OlsSalt

We did two weeks around in Indonesia ending in Singapore on a longer cruise leaving from London, and loved every port. They are not "touristy" ports, so each one was unique. Plus the fun of seeing many of the crew's families come to the dock to greet them. I say go for it, particularly if starting and ending in Singapore -always a treat of well-ordered sanity. Borobudur was a highlight - excursion from can't rememember which port - but it was a stunning drive to get there. Jasmine Tea in Indonesia is almost worth the trip alone - fresh, fragrant and gorgeous. It is a unique part of the world that is hard to get to as comprehensively and comfortably as HAL takes you. Bali -Denpasar is way over-touristed, but taking trips up into the mountains takes you back in time and culture, to experience a very serene traditional lifestyle. Too many ports on our trip to remember them all without looking at our photo book - but all of them were captivating. I think you will have everyone wanting to tag along as arm chair travelers, if/when you decide to do this.

Cruise Crud is always a problem - resident ChengKP claims daily saline misting of the nasal cavities is a good defense against the dry air found in the closed-system interiors of any cruise ships. Worth a try.

I wish they would add a really good Ginger Beer - Bundaberg from Australia is one of the best.

The lower cost for Canaletto is perhaps why this is not a full blown speciality restaurant - to open this option up for other passengers who don't want to pay the higher Pinnacle etc charges. We personally have found it to be the most-improved restaurant among the HAL upcharge dining options, and enjoy going, regardless of its obvious limitations as you describe,

South East Asia too........ we as a bus group did protest and stopped the guide from doing this. Other times, everyone on the bus agreed up front to add the extra stop on our way back to the ship. Passengers can speak up, and will be surprised at the agreement when given the choice. Part of blame chronic lateness can land back on the suffering but silent passengers too. Not easy to do, but usually 100% effective.

Travel writer Rick Steves book on "Mediterranean Cruise Ports" includes at the end of every chapter alternate instructions how to get to a following (typical routes) cruise port. Acceptance up front, someone may in fact miss the boat. Comforting to know reasonable re-connections can be made. Plan ahead, if you are going out on your own. Including carrying at all times, any possible border crossing documents you might need.

There were a number of "game shows" with staff/officers on our recent Noordam cruise- late 2023. Some excellent naturalist talks, as well as onboard National Parks experts during Glacier Bay in Alaska.

Never had this happen on any HAL tour and we have been on many of them. They do a good job. And HAL passengers do tend to "follow the rules".

Where are you being restricted? We had the same problem in Bonaire, and just did a snorkeling trip to Little Bonaire on our own. Other HAL snorkeling excursions we took were not all that great - crowded, long boat rides to get to the destinations, and/or not much to see. So while disappointing, it may not be such a terrible set back to not do them and try to arrange something on your own. One other aspect we found as we got older with less upper body strength, is how hard it was to hoist ourselves back on the snorkeling boats. So one may want to look for boats that have easy or low entry platforms, instead of a little ladder over the side of the boat. Best snorkeling excursion we had with HAL was a drift dive excursion in Bora Bora, I believe. Somewhere in Polynesia.

Noordam was fine, lovely ship - was also on the recent Alaska-Coastal Calif cruise. How many sea days are you talking about? HAL ships do remain more low key and best for the "self-contained" traveler. That is their unique signature.

Are you sure that was not a typo, Mary? There might be another name for that merry excursion.

Nope, that would be the pits.

These are the extension cords they prohibit on board:

Here we go, try thinking you have one of those big plastic dog collars around your neck, like recommended during the past covid days, That way you could pretend you had a barrier that kept your cross-contamination fingers out of your own nose, eyes and mouth. Put this same imaginary dog collar on, but this time use it to keep your head from bending over to look and stay plugged into an internet device. Woof. Just kidding of course. 🙀

If you have fixed late dining, first night is not a problem. If you have a MDR map and know where you are going to get to your table, all the better.

We just got our first private fare, after looking at the Majestic Japan online over a few months and debating about it. Maybe that is what triggered the HAL "private fare" offer, that finally tipped us into signing up for it. It was several thousand dollars less than the posted fare, and now even less than the current fare We are 5 star and long-time HAL cruisers with a high onboard spending number (HAL excursions mainly). But this was our first "private sale" offer. Maybe they send them out to long time passengers who appeared interested in a specific cruise by their log in activity, right before the up the prices. Can they finally pull us in? Yes, that did it for us. Was it close to the end of a fiscal quarter, and they wanted to up their cash on hand balance. Maybe that too. Later there was the offer "book an ocean view and get and upgrade to a verandah" fare .We juggled the numbers around, including the few HIA benefits that we would even use, and our prior "private sale" was still the best price overall so we stayed with it. I think the Upgrade Fairy hands out private offers in her spare time - by whim and caprice, or a using deeper agenda that we mortal land creatures will never understand.

Jellicle Cats from the musical "Cats".

Could have, should have ...... lesson learned.

The smaller HAL ships create a sense of shared community allowing renewed encounters more than the larger ones. Agree, the happy hours, fixed dining and regular repeated activities like trivia or religious services create opportunities to meet other passengers on a regular basis.

One way to remember Kristiansand - the one with the bank that is now a MacDonalds ...and do you want fries with that?. And Kristiansund has one part with a sunny microclimate they call Tahiti or Fiji or something like that. 🙃

Tracking the history of the Vikings and Celts, with the Reykjavik overnight cruise might be a good immersion into why Icelands is, as well as what Iceland is. In the past there was a fun HARPA theater event in downtown Rekjavik -and you would need an overnight to see this - "How to be an Icelander in 60 minutes". https://www.harpa.is/en/how-to-become-icelandic-in-60-minutes Every corner of Iceland is remarkable in it own way, so you can't lose no matter which one you pick. And of course you will miss out on a lot too, no matter what you choose. Agree, the Route One self-drive around Iceland is preferred way to try and see it all. Some of the stunners are off the main road and in rugged coastal areas away from where cruise ships can dock. Lake Myvatan in the north being one of them. Hope someday you can come back for the round trip Voyage of the Vikings cruise, which is as close to getting it all experience but takes much longer than 14 days. This entire North Cape part of the globe has much to dazzle, no matter which one you do choose or in what combination. But the fire and ice of Iceland does makes Iceland itself unique.

I liked the old quill and foolscap days myself. Vacations are for relaxing, not staying on top of constant changes in technology are requirements to buy new devices and programs. (Grumpf) The ONLY feature we kind of appreciated using the Navigator was viewing the menus at our leisure for MDR at our and Lido online, instead of reading them posted outside the dining venues. Before we just ignored the daily menus, and waited until we arrived to see what was offered. We liked the tear out sheet of daily activities folded and carried in a pocket. And the paper based reservation and ticketing system for shore excursions. Yes, that as a lot of wasted paper and staff time. So digital improvements can be valuable. But not at the cost of all this device compatibility hassles to start each cruise. Ergo, make a pre-loaded WORKING device to use onboard available HAL, and we can meet you half way.

Just like an in-cabin hair dryer, HAL needs to provide compatible devices for Navigator use to all passengers requesting them, if they do not nor cannot use their own personal devices. It would save a lot of grief and the extremely long lines after embarkation since so many appear to have fatal problems linking into onboard Navigator.

Ooops, wrong Puntarenas ..... I was in Chile, not Costa Rica. We liked the coffee plantation and Poas Volcano tour. Long drives into the countryside. Lovely alpine scenery and cool climate in this mountainous area of tropical Costa Rica

Orange Night is honoring the Dutch heritage of the cruise line - the House of Orange. Just a fun theme, but nothing mandatory. Something simple or something in full orange bloom, your call. Or nothing, but it is a nice ice breaker to see how others sport this color. There used to be pirate nights, black and white nights, and other themes on cruise/passenger ships in the past, where passengers even packed costumes in order to participate. Now just a passing sea going tradition, like "formal" nights.