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Is what exactly On Board Credit be used for described somewhere on the HAL website? What is the best way to make sure it's applied to all your purchases that qualify? I've previously gone to the Shore Excursions booking desk and asked them to apply my pre-cruise credit card purchases to have my OBC credited. Do I have to do that for Spa appointments, specialty dining etc.? It seems like a big mystery and they certainly don't do it automatically if you've pre-booked any of these, as I found out the hard way on a prior cruise. Thanks.

Hi @goingnorth123, We're on the same Oosterdam cruise as you are on Nov. 14. I have organized a private tour in General San Martin and spent a lot of time going back and forth with the tour operator to make sure I have everything right! Someone else has mentioned on this thread that the cruise lines don't let you know about the free shuttles in various ports until the last minute and I have read multiple posts about that very thing. Cruise Lines are selling "Shuttles" into the city on their Shore Excursion pages, sometimes for $40 pp and then when you get to the port, you find out you could get into the city on their free shuttles. The tour operator in Paracas, which is 20 km from the Port of General San Martin, told me the free shuttle into Paracas runs every time a cruise ship is in port. Paracas is small town and we will be dropped off a block from the Paracas Explorer's office! If you are on the Roll Call for our cruise, the information is on the Spreadsheet for private shore excursions if you are interested.

Thanks @Lido deck main. I'm organizing a shore excursion for our cruise and that's helpful info to post on our spreadsheet.

Thanks. Maybe someone else has taken that recently?

Hi Mike, I am trying to confirm whether HAL or some other party operated a shuttle in the port General San Martin (Pisco), Peru to the town of Paracas? A tour operator who operates ballestas island and Paracas Reserve tours has told me that was the case. Thanks.

Thanks for the tip. I use Whatsapp, which works well for things like this.

Thanks for correcting me about the port and the distances between the 3 points. That's a very good Idea to see Valpariso first, then go back to Santiago. I'll have to work on the logistics of that, and I'm like to gather a few more folks, then find a driver who can cart our luggage around with us. I'm thinking of using chileshoretours or puertosanantoniatours to accomplish this. Any thoughts on that plan?

Hi, We're on the Oosterdam, disembarking 12/1/24 in Santiago and will be staying overnight somewhere near the airport on the 1st and then want to take a full day tour in Valpariso on the 2nd. Our flight home leaves from Santiago on the 2nd around 10 PM. Is anyone else planning something similar who would be interested in joining us? It's a long shot and other than the flight, so far, I'm in the early planning stage.

Thank you. That was helpful. Did you take the Free Walking Tour? I'm enjoying reading your posts.

Mike, I would be interested in knowing if HAL is offering a shuttandle from Callao Port to MIraflores and where does it stop? Is there a shuttle to the main gate of the port what times do these run? Trying to plan our 3 days in port when we're on a similar cuise in November to do some on our own and private tours. Thanks.

@shipmeoff! Thanks so much! I knew I had seen that once but couldn't find it again. Good news on the gratuities @CruiserBruce. Thanks!

Does anyone know where I could find an actual list of what beverages (wines, mixed drinks, and other beverages) that are included on the Elite Package? Can you have your beverage gratuities debitted against your OBC at Guest Services?

Mike, I am looking forward to following you, as we are on the 11/14-12/1/24 Oosterdam from FLL to Santiago. Nothing quite as good as up-to-date tips and tricks! Thanks for taking the time to do this and wishing you smooth cruising.

Hi, You go to the upper right corner of Cruise Critic after you log in. Click on Boards. Then scroll down until to see a category called Find your Roll Call. Scrool unitl you see Holland America Lines, then scroll until you see the Oosterdam. It will ask you for the month of your sailing - so enter May. Then it will come up with a list of all the sailings of the Oosterdam in the month of May. Our roll call is the first one that you will see. There are now 30 pages of postings, so it's probably a good idea to read a few of the early pages to get the gist of it. Look for the user name KAZU on one of the posts, and Jacqui, who is nice enough to have created an is moderating a detailed spreadsheet for tours and activities happening on this cruise! She is doing this even though she has had surgery and has had to cancel this cruise herself! The true selflessness of a CC member! At the bottom of one of KAZU's post is something called her signature. Look for the name of our cruise and click on that to see the spreadsheet. She has an instructions page for using the spreadsheet too. See attached. What a big job. Hope to see you on board at the Sailaway party 5/30 at 4:00 at the Seaview pool aft. See signs on the tables. Spread the fun!

Ilovesailaway, We'de like to have you join our Roll Call for this cruise. We have a number of shore excursions the Spreadsheet that one of our CC members has generously moderated. It's a very active roll call with 700+ posts and a few shipboard events posted too. We're looking forward to this itinerary, which several posters here have given the thumbs up. Hope to meet you onboard! Bobbie & Fred

Thanks for all your help. Ithink water from the Lido will be just fine , but I never would have thought about a gallon jug of distilled water.

Since HAL has imposed the restrictions on bringing bottled water onboard the ships, do they allow you to bring in into port, filled re-usable water bottles, such as Nalgene or collapsable bottles such as Vapur? How would you find boxed 1 liter bottles of water in unfamiliar ports, since the price of water purchased from HAL is exhorbitant? It's going to be hot in summer and important to stay hydrated when doing lots of walking.