OlsSalt

Great glass case display of all the various types of penguins at the prison.

Dare I suggest homemade, pot laced brownies and CBT gummies might be a problem on Carnival ships, and not (yet obvious) on HAL ships?

At one time, the MDR was open only for Mariner members on embarkation day. Everyone else had to go to the Lido. Now I think the MDR is open to anyone. No longer just a "Mariners Lunch" on embarkation; not to be confused with the invite Mariners Lunch and awards ceremonies. Correct me if I am wrong about MDR embarkation day no longer being just for Mariners.

iPhones do produce amazing photos.

Amazing also how quickly the Age of Information morphed into the Age of Disinformation. Times of transition are historically unsettling. One can only speculate what history will ultimately conclude about this revolutionary era - on the cusps of the 20th and 21st Centuries. First computer - a Kaypro "portable" in 1987. Non cell phone user - 2023.

The downside of HAL's deep and well-earned passenger loyalty.

Watch SpaceX Starlink launches in real time: https://www.spacex.com Quite amazing, and we see their streaks across the sky from our back deck.

July 2022: (Yahoo News) Thousands more Starlink satellites will be launched into orbit before the network is complete, with each new batch bolstering speed and reliability of the broadband service.

PS - I wonder if the "chip shortage" for new Japan smart cards is related to the fact the old ones are getting sold on places like eBay, or other "black markets". Instead of getting recycled by the smart card companies themselves. Every innovation always seems to create a new downside. Love using smart cards when traveling, but we found getting our pre-paid Japan Rail day pass in Japan last time a huge time-wasting hassle just to turn in our pre-paid voucher to get the actual train pass. So this makes me wary about getting anything now prepaid before arrival.

Struggling also with this same issue - getting a Japan smart card before arrival, and we don't want to be tethered to a cell phone. Thanks for the tips and hope you keep us updated with your success. The eBay Option: I was surprised to see how many Japan smart cards, Suica included, were for sale on eBay - some loaded with small amounts, but most unloaded. Not cheap, but I assume since they are transferable to any user, one could at least buy a blank card ahead of time and then load it once in Japan at the various transportation kiosks. This is in theory only, so wondering if anyone tried using one of these "eBay" offered empty Japan smart cards - legal, trouble, useless, rip off ???????.

Leave all your devices at home: $-0- Send post cards. ( Duck, incoming imploding heads.)

We did the long Asia cruise on the Volendam a number of years ago, and loved the ship and itinerary, nothing was lacking. At a passenger gathering, I randomly spoke to a couple and opened with ..isn't this a wonderful ship and cruise? Then for 15 minutes at least I had my ear chewed off. This was the worst ship and cruise they had ever been on and they could hardly wait to get off. Then proceeded to tell me (harangue?) about the full ice rink and ice shows and full broadway productions their last cruise ship had ...etc, etc. Volendam. YMMV. 😵‍💫

Your post is HAL related, what a nice gesture for the HAL Filipino crew. Hope you find something.

I used an iPad, but mainly to check the Lido menus for lunch. We too are technophobes. DH used the cruise time to force himself to learn how to use his iPhone, but came away still trying to figure out why the time waste involved in using one was worth having one. So we are true 21st Century luddites. You are not alone. I tried to use the same time figuring out my -Pad and ended up with the same conclusion. Rather sit on the deck with a real book, than hunched over the iPad's tiny keyboard and staying "online" while I ignore everything around me. Bah.

Viking RTW starts at $60,000. HAL RTW starts around $16-20K. So what its the point showing what Viking did, compared to HAL when one pays so much up front for Viking? I failed to see a valid comparison. Viking did get high marks for the "covid" cruise industry shut down, but file that under you get what you pay for. People could have paid extra for trip interruption insurance on HAL cruises, but if they did not, then that is a risk they were willing to take.

When a doctor declares someone is "fit to fly" do they do this in conformance with that particularl airline's policies in hand, type of plane, distance traveled etc? Or is it just a generalized permission declaration. Those with CPOD are at the top of the list for airlines to deny boarding since cabin pressurization and distance traveled are important personal safety considerations. Interesting topic worth more discussion as to the detail required and does this differ airline to airline, plane to plane, etc.

Our best upsell was turning down a few prior Neptune offers at decreasing prices, but agreeing to ourselves we would later take another one if it came along, Only to learn we were granted a complimentary Neptune upgrade anyway when the sailing time arrived. Pulling back the curtain in the cabin revealed a very large crack in the balcony window, so we assumed they knew they could not sell this at full Neptune price anyway. So we lucked out and did not feel this was a material defect, which should have been the case for any other full Neptune paying passenger. So you just never know.............

Seems they are no longer using the ill-designed "new terminal" in San Diego which avoids those long lines waiting outdoors. That "new terminal" is in the process of getting replaced with something more workable which should help too when there are multiple large ships in port at the same time. When we once had to face two large ships embarking at the same time, we did wait inside the very cavernous main terminal indoors; not outdoors. Yes, good point the San Diego and SF immigration check-ins now are just a very quick camera scan. Helps a lot to speed things along. San Diego is trying to make this a better experience. And once you finally get to the HAL part of the check-in process, things really speed along and you are quickly on board with your cruise card and other announcements waiting at your cabin door.

One more vote for trip insurance that includes travel disruption benefits, since the fine print of the HAL contracts will not automatically not cover this. So asking for this as a "PR" accommodation may be overreaching. Whereas this accommodation may be a value-added when paying for the more expensive lines like Viking. HAL does offer their trip insurance as part of the passenger options to select at time of booking. Only those who had Flight Ease and HAL transfers appeared to be covered in the prior examples, which was part of those original contract terms. The devil is in the details. Know before you go. As dense as the cruise contract is, it does spell out mutual obligations upfront. There is a bit of "pays your money and takes your chances" when agreeing to the initial cruise contract. So at least there are no surprises when things go awry; just the nuisance and expense of dealing with it. Always nice when HAL can step in to help. But maybe don't count on it.

We also stay in the hotel across the street and last time we dropped out luggage off as soon as they opened, since which is done in the drive in parking lot. And then spent time doing other things, before checking in later when the lines were down. Ask to leave any small hand luggage you still have with the hotel bell captain if you can't get a later check out. Then as suggested before, enjoy a local restaurant and board later at your leisure, since your main luggage has been dropped off previously.

What was the price difference between letting HAL choose your cabin, or you choosing your cabin? We used to always pick guarantees for many HAL cruises, until we got a cabin over the Ocean Bar. Never again, so wee now always pay to choose our own cabin. Big controversy always - is the regular HAL cruise price set when you choose your cabin and you get a discount only if you let them chose your cabin. Or do you pay HAL a premium to choose your cabin, and the guarantee cabin is the real cabin price. In other words, is the "discount" worth taking a chance". Or is the premium worth paying an not taking a chance. What makes a cabin a "bad cabin": daytime noise, nighttime nose, distance away from elevators, distance away open decks, dining rooms and indoor activity centers, smaller than usual, visual obstructions, cabin layout and amenities......... what do you fear most about your guarantee cabin choice?

On what grounds did the "airline medical team" declare you were unfit to fly? (Please do not reply since this is private medical information). But this will be pivotal to any future case you might have, so be sure you document that. Was this error on their part, or was this within their express noticed guidelines? Not sure HAL has any refund obligations in this case, but you could have a case against the airlines if there was material error in their assessment or pre-notification of their requirements or validity of a "doctor's assessment" of fitness to fly. This is very unfortunate circumstance and a reminder for all. Thanks for bringing up these potential travel compromise issues.

Need the equivalent of mine sweepers to clear the area first - drone sweepers?

Time travel 1000 years from now, will archeologists be sifting through the ancient ruins of Disneylands around the world the same why they sift through relics from Byzantium? A very interesting cultural phenomenon having visited the very first Disneyland in California a year after it opened. I was even was a pre-teen member of a local Mouseketeers fan club, proudly wearing my Cinderella wrist watch in the 1950's. Our 8mm home movies show my sister and I running off with our book of tickets handed to us by our parents, with the one E-Ride option to be carefully chosen. One of the biggest surprises later traveling to the four corners of the world is how ubiquitous the image of Disney characters has been, even in countries that hate American culture. Up a very remote dead end mountain pass in Pakistan, there was Mickey and Goofy on a sign beckoning us into a local restaurant.

True RTW - start and end in the same port - over 100 days lowest priced cabins pp - approx. HAL - $20K Princess - $14K MSC - $17K Oceana - $60K Cunard - $17K Regent - $95K Costa - $15K P&O - $19K Crystal* - $69K (not true same port - East Coast - West Coast US) Cheapest singles: several lines - $30K (Source - one online search engine website, that tickles your travel fantasies)