john the pick

How do I find your blog on the net?   Have not been able to find it  Thanks

We were just on the Gudvagen-Flam Ferry round trip and it is well worth it.  Yes from Flam, there are tour operators who will take you on a small boat excursion to experience the fjord from that experience.  Also, you might consider renting a car from Bergen and driving to Geiranger.  We did it round trip from Bergen in a day.  If you wanted time to explore, there are hotels in the area

Hope he likes reindeer!

We really did not miss the TV....too many interesting things to see along the way and on board events occupied our time.

As for the food, I am not familiar with the term nonpescatorial so I cannot comment responsively to your question.  What I can say is breakfast and lunch in the main dining room were buffet style.  Dinner was served with a choice of 3 mains plus starters and desert.  The mains were 1 meat, usually one fish and 1 vegan option.  We found that we really enjoyed the Sami Restaurant called Aaron.  Good portion size and very good.   Only drawback was the menu was always the same but we developed our favorites.  The entire food presentation has a very Norway feel to it.  There are not as many food choices as you will find a major cruise shjip.  If you need more info on food, ask and I will try to respond

And we are ready to go again ourselves!

I was on the first cruise after the dry dock.  The crew told me that it actually was a wet dock.  They got al new bedding, tvs in the cabins and they refurbished the dining rooms. We had a men's and women's sauna but no hot tub.  I heard that a hot tub was removed as part of the refurbishment.  The cruise stopped at some interesting smaller portts including Longyearbyen and NY Alsund.  Our cabin had a phone but we we could not get it to work.  TV seemed not completely ready for primetime but I think they were working on it.  The crew was friendly and eager to please.   We would go again

I usedto check emails with your blog but they have stopped and I don't know how to get them back.  I can see your blog if I sign in but no option to be sent an email link.  

Please advise  thanks

Seems that a sale of HAL might be more likely following the announcement today from Morgan Stanley cutting their target valuation of CCL in half and warning that the stock had the potential to go to 0 given their current debt loads if there is another "shock" to cruise travel

Interested in the ccl stock ownership thread that was mentioned here.  How do I apply?

Does anyone know what happens with the AARP gift cards if used to pay for a cruise and either the cruise is canceled or we have to cancel for some reason?   We have cruise insurance   Is there a circumstance that AARP refunds the gift card?  We have an $8,000 pp cruise in June 2023;  final payment not due until March 2023 but this sounds like it might be a good deal if we are protected in case of issues.

Appreciate your thoughts on our situation

We don't know if they are separated or not. I agree that it would make sense to do that.  

As for our captain, that was certainly a surprise.  I have to think there is more to the story than what we are being told.  Our old captain did not bid us farewell which I would think he would if this was a planned change.  Something happened.  we can speculate butis what it is.  Likely will never know

On the Zuiderdam's trip to Fort Lauderdale, NMCruiser was placed in quarantine for testing positive for Covid.  He posted on cruise critic on a separate thread about his experience.  He stated that all of deck 4 and the very front of deck 6 were designated as quarantine decks.    Since boarding in Fort Lauderdale, I have found his statements to be consistent with my observations about the two decks.  Last night, I just happened upon a crew member opening the locked door to deck 6 forward.  There was another crew member behind in the closed off area but he did not appear to be any type of protective gear.  I did see a LOT of food trays on the floor outside of stateroom doors.  NMcruiser had stated that he did not know any numbers of people quarantined but he was sure that it was "more than a few".  From my observation, the "more than a few" characterization continues.  What we do not know is the reason for the quarantine.  New crew quarantine to be sure they are covid free while other quarantine for testing positive.  Thought this was interesting though.  Anyone else have observations?

By the way, our cabin attendant told me they have about 900 passengers on this cruise.

Thanks for all the thoughts and info!

Anyone know which side of the ship is better for Panama Canal viewing going westbound?