Blackduck59

For us the Celebrity "S" class are our favourite ships. Alas we have not sailed in one since before the shut down and lament the 2 cruises down under that were cancelled because of the pandemic. We have sailed on Viking Orion since the shutdown and I'm sorry, for us it was NOT good value for money spent. We have chosen to try HAL because of the itinerary and hope that it is a pleasant encounter. We have no idea what the HAL experience "was" for us we will see what it is. I'm sorry for those who lament what the experience was in the other 42 cruises over the last 30 years but those days are over. I live in a tourist town with many restaurants and attractions. Some of the best attractions are gone, many of the best restaurants from even 10 years ago are gone and the others are mostly a shadow of what they were. It's not just cruising, change is afoot everywhere. The question everyone must ask themselves is "does it still represent good value" among all your vacation choices. Keeping in mind that fabulous restaurant you loved in some far off distant land 5 years ago may be gone or changed so much you don't recognize it. So I guess there are decisions for people to make and perhaps that means a different line or even a different type of vacation.

Best of luck for positive results Les, hopefully they can gain some knowledge to help formulate a treatment plan. I had one of those scans once, not at all good for someone as claustrophobic as me. Take care mate, we're sending positive thought from Canada. Lyle & Lynn

Sounds like a great time Mic. I sometime wonder whether we have a better chance of meeting you and Rosie at someplace other than OZ.

It was Lynn's last work day today, she is officially retired and happy to be finished there.

@Clay Clayton Hey Clay welcome back. I just wanted to say thanks for your thread on the HAL page. It was interesting reading your posts as they came in. I mention this here only because a thought you should have the final post on your thread over there.

That is unfortunate.

Are these people from that large country to the south of mine?

Yes as a matter of fact the Zaandam does allow smoking in the Casino and that is a major detraction for us. One of the many things Celebrity does right is there is no smoking anywhere indoors on the ship including the casino. And no smoking on verandas either (although some "entitled" cruisers still do). I think most cruise lines prohibit smoking in cabins and on verandas. One of the positives of the Oceana product is that there is no smoking indoors on their ships.

On the Celebrity "Edge" class ships the port and starboard cabins that on an "S" class ship would be traditional veranda cabins with various sizes of outdoor space, have been replaced with a space that is separated from the cabin by doors. The "Veranda" part comes from a large horizontally sliding window. Hence my characterization of an ocean view cabin with an opening window.

I think that our down under adventure may have to wait until after I retire in 2024. I don't think Carnival is for us. We shy away from the "party boat" lines. Our preferred line is Celebrity (not that we have cruised enough to have a solid handle on any cruise line). Unfortunately Celebrity seems to be putting an "Edge" class ship down under and I don't like them (to be fair we haven't sailed on one) but they are ugly. And the "Infinite Veranda" is just an ocean view cabin with a large window that opens (unless it's turned off by the Captain)

We're looking at switching our New England/ East Coast Canada cruise from HAL to Oceana. The Oceana itinerary is slightly different and in many ways more appealing. We haven't asked our TA about it yet but we did get a brochure from them with a what looks like a favourable price point at first glance. It may seem strange to ask about a cruise in my country to my friends in OZ but I know some of you have recently sailed with Oceana and wonder if it is worth the premium price We did a cruise in Viking Orion in the spring and that definitely was not good value for money spent (not for us anyway) The HAL cruise would start on my birthday in August while the Oceana cruise would include Lynn's birthday in October and would more likely give us the famous "fall colours" Eastern Canada is famous for. Unfortunately that later date could also give us the Eastern Canada crappy fall weather that seems to be world famous.

Is the cost of soft drinks, specialty coffee etc. included in cruise fare or is that covered by a beverage package. I'm sorry for my ignorance but we are just now contemplating our first Oceana cruise. We have been happy with our basic beverage package on Celebrity in the past but that was pre covid so we don't know what that is like now. We aren't big drinkers but it was nice to order special coffees (including those with alcohol) and know they were covered.

@Clay Clayton Thanks for taking us along on your voyage Clay. Safe travels home.

We have a listing that is active until December, so the house is still for sale. We will let that contract lapse and re-list at a later date. There has been a large shake up at city hall and the rubber stamp development council is gone so all their buddies are running for the hills. I don't think the New council will be as bad as those developers think. Our land is a good prospect for a small development. We are not in a hurry to sell, it has to be a good deal for us. We have worked for the equity we have in our home and don't intend to give a bunch of it to somebody else.

I'm sorry for any confusion, I'm the friendly Canadian from Victoria BC Canada. I've been adopted by many on here. Hopefully my wife and I will get to meet people in person some day. We were forced to cancel not one but two trips down under due to the world wide situation of the global plague. Cheers, Lyle

Well the house sale fell through, oh well I guess we're not moving. It rained today for the first time in more than 3 months. I don't know how much but it's been a steady rain for a couple hours. This was the longest dry spell in recorded history for Victoria which goes back to the 1890s.

I will add best wishes from Lyle and Lynn in Canada. We hope you will continue to post when you can, your dry wit and ability to spin a good yarn are always appreciated. Take care mate.

@NSWP Lynn and I are sad to hear your news. Get some specialist advice and we hope for as good of a result as possible for you. We have enjoyed your good humour and hope you will continue to drop in to chat. Take good care. Lyle and Lynn

Yes RCMP regular constables carry a Stainless Steel 40 caliber Smith & Wesson Automatic. The Auxiliary constables don't. At one time the auxiliaries were armed as well. I have several friends who were RCMP who are now retired. The constable did shoot the perpetrator and the whole thing was apparently caught on a surveillance camera on an adjacent building. Keep in mind the incident happened in broad daylight at about 10:00 AM.

It's been a bit of a wild west show, the way we are dealing with mental health and addiction isn't working. Rather than helping addicts to kick the drugs we are enabling them to keep using. The government buys hotels to help house the homeless and it's not long before they are set on fire. New supportive housing is acquired or purpose built for the junkies but those with true mental health issues just fall through the cracks. As I understand it the Constable was part of a new group of officers who specialize in dealing with mental health issues, now she's dead.

It is Les, the perpetrator was shot and is in hospital. He was charged with 1st degree murder today. I doubt he will be living in a tent in the park for at least 25 years.

The RCMP being our National Police force it hit the whole nation. We have had 3 line of duty murders in the last couple weeks, 2 in Ontario who were not RCMP and now this one in Burnaby which is much closer to us. Fags are half staff across the nation.

It was a ad day for the RCMP yesterday, a member was murdered while on duty yesterday. She was stabbed to death while attending to support a park worker. She had only been on the job for 3 years and was part of the mental health support unit.

Yes that is definitely beyond stumbling distance. For me it's even beyond a pleasant stroll when sober. We once walked from the Ala Moana Center to the Ilikai Hotel with groceries, that was a mistake we will never repeat. If you are going to mix your drinks add a Back Scratcher to the list, they used to come with a back scratcher as a swizzle stick. Lynn still has hers.

That link opened fine on my windows laptop. I use chrome for my browser. I don't do faceplant so that wasn't an issue.