BeardieMom55

On 5/8/2021 at 3:27 PM, JM0115 said:

We have been to Iceland once and saw no puffins! My wife calls them imaginary birds :). I hope you have better luck!

We have also been to Iceland before and were lucky - saw puffins on the excursion to Vigur Island out of Isafjordur. Good luck to my fellow puffin lovers.

I had the same problem last night and emailed HAL.  I looked for a notice that they were doing site maintenance but didn't see one.  Everything is back for me this morning.

We have used Harv and Marv's for whale watching in Juneau. They use small boats so that you have a "water level" point of view. There is plenty of room for everyone to get a good vantage point. They really took care of everyone. Best whale watching trip we have taken in Alaska.

HAL's "Whales and Glacier Photo Safari" is also very good. Smaller boat with windows that fold up into the cabin so you are able to take photos.

Thanks Kazu & Copper 10-8. So sorry we won't be able to say Hello to Stryker. Have a wonderful trip. Look forward to reading more.

After dinner we hit the casino for a few minutes to investigate, took a walk around and caught Adagio (which seem very good), The Band which was decent, Stryker (YAY) at the piano and BBKings late performance.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Hi Kazu, Hope you have a wonderful trip. Do you know how long Stryker will be on the Rotterdam? We will be joining the Rotterdam in July. We studied Taekwondo under Stryker many years ago(he wasn't Stryker yet). Would be great fun if he we were able to say hello again. Lorrie & Craig

"I believe the RT flight to/from the IGR airport (Puerto Iguazu is the town) on the Argentine side of the falls area should do.

How are you booking your flight? Can you print out the flight details (flight number and arrival/departure dates and reservation code)? Maybe include the booking confirmation from the Sheraton as well. "

Thanks for the great information. We booked the hotel through an online travel site and will probably use the same site for the flights. ( The trip is planned for next Feb). I can definitely print the confirmations when we finalize the flight (probably in the next month or so. ) You have helped a lot since I have been trying to decide whether to get the visa for Brazil.

Incorrect.

Again, for any future readers, the official Brazilian Consulate site (for DC and others) states:

"...letter from a travel agent under applicant’s name with complete itinerary, flight number and arrival/departure dates and reservation code provided by the airline company. "

As explained previously, this is a reservation for RT flights. (Payment is usually due within 14 days or reservation is cancelled.) This printed itinerary is sufficient for the visa process. No purchase, no money need change hands, at the time the letter is printed.

We will be taking a cruise that leaves from Buenos Aires around Cape Horn thru Panama Canal to Fort Lauderdale. So no ports in Brazil. We have reservations for the Sheraton at Iguazu before we board our ship. (Arrangements made by us, so no Travel Agency involved). After reading this forum I am now thinking about getting a visa for Brazil so that we can see the falls from Brazil as well. Flights will be from round trip from BA to Iguzu. With no flight in & out of Brazil and no travel agency involved, what will I need to document our plan for a day trip into Brazil? Any help would be appreciated.

Potential Zaandam drydock - gap in schedule from March 2nd to March 14th 2018 in Ft. Lauderdale. Fits in with the 12 day drydock schedules of the other ships in the fleet that have gone to grand Bahamas shipyard recently or in near future.

 

Carol - gentle suggestion - when you next update the list could we have a separate header for suspected Drydocks rather than being combined in with Charters?

Zaandam is in South America. Leaves Mar 3 from Buenos Aires to Valparaiso leg of the South America Odyssey voyage.

Our first cruise was on the Wilderness Discoverer (80 passenger) ship to Alaska. Our cabin was so small my husband asked what we had done wrong (You could take 2 steps from the bed and be in the shower/toilet). We decided that since it was only 1 week we didn't need to unpack but lived out of the suitcases on the floor at the foot of the bed instead. Kept tripping over the suitcases on the way to the "shoilet". It was an amazing trip with a company that no longer exists sadly. Moved "up" to HAL and couldn't be happier.

Thank you scubacruiserx2 for the beautiful pictures. South America is on our bucket list and after reading your beautiful review, it got pushed up on the list. We have booked the Zaandam from Buenos Aires around Cape Horn through the panama canal to Fort Lauderdale for March 2018. We plan on booking the Antartica excursion and realize if the weather is not good for Antartica HAL says they will substitute Torres del Paine. After seeing your awesome pictures of Torres del Paine, we figure we will be happy whichever way it goes. On your previous SA cruise did you do the Machu Pichu excursion? Looking for some input on that. Thanks again for the "push" to do SA.

Woohoo.! Thank you so much for posting about the cyber sale. I called Holland America (figured it couldn't hurt to ask) and we were able to get a good reduction in price for our previously booked cruise in July as well as the prepaid gratuities and beverage card. Now we can look at booking that South America cruise. Yea!

Sorry I meant Fed X. Thanks again

Thanks so much for the quick replies. I will call a rep at Luggage Forward and if that doesn't work I will go the UPS route. We are planning on driving around England and Scotland and did not want to lug the "fancy clothes" everywhere. This will help a lot. Thanks again

PS I knew someone would have the answer. Lots of great info on CC

I am hoping someone who has used Luggage Forward can help with my question. We will be will be taking a cruise leaving from Rotterdam on July 15. We are traveling on our own for a little over two weeks throughout the UK before boarding the ship in Rotterdam and do not want to lug our formal clothes with us. I see that HAL uses Luggage Forward and I have checked out their website. We will be leaving our home on June 28 and would like to have the bag picked up before we leave. When I put in a similar situation with dummy dates (it is too early to use the actual dates) it looks like the earliest I can have the bag picked up is 8 days before delivery date. I have tried to ask the question on their chat line and have not received an answer yet. Does anyone know if it is possible to have the bag picked up earlier than 8 days before delivery to the ship? Has anyone done this? Thanks

Thanks everyone for the input. It helps a lot. Jpalbny- thanks for the info about the speed limit and reminder about taking longer than you might think. We just got back from driving to Alaska and even though we have done this before, every day the drive took longer than I had originally planned. Same thing it sounds as Iceland - curvy roads and 90 km/hr speed limit. I will have to sit down and prioritize and expect that we will have to go back again someday. Boy is that bucket list getting long.

Thanks so much for the great information and feedback. This has definitely helped a lot in our planning. I was on the fence about renting in Akureyri but with this information I think we will rent a car there too. The 4X4 tour you mentioned sounds great too. Sounds like you have really been bitten by the Iceland bug. Same thing happened to us on our first visit to Alaska. I have a feeling Iceland may do the same thing. Thanks again.

Thanks jpalbny for the great information. I am starting to do more ports on our own the more we cruise. I like the idea of being on my own schedule - can decide where and how much time to spend. We are thinking of one day on the south coast from Reykjavik and the Golden Circle the next day. Would you recommend getting a 4WD vehicle? We are interested in geological sites and wildlife. The more I read about Iceland the more I realize we will only be able to see a fraction of what we want. What in your opinion are the absolutely do not miss places in Reykjavik and Akureyri? Thanks again for the help.

We will be cruising Iceland in July 2017. We have one day in Akureyri and are overnight in Reykjavik. We are interested in renting a car in both ports to tour on our own. Can anyone recommend a rental company (preferably with an office close to the port) or are there any rental companies to avoid?

Thanks for another wonderful review and amazing pictures. Your pictures and review of the Viking Passage inspired us to book it for next year. Thanks for all the great information on car rentals and sights to see. Looking forward to your review of South America/Antartica.

I love reading all the stories. Mine is not too complicated either. I am "mom" to 2 crazy Bearded Collies (Beardies) and 55 - the year I was born.

Captain is just now announcing that divers did not detect any problems that would affect our planned tinerary. We will be continuing on to Homer where divers will again check that for any problems. Great day here in Seward.

We received notice of the change in an email with our excursion cancellation. I was looking forward to zip-lining on my birthday but we love Glacier Bay too so just a little disappointed. Was wondering why the last minute change too.

We have done the couples massage twice. It was in a private suite with floor to ceiling windows. Nice view of the ocean. There was no Jacuzzi in our case. Was not aware that you could customize the massage. Perhaps they mean each person can have the type of massage they want (deep tissue, bamboo, etc). Hope that helps.

Sorry just reread OP's post. June is a little early for the salmon run. Most bears if out of hibernation will probably still be in the coastal areas. We have had great luck seeing them there clamming and grazing on the grass but I agree you might check into that with the outfitter. We were originally scheduled to fly from Kodiak to another part of that island to see the bears and our outfitter opted to go to Katmai instead where the bears were on the coast. Hope you enjoy your trip to Alaska as much as we have.

Hope you have a wonderful cruise. We are doing the same itinerary at the end of July (our second time.) I second what others have said - this is in my opinion the best itinerary. I think you will really enjoy the variety of ports. We too have booked a whale watching tour with Harv and Marv's in Juneau (thanks to the advice of others on this forum). We have cruised Alaska 4 times and driven up a couple of times so have tried a variety of things there. Since you mention you enjoy wildlife I would recommend a smaller boat like Harv and Marvs or the photography based whale watch that HAL offers. Also you might consider a trip out of Homer or Kodiak to see the brown coastal bears of Kodiak or Katmai National Park. I would also recommend some sort of rain protection for your camera. Have a great trip!