canadianbear

@*Miss G* been following along (just I’m quiet, lol). Enjoying the photos. The CD sounds like a funny person, especially about the life jackets & if not showing up on time!

Glad you liked the hotel. We’ve found it is in a perfect location for us to walk or bus wherever we want. Robot is new since we were there.

No, you sure don’t want to have a fall! Hope your agent finds a good cabin for you.

If you Google Eurodam deck plan and look for the legend on the side that indicates shower only

We also have the HIA even though my husband doesn’t drink. I love my lattes & will have a couple drinks but still think it will be worth it for us as it’s a longer cruise. Being Canadian it’s also more convenient paying up front with HIA rather than having charges on our account on the cruise in US funds. Lovely birthday gift to yourself! I did that when I turned 65-booked a couple weeks on HAL then a week on Celebrity with a few days in between in Ft Lauderdale-was a wonderful way to celebrate. Hope all goes well. I love Alaska (and hate those gem shops, what a waste of time).?

I just looked up our statement that was emailed to us when we put a deposit on a future cruise. It has my full name & address but no date of birth on it. (Although they do ask & have it on file). It shows all the info of the cruise and the perks & deposit made & when money is due before the penalty phase kicks in. We booked directly with our PCC at HAL. Did you use a travel agent or someone at HAL? I’m not sure about your cabin as we’ve never stayed on deck 4. You might try halfacts dot com to see if there’s photos there or google.

@WCB We watched the Zuiderdam leave last night in the drizzle from Ambleside park. I told my husband we had to watch it sail away, in person, since we had to cancel the 50 day cruise. We went to our favourite spot to watch the ships sail under the Lions Gate bridge & past Stanley Park. I’ll attach a couple of photos I took. Have a wonderful trip to the South Pacific!

I find insurance policies so annoying as you almost have to be a lawyer to go through all their zillion pages of stuff. I’m so sorry this happened to you. We all buy insurance in good faith but it seems we are the ones that suffer.

We have never done a river cruise….will follow along on your short journey to see how you like it. Have fun!!

We’ve done the 7 and the longer one (includes La Paz) lots of times as it is one of our easier getaway cruises. It can be bumpy but I love the movement from the ocean. Like Florida_gal_50 said, usually can be the last night.

In my opinion the best gift is on board credit to use on what they want. We’ve been gifted those chocolate covered strawberries & yuck. Maybe some enjoy them but not us. Hope you can find a way to surprise your friend with a gift.

Looking forward to following along. Sounds like an absolute amazing cruise!

Is there another similar itinerary that you’d like where the PS would be available? When this happened to us (not the PS though) we were offered about 6 choices of a similar itinerary around the same time frame & they honoured our original price. Can’t hurt to ask but look first at ships & itineraries that you’d be ok to switch. Good luck.

Shaming a guest is never something an employee should do. It should have been done tactfully. Imagine this being a first impression of someone brand new to cruising-I certainly wouldn’t ever return to the same cruise line.

@cwd79 You WON a cruise! Congratulations! Really enjoyed reading your review and laughed several times. I am sorry that your husband was shamed though-that is so unlike HAL. Usually the maitre de will pull a person aside and quietly ask them to change or to dine at the Lido. Interesting to read about your inside cabin. I would love to be able to do that to save money for other things too but am claustrophobic. We usually book Neptune suites as well but lately we try for either a regular balcony, vista or signature. Doesn't matter any more as long as I have a balcony I have gotten used to it. I agree Montreal traffic is not fun at all but is like any major city traffic. Our daughter lives about 30 minutes away from the airport there and thankfully in a quiet community but most places we went to all speak English as soon as they know you don't speak French. Funny about your McDonald's experience, lol. Thanks again for your detailed review.

Any chance you can post a link here when you do your reports? I’m not so great on the website. Have a great cruise!

I don’t think it would be worth taking a chance then with ferry or flight. It’s not a “must” for Bora Bora-it’s just not on our cruise for 2024 because of ship size. I’m happy if we can just see the South Pacific with the current ports but thought if it was easy on ferry we’d try. Thank you again for your help and input. I honestly will just be just happy if we can go on this one!

@Petoonya perhaps another (stupid) question. If our ship is overnight in Raiatea, would a ferry be possible to Bora Bora for Patrick’s snorkel tour? Just thinking since I have until 2024 to figure things out & organize now. Thabk you, as always, for your input to all questions. Really appreciate it.

Do you get the free wifi? We used it last time we flew and it worked pretty well. Although our WJ flights were within Canada, they were packed too & ran out of overhead space. Way too many people took way too much carryon & we’re not challenged at check in.

Glad you made it to Toronto with luggage, lol. Too bad about the fog delay. Enjoy your overnight there. Great decision not to have to make a connection tonight.

We have picked up a few excursions right at the dock in Curacao. Obviously cheaper than ship excursions. Are you stopping in Bonaire? It’s a great snorkel location. Hopefully someone that has done RC will have experience on those excursions offered by the cruise line.

That is a horrible response you got from HAL and totally unacceptable. I’d be furious. Like others have said you spend a lot on just the cruise and then they imply you’re lying. HAL needs to change their policy regarding the mini bar items in the fridge. If people want the items removed it should be noted and done.

Isn’t the balcony fantastic!! Have a wonderful cruise.

We have cruised to Curacao several times and love the port. We enjoy snorkel excursions and one year (mid-late February) we booked with Irie Tours. They stopped at various locations but the one where the fishermen were cleaning their fish we got to snorkel with the turtles. It was great. (I think they said it was called fisherman’s wharf) Curacao is a great port and we especially enjoyed it in the evening when it was lit up. We found people friendly. We also would walk off the ship & book with local vendors. Hope you find something that suits you-lots of choices. Photos are from the Irie Tour we did.

We’ve have had it happen on a couple of cruises and it’s just plain annoying having to phone after your cruise. We’ve never used anything from the fridge. After the first incident I started taking photos before & after. I wish on your reservations you could check if you wanted the fridge empty or full.