tooalto

We've never sailed from Tampa but, yes the aquarium is right there and quite a nice one too. You can also pick up a trolley to Ybor City for some lunch and wandering.

I like a little heat but have a good friend who's going to leave her stomach to science. She LOVES hot, hot, hot so she always tells the servers at Thai restaurants to make it like their mother or grandmother would make it.

We've been to Santorini 3 times and it is truly one of the most beautiful spots we've ever visited. We did private tours each time. We took the cable car both up and down and only had short waits. The cable car wait really depends on how many ships are in port. We've been lucky so far and have had no other ships or just one. If your port time includes a late evening sailing, enjoy your birthday dinner in one of the many restaurants overlooking the caldera and the gorgeous sunset.

I made handle covers for our bags from hunter's florescent orange fleece and sewed them firmly around the handles. They serve two purposes. They're easy to spot and they make the handles a little padded and softer to grip.

In my opinion, Barry from Boston talks too much (mostly about himself) and doesn't do enough to bring the crowd into it. No sing alongs etc. Just Barry talking a lot and playing a little. I've seen him on two different cruises and it was the same on both. I actually walked out once.

I agree whole heartedly about Barry. In addition I found his singing voice grating. He played one night in the Crow's Nest then we stopped in the Piano Bar on another. I also have to add that i was dropping off a reservation card in the Pinnacle when he was leaving and I stopped to say hello. He was very brusque, not in the least friendly. I'm sure it can be tiring but politeness and affability with passengers when you're not performing is part of the job.

Here are our three upcoming Jacqui. So nice to chat with you this week

Sep. 3 2016 RT Vancouver Alaskan Cruise

Mar.1 2017 Southern Caribbean Ms Koningsdam!

Oct. 3 2017 TA on the Ms Koningsdam

In reading through the thread "Koningsdam cruises cancelled" one of the posters listed the new itinerary for their now longer cruise. They said it is a B2B with the TA portion starting on Oct. 3 from Rome. We are looking to do a TA in 2017 and these dates are just perfect. Does anyone (LAFFNVEGAS :-)) have an idea of when these new itineraries may be posted for us to check ? If Explore4 is scheduled to start on Monday, I'd love to book it under that promo.

Thanks for all the replies! I, too, am appalled that the classical group is amplified. Are the sound engineers too young and/or untrained to know that those instruments do not need any help. But it seems that the louder anyone screams, the more applause they receive. I find that I nearly always have to mute the National Anthem when watching a sporting event on television or, if I'm at a live event, have to bite my cheek so I don't groan out loud. If my child were still young enough to be deciding on a career, I'd recommend she go into the hearing aid business.

As far as the rude, loud folks at the bar, that is HAL's fault for locating a bar there. But we've noticed the same many times right in the Explorer's Lounge. Of course folks leaving the dining room will be chatting but, to their credit, they usually stop talking when passing the lounge. People sitting right in the lounge and talking and laughing away are a different matter. Adagio often doesn't have the greatest English skills and when they have to compete with rude chatter, it makes matters much more difficult.

Thank you!

I'm a classical music lover and we both enjoy sitting the the Explorer's Lounge listening to Adagio. Needless to say, I was thrilled to hear that there will be the Lincoln Center section of the Music Walk on the Koningsdam . While we would have enjoyed the BB King group if it weren't so loud and in the main theater, I'm concerned with its proximity to the classical venue.

Does anyone who has sailed on the Koningsdam have any experience with this ?

Many thanks. I thought a Marriott property would be well maintained and should be fine for our one night prior and one night post-cruise.

I posted this question on the Florida departures board but have no responses yet but thought I would ask our HAL cruisers the same thing.

Has anyone stayed there recently? I booked this property for our pre-cruise stay next March. It was recommended here and on Trip Advisor but I just checked Trip Advisor and saw three very poor reviews in a row. We usually stay at the Embassy Suites but the rates were sky high. I chose Springhill based on ratings, price and shuttle service. I appreciate any input.

Has anyone stayed there recently? I booked this property for our pre-cruise stay next March. It was recommended here and on Trip Advisor but I just checked Trip Advisor and saw three very poor reviews in a row. We usually stay at the Embassy Suites but the rates were sky high. I chose Springhill based on ratings, price and shuttle service. I appreciate any input.

I've organized private tours on most of our cruises. I find that the Pinnacle bar is a great spot to meet. It's centrally located, has chairs to sit in, easy to get to e phone and call someone if they are late and just, usually, just one deck up from the gangway. Most of my groups have been 16 or smaller. I did have groups over 20 on one cruise and asked for assistance with exiting the ship so we could meet our guide easily. In this instance we met one deck 1 in the area just in front of the front desk. Hope this helps.

I've set up many private tours and we usually meet in the Pinnacle Bar. It's convenient to the exit deck and has places to sit. I try to keep our groups small, 10-12 at most. A few times I've had larger groups of 20-22 and requested that seomone walk us off the ship so we didn't get lost in the fray. The CD was happy to escort us off and we met on Deck one by the front office.

We finally got smart and booked a hotel for the day after our return. The crew also has to go through Immigration since it's their first US stop so that adds to the time needed for disembarkation. We found an extra days rest in the warmth a great way to decompress and we were able to take a very early flight back to Newark which also meant a quicker drive back home to PA withou much NYC traffic.

In your (freanesi) post, you mentioned that the extra money you had on your SBP at the end of the cruise was credited to your account. I wasn't aware that that option was available. We've had Expolre4 for our last two cruises and again this summer. While we average about 5 drinks a day, including water and my espresso at dinner, it is a great convenience like others have said. No need to spend time checking the account for each drink. If we do get the $ credited back it would be much more convenient than loading up our account with OBC.

I just bought my first share of onboard credit for our Mar.1 cruise! Everything looks soo beautiful, even the retro '50s diner look of the Lido. The Crow's Nest and Sel de Mer look especially luxurious as does the new Canaletto. I can't wait to see some menus from the Culinary Arts Center dining spot as well.

Hi Holly,

They will be the same as we had on the Noordam. We were just on the Oosterdam last fall, before the dry dock, but the cabin was the same.

Sue

I'm looking at Scenic Tours for our day in Antigua. I see that they charge a 50% non-refundable deposit.I have set up private tours in virtually every new port for us and have only had to make a deposit on one. Naturally that was the one that the highly recommended tour company went out of business. Since the deposit was only $20 I didn't pursue it further.

My husband would love to do a zipline but, as a blood donor , he may not be allowed off the ship in certain places. Last year I had to cancel his zipline in the Dominican Republic. The prohibited areas are changed constantly so we may not know until close to sailing whether he could do this. Has anyone had any experience cancelling a Scenic Tours trip? Can anyone suggest another tour guide. We really want to see the island, perhaps tasty local food specialties, not really do a beach on our first visit.

Thanks

Thoughts....

• LandSea offers a post-cruise luggage tour.... but you might be disappointed the tour is too short to fill the day. I wouldn't be surprised if HAL is contracting LandSea to offer the tour. Note, LandSea offers TWO post-cruise tours.
  http://vancouvertours.com/tour/pre-cruise-vancouver-city-tour/
  http://vancouvertours.com/tour/post-cruise-sea-to-sky/
  
• CDS luggage operates in the cruise terminal next to the car rentals. For $40, they will transport a maximum of 4 bags to their airport location for convenient pickup.
  
• spending a week or more in Cascadia pre-cruise is the best way to see the region.
  
• Let us know if you want help in itinerary planning.
  

Thanks so much for the info. I already had LandSea tours saved in my cruise folder but, as you said, the tours are relatively short. Our return flight has already been pushed back by another hour. While I like to be at the airport early, a full day is way too early. Since we'll be visiting relatives in Portland, a stop for a few days in Seattle and one night in Vancouver pre-cruise, I know we'll be ready to go home. We like the idea of the HOHO bus since we can spread things out, get some non-airport food and still be at the airport early. I know we'll also want to spend more time in the Vancouver area at a later date so we can make note of the tings we really want to go back to.

We have a red-eye back to the east coast following our cruise on the NA in September. So.. we have a lot of day to fill before we go to the airport. I'm wondering if anyone has experience with the HAL post cruise excursion on the HOHO bus plus transfer. It sounds like a good idea since our bags will be taken to the airport, we can ride and tour and then get a ticket for the train to the airport included. We planned to tour the city that day but the option of not having to find someplace to store our bags for the day then drag them to the airport via the train is appealing. Has anyone had experience with this? Or can anyone recommend another company which may offer a similar service. I should add that we'll be in the northwest for over a week before our cruise so our luggage will be more than just what's needed for a 7 day cruise.

Thanks,Sue

We did an overnight in Istanbul in 2012. While we didn't do the dinner cruise, we did do a one-hour cruise at about the same time. The Bosphorus, at any given time, is quite choppy and the night we were there all of us commented that we were glad we didn't do the dinner cruise. It would have been an adventure just trying to keep food on the plate.

Good morning Jeroen,

We always buy the Navigator package, 7 bottles, and have never gotten the free tasting. We, too, are close to 4 star - only 4 more days!

It's 12-15$ so it's basically a wash. We've used both. A cab is your own, the shuttle you share with others and are assigned a time. NO big difference.