RuthC

If you have any mobility, and if you are on a ship that does not have the power button, then ask your cabin steward for a rubber door stopper. They all have them to keep the doors open when they are cleaning. Keep the stopper in your scooter basket. I have done that for years. When I get to the cabin, I grab the stopper, get up and open the door, then get back on my scooter and drive in. The power buttons will make it so much easier! It's taken long enough to get them, as they have been around for years.

I'm so sorry to read this, Roy. I'll try to find your post on the Daily. If you do any more updates, please consider posting them on this thread, as not everyone reads the Daily.

For those other days, when the specialty cakes aren't served, I highly recommend the Warm Flourless Chocolate Cake. Once upon a time, HAL served something called a Chocolate Purse. If you ever see that on the menu---grab it! Believe it or not, the No Sugar Added desserts are quite good. Panna Cotta is tasty and smooth. Check out the desserts in the Lido at lunchtime. Usually there is something very good offered.

My Whale Watching and Wildlife Quest excursion was too long ago for me to comment on that. However, I have taken a lot of water excursions run by the same company, including up to 2019, and all of their boats have had an open deck, some outside space on at least one other deck, and a good deal of inside space.

If I want eggs for breakfast on the ship, I only want egg whites; I get them at the omelet station in the Lido. They ladle the egg whites out, but must have a conversion method to know how to get the number of eggs you want. It varies with the ship, but on some ships you can also get toast and bacon at the same station. On others, I have had to go to other stations to get those with the eggs.

To add to your extensive list: I have had various TAs research car services to the port in Santiago, Chile---only to come up empty. Research and book car services to international airports I decide to fly out of. Print and send me my boarding pass. Assorted other services I can't remember at the moment.

You used to, but HAL made them equivalent a while back.

I've done that cruise three times. Each time sailed early January, such as the 6th or 4th. Doing the conversion to the northern hemisphere, this would have been the equivalent of early July, which is pretty decent weather for temperature.

There's no waiting to be seated with the fixed dining they are interested in.

Are you asking about dinner reservations for the main dining room? If so, and you want fixed dining, that should be requested by your travel agent. If you are asking about reservations for open seating in the dining room, then that will have to wait until you are on board. Specialty dining reservations have been explained by others already.

As noted above, fixed seating is the same time, table, and people every night, unless someone decides to eat elsewhere. On the Noordam, since there is no separate Club Orange dining room, you will get a menu with the additional Club Orange selection on it. Your Travel agent should be both linking your booking with your relatives, and (s)he should also be asking what size table you want and requesting that as well. It's much easier to get your preferred table size when requested in advance than left to requesting it the day you board.

Thanks. I studied to be a teacher, then spent my career teaching old policy to new staff, and new policy to old staff. I do pretty well at explaining things.

HAL has two levels of coverage. The lower one pays 80% on 'cancel for any reason', while the higher coverage pays 90%. That's for the cancel for any reason part. For covered reasons, I believe they cover 100%. Once never knows just what might prevent them from traveling. It doesn't have to be the passenger herself, but a relative that you want to be there for. If that relative isn't cruising with you, then they---and consequently you---aren't covered. So, cancel for any reason. Or a beloved pet gets sick/injured, and you can't leave them. The cancel for any reason pays a reasonable amount.

Agreed. At least put the Piano Bar concept back on the Zaandam and Volendam. Those ships are set up nicely for it, with a smaller room, and a much smaller passenger list than the larger ships.

Since I am old enough to know that a medical crisis can prevent me from traveling at any time, I purchase the HAL cancel for any reason insurance. I realize I will only get 90% back, but I won't have to hassle for it, either. Then, I call Insure My Trip and speak to a representative and purchase medical, evacuation, and repatriation insurance. This is for serious coverage once I am out of town. The cost of not having this coverage could be catastrophic.

Not to me, it doesn't.

I couldn't agree with you more. The musician in the Piano Bar when I returned to HAL in 1992 used to say if we could name a song he couldn't play, he would give us $1000. Turned out it was play money, but it was hard to stump him---and I know hundreds of songs going back to about 1912. The Piano Bar opened for the evening at 11:00 PM, and closed normally about 2:00 AM. It was 100% interactive, with no one at Corporate providing a list of what to play. It was more like going to a party every night. It was fun---not a show or performance.

Your pictures certainly are! How I would love to have the opportunity to see Pompeii in this lifetime! You brought a little bit of it to me. Thanks for that. You are fortunate to have been there twice.

Thanks for the answer. It's not the picture I care about so much as wanting a big slice of that cake! It looks delicious. (need a bedtime snack, but I don't eat after supper).

Was the cake in the first picture real? Or was it just a decorated piece of Styrofoam? It was the most appealing thing of all to me!

Your TA may, or may not, be telling the truth. If she has been there for a few years, she should have been aware that there is a Black Friday Sale every year, and she should have at least asked about it; if she is new, then she might not have known to ask. However, there has got to be someone at that agency who has been there, and should have brought up the topic. It wasn't a secret 2 days before you booked. The travel agency should have been aware, and should have let their employees know. It was their mistake, and it is now their responsibility to fix it. Don't they have insurance to cover their mistakes?

Rent a car. They are available at Canada Place itself. Take a leisurely drive down, and drop the car off there. My friends and I did that a few years ago, and it worked out well.

Personally, I believe your grievance is with the travel agent, and hence her company, to make this right. She should have known---everyone who reads CC did! If they can't get HAL to give the Black Friday benefits, then the agency itself should.

I wouldn't spend that kind of money for any piece of jewelry. Anywhere. But the word 'covet' does come to mind when I think of that piece. It was to die for.

Since the OP posted it was already past final payment---as in: the cruise is coming up very soon---then we can all know for sure. It would be a total loss of the entire cost of the cruise to cancel now.