RuthC

Just the sort of thing I was wondering about.

If you are going to travel all the way to South America, there is every reason to add in Antarctica to the trip. You will NOT be sorry. If you have to cross the Drake Shake to get there (or back), you will recover. But you will never forget the majesty of sailing in those waters. The air is so fresh it even tastes good to breathe. The quiet is deafening; impressive. The icebergs are beyond amazing, especially the ones that are high, flat, and long. They are HUGE, but even then seem smaller than they actually are. The Captain and Antarctic team will have many plans for where they will attempt to sail on any given day, and they will make every effort to find the smoothest seas, and best weather. But this part of the world is worth seeing no matter what the weather is like. One time, I saw a sailboat coming out of the Lemeire Channel in a mist. Ethereal is the only word to describe it. But each time down there is different. But special in its own way. I have done that cruise three times and am getting excited all over again just typing about it.

Very interesting method of rehoming them!

It was a 'yes' or 'no' question. I take it you are a 'no'?

Will anyone admit to just throwing the ducks away?

I've been to Big Bad Voodoo Daddy performances where most of the crowd was much, much younger than I. Yes, very probably 20s and 30s. They danced in the aisles and were dressed for the occasion. Some of the men were even in zoot suits! Loads of fun. That is a really big band, too. I think there are something like 18 musicians on stage. The Lido pool area is about as big a dance venue as you will find for a band and dancing. No more rooms like the Ritz Carlton (Rotterdam V) on HAL ships.

That was a very long time ago. There may not have been anyone younger than boomers then! Not cruising without their parents, at least. I think it was the 1995 cruise, but can't remember that far back for certain.

Not the same cruise, but likely the same group of musicians. I also sailed a cruise with the Harry James Orchestra, but it wasn't a trans-At. It was on Rotterdam V, back before my husband died. They were so good, too. I've enjoyed the Glenn Miller Orchestra live a couple of times, but not on cruises. There's a few big bands still out there, entertaining packed houses.

Sounds like a very smart look. You will likely get a few looks of admiration.

Once upon a time, every trans-Atlantic cruise was a Big Band cruise. How well I remember it! They were such fun. I remember dancing until my legs burned, but those were also the days when HAL had Gentlemen Hosts for unaccompanied ladies to dance with. We had the Guy Lombardo Orchestra (a ghost band, obviously) on one cruise who played around the pool for two hours every sea day, had a couple of evening dances, a Tea Dansant, and some afternoon dance times. No fear of gaining weight from too many calories left unburned on those cruises! The hosts must have collapsed into bed every night. They never sat down so long as the band was playing.

How formal is formal? On HAL it isn't. Even on 'Dressy' nights, the standard is casual. Not even evening casual, but good old-fashioned daytime casual will get you into the dining room.

I haven't see it offered in years, but the best dessert I have ever had in my (long-ish) life was the Chocolate Purse that HAL served.

Too often if you ever hung out in the Piano Bar all evening (when HAL had real piano bars, that is). One cruise, there was a man who wanted to hear Piano Man every time he came in. Didn't matter how many times that evening it had already been played. If I never hear either of those songs ever again, it will be too soon.

If you have a pacemaker inside you, you are unlikely to use the microwave in your hotel room. Nor are you likely to create smells you don't like. At least if there is a fire in the hotel room, you can get out of the building, and pull the fire alarm.

Take a good look at the HAL passenger base. If someone were to turn on an easily accessible to passengers microwave, just as someone with a pacemaker walked by, all sorts of bad things could happen to that unawares passenger when the pacemaker stopped working properly. I learned that lesson the hard way when I nuked some food just as my father-in-law walked nearby. Oops. Or have microwave ovens been improved enough over the years that is no longer a concern?

If you use a Travel Agent or PCC, you have hired someone to do all the work for you, even though you don't have to pay them. It is up to the TA/PCC to take care of all the arrangements, paperwork, run interference for you, and essentially spend their time so you don't have to spend yours. Instead of you going to the trouble of asking HAL to provide something to you, and spinning your wheels trying to make the HAL representative understand what you want, then follow up when you don't get it, your TA/PCC gets to do all that for you. If that's not how you want it to play out, then you don't hire someone to do the work for you in the first place.

Enjoy! I hope you love the cabin as much as I do.

Karma? He helped a little old lady cross the street, so the Universe is rewarding him with an opportunity to join a lot of elderly on a free cruise?

Take it! My favorite cabin on all four of the late and current R-class ships. Handy-dandy to stairs/elevators. Can't get more mid-ship. Low on the ship, which combined with being mid-ship, makes for a smooth ride. Comfy as all get-out. Larger than most other cabins (except for Pinnacle Suite).

Now that I have reread the post from so many years ago, and know that the cabin also has the same bump-out that 2619 has, I would book it if 2619 wasn't available. Love those larger insides!

It should be a quiet cabin, being sandwiched between two cabin decks. I have never stayed in this cabin, nor visited. I assume it is similar to 2619, although it does not look to be an exact replica, based on the deck plans. The bathroom looks as if it is incorporated into the main body of the cabin, whereas in 2619, the bathroom butts out into an area used as a crew passageway on the other side. Sorry I can't be a bigger help for you. I will say that if I were booking, and other cabins I like were not available, I most certainly would consider this cabin. Have you looked for pictures of it on HALFacts? Look for both Volendam and Zaandam, and see if Rotterdam and Amsterdam are still there; they likely have the same cabin.

I do not believe your reasoning is correct. You started in a US port (Boston), went to a near foreign port (any of the Canadian ports), and wanted to disembark in a different US port from the one in which you started (Portland). That would have required that you visit a distant foreign port, which a New England/Canada itinerary does not offer. Returning to Boston changed you to a round trip from/to the same US port, which requires only a near foreign port. This was not a 'knee-jerk' decision.

Monday Night Football is broadcast by ESPN. That's a network regularly carried by HAL, so you should be able to get the game. Location of the ship, and sometimes direction of the ship, can make a difference in whether or not the game signal is actually received. It's been known to happen that the funnel blocks the signal from the receiver if the ship is headed in the wrong direction.

Check the current 'live from' threads, where those currently on a HAL ship are posting their Daily Programs. Every one of them has Mass showing as an activity. It is something I do look for, and notice, on the Daily when it is posted. So long as the priest actually makes it to embarkation, then Mass is scheduled daily.

You need to be able to show proof of stock ownership when you apply for the credit; you don't have to own it when you book. You are supposed to own it when you sail, but so far, this is not reverified. There is no time period during which you must own the stock. The amount of onboard credit is determined by length of cruise. I generally take longer cruises (at least over 14 days), so get $250 per cruise. This is all an after-tax benefit, as there are no US taxes due on the credit. Some years I have managed to get $750 in CCL on board credits! Sweet.