Nanner

Giraffelt, let us know what you thought of Marcelo after your trip. We truly enjoyed our day with him, and found him one of the nicest guides we've ever hired.

As for the rest of the posts, I will say that I felt for the OP here. A simple "any guides?" question turned into a torrent of DIY posts, some suggesting not so subtly that anyone who chose to hire a guide lacks something.

As the OP so tactfully put it, many of us do DIY often, but at times a guide does actually enhance your experience. We felt our day with Marcelo was one of those. I hope the OP agrees. We were with him in January of 2014.

Nanner (not Tanner:))

As mentioned, if you need a visa for Brazil, you need it even for a day trip.

We used Marcelo da Rocha. He has excellent English, knowledge of the birds and other wildlife, and is just a joy to spend a day with. We did the Argentine side on our own, but Marcelo took us to Brazil, dealt with customs for us, and we had a nice cheap lunch in town, too.

You can reach him at http://iguazufallstourguide.com/home/

We didn't go to Torres del Paine, but our dinnermates did. They said it was worth every penny. Of course, they had a gorgeous day, which would make all the difference.

On Easter Island, we stayed at the Tiare Pacific, which was humble but clean and nice.

Are you looking to have a guide at all on Easter Island? We used Marcus Edensky, https://www.easterisland.travel/about-us/, who was excellent.

Since I haven't received any answers on the South America board, I thought I'd ask here. When we dock in Icaoraci (for Belem, Brazil) does HAL or the port provide a shuttle into the center of town?

Any idea on how long it takes for the shuttle, if there is one?

If you would feel better on a tour, when we went with South Excursions we did a great walking tour of Valpo, seeing the historic plaza, walking around the area and rode one of the ascensors as part of the tour. It was NOT flat, and some of our group found it a bit challenging, but there were some great views of the city.

There was plenty of "street art" to be seen in the section we walked. Sorry I can't recall the name just now. One of the best walking tours I've experienced.

Bon voyage to you and the rest of this year's roll call. That was a wonderful cruise last year, and I hope the weather gods smile on you again this time out.

Looking forward to the updates on the progress of the trip!

We are thinking of taking a taxi from the port to Parque Mangal das Garcas bird sanctuary. Has anyone been there, and if so, is it worthwhile?

Also wondering how long it would take to get from the port to the old city center in Belem. Does anyone know if HAL or the city offers a shuttle?

South Excursions is easy to work with. They offer a tour of Valpo and Vina del Mar that is excellent. You could probably ask them about doing a transfer from Santiago to Valpo, including their city tour. We used the company in more than one location in South America and were very pleased. http://www.southexcursions.com/chileshoreexcursions

In 2014 we had a wonderful 2 dyas with Herbert Sismondi in Montevideo and Uruguay. He may be able to help you. Email is hsis@asxinet.com.uy. He showed us around both Montevideo and Punta del Este and is an excellent resource. He also does Buenos Aires, but you would need to check into whether you need to pay the reciprocity fee (my guess is yes) to visit.

I'm posting this here in case any others on the ship are wondering where the roll call went. There was a post made to the roll call by someone else inadvertently, and I emailed Host Walt to ask it be moved to the appropriate board.

I'm not sure what happened, but when I went to look at the 2/7/16 roll call just now, the entire roll call had been moved and merged with a P&O (UK) roll call, and is totally gone from the HAL roll call board.

I've already emailed Host Walt to try and fix this, but not sure how long it will take. I just wanted to let people know that this happened and CC has been made aware of the issue. Very strange.

My memory of Nuku Hiva is a huge step up from the tender to the pier. It was also a bit rough, but the height made getting off the tender a real challenge. I was impressed yet again with the crew assisting people with mobility issues to disembark. Watching them hoist the motorized scooters off the tender, when the height difference to the pier was several feet, I was worried about THEM getting injured.

The captain did mention that it was a place that people with mobility issues should consider not visiting. I'm certain some who want to see a place (Marquesas) that they might never visit again went anyway.

We all need to be aware of our limitations, and those sadly may change due to time and injury. The crew tries to allow everyone who wants to tender to do so, but we also need to consider them when deciding whether to tender.

We did go to both sides of the falls on our own in 2014, and the requirement is a visa for Brazil, even for a day trip. Perhaps you take a boat to view the falls, cross the border, but never land there?

As for Paraguay, are you doing an excursion that requires a visa there? We did a tour that included the hydroelectric plant that straddles the Brazil/Paraguay border. They did not require a visa for that, though we did enter Paraguay on the tour bus.

You really want to be sure you have the visas you will need, as we had to get our visa checked to cross into Brazil from Argentina. We are returning to Brazil in 2016, in part to get our "money's worth" out of that visa, since it is good for 10 years.

Richard, we were on the same Collector's Voyage, in a lowly oceanview cabin. We only received the Indonesian lunch (to which I am sure you were invited). Considering your "offer" for discounts, I don't feel so bad!

I do miss the days when the people on the Collector's Voyages got a special cocktail hour that was attended by the officers. Sure, it's fine if the captain isn't always there, IMO, but some recognition of our loyalty after almost a month on the ship would have been nice. I don't think an hour's worth of drinks "on the house" would have been a huge dent in the profits from the B2B guests. :D

Has anybody heard how HMC fared during Joaquin? I have a friend doing her first HAL cruise soon, and HMC is on the itinerary.

I'm not ksqueak, but just off the Prinsendam on Sept. 28. The ship has Happy Hour in both the Ocean Bar and Crows Nest from 4-5 PM, then in the Crows Nest from 9:30-10:30 PM.

Not great timing for those with late seating.

I do hope they keep the Mariners lunch/brunch. It appeared on our recent cruise that the food was much improved. No more quiche or pretend key lime pie. We were pleasantly surprised!

I thought of a few more points I wanted to make, but didn't want the OP to get too long.

While I was very tired of the "Listen to the Music" show, it was strange to have NO show on the first night of either cruise leg. I also thought it odd to not showcase the piano player/Adagio/Sound Wave so new cruisers might frequent the other venues if impressed. It just seems cheap to not offer a show on both the first AND last night on the ship. Many mentioned how bored they were the first night, so it wasn't just us.

We did like the update to the songs in the show lounge. A bit of Adele, John Legend and others is overdue. Not to mention that more Beatles/Stones/Simon and Garfunkel tunes are also welcome.

Those bare chested dancers are also manscaped. If you must show male chests, must they all be prepubescent? Can't adult males and females look like adults?

While this may vary by ship, on the Prinsendam the Band's music often overwhelmed the singers/guest performers. It was bad when you could barely hear the guest pianist/flautist/violinist at points due to the volume of the accompaniment. I think I forgot to make that point on my survey :(

Just off the Prinsendam, and we experienced the new entertainment providers for the first time. I must say we were underwhelmed.

Some things haven't changed. Sound Wave, the replacement for the HAL Cats, continues to have a lead female singer who can't sing well. I've usually been of the opinion that they find the female singers for the band in the alley, looking for toms.

The Band itself still has some excellent musicians that also provide back up for the guest performers. They often impress us with their skill.

Adagio is now just a violin and piano, and this duo was rather poor. I am no musician, but I don't have a tin ear and can tell when notes are off.

The cast has changed. Even on the small stage of the Prinsendam we had 4 singers and 4 dancers (2 of each sex). There is a marked prevalence of eastern Europeans in the cast, and I wonder if that is true on other ships.

This was a good thing for the dancers, who were better than most we've seen on HAL in the past. I do wish they would do something with their facial expressions, as they tended to exaggerate their smiles and mug for the crowd to the point it distracted from the dancing, at least for us. Some of the costumes are strange. There's a lot of bare chested dancing by the guys, and one outfit they wore put me in mind of Tweedledum and Tweedledee.

The cast singers were not wonderful. For a while HAL seemed to be upgrading the voices on the cast members, but no more. This quartet all lacked the range to sing some of the songs they were expected to handle. The men were better than the women, but none were as impressive as some of the voices we've heard on HAL in the not too distant past.

The guest entertainers also seemed to be a bit lower on the scale. None were worthy of a standing ovation from us, and I am quite certain that is a first.

We don't cruise for the entertainment, but on a cruise with a lot of sea days, it could be a real downer to have nothing worth attending most nights. We have one upcoming cruise with HAL, and it will be the longest yet. I hope we have a better impression of the entertainment on the Maasdam.

Just off a Collector's Cruise on the Prinsendam, and it was clear when we boarded that the officer's would not be attending the M&G. Since I don't think the sun rises and sets on Cruise Critic members, that was okay with me.

I was actually glad they didn't show up, as despite my admonitions prior to the event, there was one person who arrived late to the show and then introduced herself and went into a long spiel about her private tour that still had room. She did this right in front of the bar staff.

What I DID miss was the Captain's greeting event at the start of the cruise, so you could at least see what the Captain, HD and CD look like. Also, on prior Collector's Cruises, there was a cocktail hour for those who were doing both legs, attended by the officers. We had a great time talking with some of the lesser known people (beverage manager, onboard event coordinator). At least HAL did give us an Indonesian luncheon, and that was attended by the officers.

I was also not very impressed with the new entertainment aboard, but that's an entirely different subject.

Glad you and Chris loved VotV, Jan. We missed L'Anse aux Meadows when we did Voyage of the Vikings in 2012, which just means we'll have to try again someday. VotV is a wonderful cruise, and we wouldn't mind a repeat in the future.

Bill and I will raise a glass in a salute to our 2011 meeting on the Prinsendam when we return to Bordeaux in a few weeks on her. No Belgium for us this time, though.

I've had a wonderful special birthday cake in the Pinnacle, as well as the usual cake and song in the MDR for my birthday.

In March, we were on the Maasdam with my in-laws for FIL's 83rd. The Indonesian song on board was taken up a notch for his birthday, with great harmonies, a drum and a guitar. That was the first time I'd seen quite that much of a production, and my FIL was duly impressed. The Maasdam crew rolled the same celebration out numerous times during the cruise, and it was great fun to watch.

9 days later was my DH's birthday, and he loves carrot cake. They managed to hunt up a big piece for his "cake"!

I did mention how much we enjoyed all this on the survey, too. A bit extra effort can make something we had become blasé about so much more enjoyable.

I'm also very sensitive to light at night, so in addition to the good curtains provided by HAL, I use some of the clothespins I bring along to make the contacts good and tight. Between the darkness and the rocking of the ship, I get some of the best sleeping nights on board!

Agree with those who would love to do Australia/New Zealand via ship. If we could work in some land time on the continent and do both ways on the sea, that would be perfect!

The Galapagos is on my list, with a side trip to Machu Picchu. We have yet to do the Baltic, and that is on our list as well. We've done some Mediterranean cruising, but the Greek islands are still on the "to do" list.

Our first cruise ever was on the Zaandam on January 18, 2003. It was a 7-day Caribbean cruise. We were so hooked that the next April we did the 18-day Circle Hawaii.

Frankly, the second one was almost a turn off to us for HAL. We were not quite 50 and that cruise had a lot of folks (more than I've ever seen since) who did not do anything but stay aboard, and so many mobility impaired that the halls were full of scooters. It seemed a hazard to those who walked, and if we had hit rough seas, I would have worried even more. It also made me wary of long cruises, but I've now found that the longer cruises seem to have a great mix of passengers.

After a 2005 Alaska cruisetour, we took a 4 year break from HAL to do other types of vacations and to go for our only non-HAL cruise (Celebrity Panama Canal transit).

I have again reached a point of wanting to do something else for vacation, so after our January-February trip we will likely take a year off from HAL. I'm sure we'll be back on the ocean, as we both love being on a ship.

My DH and I always ask for a plate of steamed vegetables with dinner, as we feel veggies are lacking on the MDR menu. We used to get a platter of them for the two of us, and there were often enough to share with tablemates.

On the last 2 voyages, they just put a wee bit of veggies on our separate plates. I don't think that veggies are so expensive that it would hurt them to give us what we ask for. We're happy with whatever is available, and a serving spoon full of veggies is nowhere near what we desire when we both say we want lots of them.

I dislike the integration of the "always available" into the rest of the menu. It smacks of a way to offer fewer choices by padding the daily specials with the regular items. BTW, "steamed vegetables" used to be listed, and it isn't anymore. I want side veggies, not just a vegan/vegetarian main course.