FlaMariner

I cannot find the fine print but I recall reading recently that the Sommelier Wine Package wine is available to consume at the dining venues and in your stateroom but the good ole days of having a bottle follow you to the bars onboard is no more. (At least in the fine print but perhaps onboard they will still do this?) (I think the fine print was listed on the Sommelier brochure from our recent cruise 3/2023 but I do not have it nor can I find it online) We need others to confirm and perhaps someone has the "fine print". (We always get the wine package and enjoy it......and we get package 1 (the cheapest) and usually end up getting several bottles "upgraded" to package 2 or 3 when they are out of package 1! We also have no problem taking a glass of wine from our room to anywhere on the ship....we love the wine packages and enjoy our Mariner discount on them also)

Me thinks the response was fair and honest (something that is rare today and I applaud HAL for telling it like it is).

That was our timeline/experience (10 days) November 2022 on the Nieuw Statendam.

We are wine package patrons and we have never had such an issue......I'd suggest you try very hard to drink it onboard! We do the math and enjoy it at a pace that the last drop is poured on the last evening or sometimes the horror of wine giving out before the last night.....but as others have said, take it back to the cabin or give it away. Enjoy the wine package.....We do!

and very $$$$ also.

We got our tiles in November 2022 on the Nieuw Statendam and in March 2023 on the Oosterdam. We have quite a collection and we have thoughts about using them as tiles when we redo the bathroom! It's a very nice gift.

We were on the Nieuw Statendam in the Caribbean this past Thanksgiving 2022...(7 night typical Caribbean "milk run" itinerary). We took our adult kids and my Mother.....The ship was full of similar extended families and lots of kids. My wife and I commented on how this was not our typical HAL experience. We had a blast but prepare yourself for a full ship full of everybody going everywhere and doing everything! If it were not for Thanksgiving and taking the fam, we would stay away if it was just us. (We said goodbye to the kids and stayed on for the next week and it was back to HAL normal/calm)

Very important to have that retractable roof.....All HAL ships have that and we did a Spring TA on Princess and found out the hard way that the entire lido pool deck area is useless in inclement weather. They had no retractable roof on their Sky Princess ship.

That's all I ever wear...no matter the attire listed....and I'm good to go. You will be fine. Pack lite.

I don't know what a chef's table is but on all our HAL cruises the chef stops by our table to inquire about the food......

Thanks Hank.... Looks like the HAL excursions go to the national park and the stop is all about nature and the fish market? Enjoy the cruise and I look forward to any intel on Kushiro.

But we suffered thru it all taters! The horror of it all.....LOL. Are y'all still having cruise withdrawal? We miss Captn Kevin's noon announcement along with everything else about those 19 days.......Great cruise.

Port call in Kushiro, Japan in October (Holland America Line Westerdam). Any intel on independent tours or DIY for the day?

+1 for this hotel....We stayed at the Hotel Plaza San Francisco in March 2023 and had a great time. Excellent location, top notch, old style, hotel....Great Pisco Sour in the evening and a delicious breakfast in the morning. Clean room. Very good price also.

We disembarked the Oosterdam last week...4/10/23 after 19 awesome South American days. There was a minor horseradish crisis one evening during prime rib night but it was quickly handled the next time prime rib was on the menu. We survived. Also, we ordered Sommelier Package #1 (the cheap package) and as usual, we learned that many of the wines were not available so on 5 of the 8 bottles, we were treated with a wine from package 2 and 3. We survived. Looking forward to our next dam ship cruise.....We will endure the perceived cuts and continue to sail on! We find cruising now to be the best ever!

Yes, Carmen did respond in English.

Paying it forward..... We were in Lima for two days last month (March 2023) and we used Peruvian Local Friends tours for a small group (there were 6 of us) tour of Lima. They were ontime for the pick ups and the driver was fantastic (wild driving in Lima). The guides were very knowledgable, helpful and fun. Use them. We enjoyed it. https://peruvianlocalfriend.com/best-lima-private-tours/

Paying it forward for those looking for a tour when at the port of Coquimbo: We used these folks in March 2023 and had a fantastic independent tour of the area. Went to a Pisco distillery, local market, guava farm and ate lunch cooked with a solar stove. Just an all around good day of touring. We were a group from cc. Carmen (the owner) was super responsive and helpful. The guide was a young guy who also works as a mining technician. He was very knowledgeable and proud of his area. Use them. We are glad we did. https://www.travelturismocochiguaz.cl

So my "universal adapter" did work. Had to figure out all the configurations but we were good to go!

We stayed at the Hotel Plaza San Francisco pre-cruise in March (2023).....Great location in central city Santiago. We walked from the hotel to the plaza de arms and to great restaurants. The hotel restaurant was highly rated also. It's right next door to the oldest church in Santiago....San Francisco. https://www.plazasanfrancisco.cl/en/ Nice wood panel bar in the lobby w/a great Pisco sour. Top notch staff. You sit at a desk when you check in. Room was clean and comfortable. An old world gem type of hotel. Breakfast was included and was great. Especially enjoyed the self service expresso machine and all the fresh fruit. The price was also very nice. I think we paid like $150 a night. Also, we arrived quite tired around 8am from our overnight flight and they let us check in.

So Sebastian was our guide....Yes, they are married....Had quite the story to tell of building the tour business and then covid hit and then having to return to their small home town in northern Chile and then to rebuild the business again..... Use them folks, great tours.

Paying it forward....we used these folks last month and had an excellent wine tour before boarding our ship in San Antonio......We found two other couples from cc to join us and they had no problem picking us up at 3 different Santiago hotels. https://www.ilovechiletours.com

Disembarked the Oosterdam 4/10 after 19 days in South America...... In the evening, the world stage was busy with the following: 1). tango singer (from Argentina) 2). several comedians (I think there were 3 different ones) 3). illusionist 4) step one dance company production shows 5). BBC w/Lincoln Center performers 6). Peru performers (when overnight in Peru) 7). Billboard Onboard duo w/Step One 8). Origin Story 9). Welcome Aboard toast During the day, the world stage was also busy: 1). EXC port talks 2). onboard Astronomer 3) History professor lectures on the areas we were traveling 4). Captain's ship weather presentation 5). ask the captain 6). afternoon movie (Panama Canal movie played in the afternoon of the canal transit) 7). new presentation called "A City on the Sea" that was a great behind the scenes presentation and I'm sure other events that I cannot recall....It was non stop and varied entertainment on the world stage....And then when you add in Music Walk, the culinary presentation, etc, etc, and on and on...there was non stop entertainment. Love it all.

I so agree with this...... ....and I do notice that HAL does do a lot to keep us from standing in line.....For instance, we ordered our lunch Dive In burgers as we were leaving the main stage and by the time we had secured our table and tea, they were ready and we picked them up.....while other folks were standing around the pick up counter waiting on their buzzer to go off.

Ditto here....the bacon flowed and my wife (a picky bacon person) even commented on how good it was...as we just dis-embarked Monday so I guess we did eat it all.... Enjoy the Oosterdam.......we sure did.