Avery's Gram
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Posts posted by Avery's Gram
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Hi......thank you for sending the coupon so quickly. I have filled it out and will mail it in tomorrow. Would you like me to send you a copy?
Barbara
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You're right....it sounds great! And I am really happy to have found someone with a coupon for us! Thanks so much for sharing, all of you....
Barbara M. In NH
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Thanks, I will email you this morning! I'm not sure I understand all the details yet, but I do appreciate your help!
Barbara M. In NH
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Hi all.....we have just made final payment on our January 2015 trip to Antarctica and Patagonia. This is our first trip with Seabourn so we are hoping someone has a referral coupon to share. I am so glad someone pointed me to this thread, as we had not heard about this program before.
Thanks!
Barbara M. In NH
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Hi....we will be sailing on the Prinsendam this week, and are supposed to meet the HAL rep for transfer to Ijmuiden. Has anyone done this who can offer some good advice? We are staying at a hotel near the airport now, and will take the hotel shuttle back Sunday am, but have never used a HAL transfer before so all advice is welcome!
Thanks!
Barbara M. (Usually in NH!)
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We started to cruise as a way to have a family reunion without putting too much pressure on anyone. We lived in New Jersey, DH's Mom lived in Michigan, and DD plus husband and first-born son lived in NH. To quote, "On the ship, no one had to cook, no one had to clean, and no one had to sleep on the floor!"
And we all had our own cabins to retreat to if family togetherness became too much. It was ideal for our family. As more and more grandchildren came along, and DH's Mom passed on, it was more complicated.....now we cruise for ourselves and gather for family reunions at a cottage. We still have fun together, but we can tolerate more chaos and confusion in our own space.
I think cruises are perfect for families and extended families, as well as for exhausted grandparents recovering from land-based family reunions. (Our last involved 35 people, aged 69 down to 14 months and was glorious.....but we are looking forward to our next cruise in 2 weeks to recuperate!)
Barbara M. In NH -
Being out on deck for that first sail-away!
Spending lovely evenings looking at wonderful itineraries, then making the call to our TA and putting down the deposit!
Hi, Kathi....miss you and all our fellow knitters on the QE!
Barbara
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I don't like it either, for the same reason.
Thanks for agreeing.....so many people on our trip loved it, and we began to feel like we were odd to dislike it so strongly. But it felt uncomfortable and very forced to me. (To say nothing of the code red which began the next day and continued for a lot of our trip.....).
I have had the same feeling on a tour of the townships in CapeTown.....like an invader, rather than a visitor.
Barbara M. In NH
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Rotterdam
Cape Horn cruising in SA
Right now it is between the Amsterdam/Zaandam.Followed closely by the Oosterdam/Westerdam.
Favorite port would have to be Fanning Island.
Really? We hated Fanning Island......felt like voyeurs the whole time we were there.
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Just to clarify.....I wasn't being sarcastic.....we enjoyed meeting and talking with all the Aussies and Kiwis on that trip. They were lovely, friendly, welcoming people....just take their tea and beer very seriously.
Barbara
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We did a cruise around Australia a few years ago to see the total eclipse in the Coral Sea. I found the Aussies on board VERY fussy about their tea! Quite a few brought their own teapots from home to the MDR, insisted on getting them filled with really boiling water, then applied their own tea cosies! They were furious when the ship ran out of PG Tips.....also when it ran out of Australian beer! Lots of fun to travel with them!
Barbara M. In NH
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I can't speak about music being played in the lounges as we stayed away, but we have found Cunard ship a have wonderful classical concerts in the afternoon on sea days. We spent 6 weeks on the Queen Elizabeth last winter and thoroughly enjoyed the concerts.
Barbara M. In NH
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I always carry a small tote bag around the ship. I keep my iPad (with my books loaded onto it) or a paperback, my small knitting project, my key card , tissues, etc. and a small shawl in it. The shawl goes on and off all day, as lounges may be warm but I am almost always freezing on the theatre, and it helps me stay comfortable.
Barbara M. In NH
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And obviously, it couldn't happen to a nicer person! How wonderful for you!
Barbara M. In NH
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Local handspun yarn. Kind of like people collect cookbooks or magnets or dishes from their travels I pick up a locally spun yarn, maybe in a color that reminds me of the area [glacier blue?!!] to make a scarf, or just to pet. I will be looking for a quiviut/silk blend - although it may be way too expensive this trip.
We're not talking about Vanna and Red Heart here!!!!
I am surprised that no knitter has mentioned the OOmingmak musk ox cooperative in downtown anchorage......(for you non-knitters, musk ox is the source for qiviut yarn.....softer and warmer than cashmere by a mile!)
It is a fun place to visit.....you can buy handknit (very pricy, but lovely) scarves and shawls. I bought a "smoke ring" there in 2001 and still wear it for warmth in the New Hampshire winters.....it was definitely worth the price. I figure I'm helping keep the Inuit knitting culture alive with my purchase, and I think about how lovely Alaska was every time I wear it, so it was an excellent souvenir.
Last summer we went back and I bought a kit to knit my own qiviut hat. Hope some other cruising knitters stop in at OOmingmak....it is a special shop.
Barbara M. In NH
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And my oldest child was born in " the state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantation," but he claims to be from Iowa......often confused with Ohio or Idaho!
And I grew up in Niagara Falls....the one in NY, not in Canada.....there are a lot of easy confusions in our great country!
Barbara M. In NH
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I forgot......I love the chilled soups HAL serves, but they are usually too sweet for me as a first course. So I have learned to order them for dessert!
Barbara M. In NH
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Sammy goose, I love your list! My favorite thing about HAL is the "leave one, take one " shelf in the library. I hate to carry books home after I'm finished reading them, and I have found a few treasures that were worth carrying home. Our last cruise (6 weeks, not on HAL) did not have this, and I was very disappointed!
Barbara M. In NH
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We have tried to keep our kids hotel charges on our bills, as we've paid for their tickets. ( Drinks, etc. were on them.). However, HALs system had a lot of problems processing this, and we finally gave up, handed them a check, and asked them to deal with it. We had double hotel fees added to everyone, total strangers in nearby cabins charged to us, and nothing done..... Not worth it.
It does annoy me that we paid for 14 people for 7 nights while getting credit for 2 people, but life is too short to deal with bureaucracy!
Barbara M. In NH
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Hi, Bronwyn......just wanted to say how much I miss all the needle workers! I am almost finished with my bronze colored sweater, which is a good thing as it is getting warm here and the sweater is heavy to hold and work on.
We just came back from a quick trip to Iceland and Denmark.....first trip ever with no new yarn, as I spent most of my time keeping our oldest grandson entertained......Tivoli Gardens and Legoland were wonderful.
Stay well and keep in touch!
Barbara M. In NH
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When we started cruising, we often paid for our kids or my husband's mom....paying for their cabins was easy since we made the reservations. But paying for their service charge was a real pain in the neck. After several tries we gave up.....the front desk could not seem to get it right. Sometimes they double charged....charging us as well as Grandma, once they charged us for some totally unrelated cabin, and often they smiled and agreed but nothing happened.
We finally chose to simply figure out what the service charge would be and pay our family members directly, letting them deal with HAL. It was much simpler. (Note: we only wanted to pay their fare and service charge, not their drinks etc. if we'd wanted that, we would have registered a credit card of ours for their cabin.)
Things may have changed, but HAL's computer system adds the service charge daily for each passenger, making it hard to check or separate out. Our last cruise was on Cunard, which charged a lump service charge which made the bill for a 6 week cruise much shorter and easier to check. I hope HAL adopts this soon...before our July HAL cruise would be nice!
Barbara M. In NH
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different line, but I did this on the Queen Elizabeth trip from New York to San Francisco and found it was not worth it for me. I just had a hard time fitting it in to all the lovely lectures, concerts, films, afternoon tea, naps, and meals!
I don't enjoy lying in the sun so never use the loungers by the pool, and thought the hydro pool would be lovely. It was nice, but not as hot as a hot tub.....too small to swim, kind of in between and I decided it was way too expensive for the amount I used it, so I did not book it for the next leg of the trip, SF to Sydney.
And I know lots of people love the heated tile lounge chairs, but I am short and found the neck area was very uncomfortable. You may find it very different....to each his own!
Barbara M. In NH
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I can live with cigar smoke, but cigarettes make me sick! (Nostalgia, probably....my Grandad was the cigar smoker, and I miss him!)
But.....I would never cruise without access to fresh air and natural light. Reading about the disastrous cruises convinced me about this. I know everyone survived those trips, but not sure we would!
In Alaska, the best thing is getting all bundled up and calling room service for hot coffee or tea, and siting there watching glaciers. No one in your sight line, no one squeezing past to snap a photo after you have been waiting there for hours.....just your view....Amazing! It is a splurge we have never regretted!
Barbara M. In NH
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I grew up in Niagara Falls, NY..... Canadian mother, American Dad......we called it soda. And we called our coffee "Tim's". As in "Tim Horton's!
Barbara
Percolating still
in Holland America Line
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We started cruising as an easy way to have an inter generational reunion. We lived in NJ, kids lived in various states from Michigan to New Hampshire, and great-grandma also lived a long way away. Obviously, to get together, lots of us had to travel. It was easier for us to all fly to FL to join a cruise ship, where "no one has to cook, no one has to clean, and no one has to sleep on the living room floor!"
It also made the visit easier, as everyone had there own space to go back to if family got to be too tiring. We had a large table for early dining, and for breakfast and lunch we scattered.....some in MDR, some the Lido, some room service, whatever fit the needs of that family, that day. (Room service lunch kept the toddler who was having a meltdown away from other guests and made it easier to take a nap right afterward.). Ports were secondary to our family time, but still fun and adults rotated through babysitting duties so everyone had a chance to get away and enjoy the evening.
Now my husband and I cruise by ourselves, and use cruises as a way to sample new places, deciding where we would like to spend more time. For example: Med cruise from Venice to Barcelona showed us that while we were happy to see Venice, once was enough for us. But Barcelona! We've been back several times and still love it. We've taken trains to Madrid, Seville, Cordoba.....places where a shore excursion just doesn't give you enough time, and we've enjoyed exploring the center of countries (like France) where no shore excursions can get you in a single port day.
We also love sea days, so the Hawaii-Tahiti cruise was fun for us even though we did not love the ports. I guess cruising meets a lot of our needs, which keep changing as we get older.
Barbara M. in NH