*Miss G*

My last few sailings on Holland America there was a section in the Lido Market reserved for staff. It had a sign saying “Crew Area Only”. I like that they are doing that, now, instead of them having to spend their little time off searching for seating.

Wow, a Windstar journey! That is so awesome! I really appreciate you sharing your journey with us. Ever since I watched them silently gliding into port in Montenegro I’ve been fascinated with them. Can’t wait to read along!

Welcome to Cruise Critic and Holland America! @VMax1700 might be a good person to address this, if he can, as I see you are in euros.

Yes, this.^^ There was a humidifier on the HVAC on one of my former homes (for the winter months). I currently have a smart home with humidity sensors (one for upstairs; one for main level) and the device lets you know to add humidity (when the heating is on) for eco+ savings. I run portable humidifiers, both upstairs and main level, during the winter months. When the AC is on they are no longer required so they are put away for the season.

Just thought I would follow up on this. I just did an online courtesy hold because it is after hours and I wanted to lock in the price. My PCC’s voicemail said to do the courtesy hold so he could address it when he comes in tomorrow… so I did. Anyway, the question as to whether it would automatically be applied going forward has been answered:

Reading over the above two statements, I think I would like to add clarification: —> When making the initial booking through your TA or PCC, let them know you would like Club Orange when they ask about the stateroom category. That will trigger the lower price and they will then let you pick from the higher available cabins within that category. —> If you are adding Club Orange after you have already booked, call the number in @Crew News post, above.

Here is the menu for the GDC. Everything without a price is free. There will also be a few types of fresh cookies which aren’t listed. (Which are also free.) Grand Dutch Cafe Menu Whenever I have purchased Club Orange it has been through a PCC at HAL. If you are booking through a TA you can have them do it.

My husband gave me a small travel humidifier in December. So far I have only used it in my hotel rooms but I will be bringing it on my next cruise. I connect it to the usb port on the night stand and it works great. I also use a saline mist spray and that helps too.

Here’s mine:

The category (known as the meta-category) is Ocean-View. It is then broken down into lettered sub-categories, ie C, D, DD, E, F, etc. You can choose any of those lettered sub-categories (C, D, etc) within the meta category (Ocean-View).

Are you sure they weren’t American? It’s hard to tell until there’s a gun in your face. 🙃 Here’s what I think really happened: You came upon a homicide-in-progress and they didn’t want to dig a bigger hole to bury the evidence so they gave you a chance to escape. See? Easily explained. 😃 (And polite.)

In our case, we wanted to experience a river cruise. I’ve been on a bus! 😂

I think it had more to do with this statement: In other words, the extreme conditions and changes to itinerary were known well in advance but the cruise line chose not to inform the passengers.

I wouldn’t do it either. The walk to your gate, alone, will take an hour! 😂 Okay, well maybe not that long. But it was the longest walk I’ve ever had in an airport. I sure wouldn’t want to have to run it!

A great turnout and that’s very nice of Best Western to accommodate you like that. Enjoy Coronado!

One caveat: We weren’t able to get into the outer harbour, to dock, due to marine conditions. The wind and the waves kept preventing us, even though we tried a number of times throughout the day. Next stop: Vancouver. You’ll need to get permission and make the arrangements with Cunard. Don’t call HAL! 😂

United, American, and Delta, and I believe Southwest has just introduced one too. I fly mainly Delta (and United when I have to). I googled Air Canada and they’ve just announced one too.

Sorry to hear that. I see a couple of mentions of an accomplished PCC in this thread. Maybe you could take advantage of that information. Editing to add: If your PCC is located on the west coast, it’s only 4:00pm there so they still have a couple of hours. Also thought I’d mention that my PCC has been known to call me up until 9:00pm EST (he’s based in Seattle) when he’s busy.

This is why — in all our relocations — we have made sure we are near an international airport. It also helps to know we are within a few hours flight to family in case of emergency. Every time I read about the hoops and issues some on the board have, I get stressed along with you! 😂 I like that some of the new airline apps allow you to track your checked bags. I am happy to let that anxiety go when I’m onboard and I can see my bag is too. Not sure if I’ll invest in an AirTag or not. Maybe. I have had only one experience where my bag didn’t make it to my destination. That was a pain in the you-know-what.

The Navigator app notifies you if there is a chat message, a new charge has been applied to your account, or it’s time for dinner or an excursion. There is no cost to use it; just download it before you board, set your phone to airplane mode, then connect. It’s not specific in its notifications, as yet, so you have to figure that one out for yourself. For example, if there’s a new chat message you will be able to see it in your inbox on the top right-hand side of the screen. But if it’s for something else you will have to use intuition, like noticing an additional charge on your statement. Three screenshots of how I see notifications on an iPad. I haven’t used it on my iPhone and don’t use an android phone so not sure how the notifications appear on those. On the home page: On the app icon: Notification when logged into the app:

I am wondering if you were on the same itinerary with Princess that I was! We all said exactly the same thing. @DarrenM, we love Holland America’s Pinnacle-class ships; the Koningsdam, Nieuw Statendam; and the Rotterdam, which is their flagship. All are music-themed, which is our preference over performance theatre and forced fun. I will take a lot of heat from the HAL-haters, but I think the above ships fulfill all your stated criteria.

Oh my gosh. I know exactly where you are! And brekkie at Plantation! I can taste the pineapple spears and dip as we speak. Yum. Do you know, it’s funny and purely coincidental, but I was saying to my husband not two days ago that the best spa I’ve ever been to was at that R-C!! Thank you for the pictures. Just ❤️. You are so right that it’s a centering and spiritual place. I know you’ll have an amazing time.

Ditto regarding the random calls! They very rarely come at a convenient time. And I just received my first email with the new scheduling system yesterday! “Strangely” enough…. not long after I had to ignore a call from Seattle. Guess he noticed my activity. lol I find a good way to get your PCC’s attention is to click on email links and view specific itineraries. That alerts the bot to generate offers and notifications. @Toad, I hope your PCC experience turns around and they turn out to be great. When my old PCC left, and I was assigned a new one, I wasn’t too thrilled with him at first. Now I think he’s awesome. Good luck!

You certainly are! We spent an amazing week at the R-C following a business trip to HNL. (Where we had the good fortune to stay at The Four Seasons, Ko Olina.) In Kapalua, my favorite breakfast place was The Plantation Course. We were scheduled to do it all again when covid hit. Broke my heart making all those cancellations. 💔 I hope you post pics after your arrival!

Love Kapalua ❤️