Jose was on our N.S. cruise last year and was so much fun. He is the only entertainment person that I remember from any of our cruises (usually they just don't make an impression) but Jose is special!
For me, if this is a bucket list, must see experience, I would book the HAL tour. It may not be a small, less expensive private tour but it sounds like the Top Komodo tours are not small either.
I guess each person has to determine how disappointed they would be if they something like what happened in post #20 happened to them.
Hi, sorry for butting in but where we live the sanitation department has a program that allows people who are physically unable to bring their carts out to the curb, to leave the carts in place and the people on the trucks manually gather those carts. We were able to sign my mother up for this service in another city also. It might be worth a try.
You cannot use OBC until you are onboard.
But, you can book and pay now and once on the ship you can go to the Shore Excursion desk and have it switched over to OBC and receive a refund. Kind of a hassle but doable.
Can you request that s/he make a note that you would like that OBC breakdown each time? That's what my TA does, so it is doable if they just make the effort.
It depends on which beverage package you have. Signature package soft drinks including packaged water count towards the 15, with the Elite package they do not.
Listed under Deals on the HAL website
https://www.hollandamerica.com/en/us/find-a-cruise?dealId=TOPTEN23&csvFileName=multi_TOPTEN23_1.csv&ICID=INTHWEB20240430UWQN47FSM7
Yes, you are allowed to self disembark as soon as the ship allows it. But don't plan on just walking right off. There will be many others doing the same thing.
I'm hoping the new menu is available on our January cruise on the Oosterdam. I would try the new items for Sounth America:
South America: Start with Rib Eye Tacos or Corn Soup. For an entrée, choose between Red and Green Grilled Snapper, Grilled Beef Tenderloin or Lamb Chops “Gaucho” with Lime Mint Chimichurri. Finish with White Chocolate Pave for dessert.