JimDee363636

Well, I'm an old guy, too. we have to stick together! Jim

@Yesimapirate There's a reason that, as you yourself said, your posts aren't popular. They don't make any sense---or at least this one doesn't. "Poor service" doesn't make the cruise line "responsible" for illnesses or injuries? It's entirely foreseeable that if you force people to stand for an unreasonably long time in the baking Mediterranean heat, someone (maybe several people) will get sick. Heat exhaustion is not a joke. And to add insult to injury, Oceania charges this lady nearly $3,000 for the illness that they, in their negligence, contributed to and could have prevented. And then they refuse to discuss the issue with her in any meaningful way. This is customer "service" unbefitting a supposedly classy cruise line. Jim

@TorontoTL If, like me, you're an early riser, the International Cafe is a godsend because it's open 24 hours a day (in addition to, as you point out, having very good food options). There's nothing on HAL open 24/7, and really nothing comparable in quality on the Noordam. As @Sir PMPpoints out, the Dutch Cafe (which is similar to the IC except for the 24/7 aspect) is only on Pinnacle-class HAL ships (Koningsdam, Rotterdam, Nieuw Statendam). The Lido is your best bet.

@smblueyes I've had all four (in "up" martinis, with no vermouth), and my favorite is the Queen Anne. But of course you have to taste them for yourself. They're all quite different in their flavor profiles. As for tonics, the Cunard bars all have Fever Tree, which is my second-favorite tonic water. I've come to prefer "Q" tonic for G&Ts. I haven't seen Q on Cunard ships, however. Enjoy your "research" into the gins. Jim

@RinnyBess You may know this already, but you can expect Americans to be in the minority on your cruise. On our three Cunard cruises, the ones starting and ending in the U.S. had maybe 40-50% U.S. guests (the rest Brits, Aussies, Japanese, and English-speaking Europeans). On our most recent QA Baltic cruise (round-trip Southampton), I only met one American and rarely heard an American accent. There will certainly be Americans on your cruise returning to the U.S. after a holiday abroad, but I think you'll like the international atmosphere. It makes for more stimulating---and less predictable---conversations. Jim

@RinnyBess I've been on Cunard three times (QM2, QE, and QA), but not as a solo (I've only done solo cruises on Princess, NCL, and---next month---HAL). But I can tell you that on my 21-day cruise on QM2 in 2019 I would see a very well-attended solo get-together every morning around 9:30AM at the Carinthia Lounge, and I often bumped into solo travelers at the gym or elsewhere on the ship. It's a convivial ship, especially in the evening (the Chart Room was our pre-dinner hangout every night). As for fixed vs. open dining on Cunard, we've always opted for fixed, late seating, table for two. As I understand it, on Cunard open dining carries the risk of long wait times at the most popular times (7:00-7:30PM), and when you're finally seated the service may be rushed or disorganized. Why not put in for a table for two at either of the fixed dining times? If you meet someone during the day you'd like to have dinner with, invite him or her to join you. If not, enjoy your own company, people watch, and be "that mystery lady." And the tables for two in the Britannia dining room (MDR) are all fairly close together, so you'll probably have plenty of opportunities to chat with your neighbors. Have fun! Jim

@richwmn If you snag one early enough, the price can be considerably less than for one person in a "regular" OV or even in an inside. I'm on a four-night K'Dam repositioning cruise next month (Vancouver to San Diego), and my solo OV cost me $394.00, plus port charges. I purposely chose #1001, even though it's a bit smaller than the others, because you only have one neighbor and you're not under any of the music venues. (You're under the theater, but late-night noise shouldn't be a problem). I'm eager to see how it goes. Jim

@Budski54 I have twice (in thirty cruises) used a ship's medical center (once on HAL, once on Cunard), and I can tell you that they are a lot better-equipped than you might think. I got excellent care both times. However, they can't do surgery. If you are truly worried about all the worst-case scenarios, you should cancel, because no cruise is risk-free, and if you need an immediate disembarkation and you're a thousand miles from civilization...well, good luck. For what it's worth, I would roll the dice and do it. Enjoy life while you can. Jim

@Tampa Girl As @david,Mississauga points out, if there's no law being broken---and the only possible law I can think of would be some NZ immigration law---why should Cunard object? You're evidently not asking for a pro-rated refund for the final three nights, so Cunard would even be making a slight profit based on the food you're not consuming for three days. Again, absent some law prohibiting it, Cunard can't hold you prisoner. I would keep pushing the issue. Jim

Although I would never do what you're doing---I need to know as much as possible beforehand about the cruise line, the ship, and the likely demographics---I admire your adventurous, "que sera sera" attitude. At the very least, the fewer your expectations, the less likely you'll be disappointed. Good luck! Jim

@cmpmls1962 What is an "afternoon suite"?

@Redtravel My wife and I are four-star with HAL, which means we get unlimited free laundry on their ships (among other benefits). But we also cruise on other lines where we don't have free laundry benefits, and boy! what a difference. With most lines, you either have to deal with the crowds in the self-service laundry rooms, or pay an exorbitant amount to have it done by the ship's laundry (e.g, $3.00 for a pair of socks, $7.00 for a t-shirt). And since I'm the "laundry guy" in our marriage, I'm the one who has to deal with those laundry room crowds, and some of them are tough crowds indeed! This benefit is making Windstar look more and more attractive, especially since it's apparently available even to first-time Windstar cruisers. Thanks for the helpful information. Jim

@napria If you're looking for permission (or encouragement) to go totally offline while on a cruise, I'll give it to you. My wife and I recently took a 14-night QA cruise, plus a total of three hotel nights before and after, without once going on e-mail or the internet. We didn't miss it. We've done the same with all our cruises, including a 30-night one. In an emergency our daughter always has a way to reach us through the particular cruise line, but thankfully she's never had to. Disengage from the outside world. It will still be there when you get home. Jim

@hampshirelad Maybe Brits use the term "house gin" (or "house liquor") different from the way we in the U.S. do, but I would expect a "house gin" to be what they'd pour if I asked for, say, a gin-and-tonic or a gin martini without specifying a particular brand of gin. I'm not sure what the house gin on Cunard is, but my educated guess is Gordon's. By contrast, the four "Queens" gins are higher-priced gins in the way that Tanqueray, Bombay Sapphire, and Hendrick's are. On our recent 14-night QA cruise, I had a QA gin martini every night in the Chart Room, but my wife had her martinis made with QE gin. All four of the "Queens" gins are excellent in their own way, but you have to try them yourself to see which one you like best. Jim

This is not really relevant to tipping butlers or concierge people, but with respect to tipping bartenders, waiters, and room stewards I suggest doing it early and often---but in modest amounts each time. Psychologists have long known that small-but-frequent rewards are valued more than large-but-infrequent ones. In other words, you're better off giving a bartender an extra dollar for each drink rather than waiting till the end of the cruise and giving him or her $40 or $50. And if you give that $40 or $50 at the very beginning, you'll certainly be remembered but if you fail to tip again you'll probably be resented ("That s.o.b.---I thought he was a big tipper) or at least misunderstood ("What did I do wrong this time?"). With room stewards, if i normally tip $100 for a cruise I'll give him or her $20 the first day, then the other $80 in increments a day or two apart. It reinforces the idea that you're someone who tips and that you have an ongoing appreciation for their good service. All I can say is: it's always worked for me. Jim

Thanks! This is helpful. On such a long cruise, unlimited laundry makes packing so much easier. And I'm too old to be fighting the crowds in a self-service laundry room! Jim

My wife and I have never sailed on Windstar (although we were on the old Seabourn Pride back in 2000---an earlier version of the current Star Pride). We're looking at some newly-released itineraries for Northern Europe in 2026, and we may book two back-to-backs totaling 27 nights. The Windstar website says something about complimentary laundry, but is silent as to the details. Does it mean free self-service laundry machines, or does it mean your room attendant picks it up and returns it a day or two afterward? If the latter, is there a limit on how often you can send out the laundry---once a week, once every cruise segment...? Thanks for any information you may have. Jim

@BeeBerry This is encouraging! We just booked a somewhat longer transatlantic on the Viva for late November of 2025 (Lisbon to Galveston, Texas), and outdoor dining would be a nice treat for the later stages of that cruise. Jim

I've done the Canal twice, once in each direction (although neither time was on NCL, but that really doesn't matter). If you're heading toward the Pacific, the one (slight) advantage of port over starboard is that you get to see Panama City, albeit at a distance. But in general I'd agree with those who advise you to keep your aft cabin, and on "Canal day" just find your favorite viewing spot elsewhere on the ship (e.g., the Bliss has a great observation lounge in the front of the ship). As for seeing the shore, you rarely get close enough on sea days for that to matter. I wouldn't make a cabin decision based on that. And yes, read David McCollough's "The Path Between the Seas." It's history, but it reads like an adventure novel. A beautifully-written book. Jim

@USN59-79: Your sales tax analogy is not a good one. Sales taxes are a cut-and-dried percentage of the actual selling price of a product, period. If a product is 50% off, the sales tax is 50% of what it otherwise would have been. But HAL is not just selling you a half-dozen wine bottles, the way a wine store would. It's also selling you everything that goes with the wine bottles---the labor required to bring the bottles to your table, to refill the glasses, to store the bottle if you don't finish it, etc. @sunviking90 's analogy to restaurants is a better one. If I go to a restaurant with, say, a 50% off Happy Hour deal on appetizers (which Applebee's, for example, often does), I'll pay a sales tax on the discounted cost of the appetizers I order, but I would base my tip on the full (non-discounted) price of those appetizers. And I think most people would. The only difference between a restaurant and the HAL wine package is that tipping in the restaurant is a discretionary matter, whereas on HAL it's mandatory. I'm four-star with HAL, so I get the 50% wine package discount. I think it's a great deal even though I pay the gratuity on the "full" price. Jim

I'm with your husband: Cancel ASAP and get every penny back. To paraphrase the great Johnny Paycheck: "Take This Cruise and Shove It." And I'm four-star with HAL and something of a loyalist, but not when loyalty is a one-way street. You have other vacation options. Jim

@ECC866 No, pre-cruise Covid testing wasn't required by Cunard this year (although it had been in 2022 on our QE cruise, but only because one country on our itinerary required it). I'm not aware of any cruise line that currently requires such testing. And yes, thanks: I'm fully recovered. As I said, Paxlovid was---at least for me---a wonder drug. However, the QA's medical staff said that part of the reason for my rapid recovery was the fact that I had previously had every available covid vaccine and booster, including one just three months before the cruise. Covid may not be (for most people) as serious a disease as it once was, but it's still very much out there. It's still vital to get vaccinated. Jim

To the extent I could follow it---it's a complicated story with a lot of twists and turns---it doesn't look like a clear-cut, provable case of antisemitism. However, there's enough of a "whiff" of antisemitism here to make Costa management look bad---very bad. For what it's worth, I'm not Jewish myself but my wife is, and over the years I've become sensitive to antisemitism in all its many varieties. But I'm also a retired civil litigation attorney, and I have my doubts that, with these facts, antisemitic motives could be proven in a court of law. My advice to those affected by this would be to bring as much publicity to bear on the case as possible. You may not win in a court of law but you might win big-time in the court of public opinion. Jim

Although, as @SoCalTraveler has said, the biggest potential benefit of travel insurance is medical evacuation, the "trip interruption" part of the Cunard Care policy can also be fairly substantial. Just last week, I received a check for over $1,000 to compensate me for the two days (out of a 14-day QA sailing) I had to remain "in isolation" in my cabin as a result of testing positive for covid. My wife never came down with covid, so she was free to come and go as she pleased, and I was actually treated very well while in isolation---room service from the Britannia Club dining room any time I wanted it, free laundry, constant follow-up from the medical staff. And once my health insurer determines how much of my onboard medical bill they will pay (most of it was the $780.00 they charged for the anti-viral drug Paxlovid, which was well worth it---it's a wonder drug---the Cunard Care policy will reimburse me for any amount remaining. And less than two years ago, on what was supposed to be a 35-day HAL cruise, I came down early on with an out-of-the-blue medical condition that the ship's doctor determined required surgery. I had to disembark the ship after seven days, and fly home from a port thousands of miles away from my home. The trip interruption compensated me and my wife for 80% of the cost of the cruise, plus the airfare home. It was a lot of money---about ten times more than the premium we had paid. I did have that surgery---other than cataract surgery, it was the first surgery I've ever had (and I was 75 at the time). In fact, it was the first time I had ever been inside a hospital other than to visit someone. The whole episode opened my eyes to the fact that I wasn't indestructible. Be smart and get all the coverage you can afford. Jim

@RachelG I hope by now you're "livin' on Tulsa time." I just read your entire trip report in one sitting, and I have to compliment you on your excellent prose style, your ability as a photographer, and your even-handedness in detailing the hits and misses of the expedition experience. I hope you'll do something like this again on your future cruises. Jim