whogo

September 1, 2022, Sea day en route to Quebec City. Happy birthday Betsy. Phone beeped, cell phone connected, correct time established, we were off Gaspé Peninsula at 7:14 EDT. I climbed out from under my blanket. Resisted the urge to put duct tape over the incorrect time readings on the automatic hand washers. Big crowd when the dining room opened this morning at 8:00, table for one and full English breakfast for me. Read on my phone while waiting, never imagined I would be one to do so. Breakfast delivered, colleague sent for grape jelly, returned with strawberry and apricot, I accepted the strawberry and he returned with sugar free grape jelly. No thanks, I will stay with the strawberry. Great meal. Just mentioned no sign of covid, but the fire door for the aft port section of deck six is closed, might be reserved to quarantine new crew members, I saw a couple of them board yesterday. Must be great to fly to Sydney, Nova Scotia from the Philippines or Indonesia, think how long they spent in airports and airplanes. Still haven't heard any covid coughing. As for me, I am afraid to clear my throat for fear of setting off a panic. Mrs. Whogo said there has been coughing in the World Stage, I have not been there. I kept Mrs. Whogo company as she breakfasted in the Lido. Whale ho! I saw the spout of a whale. Numerous other sightings, apparently they are right whales and they don't show off by leaping out of the water or flipping their tails up to dive. Pretty cool nonetheless. We are traveling at the mandated 10 knots and trying not to kill them. Returned to the cabin. Our Mariner's tiles were delivered with an image of the Zaandam, appropriately. Our room stewards are doing a great job and the leader of the pair, Wibi (pronounce weebee) has the best name ever. Excellent cabin, by the way, plenty of storage space, I like having a bunch of drawers and plenty of closet space to hang clothes. We could have brought even more stuff. Bed is comfortable, lighting is good, only two 110 AC outlets, plus the shaver outlet in the bathroom and just found the one USB outlet on the lamp above the refrigerator cabinet next to the couch. The ride has been smooth, I credit it to our massive upgrade to a room a couple of cabins midship of what we had purchased. As long as I am gushing, I will praise the front desk guest service woman who straightened out my phone and computer frustrations in less than two minutes. Spent some time reading on our balcony, a rarity for me to find it pleasant, shady, and not windy. Finished Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison. Lasted another fifteen minutes before being driven inside by loud talkers next door. I have wondered how I come back from a cruise a few pounds lighter despite eating to excess. My phone reported that I climbed forty floors yesterday, haven't stepped into an elevator yet. That might explain it, don't remember doing anything special, although when heading to the other end of the ship I will occasionally walk up a floor or two to amble the heady air of the suite deck before descending two or three decks. I have not been mistaken for a suite passenger again, but have not seen anyone leave their suite either. But then, why would anyone leave a luxurious suite anyway? They would have to rub elbows with us common folk. I have not seen Holland America postcards or stationery in my cabin for ages, postcards are not available at guest services, either. In a continuation of previous cruise nightmares, my laundry is returned without a gold sticker and about half my laundered undershorts come back inside out. Wibi turned in a maintenance request for our cabin and florescent tubes were replaced today. I tightened a couple of loose screws in the cabin myself, didn't that crooked privacy tag holder annoy anyone else? Lost big at afternoon trivia. First golfer to win $100,000 in a season? Anyone? Clif continues to run an excellent game. Tallest mountain that is not part of a mountain range? Gala/Dressy dinner was sparsely attended with passengers better dressed than last time, lots of jackets on men, saw no polo shirts or t-shirts. Escargot, jumbo shrimp cocktail, tangerine duck breast and chocolate souffle for me, will take their word for it that there was horseradish in the cocktail sauce and tangerine on the duck. Good meal, mighty quiet with so few diners. Chocolate extravaganza at 9:30 on deck five with waiters offering sweet treats. Mrs. Whogo fired up for a marshmallow with pink sprinkles. There is no accounting for taste. Arnold Palmer and Kilimanjaro were the trivia answers.

We are headed west to Quebec City, arriving Friday. I was told to set my watch back an hour at 2:00 AM. I stayed up to set my watch back to 1:00 AM, but then 2:00 AM rolled around again. Set my watch back again. Mrs. Whogo set me straight, sort of. I quit adjusting my watch, but have no idea what time it is. Checked the automated hand washing stations in the Lido, but it turns out that each of the six shows a different time. I'll just sit in the corner with a blanket over my head until it safe to come out.

August 31, 2022, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island UK got the bomb in 1952, the equator passes through Indonesia and the Maldives. The garden artwork above depicts sunflowers and the plants behind are sunflowers in support or Ukraine. Excellent dinner companions again last night. Fellow cruisers must dine early or in the buffet or alternate restaurants, there are many empty tables in the dining room after 7:00, nice time for us to enjoy the peace and quiet. I had the seared black pepper duck breast (served cold in cubes, who would have guessed) and the baby back ribs with espresso-barbeque sauce. I won, ribs were delicious. Holland America does not know what a hot fudge sundae is. The hot fudge should be thick and... oh... I don't know... hot. Did not lose at trivia last night, did not play, lingered too long at dinner. Arrived Charlottetown about 7:00 AM, hope the skies remain overcast. Saw an ambulance leave the ship followed by family members and a crewman wheeling luggage, someone's cruise did not go well. Haven't seen any evidence of covid, no coughing, no crew members in hazmat suits, no closed off sections of cabins. First dining room breakfast of the voyage was perfect. Six waiters were lined up ready to take diners to the their tables. There were few diners. I took a table for one. Full English breakfast is a gut buster, two eggs, beans, fried bread, tomato, mushrooms, English bacon, banger, and I added a couple of slices of toast. Delicious. I may not overeat again until lunch. All that food and it was served on such a big plate that it looked like a small serving. There is a lesson for dieters there. Accompanied Mrs. Whogo to the lido for her breakfast, did not eat anything. Honest. I am one of the few that uses the automatic hand washers, stick your hands in and feel the spray of water do their job, kind of like a car wash for human appendages. The counter turned over to 126,607 on the digital read out as I did so. The clock on the hand washer is set to eastern standard time, one hour off our current time, no one reset it. I worry what other essential tasks the Zaandam is overlooking. This is the gable cruise, from the House of Seven in Salem last Friday to Anne of Green today. We left the ship on a level gangway from A deck, one deck below deck 1, at 9:15. Booked a four hour tour from outside the port building for just the two of us with registered guide Sonya (Sonia? Sonja?) of Pauley Tours. Excellent tour, Mrs. Whogo had to see Green Gables, author Lucy Maud Montgomery's cousins' house and the model for the fictional Anne of Green Gables stories. Well run place, the house is well preserved and decorated in period pieces and agreeing with the stories as much as possible. Good information from the guide in the house, a child was doing a scavenger hunt and looking for a sock stretcher. Nobody offered me a scavenger hunt booklet. [Insert sad faced emoji here.] Viewed the author's grave later at 25 mph. We were well schooled in oyster farming, mussel farming, and lobster fishing, our guide had worked on a lobster boat. We checked out the sandstone cliffs and arch in the national park and plenty more great Prince Edward Island scenery. Great day, although the sun came out. Tide rose, the gangway to A deck was now a bit uphill. Used the Lido auto hand washer again. The counter turned over to 112608 as I did so. Strip loin, cauliflower, carrots and broccoli for me. The Captain Michiel Willems, whom I have not seen, am unlikely to see, and more unlikely to meet, announced that we would reroute to avoid endangered right whales and 10 knot speed limit, would sail around the south coast of Prince Edward Island and under Confederation Bridge, a first time experience for Zaandam. Pretty nifty, hope to be on deck for the experience. Hope the captain has figured the clearance correctly, has not mixed up feet and meters or done something stupid like I would do. Wild Prince Edward Island Mussels drew us to the Lido for dinner. We feasted. We won. Those who chose the garlic or tomato sauce over the white wine sauce lost. Fog closed in, could not see the ends of the bridge. Made the inaugural passage under Confederation Bridge to the narration of our cruise director, and await the delivery of a certificate of achievement suitable for framing for having done so. Animal trivia was painful. I understood the quizmaster's accent, others did not. Sixteen questions were repeated ad nauseum and then she asked if anyone needed a repeat. She repeated questions 1.. 2... 3... 4... and I left before I burst a vessel. I have no patience. Mrs. Whogo stayed. How many arms does a starfish have? Well, between five and forty, but five is the correct answer that would earn a point. What bird does not fly? I thought of ostrich, emu, rhea, kiwi and penguin. Ostrich or penguin earned you a point. Heaven help me. It is still a great cruise. My smart watch keeps track of my walks. When I return to my starting point, somehow it always shows that I have walked down about 90 feet less than I walked up. Someday those missing feet will catch up to me and I will come crashing down from 10,000 feet.

ew101, the Ocean Bar Band plays regularly. Does not seem like ballroom dance music to me, but I'm no dancer or musician. Maybe you can waltz, foxtrot and cha cha to it. The band is listed tonight at 8, 9, 10 and 11. There are not many tables for two. We have managed to be seated at one after a five or ten minute wait any time we have asked. Dining later makes it easier. The two of us sometimes take a table for four for two in the Lido. Rumor has it that there are 1200+ passengers on this ship that holds 1400+.

August 30, 2022 – Sydney Opened the balcony door today to the smell of sea air and pine. O Canada! I have not had much luck with Lido breakfasts. My eggs grew cold as I waited for toast and bacon and a yolk was broken. May try congee tomorrow or eat in the dining room. Whogo hints: (1) Check deck chair pads for wetness before sitting down. (2) Close the lid on the toilet before fiddling with your dopp kit in the little bathroom. The ladies at the information booth on the pier were as helpful as can be and pleasant to boot. Armed with a good map, I headed up past the sights, might have been three miles total. Hot, humid, and sunny, even more precancerous coloring. Mrs. Whogo and I have apparently been cruising all wrong. The thing to do is buy a t-shirt in one port and wear it in the next. Numerous passengers wore Bar Harbor shirts in Halifax and they are wearing Halifax shirts in Sydney. Ports are questioning whether having cruise ships visit is a boon or bust. The complaint is that cruise ships are polluters and the passengers don't spend enough ashore. The massive number of t-shirts I have seen puts paid to argument number two. I contributed to the local economy, too. I bought a new toothbrush (see hint (2) above) and two postcards. I am becoming a shopaholic. I usually start these blogs by warning that I am unlikely to meet the captain, won't attend mass, won't visit the spa, casino, or shops and I am not interested in acupuncture, footprint analysis, crystal healing, aroma therapy, or chiropractics. We have never been suite passengers and do not merit the Neptune Lounge or Club Orange. I do, however, enjoy ambling down the serene hallway past the Neptune suites and the Neptune Lounge. Today a suite passenger left his suite and nodded to me, nodded to me as I was a Neptune suite passenger and merited a nod. I have been walking on air ever since, even added a little swagger to my step. Clif runs an excellent afternoon trivia contest, even if we lost by a point today. Good questions, good presentation. What country became the third to attain the atom bomb in 1952? Which Asian countries does the equator pass through? I was surprised to see a couple of crew member's heads pop up over our balcony, they were raised by a big cherry picker on the dock. The smell of sea air and pine on the balcony has been replaced by the smell of paint. I can't reach to see if it is still wet. Maybe if I lean just a little farther...

I can upload photos!Who can figure out this one?

Mrs. Whogo led the pedestrian tour of Halifax on Monday, August 29. Walked up past old houses, architecturally interesting to me, similar age and style, one beautiful preserved, most showed serious need of paint on their cedar shingle siding. The Halifax Public Gardens were wonderful, nice and green, quiet, beautifully designed and maintained, the only surviving Victorian garden in North America, allegedly. Admired the place on our own, incredible assortment of colorful flowers, footpaths, a stream, ducks and all. Reached the visitor center and joined a tour which had just departed. Volunteer guide David was a gem, great story teller, delightful sense of humor. He gently corrected a couple of us who called the place a park instead of a garden. Saw a mature American Chestnut tree, I thought the species had been wiped out by a blight, apparently not in Canada. Also an Ohio Buckeye tree like I have not seen in ages. Congratulations Halifax on keeping the gardens up. Mrs. Whogo marched me on to the Citadel, neat old star shaped fort. Must have been well designed, no one seriously attacked it. “Costumed” is not the right word for the staff dressed as soldiers of old in kilts and what not. As we were guided around the fortress the uniformed staff described their uniform, weapon, bagpipe or whatever and tell the whys and the hows. Great way to show off the place. It pained me to walk past the brew pub instead of into the brew at the port. I know you can't hit them all, I haven't hit any this cruise. Unfortunately, the sun came out for the entire day. And we'd had such glorious overcast skies sailing in. I spent months cultivating a healthy pallor and it was ruined by a day in the sun. I was shocked to look in the mirror at my precancerous tan. Delightful table mates at dinner and an uninspiring menu. Mrs. Whogo ordered the always available chicken, a sign that she had given up. My slice of pork with some fancy pants French name was fine, one table mate was disappointed to find that her chile rellenos was fried and I was too polite to ask about the bizarre looking pot roast. Cruise director Glenn Michael ran a superior music trivia contest. A former Holland America piano performer, he played the quiz songs including a couple of classical pieces. Fellow contestants could not resist singing out the answers. I did better than I thought, considering I had never heard of Cold Play and some other group, finished well out of the money, will survive without another Holland America pin. Don't let my grousing mislead you, I had a great day.

Dressy night dinner last night, no one would have guessed from appearances, zero dinner jackets, zero ball gowns, four suits with ties, more suits without, a handful of sport coats, a couple dozen collared shirts, two t-shirts, one baseball cap. Mrs. Whogo commented, did not know she cared. Women were better turned out than their male companions. Mrs. Whogo was happy with her sea bass. Grouchiness? Jumbo shrimp has always been a curious oxymoron, the four shrimp in my jumbo shrimp cocktail were below the jumbo standard and one had suffered badly in its peeling. Asked for cocktail sauce instead of aioli and what I received was short on horseradish. Ketchup anyone? Excellent rare filet mignon for me, but why put it on top of the mashed potato and under the shredded crab with sauce? The crab is touching the meat. Ick. Strawberries Pavlova was indistinguishable from a very small fresh strawberry sundae. Even more grouchiness? The English as a second language cruise staff do not run good music trivia contests. Michael handed out answer sheets individually. “How many in your group? Just one answer sheet here?” Started ten minutes late, took forever to describe the rules and then could not get the tech staff to adjust the volume. Suffered four overly long over modulated clips that people in the back could not hear. In bed at 11:00, lost an hour at 2:00 AM as I set my watch ahead. Arose at 6:00 AM, today, Monday to overcast skies and wet decks, no land visible, planned arrival in Halifax at 9:00. Breakfasted on a bog standard American diner meal of eggs over easy, whole wheat toast and bacon. Diners do it better, arrange everything on the plate properly. Yet another Holland America cutback to report, lox is now displayed flat on a platter instead of rolled into neat little cylinders with capers. I prefer the dining room, but who can wait until 7:30 opening time? The day is half over. A rumble outside our cabin at 7:45 announced the arrival of the Halifax pilot, big engine on the pilot boat. The captain docked with little help from me, just a little body English, the gangway opened a bit later than the scheduled 9:00. Great cruise, we are off on foot.

Sunday, August 28, 2022 Fantastic day in Bar Harbor, ideal weather, beautiful scenery, nice people. Thanks to longtime Hal cruiser and blogger Jeff's mention of it, we rented a two seat electric vehicle from Acadia Gem. What fun it was to drive the doorless car through Acadia National Park. Very sporty. Nifty vehicle, 25 mph maximum speed, it seemed faster. The vehicle is not allowed on roads with a speed limit over 35, we did not annoy people by driving too slowly and actually passed a gas powered car. Lots of pull outs for vistas, absolutely gorgeous, much like the north woods of Minnesota or Wisconsin, but with the ocean thrown in and nothing at all like back in the corn belt. We drove to the top of Cadillac Mountain and cheered on the cyclist that was nearing the top. The park was packed on this end of summer weekend. We saw a number of novice cyclists who were struggling just to get out of Bar Harbor, don't rent a bike unless you are an athlete. Thanks also to CC member Btimmer's recommendation of the Pocket Earth map app for tracking our route. Mrs. Whogo shopped in the tourist hotspot that is Bar Harbor and I paid $0.75 for three postcards to write and mail from the last US port for while. I got a kick out of the Chinese Joy restaurant's big “No Lobster” sign, they must have gotten tired of people asking for it. Normal tender ride back for me. Mrs. Whogo lucked into the big open air Miss Samantha boat with ocean wildlife displays and easy access. She also lucked into a good two man team and won at afternoon trivia by three points. Covid? Cruise director Glenn Michael and the food and beverage managers wore masks outside, even. The fire door is closed on the aft section of the port of deck six. Of the faces I could see on my tender, five were masked including me, twenty were not. I have not heard any coughing. Dressy night tonight. Rack of lamb or filet mignon? Decisions, decisions.

Four FFP2 were in our cabin yesterday on Zaandam.

Boston Saturday, August 27 Boston, MA 5:00pm Sunday, August 28 Bar Harbor, ME 7:00am 4:00pm Monday, August 29 Halifax, NS, Canada 9:00am 6:00pm Tuesday, August 30 Sydney, NS, Canada 9:30am 5:30pm Wednesday, August 31 Charlottetown, PE, Canada 7:00am 4:00pm Thursday, September 1 St. Lawrence Seaway (Cruising) Friday, September 2 Quebec City, QC, Canada 9:00am 6:00pm Saturday, September 3 Montreal, QC, Canada 7:00am 5:pm Sunday, September 4 Quebec City, QC, Canada 7:00am 4:00pm Monday, September 5 St. Lawrence Seaway (Cruising) Tuesday, September 6 Charlottetown, PE, Canada 9:00am 6:00pm Wednesday, September 7 Sydney, NS, Canada 8:00am 5:00pm Thursday, September 8 Halifax, NS, Canada 8:00am 4:00pm Friday, September 9 Bar Harbor, ME 7:00am 5:00pm Saturday, September 10 Boston, MA 7:00am I know what you're wondering. Why would I take such an odd back to back cruise? It's the exact same ports on the second leg. There will be children aboard, school has not restarted. It's too late for puffins, too early for fall foliage. The big selling point was that the cruise leaves from Boston and we'd be able to visit our daughter and son-in-law. We should have scheduled two weeks in Boston and a two day cruise instead of vice versa. Had a delightful time with them. Superior dinner Thursday at Myers + Chang. I was the only who thought Mrs. Whogo's mussels were the winning dish, my fish tacos were the best such ever, the son-in-law's pork dumpling was better than my braised pork belly buns, his noodle dish was terrific and they managed to make my vegetarian daughter's tofu dish delicious. I can't say enough good things about my daughter's choice of a husband. In addition to all elee, he drove us to Salem for the tourist sites. The witch museum was hokey and bizarrely run, checked in with one guy only to be checked in by another who fiddled with stickers to show which group we were in. We were held hostage in the gift shop during an intermission. I told you I was a grouch. Learned that witches were hanged, mostly, not burned at the stake. All done hundreds of years ago so Salem would prosper when their shipping and manufacturing industries died away. Plenty of other witch/psychic shopping opportunities in town. The House of Seven Gables was terrific. Excellent docent, interesting history, and a secret staircase. Don't tell anyone. The son-in-law fetched the car from a half mile away when rain threatened. It was a joy to have someone else do the driving through heavy traffic in a thunderstorm. He drove us again to the port Saturday. I was concerned about all the traffic into Black Falcon cruise terminal, most was headed for the Niewu Statendam. With relatively few passengers checking in, the irritations hardly bothered me. All that fiddling with Verifly Navigator and they wanted a printed copy of our boarding passes, etc, etc. Save the trees? Baloney. I had already uploaded photos of ourselves to the Navigator app, still had to stoop for another, line my head up with the outline and watch the countdown, 5... 4... 3... 2... 1... 0... So what already? For Pete's sake. Click! They got the grouchy shot. Onboard before noon. We booked a balcony cabin and received a massive upgrade. Exact same cabin, but we were a full two, yes, two cabins midship of what we booked. Big win. I'm still smiling. We explored the ship, weighed myself in the gym, touched a barbell without picking it up and can say I went to the gym. Calm Lido lunch for us, not many passengers around, assume they board later and hope to find out how many of us there are. Watched the safety video, things have changed, the seven shorts blasts and one long blast now means to go to your lifeboat instead of waiting in your cabin for more news. The lifejackets now have a chin strap (official name is something else, I did not take notes, will die in an actual emergency) and more straps. I suppose someone showed that this design could have saved two lives between 2010 and 2015 and the change was mandated. Big win for lifejacket industry. Attended the sail away, beautiful weather, met cruise and travel director Glenn Michael. Sounds like he is from Australia or Oklahoma, I get the accents confused. A bit late sailing out we backed past the Nieuw Statendam and Adventure of the Seas with an MSC container ship off the other side and sailed out under the approach to Logan Airport and past the old fort on Castle Island. All pretty cool. Glenn ran a good Team Trivia at 7:00. Mystery solved, he's Australian. We did dreadfully, only ten out of eighteen correct. The winning team had eleven corrected. Elvis's first national TV appearance was on the Dorsey Brothers show, who'd have thought it? I wonder if the big band leaders gave him the time of day. No one at the scheduled piano bar, cancelled due to illness. Music trivia was not as well run, technology challenges, too slow, but no excuse for my score of 21, the winning score of 31 was about 6 more than the second place team. They have to quit asking about all these new songs from the 80's and 90's and all. In bed just before 11:00 and slept well. Good first day.

Received lots of emails from no_reply@hollandamerica.com reminding us of our 11:00(!) boarding time. That is mighty early, with two HAL ships in port. The email subject lines read, "Attn: Leedsb, IMPORTANT NOTIFICATION for..." Leedsb means absolutely nothing to me, not related to my name or Mrs. Whogo's middle name or anything, fear everyone received the same email and we all will be there at 11:00. Then again, Leedsb may be a HAL secret code warning staff of my grouchiness, our tipping practices, and the unlikehood of our using the spa, casino, or shops.

Spent 45 minutes online 'chatting' with Sonya with my thumbs at American Airlines. She said she corrected Mrs. Whogo's name. I showed her that she hadn't. Sonya admitted that she could not change the name and I should call reservations, but did not provide a number. Declined the opportunity to rate her service, you are welcome, Sonya. I will never know if I was dealing with a human or with artificial stupidity. Ten minutes on the phone with Mary was a delight, she was capable and her voice was like a song. She could not correct the problem, said it could be corrected by the desk agent at airport check in. And it was! This was two day ago on Thursday morning. At the desk at 5:20 AM, way earlier than she likes to arise, but Mrs. Whogo was pleasant, the desk agent was a delight and the TSA agents were friendly. The TSA's Nude-O-Scope did not like me, the computer outline of me had a big red dot where a prude would hang a fig leaf on a statue. Actually, it was an embarrassingly small dot. “I'm going to pat you down, sir, any sensitive areas on your body?” I looked at the where the dot was and thought, 'duh'. I explained that yes, I'm a guy. We made it through security, boarded on time, flew around thunderstorms, connected in O'Hare, were served pretzels and cookies and arrived in Boston on time.

On Zaandam or not? Passport, Covid vaccination record, Covid PCR or Covid antigen test, ArriveCan, Verifly, HAL Navigator app, air travel chaos, TSA, thunderstorms, and Mrs. Whogo's plane ticket is made out to her her first and middle name instead of her first and last name. How could that happen? How could she not have her last name on the ticket and how could the mistake not have been found until her boarding pass was printed the night before travel? I am admitting to nothing. Will Mrs. Whogo be aboard? Would Mr. Whogo sail without her? Why is he posting this in the middle of the night? This may be a short blog. Stay tuned.

Greyhound is still selling tickets for Montreal to Boston travel, 8:00 AM to 4:40 PM, stops in Burlington and White River. Stay on the ship, vacation 2011. Zaandam would have you back in Boston in week.

From the US Department of State website: "Prescription Medications: The Italian Ministry of Health sets rules defining who and how prescriptions and medications can be imported into Italy. However, the Ministry of Health website does not have information in English. According to the Ministry of Health, foreigners entering Italy are allowed to bring personal medications for a period of 30 days, but it is recommended that travelers also bring a copy of their prescription with them. Travelers should not bring excess supplies of prescription drugs into the country and cannot bring prescription drugs for other people." https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/international-travel/International-Travel-Country-Information-Pages/Italy.html

Better in the 1990's: 1. We were younger. 2. Ports were not as overrun with tourists. 3. No upcharge items in the restaurants. 4. Waiters showed off trays of that night's desserts. 5. Service was more formal, more polished. 6. More cruise staff ran more activities. 7. Ships were smaller, quirkier. I remember our Regent Star cabin with its exposed pipes, humongous bathtub, and portholes with the steel covers and wingnuts and all. One had to negotiate a few stairs while staying on the same deck. The pool was inside on a lower deck. 8. Ships had libraries and librarians. 9. No one thought of serving only sustainable fish. 10. We saw bigger names perform onboard. 11. I watched some skeet shooting, wish I had partaken. Worse in the 1990's: 1. No auto tipping. Passing out envelopes to staff was a nuisance and I hated tipping the smarmy headwaiters who made small talk badly and did not seem to help their waiters in the least. 2. No TV. 3. No internet. 4. No easy way to comparison shop for cruises. No easy way to book independent excursions. 5. Assigned dining times and assigned table mates were hit or miss. I pity the poor middle aged man who was seated the first night with my family of four including two young children. Never saw him again, assume he changed tables, the experience might have killed him.

I think you got a great upgrade, Burrata. When the lighting is just right, or wrong, promenade walkers can see into the cabins. The H cabins do not have open railings across the deck, I think, the view is limited. I would take that cabin change in a heartbeat. We received our Zaandam guarantee cabin assignments sixteen days out. Could some cabin shuffling be due to covid quarantine shuffling?

Some people can not fly for physical health reasons, others for fear of flying or claustrophobia. klfrodo, I don't let my concerns keep me from cruising. I recall the cruise passenger who died of COVID after being transferred to a hospital in Belize. How do you like the Department of State's description of healthcare there? "Emergency services will be either unavailable or significantly delayed. Serious injuries or illnesses normally require evacuation to another country. "Medical care for minor ailments is generally available in urban areas. Advanced medical treatment is very limited in Belize City or Belmopan and is extremely limited or unavailable in rural and remote areas. Pharmacy services are generally acceptable in larger cities. Specialized prescription medications may be completely unavailable..." https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/international-travel/International-Travel-Country-Information-Pages/Belize.html

I would think the port would want you to stay on the ship and get your sick self away from their city. It is the cruise ship that would put you off. I don't know about COVID, but passengers have been transferred to hospitals ashore when the cruise ship is unable or unwilling to care for them. Yes, it is disturbing. I would not want to be disembarked in a developing country where I do not speak the language.

Thanks, Crazy for Cats. I like to get things done early and COVID testing, ArriveCan, and Verifly are all pretty much last minute tasks.

Another option! Thanks, petepie. I like the idea of using our own test kits.

Holland America lists Radeas and Optum as COVID test providers: https://www.hollandamerica.com/en_US/worry-free-promise/travel-well/frequently-asked-questions/faq-for-cruises-from-usa.html#testing Please, does anyone have any advice for choosing one over the other? (I am leaning toward Radeas, they have a good description of the process on their website: https://store.optum.com/shop/products/abbott-binaxNOW-COVID-19-ag-emed-at-home-test-kit-1-pack/?utm_source=carnival-corporation&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=two&utm_campaign=travel_ready_covid_test) Any experiences to share? Thanks for any insight you can provide.

Beer. It tastes good. Any bartender can quickly provide it. Any waiter can bring me one. My table mates don't cool their heels while I decide which white wine we want. "Oh, you want the beef, dear? Well, let me check the reds. I was looking forward to the fish. Sure you want the beef?'" Then the table mates can cool their heels some more while the wine steward goes through the bottle opening theater with the cork sniffing and tasting and all. Cocktails? You can ask for something odd like a Fawlty Towers or a Tequila Flat and then complain that the bartender didn't know how to make it or did not have the right brand of gin/brandy/vodka/scotch or tonic/soda. Keep it simple. Beer. It's not just for breakfast anymore.

Start with the website of the US Department of State here: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/passports/how-apply.html