SargassoPirate

I'm always hot.

When I'm out and about with a backpack, I usually carry a flat human-powered fan that I can whip out when I need it. I found a plastic one several years ago and it still works great.

For in the cabin use, I have a small battery/110 volt fan that folds down fairly small and I take it on every cruise. To save weight, I leave the batteries out and just use the 110 volt adapter. It's worth it since the effectiveness of the HVAC on the ships can vary widely and often the thermostat in the room is a placebo that's not connected to anything. I got mine from Campmor.com

So the bottom line is that people who get Noro probably have themselves to blame: they may not have washed their hands as often as they could have, and they have touched their hands to their faces after touching contaminated surfaces. Sure: they did not do it intentionally, but by failing to take precautions they significantly increased their risk.

BINGO! I grew up in the pre-vaccine days of polio. We were taught to wash our hands after touching anything in public and before we touched anything that was then going into our mouths.

Another thing to be watchful for is any food handler wearing plastic or rubber gloves. The only good those gloves do, for the most part, is keep that persons hands clean and put on a show for the general public. The gloves do little or nothing to protect you. I have observed food handlers and servers wearing plastic gloves scratch their nose, scratch their @ss, use their cellphone, scratch their head, and touch all sorts of surfaces and then touch food. :eek:

Also, when dining out and/or on a cruise ship, be aware of every surface you touch after washing your hands before eating . Did you touch a handrail on the way down the stairs, shake hands with the head waiter on the way in, grab ahold of the bottom of your chair to pull it in, handle the menu, or maybe the serving tongs at the buffet? Carry a little bottle of hand sanitizer with you and use it before you reach for that yummy dinner roll.:cool:

We are Princess regulars and I found the selection of complimentary self-serve beverages in the buffet to be much better on HAL. Unlike Princess you can get your own beverage at lunch and dinner, and lemonade was available about half the time. If I recall, it was fruit punch and peach drink the other times.

 

The coffee, according to my coffee-loving DH, is better on HAL but still not the best he`s ever had.

Thanks to all for the info.

Kate - anything is better than the Horizon Court swill on Princess. It's bad enough for me that I take Taster's Choice instant with me when we cruise on Princess - it's better than the reconstituted coffee syrup. She Who Must Be Obeyed switches over to tea for those cruises.

Thanks, Krazy Kruizers. That fresh brewed coffee will be a welcome treat for us, especially for She Who Must Be Obeyed.

We are experienced cruisers with Princess and RCCL. We just booked a T/A on the Eurodam mainly because the schedule worked - it puts us in Rome a day before we need to be in Amsterdam for an extended stay in Europe. That being said, I've been studying the information on the HAL website and trolling the boards here for information that will help us prepare. Since I can't get the search feature to work on the boards here, I'll post a few questions and hope that you experienced HAL cruisers can help out.

1) What sort of complimentary beverages are available at breakfast and lunch in the buffet? I like to have OJ at breakfast and lemonade at lunch.

2) Is the coffee in the buffet fresh brewed or is it made from coffee syrup like on Princess?

3) We do not have an assigned table for dinner. How does the "anytime" dining program work?

4) On formal nights, is smart casual OK for the buffet?

Thanks for your help.

No one will look after your money better than you will.

 

Cruise ship companies are in the business of getting as much money out of your pockets as possible. The way I see it, my job as passenger, is to see they get as little as possible. Treat it as a game.

 

Now, as a share holder, I object strenuously to this thread :D and hope everyone spends way overboard (excuse the pun!) :rolleyes:

I almost hate to post it here for fear the cruise line staff will see it and clamp down, but I really pulled a fast one on them last year. We did three cruises in a row, B2B2B. On the last night of the first cruise, I went down to the gift shop and stocked up on scotch. On the last night, they don't bother to hold it and deliver it to your cabin, you can just walk out with it. The next two cruises, I enjoyed a little scotch on the rocks on my balcony each night. Ahhhh, life was good.

We almost had a similar situation at the same port, but it was on embarkation day.

We arrived on a shuttle and were directed to place our bags in a certain area on the curb. It was utter chaos and I could tell from the color-coded tags that most of the bags standing unattended on the curb were from passengers disembarking that day (why those bags were at the curb is still a mystery) I took one look at the mess, and decided we were going to roll our pullmans to the security checkpoint. We placed them on the conveyor belt for scanning, retrieved them at the other end, and within 30 minutes of arriving at our cabin we were unpacked. :cool: NO WAITING for the bags to be delivered.

From then on, we self embark and disembark and life is a lot smoother on both ends.