MrsMuir

My travel buddy and I received our refunds on June 26 for a cruise leaving on June 8. Just a bit over the 60 days that HAL noted in its online cancellation site. We are pleased with the relative speed of our refund. As a new 4-Star Mariner, I have to summon all my willpower not to book another HAL cruise for next year. We both agree that our cruising days aren't over, but it's too soon to plunk down any deposit money.

We would have been flying home to our husbands on July 4 from Copenhagen. Compared to the heartache and loss of the past few months, a cancelled cruise is not the end of the world. Our goal now is to stay well. Thank goodness we live next door to each other and can still have Happy Hours on our patios, six feet apart. In our 70s, we are grateful for each day of good health and the blessings of friendship. 

Thank you, Kazu for the great sendoff. I doff my hat to RuthC and her attaining the full set of HAL ships and Platinum. That's quite an accomplishment.

Thanks to everyone else who sent greetings. See you in the Piano Bar, Ruth.

Mrs M

For what it's worth, my cabinmate and I have the same booking number.

Thanks to all who replied with helpful answers and bon voyage wishes. It will be exciting to watch my friend's reactions to her first voyage. The husbands are making their own plans to go camping while we're gone.

Mrs M

Geeze Louise....I merely asked a simple question and am labeled boorish. I asked three questions, actually, but my concern for whether or not my cabinmate may be included in a couple of lunches or not got all the attention. I have no intention to sneak her into a venue reserved for Mariners. I was aking about protocol because I do have good manners.

This is the first time since 1978 that I will be sailing without my 3-Star DH (he is fine but chooses to avoid long flights). I want to make sure my good friend enjoys her first cruise.

That is all. Now go and think about your own manners amd how you reply to questions from your fellow CCers and HAL travelers.

Mrs M

We're sailing on the 7th of October and received our stateroom assignment on the 25th -- at least that's when our stateroom number appeared when I checked it for the 4,000th time that day. Well, maybe the fourth time. The next day we each received an email notifying us of changes from HAL.

The day before, the 24th, we were offered upsells for a Signature Suite or a Neptune Suite, but it was much too expensive either way. We turned it down, but were happy to know that someone was rolling the dice for our cruise.

Our assignment is a VA, better than our VE Guarantee. It is under the Lido Pool area, so early-morning deck-chair noises could be a drawback. With this port-intensive cruise, however, I don't think it will be an issue. The noise from the overhead will just be a supplement to our wake-up call.

I'm not sure I'll book a Guarantee again. I think our Travel Agent booked it as a Guarantee in order to secure the best rate in this case, so I'm not complaining. I prefer knowing what stateroom we will have from the time of booking, though we are always open to an upgrade. It's the SUSPENSE that drives me 'round the bend!

Mrs M

:confused:

I'm sailing with a friend who has never cruised, so she is a "Star Mariner."

Will she be permitted to join me at the Mariners' lunch on embarkation day?

At the Mariners' Luncheon during the cruise?

We are flying to Venice from LAX to JFK and on to VCE. We don't have much time to board the flight to VCE, but it is in the same terminal. I'm assuming that we can just find the gate and board when it's time, without going through any security mishegoss. Please tell me if my assumption is correct.

Thanks! I should be an old hand at this but my middle name is "Details."

Mrs M.

I had forgotten to pack Crystal Light, which I mix in the pitcher and add to vodka in the stateroom.

It pays to read CC!!

As a former Seattle-area resident, I need to remind everyone that it's The Pike Place Market.

Mrs M

I agree that the worst part is accusing HAL of trading in human cargo. How insensitive, especially during this tragic time for so many people. Any sympathy I might have had for the OP vanished with that outrageous statement.

Mrs M

Ol Salt, thank you for your reasoned and diplomatic replies to this contentious subject. Enjoy your 43 days in the South Pacific -- with your attitude, you certainly will.

Mrs M

Our documents were ready to print yesterday. I was so glad to see that we are no longer waitlisted for Main Seating. Long may it reign!

Mrs M

Congratulations, Kakalina. You are an important member of our CC HAL family. Even when I don't have anything to say, I like ending the evening here on the HAL board to see what's up. I'm not a fan of social media, but this forum, with knowledgeable and kind travelers, is a safe place to share the good and the bad, whether it's about cruises or our journey through life.

Mrs M

Sail, thank you for sharing your first shipboard experience without your DH. Your review was a gift to all of us here on the HAL board, and your courage is an inspiration.

Mrs M

Call me weird, but I enjoy muster drills. Besides the important information presented (if some pax will just keep quiet), such as where your lifeboat is located, it's proof-positive that the long-awaited voyage is beginning.

On Princess we met in a lounge for their so-called muster drill. it didn't have the impact of a HAL muster drill.

Mrs M

I find myself gazing longingly at clipper ships these days. Cruise ships used to be beautiful, too, but the new giant ones are ug-lee.

Mrs M

I inherited a little blue "pie cabinet" from my parents that had served as a phone stand for them. I put it in our bedroom and used it to hold some seldom-used hand weights. Recently I was inspired to put the weights in a closet and arrange 14 Mariner tiles and three Inaugural Plates in the cabinet.

Now, every morning after I put my glasses on, I can see those tiles and plates.

Mrs M

You are a clear and good writer and you present your case eloquently. I second the suggestion to let HAL know your feelings -- in writing.

L Maxwell, thank you for posting the links. I had never seen John Maxtone-Graham before, though I enjoyed his most famous book, The Only Way to Cross. I will place a copy of his obituary inside the cover. A true gentleman.

Thank you, everyone, for your helpful comments. I do lift my suitcase when DH is not handy, and I lift weights 4 days a week during exercise classes. One man in the class, in fact, told me that I was "excessively fit."

My traveling companion has the advantage of packing lighter than I do. So I will curb my clothes-horse tendencies and try to lighten up!

Mrs M

For Classical Greece, you might want to read The Wine-Dark Sea. I forget the author. Most illuminating about the era right after the Golden Age/Age of Pericles.

This may have been answered but I can't find a recent post like it.

I'm trying to decide if two healthy women in their late '60s can manage taking the Alilaguna Line to our hotel, or if we should splurge on a water taxi.

Last year DH and I had the delight of taking a water taxi, just the two of us, all the way from the airport to our hotel's water entrance just off the Grand Canal. We didn't realize at that time that the Sta. Maria Del Giglio stop is about 500 feet from the front door of our hotel (Hotel Ala). In other words, there are no bridges to drag suitcases over. The stop is on the Orange line map.

We will be arriving in early October during the daytime. Will the Alilaguna boat be crowded and make it difficult to handle our two pieces of hand luggage and two suitcases? My suitcase always weighs in at just under 50lbs. Without the help of my brawny DH, I'm concerned we'll get all flustered dragging our cases on and off.

Your thoughts and advice, please, Venetian cruisers.

Mrs Muir

Thank you. That makes sense.

Mrs M

I did a search, but could not find the answer to my question.

I want to reserve the Pinnacle Grill for the evening of my travel companion's special birthday. When I go online to do so, it looks like I have to charge it to my credit card. How can I indicate that I am a Three-Star Mariner and therefore am entitled to a 25% discount for these two dinners?

Is there a similar discount for the Tamarind Grill? At $20 I'd be surprised if there were.

Thanks for your help.

Mrs Muir

Thanks! The Ports Forum has been a trove of good information.

Mrs M

I think my friend and I (two ladies with one suitcase each and totebags) would like to book with Rome Cabs from Civitavecchia to our hotel in Rome. How can I estimate the time we will be off the ship when we get to the port? Nieuw Amsterdam docks at 7:00 am, but I assume the passengers with flights will be given first priority off the ship.

Should I take a guess and say 9:30 or 10:00? Thanks for any suggestions.

Mrs Muir, traveling without DH for the first time (he's staying home with the kitties)