune and Pinnacle Suites. Price is in MSC's favor for our situation. Apples to apples, our 20-night YC Deluxe Grand Suite cruise is less than HAL Nieuw Statendam's 14-Day Signature Suite Civiitavvechia to Ft. Lauderdale cruise. I will still sail HAL and have currently four cruises booked between now and 2025. We have not tried MSC in the USA, and I have read it is different. But I know we do enjoy sailing in YC in Europe - if we can.

I'm wondering if the "Pop Up" Rudi's are better than the stand-alone Rudi's on the Pinnacle-class ships. The staff may be more apt to try and impress. What a shame if Rudi's has gone the way of the "Pinnacle Grill." Never thought about it since until this thread but we had an issue on the Koningsdam back in 2021 where the waiter double-charged us on (I believe) the bottles of wine. My one and only trip to Guest Services on HAL to get it straightened out.

Thank you Rich, thank you Debbie, thank you Vanessa, thank you Ann, and thank you Dixie for all your work. And thank you everyone for being here! Stay Safe, and prayers for those in need. - Jack The Eurodam anchored off of Kona in 2018.

I wasn't sure of what experience you were considering booking. We agree with @Best Cat Mom about the YC and gluten-free. This year we chose to try the Fantastica experience but last year we did sail on the MSC Splendida in YC. Once the waiters in YC knew that DW had a gluten intollerance (she can do it in moderation) they were very accomodating almost to the extreme. Really pleasurable sailing with MSC and have booked two cruises for October/November 2024 for a total of 29 nights in YC.

Thank you Rich, thank you Debbie, thank you Vanessa, thank you Ann, and thank you Dixie for all your work. And thank you everyone for being here! Sam is pretty good about letting us sleep. Most of the time though I am up early and so is he. This is his kind of weather now going below freezing (21degrees the other morning!) so just spends the day in the yard. Stay Safe, and prayers for those in need. - Jack

Living about 3-1/2 hours away in Virginia, we parked and stayed at Best Western Plus BWI Airport in Arundel Mills/Elkridge. Parking was included in the rate. Rates were reasonable and there is a frequest shuttle to the port. Saves walking in the lot if the weather is inclement. Convenient next door to the hotel is the "Stained Glass Pub" owned by the same company which offers guests a discount on food. Plan on staying there again for the convenience of not getting caught up in the Baltimore port traffic.

It also depends on the ship. Some only have two dining times. Depending on the cruise it may be 5:30 to 6:00, and 7:30 to 8:00. Two-tops may be in rows with about 6" apart from each other On our last cruise aboard the MSC Preziosa (Fantasia-class) DSIL was with and we had a very nice Three-top in the MDR seperated from other tables, dining at 6:00 pm.

We have only sailed in Europe on MSC so not sure how it would be on the MSC Seascape. Strangely enough, currently the pizza is not available as gluten free. Gluten-free bread and desserts are available and pasta can be ordered in the MDR. For the buffet, look for the supervisors in white coats to make a request and they will quickly deliver about 2-3 different wrapped breads to your table.