cruzingnut

@TableGirl, thanks for posting about your ferry/train tour.  We'll be doing this in September and it's nice to hear how the tour was. Now I just have to hope it doesn't rain!  Fingers crossed but I know this is Alaksa and it does whatever it wants, whenever it wants.  

Linda R.

Unfortunately, the Beechers Mac & Cheese is nothing like it was pre Covid.  It's really gone downhill.  I can't comment on if it's available at dinner in CO though as we only go there for breakfast.

Linda R.

4 hours ago, hmatt said:

Believe this is called a legendary cruise, didn’t realize it is basically 

backtoback cruise, with turnaround in Tokyo after nineteen days.

We are 14 points away from 4 stars, anyone know if the second part

of cruise we will be able to get the 4 stars? Free laundry will be so

nice!

Thank you

I think it was just recently released as a 2 part cruise; maybe trying to fill the ship.  If you only need 14 days to get to laundry "nirvana" (Yay!), and you book this whole thing as 2 cruises, you should get it. 

Linda R.

6 hours ago, WriterOnDeck said:

I'll communicate it to my contacts in Seattle, especially in connection with the Sept. stop in Dutch Harbor on our Majestic Japan cruise.

I'm hoping that details may be a bit better for this stop in September.  Providing we get in.  I was on the 2017 too when we had that looong 13 days at sea from San Diego to Japan!   Checked my blog for this picture that I entitled "Exit, stage left!".

Linda R.

Did you actually dock?  For some reason I thought you tendered ashore.  I think I know where you docked then and with my main purpose of birding, that location should work well for me. 

Linda R.

I've been waiting with bated (barely!) breath for reports on your stop here!  We tried to go years ago but got canceled due to 50mph winds.  Any way you can mark on a map the location of the ship and where you tendered to?  We are supposed to be going there on our way to Japan (53 day); I'm mainly interested in birding so if I know where the tender will take us, that will help me plan where I want to go. 

Yes, the large eagle is a female; they are quite a bit larger than the males.  The 2 that are mottled colored are somewhere between 1-2 years old.

Linda R.

Thanks for your great description and the pictures from the Juneau tour!  Looks amazing and the small size sounds perfect.   I may have to consider it in August.

Linda R.

Great pictures and memories!  I remember one presentation that the crew recorded and showed at the end of either a Grand or a WC where Henk and Christel rode their bike into the pool!  That got a lot of laughs!  Miss Dolly......❤️.  Friso looks so young there!  I see Presty in one of the pics.

ms Amsterdam was our favorite ship; we had over 900 days on her.  Beginning in 2001 with our very first trans-atlantic from FLL to Rome.  The 2010 WC....so many memories and friends we made over the years on her.  The 2020 WC where we left her to fly home never realizing it would be our last time on her.  Our extended family!

Picture of the Amsterdam lying off Petropavlovsk, Russia on the 2010 (wrong way!🤣) world cruise and of our last sight of her in Freemantle, AU March 2020.

Sorry, I'm all sentimental about our time on her...😭

Linda R.

3 hours ago, Copper10-8 said:

The Hotel GM, Henk Mensink, and his wife Christel (as GRM) have done the GWV at least ten years in a row now (with Christel taking a few years off recently). Captain Friso Kramer Freher Gezegd is still relatively new at it after taking over from Captain Jonathan Mercer when the latter retired

Longer than that, for sure.  They were on for our first WC in 2010.  I don't remember when they started but Henk told us at one point how long they've been doing the WC and it's been for many years.  Christel is retired and Henk is not far behind. 

It was fun last year having Captain Friso after so many years of him "taking the ship out" with Captain Mercer. 

Linda R.

I just booked too!  Great itinerary and finally getting to visit more of the South Island of NZ than just Picton.  Some new stops in AU also.  PNG, too!  Went in 2013 just before they went to Sharia rule. 

I agree with @WriterOnDeck.  We do not need to do west Africa again and I don't expect the situation around the Suez to change much in our favor.

Linda R.

8 hours ago, POA1 said:

 

I checked with Michelle. We did not receive an invitation to a Mariner's Lunch,  I don't know if there was none, or if they held one and shunned us.

There was no Mariner Lunch on this cruise,  nor the 12 day cruise prior.  Seems they are not doing that any longer on the "shorter" cruises.  I'm not sure about the longer ones (Legendary, Grands, WC).  I don't remember if we had one on the WC last year.

Linda R,

Ok, after a comedy of errors, mainly on my part, I managed to make an account for myself.  Thanks for the help from everyone!

Linda R.

Just now, TiogaCruiser said:

Do you need to sign out first before making a new account?

I wasn't signed in, I made sure of that.

Just now, KruisinKath said:

If the sign in email and password boxes are already filled in when you get to that box, it’s just auto-filling. You should be able to delete the info in each box and proceed. 

I tried that and it said wrong email/password, lol.  Thing is, I can't get to the actual page where you create an account.  You know, where you put in the password you want and then have to re enter it just to be sure?  Still need to try it on a different computer....then if that doesn't work, I'll call the Mariner Society for help. 

Linda R.

19 minutes ago, nw gardener said:

@cruzingnut, I believe you will need separate emails as that is what fouled us up when DH did his own account. DH and I in the past for HAL used our shared email.  Did  the create account with his email,  however it also assigned him a new mariner number 😔...Luckily a quick call to the mariners society fixed that problem.

I actually clicked on "create account" and then started filling it out.  I wasn't signed in when I did this....maybe I'll try it on a different computer.  If that doesn't work, I'll give mariners a call.  Thanks!

I've had an account with HAL for years but it's under my husbands name.  I'd like to create one for myself but I can't.  I click to Create Account but when I put in my name, DOB and zip code, the sign in email and password spots are already populated by my sign in for my husband.  Does anyone have a separate account from their other family members?  I've got FCC that I'd like to check on but can't without my own account.

Thanks,

Linda R.

39 minutes ago, Ready2go11 said:

 

cooking demonstration in Rolling Stone Lounge

 

Stowaway who came out last night.  I read is some prior post how grasshoppers boarded in South American and the Amazon.  Since our ship just came from the south perhaps this one has survivied so far. 

 

 

Does anyone one know the function of this just inside our cabin door?  We are thinking it is a motion detector???

It's a flashlight of sorts.  If you can pry it out of the wall, that is.

Linda R.

@richwmn, I've been following the blogs of people on this cruise.  We were going on but had to cancel it but i do have some friends onboard.  One is coming with us on the Japan cruise so I gave her a heads up.  I'm hoping she was able to attend; nice idea to have that get together!

Linda R.

They have indeed closed the DR on embarkation day this Sunday.  I checked the Navigator app and in capital letters, it says DR closed.  We always go there to avoid the madhouse up in the Lido..... 

Linda R.

9 minutes ago, The-Inside-Cabin said:

People are still talking about 2015.  Must have been spectacular 

It WAS amazing!  https://lindavesadventures.com/2015/04/30/april-8-2015-mariner-event-at-ephesus-turkey/

5 minutes ago, The-Inside-Cabin said:

I may have that backwards.    I think 2019 was Amsterdam and 2017 was Turkey?   Maybe it was 2015??

Amsterdam was 2019 WC.

2 hours ago, The-Inside-Cabin said:

Off ship events were always the exception.   I think the last one was 2019.   All parties from 2016 and 2018 and 2023 were on the ship.    I think they had off ship events in 2017 (Amsterdam) and 2019 (Turkey).  I was never aware of what was planned for 2020. 
 

This was a very nice party, lots of participation- everyone who attended had a great time from my POV.    It's always about the people and participation for me - the venue is secondary.  
 

I always treat every cruise as if it's my first and last.  

I had "inside" info into what the plan was for the 2020 WC party so that would have been a big "do" off the ship.   I guess I got spoiled with Kusadasi and Ephesus in 2015 and then the Rijks Museum on 2019.  The big party in Bali (2013) was on the ship and that was pretty awesome.  And, I think the 2010 WC had a big South African Braai onboard the ship.  So, you're right, there are plenty of times that the celebration is held on the ship.

Linda R.

5 hours ago, The-Inside-Cabin said:

Party in progress.   Great time.  Lots of food 

 

Gus is here 

 

Is this fair the "big shindig" that happens on the WC?   I'm still bummed over the fact that 2020 was going to be on top of the "surfboard" hotel in Singapore.  I would hope there would me more to it than this.... 

Linda R.

@jimdee3636, @OlsSalt, @DCThunder, @cruisemom42

The 2010 WC went east....we dubbed it "The Wrong Way Cruise".  The time changed on sea days for the most part and was done midday.  2PM came along and it was immediately changed to 3PM.  It made it a bit easier during the day, rather than at night but it was still pretty brutal overall.  It was nice not to loose an hour at night but it was still hard.  Plus, (not us) a lot of people were pretty peeved at NOT having their chosen activities happening due to the lost hour.

The bonus of this direction was that we went to Asia area in the spring.  Cebu Island had all the cherry Trees in blossom; that was amazing!  We also went to Petropavlovsk before crossing back to the US and had a great experience there.  I don't think Russia will be on any cruise anymore though...

The other thing about this cruise was that it was NOT a true circumnavigation.  It began in Ft. Lauderdale and ended in San Diego.  Despite the direction of travel and not going all the way around the world, we loved the trip (of course, it was our first WC) and felt it was worth it overall.  More "jaded" now, I'd prefer not to travel that way at this point.

Linda R.

7 hours ago, Cruising Is Bliss said:

 

Agreed. Interesting that the survey asked about ship preference. I would love to do a world cruise on Zaandam or Volendam.

I know exactly why they were asking about ship preference.  Last year was the first year they did it on a larger ship.  The smaller ships are set up for long cruises in that they have more storage below for supplies.  They also have more storage in the cabins for passengers.  You usually need different clothing for where you are going to be around the world.  The larger ships were designed more for short trips and we heard stories of toilet paper and other supplies being stored in unsold cabins!  On prior world cruises (I've taken several starting back in 2010) they had several Balls that were held in the showroom.  There is a dance floor in that venue so it worked well for as many people that wanted to, to gather there.  On the Zuiderdam last year, we had one "ball" and it was split up between 3 venues; Rolling Rock, Ocean Bar and Billboard Online.  Each venue had music that represented those venues.  For us, we wanted to go to Ocean Bar since that music suits us more than the others.  We couldn't get near it so went to Billboard and at least found a couple places to sit.  Rolling Rock was busy, but too loud and not really what we wanted.  Not that we wanted Billboard, we just wanted to be part of the celebration SOMEwhere.  We stayed a short while and then went to our cabin. 

All of the world cruises we did (4 1/2) were on the Amsterdam.  I LOVED that ship.  Just like coming home any time we boarded her.  I tried, I really did, to transfer that over to the Zuiderdam.  I even went around saying "Different home, same family".  Meaning that the crew, who we consider extended family, was the same.  They worked hard, really hard and did the best they could.  Henk and his staff worked their butts off to adapt the world cruise to that ship.  For us, it didn't really work, much as I wanted it to.  Although, there were lots of issues along the way that didn't help the situation.  Supply issues; one country wouldn't give us 8 whole containers of supplies that we were counting on, etc. 

I'll admit that I'm very biased towards the smaller ships and I'm not saying I won't go on a WC on one of the larger ones (we aren't on this years).  We had over 900 days on the Amsterdam so it's quite understandable that she is/was our all time favorite ship. 

One last thing to consider with smaller ships is the places you can go!  Over the years, we visited some very out of the way places and docked places that the larger ships will never be able to.  And, considering some small ports around the world are beginning to limit the size of the ships they let in...I think it's wise to stick to smaller ships.  Otherwise it will be the same old, same old for every world cruise.

Wow, I didn't plan on writing all that but there ya go!

Linda R.