SilvertoGold

I was wondering if Security is ever involved with this type of occurrence? And would the post about the drunk entertainers in the hot tub be the type of occasion for Security to be called?

Being a paper-person I keep it simple: one binder per cruise, dividers, hole punch, coloured fine-tip felt pens and highlighter. Mark with * all the pages I need to take on actual cruise.

9 miles: wow! Certainly the city to do that marathon in :) Hope you have a wonderful continuation of your cruising! Thanks for your posts on this thread, very enjoyable and informative.

You should have them before you leave. Have a great Christmas and enjoy those cruises! Looking forward to haring about them and how you like the Koningsdam!

Could someone explain how the "request to be ticketed" works. Have used FlightEase before but never asked for ticketing ourselves. We requested seats on the FlightEase HAL site and that went through. If you ask for being ticketed, I assume after final payment only, but any advantage to when?

Have experienced three reds, three whites or two of each and a glass of champagne. each ship does it slightly differently. You can learn a lot with a good wine guy. Jade was the best we saw this year.

Thanks to both Mike and cunnorl for these great posts! We have enjoyed the Noordam and it is wonderful to hear about the crew (fantastic!), ports and general life on board these cruises DownUnder.

I agree, everyone has been great, very helpful, with lots of ideas and good advice. It is very much appreciated! You guys rock :)

Fantastic! I have made notes. So looking forward to seeing your city!

Thanks! One further question: where will your scenario happen? Hobart, our first port in Australia)? Noordam in early April. Glad to be back to a few ports in Australia!

Fantastic info! We are in a similar position: boarding ship in Auckland, 6 ports there, then sailing to Hobart as first Australian port, then Melbourne and then Sydney which is the last port in Australia and onto the South Pacific, Hawaii and Canada ultimately. It is booked as one cruise for us but some pax will be disembarking in Sydney. Could you explain what should happen in Australia for us. Thanks!

Yikes, yes, I was thinking of Wellington. Too many ports on this 39 day cruise! Your info is very helpful and the maps excellent :) Would you know if the area around Beach and Bay is worth the walk from the dock? Have read that is an interesting area with a lot of shops and restaurants. Thanks for your help.

Go when you want! This happened to a friend in FtL, they didn't even look at the Check-in time. We haven't seen anyone but disabled (and probably Pres Club) allowed to skip the actual line. Lunch is usually noon to 1 pm. Show up by maybe 10 to 1 and you will be fine. Verifly is not used now, apparently. Have a super cruise!!!

Appreciate the great photos! Always great to see a HAL ship that we've been on. Could someone explain which dock? The one by the stadium which is quite far from the centre of Melbourne? Whichever dock, could we walk into town?

OP: glad your embarkation lunch was perfect! I was wondering if it was served course-by-course. In the two months+ we were on this ship this year, the MDR was serving both "small plates" and the "large plates" at once. This was a negative experience if you had a hot "large" and it would sit there going cold while you ate the "small"!

Ours says 22 - 50 days is $300 DP and 51+ days is $1000 DP Credit is based on number of days, not stateroom categories. You can use as many FCDs as you need for longer cruises.

We have found that the regular Front Desk people are maybe not that well trained or experienced. If you can get a one-stripe Front Desk Officer, they are almost always very good and seem to clue in immediately.

Just like the really excellent dessert flambes of old.

Have done this one many times, 16 to 18 days R/T Vancouver and found the 5 days back were very relaxing, a time to decompress after 5 or 6 days straight in Hawaii. The two Hawaii cruises we did this year were a bit different because those days back did not have quite as much going on, few fewer classes, etc, but still lots to do if you that way inclined. Food on these cruises did not include a lot of repeats (as Alaska does, week after week!) Agree with Crystalspin, you should be fine. I would suggest you make reservations for any specialty restaurants early on because a lot of pax use those final days to "dine out" and reservations can sometimes be hard to come by. Enjoy your cruise!

Hmm. You haven't seen my HAL photos! Even when we board at home port, 45 minutes door to gangplank, I look like hell. I don't care, as long as they can identify me :) Thanks for the totally legitimate explanation!!

I can't figure out why bother adding a photo to the app. HAL can take an embarkation photo as usual.

Absolutely if you want USD

I can get in now and see my booked flight, but how do you see the flight schedules to determine if the pricing has changed?

In Canadian dollars, too. HAL exchange is $1.30 , my bank $1,36. On a longer cruise this adds up.

Do you remember the pricing?