OlsSalt

I use an 1850 watt hair dryer at home and I thought the HAL in-room dryer was a lot better, smaller and lighter but equally powerful. I loved the HAL dryer too, but I have shorter hair. I looked for the brand, but did not see it because I do would have liked to find one for home use. Nothing wrong with bringing your own and requesting an approved extension cord, if that would help.

HAL Vista ships (Nordam, Oosterdam etc) still have wonderful wide teak promenades and plenty of deck chairs, while providing still some of the better features of the smaller ships. They still remain safe bets for those of us in love with HAL's older smaller ships. MDR not as intimate which is one drawback, but late fixed dining still retains much of the smaller ship graciousness. Those of us who also remember when the Vista ships were the "big new ones". Passenger numbers are getting up there, but it never felt crowded and the libraries are coming back in.

I wonder if you were the very sympathetic person in the forward facing cabana next to the corner family cabana that rolled her eyes and nodded in agreement when I was registering my early complaints to the beleaguered cabana steward. Plus being supportive when I was also asked " is it possible to turn the music down"? It was very annoying hip hop type music and pretty loud - like much of the rest of the ship. The volume was decreased. But we had to live with the kids, and their impacts on getting any timely food service. I appreciated getting the moral support from whomever that nodding woman was that day, also agreeing this was a hugely disappointing cabana experience. For others reading this for the first time, these concerns did get escalated to guest services but they offered no resolution nor refund. Poor stewards got caught in the middle. (Konigsdam - Christmas 2022)

The Pre-Columbian Museum in Santiago is first rate - if you have any interest in this long and important era of successive advanced civilizations, along the western South American coast. Plus some Easter Island artifacts. https://precolombino.cl/wp/en/

It think there is no real time coordination among the agents taking cabana reservations, being required to go through the guest services department. Were these being handled through a remote call center, since it was separate from the cruise reservation itself? When booking our own "one and done" cabana, I got different stories from different agents when I was making initial inquiries about a possible reservation. One said only the family cabana was available.Then a later call said there was a regular cabana still available. It was a fast moving front. I think with cabanas the best rule is pays your money ,and takes your chances - a gamble at best, when trying to pin anything town.

It could be this change in fixed dining time was intended to coordinate with the show times? I like the 7:30 time too, but sympathize with those who find 5pm too early. Barely back from time on shore to get ready. The 8pm fixed dining time rarely allowed time to go to the later show, or at least get there before it started. But one could go to the earlier show, before dinner.

My own trick with thrift shop clothes when traveling is to take a small retractable tape measure with my "strategic' measurements marked off - or even a knotted string would do - waist, hips, shoulders, length etc to quickly size up an item -since European sizing and cut can be so different. Being able to try things on in thrift shops can be limited. I picked up a thrift shop pullover sweater once in New Zealand for a few dollars, since it had become colder than expected when we were out on a full day excursion. I still get compliments on it every time I wear it since it has slightly aboriginal design motifs. That one was a keeper - my special New Zealand souvenir. Winners can be found, or even just some good travel basics. A friend got a couture suit on a Rue Mouftard thrift shop in Paris for a few dollars once that she wore frequently at home in her role as college foundation director - it was a prefect look . It fun to shop so painlessly cost wise when out traveling. If you have to leave it behind, if the suitcase gets over-stuffed no loss either.

A few years back, as best I remember this, a cabana switching was also reported on a Nieuw Amsterdam cruise - their carefully selected cabana had been switched without their knowledge or agreement. Turned out later, a member of the Dutch Royal family an and I believer ship's god mother(?) was going to be on that same cruise and had requested that previously selected cabana. So deference somewhere inside the HAL food chain was made to accommodate her wishes. This was not known when the CC poster who initially registered her complaint here about the cabana switch. However, when the kerfuffle became known to the Royal Family member she very graciously gave up that cabana choice and the original passenger's first choice was restored to her. We were on the cruise prior to this one and the staff/crew was quite excited by the royal visit, and all reports indicated this was a very beloved member of the Dutch royal family. I got the impression this was an upper management decision and not demanded nor commanded by the royal personage herself. All's well that ended well, but it was a real blow to the original cabana occupant, until this finally settled out.

I love shopping in thrift stores-second hand stores in Europe, if you are not familiar with them. Something to look up online ahead of time in the cities you will be visiting. Under various names - but great way to pick up some travel clothing extras. Outdoor markets used to have a lot of knitwear in Italy when there were factories close by - all in a heap and you could find some winners by digging around. We had some missing luggage once on a land trip to Naples Italy, and the "cheap things" I picked up at the outdoor markets to tie me over, I am still wearing today.

Oh dear, good question. Luggage is handled by the dock workers unions and they do like split shifts and "overtime" so they might be on the job early, regardless since they have to just stack it up on carts and store it anyway until the departing passengers are offloaded. But you do need to confirm this - is there a port agent number you can call? Or the HAL office in FLL? Hope you find a good solution and get back to us. I suspect several other passengers will not have gotten this last minute message, and will be waiting around too.

This Amtrak coastal section LA to San Diego was back open by October 2023. Prior use of this Amtrak route in Jan 2023 did require the off-loading and up loading on the busses last year - suitcases and all. Heavy rains expected this winter too in California, so one needs to keep checking the Amtrak website for "status" updates.

We did embarkation evening on the Noordam recently, in the Pinnacle - not crowded. Very lovely dinner and a great way to start our cruise.

Hometown is on the Amtrak Surfliner route - that ends up in San Diego. News today claimed two (2) accidents along the tracks, in two (2) locations causing unknown delays - one was a car on the tracks, and the other a pedestrian. The routes in this semi-urban area are well marked and often fenced, with crossing arms and signals. Each accident/incident requires full investigations which means the impacted trains do not leave the area for some time, nor do other trains both passenger and freight using the same lines get to pass through either. 85% of the time probably, no problems keeping their schedules but ..........accidents do happen. There is an up to the minute feature on the Amtrak website giving status of the route information

We always have a value-added perdiem amount in our mind ahead of time, that we weigh against Neptune upgrade offers. Then we weigh location, since for us the real value of the lounge is having it close by. I think you got a good offer, but the location may be a deal killer...... or not. Some prefer to walk distances or even be on another deck from the Lounge. Since this your first HAL cruise, hard to know up that front. So your real benefit would be the generous cabin size and included amenities of the Neptune cabin itself. But for just an increase in cabin size, agree the Signature Suites are a very nice choice too. Depends on whether you value the much larger cabin first, or the location by the Neptune Lounge first. We do love Neptune suites, the Neptune Lounge an especially love their huge balconies. Again, I think you got a good offer. Let us know your final outcome.

Thank you for all the responses. Looks like officially, no is the general policy. But exceptions can possibly be made .Thanks for sharing the process one needs to take to see if they can make it happen. Shared this with our roll call.

Maybe we could do a Give-Send-Go 💌 and get you on the roundtrip HAL Voyage of the Vikings! Another often spectacular scenic voyage in this planet's rugged outreaches. Hope you get to take it someday. And write about it. The Prince Christian Sound in Greenland ranks right up there with Antarctica - but is only for a few hours, not several days like way down under.

I don't want your cruise to end. Please stay onboard forever, and keep writing. 😍 Now here is another teaser question for the Great Antarctica cruises: Is it better to go east to west or west to east? Add that question to the ongoing port or starboard cabin question. Or drive-by versus expedition landing preference, that we often also debate here. Your blog convinces me yet again, having done the same cruise a few years ago but in the opposite direction, that any drive-by Antarctica remains spectacular. I know we did not feel cheated not landing. Just slowly cruising and discovering amazing wildlife sightings against those spectacular backdrops was beyond all expectations for us.

Question came up on our upcoming Westerdam Majestic Japan roll call - can someone bring a guest on board when visiting a port? I assumed particularly post-"covid" this would not be possible. But others reported they have done this in the past, after obtaining an official Visitor's Pass. Any recent updates on this prior HAL policy? Thanks.

Caution when walking from the train station to the cruise port - if you have wheeled luggage. You need to roll them over several train tracks embedded in the pavement, as multiple transit lines converge near this station. They are clustered in one segment of the walkway near the station. Doable but a nuisance, works better with pull wheeled luggage than with spinners. Only two wheels to get stuck, not all four.

Favorite overnight was Istanbul - and being on the aft deck at night, circled by the lights of this stunning city. Sailing to Byzantium ................(Yeats) Shanghai and Hong Kong were equally grand on overnights, when able to be at the former inner bay docks. Best seats in the house. Luck of the draw was once also getting the inner harbor, tendering spot in Stockholm harbor overnight. Smaller ships rule for those lucky inner harbor overnight dockings. Fewer and fewer these days. Lisbon and Barcelona were other overnight downtown docking treats, now more likely located at the more remote commercial docks.

Agree, the surcharge Gelato Bar is fantastic and thought it was well worth the upcharge. I believe they are now only found on the larger Pinnacle class ships- Rotterdam, Konigsdam and Nieuw Statendam. So you might be out of luck on the Nieuw Amsterdam --- so far. Let's hope someday they make this treat available fleet wide. The "gelato" served in the Canaletto restaurants is not even close.

PVSA = P = Passengers Jones = Cargo = keeping up with the Jones', buying stuff

You are free to go anywhere on your own during these over-night. Just be back by departure time. And have proper documents with you, in case you are delayed. Or if required by the port country. When one is in a tender port, there may be fewer tenders back to the ship later at night. But you may find the very late night tenders are filled with happy crew members, taking advantage of not having "bed checks" in these overnight ports too.

We choose the hotel (name?) right across the street from the cruise terminal and get up early to watch the ship come in from the hotel room balcony. CVS drug store a few blocks away for any last minute items. On embarkation day we have also dropped our luggage off early at the terminal turn-around area, and then spend the rest of the day on our own before a later hands-free embarkation. From that hotel location, when Disney cruise ship is in port you can hear their special "toot": first notes of "When you wish upon a star".

I guess HAL really meant it when they tell you at least a hundred times, do not gather around the exit until your number is called. That'll teach 'em.