Iamthesea

A little story about our Villa Eprussi de Rothchild experience. DH and I did not know about the shortcut around the sea wall/beach area until coming back from the Villa. We took a taxi after from the port after getting off of the tender. After touring the Villa (which we loved!), we asked about getting a taxi back to the ship. We were told that we would have to call one, or we could easily walk back. Taking the 2nd option, we began to walk down the steep drive of the Villa when a golf cart stopped and offered us a ride down. The young man worked at the villa and was heading back to town on business. He let us off at a hole in the beach wall and told us how to get around to the ship. Nice people! Hlitner - Several years ago, DH and I took a ships excursion to Cassis and had a lovely tour, and leisurely hot chocolate on the sea front (it was coolish that day) and then walked over to where we heard noise from a crowd of people. Turned out that we were in Cassis during their annual wine festival. Lots of dancing, free wine tastings, etc. Lots of fun!!!

This post reminded me to ask a similar question. Maybe it will help someone else, as well. We recently became aware that we are now 3* members after having taken a cruise in May of 2023. I noticed that we should be getting 25% off of Specialty Dining reservations (outside of HIA). Before receiving info on being a 3* member, I booked and paid for a reservation in Canaletto for an upcoming cruise. Payment made 1/17 of $59 for 2 persons. How do I get the 25% off? Also saw the following and wondered if it is automatic when booking, or do we need to ask for the OBC? For our upcoming cruise (booked back in 8/2023), we should get a $200 OBC, if eligible, but I mainly want to know for any future bookings. For future bookings, are any of the Mariner benefits automatic? NEW Mariner Society Loyalty Benefit Exclusive Mariner Society® Early Booking Bonus: Mariner Society® loyalty members can enjoy this new exclusive benefit of up to $400 onboard credit per stateroom, when select cruises open for sale.

That was a good deal! The more inventory, the less the cost to upgrade. I briefly thought about waiting until next week to see about getting the Signature Suite, but knowing how popular they are, and at 2 weeks out, I don't think the rate to upsell would go down any more. We are midship. The other two SS that were available are all the way forward, and the staterooms are smaller than a normal SS. Plus, the balcony is practical unusable on sea days. Forward Signature Suite

So sorry to hear of your accident. 😥 Hope the injury is not too severe. Your husband is a sweetheart!!! Did he like Ghent? On my upcoming cruise with DH, we have a chance to go to Brugge or Ghent. Since we went to Antwerp and Brugge by train last year, on a land trip, we are thinking of Ghent this time around. Also, thanks to your mentioning of Arnhem, I looked it up and am interested in touring the town. We have made connections there by train a couple of times and never thought about what the town would look like. I feel like we have missed something!!! Sorry that your river ship cannot make it there.

I wonder if the above BB King band will do the crossing and be onboard in 4 weeks for my cruise.

LOL Back to the drawing board! Thank you, again.

I would have stayed put, also. Doesn't sound much like an upgrade not knowing where you might end up. Recently had a similar situation on a Carnival cruise. We purposely chose the OV because the stateroom was larger than the standard balcony room (the "upgrade"), plus, my daughter did not want my grandchildren to have access to a balcony. If you see that there are several Veranda's available next week, it wouldn't hurt for you to call HAL directly. That's the best way! Do not wait for an offer.

Thank you. I replied on the other thread. Sorry again for the off-subject question. 😔

OK, thank you. When I did a search with Cruise Critic, Rotterdam, and 7114, I came up with THIS thread. Take a look at post #4. I must have misunderstood and thought that you were showing your own invoice.

Thanks colbe! Could you tell me how to copy/paste the location box of my post like you pasted in your reply to Laminator? I want to do the same on my question to him to show the location of where he had mentioned the stateroom number that I am asking about? Hope that makes sense!

My recent experience: I gave HAL a call to ask if there were any offers available for my 5/11 Rotterdam cruise (14 night in Britain, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales.) They said that they had sent an Upsell offer to my TA to pass on to me on March 25th. Unless I missed it, because I was cruising at the time, TA did not send the offer on to me. She has in the past, though, when I have asked her to. I don't think I did this time. Anyway, the upsell was for a Vista Suite. Since we were interested in paying a little bit to upgrade to a Vista from our VQ (originally a V GTY and then upgraded free with Club Orange), I asked for the price. The amount was $549pp. More than we wanted to spend for a slight difference in room size. Then, out of curiosity, I asked about a Signature Suite (there were none showing available online accept for a GTY at $7129pp 😮) The Upsell Desk had 3 SS to offer, and the amount to upsell wasn't much more for the SS versus what they wanted for the VS. We took the offer! 😉 Yes, I could have waited and called back next week, but I really do not think that the offers would have gone down, especially for the SS! We went from a good rate in a V GTY to a Signature Suite for $749pp. Our deal (including HIA) is better than the deal we received on last years cruise with the same number of days in Europe. Very happy!!! Last year, two months before our cruise, we ended up paying to upgrade from a VA to a Vista for $210pp. Then, at 3 weeks out, we took an upsell from that VS to a SS for $749pp.

I just got off the phone with the Upsell Desk. Moved from a V GTY to a Signature Suite (there were no SS showing online.) The Upsell Desk had 3 to offer. Our cruise is also May 11, but it's a 14 Night on the Rotterdam.

Laminator - This is off topic, but I have posted a message to you on the main HAL Forum. Hoping you can help me.

Laminator, when researching my stateroom number for my upcoming trip on the Rotterdam, I noticed that you may have stayed in the same room. It's SS 7114. Could you tell me if there was noise from the 'gray' area across the hall, or from the Inside stateroom directly opposite of 7114? Anyone else stayed in this area around SS 7114?

If I were you, I would call back and ask if anything has opened up. And keep doing so! You can check (by doing a mock booking) ahead of time to see if anything shows up. Again, be prepared with your credit card and a deck plan. We have been in a SS on the Eurodam. It wasn't the best location, but the larger bathroom, with double sinks was well worth the extra. $219pp is a good deal!