VMax1700

Repricing is not an option in the UK. When you pay a deposit both you and HAL commit to the contracted price. Currently the pricing includes Drinks (15 per day per person up to $15 list price), premium internet (permits streaming) a couple of free speciality restaurant meals and credit towards shore excursions and crew gratuities (currently $16 per day per person for standard cabins). It is a pretty good deal by UK HAL standards. It is very rare for them to offer low deposits. There was a recent £1 deposit promo for 3 days only, but offers of that type are as rare as the proverbial hen's teeth. I have found that prices do drop closer to sailing date, but the choice of cabins is greatly reduced. You also will find that the special reduced price is for a guarrantee bookings only and for immediate payment. Selecting your own cabin will be an additional cost and when you then add back in the price of purchasing Have it All, you will find you are very close to the original price. The terms in USA/Canada etc are different to UK/Ireland/EU terms so unless you are booking with a 'foreign' travel agent, you should tend to ignore many of the comments you will find on this board as most posters are based in North America.

Also on NSD now having boarded on Wednesday. Steward introduced himself and told us that evening turndown was by request only. We told him that we only required service once a day, but preferred the full service in the evening. He was happy to oblige.

At the Captain's noon update he told us that our route had changed and instead of heading southwards along the east coast of England and through the English Channel, along the south coast and then northwards between UK and Ireland on the Irish Sea, we would be heading across the north coast of Scotland and then southward along the west coast of Scotland on the Irish Sea to Liverpool.

Day 2 Menus (First Dressy Night) m2-day2-_lido_lunch_north_europe_2023 (1).pdf m2-day2-_lido_dinner_north_europe_voyage (2).pdf Day 2 gala 150 year dinner.pdf

Day 2 At Sea (First Dressy Night). Daily Program Why are two images horizontal and one vertical when they were all take with the same orientation?

One very last thing from Day 1 - when we got to the room I found a 'Your Reservation' notice for Tamarind, stating that as part of HIA promotion we had been booked into Tamarind at 6.30pm on August 9th (Day 1). This was very nice of them as I had already booked our promo Tamarind for later in the cruise. However as the later booking is still showing in Navigator I am wondering if we had turned up last night would we have got a second free Tamarind? (just thinking out loud and not really looking for replies!)

When you get your room key card (in the mail slot outside your stateroom when you board) it will be printed on the keycard, but typically Deck 2 entrance and you may be seated on deck 2 or 3.

Finally from Day 1, Bread Pudding of the Day...... 😋

Embarkation Day 1 Menus m1-day1-_lido_steak_dinner_north_europe_voyage (1).pdf m1-day1-_mdr_north_europe_2023.pdf

Apologies for the images being directionally challenged!

Emabarkation Day 1 Daily Program:

Currently the surf plan is adequate for us. I have checked it and WhatsApp messaging is functioning as are WhatsApp phone calls.

I ran Speedtest this morning and it seems that all thrusters were firing!

Connecting to the internet was very easy. Just follow the instruction flow from Navigator...

We had pre booked a car to take us from the hotel to Oceankaj to board the ship. I had booked this for 11.15am to allow for a leisurely breakfast and had planned to board about 12 noon. HAL sent us a check in time of 1pm, but I was not overly concerned, specially when our driver was 20 minutes late arriving for us and then we had nightmare traffic for the drive through Copenhage. Google maps had shown the drive as taking 34 minutes but it ended up taking over an hour because of the traffic. We had previous uploaded security photos to Navigator so when we entered the terminal it was just a matter of standing in front of the machines while they scanned our beautiful faces and decided that 'yes' you may board. From there it was a short walk to the fwd gangplank and onboard. There was a clearly marked lane for 4/5 star + Club Orange Neptune etc. The actual checkin/embarkation process (for us) was one of the smoothest and quickest we have experienced. Waiting for the elevator to get to the stateroom was another story. My pet peeve of the day - why take pax luggage onboard using the same elevators as pax are using to get to their staterooms? Only two elevators out of 4 were available and the restless line of pax trying to get on snaked back to the gangplank.

A small bit of background to this cruise. You may have read about the weather we have been having in Europe this summer. While southern Europe melts with ultra high temperatures and wildfires, western and northern Europe has had storms and rain. Ireland, having just had its warmest ever June, followed with its wettest ever July. So we decided that we could fit a quick two weeks trip before our pre planned Baltic cruise at the end of September. So we only booked this trip a couple of weeks ago. We flew from Cork to Amsterdam and then on to Copenhagen with KLM. 1 hour 45minutes from Cork to Amsterdam on an Embaer 175 and then 1 hour from Amsterdam to Copenhagen on a B737/800. The Amsterdam to Copenhagen flight had a delayed departure and three gate changes but we eventually arrived in our hotel only about 90 minutes later than planned. For the one night we stayed in Clarion Copenhagen Airport, which is accessed directly from the terminal building without having to go out into the wind or rain. Check in was super efficient and we had a good nights sleep. Breakfast was adequate (I did notice a large area set aside for gluten free products complete with its own toaster).

Yes. I am currently doing that to post this reply from Nieuw Statendam

We boarded yesterday in a wet and windy Copenhagen. Here is the infopic and itinerary. More to follow....

Amex is just about useless in Ireland except for hotels within larger hotel chains. Most retail stores, restaurants etc will only accept Visa/Mastercard

Looking at Navigator for our cruise which starts on Wednesday, there is 1 evening on the Main Stage for Linclon Center Stage 2 slots 7.30 pm and 9.30pm. There also appears to be 2 nights when the star of the Main Stage is Nada DarkLights. (Incase someone may think that this is a Lady GaGa impersonator, it is my subtle way of saying that there is nothing listed! Nothing but darkness.

See you on Wednesday! Glad to read that the 'kinder count' is dropping for next week.

Ooops! I missed this thread first time around, so, thanks everyone! I am looking forward to another overdose of Bread Pudding!

How does free water in Lido and from the faucets balance out the idea of 'price gouging'?

Frigiliana is a lovely little white village. Another one to consider is Competa. But neither is even close to the majesty of Alhambra. From Motril it is less than an hours drive to Alhambra.