DCThunder

The Isla Magdalena was the lowest rated excursion (on my own mental rating scale) of the ones I took. As noted, the ferry was small and slightly decrepit, and not particularly comfortable. At Isla Magdalena, you disembarked down a narrow gangway to the beach and depending on the tide, it can be pretty steep. Another tour boat was able to disembark their passengers, but then couldn't reembark them because of the wind and tide, so they had to get on our boat and we transferred them to the other boat out in open water. The Isla itself is nothing special. There's a path up to a lighthouse, but otherwise, not a lot to see, at least when I was there in March. The penguins were mostly out at sea and those on shore were often in their burrows as it was windy and cool. The highlight of the trip was sailing past some smaller islands covered with shags and other seabirds as well as a good number of sea lions. If I'm ever back in Punta Arenas, I'll find something else to do.

You should move to or come visit Myrtle Beach. It's the mini-golf capital of the world.⛳ Drive down US 17 and there's one course after another all the way to Murrells Inlet.

@Gardyloo WOW! Simply WOW. You have given me a LOT to digest and consider. I need to read it carefully before I could even think of questions to ask. Thank you for the detailed response. It's what I love about the CC boards. I wasn't too clear in the OP. I have a RT from Singapore and then a second Singapore>Tokyo cruise, so I'd fly into SIN and fly home from NRT, most likely. This is why I was thinking of what's essentially a RTW set of flights, although I'd travel by ship in the middle. I guess the first question that springs to mind is how would I even begin to go about researching or booking the type of RTW ticket you mention? Do I Google "RTW tickets"? Or visit a TA? Later this year I have a booking for a cruise from Rome through the Med, but then back to Florida. I currently have a flight booking (through the cruise line so not paid for yet) to Rome. Would it be better to do a cruise that's just RT from Rome and fly home to start the RTW flight process? Or can I buy the RTW flight ticket while in Rome or Greece or Israel while one the cruise? This whole think is very new to me so I need to understand how it works a lot more. Thanks in advance for additional information!

Are those of you who are "winning" bids, submitting them at the maximum amount or something lower? The little bid "slider" shows bidding the minimum as a "weak" bid, but weak can still be winning. What's the winning strategy?

Just curious how you'd know that things were better if you don't sail with them? Simply by relying on totally "unbiased" CC reviews, both good and bad?

I'd want to go Business class if possible, Premium Economy at worst. I'd be looking at either booking the air directly or working with the air departments at HAL, which is my cruise line. Anyway, thanks for the advice and suggestions.

Thanks for this review of Zaandam. I'll be aboard her next Feb/March for a cruise up the Amazon and m looking forward to it. To the OP, you'd probably like the Oosterdam/Westerdam, etc. class too. A bit larger but same sort of elegant older ladies who've aged well and haven't taken up with gigolos after their money.😎

I'd done 4 cruises on Enchanted and 2 on Regal and since they're sister ships (essentially) I liked them equally. Perhaps Regal a bit more because it had Vines and Enchanted didn't, when I was on her.

Thank you! This is very helpful.

Thanks, this is very helpful. AA is who I have the most status with, and I've seen AA/Qatar flights from JFK to Singapore through Doha. But your comments give me some things to consider over the next six months before I can book anything.

Thanks. My airline status is with American and to a lesser extent United, and I usually fly out of Charlotte.

I have booked a cruise RT from Singapore through Indonesia and Northern Australia in 2025. I live on the east coast of the US. It appears that it's about equidistant to fly to Singapore via Dubai/Abu Dhabi heading eastbound from the US or westbound across the Pacific and into Singapore. Does anyone who's done this flight have any preference as to which way to go? I'm leaning towards going eastbound because I'll be returning home from Tokyo, so I'll do a circumnavigation by air and ship, but am open to suggestions/experiences. I have a long time to decide, but I'd appreciate any thoughts.

I think it depends on the itinerary. You mentioned the Caribbean specifically, and I'd guess those ships are well booked no matter what. But I'm doing a Med/TA from Rome to FLL leaving Thanksgiving and arriving in Florida on 12/21 and there seem to be a lot of cabins available.

But if it weren't for different colors, how are the snobs going to signal that they are better than the great unwashed noobs who only have a white medallion? After all, those people just "aren't our kind".😉

You are right. My mistake. Sorry. I should have looked it up before posting.

There's also a helicopter service that flies to Volunteer Point but it's pricey. Be sure to book with Falklands Adventures, aka Patrick Watts Excursions if you want to go the overland route and book it soon. It sells out quickly. Also be sure to go to the Ballesteras Islands out of Puerto Montt.

The cabanas on Oosterdam were not open on our recent BA>Santiago cruise. Even when the ship went on to FLL, they still didn't open. It was often extremely windy on the open decks and sometimes the Promenade deck was closed too. I wouldn't count on cabanas being available to book.

You pose a very thought-provoking question of motives for cruising with HAL or any cruise line. My base-line expectations (not demands) are simple: A safe and decently maintained ship, an interesting and varied itinerary, and well-prepared food. Shows and on-board activities and the like are a bonus, but not a necessity. In my limited times cruising with HAL, they meet and exceed all of these expectations. Perhaps the key is having reasonable expectations and recognizing HAL for what it is RIGHT NOW, namely a mid/upper market cruise line still recovering from a lengthy shut down, competing in a very competitive market, and trying to recover financially from the losses of the shutdown. It's not Silverseas or Viking or Oceana, so don't expect that level cruise. I also recognize that things are "different" on HAL (and across the industry) than they were before March 2020, but nothing stays the same. Anyone who's lived in America for the past decade knows that. I loved having HAL agree to bring two astronomers from Chile back to their home in Canada for free in exchange for some lectures on astronomy and the night sky. I loved having the captain of Oosterdam agree to dim the lights on the aft deck so we could stargaze the southern sky (saw Crux, aka The Southern Cross for the first time!) while the astronomers pointed out stars, constellations, and galaxies. The aft deck was packed with people staring up at the sky. I loved the fact that the Executive Chef stocked up on fresh fish in Ecuador and featured it in the MDRs and had several special nights in the Lido of South American themed meals. I loved that the captain and officers circulated through the ship and were accessible for questions. I guess I cruise (and choose HAL) for the experiences and the unexpected things that I see. A pod of 25 short-fin pilot whales coming by the ship as we sailed south towards the Falklands. Waking up to the beauty of the Pio XI glacier outside the ship. Meeting some interesting people who I'd never have met except for being on this cruise. Visiting an open air fish market in Manta, Ecuador or a museum of pre-Columbian pottery depicting various sexual attributes and positions in Lima, Peru. Would I have had these experiences or had my expectations met on Celebrity or NCL or MSC? Perhaps. And maybe someday I'll decide that I want to give them a try. But for now, I plan to stick to HAL (and Princess who also meets my expectations). If that makes me a HAL "cheerleader: or "fan-boy", so be it. Sorry for the long-winded reply, but I find this a very interesting question to contemplate.

I just read a couple of those "reviews" of Oosterdam, and all I can say is that some very self-absorbed people are writing those reviews. Giving the food 1 star because the prime rib came with horseradish when it was requested to not have it strikes me a very "first world" problem. That's not to make an excuse for the servers, they should have complied with a reasonable request. And maybe that passenger had a bad day for many other reasons. But to go on a message board to piss and moan about something like that seems exceedingly trivial to me. And the casino isn't a HAL operation, so if a dealer can't calculate payouts correctly, it's NOT HAL's fault or to HAL's benefit. Talk to the Casino Host. They're the ones responsible for their dealers. Ace Rothstein will make sure that this doesn't continue.

Totally agree. I'm another 31-day veteran of the South America cruise. I find it very hard to believe that the Oosterdam has been transformed into a hellship in the six weeks since I disembarked in Port Everglades in early April. But I'm only a Two Star, so what do I know...🤷‍♂️

And the alternative in England was to hang many of them. Capital punishment, for what we'd consider trivial crimes against property, (let alone a "person of quality"), was common and frequent.

Graham Nash thought so too.

Get a pair or two of pants that have legs that zip off around the knee. If it's cool in the morning, wear the long pants, then zip off the bottoms to make shorts when/if it warms up. It's a bit more difficult to put the bottom of the legs back on while wearing the pants, but it's doable. I got some on Amazon a couple of years ago and they're great for travel.

The 31 days in South America was sold as a 31 day BA>FLL or A BA>Santiago, and then a Santiago>FLL. We had about 1000 do the full 31 days and 800 do each of the two legs.

Does a "fifty-dollar handshake" to the maître d' ensure you of a better table and service in the MDR? How about tearing a Benjamin in half and giving it to a bartender and saying you'll get the other half at the end of the trip, IF I get a "country club" pour with my drinks? Those baller moves work in the movies and on TV, right? 😎