whogo

"In ancient times cats were worshiped as gods; they have not forgotten this." Terry Pratchett

Has no one mentioned the lack of gold stickers on the laundry? Talk about cutbacks. Fourteen nights on Zaandam and not one gold sticker. To add insult to injury, they no longer roll the lox into little cylinders with garnishes, they just lay it out flat on a platter. Don't get me started on the lack of horseradish in the cocktail sauce. Seriously, I wrote at the time that I felt our August cruise was up to pre-covid standards. I was elated to feast on mussels four times in fourteen days, also had included escargot and jumbo shrimp cocktail each week. Love that the dining room is open for breakfast and love their afternoon tea. The front desk took care of my tech issues in a couple of minutes, better result than I'd ever had with any dealing with the front desk. I am not affected by corkage charges, don't drink wine. Don't care about specialty dining price increases, don't eat there, our Pinnacle Grill experiences were disappointing in the past. I can survive without included lobster tails. Instead of bemoaning the lack of fresh squeezed oranges, I eat a couple of oranges, it's healthier. I don't need towel animals, turn down service, or pillow chocolates. Could never hear live music in the dining room over the din. Don't miss the crew show, watched about five minutes of them in the past. I'm surprised I don't miss libraries and librarians. My Kindle and books on my phone work out great. I thought BB King's was a big entertainment improvement, never cared much for HAL's stage shows. I think the tent cities are an abomination, haven't sailed on a ship with one.

One of the Club Hal activities for my kids was a lesson in playing casino games. Between that and all the movies they watched, I wasn't real pleased with Club Hal. Ancient history, this would have been in the last millennium. Back in the 60's our county attorney busted a bingo game for gambling infractions and hauled the blue haired ladies off to jail. Times change.

Breakfast in MDR was from 8:00 to 9:00 daily, longer hours on disembarkation day. Lunch was 12:30 to 1:30. I was usually at breakfast shortly after 8:00, I assume that one could arrive shortly before advertised closing and linger. The [daily] Herald listed opening hours for all bars and restaurants. The breakfast menu did not change, don't remember if menus were posted. The galley lunch was the exception to the empty dining room rule, the place was packed. I do not mind buffets, but thought that drink service in the Colonnade was way too slow. It could be a challenge to find a table, we never managed to sit outside. Again, this was pre-covid, we debarked 2/2/2020.

This is similar to our experience pre-covid on the Quest. I believe the dining room can seat all 450 passengers, weird to be the only diner at breakfast there, probably had four tables max for breakfast and lunch. The dining room was only closed for embarkation day lunch.

Great review, thanks LMaxwell. I particularly enjoyed your comments about the retreat cabanas. I have never cruised on a ship with a tent city and hope I never do.

None of the live cruise blogs I am following have ads.

You only need a letter from a physician to cruise on Holland America at age 70 if you are pregnant. "Guests with questions about traveling on a vessel while pregnant should refer to the “Pregnancy” portion of the Frequently Asked Questions (external link: https://www.hollandamerica.com/en_US/faq.shipboard-life.can-i-still-cruise-if-pregnant.html)"

I am currently following five live Holland America cruise blogs. Two of the bloggers have recently been quarantined with covid and a third was quarantined months ago while cruising. Nobody terribly sick, no hospital, no ICU, but what a pain to spend your cruise in quarantine. Worse yet is the possibility of being denied boarding in the first place. Those who test positive will have a substandard cruise. Having actual numbers of those affected would be helpful in assessing risk. The fact that cruise lines rarely provide the numbers makes me think things are not so healthy on the ships.

https://2022-2023hal.blogspot.com/

On our Zaandam Boston/Montreal cruise the beers to be tasted were Dos Equis, Hoegarden, Guinness Foreign Extra Stout and Lagunitas IPA. Dos Equis is a standard American lager, nothing special. Lagunitas is an okay IPA. Not into wheat beers or dark beers, that eliminated the Hoegarden and Guinness. I did not bother with the tasting. I had a Gahan Blueberry Ale Wheat Beer at a sail away party, Holland America was making an effort at least, just nothing of interest to me.

I think anytime dining put and end to the parades. The last parade I witnessed interrupted my anytime meal and was preceded by a long speech. I have no idea why we were supposed to applaud the chefs, seemed like childish summer camp nonsense to me. I fondly remember live piano music during dinner and the waiters showing off a tray of the evening's desserts.

I should have had my employees punch out as they left the building during fire drills.

Fascinating - A 27 year old reminiscing about the good old days.

We enjoyed a number of rainy days on our November 2012 crossing from Lisbon to Fort Lauderdale.

I would take the eighteen day trip over the five day trip.

The professional photographer will take more photos and spend more time ashore and in kayaks. He was the only one out on a boat at a glacier viewing stop on our 2020 Antarctic cruise, for instance. His photos were much sharper than mine and taken with an artist's eye. We both received a memory stick.

On our recent Zaandam cruise, my wife pointed out that the salt had a thin circle of white on the adjusting knob, the pepper black. A few of the grinders also had an "S" or "P" near the bottom. I hate the salt grinders, I end up with gravel sized salt chunks too often. Great thread, Clay, thanks for posting.

This rule should be universal. Great thread, *Miss G*. Thanks.

Get well soon.

Tips and fees will add considerably, but prices are listed as from $2600 each for Oceania and $1060 each for Holland America.

Other combinations are probably better, but this ticks your boxes: Oceania Regatta: Thursday, September 7 Vancouver, BC, Canada 6:00pm Friday, September 8 At Sea Saturday, September 9 Ketchikan, AK 8:00am 4:00pm Sunday, September 10 Juneau, AK 10:00am 8:00pm Monday, September 11 Skagway, AK 8:00am 5:00pm Tuesday, September 12 Hubbard Glacier, AK (Cruising) Wednesday, September 13 Sitka, AK 7:00am 4:00pm Thursday, September 14 Prince Rupert, BC, Canada Noon 8:00pm Friday, September 15 Inside Passage, AK (Cruising) Saturday, September 16 Victoria, BC, Canada 8:00am 5:00pm Sunday, September 17 Astoria, OR 9:00am 6:00pm Monday, September 18 At Sea Tuesday, September 19 At Sea Wednesday, September 20 Los Angeles (San Pedro), CA 8:00am Holland America Zaandam: Sunday, September 24 Montreal, QC, Canada 5:00pm Sunday, September 24 St. Lawrence Seaway (Cruising) Monday, September 25 Quebec City, QC, Canada 7:00am 4:00pm Tuesday, September 26 St. Lawrence Seaway (Cruising) Wednesday, September 27 Charlottetown, PE, Canada 9:00am 6:00pm Thursday, September 28 Sydney, NS, Canada 8:00am 4:00pm Friday, September 29 Halifax, NS, Canada 8:00am 4:00pm Saturday, September 30 Bar Harbor, ME 8:00am 5:00pm Sunday, October 1 Boston, MA 7:00am 5:00pm Monday, October 2 At Sea Tuesday, October 3 Norfolk, VA 7:00am 5:00pm Wednesday, October 4 At Sea Thursday, October 5 Charleston, SC 7:00am 6:00pm Friday, October 6 At Sea Saturday, October 7 Fort Lauderdale, FL 7:00am

I checked our file of paperwork from our Zaandam back to back cruise on August 27, 2022. As four star mariners, we were invited to "an exclusive reception for our 3- star, 4-star, 5- star and President's Club members" from 3 to 4 PM on both embarkation days, Crow's Nest, Deck 9, no invitation to a medallion reception or any other mariner events. Our tiles were left mid-cruise on our bed with a note from the mariner society on both legs of the cruise. The dining room was listed as open on both embarkation days from noon to 1 PM, we did not eat there.

IMDB.com is a great source for all movie questions. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0311113/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0 Master and Commander was based on a book by Patrick O'Brian, who wrote a slew of novels about the main characters Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin, I think my father-in-law read every one of them, two were enough for me. It is an excellent series of books, if anyone is looking for something to read. https://www.bookseriesinorder.com/patrick-obrian/ I thought they would film sequel after sequel of the movie.

Ever since the Costa Concordia disaster I try to find the best spot to be during a real emergency to watch the captain leave.