Moriah

Happy embarkation today! I'll be following - lucky you trans-Atlantic on Zuiderdam! I haven't been on the Z for years but am booked for this fall for a three week cruise out of Boston and very much looking forward. Curious about the new library! Hope you'll be able to post photos. Main thing is - HAVE FUN!

When you say "showing online" - could you be more specific as to how you find them? Thank you!

YUL has a Marriott right in the airport. If you are not planning to see any of the Montreal sites, but only need a bed for the night before the cruise, consider that one - it's quite nice, and obviously very convenient. (Uber or taxi to and from the pier) I've used that hotel when leaving the next morning on international trips. I live in Vermont, so sometimes leaving from Montreal is less expensive than Boston, and the two are equidistant from my home, but I digress. I've also started a few cruises from Montreal, but have always driven so needed "park and fly" hotel - there are several that provide up to two weeks of parking included in the room price. I have Marriott "loyalty" points usually so I just look on their site for Montreal park and fly - I've used the Fairfield Inn, which is their low end brand but worked just fine and wasn't a long Uber ride to the Port. I can't recall the name of the other one we stayed in, but probably also a Marriott.

Are you booked on a HAL cruise? If so, if it is one of the loooooonger itineraries you may have a few ballroom dancing opportunities... but the shorter the itinerary, the less it's likely. If you tell us which ship and itinerary you are on, or are thinking about, I'm sure people can give you more exact info.

It will open about half an hour to an hour after sail-away from Vancouver, and it will be open all day on sea days. On port days, it will open, again, about half an hour after sail-away. This is the same as any itinerary actually. I've never noticed a difference when on an Alaska cruise.

Anytime between 2 weeks before sailing and when you get to the port for embarkation. At about the 2 week mark, just check every day and you might be surprised. If you never see an assignment, don't worry, you'll have a cabin when you get there! 🙂

I did a back to back last month - and the port was FLL, so it may be different in other places, especially a European port, but here's my recent experience. Almost half of the passengers were "transit", meaning they were staying on board for the next cruise, and our process was as follows. We received a written notice in our cabins telling us that at a particular time (I believe it was 9:30 AM) we were to gather in the theater. I got there about 20 minutes early and there were already about 300 people seated in the theater. Once we were ALL there (don't be late if you don't want to annoy a lot of people LOL) we were led out, row by row, in a long procession into the terminal. Once out there, we turned around, lined up, and waited about 10 minutes to be marched back on board. I'm not sure why you asked about customs - you do NOT have to "go through customs" and you do not have to bring anything off the ship with you except your room key and your passport. So customs is not a thing at that point. Yes, it was seamless, the waiting all took place in the theater, and a few minutes waiting to re-board. Now, if you want to go ashore and treat your turnaround day as a port day and do something on land, you will have to re-board the same way the other passengers do, including security. Then once they are ready to board, they will board "transit" passengers first, before priority boarding and group one. Enjoy your cruise!

Yes, they only sell a certain number of passes so it is never crowded. If you mean you are worried they will have no more room once you board, I highly doubt it - I don't think I've ever heard of that happening but maybe others will chime in. Anarctic cruise!!! I agree you will love having the thermal spa!

I have used it on all of the ships except Koningsdam. What are your questions about them? What ship will you be on? There are three distinct types of spas now - the two smaller ships do not have the hydropool, just a small hot tub in the same room with the thermal couches. The Vistas and Signature ships have beautiful square hydropools, and the Pinnacle ships have basically the same one but round, and with more comfortable set-ups for sitting down in the water. (also you can douse yourself with ice cubes and a few other additions :)) If it will be your first time, you might want to wait until embarkation day to decide. Take the tour (the spa has an open house on the first day) and see the facilities, hear the pricing, and decide if it looks like something you will use and enjoy. I love the hydropool and the thermal couches - but my cruising style is sort of couch-potatoe-y (at least when on board) so it's perfect for me. That said, I don't do it on every cruise. Depends who I'm with, how many sea days, etc. If you ask specific questions I'm sure I and many others can answer.

I will be in 1060 soon! Do you by any chance have any photos of the room you can share?

Sigh... I still miss "Love in any Language...." the night before disembarking.

Also, you have several replies on the previous thread you started with the same question. Perhaps a moderator can merge them?

Discounts on purchases are automatically applied. You will see them on your bill the note "Loyalty discount applied." You don't need a "Mariner card" (what is that?)

When you purchase anything on board, your "loyalty discount" is automatically applied. All the info is in your card, so no, you don't have to request. When you go to a specialty restaurant along with others who may be at different loyalty status levels, inform them when you are seated and tell them whose account you wish to charge. If you don't, they will charge whoever made the reservation for all the meals at the table.

Hm... altered? Yes, he explained where it came from - he had done his job and found me the best current deal for the cruise I wanted, and it included some OBC. Why it was not "attached" before I'm sure is because when I booked myself online I neglected to get myself the best deal 🙂 No, it doesn't seem "strange"... I thought it was great! BTW I'm in the US.