SusieKIslandGirl

Your photos are amazing. I can't believe how sharp some of the mountain peaks are! A couple of questions please.

Do you recall which deck was used to exit the ship when it was docked? And about how long did it take to get through customs in Buenos Aires? What exactly did they require for leaving the ship? Thank you so much.

On ‎1‎/‎10‎/‎2019 at 2:18 AM, rafinmd said:

https://morethangetaways.wordpress.com/itinerary/

 

Roy

Thanks for the information. Had hoped to meet up with all of you but we'll be a couple of day off in several of the ports.

Thanks Ann-found it. I'm sad because we're going to miss meeting up at several ports by just a couple of days. And thanks Kathi-love the trivia challenges.

Is there anywhere a place where I can find your itinerary and port dates? Curious as to when we'll be 2 ships passing in the night (on the Zaandam in 3 weeks) . Thanks!

Our group is planning a tour the middle of February and we were quoted $18.

Thanks for continuing your blog. Will be following until we board the Zaandam on the 30th. Then I'll play catch up later. Say hi to Sherita and both of you have a fantastic journey. --Susie

Thanks so much for your response. Exactly the information we needed. Just hope the front desk on the Zaandam is as helpful.

22 hours ago, gphb said:

We are not yet 4* or 5* mariners so have no priority but learned on an Antarctic trip that Holland America does care about independent passengers and will make every effort to get you off to meet your tour if you ask nicely for these unusual port locations.   About 60 people on every Falkland Islands port call leave the ship independently and so HAL even arranges a separate meeting room and first tender arrangements as long as someone from the group is facilitating the communication.   On this Cuba trip about 5 independent parties (couples or families) were able to get off early.

Is there a specific person you spoke with to arrange the group tender? We are on an Antarctic cruise next month and have several fairly large groups planned for private tours. Thanks!

Hi-I'd like to add my thanks for the great photos and reviews. I also wanted to let you know Burien is still standing. Drove through there yesterday while shopping. After the tornado in Port Orchard Tuesday and high winds today it's been a pretty wild few days-rather unusual but interesting! Happy Cruising!

If you go to the top of the page you can find the spot where it says find your roll call. You can click on that and put in the ship's name and your roll call will appear. Then click on the spot toward the bottom of the page where you can view more. The entire conversations list should appear and you can sign up for your meet & greet.

We usually keep 2 hotel room cards to use in case the safe needs a card rather than a combo. That way each of us has a card and we don't have to hide it somewhere.

Oaktreerb, you expressed my thoughts about opting out. It could have been the promotion rather than the actual payment onboard.

Did you ask the airline if you can change to a different flight? When they have changed our flights, we were able to adjust them without charge.

And make sure you have newer bills without tears or creases. Had to leave my husband behind at the taxi while I ran back to the ship to get a better looking $5 bill.

Amazing! Thanks so much for the lovely travelogue. Can't wait for your next cruise. We will be on the South America/Antarctic cruise in January so this has been a wonderful preview. Thanks again.

Congrats on the upgrade. You have earned it! But be sure to pass on a few names to the upgrade fairy for future use.

1 hour ago, 0bnxshs said:

 

As subjective as temps are, I'll give a try. I have found the Explorers Lounge to the most comfortable area, Roger says it's the coolest. Most of deck 5 seems reasonable for me, cool for Roger. Lido can get a bit warm to me, ok for Roger. Crow's Nest seems ok, Roger doesn't spend time there. Our cabin seems to struggle to be comfortable to me, Roger has been ok. I sleep only in briefs with no covers, Roger in pajamas completely covered with top sheet and comforter, which may help you gauge your levels.

Thanks, that does give me an idea of the various areas. No blue lips to be seen (maybe some blue hair though?) so I won't need a heavy indoor sweater.

On the main Holland America boards page there is a post titled 

I'd like to add one more "thank you" for your fantastic reports. I'm getting anxious for our January cruise on the Zaandam. My question is about the indoor temps. on the ship. Have they been fairly normal? Or chilly in some spots and overly warm in others?  Thanks again!

Has there ever been a topic that resulted in this many posts so quickly? It certainly hit a lot of buttons but good or bad-who knows?

We also have a tour arranged for a group of 8 that will pick us up at the hotel, tour the city, visit a winery and then drop us off at the pier in San Antonio. If you'd like details send me a message s.k.hill@comcast.net

We have reservations for our stay in January at the Hotel Plaza San Francisco. There are about 10 couples from our roll call who have chosen to stay there although we've all chosen that hotel on our own-not a group booking. I originally used Booking.com but found a fair savings by booking directly with the hotel. They were also able to arrange a car to meet us at the airport for $50.

The per person per day makes it a lot more expensive than a flat rate per cruise. And with all the questions on how it will all work, it sounds like an expensive mess waiting to happen.

48 minutes ago, Vict0riann said:

Well, I'm not sure if US$1600 for a sixteen day cruise would be a price we would pay!

If it's at all similar to the Carnival program the cost is for the entire cruise, not per day.  So hopefully it wouldn't be a pricey add-on. And the Carnival program has a set limit of available spots.

Sounds somewhat similar to Carnival's Faster to the Fun program but does include a few more perks.