Horizon chaser 1957

I love those sales for the flip side of the same reason. The cruise looks full, but at final payment time there’s a lot of cancellations and great last minute sales. We’ve scored many a discounted cruise that way.

Bruno, I am so sorry for your loss. You gave him the best care a son could give, and made sure he enjoyed life as long as he could travel. Hugs.

Since COVID, the crew outdoor area is above the Crows Nest. Those stairs give access to both The Retreat in one direction and the crew smoking area in the other. That’s why you so often see crew on them.

My husband and I always share one wifi account. I have to log out of my Navigator and log in to his for it to work. I can do that from anywhere on the ship, so logging in from two,different cabins would be no different. The only thing is you need to be comfortable with your friend having access to your account in Navigator.

Good morning, all! Broccoli and cheese egg muffins sound good, but more like brunch than dinner. We’ve been to Alaska many times, but never done the overland to Denali.Yesterday was raining here, so no glimpse of the partial eclipse we might have seen. @smitty34877 when we did have a solar eclipse visible,here a couple of years ago, the colander trick was my favorite viewing method. I don’t know why it works, but it’s impressive! Because of the rain, we had the day off from yard work. We went to Vancouver island for supplies and plumbing parts. We also had lunch out. It was a good day. Happy Anniversary @ger_77 and Maurice. May there be many more! Happy Tuesday, everyone!

Part of the deal is that it’s non refundable unless you’re still unconfirmed 48 hours before sailing or if they can’t get you on at all.

That’s why we only booked a five day cruise as a trial run. If it costs us a few dollars more, it’s not like it’s a bucket list trip or long enough for the money to add up. I’d only use Standby for cruises out of Vancouver anyway, and those show up as last minute discounts quite regularly. I happy we gave it a shot, but think I’ll stick to last minute deals instead after this.

Stock perks may be the problem. Don’t ask me what she does, but our TA doesn’t go through Stockperks, and we have a confirmation letter from HAL that the stockholder credit has been applied to the booking. And you’re right, I’d guess that how they treat their stockholders may be different than how they deal with third party offers.

So three weeks out and our Standby cruise is now on sale through HAL for $3/ day less than what we payed for standby. That’s for an inside guarantee, which is what Standby gives us. For about $70 more in total, we could have chosen and locked in our favorite Special K cabin. However the point of this was to try out the program, so nothing lost.

No, you don’t need to be cleared. In fact, by the time you’re cleared it may be too late to have them apply it. Our standby sailing is April 30, so we won’t know if we’re cleared for quite some time.

Our TA was able to attach our stockholders benefit to our standby booking. She sent us a copy of HAL’s confirmation. So while the standby program can’t be combined with other offers, the stockholders benefit doesn’t fall in that catagory and still applies.

I hope not. Otherwise on cruises that end in the port it started in, things could get dicey. I don’t want to show up at the Vancouver cruise terminal and be told “ We’ve given away your cabin and you can’t board, but not to worry because we promised to get you to Vancouver, AND HERE YOU ARE!!! Have a nice day, Ma’am, and thanks for the cash” OK, now you’ve got me worried.😄

There was an interesting discussion about waiting for passengers at an Ask The Captain session on the 2023WC. He told us that’s it’s not company policy to wait for non-HAL tours, but… A certain amount is up to the captain’s discretion. If it is a large group, they aren’t too far out, and they call the ship or port agent, they will usually wait IF the port agent allows it. If it’s a small group and they don’t hear from you, or you overstay your time at Senor Frogs, your passport will be waiting for you at the empty pier. His personal cutoff was 10 people, all things being equal. And if the Port Authority needs the berth for an incoming ship, or just wants to flex their muscles, or the tide is only favourable for a short window, then all things are not equal. From the articles I’ve read, it was 8 people. When someone noticed time was short, the guide assured them he’d have them back in time. Instead of insisting they cut and run for the ship, they carried on with the planned agenda. And indeed, their passports were waiting at the empty pier. NCL had them fly to Banjul, Gambia on their own dime. Banjul is a tricky port to get into, with sandbars and tides that can ground a ship if tackled at the wrong time. We have sailed there twice, and were able to actually get in once. The NCL ship was unable to get into Banjul to pick them up. At that point, NCL footed the bill and responsibility to get them to Dakar.

Good morning, all! Galway was the first place I ever travelled to outside of North America. It was a land trip long before my cruising days. The potatoes we had at dinner one night were actually potato croquettes. They became a family favorite at home, and I always told the girls we were having Galway Potatoes. Thank you, Deb, for posting a link to potato croquettes on the same day we have Galway as a port! I'm relieved to hear that @USN59-79 and family are safe after the Taiwan quake. DD has returned to Taipei. Her apartment is a newer building, and just fine. She thinks a book fell over on one of the shelves, but nothing else has even moved. She expected to come home to a mess. Thank you to all for thinking about her. We came over to Salt Spring yesterday to open the cottage up for the season. Lots of work to do here! DH is giving me the eye, so I should get going. Happy Thursday, and stay safe, dry, and warm!

They actually make decent Christmas tree ornaments if you take them off the ribbon.

Unfortunately, I can’t eat imitation crab because it contains wheat and I’m celiac. I think the fact that it contains wheat tells us everything we need to know about imitation crab.

The 2023 WC was awesome. Looking at the changes to the 2024 and 2025, I’m glad we were on 2023. I must say though, the way everyone but PC were treated in Amsterdam was definitely the low point and not excusable. Everything else, however, was fabulous, especially with the state the world was in at the time.

Thank you! I’ve talked to DD, and she is safe and well. She was spending a few days on the beach in the south of Taiwan, and was far from the chaos and damage. By the time she goes home to Taipei things should be mostly back to normal.

I have heard from her, and she is safe and well. She was spending a few days in the tropical south of Taiwan, the least affected part of the country. Words can’t express how relieved I am!

Thank you, @JazzyV. I’ve talked to DD several times. She was on a mini holiday in the south when the quake hit. She felt the tremors on the beach, but was in the part of Taiwan least affected. She is safe and well. At home in Taipei, her building is OK, but one of the older buildings in her neighborhood partly collapsed. She had been debating on spending her holiday in the south or in Hualien, the epicentre of the quake. She made the right choice!

DH and I both worked on ships until we retired, in fact, we met on the job. Foghorns are not a big deal, and normally we don’t even notice them. But the foghorn on the Vistas directs right into the back wall and roof of that last strip of cabins on deck 10 and turns them into amplifiers. The cabin and the bed actually vibrate when it goes. Luckily, there were only two foggy nights in the 140 day stretch we were on, and just a few hours each time. It was a small price to pay for an otherwise great location.

That is my favorite cabin on the Vistas! We were in K10021 on the Zuiderdam for the 2023 GWV and the 12 day holiday cruise before it. That was 140 days straight. The only drawbacks were 1) lack of drawer space, as you mentioned, and 2) if it’s a foggy night, the foghorn blasts directly into your room and even the walls vibrate. It’s like sleeping inside a drum in a marching band. Otherwise, we both loved it.

I wonder where the Standby Program fits into this policy. The cost is $49 per day for a solo, or $98 per day PER CABIN with up to four people. Say we booked our desired cabin well in advance, at full price, plus extra to choose that specific cabin. Getting bumped to a lesser cabin in favour of a family of four paying $98 per day for the whole cabin would not go over well.

Honestly, there is a huge post COVID market of childless digital nomads who can work from their laptop anywhere in the world. If HAL is worried their current clientele are dying off, that’s the most lucrative replacement market to chase. It’s astounding that HAL is so determined to drive that market away with their Kids Sail for Free promotions. If they shift their aim a little, they could shoot themselves in the other foot, too.

This is happening in so many areas that I think it should replace ‘Savour The Journey’ as HAL’s slogan.