Bill S

A few steps from your cabin you are right there on a long very beautiful balcony! Also less than 30 seconds to you muster point.

We have cruised in HH cabins a couple of times by choice and totally agree with Topsham's outlook. In fact, we have booked HH300 for the Maasdam's May 23 sailing. It is so convenient to get outside and the pricing on those cabins is very good.

Just be advised that there is no mini-fridge (actually an electric cooler) in that cabin. When we cruise in those cabins, we bring a soft, collapsible cooler and a large ziplock bag (double bagged to prevent leaks) for ice to keep our water bottles cool. We also as our room steward & the s for permission to access their service pantry to refill the ice bag when needed. Of course, there will be a ice bucket in the cabin which they refill 2x a day, but the bucket is not well insulated and the ice melts quicker than it does in the cooler.

Alternatively, if you want an electric cooler, you can rent them for a small daily fee, but it uses the one of the two electrical outlets in the cabin.

I hope that you will enjoy the cabin and the cruise!

All the machines were made by Hoover, the vacuum cleaner company, because they suck the money out of you. They are very tight machines, IMO. You can do better at Vegas.

Every time a new voyage commences all are REQUIRED to attend the muster drill

We were on a Collector's (back to back) cruise back in March on the Nieuw Amsterdam and on the 2nd trip, only the newly oncoming passengers were required to attend the muster drill. Surprised us!

The last few times we have embarked in San Francisco, we hold off our arrival at the cruise terminal until after 1 or 2pm. Embarkation has been smooth and fast.

But, it took a couple of times showing up at 11 to finally change our arrival times.

I agree with Cruiser Bruce about the very likely difference between Disney and HAL with respect to children.

However, having been cruising with HAL since 1998, the main reason we stay with HAL is because of the table and room stewards and the overall high quality of service they provide. Thus, in my opinion, anyone who describes those hard-working and pleasant staff members as "zombies" has no credibility whatsoever. That is truly an unwarranted, tasteless and cruel remark, again, in my opinion.

Our last HAL cruise was last month, and the service was at its usual high level. As to the "nickel and diming" issue, maybe there are some cruise lines which do not engage in any such activities. Yes, HAL does make an effort to motivate guests to avail themselves of the various activities, services and items which generate income, but in my opinion it is nowhere even close to being onerous. In some areas, my sense is that HAL has actually backed off on pushing purchases.

Also on our last cruise since it coincided with spring break, there were a fair number of families with young children aboard.

Hope this helps you a bit.

Wishing you and Tom a wonderful trip!

We have done at least8 Alaska cruises and here is my "cut" on viewing Glaciers:

In 3 trips up Tracy Arm, we have never gotten anywhere close to a glacier. Yes, you can see it way off in the distance and yes, the cruise up and down the fjord is beautiful, but if you really want to see a glacier up close, Tracy Arm is not the place.

Next up is Hubbard Glacier: it is enormous and has been, hands down, the most active glacier with calving that we have seen (3 times). However, two of those 3 times we have experienced rain and fog (which can happen anytime in Alaska)-we just "rolled" with it. One time the fog was so thick we never got to see it.

Finally: Glacier Bay: on a sunny day it is spectacular with several glaciers protected by stunning mountains all around. We have seen moderate to slight calving there. It is our all-time favorite. Even on a rainy day, it is still impressive, and you will be fairly close to several glaciers.

Regardless which itinerary you wind up choosing, you will be impressed with Alaska. The glaciers are only part of the experience. Hope you have a great trip!

Started with a Minolta SRT101 in 1970 & went to a Nikon D50 about 20 years ago but got tired of lugging that camera and lenses around during travels.

Went to Point & Shoots with most recent being a Canon SX600HS-a decent P&S in my opinion. But, I grew weary of its limitations, particularly in zoom.

So, last month I bit the SLR bullet (again) and went with a Nikon D5300. Wow, a lot has changed since the D50! Smaller, lighter, more versatile, etc. I chose 3 Nikkor lenses, all light weight by comparison: 18-55mm; 55-200mm; and a manual focus 50mm f/1.8. Also got a fantastic, comfortable, bungee-style neck strap: no neck pain anymore!

Looking forward to using it & lenses on an upcoming Alaska cruise.

I forgot to add that on the Nieuw Amsterdam last month (March), as far as I could tell, the only Mariners who were invited were those who were being presented medallions and those who were 4 and 5 Star Mariners. We met in the Queens lounge both times and both times the lounge was about 80-90% filled. Some of our table mates and Trivia Team members who had previously received their Copper/Bronze medallions and were 3-Star Mariners were never invited to the presentations.

I don't know if that practice is HAL-wide, but that was the way it was done on the Nieuw Amsterdam with 2 different Captains.

On the second segment were you on one of those 'collector's cruises'?

 

If yes, this is right... you attend just one of those events.... ceremony/brunch ... not both weeks.

 

 

On any cruise.. any cruise.... if you think something is going 'wrong' then it takes just a second to ask someone what is happening. No excuse for sure but ... something can go wrong.

Perhaps someone made an error on the Collector Cruises we took last month on the Nieuw Amsterdam. We were invited to both medallion presentations and Mariner lunches. We attended both presentations, but we had a conflict with attending the 2nd lunch.

We were surprised (but pleased) to be invited to all four events.

We take muster drills seriously as we had a serious emergency (a real fire that caused the ship to lose all power & smoke in the passageways, etc.) on a HAL ship when evacuating the ship seemed like a possibility.

We sailed on Celebrity a few years ago and the muster drill was indoors. The ship was the Millie. There was not enough indoor room big enough to hold all the passengers. We were herded into a large lobby area with several hundred other passengers. It was a joke! The person who was giving the briefing and other crew members were joking around and most passengers were talking and laughing. This was not taken as a serious matter. So, I do worry that a similar thing might happen, at least in the passenger ranks, in an indoor venue. Hopefully, ours was an isolated experience.

I hope those who have done indoor muster drills indoors will post about the demeanor of the crew and the passengers during the briefing.

jellybeana-So sorry that you got hit, too. I hope that you are feeling better,

I wrote about my experience in separate thread that existed prior to us embarking.

I woke up around 1:30am Sunday morning with headache and had 3 vomiting episodes and my DW called 90 per the Captain's instructions and she went to the infirmary and returned with an anti-nausea tablet , a disposable thermometer and 2 ibuprofens. The tablet worked great but I still ached and could not sleep. I was very lucky in except for the initial vomiting episodes, the aches, a 101.2 fever, weakness and fatigue, I had no other symptoms. It could have been a lot worse. My poor DW starting feeling poorly later that morning, but just ached all over and also did not get any sleep. She was not charged anything for the infirmary visit for me.

Of course, we were put in "isolation" status and disembarked after all guests who had not reported as ill had left the ship. We had a very long drive back to Las Vegas and took turns driving so we could take turns napping. We were in bed around 6:30 that night and slept very well and felt better, but still a bit weak, on Monday. All is good now, except for a slightly diminished appetite.

We have done about 30 HAL cruises and this was the first time we have been on ship that had a Noro outbreak. Glad it happened near the end of the cruise.

I appreciate the your comments, John!

We are feeling better but still a bit "washed out" and appetite is somewhat "off".

It WAS a long drive home-we were both very tired due to very little sleep and we took turns driving and both of us consumed a large bottle of Diet 7-UP to keep hydrated. Having a DW who is a nurse pays off! :)

Thanks, John & Ine!

We had a great visit with Ine & Ton and enjoyed the itinerary they chose, especially the beach-front lunch with the pleasant breeze.

The Veendam was very nice and even more so with the Christmas decorations.

On Saturday evening, the last night of the cruise, the Captain made a ship-wide announcement that a small outbreak of the Norovirus had occurred and that sanitizing procedures had been implemented.

All was good with me until 1:30 on Sunday morning when I became a Noro victim. I won't share the details other than so say in comparison, I had a mild case. No sleep that night for me! Virginia called the number stated by the Captain and she was able to obtain an anti-emetic tablet (which was very effective) and some ibuprofen. We were put in isolation and Virginia got a touch of Noro before we disembarked. We were told that we could disembark only after all guests who were not in isolation were off the ship. Even then, we had to use an exit that was separate from the standard guest exit. That was ok because we had driven to San Diego.

Suffice it to say, we were both dead tired from lack of sleep, ached all over the entire drive home, but at least we didn't have to stop to use restrooms, so it could have been a whole lot worse. We feel a whole lot better today, but still feel "washed out" and have no real appetite. Stuff happens and this was the first time we had ever been on a ship that had a Noro outbreak. Plus, it happened only on the disembarkment day and we did not miss out on anything.

Anyway, aside from the Noro episode we had a very nice cruise!

Hi Tioga Cruiser!

Yes, almost down to counting the hours instead of days!

This will be our 2nd time on the Veendam, but we have done this itinerary several times. It provides a nice and easy break for us.

Come Saturday, it will be San Diego or Bust for us!

Roger that, Roger! :cool:

I appreciate all the well wishes!

Copper has very good intel! Yes, we are looking forward to visiting with Ine & Ton in PV on the 17th! They know all the good places, especially places to eat.

It is an easy drive for us, and it is nice not to worry about weight (luggage, that is) or having to worry about what time we will get off the ship. Relaxing all the way! :)

Thanks Tom O. and John for your able assistance!

We will also be on the Veendam this Sunday and appreciate the shopping assistance. We have always turned to the right when exiting the pier in Cabo, so this time we will vector left!

Hi TiogaCruiser!

We took the city bus to Pearl Harbor. Not expensive. The bus stop for the route was a couple of blocks from the cruise terminal. But, we took a cab back to the ship.

I started using Stevia several years ago, and as recently as this past May I do not recall seeing it on the Rotterdam. However, I will check it out later this month on the Veendam, but I will still bring my own supply just in case. If Stevia would be available, that would be great!

After cruising with HAL for some years, we arrived late back from an excursion and opted to try the Lido: pleasantly surprised. Since then, we have had several nice dinners up there, and usually finding an open table has not been a problem.

My understanding is that only active duty military may be provided a military discount by HAL.

I am a military retiree and have never seen or heard of a discount for military retirees by HAL. However, we have friends who are military retirees and they receive military discounts on Princess.

If your friend is a military retiree then the previous "leave days" issue is not relevant in the least.

Friend of mine was looking at the maasdam round trip to Europe this fall. 40 plus day cruise. Was given the discount price and then told him it is only for active duty personal. If a military person gets 30 days leave a year how do they sell them a 42 day cruise. Scam?

And, just how is that a "scam"?

HAL has a lot of cruises that are far less than 30 days duration for which the military discount would apply.

Unless things have changed since I retired from the military, troops earn 2.5 days per month in paid leave x 12 equals 30 days per year. We were allowed to accrue up to 60 days leave but had to use anything in excess of 60 days each year or lose the excess days.

Just because your friend may not have more than 42 days accrued leave, doesn't mean he is being scammed.

buckbs, no one likes to have to cancel a cruise, and I am also sorry that you have had to do that. I guess the good news is that you did pay for cancellation insurance. Just think if had not done so.

I am not being cynical about your situation, but in essence, those of us who purchase travel insurance place a "bet" with the insurance company that something is going to happen to force us to cancel the cruise. Most of the time we, the insured, "lose"the "bet" and the insurer wins and gets to keep your money. However, when we "win", the insurance company has to pay off on your "bet", and before they do that, they are entitled, by the terms of your contract with them, to have you prove with documentation that you are actually entitled to the proceeds of your "winning bet". It is even the same way for life insurance policies-the insurers need absolute proof that the insured person is actually deceased.

I know it is a hassle for you, and seems unnecessary to you, but that is the way that insurance companies work.

But, you were smart to take out insurance in the first place! We always take out insurance and we have lost that "bet" multiple times, but we had the peace of mind that we would be covered if something did happen. BTW, I do not work for nor am I affiliated with any insurance company.

My best wishes to you.

We volunteer at a USO Center at our airport and by far, we hear more complaints about Spirit from our guests than any other airline-many, many regrets. Many say, "never again".

A Spirit employee told us that Spirit has no spare airplanes, so if one has a mechanical problem which forces a flight cancellation, there is no backup aircraft available, period.

As previously stated in another post, Spirit has no network with other airlines to be able to book Spirit passengers on other airlines.

One of our fellow volunteers and her husband had booked a Spirit flight and at the last minute the hubby became too ill to fly. Because she could not work a cancellation on line and because Spirit has no phone number here, she had to come to the airport to deal with the cancellation.

I understand that many people cannot afford to fly the majors and I feel sorry that they have to endure the Spirit "process".

And as to carry-on items, I had to wait for someone near the Spirit ticket counter who was going to fly out on Spirit, and they had an employee who checked every passenger who was checking in to ensure that they had only a personal item and one carryon, and that the carry-on fit in the template device. She did her job very well, enforcing that rule.