Seattitude

51 minutes ago, d9704011 said:

Yes.  The package will allow up to four connections (devices) at any one time.

Thanks for the response.  I accidently posted this question on the wrong page.  🥴

52 minutes ago, d9704011 said:

Yes.  The package will allow up to four connections (devices) at any one time.

My cousin is going to be the the cabin next to ours and has bought the WiFi package for 4 devices.  Can they share with us?   

I didn't get the Carnival Corp email yet.  We have a HAL cruise on Oct 2.  I have been debating on what to do.  I just went on the Optum Store and ordered 2 for $69.99 plus tax and should get them in about 3 days.  We might decide to go with a local testing site if I can get an appointment and just have the Binax Now  tests to take with us for backup.  I didn't want to order the 6 from eMed , pay $150 and end up with  6 expired tests.  This has all been so confusing.   Thanks to all who have done all the research and shared information.  Jodie

Does anyone know if we will have to be tested after we get off the ship and before we get our flight home?

I'm really enjoying all your photos and information.  I wish we had done this part of the cruise as well.  

I just downloaded a new app on my phone from HAL called Navigator.  Most of the information on it is only available once you are on board.  It looks like you can even use it like a walkytalky.  That will be so great if it works.  Have you or anyone you know used it?

A friend told me that there is some illness going around on board that was concerning.  Is it bad or just the norm?

I was wondering about the hair dryers.  I wish I could remember from being on board before.  Are they big and clumsy and where you have to continually hold down the on button?  I can't remember which cruise I was on that had those.  If they are on the Prinsendam I will bring my own.  

Thanks for keeping us all informed.  

Tuesday, September 18, 2018

Antwerp, Belgium

If it's Tuesday, it must be Belgium! Isn't that the title of an old movie?!

We had an overnight in Antwerp. DM decided to take today off from touring so she could catch her breath. Our time today in Antwerp was cut short by 3 hours, leaving at 1 pm instead of 4 pm. As a result of that change, all HAL tours left quite early.

Since DM wanted some time to herself, I chose to take a tour to Ghent. This one involved chocolate! How could I resist?! We left at 7:15 am. It took an hour to get to Ghent. Most of the historic centre of Ghent is car free. There are still buses, trams, and bicycles so it is not vehicle free and one still needs to be careful when crossing streets. The shops don't open until about 10 am.

The tour consisted of a walking tour of Ghent and a visit to a chocolate shop with a short tutorial on making chocolates. We had some free time, too. Because the chocolate shop is so small, we had to split into two smaller groups of about 18 or so each. My group went with the tour guide who was with us the whole time; the other group went with a guide who met us in Ghent. They were to do the chocolate shop first and we were to do it second. We zigzagged through Ghent looking at old building facades. The guide told us some interesting stories about them and the symbolism. For instance, there is a lovely Marriott Hotel in the centre of Ghent. The original buildings were crumbling down but this Marriott investor who was from Ghent, bought the three buildings and took them down, saving the bricks for the facade of the new hotel. It still looks like three separate buildings. On one of the buildings, there are two golden swans facing away from each other. The guide mentioned that when he got married, the invitations had two swans facing each other; this is a sign of enduring love. This building, with the two swans facing away from each other, used to be a brothel! And now it is a Marriott Hotel! He took us into the hotel for a quick look at the inner courtyard. We all did this quick walk in with an abrupt U turn; rather funny looking if someone saw us. Anyway, the courtyard is stunning. There is a high arch of glass, like a gigantic skylight. The outside reveals nothing of the inside (well, other than the swans...).

He took us to so many places, I can't even think to tell you all about them. We did go to the chocolate shop - after all, that's why most of us booked the tour! We had the short tutorial on how to make chocolate. I was standing next to this big vat of melted chocolate that was constantly stirred in the machine. There was a faucet of dripping chocolate under which I wanted to put a glass (my head wouldn't have fit!). It looked sooo good! Every evening they put in 5 kg blocks of chocolate and the machines melt them slowly overnight and keep them at a constant temperature for making chocolate. This particular shop has three people making the chocolates. They only sell in their shop; they don't export them anywhere else. Of course, we got some samples which were delicious! And we could purchase more, which I did. We'll see if they make it home!! I wouldn't want them to go bad or anything...

We had just enough time after the chocolate shop to tour the Cathedral nearby. This Cathedral was not ornate but some of the decorative components were. We weren't there long, maybe 15/20 minutes. Everyone got back to the bus right on time so we returned to Antwerp on time.

DM spent her morning in bed! She had eaten an early room service breakfast with me before I left and then crawled back into bed and slept for another couple of hours. I had placed the Privacy Please card in the door when I left. She then laid in bed until almost 10 am! A crew drill started that lasted for an hour so she had a leisurely bath and only left the room just before I got back to the ship. I found her starting her lunch in the Lido and reading the newspaper when I got back. We sailed on time at 1:30. However, the Captain announced that there was a harbour pilots strike today in Belgium and so there was no Belgium pilot to take us out. They had been working on that issue while we were touring and had gotten a Dutch pilot to take us out from Antwerp. This meant that we had to make a service call in Vlissingen to drop him off.

Team Trivia saw us come in first with a perfect score! After trivia, Brett, the EXC Guide gave a talk on Rouen. He is very good at presenting the material and always throws in some funny pictures to make his talk entertaining, too.

Tonight was our first Gala night of this segment. There seemed to be a large turnover in guests between the two segments. On the first segment, I hardly noticed any tuxedos. On this segment, there were many more. Not a ton of them but noticeably more. There are other passenger differences, too, which I will get into in a future report. Back to Gala Night. We have early fixed dining in the forward MDR. This dining room is very much a widened hallway so many pax have to walk through the forward dining room to get to the aft dining room which is a combination of fixed and open dining. DM and I were alone at our table; I noticed one couple come through the "hallway" (they have to walk right past us), she in her "gala" sweat pants and he is his "gala" jeans and tshirt. I did not see them do the walk of shame back through the MDR "hallway" so can only assume that they were allowed to dine. I did hear talk the next morning about people disrespecting the cruise line, and their fellow guests by not following the dress code. Come on, people, there are other ways one can eat if one doesn't want to participate in Gala Nights. OK, this rant is over.

The entertainment tonight was Brett Cave, a UK pianist and singer. He sang songs of Billy Joel, The Beatles and Elton John. He was very entertaining, even if he was a little hokey at times. Even DM enjoyed it and she's not usually very fond of Elton John and barely knows much about Billy Joel.

We lingered in the Library until the elevators were returned to normal use - they're used quite a bit after a show lets out. On our way to the Lido for DM's night time tea, the Captain came on about an emergency. There was an ill passenger who might require a blood transfusion and they were asking anyone who had a current donor card and who had a specific blood type to make themselves known to the medical staff. (Ahhh, the beauty of being behind on one's reports - I asked the Cruise Director the next day if they found a donor and she told me that FIVE people stepped up but the donation was not required YET. Kudos to the five people and hopefully the passenger is getting better!)

 

My DH and I would like to go to Ghent when we visit on the Prinsendam in May. You made my mouth water describing your visit to the chocolate shop. Who did you use to take this tour?

Thanks,

Jodie

We were booked on the Prinsendam for the 14 day Kiel Canal & Baltic Explorer. The email came this morning saying that we would be switched to the Rotterdam. I had booked the Prinsendam because we wanted to do the Kiel Canal and cruise the Elbe River to Hamburg. The Rotterdam does not do this. :o As a gesture of appreciation they will give us a $50 pp SBC to be used on the Rotterdam. WOW! how generous. Seriously? We will not book the Rotterdam. So very disappointed.

I’m told we are a little ways off from publishing the Azamazing Evenings for Cuba early-2019.

I’ll post as soon as I know. Thank you for your patience.

Thank you. I’ll wait to make plans until I see you post.

Jodie

We will be on the Journey leaving Miami on Jan 5th. How can I find out when the Azamazing Evening is. I'm trying to plan for a night out in Havana (Jan 6, 7 & 8) and don't want to confirm until I know which night it is. Thankyou!

I can highly recommend the Don Boscoe Hotel School for a day trip when you are in Sihanoukville.

They will meet you when you dock, and take you to a typical fishing village, some beautiful pagodas and temples, a local waterfall, and a beach. You will have a delicious lunch at the hotel, all prepared and served by local youngsters who are learning English and how to work in the hospitality sector. It was one of the highlights of our trip.

I second the Don Boscoe School. We did this a couple of years ago and loved it.

So glad I bought it in 2013. We have enjoyed watching it go up in value and of course all the OBC. :D

We will be there on Sept 21, 2016 The cruise ship offers a few tours. The tour to Carassone and and the one to Arles & Les Baux both look interesting. Any advice? We do like to do private tours to keep the cost down and enjoy a more intimate day with just a few people.

We both 100 shares about 3 years ago - against the advice of our financial advisor. Sooooo glad we did. The stock is now worth $1500 more and we have used the benefits of being a stock holder 4 times. On Holland America a 14 day or longer cruise is $250 OBC. Not sure what it is under 14 days. You just send in proof to HAL and it will show up as OBC.

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Love it. Sounds just like me

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The French Onion soup is very good. Lots of baked on cheese.

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Great information. Thanks everyone. :):)

We have signed up for the Circumnavigation of Australia cruise with HAL in Oct 2015. They have not put up any of the shore excursions on their website yet so I am wondering if others have information of the shores excursions and their costs. We are looking at private excursions and they are expensive so I assume that HAL's are even more expensive. Thanks for any help.

We just signed up for a Circumnavigation of Australia cruise in Oct - Nov 2015. One of our stops in Kangaroo Island. HAL has not put up any shore excursions yet so I have no idea what their shore excursions are. Can someone tell me the prices on the Kangaroo Island tours. Also looking for info on Komodo Island.

Hi Ine, I found an old post of yours from 2005 about getting from Ijmuiden to Amseterdam. Can you give me an update on how to do this as easily and cheaply as possible. We are getting off the ship in Ijmuiden and will spend 3 days in Amsterdam before flying home. I am also wondering about buying the IAmsterdam card. Would I be able to use that to get into Amsterdam from Ijuiden? Thanks for any help you can provide.

Jodie

Our stop in Halong Bay is only 1 and 1/2 days. Sitting on a bus for seven hours to Hanoi doesn't sound like fun. Would love to stay in the Halong Bay Area. Any suggestions of which guides or guide companies as well as must sees, in the area.

Thanks

We have only 1 day in Halong Bay. I have set up a boat tour for 34 of us in March with Ms Huong of Tonkin Tours. Tonkin Tours has very good ratings.

Sirichai was great and accommodating. Brought us only to where we wanted to go (Pornthip, Kok Chang Safari, Tiger Kingdom, Rim Tang, Pearl Factory, Jungceylon Mall) and although he did give other suggestions, he did not push when we declined his offer. It was a comfortable safe ride in Phuket and we all enjoyed ourselves very much.

Is there anything you would skip on this itinerary if you ran out of time? Was there any place where you felt you could have used more time? Thanks

 

 

mycheapphukettours@gmail.com

 

His name was Sirichai

 

Tell him that we are the ones that he took to the sapphire store at the end it was something we wanted to do he did not just take us there

 

What cruise are you on ???

Thanks for all your help. We have hired Sirichai for the day.

Thanks for the help. We have decided to go with Zoom. He has a good reputation so he should be able to get us back to the ship without a problem. I guess you always take a bit of a chance when you do a private tour. We do them anyway because you just get a lot more bang for your buck and we don't like traveling with bus loads of people.

We are on the Volendam for 28 days starting Feb 17th. So many interesting ports. It has been so much work trying to organize private tours and not a lot of activity on our roll calls. Appreciate your help.:)

We are thinking of doing this in Feb. How long did you spend in each place?

 

How long was your elephant trek? I see they go from 20 to 50 min.

We did 30 minutes after we got to the top of the summit the guide got off the elephant and took pictures all the way back with our camera

 

Did they treat the elephants well? yes just used his feet

 

 

When you went in to see the tigers did you go in with the big ones or the small ones? The big ones

 

 

Did you have a chance to compare with people who did Siam Safari Elephant Trek?

 

No We wanted one that you did not have to make a reservation and our driver even uses the one we went to

 

 

Hope I haven't overloaded you with questions. Ask away

 

This is a bit of a reach for me so I just want to be sure it's the right thing to do in Phuket Yes I know we did a lot of research as it is a long way

 

Are you using a driver >>

 

Thanks for the help. Kok Chang Safari said they would send a car for us and also take us to Tiger Kingdom for a total of about $18 Do you have a driver/guide that you recommend?