willoL

I'm a parent who chose HAL for my first cruise with both kids (they were fairly little) and again in 2022 with my spouse and two teens (final family voyage before eldest started college & maybe too busy to travel together.) We did a long voyage (TATL) where there were very few other young people, but it was still wonderful. Of course, we actively wished to spend time together as a family, so the HAL environment fit our goals. Both "kids" loved it, though the one visit to the "teen" hours at Club HAL (that I nudged my younger one to try) was pretty bad. It was just him with three babysitters for an hour or so where he played some video games; one other kid stuck a head in and left. During the holidays, this would be less likely, though. Shorter itineraries & vacation time journeys always have more kids. What matters is the personality mix in your group, as others have said. My kids loved HAL from childhood, but they grew up in a low-key household led by introvert parents. They were always encouraged to entertain themselves. Some people (children & adults) need more outside direction not to be bored, but most people today--perhaps especially the young--can amuse themselves pretty well with their devices. I'd expect teens being brought on a cruise to have that capacity, and I'd encourage them to pack what they need to enjoy their own down time. Maybe also plot out, roughly, how everyone expects to spend their days. Will you be together 24/7, or will family just come together at meals? Just dinner? Decide before you leave so people can pack accordingly. (For example, I bring jigsaw puzzles and small board games when I cruise, but those are things we do as a family when on vacation.) For my family, booking the right stateroom combo was the other key to happiness. The kids had an interior room across the hall; they slept WAY later than we did, and the room service dishes suggested they were up a lot later (noise, light, smells), too. 😄 We wouldn't have been as happy if we hadn't had our lovely Neptune Suite across the hall to ourselves...

I'm on Nautica now for the first time (first O cruise) and came to post about this very fact! I found the Bulgari toiletries so strongly perfumed, they bothered me when they were just sitting in the bathroom when I boarded. (I was by the bed; the odor from inside the bathroom bothered me.) Admittedly, I am VERY SENSITIVE to fragrance (triggers migraine) and I have irritable skin, too, that hates added scents and many other ingredients. When I asked our cabin steward to remove the offending toiletries on day one, he left Vanicream products (2 oz tubes) in their place: shampoo, conditioner, body lotion, and a bar of soap. Since this is our favorite brand amongst those recommended by the dermatologist's office we use for the kid with eczema, I was very happy to have the option for Vanicream brand products! (Of course, anyone with severe eczema will be traveling with the huge 16 oz tub of cream, not relying on itty bitty tubes, but I give Oceania bonus points for the offer.) 😃

Thankfully, as of August 2024 in the non-tropical ocean around Ireland, their does not appear to be any HVAC problem. 🙂 If anything, our stateroom has been a little bit cooler than I like, but that's because I left the setting low just in case the system was going to struggle. I like it ~64 F to sleep (17.5 C I think), and I've slept well for our two nights on board thus far, but my fingers are too cold sitting around the cabin during the day. (We had a tender port canceled for a late arrival to a docking port instead, due to weather, so an unexpected early almost-sea-day that I spent settling in for our multi-week journey.) The deep window well around the porthole is just great for storing our "going ashore" gear out of the way, and the bar that holds the round metal cover open seems like it could work to hold small items while they dry, too, because it is annoying to hang anything to dry in the itty bitty bathroom. Magnetic hooks would be AWESOME around the porthole; I put up family photos in magnetic frames there and it is nice since they can be seen when in bed. All of our check-in sized luggage but my largest, hard-sided Nanuk 955 case (11.8" deep) fit under the beds, though a Seahorse SE920 hard case just barely fit at 9.3" deep. (Neither of these opens to 180 like a book; I'd say 9 1/4 inches is max underbed height!) I wish there were some real hanging space in the second closet. My teen doesn't need much, but his collared shirts for dinner really have to hang in the big closet with my clothes. Everything fits, but I would prefer that he need never rummage near my silk scarves. 😆 I've had good luck using the triangular cupboard because I brought some stuff in rigid boxes within my luggage. Standing such things on edge means I can quickly access what is at the back of the cabinet. With 8-10 foot seas thus far (plenty of fairly obvious motion), I'm happy we are down on deck 3. That was the main reason I booked this category to begin with, though I was feeling cocky after our first transatlantic saw my whole family "sail through" without seasickness. 😉 While I worried I might oversleep due to too little natural light, I'm waking up at the same time I was in our embarkation port hotel room, suggesting it is enough light to awaken me. (I'm VERY sensitive to light and will wake half an hour after sunrise, more or less regardless of any other environmental conditions!)

@AMHuntFerry Posting the price list here was super helpful. We’re spending a few days before our cruise in a new-to-us city hotel. I wanted to compare the hotel laundry prices prior to our first voyage with O, and it looks like I’m better off (financially) bringing any pre-cruise dirty laundry with me to have it done on the ship. Even better is knowing there is a good chance of a laundry bag special at some mid-point of our 28-day voyage. I’ll hope we have one of those, but be prepared to make do with by-the-piece pricing. I hand wash many of the small items (and all my expensive delicates), but I am so much happier sending out larger items and t-shirts that will tolerate the dryer. I hang almost everything to dry at home where I have plenty of space, but it irritates me in a small stateroom to be surrounded by damp stuff. Laundry is my least-hated household chore. I don’t mind using a shared laundry room on a ship, but it would spoil my day if it was very hectic and hard to get the chore done. I don’t even like sharing “my” machines (at home) with my spouse who prefers to wash his own laundry. 😄 I do travel with SensiClean (unscented, irritant-free, aka Sport Wash) detergent due to my sensitivity to fragrance and my teen’s severe eczema. I use it for hand washing in the sink and in my HE machine at home, but it is good to hear that at least some sensitive types do fine with the standard process on board Oceania ships. In some cases, I can’t even sleep on fresh hotel sheets. The residue of bleach (or something) makes me itchy and lingering scent can give me headaches. We travel with personal pillow cases and “sleep sacks” (sheets styled like a sleeping bag, that kids use at hostels), lining our hotel beds with our own silk (or silk/cotton blend) layer and that usually keeps us safe enough. I will send out something of ours right away to make sure neither of us reacts poorly to O’s ocean friendly detergent.

@JK300 Yikes that would be miserable. I prefer to sleep in a cool room, too. On the other hand, the British Isles are having a typical summer this year, so my 10-day forecast has highs in the 60's and lots of overcast/rain, so I suspect conditions won't be as demanding for the HVAC as they were for you in the Middle East. 😮‍💨 @AMHuntFerry May I ask if you are a cool-climate cruiser (like me), or if you like a warm room (like my spouse)? Have you taken more than one voyage in the porthole cabins, or just adored a single experience in one? After half a dozen cruises, I thought I knew all the smart questions to ask my TA. Should I check in with Cruise Critic veterans about every new cabin category, asking if there's a chronic, known HVAC issue? 😳 (But, turning lemons into lemonade, my top floor central air is out at home and we've just had a week of 90 F & humid, so I'll still sleep better if the ship has any a/c at all!) 😁

Fantastic info, @AMHuntFerry! I have literally every large suitcase from half a dozen family members spread out in my living room right now as I was measuring to see if any opened to shallow enough dimensions. Your advice will help me choose, and end-of-bed access may well be best with the twin bed configuration and Mom/young adult stuff to store (not a couple's commingled belongings.) I may already have some of those folding drawers from when my kids were little. (Their entire bedroom was IKEA.) Time for another dive into the backs of everyone's closets. My sturdy, shallow shipping boxes from Nordstrom will work similarly, though; they're the really nice ones that hold up to crushing and open and close easily with the tab/slot. The question is whether having a "lid" to lift on those is inconvenient when under the bed, or if an open basket will contain everything to my satisfaction yet offer better access. I'll ponder how to optimize use of a triangular cabinet, too. 👍

@Kay S Thanks, that video was the best view I’ve seen of the porthole window yet. It was at 19:00 exactly in the 20 minute video, so I probably wouldn’t have found it in my own.

Can anyone comment whether the outside porthole staterooms (Oceanview Category D) on R class Oceania ships have even a narrow ledge below the porthole window? (I'll be on Nautica specifically.) Or is the wall totally flat to the porthole? Basically, my first trip in this stateroom will be a long one, and I want to pack as well as I can to optimize storage in the space. Do over-the-door shoe hangers work well on the bathroom doors on this ship, or are the doors too tightly fitted or perhaps the paint is super easy to scratch? I was able to find sufficient information about where magnets would be most likely to stick, but my searching didn't yield any specifics about the window ledge (or lack thereof!) question. The "measurements & notes Share" PDF someone else linked to in another thread reminded me to toss some Command hooks in my bag, and now I believe that the bed frame will need to be lifted to store my large, rigid suitcase underneath, so it WON'T be useful for quick sliding in-and-out storage drawer, but I remain open to other tips. I may even pack my clothes inside a suitable depth cardboard shipping box INSIDE my luggage so I have something to use as an underbed drawer. We will have the beds arranged as twins, also, which I haven't found obvious pictures/videos of.

Like a lot of frequent international travelers, I use T-Mobile. I chose that carrier in part because it offered the best int'l roaming options. My spouse, on the other hand, prefers Verizon Wireless and has his own plan. He needs to call in (could probably do via the website?) to add an international option before leaving the country if he wants to use his phone. They may have an "always on" international option for Verizon, but he doesn't use/want it. He may be on an old plan no longer offered; he hates change! My family also has a horror story about accidental and very expensive roaming. On a road trip in northern Michigan, I believe it was, my mom's AT&T cell phone connected to a Canadian tower. She wasn't paying attention as her phone alerted her to charge after charge (background things refreshing.) I think she racked up many hundreds of (US) dollars in charges over less than one hour of driving. Now, that was over a decade ago, so maybe things have changed, and also AT&T did reduce the charges in her case after she called and spent hours on the phone explaining how this accidentally happened, so it could have been worse. I'm not trying to vilify AT&T as a carrier, just offer a warning. Short piece of advice is: know your plan and what it includes, and be aware of what system your phone is connecting to when you travel anywhere near a border. There are phone settings to disallow roaming, for example, and at least some carriers let you keep international roaming completely switched off and unavailable, like my spouse does if he doesn't call in to activate travel options. (But I don't even want to pretend I should to give specific advice on settings to anyone with a different phone/OS/carrier!)

@julie3fan I’m happy to help if I can. Our excursion, booked via HAL, was not in a RIB boat, but rather a small boat with a tiny enclosed cabin. IIRC, one lady couldn’t get her leg up high enough to step aboard that little boat, so our group ended up ~5 people instead of 7. It would’ve been very crowded inside the cabin had that other couple actually made the trip, and probably chilly/damp if sitting on the open deck. While we were at the Hvalsø site, the boatman just dropped us off. It was kind of magical being just a handful of quiet people experiencing the ruins. I loved those first moments best of all. The RIB boat captured in my photo came along later. No other HAL excursion had been listed so that was either a private excursion or another ship’s offering. They were noisier than our group, and one fellow brought a drone with him. The noise from the drone (and the generally more boisterous second group) was the worst thing about the site visit. 😆 To be fair, I hate crowds and prefer nature to tour groups on general. Certainly the excursion was well worth it to me in spite of the other tourists and obnoxious whining drone! I went back to Greenland this August but on a smaller (expedition) ship with a full week in its waters. Hvalsø remains a top site to me, mostly because I have a passion for human history, and I adore seeing the vast range of places where people have chosen to live, exploring how they’ve adapted in each one. Helicopter excursions and landing on the ice sheet were amazing—and great fun!—but crumbling stone walls like that old church speak directly to my heart.

I just got back from my first (hopefully not last) Quark voyage. Admittedly, I'm not the hardest diner to please, but I found plenty of variety on the menu for my tastes. If I had anything negative to say about the dining situation, it is that I dislike buffets, and Quark uses a buffet format for breakfast and lunch. I enjoyed dinner much more, because we ordered off a menu. The breakfast buffet had more than enough choices for me. I would say lunch felt like the least choice, but that's partly because I would rather eat a deli sandwich than some of the more international dishes offered at lunchtime. I also am not the type to go ask for one of the "always available" specialty items; that feels like too much hassle to me, so I make due with whatever is in front of me. The dinner menu had at least one dish I was actively excited to try on all but one night. I got the "always available" chicken breast and baked potato on that night, but, since it happened only once, I never got sick of the basics, either. The chef was very visible outside the kitchen, checking on the service, and I thought the variety was quite marvelous given we were not picking up fresh provisions in the remote fjords of Greenland where we sailed. Soups were also particularly good, and vegetarians in our party seemed to be well fed and happy as well as those of us avoiding other things (I don't eat pork or shellfish, for example, for religious reasons.)

Maybe you want to join us on Oceania's Nautica in August 2024? https://www.oceaniacruises.com/cruise-finder#time_frame=2024-8&ship=NAU&sort=featured:desc&page=1&pageSize=10 My son and I are doing the 28 day voyage Dublin-Boston, but the 18 day Edinburgh to Boston does stop at both Orkey and Faroe Islands. I'm also quite keen to visit the Neolithic sites. I'm a sucker for living history experiences and academically informed recreations/re-enactments. We did a different TATL last summer, and, while I think Iceland is a better land destination, the Greenland ports and those in North Atlantic Canada were pretty great IMHO. I'm thrilled to repeat those ports. Also ditto @Globaliser's suggestion about searching via "an online cruise discount travel agency." There's one I always use to search by particular ports. (I've never used them to book, however.) I was wild to get to St. Pierre et Miquelon, for example, and that's exactly how I found a trip that did it. I've got a Roll Call going, if you do decide Nautica works for you. And I've already booked what I believe is the best tour guide in Kirkwall for our day there. We are open to filling the vehicle and splitting costs if a teen interested in history and Celtic music doesn't worry you. (I recognize that some people can't stand kids of any sort.) If you end up booking some other dates, I can forward the details of the tour guide I chose based on internet referrals. I won't have my own opinion to share until August 2024. 🤣

24 days on HAL with our 14 and 18 year old teens. But, that was meant to be a 2020 cruise delayed by the pandemic, so I had no qualms about taking 12 & 16 year olds on a transatlantic voyage of that length. My kids could have done a long trip even as elementary school aged kids, I think, though the youngest might've gotten homesick earlier, like toddler/preschool/early elementary. We've never had a hard time finding enough physical activity on a ship to meet those needs, and mine always liked the extra freedoms of cruising. (Selecting their own meals, availability of kid clubs away from me, etc.) 10 days to Alaska when they were grade/middle school aged left them begging for more time at sea, not bored. We had a wonderful time on both of the above trips, but booking two separate staterooms (or having some kind of privacy division) is vital for my introverted family on almost any trip beyond a few days. Three of the four of us really require alone time to recharge our emotional batteries! With two unexpected years to save up for the HAL voyage, we upgraded from Inside + Verandah to Inside + Corner-aft-Neptune-Suite, and that made life REALLY nice. 😄

We also color coded the lanyards we put our cruise card/door key cards on. Perhaps match these to each kid's packing cubes? This helped my teens grab the correct key, not his brother's, including the extra "room key only" card we asked for so they could access our cabin even if we were out. A tiny LED light per kid might also be good, possibly the keychain type on each lanyard. No need to wake up everyone with the room lights for a late night toilet visit, or if one likes to read in bed.

@KasperGutman Thanks for following up with your experience. Just remember that the next embarkation port might be different, or having an off day. Bring whatever you need to for future travel so you can explore the world safely and in comfort. 🙂 If you don't mind my adding this additional thought, I also hope you feel justified using any assistive device that helps you. As a person with waxing/waning mobility challenges (still only in her 40's!), I spent several years resisting doing things that would have made my life easier, and I gave up some experiences I should have been able to enjoy with my family. What helps me is seeing it this way: by *always* telling airlines I require wheelchair assistance at the airport, I'm helping everyone who comes later by increasing visibility that people like us are out there and wanting to travel. More requests for assistance means more staffing will be maintained. It's better to request service and then not need it than to regret not setting up assistance that would've made the travel experience better. Sometimes I carry my folding cane out, really visibly, in crowds, instead of in my bag until I need it, more as a marker for others to notice that my hidden disability even exists. Being bumped into can be really problematic for me, and being pre-boarded on a flight can make me feel super conspicuous if I'm having a good day and not yet limping. I would never judge someone else by the standards I held myself up to. But when the answer to my kids' requests to do something became, "Sorry, Mommy can't stop for [x] today..." (because parking was blocks away and I was exhausted and in pain), I realized that it was actually selfish not to talk to my doctor about a disabled parking placard. Would I ever have asked just for myself? Probably not.🙄 I wish I didn't sometimes feel ashamed of my body's weaknesses, but I certainly don't want others ever to judge themselves so harshly, and thinking of them makes it easier for me to accept help. --willo

My (big, mass market) ship experience last year was that waterproof sneaker-style hiking shoes were sufficient, even taking small boats to visit sort of remote spots. I've posted on CC about what I wore in Greenland, and I have a blog you are welcome to visit for a Greenland port review off a HAL voyage. http://reallywonderfulthings.me/2022/09/26/cruise-report-port-of-qaqortoq-greenland/ The ground at the Hvalso site, for example, was uneven and grassy, but more rocky than boggy. I'm attaching one of my photos so you can see what that was like. (Further north, things may be very different; we only stopped there and Nanortalik in 2022.) If you don't want to search or follow my link, my general wardrobe advice is concise: LAYERS! 😀 In August, sometimes I wore up to four or five thin layers, but I brought no bulky, thick clothing and stayed comfortable. My warmest one item was a cashmere sweater vest, but I'd wear that over long johns and under another cardigan and then a jacket on the chilliest excursions. This summer, my spouse and I are returning for a Quark expedition cruise to Greenland, and I will probably bring the same waterproof shoes that worked well for me last year. (Of course, we will be provided the serious boots for wet landings on Quark, so that helps.) If I bring my boots instead, it will be for ankle support, not protection from wetness. I'm one who *always* brings waterproof trousers to visit Iceland, even on a mass market or land trip, and even in the summer. I've been to Iceland four times, and Greenland just once. Many fellow travelers on our big HAL ship last year didn't think those were necessary. For an expedition, though, of course they will be a must! I think a thin, water- and wind-proof layer for all of your body matters more than any other technical item or gear, but I really hate spending a day damp and chilled. An insect head net is perhaps an exception, and worth it (IMO) for $10 or so and a little space in a coat pocket to stow it. You may never need it, but, if you do, it'll be a life saver. Someone who's already done an expedition may chime in, but these boards don't get the kind of traffic those for the mainstream lines do, so I wanted to give you what little advice I could. --willo

@lissie, my family of four did a similar HAL itinerary RT Boston in August 2022. My advice is to consider how you personally respond to bad weather on other vacations. For me, if I have a limited time somewhere, I will put on all the rain gear and take a walk, do a tour, etc., even if it is wet weather. Then again, I'm from Oregon where waiting for a dry day would mean staying home all winter. ☔ I recall specifically that I wore my waterproof trousers several times on our August 2022 cruise, including one day that I walked around on shore (Seyðisfjörður, Iceland) alone while DH and the teens stayed dry on the ship. That was a drizzy, miserable day of weather, but I still enjoyed time there because I was dressed for the conditions. I definitely appreciated them in Qaqortoq, Greenland, as well, as I visited the Hvalsey Church ruins (round trip from the port by small boat.) We had exceptionally good weather compared to the rest of the summer of 2022, too. Locals commented on our luck with good weather in multiple ports. Waterproof trousers offer a way to increase the warmth of the legs without having to change an entire outfit. I also bring thin silk thermal underwear on trips, but I have to find a large-ish public restroom to remove the leggings at midday since I'm not an exhibitionist. For me, layering options are very valuable. I have arthritis which feels worse when my joints get cold. On another shore excursion that required a small boat to get from the cruise ship to the location (Ísafjörður, Iceland to the abandoned village of Hesteyri), only because I had a full set of rain gear was I *tolerably* comfortable staying out on deck for that 45 minute trip. (I still got quite cold, and there was tons of spray off the sea.) I appreciated those beautiful views, but was chilly; some people stayed inside the cabin of the small boat with fogged up, spray-covered windows. Those people missed seeing some whales en route that we could see from outside. Many people on our cruise did not need waterproofs. I could have enjoyed my trip without mine, but not as much as I did having them. I carried them in my daypack virtually all the time, and I used them pretty often, and they made me more comfortable. So, if you really hate wearing your over-trousers, maybe you could try thermal underwear instead? But I would hesitate to suggest visiting these ports without layers to add/remove during the day, and, for me, I would have been *miserable* without an option for a little more warmth on the legs, not just the torso and extremities. I hope that helps! 🙂

@GeezerCouple I'm headed to Greenland with Quark this July (first time doing an expedition cruise.) Their 15-day Essential Greenland itinerary (for 23/24 and 24/25 seasons) gets as far north as Disko Bay, and Ultramarine is supposed to be quite luxurious for an expedition vessel. I won't be able to say anything from personal experience until later this summer. https://www.quarkexpeditions.com/expeditions/essential-greenland-southern-coasts-and-disko-bay My booked Quark itinerary has us fly to/from Greenland on a charter flight from Iceland. To get as far north as Disko Bay, I doubt you will find many trips that also spend significant time around Iceland, though. Expedition ships are geared toward letting the passengers off the ship to go ashore more often, so maybe Quark isn't what you seek? The big cruise ships are certainly visiting Greenland more often, but down at the southern tip. Last August, we stopped in Qaqortoq and Nanortalik on a HAL ship after doing a complete circumnavigation of Iceland. It was definitely a good way to see MANY more parts of Iceland, however, than the usual tourist hot spots close to the capital and the major international airport. Are you wanting to see something in particular that far north (Disko Bay), or just want to see some icebergs? Because, for me, I felt an instant need to return to Greenland because of even the ice I could see even at Qaqortoq and Nanortalik in the south! I woke up, saw ice through the gap in the curtains, and ran out in my robe the first day there. 😀 And, that was in August, so probably least ice of the year? I can say, regarding connectivity, that my T-mobile phone provided some coverage--but not perfect--in both ports in Greenland when I was ashore. (Not every text went through immediately, but I could contact my teens.) In Iceland, cell phone data is no problem (anywhere I've been on several visits.) On our entire multi-week HAL voyage, round-trip from Boston, really the only weak internet area (again, with HAL offering their own onboard service) was cruising Prins Christian Sund. It was memorable as my eldest was required to enroll in college classes that day during a specific window of time! Mildly frustrating, but the student did complete the process on that sea day. My husband worked every day, though not in a "constantly online" way. I also hope to reach Disko Bay someday because of a wonderful non-fiction book I read about a geology expedition there, so I get the impulse. But, from your initial question, it seems like *maybe* you would enjoy a trip that stayed further south and focused on Iceland? There are many more of those, I think, and they are somewhat less expensive. The book is A Wilder Time by William E. Glassley, by the way. (His website: https://weglassley.com/) My plan, at this point, is to take a land journey to Greenland someday to reach all the places I'm now keen about from my research for this upcoming trip. It's a compelling destination. --willo

@Mission33 I did manage to keep up my study streak on the HAL voyage, though I also opted to upgrade to the paid version of Duolingo before we sailed. I think I got extra streak freezes by default by paying for the subscription, and decided it was worth it. Thinking back, I believe there were a couple of days where I couldn't connect the first time I tried, but none where WiFi (or cell coverage) didn't make up for that later that same day. Usually, Duolingo worked about as well as at home. Overall, my husband was able to keep in touch with his work obligations well in spite of our location in remote northern waters, and I'm sure he did at least a some work every day. The only specific internet hassle I recall was my college student attempting to select courses for university for the first time (i.e., learning how to use a new system) during a narrow, assigned block of time. My kid just happened to get a low lottery number, so was choosing late (meaning many classes were filled and substitutions needed to be found)... all late in the day while we were also sailing Prins Christian Sund and nowhere near a port. That was incredibly beautiful--scenic highlight of the trip!--but also the worst connection day I believe we had at a very inconvenient time for my eldest. But don't worry; the kid did successfully register and had a great first semester. 😁

Phew, it took me a few minutes to read this entire thread! 😅 Having had the great pleasure of a couple of Crystal Cruises--and meeting the illustrious and seemingly always so even-handed Keith in person 👋--I was actually quite delighted to get the email inviting me to make a $500 deposit toward Crystal's speculative return. On the other hand, as a person who cruises more rarely than many on these boards, I haven't made such a deposit, though the reminder email that the program ends soon is what brought me to CC today. I simply had to learn more! My family had a really delightful HAL cruise this August--a "last hurrah" before my eldest left for college and flew my full-time-nest--but there's no doubt DH and I were almost constantly wishing we were back on Serenity with 1/4 the total passenger volume. (He and I are trying out a Quark expedition this summer, and I've got a British Isles/TA booked on a small Oceania ship for just my youngest and me in 2024 already, so I'm not likely to book any additional cruise until 2025.) IMHO, it's not wrong to be cautious here, nor is it wrong to take a fairly average financial risk and put down a small deposit toward the re-launch, by a new entity, of a product many of us found best in class. Scientific studies of human minds find we are awful at accurately assessing statistical risk with our guts, and the failure of Genting/Crystal is really, completely unrelated to the financial footing of A&K/Crystal. That said, optics and public opinion obviously matter, and I'd be communicating like crazy if I owned this new company. Optimists like me are inclined to be hopeful about its prospects, but I'd like a bit more information than they're currently offering to commit my personal funds. It cheered me to receive an email from Crystal Cruises, that's for sure. I'll have my eye on their future offerings, and won't hold the old management's mistakes against the new owner. I can't wait to hear if the product holds up to expectations! --willo

@washiotter, my kids this summer were similar in age to what yours will be next year, and we sailed on Nieuw Statendam last month. 🙂 I'm a blogger and have finally started posting about that trip if you'd like to read what I wrote about travel with teens: http://reallywonderfulthings.me/2022/09/20/cruise-report-hal-nieuw-statendam-transatlantic-with-teens/ My husband doesn't do formal wear and prefers room service; same with my eldest. My youngest is the party animal of our family, and I like to dress up and enjoy a little evening entertainment when I travel. My high schooler joined me *many* times (trying most of the bars) during the evenings. We explored the ship's nightlife together. He tried every mocktail on the ship, I think, and no one looked twice when we listened to music shows together. We were often the most dressed up "couple" in a venue and had a lot of fun doing something very different from our daily life. My youngest checked out one teen event early in our trip, but saw only one other kid (leaving as he arrived at the welcome party.) He didn't really look for teens the rest of the trip (though there were some that I noticed around); we hung out as a family. It might've been nice if the 18 year old could have played video games with the younger sibling since no one was using Club HAL most of the time, but the liability thing makes sense. My kids have plenty of their own handheld video games they enjoy together. Since the teens we did see weren't hanging out in Club HAL, I think your 18 year old will be able to find the other young people without any problem. As an aside, if, like us, it's your "last family trip" before the eldest leaves for college... I hope you have as great a time as we did! It was a perfect final hurrah with my now-adult child. We spent 24 days in the North Atlantic and it was lovely. The cruise environment lets teens have lots of freedom while even an anxious parent can feel pretty relaxed about their safety. --willo

Does anyone have experience using the Duolingo app (smartphone or tablet) or website (on a laptop) while on HAL's internet plan at sea? Per my Booking Confirmation, I've got the "Prem Internet Pkg" (included in the Have It All promotion) if that affects the answer. Searching the internet for my question didn't give me an answer, but I'm hoping Cruise Critic includes others who self-study foreign languages with Duolingo. I should have a two+ year streak going by the time I sail in August, so it would be a bummer to lose that. Also, daily practice helps a lot with language skills, though I use other methods, including some that offer downloaded content. Irrelevant, but for the curious, I study German and Spanish practically every day while also dabbling in French, Esperanto, Welsh, Russian, and Hebrew. I am a dilettante who loves the idea of knowing at least a few words in oodles of tongues. 😁 I believe Glossika may be a more powerful digital learning tool, but the game-ification in Duolingo is especially motivating. Thank you! --willo