DCThunder

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? 😎

Anyone who travels even a modest amount should get TSA Pre. Global Entry combines them, but is unnecessary for domestic travel. TSA definitely is, though.

Here's more than you ever wanted to know about Two-dollar bills: United States two-dollar bill - Wikipedia It mentions that they were commonly used at racetracks for betting on horses and that led to some of the stigma around them. BTW, if ships had a "Gentlemen's Club" on board, then there would be a great demand for $1s to tip Mysty, Brandi, and Bubbles as they performed. 😎💲😈

If you're talking about Global Entry (which is ICE, not TSA) I've been told at serval US ports that is doesn't always work for cruise ships but mainly for airports.

Well said. I did 31 days on Oosterdam in March/April from Buenos Aires to Port Everglades and while there was some repetition of items on the MDR menu, there was enough choice to satisfy me, at least. And the Lido buffet had some special nights themed around various ports in South America, including fresh fish brought aboard in Chile. So there were plenty of options. Entertainment was a bit more repetitive, but there weren't too many opportunities to swap out performers as there are on Caribbean cruises. An excellent Motown tribute group boarded in Lima and did several shows on he main stage before we got to Florida. By day 31, I was ready to go home, but it wasn't because the cruise had become "same old, same old".

I just read in the local newspaper that this place Biscuitville | Home of the Biscuit Window Since 1966® is opening this summer about 4 miles from me. I can't wait!

Suppose that at some point before the cruise starts (say 30 days) Princess said the cost of two loungers for a week in the Sanctuary was $1,000. Anyone who wanted to book them at that point could do so. If one person decided to book at $1,000, then that's the price for everyone for THAT sailing on THAT ship. However, if no one booked at $1,000, a day or two later, the price would be $900. Again, if no one booked at that price, another day or two later the price would be $800 and it would continue to decline by $100 per 2 days UNTIL someone decided to book pair of loungers. At that point, the price would be set for everyone until capacity was reached. If someone really wanted to be in the Sanctuary, they'd agree to purchase at a higher price and conceivably could have the joint to themselves. Or you could roll the dice and see how low the cost would go before someone jumped in and set the price. Princess would do this for every sailing on every ship that has a Sanctuary. At some point the market would probably stabilize around a weekly price, but there could be outliers, both high and low, as well. I'm sure there are lots of flaws with this idea that I haven't thought of, so go ahead and rip it apart. I've never tried to book the Sanctuary, and am unlikely to try in the future, but if the goal in allocating a scarce resource is fairness, some variation of the above idea might be the way to go.

You need to have a conversation with the kids about bedtimes. If you and husband are in bed and the kids come stumbling back after closing down the bars, much hilarity will ensue.

Compare the HAL Alaska options with what Princess offers before you book anything and compare non-ship excursions with what the ship offers. For instance, in Sitka, take a look at other excursions before just booking the Yukon & Whitehorse RR trip. I did a bus tour (Skagway Shore Excursion: Yukon Discovery Tour 2023 (viator.com) that went up the valley into the Yukon Territory (crossing into Canada) and we were able to stop at a lot of places just to take pictures. We could see the railroad climbing the tracks across the valley, and while I'll probably do that tour the next time I'm in Skagway, I enjoyed seeing more that what was on the railroad. I was also there in late September so one of the last cruises to call in Skagway for last season, so the town was not overwhelmed with cruise ship passengers.

I didn't think about the bread pudding. I know everyone raves about it, but I'm not a big fan. A savory casserole such as a stratta as a breakfast item would be a good use of some of the leftovers too.

It seems to me that the most wasted item on HAL ships would be bread and rolls of various varieties. I'd be curious to know how much bread goes to waste when I see huge displays of focaccia, yeast rolls, croissants,, etc on the Lido buffet. BTW, I told the Executive Chef on Oosterdam I'd kill for a good Southern buttermilk biscuit and asked if they could teach someone in the bakery department how to make them. He laughed and said he'd work on it, and maybe have some redeye gravy too.

"Princess is back...How have your experiences on recent cruises been?" Release the Kracken🐙🐙!

As the great philosopher Yogi Berra once said: “Nobody comes here anymore, its too crowded”