Tabbymom

Thanks Fenix, so maybe not everyone will be retirement age!

Oh sure, I know all that. But you are having dinner onboard most nights and there is entertainment and music venues and such. So I just wondered if wandering around the ship in the evening, son might encounter his demographic instead of only mine.

I'm trying to talk my 31 year old son (I'm 67) into going on the Hawaii cruise in January or February since my husband isn't interested.  Will there be other younger adults on the ship, or is it mainly mature cruisers?  I'll tell him he doesn't have to do anything with me if he doesn't want to  (except share a cabin),   but will there be others in his age range?  He's not very gregarious but does enjoy participating in cruise activities - his only other cruise was when he was 20 on RCI Mariner.  I think he'll enjoy the casual dress and meals.  He was in Hawaii when he was 5 years old but doesn't remember it, and wants to go again.  I've been three times but not since that trip.

It would be January or February. I’m in San Diego and he’s in Seattle so it would be a winter getaway. I can’t talk my husband into going.  I know there are some Caribbean ports that are always iffy so wondered if the same was true in Hawaii, but it seems not.

I'm trying to talk my son into joining me on the Hawaii cruise next winter since he's interested in seeing the islands.  But from skimming the forum, it sounds like there's a chance of missing one or more of the ports due to weather.  Is that a slim chance, or a good chance?  I'd hate to talk him into this then end up mainly on the ship since that's not what he's looking for.  Thanks!

We were on the Eurodam arriving Nov. 11 - it docked an hour late at 6:30 am but they didn't start disembarkation until 8:30.  No reason given.  So if you were carrying your own luggage, the 11:15 flight is certainly doable.  If you have to pick up bags inside the terminal, that might have been a problem.  We live in San Diego so were in the last group off, no rush.

I also learned that the model palace at our elevator bank was the oldest piece of art on the ship.

Back from the Eurodam.  I didn't do the self guided tour but the ship activities did include on two sea days:  "Art Walk with Art Specialist Claudia".  Claudia was the assistant art director (from Holland) and very knowledgeable about the pictures and statues on the ship.  She gave the background of the artists in the forward and aft stairwell landings, a lot of info about Rembrandt in the center stairwell landings, and details about a variety of other pieces in different venues and hallways.  She said that every time a ship goes to dry dock, the art gets moved around so much that it's hard for them to track everything down. I  imagine one could go to her and ask about other works of art that weren't on her tour.  Claudia was a definite asset to the cruise.

The first work is prints of self portraits of Rembrandt at different times of his life.

The second work is supposed to represent a family.  Everyone has the same parts but they're arranged differently.  I think the guy on the left is the one who sat across from me on the tender back to ship at Cabo - I had called the statue Manspread in my mind and that's exactly what my fellow passenger did the next day.

We were on the same cruise and I recently submitted a review. Title is: “In a word, underwhelming.” The only reason I went on this cruise is that we moved to San Diego from the Chicago area in 2015, and I liked the idea of no flights, hotels, etc. There were definite highlights, but so much was blah that I most likely won’t ever cruise on HAL again. Best food was Tamarind, MDR ranged from decent to inedible. Re service, there was a big show of it, and most staff was very friendly and wanted to please, but once you moved outside their expected service parameters we ran into lack of comprehension and other issues.

I’m 67 so should be their demographic. But I don’t think I am really. Yesterday I tracked down my pictures and review from my 2008 cruise on Mariner of the Seas and it was way way better. I was on the Noordam a few years ago on my mom’s last cruise and remember it as somewhat better than the Eurodam but I was mostly involved in making sure Mom was happy. She was a 4 star Mariner so HAL was her preferred line.

Yes, come back down to San Diego for a vacation. I haven’t once regretted moving here. But if you don’t like crowds, maybe avoid the Hotel Del because it’s a huge tourist attraction and will be crowded. 

For all the helpful local posters in this forum, hope you’re not too badly hit!

Tinker's Mom, we have a Meet & Greet for the Nov. 4 sailing if you want to sign up over on Roll Call.

Wow, also on Nov. 4 so hopefully will slip in between the storm systems.  We really wanted to do snorkeling and sightseeing in the Mexican Riviera  so crossed fingers.  I also have no desire to go to LA or SF on this trip and Catalina is very nice but I've been and don't want to return as part of a mass cruise group.

Previous posts in Roll Call have formatting code showing (for bold, quotes) instead of being bolded or in quotes.

Success - I managed to play it via iTunes and recorded it as a voice memo on my iPhone, which I put right next to the speaker. My iTunes on the computer hasn't been updated in possibly years since I download directly into the phone and pad. Certainly I haven't synced in ages between the computer and phone. But now I have the whole 40 minute tour and I can send the file via text to others. Essentially I listened to the whole tour and there might be a few pieces that are no longer onboard but I think most of it should still be in the same locations.

Oh, wow, thanks syesmar! I got the Eurodam one to play in my iTunes store on my desktop. Now the question is how to get it into my iPhone or iPad. I'll work on that. Because I'm not bringing my desktop on the cruise ;).

Edit -at worst I’ll play it on the computer and record it as a voice memo on my phone. Not the best sound quality but whatever works! Next I’ll study if there’s a way to share a voice memo with someone else.

Response from Events Coordinator:

That is correct, the MP3 player tour is no longer available for independent tours. Now we have partnered with ArtLink and an Art Concierge and Art Specialists will be on hand to provide information and background on the works and the artists, as well as lead guests through the acquisition process.

During the launch period the galleries will feature works by a select group of emerging international artists. The general collection will gradually be replaced by changing exhibitions curated to reflect the regions of the world as the ships sail the globe. An ever-changing selection of photographs, sculptures, crafts, paintings and drawings will ensure that the collections remain fresh and relevant, revealing stories as they are uniquely portrayed by artists of the destinations visited. The works showcased in ArtLink galleries will be offered exclusively to Holland America Line guests.

Tmore, I found that but the “Play now” link comes up “404 not found”.

I already emailed the Events Coordinator who set up our Meet & Mingle to see who to ask about it. I suggested to her that they could maybe add the tours to Navigator for onboard use.

It will be interesting to see what the events coordinator comes back with. Probably they didn’t want to keep updating the tours. Or the iPods all walked away.

In the meantime, I found this (I think) 10 year old extensive description which I may print out and take with me to try and track all the described art down. https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/holland-america-lines-new-ms-eurodam-blends-traditional-dutch-art-and-new-works-536337231.html

I’m going to email the Events Coordinator who set up our Meet & Mingle and see if she knows anything. They should be able to load it into Navigator or whatever the onboard self-contained internet is called. Then it would be available to everyone on all ships.

Several years ago on the Noordam, I was able to check out an MP3 player with a narrated art/history tour of the ship. It was very interesting and I’d like to do that on the Eurodam. I expect it works differently now so - has anyone done this lately? How and where can we get it? Thanks!

I went with my mom on her last cruise on the Noordam out of Fort Lauderdale - she was a 4 star Mariner and used wheelchair assist. We were literally the first passengers on the ship. She wanted her own veranda cabin and when I tried to book myself into an interior across the hall, she insisted I should have a veranda also. She wanted to go straight to her cabin and start unpacking exactly how she had done for years. She kicked me out and I went all over the ship taking pictures of empty venues.

Mom loved the free laundry and was excited to use the 50% at the Pinnacle - she had never done specialty dining since all her cruises for many years had been on her own. She also liked the Captain's cocktail party (although she didn't bother meeting the Captain) and the welcome aboard luncheon. I was able to share her internet minutes (forgot how many; this was a few years ago.) She also liked all the mementos that went along with advancing through levels and such. I have her last medallion and am tempted to wear it on my Eurodam cruise next month.

As noted above, it could well be the ad blocker program. I have uBlock and had to approve HAL as a website before it would print even though I had no issues with anything else to do with the website.

If you’re not a tea drinker, can you get coffee, or is that not proper at Tea?

Just confirmed with HAL that it is the Hyatt Ziva; she has no idea why the description says north of the port.