AryMay

Sorry about that! I think you should be able to access the blog now. Please let me know if you continue to have issues. I am a little jealous of your upcoming trip! Our South America/Antarctica cruise is our favorite of all time!

Photos taken from the Zaandam this past February on our Panama Canal cruise. I have no idea if this is a crocodile or an alligator, but the CD pointed it out! (The critter was NOT in one of the locks however.)

The wind chill on a moving ship makes a big difference in the “real feel” of cold weather. The multiple layers of warm clothing were necessary to stay out on deck for long periods of time. I was envious of those with balcony cabins that could duck inside to warm up. Unfortunately to get a balcony on the Zaandam would have meant booking a suite…which wasn’t in our budget. I believe I would splurge to get the balcony on the Oosterdam if we were to do this itinerary again!

We did an independent tour via speed boat with Solo Expediciones to Magdalena Island in 2019. At that time the tour company seemed quite disorganized. We were bussed to where the boats would load, but then waited for a long time before the boats arrived. Once boarding began it was a free-for-all and more passengers were loaded onto the boat than what there were seats. I had to sit with strangers while my husband was left to stand (and hang on for dear life) for the long (~1 hour) boat ride to the island. It was enjoyable once we reached the island where thousands of magallanic penguins were roaming about. We had about an hour to walk a loop up the hill to the light house and back down to the dock. As we sailed back, the boat stopped briefly off shore where we were able to photograph a colony of sea lions. Although quicker than taking the ferry, the boat ride was very rough and several people were sea sick. I have lots of photos from our day on Magdalena Island that you can see by clicking HERE.

Although our stay was in 2019, our experience was just as favorable as @FlaMariner. My blog has a little more detailed information and photos if you are interested. The location was within walking distance of many of the places we wanted to visit in Santiago. https://mysouvenirmemories.blogspot.com/2019/01/waking-up-to-summer-in-santiago.html

The Zaandam has these swirly kind of hand washers. Love them...kind of like a jacuzzi for your hands! We were just on the Nieuw Statendam and only saw a sink with soap for hand washing at the entrance to the lido buffet. Rarely saw the sink getting used... 😞

Can I add my Zaandam video tour as well? 🙂 Although this is from a previous cruise, we just got off our 3rd cruise on the Zaandam…a total of 59 days.

We stayed at the Hotel Plaza San Francisco in 2019. The hotel was reasonably priced and within walking distance of the Plaza de Armas and many of the other sights.

We did a South America/Antarctica cruise on Holland America that began in January 2019. Here is a list of our tours along with a links to the tour websites and also to my blog posts with photos and videos. Ushuaia Private tour with Federico at Anan Turismo (Excellent!!) https://mysouvenirmemories.blogspot.com/2019/02/glacier-alley-and-ushuaia.html Montevideo: Hop-On-Hop-Off Bus https://mysouvenirmemories.blogspot.com/2019/02/montevideo-uruguay.html Puerto Madryn Penguin tour with El Pedral (Very good!) https://mysouvenirmemories.blogspot.com/2019/02/puerto-madryn-argentina.html Punta Arenas Boat tour to see penguins with Solo Expediciones on Magdalena Island (the experience on the island was good, but I would not recommend this company.) https://mysouvenirmemories.blogspot.com/2019/02/punta-arenas.html We did a ship tour in Puerto Chacabucco (just OK) and we had to skip Puerto Montt because it was too rough to tender. Our itinerary did not include Punta del Estes. Hopefully this is helpful. This cruise is the favorite of all we have done!! We also added a visit to Iguazu Falls which was amazing!

We were onboard last month and I chatted with Fabio in the buffet one evening. So, so sorry to learn of his death and can only imagine how the loss has affected the other dancers. They seemed like a close knit group.

Is there any more news on who the crew member was? We were just on the NS and wondered if perhaps it was one of the dancers that was interviewed at the coffee chat. So sad regardless of who it is. My prayers go out to the family.

We just did a B2B that made 2 stops at Half Moon Cay and our T-Mobile phones worked on the ship while anchored and better when we were on shore.

We used the Luggage Direct this past weekend in Ft. Lauderdale. I was nervous about using it with Southwest Airlines since HAL takes care of checking you in for the flight. I assumed we would be placed in one of the last boarding group positions (since SWA doesn't have assigned seating) but it worked out. We were assigned B39 and B40 for our boarding positions. They cautioned us that there was a chance our luggage direct request could be denied and we wouldn't know that until the last minute. Our disembarkation packet was delivered on the last evening and contained our luggage tags and printed boarding passes. Our luggage had to be set out in the hallway before midnight and we didn't see it again until we landed at our final destination. (And we did NOT have a direct flight.) We were told to disembark at 7:45 am. Our flight wasn't until 1:30 pm so we asked about staying on the ship longer and were told NO because customs agents would be expecting us earlier. To get through customs, we had a similar experience to the previous poster. Had our face check and then walked right through immigration. No showing our passport, no stopping at all. It was also nice to arrive at the airport and not have to check our bags. Using luggage direct also means you don't have to worry about overweight bags (according to the info we received.) I will note that our price was $25 each, which is deducted from your onboard account. (We had OBC which covered our fees.) With SWA there are no bag fees, but unless you have someway to get free luggage on other airlines, you will have to pay the bag fees.

We left from San Diego 2 weeks ago and there was no Verifly lane. Boarding was very organized. They were checking assigned boarding times.

Thanks for the update! I have seen a YouTube video tour of the cabin and know it is kind of an oddball layout. I wondered where the new TV would end up. I assume both 83 and 86 are set up the same? (Which cabin are you in?) I know my DH will enjoy the movies on demand (which I hope is a feature). I think the desk space would have been more to my liking.

Here is a cut & paste from the Port Everglades mobile app.

Sorry to hear that. 🙁 We are to be in one of the 2 ocean view cabins on Deck 7 for the next cruise and I had my fingers crossed the TV would have been replaced by the time we sail. Any idea if the new TV’s are interactive?

Fingers are crossed they get ALL of the TV's installed...not just the suites. We are on the Jan. 21 cruise and have one of the 2 ocean view cabins on Deck 7. Please keep us updated, OK?!

Thanks for the info on the PE app. I have it downloaded on my phone and will double check the ships’ locations when we arrive on the 4th. I think the best option will be to take the shuttle to the parking garage located near Terminal 26. I checked the PE website and it mentioned that the shuttle is available from Terminal 29.

A shuttle…that would be great!

Thanks for the link. We won’t have Wi-Fi on the 1st cruise but hopefully I can check the schedule when I have service in one of the ports. With 3 HAL ships things could get interesting.

This will be a first for us...sailing on Zaandam from San Diego to Ft. Lauderdale (Jan. 21 to Feb. 4) and then switching to Nieuw Statendam on the 4th. Is there a source where you can find which piers the two ships will be docked at on February 4th? We have done B2B's, but have never switched from one ship to another before. I have no idea how close the two will be docked. Are HAL ships usually docked close enough to walk from one to another with our luggage?

From HAL’s health protocols: Health Protocols Colombia Protocols This specific booking and/or voyage follows our COVID-19 Colombia Protocols for vaccination and testing requirements. Vaccination Requirements We highly recommend all guests be up to date on their vaccination status. Vaccinations, however, are not required. Testing Vaccinated guests: No testing is required for vaccinated guests. Unvaccinated guests: All unvaccinated guests ages 19 and older are required to take a medically observed COVID-test. Medically observed PCR test within 72 hours before embarkation Medically observed Antigen test within 48 hours before embarkation. Guests ages 18 and under are not required to take a COVID-19 test.

In 2019 we went on the Hop-On-Hop-Off bus. The tour began right across the street right outside the port gates. At that time the cost was $22/person and could be purchased with a credit card right at the bus. After doing the full loop on the bus, we spent time walking through the stands at the Mercado del Puerto by the port. It was an enjoyable day and didn't require any preplanning to do. Blog post from Montevideo

A few years ago we had a late night in port and I went to bed without switching my phone back to airplane mode. About 2 am I woke up when I heard a text message come through on my phone saying "Welcome to Cellular at Sea". Thank goodness I got the alert and got the phone switched off ASAP! It is fun looking back through my old text messages welcoming me to so many countries!