Btimmer

Earlier today, we had a brief history lesson and sample hula dances by 2 of the onboard Hawaiian Cultural Ambassadors. We've cruised with Heidi, the dancer in the picture and she's really good.

I'm sorry to hear that. Did they give a reason? It's a popular destination and worth the excursion. We have an independent turtle excursion scheduled for 8am upon arrival in Honolulu. It remains uncertain whether we will arrive on time but we've been cruising at over 23mph all day today in 3' swells. The blue skies have returned and it was a bit warmer on deck today.

It was a quiet night and we're cruising along at around 22 miles an hour. It's pretty overcast with moderate swells. My daily blog is current and can be found at: HTTPS://timmer2022du.blogspot.com Yesterday's meet and greet was well attended and a lot of connections were made after seeing just screen names these past many months.

I've not heard of any changes other than possibly a delayed arrival into Honolulu due to our 12 hour delay because of the medical helicopter evacuation earlier today. If I hear anything, I'll post it here. We're not going to Isle of Pine and Mare. That being said, with many of these remote islands being just now being reopened to cruise ships, changes can be expected.

We were on a HAL cruise this past year and a Catholic layman led their service until a priest joined the ship.

We turned around and are back near Port Angeles for a helicopter medical evacuation. We'll likely be late to Honolulu.

We are moved into our postage sized stateroom. There are only two small drawers in the nightstand. But magnetic hooks are saving the day. We had a small Cruise Critic sailaway party in the aft Lido pool area followed by a Mariner Reception where a small group of Cruise Critic members enjoyed conversation and drinks. This cruise has an official pastor for the interdenominational service. This is a change from the past 5 years or so. The Origins EXC talk was the evening entertainment. And last we gain an hour tonight. It's been a great start to the cruise.

That was a terrific cruise! We're hoping to make Kangaroo island this voyage.

And with a long toot of the horn, we're off.

We're onboard and we have another inside cabin postage stamp sized room. But it will work for us. Verifly was definitely worth it!!! Our luggage even beat us! It took around 40 minutes to board. we passed this group with Verifly. We'll get this fixed First meal

We just boarded the Westerdam in Seattle and having Verifly definitely made a difference we passed at least 250 people. From drop off to entering our stateroom was 40 minutes. There was a slight 10 minute delay at the passport inspection because the system froze up.

It's the last night before our departure. We're packed. We passed our Covid tests. Verifly is loaded and we've got boarding passes on our phone and paper copies as well. We enjoyed time earlier today with the grandkids. I've spoken by telephone with close cruise friends who aren't able to make the trip, and they will be following along. It seems sort of surreal that our departure is imminent after planning for such a long time amid many changes in the itinerary for this first cruise on the last HAL ship we've not previously sailed on. And for the first cruise on the Westerdam to be 64 days is nice as well. Our general plans are to do a lot of snorkeling. Tomorrow's weather is projected to be spectacular. Our Meet & Greet participants are planning for a sail away party near the 9th Floor aft Lido pool area at 3pm. We'll be competing with HAL's sail away party. We'll then gather the next day at 1pm in the Billboard Onboard area. As the host, I'm expecting around 100 people there. Again, if you have questions about the ship, protocols, ports, itinerary, and anything cruising related, please post your question in this thread. I'll try to answer your question as honestly as possible. Here's to "red skies at night, sailor's delight!". My next post should be from onboard.

Verifly. You'll be able to do the health questionnaire 72 hours before departure.

While one can use a boarding pass, using Verifly is like having an express pass. It really sped up our embarkation in Boston in August.

You're a bit too far away from the start of your cruise. For our 10/2 cruise it became available around 9/15.

Here's my roll on packed. 47 pounds.

It's not mandatory, but in our experience over 7 cruises, it really speeds up embarkation.

Yup, we have all day tomorrow! Fortunately, we've done this many times, so packing is pretty easy. Plus we limit ourselves to one roll on and a backpack. The biggest issue is which t-shirts to bring.

We've passed our covid tests and the Verifly APP says we're ready to sail. I guess I should finish packing. . .

Pete, Thanks for the tour. I'll have to do one from the Westerdam using our inside cabin. We liked the calendar idea and the command hooks. We do have magnetic hooks and a magnetic flashlight (for emergencies)

We have found that using the APP has SIGNIFICANTLY speeded up the embarkation process once one gets inside the security check. This is based upon 7 cruises.

We're now 2 days before embarkation and it looks like a fantastic weather day will bless our departure. The temperature is expected to be 80f. Antigen covid tests are about to be taken.

Betsy, Thanks for reaching out! We enjoyed the conversation as well. There was another couple from Seattle on the cruise that we flew with to Boston that we never saw in the cruise. So don't feel alone. Tim

Keep in mind that the HIA "special" does not necessarily include the crew appreciation on all cruises. Be sure to check one's specific cruise for that detail. We're booked on one that doesn't include crew appreciation in the HIA.

I highly recommend visiting the matre d at the dining option you want. Even when the online schedule shows the venue full, I've been able to get a booking.