sandiego1

As I wrote in my prior post, the city of San Diego is huge. See map below. You can’t park in any “peaceful family” neighborhood for 72 hours straight without getting a ticket or towed. Many people DO report violations when they see a car in front of their house. Coronado has their own parking restrictions and it’s very difficult to get a spot there on a good day. If you left your clear in National City (I don’t know parking restrictions there), there’s a good chance it will be stripped before you got back.

Twice on the Zuiderdam in April I put $5 in the laundry bag. I wrote a note about the tip on the form. Both times, the form was returned with a circle around my note with a question mark next to it. I believe our room steward checked the bag to ensure we listed everything properly and took the $. 🙁

I believe HAL advises 6 blank pages for a WC.

The program has been changed. You may only drink the wine with meals or in your cabin. They won’t deliver it to bars or lounges anymore 🙁

I was fixing it as you posted 😀

You can’t park on any street in San Diego for more than 72 hours. You may be ticketed or towed. The city of San Diego is very large, not just the downtown area.

2019WC the Premium package was $799 for all 118 days

There is a video camera attached to the TV. It has the ability to track your eyeballs to ensure you are watching the video and not unpacking or napping. 😉

I wonder if this is there way of trying to reduce the risk of the crew getting COVID while they are eating and have their masks off??

They would both need to buy the internet package. My DH and I share one and we boot each other off as necessary.

Yes, HAL limits the transfer to a specific # of days after the initial booking. I guess it's 60.

Is it roped off every day? There was no roped area when we were on the Zuiderdam in April. Are only officers and other staff there? Pre-Covid, there were plenty of groups on board various cruises and they would have private gatherings periodically (with roped off areas in various venues).

It's my understanding that since you can't have kids <18 alone in a cabin, they won't switch the Neptune amenities to you. The Neptune Concierge knows exactly who is in each Neptune suite. Some are more strict than others about allowing non-Neptune suite people into the Neptune Lounge. However, there is nothing to prevent you from switching keys and having your husband bring you snacks from the Lounge back to your suite. I just don't believe they will officially allow you into the Lounge.

My TA sent me the form and I emailed it to HAL.

You can’t check wine with your luggage. You are supposed to carry it on the ship so they can charge you corkage at embarkation. So the stewards don’t have to schlep it. But, yes, HAL does lose $ when we bring wine onboard, hence the increase in corkage fee. My DH brings a case or 2 of various Pinot Noir wines on the WC. There are very limited selections onboard. The wine packages only have a single choice in each. For him, it’s not about the price. It’s about the variety. He buys a package too. He alternates HAL wine with the ones he brings onboard so e doesn’t during the same wine for 128 nights 😀 Since we get a 50% discount off the package, it’s not that cost effective to bring his own wine. He only saves a few dollars per bottle - definitely not worth the effort to buy and hand carry the wine onboard, plus store it in our cabin. But at least he doesn’t have to drink the same wine every night.

I suggest asking your TA to submit a deviation request to HAL. If you booked directly with HAL, then send them an email to request the deviation. You need to be specific about which ports you will disembark and embark. My TA has done this in the past for me. You need to get an approval in writing from HAL. They will then notify the ship. I would also bring a printed copy of the deviation approval on the cruise.

Even with fixed dining, you can usually change your table if you are unhappy with your seat mates.

Depends on your cabin type. Suites typically have an outlet and USB. Other cabins only have USB.

I did it many years ago, but not on a cruise excursion. Now the trip starts outside the National Park which is a bit of a disappointment. Better when it started at sunrise in the park. It was a easy downhill ride with ver little pedaling. The road is fairly steep and narrow so cars were very close. Since we were on a guided tour, we rode down in a single file. The chase vehicle at the end held up traffic. We periodically pulled over to let the cars pass. I wouldn’t feel comfortable doing it on our own without the leader and the chase vehicle. I don’t know how the cruise excursion is. You might want to post the question on the Hawaii board.

In April on the Zuiderdam, there was no bowl of fruit in the cabin and we couldn’t request one. I took fruit from the Lido in the morning to eat later.

HAL has changed their booking transfer policy a few years ago. I used to be able to wait until a short time before the cruise to move the booking to an agent. Now it has to be done within a specific time (30 or 60 days??) after the initial reservation. My TA also gave me the form to fill out to send to HAL. I emailed it to them

I thoroughly enjoy reading about your travels, Pete!! Thanks for posting here

Love the tuxedo!! You and Judy look fabulous in your Gala attire

Just missed you in Boston. We are at Logan waiting for our flight back to SD.

I always get trip insurance for Steve at Trip Insurances Store dot com. He, and the rest of his team, have great prices and customer service. Call him instead of relying on the website’s cost estimator and you’ll probably get a better price .