Bxianesq

Thanks for the responses. I am aware of the Orange Party-we have attended it in the past. However, my question has to do with the Main Dining Room. Instead of saying "Smart Casual" for type of dress in the Main Dining Room, the dress code listed for one specific day of the cruise is listed as "A Splash of Orange." I wondered if there was a special menu or other distinguishing feature in the MDR that night.

We are boarding a 28 day Asia cruise soon. Our dressy/smart casual nights are posted in our itinerary, but there is also an evening where "A Splash of Orange" is listed for the type of dress. Any idea of what this is?

Thanks!

Thanks for the prompt replies. Yes, we are on the Infinity. We previously sailed on the Oceania Insignia, so I guess I got my I ships mixed up. We are in a veranda cabin. We have no sea days on our 7 day cruise, so I'm not sure whether we will have the World Wine Tour as an option. We might try the flights in Cellar Masters. We have Select dining-good to know that we can reserve the day of.

We are taking our first Celebrity cruise on the Insignia next month. We are seasoned Holland America travelers. In looking at the Celebrity app, it appears that instead of a single main dining room and Lido (buffet), there are multiple dining options included (Blu, Luminae, Main Dining room at Trellis) for no additional charge, plus the Tuscan grille, le Petit Chef and Sushi on Five (for a fee). Am I correct that there is no central main dining room? If so, for the 3 free options, are we supposed to book a preferred dining time in advance? On HAL, we do anytime dining and just show up at the main dining room when we want to eat. We have a specialty meal included in our booking, so we already booked the Tuscan Grill for one night. There is a specialty Daniel Boulud dining event on board one evening, although the app does not specify a date. Would this be worth doing (we are foodies)? If so, is it likely that we would be able to get a reservation with no Captain's Club status (other than the fact that we've joined but have not yet cruised with Celebrity)? Finally, we have the basic drink package, and I suspect that the wines will be fairly basic as well. If we want to get a glass of wine (or a flight at Cellar Masters) that costs more than the price point for the wines included in the package, can we pay the difference, or will we be charged for the full cost of the glass (or wine flight).

Thank you both for the suggestions! I will look into them and will pass on the Alhambra.

We're on a Holland America cruise that stops in Cadiz this spring. I see lots of recommendations to take the ship's tour to Granada and visit the Alhambra. I would love to see it, but I see lots of comments about slippery steps with no railings. I fractured my ankle in December and had surgery. I will be done with physical therapy before our cruise, and my surgeon has said that he sees no issue with us going on the cruise. At most, I may need a fabric ankle brace by that point. Before my surgery, I was quite active (daily walks and Peleton bike classes). I've never had any sort of mobility impairment. For those who have been to the Alhambra, should I avoid it due to the stair issues (not asking for medical advice-just thoughts from people who have visited).? If we skip the Alhambra this time, I would love to hear suggestions for tours or other things to do during a port stop in Malaga.

@Guardsy, agree 100 per cent about the glaring lack of baseball playoff game availability. I remember being on a HAL cruise the year the Cubs won the World Series, Could not find the games on TV or at any outlet on the ship. While we are Yankees fans, I have always loved the Cbs and desperately wanted to see what turned out to be a historic victory. @FlorenceItaly we did not have a beverage package. We used most of our shipboard credit towards the purchase of individual bottles of wine. Between the shareholder credit, AMEX Platinum credit, and credit from a cancelled excursion and cancelled port charges, we didn't spend much out of pocket while on board.

We were also on the October 8th-22nd repositioning cruise. This was our 6th HAL cruise and 8th cruise overall. In general, I agree with @Guardsy's observations (although fortunately, we were never exposed to the "biological incident"). Some additional observations: 1. The "Mariner's lunch" was not advertised as such. We always have lunch in the MDR upon embarkation. When we arrived there after embarking, we were asked if we had ever sailed with HAL before and were allowed to proceed after confirming that we had. I was later told that this was the Mariner's lunch-even though there were no HAL or captan speeches. 2. Agree that the ginormous lobster tail in Rudi's was awesome and loved the Tamarind as always. I was disappointed that there was not very much north Atlantic lobster on the menu given our port stops. Much of the time, the upcharge offering was that awful "warm water" lobster with the orange glop. 3. Happy hour is now buy 1, get 25% off of the second. FYI, we ordered a bottle of wine at Rudi's and it had a bit of a petroleum aftertaste, which is not a good sign. I asked to see the sommelier, who tasted it and immediately said to the waiter, "This wine is corked." The sommelier responded to the issue very professionally and got us another bottle immediately. I also had an issue with a white wine bottle later in the cruise-once again, the sommelier agreed with me after tasting it and got me a replacement bottle. It makes me wonder about the wine storage conditions during the time period when the ships were wandering around without passengers. 4. Turn down service is only upon request. We declined it, but still got 3 towel animals and some chocolates in the morning. 5. Captain Noel was wonderful-his daily updates about travel time, sea conditions, and the little creaks that you might hear on the ship were very informative. 6. We had done a 6 and a half week Midwest driving tour this past spring in an attempt to work towards our bucket list desire to visit all of the major league baseball stadiums. Since I am the travel planner, I planned that entire trip (wonderful, but lots of planning). As a result, while I normally plan independent excursions while on cruises, I had planner fatigue and relied on HAL's excursions for the most part.. We chose to do the HAL tour of Peggy's Cove, Lunenberg, and Mahone Bay-each stop was very pretty, but we were more than ready to flee the bus after our tour guide droned on nonstop for 7 hours. If we are ever back that way, I'd love to do a walking tour of Halifax-looked like a cool city. 7. We also did the HAL tour of St. Martins and the Bay of Fundy (which we really enjoyed), as well as the Kennedy Space Center tour. The space center excursion takes all day. I was somewhat skeptical about spending so much time there, but there is so much to see that it was worth it. We particularly enjoyed the astronaut talk-the website says that there is an extra charge, but it was included in our excursion for free. Our PEI tour was also a HAL excursion-it went out to the Anne of Green Gables house and a national park on the ocean, but was not the full day "Anne fanatic" tour. We liked this tour, as it gave us a nice PEI overview but allowed us to wander around Charlottetown for a few hours, We attempted to get into the popular Water Prince lobster for lunch. It was packed, and after 10 minutes of being ignored, we walked 5 minutes to the Merchant Man Pub where we had warm friendly service and excellent lobster rolls. We also tried Cow's ice cream, which was great. If you are a book lover, Charlottetown has at least 3 bookstores on the main drag. 8. We spent 3 days in Quebec City pre-cruise, with one night in the iconic Chateau Frontenac and 2 nights at Auberge Sainte Antione, a smaller boutique style hotel. CF offers a free walking tour of Quebec City to its guests, but you have to ask the concierge desk about it. Highly recommend. Auberge Sainte Antoine had wonderful service. There is apparently a cab/Uber shortage in QC, but our hotel bellman sprang into action when we asked about port transport and whisked us away in the hotel van. We also visited the Museum of Civilization (great "Oh, Merde" exhibit as well as a great exhibit about Canada's First Nations people). Had great food and wine pairing dinners at Champlain in the CF and at Chez Muffy in Auberge Sainte Antoine-we are foodies, but be advised that both are spendy. The ship docked overnight in QC, so we took an Uber out to the multi-vendor farmer's market located a few miles outside of downtown. It was a cool place, with a number of vendors and places to grab a takeout unch. We had trouble getting an Uber to get us back to the port, but fortunately, we were able to flag down a cab to get back. As a final QC note, Creperie et Cie at 102 Petit Champlain has great crepes, and the Maison Smith coffee chain has great maple lattes. 9. In Saguenay, we took an independent tour called "Back Country of the Fjords and National Park" with Saguenay guided tours. They did a nice job, although I would have liked a little more time to hike around in the national park. In Sydney, we spent the day with a family member who lives there. He is the port chaplain, and was able to meet us at the gangway. Wonderful day. In Portland, we rented a car at the airport (Ubered there and back) and drove to the towns of Damariscotta and Boothbay Harbor. I've been to Maine a fair amount, so it was fun to see the beautiful fall foliage there and visit 2 cute towns. In Boston, we did an independent "Boston Pizza Tour" of the North End, which combined a little area history, 3 different pizza slices, and 2 giant cannolis from Modern Pastry. 10. We enjoyed playing trivia, although I was disappointed that the times changed daily and that trivia is no longer in the Crow's Nest. We did general, lightening and music trivia and did not win, but it was fun anyway. 11. Our last pre-Covid cruise was on Oceania. After enjoying their gorgeous library, it made me realize how pathetic HAL's library is. 12. Although we did not engage with the cruise activity director individually, she was a presence throughout the cruise and appeared to be very personable. 13. We opted for the laundry package, since the cruise was 2 weeks long and we were disembarking afterwards to spend 3 weeks at our Marco Island timeshare. Our clothing was very well-taken care of, but as the cruise went on, the wait for the return of laundro took longer and longer. We could not finish packing until 3 hours before having to put our luggage outside of the cabin because our last laundry bag (which had been put out 2 days prior) was not returned until then. 14. The Orange Party was fun overall, although the Oarnge vesper drink was not great. One "gentleman" ran out and pinched the rear end of the female MC , which was obnoxious. He proclaimed that he was in his late 80's and danced very well-but he did not win the best costume contest. 15. Our cabin stewards Gus and Nyoman were amazing. Gus greeted every single person on our hallway by first name every day! Dining room staff were mostly good, although the first day or two the meals took quite a while to come out. Mid-cruise, some dining room staff were wandering around with printed seating charts and seemed confused about table locations-not sure why. 16. @Guardsy, sorry to hear about your Covid issue. My husband got off the ship and was congested a couple of days later. Uh-oh....I travel with Covid tests, and thankfully he tested negative. He had Covid in early August (even though fully vaxxed and boosted), but with this bout of congestion, he did not have the fever, aches and extreme fatigue that he had with Cocid. So thankfully, just a cold. I did not hear anything about Covid cases on board other than on our Boston day when the crew had a drill and they announced that "quarantined crew should remain in their staterooms."

We’ve done our own thing the past 2 days. In Portland, we rented a car and drove up Route 1 to the coastal towns of Damariscotta and Boothbay Harbor. My family use to vacation in Boothbay Harbor when I was a teenager, and my husband and I have done several road trips through MAine. The fall colors were gorgeous even in the mist and rain. For today’s Boston stop, we booked a Boston Pizza Walking Tour in the North End. Did a lot of walking and had 3 slices of pizza and a cannoli. I am stuffed!

There may be a couple of different sea caves tours offered on Saint John per our tour guide. Ours stopped to see the reversal of the tides twice. Pretty interesting! There was a brief stop at the City Market. It was very crowded. Many food vendors were closed but we got more date squares.,We also had a scenic drive to the town of St. Martin’s. Cave area is pretty.

@richwmnI have heard lots of great feedback about BB King. They are talented musicians. We spent our Sydney day touring around with a family member who is a priest. We got to see a lot of beautiful scenery all over Cape Breton, toured the Alexander Graham Bell Museum, and grabbed lunch at a small local restaurant. Also had great coffee and date squares at Bean There in Baddeck. My husband and I are becoming addicted to date squares-apparently they are a thing in Canada 🇨🇦. We also got to see one of the huge Newfoundland ferries come into port. In Halifax, we took a ship’s tour of Lunenberg, Mahone Bay and Peggy’s Cove. Enjoyed a great lobster roll at the Fish Shack in Lunenberg. The first 2 towns were pretty, while Peggy’s Cove was quite windy and full of tourists. Our tour was 7 hours long-like @mringenoldus, it reminded me of why we typically don’t take ship tours because of how long they are and how much time it takes to get on and off the big busses.

@KAKcruiser-we met up with a family member in Sydney who is a Catholic priest and is also the port chaplain. He said that as far as he knows, HAL and Costa cruises still want to have Catholic priests on board each sailing. Once in a while, a priest will become ill at the last minute or have another issue where it is too late to find a replacement. He has many HAL cruises under his belt-including the Voyage of the Vikings, one of the last cruises on the Prisendam, and a cruise to the Antarctica region. He got invited by a retiring captain to serve as the priest on the captain’s retirement cruise (a World cruise), but his bishop wouldn’t let him be away from his parish that long☹️

Thanks to Edi for all of her work in putting together the M & G and icebreaker and to Rich for letting us know about this thread. We feel like rookies as this is only our 6th HAL cruise and 8th overall-but we have enjoyed chatting with great fellow passengers. Today was our PEI stop-we took a HAL morning tour out to the Anne of Green Gables house and the National Park. We had blue skies. After getting back around 12:30, John and I tried to get into Water Prince Lobster with no luck. Instead, we headed into town and had lunch at the Merchant Man Pub which had delicious lobster rolls with huge chunks of lobster meat and hand cut fries. We wandered the shops on Queen Street and were impressed that they had 3 bookstores within a couple of blocks. We finished wandering around by sampling Cow’s ice cream-another great food option. Tonight we are dining at the Tamarind-our favorite specialty restaurant. Our Pinnacle Grill meal on embarkation day was great. Our second night’s dinner was in the MDR and was a bit disappointing both meal and service-wise but the third and fourth nights in the MDR were outstanding in every way. We enjoy trivia, but have only made it to one trivia session so far. I think I came in 2nd or 3rd in music trivia-close but no cigar. Beth

https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/news/2022/09/government-of-canada-to-remove-covid-19-border-and-travel-measures-effective-october-1.html The official word.....now the individual cruise lines have to follow suit.