Petunia1950

And she's tooting.

One benefit of booking through HAL is that not only is transfer from the airport included BUT transfer of your luggage from the hotel to your cabin on the ship is included.

There she is! And now she's gone ...

See

It is shown at least on the Mariner Benefits page, although it may be found elsewhere too. ONBOARD SPENDING BONUS:1 bonus credit will be granted for every $300 spent in onboard purchases. It is limited by the number of cruise days however: if you spend $6000, for instance, on a 5-day cruise, you get only 5 extra credits, even though $6000 divided by $300 equals 20. You can only earn one bonus credit per cruise day.

I was on Rotterdam in 2021 in a Neptune suite and it did not have the "half" bath (water closet). Having had that option on Koningsdam in 2019, I was a bit disappointed. But not enough to stop me from booking again ... FYI, the diagram of Rotterdam's NS suites shown on the HAL website does show the water closet. But the photo that is also on the HAL website makes it clear that the water closet does not exist.

No tossing kumquats here ... I adopted two cats two years ago. They were littermates, although they look nothing alike. The mother's name was Pumpkin so all nine kittens were named after fruits. One was named Peaches (now known as ChiChi), and the other was named Kumquat (I guess they ran out of fruit names). She's now known as KiKi. She's on the left.

The deck plans on HAL's website notes: Suites B8101 & SA7085 and staterooms K11049, VB11038, VQ10033, VE8142, VD7049, K6185, VC6158, V5051, V5048, FB1172 & E1175 are ambulatory accessible, shower only with small step, step into bathroom, standard interior and exterior door size. So it is apparentlly accessible.

I guess what Beyond intends won't happen -- the port is still closed due to weather according to the radio ...

Reports are that Beyond is dropping her lines and intends to move within 15 minutes.

They just announced the port shutdown again -- per Coast Guard orders. That's not a good way to start a holiday cruise ...

The Daily Mail is reporting the story at https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11414137/Moment-cruise-ship-rescues-migrant-raft-13-men-one-woman-STYROFOAM-float.html.

She's there !

Eurodam is no longer a speck on the horizon from the Hilton webcam, so she won't be long 🙂

Rotterdam has arrived:

From the Hilton Webcam in Fort Lauderdale ... Rotterdam is approaching the port and Eurodam is the speck on the horizon. It looks like the pilot is onboard Rotterdam and the pilot boat is about to reach Eurodam.

It can get worse. On my first cruise in moderm times, on RCL Liberty of the Seas in 2008, we had a family of Belizeans on board who were going to Belize for a family reunion. We never learned why, but Belize was cancelled after we sailed and and Costa Maya was substituted. As it turns out, we never got to Costa Maya either because of high seas in the port area. So you just never know when you book a cruise where you will end up. It is troubling though that Key West was taken off the itinerary just after you booked. You might pursue some sort of OBC in exchange. It will probably not be given, but is is worth a try.

Or just go straight to the top:

My father learned to fly when he was 14 and living in a coal mining town in West Virginia. The fellow who owned the local airport, such as they were back then (1937 or thereabouts), drove a fancy car so Daddy asked him to teach him how to fly, thinking he'd get rich too. Turns out, the guy (Jelly Belly Boone -- his name should have tipped off something ...) was actually the guy who peddled moonshine -- the airport was just a cover story. Daddy did make a living out of flying -- 30+ years in the Air Force. But he never struck it rich.

Roy @rafinmd is finally on his way! Bon voyage!

Here she comes!

Toot

My PCC is on maternity leave. Her out-of-office email message says to call the number for PCCs but not to enter an extension -- just stay on the line. It might take a few minutes, but eventually another PCC will answer and will be happy to help. I was able to make the change needed for a November cruise. At the very least, you should be able to get an answer as to what's up with your PCC ...

Try this: Gus Antorcha, President, Holland America Line, Inc.: gantorcha@carnival.com