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friendswithdave

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  • Location
    NC
  • Interests
    Sports, children
  • Favorite Cruise Line(s)
    RCCL
  • Favorite Cruise Destination Or Port of Call
    Caribbean

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  1. No, doesn't ring a bell. I'm bad with names and can't remember the name of the environmental officer I chatted with for 10 minutes at the Fans get together.
  2. Day 6 - Sea Day. While the seas were OK, wife's mobility was limited now by the sore toe. We had the thermal spa morning and took it easy the rest of the day. I found happy hour in Rolling Stone for the second straight day and enjoyed a discounted Tennessee Lemonade - a new favorite of mine. After this I headed to the Holland America Fans reception in BB Kings. It wasn't planned but I stumbled into it and realized that would be a great event to chat with other HAL fans. 12-14 officers were present greeting guests as they entered and offered appetizers and champagne, which continued to flow freely. A few officers spoke and recognized the leader of the fans group. I also met an engaging retired couple from Florida who were likely 5 star mariners. A few officers stayed and chatted with guests including the environmental officer and Captain Timmers. It was great to meet with both of them and learn a little more about the ship, their personal lives, and HAL. Highly recommend this if it is offered on board. Dinner in Club Orange (I think I had the lamb shank - absolutely wonderful but I could only eat half of it. Wasn't sure why I wasn't that hungry.) and enjoyed the steel band for their "island music" show. While I hoped for reggae they played more old and new pop songs on their drums and pans. It was still enjoyable and I recommend it. I was tired early we retired after the show. Day 7 - Half Moon Cay. I didn't sleep well last night. HMC is always enjoyable and we planned for breakfast in the Lido and to head to the island. The weather looked iffy with a forecast high of 72 and it rained during breakfast. My appetite was still off but I assumed my stomach was just crying uncle with my excesses the rest of the week. With wife's still sore toe and the iffy weather we decided to skip HMC. Our friends went and said it was OK with just a few brief rain showers they could mostly avoid under the trees. We stayed on board, did the spa and visited a few parts of the ship. Wife's toe felt a little better today but my allergies were bothering me. We ordered burgers from the burger place through the app and they were good as usual. Neither of us finished ours. By dinner I was feeling a little tired and had an inkling that my allergies could be something else. I ate less than half of my dinner and skipped the comedian that everyone else attended while I went to the room and packed. Wife said the comedian rehashed some stuff from the previous set and she could take it or leave it. I forgot to mention the first dance show was postponed to the third night for the weather. On the third night they cancelled because of the high seas. Their second show was cancelled as well for the same reason so they did not perform all week. I slept better the next but still wasn't feeling right when I went to breakfast. I didn't feel terrible, just not quite 100%. I wore a mask at breakfast (and the rest of the day) except while eating. and only ate half my food. We debarked as late as possible with a 1:45 flight out. We relaxed in a lounge and left the ship during the final call around 9:40 AM. We may have been literally the last guests to leave the ship because we saw no one behind us and our bags were the only once in the bag area. With no lines debarkation was super quick. We called a Lyft XL, took it to the airport. Flight home via Southwest was fine. My friend G wasn't quite 100% with a minor cough and decided to take a COVID test when he got home: positive (his wife was negative). After hearing this, wife and I tested. I was positive as well. Since then, I've been segregating myself in a separate room in our house where I type this review now. We figure maybe we got it in the men's changing room or the steam room which we both enjoyed daily. Who knows. I am pleased to report my symptoms are very mild. Not being able to sleep well is the worst of them. Back to the title - worst cruise ever. The truth is I've taken 12-14 cruises in my life. All have been thoroughly enjoyable. That said, if I had to rank them all from best to worst, this one would come in as worst. None of this is the fault of HAL or the Rotterdam. Crew, ship, and food were all top notch, 10 out of 10. Entertainment was OK, I'll say 6 out of 10. However, the poor weather (almost every day), rockin ship, broken glasses, stubbed toe, CCL credit issue (I didn't mention this earlier. I didn't receive this credit and am still hoping I can get this worked out), and COVID which will adversely affect our Christmas and my ability to spend time with family, this wasn't the cruise experience we hoped for. Does this sour us on HAL? No. Would I recommend this ship? Yes. Would I recommend this itinerary? Yes, even this week. I know the weather for this week is a true anomoly. If yall have questions I'll do my best to answer. Happy holidays everyone!
  3. To answer a few questions, wife did take meds for seasickness and they helped some, but the drymouth is annoying to her. I'll suggest the seabands and ginger to her. Thanks for the suggestions. We booked the cruise through a travel agent. We booked the guarantee verandah and Club Orange with chosen room 4036 at the same time. Therefore our guarantee verandah was ours for just a few minutes until Club Orange was confirmed. A few minutes later our friends tried to upgrade to Club Orange but it was full. They were waitlisted and in July and then got it in September.
  4. Day 4 - San Juan (not St Thomas - that's Day 5) We had a relaxing morning and enjoyed breakfast in Club Orange and the thermal spa. Lunch was in the Lido and we enjoyed the sail into port from the Deck 12 forward lounge. Sailing in to San Juan is always beautiful. We walked off the ship around 1:30 and headed to a public beach about 30 minute walk away. Wife enjoyed getting on dry land! The walk was enjoyable as we escaped the more touristy areas and saw some of the real San Juan. We walked through a nice park, some slightly sketchy areas, and then to a beautiful walkway with elevated views of the ocean. Weather looked uncertain when we left and the rain held off for our walk. We arrived at the beach and enjoyed time at the public beach. From looking around it appeared we were the only cruise ship passengers there. Most appeared to be locals with a few tourists. It was all nice until the rain came. It started light and we hoped to stick it out by moving under a tree. However, it got heavier and looking west to where we we had to head back it looked worse. After 10 minutes we made the decision to try to catch a cab back. We headed to wear we thought we could catch a cab and took a pit stop for coffee. By now the rain ended but we decided to continue back after being unable to find a cab. However, we had a great walk back taking a different route and visiting the "street of statues" where there were many statues and memorials honoring many. We enjoyed this sojourn on our way back. PRO TIP - walk to Balnearo del Escambron. Both the walk and the beach are great. The rest of the afternoon and evening were uneventful with an enjoyable dinner at Club Orange. Day 5 - St Thomas Overnight wasn't as rocky as previous nights so we slept better. However, wife discover she apparently stepped on her glasses that fell or were knocked off her side table and they were partially broken not fitting quite right. Ugh. We enjoyed breakfast again in Club Orange and met our friends to catch a mini-bus to Coki Beach. We visited this beach four years ago and had a great experience. First, it was nice to see the sun. We probably had 30 minutes of sun total over the last four days. Today was partly cloudy with probably 50% sun. The ride over was enjoyable and direct. We rented a few chairs and found a nice place in the shade. After enjoying a few sodas, wife headed to her chair and stubbed her little toe on the chair - badly. It swelled quickly and looked a little bent. We split a fish sandwich and fries for lunch but wife was feeling like the trip was piling on to her with the seasickness followed by the toe. We got back to the ship and had a second lunch in the Lido. Wife visited the ship doctor to get eval and treatment for her toe. She taped it to the second toe and the x-ray indicated a likely fracture but no dislocation. Our strolls around the ship ended since wife didn't feel like walking any more than necessary. We had dinner in Club Orange and rested in the room the rest of the evening. As I remember, the seas weren't too bad this evening. That evening we discovered that three of the four of us got burned despite spending the whole time in the shade. PRO TIP - even if you're in the shade, wear sunscreen, SPF clothes, etc. We are experienced beach people and still got burned. I think now you can see where the title is going. The ship really is great. We have high standards for service and overall quality and these standards were met. Every meal was enjoyable with great food and service. Ship staff at all levels is high quality. All staff members are polite and cordial, helpful and friendly. I can't think of any issues here. Our issues on this cruise fall into the "stuff happens" category, with weather being the primary issue. Broken toe and glasses don't help either. More to follow.... Next - Day 6 at Sea
  5. Day 3 - Grand Turk. Wife still wasn't feeling well from the rockin ship so she stayed on board while I made a quick trip to shore early in the morning. Looked like the rain would hold off - but it didn't. I got halfway down the pier when the rain got heavy and I got good and wet. I waited in the shops for the rain to end, walked around the pool and beach area, and headed back to the ship. We didn't plan to spend much time in this port since we'd seen it before. We had another morning visit to the thermal spa, wife had a massage, and enjoyed the pool relatively crowd free. Friend G and I enjoyed some football by the pool like we did yesterday. We looked at the menu for dinner and it was underwhelming. We looked at the Lido menu and it looked great. For the first time in memory, we decided to skip the dining room / Club Orange for Lido dinner. It was a great choice. I had seafood paella which was full of great seafood and chicken tikka masala which had a nice spice level. The only issue with dinner was the food was so good I ate too much and was uncomfortably full. PRO TIP - if you always eat in the dining room, take a look at the dining room and lido menus. You might find the Lido to be a nice change of pace. The seas were still high and wife didn't feel well so we had a quiet evening watching football on the pool deck. Next - St Thomas
  6. Overnight on our first night I also learned that this ship does not have the floor lighting that comes on when you get up out of bed at night. Why this wasn't included on their newest ship is a mystery to me. PRO TIP - bring a night light for the bathroom. I'm pretty sure I hit the target every time but a night light would have helped. We had breakfast in Club O, did a morning cycle in the thermal spa, then enjoyed lunch in the Pinnacle Grill. PRO TIP - book lunch in the Pinnacle Grill for noon on sea days AND arrive around 11:50. This will get you the best seat. PRO TIP - the crab cakes are great as is the filet. For dessert, ask for the off-menu key lime pie. The waiter will say "I'll ask the chef" and they always bring it. It is truly outstanding. The ship seemed full but we rarely had issues with overcrowding. We make a point to avoid crowded areas wherever we can. We avoid the Lido during busy times, avoid the pool deck in early to mid-afternoons, and use the thermal spa in the mornings. During the afternoon we dallied around the ship but wife didn't feel great because the ship was still rockin. Weather was overcast with a few showers. We hoped the weather would settle as we headed east but it eased only marginally. That evening we enjoyed dress up dinner in CO and I think saw the comedian that evening. He was pretty good, we caught his late adults only show. He switched evenings with the dance troupe because the seas were too rough for them. Next Day - Grand Turk.
  7. Hello All, I appreciate all the reports and information submitted by everyone so I thought I would add my own. Wife and I travelled with a couple of long time friends. We arrived in Fort Lauderdale the day before - Dec 14. The weather was the story. Occasional rain and wind steady at 30 gusting to 45. ALL restaurants and stores on the beachfront in Hollywood were closed. Foot traffic was near zero as we walked around checking out the area. We had a nice dinner at a bayside restaurant and settled in early. We had Club Orange and got an 11:20 boarding time. We reserved a Lyft XL the day before for 10:10. PRO TIP - Lyft XL is great for four people and lots of bags. It was also cheaper than Uber XL. We figured a 40 minute trip from Hollywood including traffic and getting through security. We were all early, leaving at 10:05 and arriving at the ship at 10:30. Traffic was light since there are few tourists around in the awful weather. Check-in was super-fast, we were seated waiting to go on by around 10:40. Boarding started promptly at 11:00 and we got on board around 11:10. We had a leisurely lunch in the Lido and found a couch by the pool where we parked ourselves for much of the afternoon. PRO TIP - bring your Tervis cup. When I took it to the bar I hoped they would fill it up with my favorite Miami Vice. About half the time they did. This was probably 50% larger than the standard drink size. We also checked out our rooms. We got 4036 and 4034 near the front of the ship. We chose these rooms because of the giant balconies. I stepped it off and estimated the balcony to be 14' deep. This seemed to be about twice as deep as most of the rest of the balconies on the ship including the ones directly over our heads. PRO TIP - book the cheapest balcony possible then purchase Club Orange immediately to upgrade to the balcony of your choice. However, CO does sell out. We got the last CO on the ship and our friends went on a wait list. They eventually got it two months later. PRO TIP - we really enjoyed the thermal suite. I did cycles through the heated lounger, giant hot tub, steam room, sauna, then back to the loungers. Get there around 4:00 on embarkation day and it's pretty empty. By 5:00 it was full. Mornings are also less busy than afternoons. We had an early dinner in Club Orange. Wonderful service and food all week. That said, nothing on the main menu looked good to me so I got the new Morimoto Lobster dish and it was very good. We went to the EXC talk on the history of Holland America. I found that to be very informative and enjoyable. We retired on the early side because wife is sensitive to rough seas and the ship was really rockin'. She wasn't feeling great. We did hear one set in BB Kings and found the band to be tight but the vocalists not quite up to the standard from past trips. We read from another poster that rooms in this area are prone to noise from the theater and BB Kings. I happy to share we heard no noise from bands at all. However, we had very rough seas the first night. We did hear what sounded like distant explosions now and then. I'm pretty sure this was the front of the ship smacking against a large wave. It was unnerving and scary. TOMORROW - day at sea.
  8. You can take a chance. Some restaurants are busier than others. I would say Rudi's should almost always be available for a walk-in. Canelleto maybe, Tamarind and Pinnacle less likely. Depends on many factors including night of the week / cruise and how full the ship is.
  9. We did the same thing a year ago with an upsell from Verandah to Neptune. They also credited us our CO upgrade payments so the actual upsell cost was that much less.
  10. They maintain their ships well. 20 years from now they'll look exactly like their current ones - they won't be replaced.
  11. I'm interested in how you liked the lobster. I'm considering that next week.
  12. Thanks for sharing, we'll look for you when we board next week!
  13. Thanks for sharing the menus. We heard about the new Morimoto fresh dishes and it's good to see them come to life - even if for a surcharge.
  14. Insides on all the one-way cruises in Alaska are now around $350 pp. Put two of these together and you're sailing 14 days for around $100 per day all included.
  15. Update - I called the HAL customer service number and after a bit of a hold for the request, they added the AARP credit to my booking. TA either didn't want to do it or was unsuccessful.
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