bra1nchild

We still live in the past when there were self-serve appetizers in the Ocean Bar [or Piet Hein's as it was known on the earlier editions of the Noordam and Nieuw Amsterdam]; the live band for dancing; and the personal service.  The picture below is a memento from a 1999 TA on the Maasdam  -- a personalized Dutch girl hat from Dutch Night.  You won't see that kind of attention any more.

Problem solved!  I kept clicking the "accept" button but had not seen the barely visible check boxes for the COVID agreement.  Once they were checked, everything went smoothly. 

11 hours ago, MisterBill99 said:

 

I'm thinking the question is when they can do the check in on the app/website, not at the terminal. But I could be wrong.

Exactly.  

What is the current lead time for check-in?  We sail in mid-January.  When will be able to check in?

On the other hand, when I got a haircut several years ago, the operator charged me for a beard trim because I didn't have enough hair to justify the full price!

Unless the rules have changed, the HSC [or whatever it is called now] is semi-voluntary.  That is, guests may opt out of it in all or part.  Ship staff are supposed to add cash tips to the community pool if the money comes from passengers who have opted out, but I am not sure [1] how the crewman would know and [2] how their supervisors would know.

We tend to take longer cruises and tip mid-way and at the end when the crew has a chance to go ashore and spend their money.  When in Europe, we tip in euros but use USD elsewhere.

We became friends with another couple on a cruise in 2012[?].  He was a doctor and told of having served as a ship's doctor on a cruise.  On a formal night, he was decked out in his officer's uniform [which the ship provided] when a steward approached him and said there was an emergency.  He quickly followed the steward to the appropriate table where he was greeted by an angry passenger exclaiming, "There's no butter!"  

On a long cruise [WC2015, i think], we were able to order tempura vegetables as an appetizer one night.  We liked them so much we asked our waiter if he could get them for us every night.  He was able to arrange it with the kitchen. After a while [it was a verrrrrry long cruise], we became tired of  the tempura every night, but the waiter never told the kitchen and kept them for himself and the assistant.

Like others, I find this a difficult question -- there are so many memorable cruises.  Many of our favorites would not qualify because we have become addicted to longer cruises.  That being said:

2002 -- 14 days from Mombassa to Cape Town on the Marco polo preceded by a 2-day safari and including a full eclipse while we were in the Indian Ocean.

2004 -- 7 days[?] r/t from Ushaia to the Antarctic Peninsula on the Marco Polo.  We were able to go ashore on Zodiacs to get up close and personal with the local wildlife.

2018 -- 14 day Caribbean cruise on the Prinsendam for Christmas and New Year's.  We took both children and all of the grands.  It was the last time we were together as a family until Xmas 2020.

2009 -- Black Sea portion of the Grand Med on the Prinsendam.  We were on for the entire voyage, but this portion was the highlight.

2011 -- Grand Med on the Prinsendam.  Again, we were on for the entire cruise and it is hard to limit this to one area.  Northwestern Africa was so different from what we experienced in 2002.  And this was the year of the Arab Spring -- Cairo was so deserted that we were literally the only tourists in the Egyptian Museum [which was surrounded by military vehicles].

Cartagena, Monte Carlo and Santorini on the Grand Med and Black Sea, 2009

Archive1.zip

The Prinsendam in Flam, Norway, June 28, 2019.

There are 2 outlets in the cabin, both at the dresser.  One is US and one is European.  There are no outlets in the bathroom.  If I remember correctly, the cables on the TV are accessible if you want to plug in your own video source, but they are difficult to get to.

Keep in mind that the Prinsendam is leaving the fleet effective July 1, 2019, when she returns to Amsterdam. Since the voyages in June [british Isles and Norway] are its last as a HAL ship, they may be sold out and there may be no upsells much less price drops.

Are their names Groucho, Harpo, Chico and Zeppo?

While it is true that many recent roll calls have been commandeered by Excel-crazed autocrats, there are still folks who are interested in meeting and talking to each other. For us, the M&G was the best part of the CC experience. We are still friends with people we met a decade ago. In fact, we still see, FB or write to people from every cruise since 2008.

When we organized private tours [and we did 17 on one long cruise], we did it off-line -- posted it once or twice and gave an email address for anyone who was interested. Now, it seems, everyone is accumulating participants on the roll call with someone keeping a spreadsheet about everything; it takes the joy out and replaces it with details.

Some members forget that the roll call should be a mutually enjoyable social experience and, instead, high-jack it for their own purposes and glorification. It's no wonder that participation has lagged.

Sometimes cruises do "clothing optional" or nude cruises. I suppose there is no dress code on those.

In that case, it would be an undress code.

There were 8 of us in the summer of 2016, ranging in age from 3 to 73. Our grandchildren had a great time. Because there were so many port days, they didn't really have a chance to get bored. Club HAL was available but they didn't participate. The highlight of the day was getting together for drinks and dinner since that was frequently the only time we saw them all day.

You might be able to "swap out" your one son for a friend of the other's or another relative. I think you can change one name on a reservation but not both. Maybe it's not too late.

We were also in 3340 for the entire 2015 GWV and had no problems. We liked the cabin so much that we booked the comparable cabin on the Rotterdam for the 2016 Atlantic Adventurer.

We sleep better in inside cabins and, as a bonus, they are the only ones on the "older" ships which have shower-only bathrooms. Orthopedic difficulties make climbing in and out of a tub nearly impossible, so the stall shower is perfect.

When we were last in Barcelona [2015], the shuttle went from the new cruise terminal to the old one, not to La Rambla. There was still quite a walk from there to the Columbus Monument and thence to La Rambla.

You can probably get a list of formal nights from the salon.

Can't wait to se a picture of your new do [or is it don't?].

Your post is interesting. We have had GE for a few years (used it quite a few times) and never heard of any airline-related eligibility issue. TSA Pre-check is only available with certain airlines (most of them domestic) but GE has nothing to do with your airline. You simply walk over to a GE terminal, scan your Passport, scan your fingerprints, answer a few questions and you are done. The machine then spits out a form which you use to go through the expedited GE immigration station.

If I understood the video loop we sat in front of for an hour, the GE terminal will automatically display your flight information when you sign in. If it does not, you have to enter it manually. Since the airline in question does not yet participate, GE will not have that information until we input it. A minor inconvenience but well worth it, especially at Dulles [our next point of entry] or Port Everglades.

We applied for Global Entry on line about 3 weeks ago. The preliminary acceptance letter arrived within 2 weeks. After completing the next phase on line, we discovered that the first available appointment for our nearest CBP office was May 24, not an option since we are leaving May 6. However, a call to the office verified that walk-ins were accepted every day from 3 -4 pm. The only condition as a walk-in was that we had to first schedule an appointment. We signed up for May 24 and walked in April 3. Although we arrived at 2:45 -- the time we were told the put out the sign-in sheet -- we were perhaps numbers 20 and 21. Even so, we were out of the office by 4:00. It was worth the hour in the waiting room to get it done. The irony of getting the GE pass is that the airline we are flying back to the States does not participate!

I am probably wrong, but...I have always assumed that the priests were on board every cruise for the benefit of the Filipino staff most of whom are Catholic. It's like having the doctor see passengers, but he's really there for sick and injured crew.

According to someone on the Grand Asia board, and verified by one of the instructors affected, For 2017, Holland America Line will make some significant changes to the Guest Staff Program, as follows: · The Dance Host & Dance Instructor Programs will be discontinued · Ministers will be placed on specific holiday cruises only · Rabbis and Cantors will be placed on specific holiday cruises only · Bridge Instructors will be placed on cruises of 30 days or more · Arts & Crafts Instructors and Watercolor Instructors will be placed only on Grand World Voyages · Tai Chi Instructors will be placed on specific itineraries in Asia when the Instructor also has a minimum of additional regional offerings/areas of expertise to share (such as language lessons, Mah Jongg, culinary expertise, regional art & history presentations, etc.)"