3rdGenCunarder

I haven't taken it recently, but I've done it twice in the past and loved it. It's a fun way to see the countryside.

HAL seems to be in the process of doing that. People on the HAL board said they had excursions in the canal, Cartegena, and Costa Rica cancelled "due to itinerary change." But they have not had a notification of itinerary change and their cruises (and excursions) are still on the website. HAL isn't exactly great at communication about changes, so they're probably working their way through it. I imagine that a lot of cruise lines will be scrambling for alternative ports/itineraries.

I hadn't thought about scenario 1, but yes, I have seen scenario 2. We were at a table for 6, and one night the two other couples did not show. So we were asked if we would mind if people on open seating joined us, and we ended up with pleasant dinner companions rather than being just us on a large table.

And that line is now on Broadway. There's a play about the making of "Jaws." The AFI did a list of 100 best movie lines. AFI’s 100 YEARS…100 MOVIE QUOTES | American Film Institute

HAL is not good at timing announcements/updates. They cancelled my 3-week cruise on Zaandam next winter, and I found out on my roll call because others got emails about the cancellation and posted about it. I NEVER got the email or the rebooking offers. The booking stayed in "my account" for weeks after the cruise fell off the website, and still I received no email. They're probably scrambling for ports to assemble a new itinerary. it's possible that one or both of those could end up being part of the itinerary, maybe on different days. Or not. There's no point in calling HAL for information at this point because they probably don't know what they're going to do about replacement ports.

Wandering is part of the fun! Don't apologize for that. Well, I bless who ever came up with the idea! love a good lobster roll, especially when it's heavy on the claw meat. (At the risk of furthering drift 🙄 and starting a debate, I'm in the mayo camp) The lobster on the ship has been frozen for heaven knows how long. Last winter, there was an upsell option for a large lobster tail. One of our tablemates ordered it as an extra to share with his wife. It was huge and tough. They couldn't finish it, even if it had been good, so they offered chunks of it as tastes. I passed.

Perhaps the waiters don't want to accidentally wake up the people taking an afternoon nap.

It's also how a bottle of wine can find its way to you, and special meals if you have dietary issues and pre-ordered your meal.

And 4. I think it was the question about what would make a cruise brilliant where I added a comment about having formal nights. I didn't choose the pin as any of my "most important" categories. I wonder if the questions about how much you spend came from looking at HAL's system. You get a day credit for every day you sail (double if you're in a suite) plus another day for every $300 (IIRC) you spend on the cruise, including pre-booked items like excursions. It's only 75 day credits to get to 3-star, but the perks aren't that good. It's 200 day credits to get to 4-star, and that's when the perks get good. Free laundry, discounts for onboard restaurants and wine packages. 5-star is 500 day credits, and the perks aren't all that much better than 4-star. Mariner Society | Holland America One of the questions was about honoring status level from sister lines. But with HAL giving credit for onboard spending and Cunard not doing that, status levels aren't comparable.

HAL doesn't need to do those. They go through the Canal, do some Pacific ports and retrace their steps. It isn't like they need the transits to get the ship to a whole new season.

I thought it was interesting that they slipped in a question about formal nights right at the end. The agree/disagree section had "All I want to do is lie in the sun, relax and drink" or something like that. I think that's code for a casual dressed-down cruise with no lectures or other 'content' activitiesduring the day. (is that anti-formal night?) And then there was one about "I enjoy dressing up for an evening with a sense of occasion." Obviously pro formal night. They just seemed so different from the other agree/disagree statements. Like an afterthought.

When I did the first Circumnavigation of Australia, it was a segment of the World Cruise. They were doing "director of the month" on the World Cruise, showing a different movie every week. I was so happy I was there for Billy Wilder--Sabrina, Some Like It Hot, and Sunset Boulevard. (the fourth week, which we missed, was The Apartment) All classics!

Sorry to hear that. I was impressed with the performers. Typically, cruise show cases have two or three featured singers who sing, but don't dance. The "chorus" performers do all the dancing as well as backup singing. But when I saw Top Hat, the leads were excellent singers AND dancers. Maybe they're taking a break from Top Hat to bring back Apassionata. 😱

Oh, sorry to hear that. That's one of my favorite stops on the boardwalk. Much better than McLobster from the Mickey D's near the Citadel--don't laugh, I was doing a challenge to have lobster roll in every port and I was curious.

Oh, bleep!!! I forgot about that. Those aren't "essential" transits like the repo transits. I was on the 3-week Zaandam Caribbean cruise that got cancelled when HAL wanted to make the next cruise longer. I booked the 2-week Caribbean because it still had some good ports. Now, with the full transits in jeopardy, I worry that my winter cruise will have yet another change. They're each 15 days, with only 4 on the Atlantic side. I see changes coming, maybe to my cruise as well as the two before it.

Often, when port fee/tax charges change, it's last-minute and the credit is applied on board. HAL is unlikely to refund anything until they know what the new itinerary will be--other port, another sea day? All the cruise lines will be scrambling to work this out. There was a change of about $25 on my last cruise, and they applied it 2 days from the end of the cruise. Gift shop suddenly got very busy. LIke @BLH613, I've been expecting to see this. I'm sorry that so many people will be disappointed, but it is the right thing to do. Has anyone on a full transit heard anything about cancelling that?

Your description of Music Walk is perfect! Cacophony Central. Try Cunard for a good mixture of music--classical, jazz, showroom band, orchestra for dancing. At tea every afternoon, there's live solo music--harp or piano or guitar. They do dance lessons to improve your foxtrot.

Ah, I thought there might be a tech less invested in protecting the higher-ups. Too often, it seems like Customer Service is there to be a wall between passengers and the people who can help them. I had an account issue on a Cunard cruise, and it took 4 visits to the front desk to FINALLY get to talk to the person who could actually help. And it was fixed within the hour.

It just occurred to me that the Navigator app has a feedback/comment option. Does anyone here have experience with using the app for a problem? Do complaints get routed to the appropriate person any better/faster than dealing with Guest Relations?

I agree that the canal day should be about the canal. You've got good tropicalnature options at other ports. When you look at the Limon excursions, check gogglemaps before you choose one. I did an excursion that was supposed to be "less than an hour's ride," but was more than an hour and a half, a significant difference because much of the trip was on a winding bumpy badly paved road. By the time we got there, animals were all hiding from the heat. The only animals we saw were in cages or enclosures. A tour that's closer to the port and very worth it is the Tortuga Canal and rainforest hike. Don't be swayed by bad reviews. People complain that the canal boat ride doesn't go very far, just back and forth a small distance. It isn't about going somewhere, it's about moving slowly past a habitat with lots of creatures. We saw howler monkeys, both kinds of sloths, lots of birds, and even a small crocodile. For Cartegena, if you don't want a city tour, consider the National Aviary for some nature. I did this 5 years ago. I wasn't sure it was a great choice because their website wasn't inspiring, but I had already done city tours, so I tried the aviary trip. I am so glad I went! it's beautiful. The birds are in large aviaries, some of which you can walk through, not little cages.

Isn't there supposed to be a Speedoman on every cruise????

Maybe they didn't have the part to fix it? Maybe it was something more complicated? Someone on social media said they had that cabin next cruise with the same problem. If the ship was sold out, should HAL have cancelled the next people's cruise because the cabin wasn't habitable? Or if they knew about it before OP boarded, should their cruise have been cancelled since they couldn't be moved?

Yeah, unlikely someone would drive to the embarkation port for that one.

My coverup looks like a casual dress, so I can shower at the spa and wear the coverup back to my cabin. I do wish HAL would put a swimsuit spinner in the locker/shower room. On one cruise, can't remember the ship, maybe Queen Elizabeth, the cabin shower was smaller than the spa shower, so I used the spa shower almost every day. I think my steward was wondering if I ever bathed!

I usually wear a beach/pool coverup over my swimsuit. When you check in at the spa, you get a locker key, and there will be a robe and a pair of waterproof spa sandals in there. So you don't need your robe from the room. I wear my own flipflops because I like them better than the spa shoes. If you come out of the spa pool and put on your room robe, then it will get wet. Better to use the one they lend you at the spa.