USN59-79

We will be on Sojourn 33 days starting 20 February. I had read that you can make a reservation every ten days on a cruise. Went to "My Account" and tried to make a reservation. Clicked on Reserve Now and got a red circle with a diagonal line. In other words, no can do. Here is what the instructions there say: "The Grill can be requested online prior to sailing subject to availability. Online reservations close 15 days prior to sailing. Due to high demand, you can make one reservation per cruise only." So what does that mean? Are no reservations available 36 days before our sailing? Can I really only make one reservation on a 33 day portion of the World Cruise? Should we just forget about Thomas Keller on our upcoming cruise? Ray

Thanks for the vote of confidence. A problem I have is that I tend to over think a problem. When I was a student in an advanced Navy electronics school I got the nickname "Nit (my last name) for some of the questions I asked the instructor. Wasn't all bad, as they asked me to stay on as an instructor and then promoted me to Warrant Officer, so it worked out in the end. Ray

Thanks for that. Guess that is what happens when you have an engineering rather than a classical education. The technical side of me would think either natural birth or c-section would qualify as "of woman born", but that is why I never play trivia on a cruise. Ray

Not sure what that means. The only Macduff I have heard of was the person who killed MacBeth. Ray

Still cool (21F) here, but with clear skies. Should warm up a little with snow by Tuesday. I had always assumed caesarian section was named after the birth of Caesar. Looked it up and found it to be a myth. With the advent of anesthesia and antibiotics in the 19th century, the procedure gained popularity. Ray

That makes sense for Ontario. Since we have this kind of weather about once every ten years, most outside faucets don't have their own separate shut off valve. Ray

Another cold day here in the Pacific NW. 11F all night and 16F now. What happened to Global Warming? Two days ago I put insulation on the outside faucets on my house and my rental house to keep them from freezing. Hope it works. Fortunately we had little snow and it is gone from the roads. Didn't evaporate, as it has to thaw first for that to happen, but there is a word for when a solid turns directly to a gas but I can't think of it now. While I will celebrate Korean/American Day, this is also a great day for Taiwan. They just had their presidential election and the party that is for Taiwanese independence from Communist China prevailed. We have been watching news from their on YouTube for the past three months and it is good that it is finally over. In 2020, Sara went back to Taiwan for a month to vote. She didn't think it was necessary this year and we will be there for awhile in March and April when we debark the Sojourn. Ray

Interesting story. Hard to fathom why the Vietnam government would allow a tourist shop to sell the item and then not allow it to leave the country after the tourist has purchased it. I would have expected U.S. Customs to raise their eyebrows as it looks like ammunition being imported. What I would hope Princess would do is notify future cruisers in Vietnam that items like this may be confiscated by the Vietnam authorities so they refrain from buying them. I assume they were made from actual shell casings and they may still have the primer attached. Ray

Actually, the roll call for Sojourn starting in January covers the whole World Cruise. We are on just a segment, February 20 to March 24, so that is the one we will use. For a long time, it just had 25 replies while a similar one for Holland America had more than 200. It now has more than 70. It is what it is; small ship, small roll call. Ray

Thanks for the update. Do they still cruise around the port area on their tandem bike?

Many times when we sailed on the Amsterdam, Henk was the Hotel GM and his wife Chrystal was the very helpful Guest Relations Manager. Is she no longer with Holland America? Hope I spelled her name right. Just remembered that it had a y instead of an i. Ray

I have no problem with gamblers getting a "free" cruise. I understand math and know that the more you gamble the more you will lose. Gamble less and lose less; don't gamble at all and lose nothing. Ray

In my experience, Brazil has always been a pain concerning tourist visas. In 2003 we went from Santiago to Rio via Antarctica on the Amsterdam. No visas required, but when we arrived in Rio the authorities came aboard to harass the passengers. Half of us went to the theater with our passports to meet the authorities. The other half went to the dining room to get finger printed by the authorities. Then the reverse. Lost half a day so most excursions were cancelled. In 2009 we took the Carnival Splendor from Miami to San Francisco with a stop in Brazil. My TA was told by Carnival that no visas were required for Brazil. Went to CC about ten days before the sailing and found that you couldn't board without a visa. Sent the passport to their embassy in Miami and got it on time. Saw more than 100 passengers couldn't board and stayed overnight in Miami, visiting the embassy and meeting the ship at the next port. Incidentally, that was when I found how useful Cruise Critic was. Ray

Forgot to mention that it is good to know that most others have the same feeling about visiting India as I have. I remember the hassle to get a visa and what it was like to walk in the streets. We were in a bus and our tour guide was gushing about what a clean city Mumbai was. At the same time I was noticing a local urinating against the tire of an adjacent bus. Part of the adventure! Ray

I have really enjoyed @StLouisCruisers Antarctica pictures. We were there ten years ago today on the Amsterdam. Luckily we had wonderful weather and it was one of our most memorable cruises. No zodiacs, but we were able to mingle with penguins onshore in the Falklands and Argentina. I was always reticent to recommend cruising to Antarctica because of the chance they would experience much worse weather than we enjoyed. Got the last thing we need for our upcoming February cruise; our Australia electronic visa. Our DS and DDIL came over this week and I had the DS help me get it. They require you to use something called NFC capability on the iPhone to scan your passport, and I had never used that or turned it on before. I believe any other visas required, like Timor or Indonesia will be provided as group visas on board. We are looking forward to boarding the Sojourn and perhaps trying the caviar and vodka thing, but not to the long flight to Sydney. Ray

Not many people can accurately predict the weather three months before embarking. It would be nice if you could cancel and get your money back when you know a week or two before the cruise that a storm is coming. So people do go on a cruise if the weather is going to be bad.

Hank @Hlitner mentioned he only remembered the name of one HAL cruise director. Having cruised HAL enough to earn 5*, I also only remember one HAL CD. He was outstanding, managing the onboard entertainment and always available, even helping on the pier when entering or leaving a port. He was usually on the Amsterdam or Prinsendam, particularly on Grand or World Cruises. He was Gene Moi Moi Young. Apparently the job can be very stressful. He eventually moved to another cruise line and took his own life. He is missed. Ray

In case you are wondering about the split, I was told that Indonesians are forbidden by their religion (Muslim) from handling alcohol, thus those jobs go to the Filipinos. Ray

Here are some pictures at the border between North and South Korea. The Pueblo XO was Ed Murphy. One of the pictures shows him and his wife and son, another the bridge from North to South, and another inside the building exactly on the border where representatives of the two countries can hold meetings. The military person represented the United Nations.

Thanks, just what I needed to know. Ray

Slightly off topic, but the topic was due for a change. We have a number of shoulder bags from previous cruises, mainly on HAL. Can we expect one on our upcoming Sojourn WC portion, or should we bring one with us? Ray

Good day from damp, cloudy Western Washington. DW and I will be leaving soon to pick up her car from the body shop. She had a minor fender bender a couple of weeks ago and it should be ready this morning. I am always learning something from the Daily. Have been to Ketchikan many times starting in 1996 on the old Noordam, but just learned today that it was on the island of Revillagigedo. And although I have a degree in math, I first learned of the Indian math prodigy Ramanujan here on the Daily. I received my bachelors degree in math and masters in education while still on active duty in the Navy. They had a program with visiting professors where you went to school Friday night, all day Saturday and half a day Sunday until you got your degree. Got the math degree while stationed in the Philippines with Laverne College and the education degree while stationed on Oahu with Pepperdine University. So I retired from the Navy as a Master Chief with a Masters Degree. Ray

I am wondering about the policy also. We will be first time cruisers on SB in two months and this is the first I have heard of 18% gratuities onboard. When the literature from SB states "Gratuities are neither required or expected" there was no * saying "except at the spa". Are there other places on the ship where gratuities are expected and required?

Not sure I understand this business model. A passenger pays $90. plus 18% or $16.20 to have her nails done and the worker gets the $16.20 for her work. Who gets the $90.?

Actually, the previous libraries such as the one on the previous Amsterdam were much better. However, when they went from no libraries to the new libraries, it certainly was an improvement. Ray