Wehwalt

It's a Caribbean cruise. People will dress as they will.

That happened to me twice. Once, I went to a dentist in Gibraltar, but it came loose soon after I got home and my dentist had to redo it. The second time was in Cape Town on the 2018 GWV. Rather than give up my only free day after an awful safari, I toughed it out until I got home.

My recent experience with Princess shows it is no different there (Regal Princess, October 2024). It was different at one time. on both lines At one time few did it. Then it was talked about and many did it. Then they took it away.

No, we've had this on several cruises, such as a B2B we are taking on the Rotterdam next fall. HAL is sometimes willing to re-allocate a desired room from the Collector's Voyage to the individual sailings, or vice versa. They talk to "inventory".

When I went to Xi'an in 2016, I made very sure to get there as soon as they opened and I was able to view the army and take lots of pictures. Fifteen minutes later, the crowds of Chinese groups descended. They never let up.

Agreed. Guest 1's presence is what HAL wants, in the expectation she will gamble enough to justify giving her the free cruise. To accept the free cruise, but with Guest 1 not there, and telling what amounts to falsehoods to accomplish that, well, there's something ethically wrong with that, at the very least.

I'm just not convinced that the Lido personnel, who are probably busier when it is crowded, should be in the business of regulating occupancy of tables. I just don't see such conversations going well.

The last two times we have been in a Neptune, on the Noordam in July and the Zuiderdam in January, the Neptune Lounge attendant has exchanged the sparkling wine for sauvignon blanc, favored by DW. On the latter occasion the lounge attendant said he had to consult with the cellarmaster, but it went through without a hitch. And we did bring it to dinner in the Lido as we rarely use the dining room. Although the Lido will hold a bottle for you, we preferred to keep the bottle ourselves as they did not refrigerate it.

I cannot say, although it is well known that all luggage is scanned. This is the sort of question, though, which is likely to hit on the division between those here who profess to follow all rules (or at least this one) and don't like to see discussion of evading them, and those who view bringing wine aboard without paying corkage as no big deal; people may phrase their responses accordingly.

I was on the Navigator of the Seas just before its dry dock last month, and I must have missed those signs due to their being so discreet. But Windjammers (the lido) was not open during non-dining hours. Not sure if they kick people out; lunch ends as I recall at 3 and dinner starts at 6.

Per the bloggers, there were about 1,200 people taking the full GWV this year, with the competition of the Grand Australia. There could be enough to fill the Volendam or come close without the need for segments. Or not. Time will tell.

I would suspect that HAL's hope is, with only one Grand Voyage running, and with a smaller ship, to sell out the GWV without the need to sell segments, and they will not sell segments until, and unless, it is clear that it will not happen. Among other reasons, if you are not selling segments, you do not need to worry about what happens to people who are segmenting if you make a major change to the itinerary like going around Africa instead of through Suez, something important this year, and also next. It sounded to me in his talk like one of Gus's priorities for 2025 if that itinerary must be changed, was getting the Zuiderdam to Barcelona for the rendezvous with the Volendam, and not getting the ship to Piraeus to accommodate the final segment. They would undoubtedly consider it nice not to have to worry about segments.

Probably wants to keep the overnight together in port in Barcelona with the Volendam, which may be the Big Event of the 2025 GWV ... or get to Piraeus in time to keep the final segment (unless they move the start of the segment to another port). Princess did something similar with their current World Cruise, got the Island Princess around Africa to Rome in time to keep their final segment intact.

So is this saying only one 100-day-plus Grand Voyage running simultaneously, but "no more than one a year" means there might still be a Grand South America or Grand Asia/Pacific of sixty or so days in addition to the GWV? And did he give any sense of the timeframe the changes to 2025 will be announced?

Thanks for the update. We were on board for the first GWV segment and would have enjoyed meeting them.

Can someone post a few words? Not everyone facebooks.

Also our experience on the Zuiderdam, we were in a Neptune for the first GWV segment to about 10 days ago. We exchanged the bubbly for one of the white wines in the first level wine package, that DW favors, and she drank it at lunch/dinner. Henje, one of the concierges, consulted with the cellarmaster and there was no problem. They also let us exchange a bottle of rum that we were given for two bottles of wine, same procedure.

I guess. But on the GWV, that we got off of ten days ago, the ship gave every passenger a power bank. We were, I'm sure, not alone in bringing two with us, so this meant we had four. The Zuiderdam is something of an old ship (2002), but I guess they were not worried about lithium batteries, as they handed out a thousand or so.

No, please contribute your views. We are very grateful for them. I just felt minded to explain your misapprehension, which possibly was our fault.

That number is zero. No one has said any such thing. Don't confuse discussing an issue with a willingness to break the rules. I cannot speak for others, but DW and I just got back from 36 days on the GWV and four days on another line, in which part of the morning routine was for me to take our mugs and go get coffee. And during which the kettle I spoke of remained safely in our gadgets cabinet next to the electric corkscrew in our own kitchen, far from any ship. Discussing shipboard policies is within the remit of this board. So is mentioning the policies of other lines, and that they seem to vary based on whether people in the country the ship is sailing out of expect kettles. And if the conversation drifts to travel kettles and their safety shut-off features, that's not nearly as far as I have seen other threads drift. I appreciate your concern, but perhaps your limited experience in CC is leading you to see nuances and connotations that just aren't there. The Inside Cabin, who posted the image of the kettle, is a greatly-honored poster and veteran of many grand voyages, including several GWVs, and whose live threads receive thousands of views. He surely appreciates the need to obey shipboard rules, as do all of us. Thank you for your participation in CC.

We recently bought one of those. We are anxious to put it to the test next time we have a land trip. Agreed that it would be almost undetectable with the cord removed. When we tried Princess last fall by the way for two cruises out of Southampton, they provided a kettle on request and even instant coffee packets. We still have some of it, awaiting same land trip.

If Holland wants to replace the nuts in the bars with pretzels or Goldfish (which they used to have), I'd be all for it! But not because of allergies.

I do not believe SumoCitrus was the OP, who discussed their grandson. I believe it was Cruising on a Sunday afte. Discussions of allergy accommodations are common these days and sometimes become fraught. I am glad that they were able to clarify the situation and hopefully they have received useful advice.

+1!

It depends, I suppose, on the intent behind your inquiry. The staff is endlessly accommodating catering to individual passengers' dietary needs. I'm not quite sure what is meant by "other venues", and "to be sure". Holland America often serves nuts to passengers who order drinks. Is what is meant whether the line will restrict the serving of nuts to other passengers in venues in which your grandson is or may be present?