world~citizen

When you don't cruise you don't leave them behind. I think a lot of our little companions think they are in heaven now - a "dam" good thing for them.

Everyone on those ships have secured their place in history.

4 hours ago, VennDiagram said:

 

True, since most of us pay to be on the ship.  There seems to be a few posters who object strongly to the word "free", and make that point regularly.  IMHO that's not a good way to welcome new posters to the HAL board, though.  😞 

On my first cruise (crossing really), I kept looking for a way to pay for stuff. And as buffets were unlimited there was a certain "abandonment" that accompanied life at sea, for better or worse. Freedom seems a reasonable descriptor. "Inclusive" rather than "free" says the same thing, is more accurate but is not as poetic. I prefer poetry - it is the romantic in me.🤣 

On 1/14/2020 at 8:35 PM, sail7seas said:

 

 

If it's okay with you, I am fine with the way I  worded my post and see no need to change it.

 

Thanx   anyway

Well, nothing is free on a cruise ship. It can appear that way. If anyone is in the least doubtful, it will become  much clearer with the bar bill.

Thank-you for all the input. The only sensible thing to do it cruise both, but you can only sail one at a time. I think Canada-New England - and if possible back to back return. I like sea days, but not this time. The observations here settled it for us. I forgot how helpful CC can be.

Been a while since I have been here. Been a while since we have cruised. Which itinerary would you reintroduce yourself to cruising with - Hawaii or Montreal/New England?

This Board has changed a lot. Thats what I get for missing staff meetings.

Goes back 5 years - obviously she is a different ship.

Glad to hear it.

Thanks for your reply.

I am looking at a Veendam cruise. That ship had some problems a while back.

Can anyone advise respecting its condition now?

Thanks.

NOTE:

Just saw the review below - please disregard.

Nonsense. There's nothing you can see on the ground that you can't see from the ship, and see more of since you're higher. We also got to see lots and lots of penguins (four different kinds) "up close and personal" in both Tierra del Fuego and the Falklands.

 

The antarctic itself is a bit of a disappointment if you've cruised the glaciers in Alaska or the fjords in Norway, Chile or New Zealand but it's still worth the trip if only for the crossing of the Drake passage.

I couldn't agree with you more. This is one cruise that we would never do again because we worry it could never match the awe and wonder of the first. I fully understand those who book it multiple times though.

As I look to my right, there is a parrot glaring at me, reminding me that he has us grounded. He is on medication now so we can't book a cruise. But when I think of those days when we could, the antarctic cruise stands out.

When a great ship meets great itinerary, this is what you get.

This review was well done.

Thanks and smooth sailing...

You have to go back if only to dine at the Tamarind. :)

Great review.

From the article:

...Pujayasa endured a "difficult and traumatic childhood," ... he grew up in extreme poverty in a violent household... Pujayasa's father ... was physically violent and verbally abusive to Pujayasa and his mother...Pujayasa's father once "almost killed him with a butcher knife" and "hit him with a bundle of roof tiles" on another occasion...

He learned to be violent and to abusively dominate women from early in his life. A deep psychological assessment might reveal a problem - I don't know how much they (the cruise lines) delve into such things. I'm not a psychologist and if there is someone very knowledgeable about whether this could be discovered in a typical pre-hiring interview and assessment, perhaps s/he could let us know. I do know that abused children can become masters at hiding it.

 

I hope I don't need to say this but just in case: I am not excusing, condoning or mitigating his horrible actions, just addressing the quoted comment.

Points well taken.

I suppose in a perfect world the victim would be made whole, the public would be protected and the perpetrator would receive whatever treatment necessary to address what appears to my layman's perspective to be serious mental illness. I do not have the expertise to make that evaluation, nor to know what is in the mind of God in this regard.

The relevant point for cruisers, I think, is that our favourite lines may have to look at the psychological screening process that I would imagine is part of their mandatory pre-employment medical they give their staff. Quite aside from the fact that this would be the proper (ethical) thing to do, there might be liability issues as well.

Our hearts go out to the victim. We hope that this will never happen again. To the family of the perpetrator - you also have lost more than we can imagine.

There has been suffering all around here. Lets not repeat it.

It will give him a long time reflect on the evil he committed.

Is he evil or sick?

I don't know if I believe in evil but I believe in sick. If mentally ill, I hope he gets help - suspect he won't.

To the victim, what can you say? We are all just so happy she is alive. I hope she can find peace. She is amazing, and deserves it.

It seems the perpetrator won't be able to do this again. Thank goodness.

Looks like cruise lines have to look more closely at their psychological assessments of prospective cruise staff.

I get this, as it is a problem we have asked ourselves.

Should we do this cruise we have decided to begin in Boston - spend 3-4 days there and another two-three days in Montreal or Quebec city and forget about back to back. You get the same number of vacation days AND more time in two of the most interesting and enriching cities in North America. Boston for me is a civilized New York city, which we also love.

I get it if back to back is your preference and this doesn't help you. If we were to do back to back we would start in Montreal. TSA can open your bags out of our presence in Boston airport which is problematic. Our bags are too old to retrofit with TSA locks and too expensive to replace with new ones with TSA locks built in. Our luggage has to be locked to remain closed, and locks must be broken to open the bag out of our presence. As bags are not (yet) opened like this in Canada, we prefer the flight to Boston from Montreal, spend a few days there then on the ship for the return trip.

Beyond this, Sail makes an excellent point also.

So I agree with many here - you can't make a bad choice but there are considerations that are more important to some than others.

I'm sure you have a wonderful experience ahead.

Well if that is the case, and I don't doubt what you are saying, what is Oceania doing with all its smaller ships?

Charging higher fares I think.:)

Thanks! :)

 

 

 

You do know that "our good friends at Wikipedia" means "some random person who had the time and the inclination to post about this topic"? ;) (Also explains why my students aren't allowed to use it as an academic source.)

 

Anyhoo, I teach public speaking, interpersonal communication, cross-cultural communication, and composition. Why do you ask?

If by that you mean it isn't a referred source, quite right. And you shouldn't use any encyclopedia for anything other than context and basic fact. With that caution, Wiki references, even in papers written for Ivy league universities, are accepted.

North, south and central Americans have equal claim to the moniker "American", regardless that "America" is in the name of your country. Its a convention in English that USA citizens are called Americans. Compare this to the situation of say, citizens of the Russian Federation. They are called Russians, but Russia and Russian Federation have equal standing in that nation's constitution, and there are no other Russia's.

This isn't an important distinction except for public officials, scholars and the like.

There is an ambiguity that some see as presumptuous.

That said, new policy directions respecting Cuba out of DC will move all Americans, north, central and south etc closer to singing out of the same hymn book. Something to celebrate, especially at this time of year.

Righto. "America" is in the name of our COUNTRY, for heavens' sakes.

 

I teach at a college campus with more than 50% Hispanic students. I have never met a student from Colombia, Costa Rica, Peru, etc., who would identify as "American." And they are very concerned with being confused with someone from another South or Central American country.

From our good friends at Wikipedia:

"Different languages use different terms for citizens of the United States of America, who are known in English as "Americans". All forms of English refer to these people as "Americans", derived from "The United States of America",[1] but there is some linguistic ambiguity over this due to the other senses of the word "American", which can also refer to people from the Americas in general."

Rather than to say America is the name of the country, might it be more accurate to say that there is a convention among English speakers to call citizens of the United States of America "Americans"?

Strictly speaking, "America" is not the name of your country.

So, what do you teach?

We also have done a similar cruise on the Amsterdam from Singapore to Hong Kong - not quite as exotic as yours I think.

Talk about a slow boat to China.:)

I hope your itinerary and experience is a good as we remember ours. There is no bad ship on HAL and the ports are terrific.

We will be looking for your posts.

Smooth sailing...

We were living in Tokyo at the time and went off to Yokohama on a Sunday to a favourite restaurant and there in the harbour was the QE2.

It looked magnificent and we decided to figure out how to sail her. On our return home (to Canada), we booked a complicated itinerary that put us in Southampton for a transatlantic to NYC. We booked two months in advance and got more and more anxious about our journey home, very much looking forward to our time onboard the Queen.

One week before sailing we turned on CNN and my wife said: "Look, there is the QE2." Sure enough, there it was, and it had just run aground.

Our crossing was cancelled, but they gave us a discount on a TA if we booked that year. We booked a flight out to London for later that year to catch the last TA to NYC before Christmas. The ship didn't run aground this time and we loved the experience - force 10 gale and all.

We never looked back.

Do I understand this correctly. You are stuck at home because you own (or should I say that you are owned by) a parrot.

 

DON

Something like that.

Briefly, injuries he sustained when he was free (some sort of attack) were permanent requiring monthly treatment by an avian vet while he is sedated. Complications are such that his health can turn on a dime at any time. We have to stay on top of it. No petsitter can deal with this.

Owing to a career which required we move to different countries every 2-4 years, it is not as if we haven't seen the world. This little guy flew into our lives at the only time we could have taken on a pet - when we were going home to retire. Clearly he needed us, and now we can't imagine losing him.

So we won't cruise as long as he is alive, and we are pulling out all the stops to give him the most optimal and longest life we can.

So we are grounded by a bird - an irony we are happy to live with.:)

Nice to see you also!

 

Since you're now HRH's ground crew, please don't forget to remove the landing gear chocks and 'remove before flight' streamers! ;)

Important safety tip. I will pass it on to DW also.:)

I have not seen your posts in awhile nice to see you again! :) I have always enjoyed reading your posts. Hope to see you more and all is well with you.

I am here a lot, but my knowledge of things HAL is dated.

I miss everyone here, and of course, HAL.

Thanks for the kind words.:)

What's his majesty's name? Zeus? Apollo? Achilles? ;)

For six months we weren't sure we would be able make all the arrangements necessary to bring him home. So we didn't give him a name, reasoning if we did, it would be more difficult if we had to leave him behind.

Inspections Canada officials suggested Icarus. On his vets charts he is identified as "no name bird".

As he is clearly too dignified to go without a name, We call him Mr. Oiseau (french for bird). Informally he is just Birdie.

Formal or no, we are his ground crew.

Life takes us in very strange directions.

Nice to see you again.

It's nice to see you posting, World~citizen. I haven't noticed you here lately. Hope all is well with you.

 

How nice of you to say.

We haven't been able to cruise (or leave the house for extended periods) since we befriended our parrot in that park in Athens. Its going to be three years next valentines day, the anniversary of our making his majesty's acquaintance.

As our knowledge of things HAL is dated, I don't feel comfortable offering advice to current cruisers.

Its not all that bad. We have saved a fortune in travel, and have had our lives enriched in ways we couldn't have imagined before meeting our little friend.

Still, we live somewhat vicariously on the cruise experiences of those who post here. Its nice to see your posts. always so positive, sincere and helpful.

Good luck to you Sail, and hearty best wishes for the season and beyond.

Its interesting to see the US and non US perspective on this.

For me, any policy that builds bridges is a step in the right direction. It isn't a popular position with some, but it is the wise position in my view.

Be it commerce or cross cultural understanding, what is happening here is going in the right direction.

Love to take a HAL cruise to Cuba someday. But time is short and life is uncertain.

I am optimistic by nature though.