SusieKIslandGirl

I would definitely get the handicap parking placard. My sister was once asked for it as proof to board the airplane during preboarding. And it works for parking too 😊.

Thanks everyone. Looking for to seeing New Zealand.

We leave for Auckland Monday. I just checked the visa app and received the same message 😯. Tried again and my info appeared. Phew! Good luck getting it fixed and thanks for the alert.

Fantastic itinerary. Hope the weather is good for the Falkland Islands stop.

No, $78 for both of us--$39/pp

Thanks everyone for the information. The HAL shuttle is $78 which seems in line with some of the other quotes given. Just a bit more hassle taking the hotel shuttle back to the airport, I guess. Ah, the decisions.........

Our cruise originally left from Rotterdam, then changed to Ijmuiden and now is departing from Amsterdam………….for now-May 15.

We are staying at an airport hotel and just thought it would be easy to take their shuttle back to the airport and get the HAL shuttle but maybe I should rethink this. 

If you like to snorkel, then go with the southern cruise. We just finished a partial Panama Canal cruise and loved the nature excursions in Panama and Costa Rica. We love sea days so that's not a problem for us.

We have a HAL transfer from AMS to the port but not on our arrival date. When do we receive notification as to when and where to meet the bus?  Thanks!

This seems to happen every so often. It happened to me about 4 days ago. Because it wasn’t the first time, I wasn’t too worried.

@StLouisCruisersOn the Island Princess last Nov/Dec, I was surprised at how few people lined up to pour the bubbly.

@cruzn singleDoes your pudding recipe include hard sauce and thin sauce with either rum or brandy? Yum! A Christmas treat in our family since forever.

We had "in transit" passes on Island Princess in December. We finished our TA from Rome and then continued on the Partial Panama Canal cruise. We walked to Walgreen's and Publix and had an easy return to the ship, bypassing those waiting to embark.

Thanks for the review! We leave in a week for Auckland and board the Noordam on the 25th. Can't wait! I guess we'll ask for hot food when we place our orders. 😊

Can you call to see what's available for you to book? Also, what times are listed for each of the excursions? Do they include an airport stop?

I book through the big box store. I was interested in a certain cabin for a B2B and their listing showed it wasn’t available for both segments. They called the inventory dept. and the cabin was released so I could book it for both segments.

Thanks @JazzyV, for the link to Kathi’s blog. But you can you tell me how to get a comment posted? I always get an error notice. Thanks!

I'd like to add a caution on booking Club Orange. I think you were lucky being able to book it last minute. I found out it is capacity controlled and not always available. I called 4 months ago to add it to a cruise in September but nothing available. A friend also was denied booking it on a different cruise.

For those of you needing ice packs, my friend gave me the "recipe" for a great one after my recent hip replacement. Use a resealable freezer bag and add 1 cup of alcohol (the rubbing kind, not the good drinking kind) and 3 to 4 cups of water. Be sure to remove as much air as possible. Then seal inside another freezer bag. It stays slushy so molds to wherever you need it and stays cold longer than a regular water filled ice pack.

I had a friend who swore the moon was the cause of her sleeplessness for 3 nights-before the full moon, night of the full moon, and the night after. Who knows?

Thanks @tuolumne couple. I know we never get the calls from Big Box and usually don't want upgrades but sometimes an upsell might be interesting. I guess I'll try and call and find out what they say. 

First thing I thought of when reading about showering with a friend is we do it all the time near Seattle. We seem to always be caught in a rain shower whenever we have shopping to do.

And does the Hokey Pokey ice cream taste of toffee or does it have a honey flavor? I don't care for honey but would love to check it out in a couple of weeks when we get to Auckland.

Thanks for all the information. My question is, "Can you call HAL directly about an upsell even if you booked with a TA/Big Box agency?" If so, does anyone have the number that you should use?  Thanks again.

Thanks for the heads up on the move of NZ Fabrics and Yarn. It is one of my planned pre-cruise stops in a couple of weeks. Hopefully Auckland will have dried out by then.