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@MomentsNoticeOnly canned water was available to take on tours. Be sure to bring a refillable cup. We usually drink tap water. Perrier is available too. I’m sure they will restock in Miami and there will probably be different choices. Loving Mike West’s lectures. Yesterday was aircraft carriers; today will be Funnels, Flags and Funny Paint. Currently waiting for a cook off competition between Captain Kevin and Hotel General Manager Darren. It’s standing room only. They just announced that they will be streaming it will on the Main Stage. I wish they would stream all of the shows into our cabins. Yesterday’s cooking class was how to make crème brûlée with an Executive Pastry Chef. An interesting woman who has been with HAL since 2010. She was previously a land based trainer but now is rotating amount my the ships. Dinner at the Canaletto was outstandingly. Particularly good were the veal meatballs, house salad and osso buco (Monday’s special) We continue to enjoy dinner in the MDR too. Service continues to be excellent. We have been substituting vegetables on our entree plates every night. Salmon, steak, chicken and lasagna always seem to be available. I like the small portions. I usually have an appetizer( last night it was 3 tangerine shrimp served over sweet potato purée) and a soup or salad before my entree. I’ve never had room for dessert.

I am on the Oosterdam, requested and received bar soap. Stuffed a bag full of laundry, amazed at what I could get in the bag, well worth the $30 ( European price). Happy to answer specific questions.

Mike West’s lecture this morning was about shipwrecks and the importance of accurate time to mariners. There was chilled peach soup in the Lido for lunch. Hopefully the promised berry soup will appear later in the week. This afternoon we swam across the Atlantic. We have reservations for dinner tonight at Canaletto. I’ll try to remember to take some pictures. Orange Party tonight too

@*Miss G* The weather is beautiful. Low 70s but there is a bit of motion in the ocean. The chief chef was very amusing. Shh…the cold soup is our secret. Mike West is an extremely interesting lecturer. Here is a bit of his bio: A retired career US naval officer who spent the majority of his career at sea. In an unusual career, Mike served in all shipboard departments, to include being both the chief engineer of a large Navy ship and the commanding officer (captain) of a destroyer. He also taught and coached rowing at the US Naval Academy in Annapolis for several years. He is nationally published in the subject of naval and maritime history. Mike has been speaking on Holland America ships for almost five years and relishes the prospect of sharing his love of ships with others on the Big Blue Ships. Unfortunately, on the one sea day he isn’t lecturing it will be a repeat of the EXC lecture I heard on the Zuiderdam in February on Marconi.

Enjoying our first transatlantic crossing. I think we have already established a routine for our days. I run upstairs for coffee and tea when I wake up and bring it back to the cabin for us to drink on the verandah. (This is why I love aft cabins on deck 8.) Later, a light breakfast in the Lido. My DH seems determined to try every offering. I have been enjoying the smoked salmon and the Asian options available at Distant Lands. Time for our walk on the promenade. Read, puzzles. Light lunch, love the salads. Had Dive In once, like that vegetarian option. Read, puzzles,nap. Dinner at a fixed table for 2 in MDR. Our waiters, Lukemon and Fendra are excellent. Quickly learned are preferences (extra vegetables) and our going out of the way to make us happy. Socialize at Sea View Bar after dinner, I agree with Jacqui that the servers there are the best. Enjoyed my first Slot Pull yesterday. Fun way for some of the roll call members to reconnect again. We all came out $1 ahead! We are traveling for 3 weeks with a carryon so for the first time I used the laundry onboard. Took 48 hours. Amazed at what I could get in the bag… 1 tshirt, 2 pair of jeans, 3 pair of yoga pants, 2 pair athletic shorts, 2 short sleeve dress shirts and 2 long sleeve dress shirts for $30. Internet is horrible. ( I don’t think it’s CC). Unable to load any pictures even though it’s 6 am. Happy to try to find answers to any questions you may have about the ship.

Today is Funchal, Madeira. We took a HAL tour called Botanic Beauty. First stop was the Mercado. We reboarded the bus to travel up the hill to Monte where there was time to visit the church. Next onto the monorail to travel to the Botanic Gardens. Our final stop was a wine cellar where we could taste Madeira wine. We received a notice a notice on the Navigator about satellite connectivity. Here is a portion: As we approach our Atlantic crossing, we would like to take this opportunity to bring to your attention that as we travel across the ocean, it is typical to see a reduction in deliverable satellite connectivity. Although the high bandwidth satellite footprint does extend into many sea and ocean areas, it does not cover the entire Atlantic Ocean region. As a result, we are anticipating a reduction in bandwidth availability, which may result in a slower browsing experience, up to partial loss of signal and temporary outages. Please do not worry if you don’t hear from me, I will post when I am able to get a signal.

After 4 days of organized tour, we decided to venture out in Lisbon alone. Told a cabdriver at the port we wanted to go to Museu Nacional do Azulejo, also known as the National Tile Museum. The driver said 25 euros, I said 15, we settled on 20 but I still think it should have been 15. None of the drivers directly outside the port were using a meter. They wanted to take you on a tour and wanted cash. The museum is set in Madre de Deus Convent, founded in 1509 and its collection is a journey through the history of tile, from the 15 century to present day. They have a work shop where the murals are restored. Some our favorites. Afterwards, we took a metered cab to Mercado da Ribera’s Time Out Market Lisboa. Anything you could possible imagine to eat or drink. Unfortunately once again my hunger got the best of me so no food porn. Yesterday we enjoyed a relaxing sea day and the Meet and Greet in the morning.

@Heartgrove Do you think the vibration is as bad on the higher decks? I haven’t noticed on deck 9 during this sailing.

I have not felt vibration when eating in the main dining room. I have felt the ship rocking because of high waves. I have heard some creaking because of high waves. I agree with @Crew News the only time I have felt vibration was when thrusters were used when docking. I love the sound of the sea. It is early in the morning; I am currently sitting on the quiet aft deck of the Oosterdam. I cannot hear the wake. I don’t ever remember hearing it inside a deck 8 aft cabin.

I love aft cabins. I have never been bothered by the noise. They pick up the pool lounge chairs before you go to bed and set them back up in the morning. It is not like being under the Lido Restaurant with carts rolling early in the morning and late at night.

After 4 days of organized tour, we decided to venture out in Lisbon alone. Told a cabdriver at the port we wanted to go to Museu Nacional do Azulejo, also known as the National Tile Museum. The driver said 25 euros, I said 15, we settled on 20 but I still think it should have been 15. None of the drivers directly outside the port were using a meter. They wanted to take you on a tour and wanted cash. The museum is set in Madre de Deus Convent, founded in 1509 and its collection is a journey through the history of tile, from the 15 century to present day. They have a work shop where the murals are restored. Some our favorites. Afterwards, we took a metered cab to Mercado da Ribera’s Time Out Market Lisboa. Anything you could possible imagine to eat or drink. Unfortunately once again my hunger got the best of me so no food porn. Looking forward to a relaxing sea day and the Meet and Greet tomorrow.

Although our port was Cadiz we decided to take a tour of Seville with Spanish Day Tours; thank you Betsy @BlackJack2 for organizing. The bus ride was about 1.5 hours. First we went to Plaza de Espana near Maria Luisa Park. Beautiful tile murals.This one is Don Quixote.Next up was the Barrio de Santa Cruz-Seville Old Town (Jewish Quarter). The streets were narrow and looking through some of the doorways we could see into the terraces. This lead us to the palace.The stone work, Wood work, Iron work, And especially the tile work was amazing. A quick view of the cathedral and it was as time to board the bus to return to the ship.

Wonderful foodie tour coordinated by @Frontrow with We Love Malaga tours. Our guide Damien was fantastic. Learned a bit about salt cod. Went to the market. Learned about Iberico ham. And olives And spices And produce Now it was time for tapas. We went to three excellent restaurants. Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures of the food🤨 Here are the restaurants. Delicious olives, eggplant, pork and meatballs. Wonderful pinchos- ham, smoked salmon, shrimp, octopus and fig (?) Mushroom croquettes and cod. Wine and other beverages available at every stop!

No sign of Verifly In Barcelona yesterday.

Today we took a one of our “free” ship tours- Discover Elche: UNESCO World Heritage Site. Although the bus ride was an hour and 20 minutes, it was interesting to see the country side. We selected this tour to see the palm trees and gardens. We were not disappointed. We also had some time in the city.

We are loving our time in Barcelona. Enjoyed our visit to Sagrada Familia this morning. The architecture is great but the food is incredible. Tonight’s dinner at Rao. BURRATA PUGLIESE- Italian burrata with red pesto, fried eggplant LAMB TERRINE with yogurt, mint and cucumber sauce CEVICHE Sea bass marinated in lime juice, red onion, sweet potato chips and celery lime ice cream PAELLA red prawns,squid, clams And IBERIAN PORK CHEEK again-my husband finished it before I could take a picture.

I also look for my restaurants on Trip Advisor. I wanted Catalan Food within walking distance for dinner last night. I picked out two places Xera-# 5 of 8000+ restaurants in Barcelona. I thought we would be ok without reservations if we arrived when they opened at 7, wrong, they were full. The wonderful host walked us across the “street” to their sister restaurant, RAQ, the 2nd restaurant I had previously picked out! Loving the Cava and the delicious tomato rubbed bread served before each meal. I don’t usually take pictures of our food but did remember before the plates were empty: octopus, scallops and pork cheek. Tonight we have a reservation for Xera.

I book with a PCC and often receive upsell directly from HA usually beginning about 2 weeks before my cruise. The first offer- $499 pp to upgrade from a verandah to a signature suite. Second offer the following week $ 349 pp. Five days before the cruise $ 149 pp (Neptune was $699 pp) I called the number on the email. It was answered immediately. I told her the area of the ship I would consider. She gave me 5 possible room numbers in that area. We looked at the deck plan. We discussed disadvantages of a connecting room. I booked a signature suite with her assistance for $149 pp for a 2 week sailing.

@ger_77We saw them too. This not how we did field trips at my school! DH is napping. I’m enjoying a Cava on the hotels roof top deck. We have 9 am guided tour tickets for Sagrada tomorrow.

Flight arrived at 8 am and Hotel Jazz had our room ready.😊 In order to stay awake we walked down Rambla. First stop was Boqueria. Although the vendors were still putting food out, it got crowded quickly. My husband sample the meat. I was more interested in the seafood. Next we explored the streets of Barri Gotic. Beautiful area.

@LMaxwell Thank you for your review. I hope you included your comments on HALs post cruise survey too. There are differences when cruising HAL for a shorter cruise but I’m sure that is true on many lines. I strongly agree with your comments about removing the cabanas from the Lido pool area. Also, the Lido should be open later. In fact, I think a small section of the Lido should be open all day. Of course, there should be a night light in the bathroom too. We enjoy the main dining room food and service. We have fixed seating, the waiter quickly learns our likes and dislikes. On a personal note, I like to dress up and I like to see my husband dressed up too. I remind him of the dress code in the MDR and he will put on a pair of khakis and a Hawaiian shirt when we are sailing in the Caribbean. I like the “formal” feeling of the MDR. I feel like if there is a published rule “no shorts” it should be enforced; if not, the rule should be changed.

I believe we all did, sailing from Barcelona on Saturday. But I’m going with cruisers with boots on the ground. The app is a pain, I deleted it in frustration and I’m not downloading it again. Will complete HAL health assessment and carry my vaccination card

You are correct; suite gratuity is $17/day. Internet will be $10-20/day. Are you sure you aren’t going to want a soda or non-alcoholic smoothie while onboard? If you have your heart set on a special excursion, you should book it now.

@Reds4life I book any MUST do excursions ahead of time. FYI- you can use your OBC for Crew Appreciation (formerly known as gratuities). 15.50/day for 2 people for a week is $217.

Anyone have experience using your iPhone’s data on Verizon when out of the country. Best info I could find was it cost $10 a day which includes calling.