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That is crazy. I have recently done exactly what you want to do by ringing the Sydney office. Sounds like you got an untrained holiday worker.

I should have said that you can phone the Sydney office and they will contact Seattle and organise the change while you wait.

Yes, I have done this three times. I phone and ask for the cabin to be taken out of the short cruise inventories and put into the longer cruise inventory and then assigned to me. Enjoy your cruise.

Disembarked ship on November 26th - still waiting for ours to show 🙃

The blue one absolutely would block me access to the hand rail. As a disabled person I use the hand rails at all times when walking on the ship.

Gift bags from HAL

Thursday, Oct 12. Lectures, Deck Dozing, and Lectures Weather fine, a little more sea motion Captain has increased speed and direction so that we will go down around the bottom of a low depression that is building in the Atlantic. We are doing 22 knots and the ship is riding comfortably. We have been warned to expect choppy seas and winds from tomorrow. It is ideal weather for walking the Promenade or sitting in a deck chair reading. I am reading "The Woman in Cabin 10" by Ruth Ware. Not sure that it is a good book to choose when you are in a cabin at sea - a bit like watching "The Poseidon Adventure" is not a good idea. At breakfast a couple of the dining room staff said that they are excited to be going to Petra. They explained that they have their own shore excursion desk and they use the ship tours when it is a long excursion as they don't have to take the responsibility for getting back on time. Dr Stavrakis presented 'Green Sahara', a look at how the flora and fauna of the Sahara region had changed over time. Andy Fletcher presented 'Albert Einstein, Special Relativity, Space, Time and Weirdness'. His lecture is fast becoming the highlight of our day. He quipped that he has two contracts at the moment, one in prisons and one on cruise ships, and that both are captive audiences. Later in the afternoon we meet with some of the group that we will be joining to explore the Souda area and Chania in Crete. I hadn't been in the Gallery Bar before, so it was interesting to meet there. We missed out on a table for fixed dining but have now been given one in the lower dining room. For the first three days we were required to book day by day, but tonight we have been told that the table is now reserved through to Cape Town. We are enjoying the meals especially with the option to have a vege bowl as a side dish with all mains. Clocks go forward again tonight (and tomorrow night ¿~•☆#!)

Wednesday, 11 October. - Muesli, Meetings, Lectures & a Block Party Weather fine with calm seas. At breakfast this morning there was an insert listing extra cereals available on this cruise, including muesli. But as I found out, one needs to ask for 'dry' muesli, else you get Swiss 'wet' muesli. The Cruise Critic meet & greet was packed. It is always interesting to meet in person after having only exchanged messages online. We had two interesting lecturers in the afternoon. Andy Fletcher provided all the big numbers to prove that 'There's Nothing There, but Nothing is Really Something'. Very entertaining. Olga Stavrakis presented the first in a series about Africa. 'The Enigmatic Geograhy and Surprising Wealth of Africa' looked at why the minerals found in Africa are vital for the rest of the world. 4pm it was time for the Block Party and a chance to meet our neighbours. Wine and chatter flowed, and there were plates of canapés. Some groups were still in the hallway socialising when we went to dinner. Scottish performer Hannah Howie entertained on the stage tonight. She has a very strong voice and a wide ranging repertoire. She was backed by live music, nice to have this again. And for once the sound was balanced and not distorted by being turned up too loud. Clocks forward one hour tonight.

Ooh la la, a gift from the captain. Ladies only. DH said "she's no lady, she's my wife".

The lads in the front and aft rope lockers are excited to have huge new coils of string to play with.

The divers have finished their hull work.

20 mins until sailaway and the dock is still being cleared.

10 Oct, Departure Day We used the 11am, paid hotel shuttle. Very quick easy transfer, $9 per person. Dropped our bags and basically walked straight on to the ship. No lines, no waiting, plenty of ground staff. We were on by 11.30. We went to the Lido, collected a welcome aboard glass of bubbles and found a window seat. The sushi selection today was impressive. Cabins were ready just after 12.30. We missed out on a fixed dining table but have been able to book for tonight in the lower dining room. Good news for me - they have my favourite Wairau River sauvignon blanc available in the cellar pack. No luggage yet, but I am not surprised as there is a huge amount waiting on the dock to be loaded.

I was born in Rotorua. Lived in Whakarewarewa village with my grandmother who was one of the guides for the thermal area.

Went down to breakfast and found several groups of people of a 'certain age' discussing shuttles, taxis, Uber, and dock number 26. I wonder where they are all going today? We can see Zuiderdam docked. Weather is warm and sunny with a possibility of showers this afternoon.

Yes, we voted as soon as early voting opened. Thank you for your bon voyage.message.

Kia ora mate.

I lurk on the HAL board and enjoy reading about the exciting journeys that many of you take. I generally write a restricted F*ceb*ok diary for family and close friends when we cruise, but this time I thought that I could try putting some posts here for anyone who is interested. We are a retired couple from Aotearoa New Zealand. I am a Maori Kiwi and DH is a UK born, East Africa raised, and now an adopted Kiwi. We flew from Auckland to Houston, landing 13 hours later, and 5 hours before we had left NZ (yep, that pesky dateline confuses the heck out of my brain) Air New Zealand offered us free upgrade to Business Class if we didn't mind that one of the seats had a fault, and would not convert to a fully lay-flat bed. Well I'm vertically challenged and do not need a 2m long bed, so we jumped on the offer. Houston Airport was a pleasant surprise. Immigration and security were vastly more organised and speedy than our last two experiences. This time we were 2 hours early at the gate for our flight to FLL, last time we were 10 minutes late and they were holding the plane for us. We booked into the Hyatt Place Cruise Port Hotel for two nights to give ourselves time to adjust to the time change, and as a buffer incase of flight changes.. We have stayed here before and like the big rooms and the locality. This morning we set off to walk over the 17th Ave bridge to see what was on the other side - and what did we see? We saw the sea! Actually it was to get some exercise and some daylight to change our circadian rhythms. On the way back we stopped at Publix to buy 3 kgs of Red Mill muesli to take on to the ship. We are not accustomed to eating highly processed food and I don't enjoy the US style overly sweet cereals provided on board. Whole grain muesli, with added nuts and seeds from the galley, makes a nourishing long- lasting breakfast for us. For lunch and dinner we simply request extra steamed or raw vegetables. We have a shuttle booked for tomorrow and the next chapter of our big adventure begins.

We have not received ours from August 8th.

What currencies were you able to get from the front desk?

If you have not received an email with your booking information, check in your spam box first, then ring HAL to send it to you.

Twice a day in Neptune Suite on HAL. Enjoy your cruise.

Eg: Coral Princess was found to have sea snails in discharge pipes.

Cruise companies know exactly what is required of them. If they wish to sail into a pristine natural area such as Fiordland National Park then ofcourse they need to ensure that they do not damage the environment. I don't ever remember HAL having any problem with complying with the requirement to have the hull inspected and cleaned. I hope that you enjoy your wonderful cruise.