Hlitner

Keep in mind that HAL only charges the difference between the $11 drink package limit and the cost. So, if I get a $15 drink, I am charged $4.72. A bigger problem with the Japan cruises is that many of the better excursions do sell out far in advance. Folks with HIA can have difficulty using their excursion credit on tours they would prefer. And when a booked tour is canceled they are stuck with the unused credit and must scramble to find something else that is not sold out.

No. When the band is finished the room goes dark and the bar closes. Not sure we even have anyone in staff that would know to be a DJ.

LOL, Bravo to Cruisemom for going over to the island. After walking a couple of miles through the town, we were "bushed" and decided to skip the island ferry in favor of a few hours relaxing on the pool deck. Quickly dozed-off after a Dive-In burger :). Just returned from the Rolling Stone Lounge where we were among the 30 (or so) awake passengers for the last set of the "group." The lead guitar (Stevie Jay) continues to amaze me with his talent (the rest of the group are also very good). On long cruises we always try to find some kind of onboard music that makes us happy, and the Rolling Stone Lounge folks can be quite special when they have their moments. Sadly, with nearly 2000 passengers, it is all too HAL typical to see 30 or so souls awake for the last set (at 10:30). For folks who might be night owls. tonight, the last live entertainment on the ship ended at 11:15. The main show tonight was a Chinese magician who was really full of energy and quite good. Tonight, we had dinner in Canaletto, which was serving a Tamarind menu (they are doing this every other week on these Asian cruises. The food was quite good, and we were delighted to see the Taramind concept brought to the "Westy." Spoke to the manager and immediately booked another "Taramind" dinner on the next voyage. Before dinner, we had cocktails next to a delightful German couple where we chatted about cruising and travel. They both ordered "double" glasses of wine at the bar to take into the MDR. Their reasoning was that it has taken them up to a half hour to get wine in the MDR (there are no wine stewards) and they complained about being overcharged for wine in the MDR (this has ONLY happened to us once). DW and I are now thinking we should consider following this practice of taking one's own wine into the MDR. We used to do this in Celebrity (where the wine bar had a much better wine menu than the MDR) but have never followed the practice on HAL since the bars and MDR serve the same wines. Speaking of dinner and the evening, last night was our 2nd "dressy night." The old Formal nights have really disappeared from HAL. What they now call "dressy" would have been "smart casual" only a few short years ago. Just wearing my basic blue blazer makes me feel like I am overdressed! Times have truly changed on HAL. One passenger remarked that they could not see the point to getting all dressed up for a relatively normal dinner and no special after dinner activities. At the formal dinner they did have an OK tenderloin or lamb chops (3). Lobster is only to be found by paying an extra surcharge. Hank

One other issue for those interesting in ship issues. Yesterday, the Captain made an announcement that we had an issue with our propulsion system (I did not hear the details of his announcement), Initially, this significantly slowed down our cruising speed. A few hours later the Captain said they had managed to get an engine back online which meant that one of our azipods was operating at about 50% of capacity. Apparently, this is going to be the situation for some time (whether it is weeks, months or years we do not know). Just now the captain announced we will continue to cruise with the degradation, but it should not impact our port times. I believe our speed is now limited to around 18 knots. By the way, from the ship does look very good with its newly repainted hull! Hank

Afternoon mates (it is Tuesday PM here in Kagoshima, Japan). Yesterday was a pleasant sea day when we got some needed time to rest, enjoy some adult beverages, and socialize. All was good until we started to the Main Theater for the 9:30pm show (shows are at 7:30 and 9:30) to enjoy the Guest Violinist...or so we thought. As we neared the theater some others told us the 9:30 show was cancelled (speculation was that the Guest Entertainer became seasick). I believe they put on some movie (we did not stick around to fihe nd out). We headed to the Rolling Stone Lounge (still called the BB King Room on the ship's accounting system) where the reliable (and decent) band was performing their normal 3 sets. More to come on the entertainment. This morning, we arrived back in Japan (Kagoshima) where we had to go through the laborious Japanese clearance procedure. It ONLY took about 4 hours to get all the passengers through the required face to face interviews (done in the cruise terminal). Those who wanted to go into town could only do so by using HAL's provided shuttle service ($25 per person). We did not see any taxis at the terminal and Uber got us "no cars available." Not sure Shimizu is worthy of $50 per couple (shuttle service) but we did go into town, walk around the cultural area, and head back to the ship for a late lunch. Before we left the ship we decided to have our first breakfast in the MDR where we did our usual "sharing" and met two couples (from England and Tasmania). The English couple (regular HAL and Seabourn cruisers) quickly told us all how they felt about the cruise "we will never, ever, cruise on HAL again!" Why? Primarily the abysmal entertainment (their words). So, let's get to my pet peeve which is the entertainment or lack thereof. In our first week our main shows consisted of 1 BBC Documentary (this should be kept to cabin television), 2 performances of Contare (4 male singers..the format of which has been a HAL staple for about 10 years), 2 Step One Shows (one of which was cancelled resulting in a dark night), 2 shows by an Australian comedian (quite a few walked out of the first show and the 2nd show (9:30 was near empty), and the Guest Entertainer violinist (who cancelled the 9:30 show). There is the usual music walk stuff (Rolling Stone Lounge group (very good) , duel piano players (not very good with a dwindling audience), and an excellent group in the Lincoln Center Stage (finished very early in the evening. There is no music during the day, no music during cocktail hours, no music (ever) in what is left of the Crows Nest, etc. We would agree with the English couples assessment that the entertainment offerings are abysmal! And I am going to add a personal rant triggered by DW's comment. "There are no friendly bars on this ship!" Bars on cruise ships are traditionally decent gathering places for folks who want to socialize and meet new friends. Go on Princess and you have several such venues (none with a view), on Seabourn you have the Observation Bar, on Celebrity you have several wonderful bars (including the very popular Martini Bar), etc. On HAL you have zippo! The Ocean Bar has about 8 seats,,,all in a row making conversation difficult. The Pinnacle Bar has 6 seats with the two in the center designed for either very little people or those in wheelchairs making conversation difficult. The Crows Nest Bar is now very sad (it might have 2 or 3 seats) and should be called the non-bar. This could be easily fixed by HAL for very little money! For a week, at our shared tables, we have heard nothing but complaints about the lack of entertainment. For those who do not play trivia the cruise staff is non-existent. The ship's officers seem to be completely absent from the ship (or hiding in the crew areas). The days when HAL Officers used to socialize with passengers seem to be gone! On the plus side, we have heard nobody complaining about the food (except for the extra charges in the PG). We have heard more than a few comments about overcharges (we have posted about our own issues) for drinks, laundry, and the PG. In fairness to the onboard Guest Relations staff, they do get things fixed (once a person complains). Shuttles in ports can become expensive. Today was $25 per person, tomorrow it is $20 per person, and in a few days at another port it is again $25 per person. Much has been said (on these boards) about the Japanese "procedures" which we have found a little annoying but not nearly as bad as expected. Consider that although it took about 4 hours to get everyone cleared this morning, the reality is that most folks went off at or before their assigned times, were cleared in about 10-15 min, and could be on their way (only if on a tour or the paid shuttle). But make no mistake, when you are cruising in Japan there will be procedures every time your ship is departing from the country and whenever they return from any foreign port (i.e. Taiwan or Korea). I will also, again, praise the crew! As far as we are concerned they are living up to the standards most of us expect from HAL! The cabin stewards are certainly overworked, but our own stewards are fantastic and always friendly. All of our waiters (we dine in open sitting) have been professional and have given us some good advice (about to order and what to avoid). One negative are in the booze department. After cruising for about 2 years (post COVID shutdown) we are tired of hearing the usual refrain (a "container missed the ship") My friendly banter with a favorite bar tender went like this: (Me) "what single malt scotches do you have that are covered by the drink package" (Bartender) "We have 3 Glenlivet, Glenmorangie, and another), But we do not have any of them aboard!" or in the MDR where they have a very limited list of wines by the glass, "We would like two glasses of the Malbec to which the reponse is, "we have no malbec aboard." (not entirely true since they do have it in the PG). And finally, when I asked for Cognac, the only offering covered by the package is Couvoisier VSOP! But we are told there has not been a bottle onboard for months. But, of course, one can always find more expensive offerings (for which you must pay the differerece on the $11 limit +18%). Now fans, you might say "why don't you just upgrade your packages to the Elite package (which would cost us $10 a day or $420 for our voyage) which gets you a $15 limit. We considered doing this until we saw there are hardly any wines (offered by the glass) for the higher price! All this is a minor annoyance but it almost seems like a conpiracy to get those with the HIA package to pay for more expensive drinks. My goodness, even a simple Cosmopolitan (a very popular cocktail) is priced at $12 ($1 over the the Signature Beverage limit). And we still have the fiasco about signing for beverages. Sometimes you must sign, other times you get nothing to sign, and this policy seems to change by the minute! Perhaps the Hotel Manager needs to deal with this issue? Speaking of her, we have only spotted her once in 8 days. On most of our cruises the Hotel Managers are often around the passengers but on this ship she is another of the senior staff that have seemed to disappear into some dark hole. Hank

Regarding the tour company in Hualien, it was Island Life Taiwan. Our fantastic guide’s English name is Iris, but since she is also a school teacher her availability is usually limited to weekends and holidays. As to the Gluten Free issue, I just took a look at the GF breakfast station and was surprised that it is at the same station where they make crepes and waffles. They also have small signs to contact management about any dietary needs. I know our Celiac friend would be very concerned about cross contamination at that crepe/waffle/gf station. I did ask a supervisor about GF and got the usual response to contact a supervisor when you are aboard. Today is a sea day and the Mariners Lunch. We are invited to the 11am lunch and will not be bothered to get dressed and go at that early time (there is another luncheon at 1). We have Comfy seats near the pool and think Dive In or the Lido will be in our immediate future. Last evening the main entertainment was Step One and we thought the dancers were very talented. Hank

I smiled when I saw Cruisemom's post. We are now aboard the Westerdam (cruising in Asia) and have absolutely no problem with MDR seating. DW and I normally go to dinner about 7:30, but tonight went at 7:15. We go to the "No Reservation" line and tell them we like to share (have only fun tables on this cruise). We are seated within a couple of minutes and do notice folks with reservations waiting (we assume they want 2 tops). The thing about HAL is that many folks (mostly fellow Americans) want to dine early (tea time) before 7. Some of them complain about lines and queues. But by 7:15 there are usually no queues or waiting and the waiters are more relaxed since they know they do not have to deal with any later diners. Almost all of our tablemates have been from the UK or Australia, where folks also prefer to dine after the sun sets :). We have noticed that many folks at 2 tops are in and out of the MDR relatively fast. Our shared tables (which have varied from 4 to 10 persons) are quite slow because we all have a lot of fun and are not in a rush. No right or wrong, but simply what folks like on ships. For us, MDR dinners have always been a social highlight and we have made many friends (over 50+ years of cruising) by simply sharing tables and enjoying our tablemates. Hank

Give me a couple of days to find out and I will message the person that put it all together. Hank

For the past two days, we have been in Taiwan (see Cruisemom's comments above). In Hualien, we took a small group private tour (arranged on the CC Roll Call) which turned out to be an excellent choice, Our entire all day (about 8 hours) tour was designed around the areas famous Taroko Gorge. This might be loosely thought of as the Grand Canyon of Taiwan although much of it would be categorized a "slot canyon" in parts of our West. Our group was originally supposed to be 17 people split between two vans, but it turned out to be 15 people on a luxurious tour bus that could hole about 50. Our tour guide (and she was excellent) decided to rent a bus (good move) and we all appreciated the comfort. The tour involved several aspects of the expansive gorge area and included 3 hikes (two of them quite long) with some of it happening in rain :). It was a hoot, we got an amazing view of the most famous spots of the gorge, and managed close to 10 miles of walking. Nobody on the bus complained about the long walks (often in the rain), everyone was on time, and it was a good group. Our tour also included an OK lunch at the Taroko Gorge Hotel (staffed and operated by the local Taroko tribe). That long tour cost us about $65 per person (which included the lunch) which is far less expensive than anything offered by HAL. Today we docked in Keelung, which is the most common port for cruise ships that visit Taiwan. It also happens to be the most convenient port to visit the city of Taipai. Since it was Sunday and a National Holiday, I did not expect much to be open, but decided to take DW to Taipai for her first visit (I have previously been there twice). We walked from the ship to the local train station (less than a 10 min stroll) and took the frequent local train (runs about every 30 minutes) into Taiwan (a 42 minute ride. The train/subway cars were immaculate and you can set your watch to the punctual schedule. Once in Taipai we walked over to the Chaing Kai Shek Memorial Hall (visited by just about every tour to Taipai) and enjoyed the Hall and expansive grounds. We than took another long walk to the Wanhua neighborhood (one of the older areas of the city) where we found quite a few markets and shops open on the holiday. Our walk continued to the very popular Longshan Temple (also open on Sundays) which is one of the nicest Buddhist Temples in Taipai and the country. From there it was about a 1 1/2 miles stroll back to the train station. We had hoped to find a nice restaurant for lunch (preferably Dim Sum) but failed due to so many closures. We simply took a return train/subway back to Keelung and the ship. Total cost of this day (which included 6 miles of walking) was less than $6 (total for the two of us) for the two train tickets! When we got back to the Keelung terminal, I still had a 1000 Taiwanese Dollar note (worth about $33) and was able to covert it back to US Dollars in the terminal. For us it was two terrific days (except for the rain on Saturday). We now are ready to enjoy a relaxing sea day and rest our weary legs/feet :). Regarding the trains on Taiwan, going from Keelung to Taipai is very easy and cheap. The train ticket machines have an English option and except credit cards. Taipai is a good DIY city for those that do some homework. Although DW and I did a lot of walking (our choice) one could easily plan a day using public transportation (mostly buses) in and around Taipai. I have decided to routinely talk about cost (on this blog) since we assume that many cruisers coming to this part of the world are on a budget and enjoy DIY stuff. For those that prefer tours, we think that in nearly all cases, a smaller group private tour is the way to go (in terms of both cost and not being part of a large group). We do have a few HAL Excursions on the voyage, but we would likely have done none except for the fact we bought the HIA package which includes an excursion credit of $300 per person on our first 28 day booking and $200 per person on the following 14 day cruise that takes us to Northern Japan, over to Alaska and finally gets us to Seattle. As to the Westerdam, we are mostly pleased with the cruise (so far). However, we did meet a younger couple (4* Mariners) that are quite angry/disappointed and told us they will never again cruise on HAL. Much of their complaint revolves around one having a major dietary issue (Dairy) and getting near zero cooperation from the staff....despite repeated pleas to help her avoid anything with dairy. They told us this had never been an issue on previous HAL cruises and they thought it reflected what they thought was a major degradation in "everything HAL." One final comment about the Westerdam. I truly hate what they have done to our beloved "Crow's Nest" and would love to keelhaul whoever made that decision :(. This is an old topic, but I cannot resist! If anyone in Seattle reads this blog, please consider turning the Crows Nest back into a decent bar and throwing those two large monitor screens (which impede the view) overboard! Hank

I can only answer your Japan interview question vis-a-vis what is being done on the Westerdam. The Japanese authorities are doing all their interviews (entrance and exit) at the Japanese ports. The Taiwanese officals, on the other hand, did come aboard, yesterday, while we were still in Japan (Ishigaki) so they could work on clearing the ship before we dock (this morning). The pre-made sandwiches still exist here, but they are on platters in the Lido and no longer is paper bags. No problem grabbing one (or more) and taking them out to the pool area. But instead of carrying a bag, you now would put them on a plate :). DW and I have both enjoyed several of the sandwiches, although my own preference would be to stuff them with more stuff (which I have done by adding meat from the cold-cut area. Cruisemom mentioned that she enjoyed the Lincoln Center Stage group, and they were a dinner topic (last night) at our table. Everyone we have met, who has heard the current group, thinks they are excellent (especially the violin), It is a darn shame they are leaving the vessel after this segment. I keep thinking that HAL needs to rethink their entertainment staffing. This ship desperately needs another pianist (perhaps a piano bar/singer) who would work in the Ocean Bar (there is an unused piano) and provide some pre/post dinner music for the bar and atrium. Hank

We look forward to meeting Cruisemom and hope she is on the road to a rapid recovery, Sinus infections truly suck. Tonight, we were in the Rolling Stone Lounge (the only live music on the ship after dinner) and saw a lady with shoes off, dancing around on the floor to the decent music. I wondered, "is that Cruisemom?" LOL. I want to be clear to the HAL fans (and perhaps others who are thinking about HAL). We came on this cruise with lowered expectations, and so far, have been quite happy. Yes, the entertainment (or lack thereof) leaves much to be desired, and the food could certainly be better, but in so many ways it still feels like the HAL we have enjoyed many times in the past. The "vibe" onboard is good, the crew we have encountered is excellent, and we are really enjoying our fellow passengers. There are certainly negative aspects (such as the constant overcharges), but like most experienced cruisers you learn to focus on the positive and not let the negative stuff ruin your day. By the way, our dinner experience continues down the path we mentioned in an earlier post. DW and I normally had to the MDR around 7:30 and head to the open dining "no reservations" counter. We have always told them we like to share large tables. In the 5 nights we have been on the ship we have never waited more than 2-3 minutes to be seated and every table has been fun. And, as expected, all of our tablemates have been from England or Australia except for one single American. Why? The consensus at our tables is that most Americans eat much earlier than 7:30. As to those who love Fixed Dining I will tell tonight's tale. We went to dinner at 7:30, met another couple (from the UK) who we had dined with earlier in the cruise, and decided to join them and request to share a large table. We were taken upstairs (Fixed Dining tables) to a table of 10 that had one younger Canadian couple, They were happy to get tablemates and told us their tale of woe. They had booked Fixed Dining at a large table because they like getting to know their waiter and tablemates. None of their 8 tablemates bother to dine in the MDR so they have been alone for several nights. Their waiter (who they liked) was moved (yesterday) to the Pinnacle. So now they have lost even that aspect. DW and I told them we had a similar experience on RCI (over 15 years ago) which was the last time we ever booked Fixed Dining on any ship. The next table (also a large table) only had one couple and 8 empty seats. HAL is one of the last cruise lines to still embrace Fixed Dining, but I do think it is a risky proposition for those who want to share larger tables unless they are dining with a group of friends. Hank

Such a difficult question, having been to more than 100 ports all over the world. Istanbul would be near the top, but cruising in or out of Kotor and Venice (no longer possible) is hard to beat for the views. My message to folks, who have not yet been all over the world, is that it is a big world with many fabulous places (be it ports or land trips). I could easily list a dozen amazing ports (none of them in the Caribbean). So, for those that only have limited cruise/travel experience we would suggest that you have a lot to look forward to...on future trips. Hank

I understand your partner :). But unfortunately, we have yet to find any cruise line that has acceptable bagels. If you want the "best" bagels, you will need to bring your own. Otherwise, just accept that shipboard bagels are, at best, a normal roll with a hole! I will say, that at one time, we thought the small bagels served in Celebrity's "Elite" breakfast lounge (generally in the Tuscan Grill) were not too bad. But we have not been on Celebrity post COVID so cannot attest to the current quality.. Hank

The Internet is usually your friend. We have sometimes (not always) had luck by simply searching for a particular cruise (ship and date) on the Internet. Many groups, that charter or have a large presence on a cruise, will advertise the voyage on their own web site. Even when you do find a group on your voyage, it still is a crap shoot whether to take your chances or not! We have been on cruises with large groups where it has not impacted the trip. But there are some groups that are either too darn large, or who have their own agendas that can impact non-group folks. Hank

Ok fans (all one or two of you). We are back in our suite at 10:50pm (because the ship is essentially shut down). We have good and bad and will try to be fair after more than a few adult beverages. So far, we are really enjoying the voyage, the crew is terrific, the ship in great shape, etc. etc. The food has been acceptable but there is no question that HAL has cut-back and does a pretty good job hiding the changes. My crab cake starter was quite small (but good) despite being the size of a silver dollar. DW's coconut shrimp was presented with a tiny green salad, but there were only two small shrimp. I had prime rib for a main, and it was normal HAL, and DW's halibut was good. Now for the bad. We are in our cabin at 10:50 because there is nothing else on the ship (unless you want to play slots). The Step Dancing show was canceled because the ship is moving (you could fool me) which left the dual pianos as the only entertainment after 9 (The Rolling Stone Lounge was dark tonight). The two pianos were good, did their 3 sets, and went home at 10:45 leaving the ship "dark." As to HAL accounting, the "fun" continues. For the 5th time in 3 days, we have been overcharged for drinks (this time in the MDR for a glass of wine). What should have been a no-charge $11 dollar glass is on our account as a $14.16 item. If we were keeping track that is about $80 in over changes in only 3 days. This time I sent a message to Guest Relations suggesting if they cannot deal with this continuous problem, we would like to meet with the Hotel Manager and offer some suggestions. We would assume these overcharges are happening to many folks to the tune of thousands of dollars per day. Perhaps I am wrong and DW and I are just the only unlucky folks (out of more than 2000) but I am skeptical. This ship has an accounting problem (for those with drink packages) and if it is fleet-wide it is a huge issue. Today we were docked in Naha, Japan, That is on the island of Okinawa and my first visit since 1969 when it was still a US Territory. DW and I simply walked into the center of town (about 1 mile), strolled on the main shopping street (not impressive) and returned to the ship for lunch. Others who did a long Best of Okinawa tour enjoyed going to a cave, seeing a garden, etc. For most folks, this would not be a great port, but kudos to HAL for visiting these places, Tonight we, again, went to dinner at 7:30, asked to share a table, were seated within 1 minute, and had two Aussie and 2 Brits as tablemates. Another delightful table, great conversation, and more of what we truly love about cruising. Ironically, the folks we always see waiting to be seated seem to be those who want 2 tops or who have reservations (they even get beepers). We have no reservations, like to share, and simply walk up to the host are immediately seated. As usual, it is not with fellow Americans who are generally dining by 6pm. This cruise has a pretty decent group of Night Owls. On HAL that means they are awake after 9pm. Most seem to be Brits or Aussies and we love these folks because they are fun and stay awake past 9pm :). Too bad that HAL has little entertainment to help out night owls. In Fifty+ years of extensive cruising we have never been on any ship with so little to offer late night folks. For those who are interested in the formalities on Japan cruises, we have been hit with another "whammy." Tomorrow, after a day on Ishigaki, everyone must have a face to face with Japanese authorities to "exit" Japan. Even the Captain seems to be concerned that this be done in time not to mess up dinner (for those who dine at 5pm). He made a late afternoon announcement warning that the exit immigration process could "take a long time." The Japanese do this immigration process AFTER we have been in their country, and it is part of what is known as Exit Immigration. I used to think that only China and Russia cared about folks leaving their country, but we can now add Japan to the list. We will then move on to our Taiwanese ports after which we will face Japanese Entry procedures (including another face to face) when we return to Japan. Just part of the travel game...but still quite annoying. Hank

Not sure that HAL web site info is accurate. When we booked onboard they told Us the Taramind menu would be In Canaletto. I assume this is another case where the onboard folks do not have a clue as to what is on the web site.

Since this is a generic post ( not one particular line or ship) we will answer from the point of view of one who has cruised on more than 60 ships of 16 cruise lines. For us, it depends on the ship/line. Some do a great job in the MDR and others are much better in the MDR. If the Lido makes eggs to order, I prefer that because they will be hot. On Princess I prefer a light breakfast at the International Cafe where they have great pastries/donuts, coffee drinks made to order, and decent egg sandwiches made to order. On Seabourn, the Colonade (lido) has some of the breakfasts at sea. Hank

Good point. Perhaps we could test the 15 drink limit before crawling to the PG

This morning I noticed another $12.98 drink overcharge. This time I stopped at the Guest Services desk and noted we had improved from 3 daily overcharges to only 1. But that would still top $500 over the entire cruise. They quickly fixed their error. This latest screw up made little sense since one bar tender charged two drinks (one for DW and one for me) at the same time and price. Mine went through properly but DW was overcharged. Is this deliberate incompetence or just plain incompetence? I can’t wait to see what happens when we have our Free Pinnacle meals 😁

This evening (a dressy night) was more like the ole HAL. Dinner was pretty good with choices like lamb chops and beef tenderloin (although quanities and quality are not quite up to the old standards). Unfortunately, the popular goat cheese souffle was a main rather than a starter (this has been reported on other ships). The main entertainment was Contrare (4 singers that have been a norm on many HAL cruises). There was some early stuff at the Lincoln Center Stage, the two pianos at Billboard (which was over at 10:45, and the Rolling Stone R&B group until about 11:30. Most (if not all) the bars were closed soon thereafter. As to the dressy night, Tuxes were almost non-existent with many men having a jacket and many others just wearing decent shirt/slacks. The ladies wore everything from real formal to stuff DW would not have worn to work (she was a teacher). It is fun dining after 7:30 as we meet mostly Europeans and Aussies (our fellow Americans generally dine early). Tonight, we shared a table of 6 with 2 Brits, 1 Aussie, and 1 American. The food was OK, but service was a bit slow taking about 1:45 to get to dessert. We decided to order two glasses of the Malbec only to be told they do not have it (although it is on the list). We managed to make the 9:30 Contare show (about half full) and had the usual announcement that everyone must remain masked throughout the show. At least half the room removed their masks :). There is a lot of passive mask resistance. Folks do generally wear them when walking around or entering a venue, but once seated, a majority take the things off! Hank

That is correct. I am too lazy to list since we are on for 6 weeks and a ton of ports. But on 3/30 we are in Naha, then Ishigaki on the 31st, Hualien (Taiwan) on 4/1, Keelung 4/2, back to Japan on 4/4 at Kagoshima, Aburatsu on 4/5, Kochi on 4/6, and then to Osaka on the 7th and 8th. Let me know if you need more. Hank

I cannot help but harp on the drink issue onboard the Westerdam. After only one day on the ship we are seeing a real problem that could get out of control. We have the HIA Package (which includes the Signature Drink Package). That package covers drinks up to $11 (plus gratuity) and if you order drinks that cost more than $11 you only pay the overage plus 18%. On our first day we were charged the full price for several drinks (in multiple bars). In simple terms, we checked our account today and discovered $33 + 18% that should not have been on our account. Most long time HAL cruisers have had their share of accounting issues and we all know that it can be resolved by a trip to Guest Relations. But Guest Relations, on this ship today, meant waiting at least an hour in a queue because many folks are having issues. So, we sent a message to Guest Relations (through the app) and got a return phone call in about 2 hours. The pleasant Guest Relations person acknowledged the overcharges and said she would send a message to the Beverage Department to get the charges removed and give me a follow-up phone call. But we are just 2 passengers (out of more than 2000) many of whom have the drink packages. It is unlikely that this is just happening to DW and me, and many folks are probably unaware because they do not check their onboard accounts on a regular basis. The lesson is that HAL cruisers should check their Statement on a daily basis, which can easily be done via the Navigator App. Accounting problems on ships are best nipped in the bud. I am starting to like the Navigator App, because while it sure needs improvement, it can be a wonderful tool to save time and hassles. Rather than spending 1-2 hours a day waiting in Guest Relations Desk queues, I can simply message those folks and let them deal with issues in their own good time. The App also shows all or our alternative restaurant reservations, booked excursions, daily itineraries, restaurant menus (updated daily), etc. It is great to see HAL moving into the digital age. The other topic worth mentioning are the port clearance issues (this has been posted in at least one other blog). We are required to have face to face interviews with Japanese authorities, every time we return to Japan (from foreign ports). We have been told that the procedure can take many hours and to prepare our days accordingly. HAL has told us (in writing) that when we get to Ishigaki (March 31) they expect the clearance procedures to take up to 3 hours. We are all to meet with Japanese officials who will be onboard and in the Main Stage. When we return to Kagoshima (April 4) we must meet with Japanese officials in the ship terminal for a procedure that is estimated to take 3.5 hours...perhaps, I say perhaps because we have been given a schedule that shows immigration inspections from 7:30am until 1:45 pm! In theory, passengers can choose their own group (i.e. when they go ashore to be inspected) so we will "eagerly" await to see how that works :(. Hank

Not sure "perfect" is the proper term, but having been on far more than 100 cruises, there are two that came close to perfection in our minds. One was many years ago on the old Marco Polo (when it was part of Orient Lines) in Asia, The other was a 62 day Grand Med cruise on HAL's Prinsendam. Both those cruises were about as good as it can get. Hank

The drink madness continues. We are sitting at the pool (on a sea day) and decided to have a Bloody Mary. At the pool bar, they expect you to sign for each drink even if covered by the drink package. We are not dealing with HAL or Westerdam policy, but now it is bar by bar policy. Why have folks sign tabs after a bar tender has swiped the cruise card? And why does this happen at some bars and not others? We truly love sea days where our big decisions are whether to go to the lectures (history of Japan), stay in our indoor pool loungers, etc. And then there is the major issue of where to eat lunch. The MDR lunch menu stays the same (every day) with the exception of one daily special in both the small and large plate categories. There is also a daily “catch of the day” not disclosed unless one actually goes to the MDR, The Lido is….. the lido with the usual HAL offerings. We were underwhelmed with the Lido breakfast (most items not hot unless you wanted to order an omelet), but regular cruisers are aware that is normal on HAL and many other lines. As usual, many passengers “hang out” at Lido tables which creates a table shortage at peak meal time. Just normal life at sea. HAL continues their long time practice of removing about half the indoor pool loungers to make room for shop clothing sales. This leaves about 45 loungers for a ship that has more than 2000 passengers. But the shop sales generate revenue while loungers are non- profit. Folks that expect to get a lounger after 10, may be disappointed. Hank PS. Since we are enjoying a slow, lazy day at sea, it makes sense to rant about silly things 😋. We could also whine about the awful donuts and croissants in the Lido, but that is simply typical cruise stuff that happens on any line.