u/glittercatti

Update: seems HAL (and maybe all cruise lines) just call this tipping but we should simply think of the $20/day per person as a part of the cruise cost. I’ll bring cash for ACTUAL tipping (which I’m happy to do because I don’t think these folks make enough at all.)

As above — if I go to guest services to cancel the automatic gratuity charge to my account will they try to guilt me or be weird about it? I mean, I’m still going to do that, just want to prepare myself.

(As I understand it, each employee makes their contracted rate no matter if all guests auto pay or no guests auto pay. The salaries do not fluctuate based on tipping unless they’re given cash. The “all tips are pooled” thing is true in the sense that it offsets a cruise line’s own investment toward crew salaries, but not in the way that a restaurant pools/distributes tips.)

Here we go.

We now will not depart Vancouver on 7/15 until 5pm.

On Friday 7/17 Tracy Arm Inlet is out, AND we will not dock in Juneau until 4:30pm and will depart at 11pm instead of 10pm. That extra hour adds nothing since the sun sets at 9:50pm.

I was booked on a Mendenhall Glacier + whale-watching trip … one of the main reasons I booked the cruise for July instead of later. Was able to book a different HAL-sponsored whale-watching trip, but it skips Mendenhall … and it supposedly leaves at 4:45pm which I have a hard time trusting (though again, it is a HAL excursion so we’ll see).

I am really sad about this. I know, the people two dates ago lost ALL their excursions, but I’m still so disappointed. Now it feels like waiting for the other shoe to drop, wondering what other changes will come.

Was already trying to be positive-minded in the knowledge it’s supposed to rain the whole time.

SIGH.

If anyone knows of any other wildlife-specific things to do in Juneau that can be done after 5pm (in case the new 4:45pm whale trips fall through), will you share? 😓

Has this happened to anyone else? At first I thought it was the vegetables themselves but things like asparagus (steamed), red pepper (stir-fried, not raw), broccoli (boiled) all taste so bitter and gross to me now and I finally put it together after the peppers last night that’s me, not them. This sucks bc I’m trying to eat healthier, not just “less.” I guess I’ll try sauces. I’ve never needed sauces for veggies before.

Took out my new-to-me LUMIX FZ300 for a quick test shoot. Well, we took out my dad's, mine arrives tomorrow.

When taking pics, am getting a VERY quick flash of an error -- red icon of the SD card. The photos DID write to the card (it's a newest gen card, if that matters), so I can't figure out what the problem may be. Do I need an older, slower card?

But ALSO, the photos are absolute garbage and I know that's not the typical. I wasn't expecting top tier IQ but this is awful. What I mean by that is that photos taken at 100 ISO are grainier than a 2008 point-and-shoot at 800 ISO. It's BAD. My dad shoots in RAW and processes in LR, I don't know anything about adding denoising but we shouldn't need it. The pictures are exposed well, the color is fine, focus is good. But the noise is WILD. Tomorrow we'll take it out and shoot in JPEG, am curious if that could possibly be the issue but I suspect the sensor is cooked, somehow. Or I don't know. I'm at a loss. This is depressing.

I know about Orange night — any other themes to plan for? Am I mistaken thinking I don’t need a dress at all?

(July 15-22)

I know nothing is guaranteed but just want to make the best informed decision.

I am planning to take a river cruise next May that goes along the Danube and the Rhine. I wanted to leave early May because I do very poorly in the heat (75F is too hot for me, in the open sun). But now after reading I'm wary of high river levels. I'd planned on a departure from Budapest May 6. I can cancel and re-book departing May 20, but then the temps may hit the mid to high 70s or even 80s.

There are at least 3 excursion options that include train rides on the Skagway day. Anyone have any preference?

Not sure if it's best to stick to the shortest trip (2h45 or something like that) to leave time to do other exploration in the area, or if the longer journeys really offer something better. I've read the details of each, would just like personal reviews. Thanks!

I read a blog post that mentioned that it felt consistently cold on the Zaandam - anyone else notice this? We're cruising mid-July for 7 nights. It's not an ultra cold time of year anywhere along the route as far as I can tell but I'll have my elderly dad with me and if it's cold *on ship* I want to be sure he has warm indoor clothes (not just layers for outdoors).