strickerj

1 hour ago, meeann said:

**update** just been onto our booking page on the HAL website and checked the Itinerary, and all the excursions we had booked for 2021 have all been transferred onto our 2022 cruise. Very pleased, roll on 2022 ( 3rd time lucky)  

That's great! I wonder if this is a change in policy or if the agent when I rebooked last fall was just mistaken?

Just now, kazu said:

You can absolutely use your OBC to buy wifi on board.

The OBC is a credit - anything you charge (except casino & a couple of other minor things like HMC) is applied against it.  No problem at all 🙂 
 

Awesome, I wasn't sure if you could still buy the WiFi plan once on board or it had to be reserved in advance. Thanks!

I was confused by the nomenclature at first too. My "Have it All" fare that I booked last year included Signature Beverage and Signature Dining packages, plus prepaid gratuities, but not shore excursions or free WiFi (free WiFi was only for suites, and we're in a Verandah). So, that would appear to be a better deal than the new promo even though we're planning to use the cruise line's shore excursions. I assume we can use our OBC to buy the WiFi packages once on board if we so desire? (We've got $300 pp in OBC that I doubt we'd fully utilize otherwise.)

I voluntarily changed my booking from 2021 to 2022, and there was no option to transfer shore excursions - they were automatically canceled and refunded.

I was going to ask if they'd have the sense not to automatically schedule you for a time you'll be in port, but considering the comment above about getting both restaurants scheduled for the same day and time, I'm going to guess the answer is no. 😉

On 12/16/2020 at 9:05 AM, Ichiban Nekko said:

Hi,

 

We changed our May 23, 2021 sailing/cruisetour last week to May 22, 2022 with our PCC just last week. And we got an even more appealing (to us) package and our FCCs will roll over in due course.

 

We chose to do this because we just didn't want to be disappointed/let down again if we had to deal with another cancellation. This will give us time for the vaccine to get to us and into our arms. Although we are seniors, there are so many who need it before us. 

 

If you are uncomfortable, it might be worth a call to your TA/PCC/HAL.

Thanks, we went ahead and did this. Rebooked for Glacier Discovery Northbound on Noordam departing 2022/05/29.

I just checked mine, and the email I received on 5/7 for my canceled Noordam Alaska cruise (that was scheduled to depart on 5/24) said the FCC was valid for 12 months for cruises to depart by 12/31/2022. So it looks as though they extended it early on but perhaps that didn't get applied retroactively to existing FCCs (at least without manual intervention)?

11 hours ago, KAKcruiser said:

If you change the date, you would lose your fare and perks and have to start over with whatever promotion is in effect when you book.  

Thanks, I was afraid of that... The current fare and promo are the same (free prepaid gratuities, signature dining, and signature beverage packages) but I also have $250 pp OBC from my 2020 cancellation.

I'm booked on Noordam Vancouver to Whittier on 5/30, but considering delaying it another year - this is a bucket list trip for us (and especially for my mother in law who will be joining us), so we don't want to go if the experience will be diminished. Anyone have experience with doing this? Can we call in and "shift" our booking a year out (keeping our perks, OBC, etc.)? The itinerary I'd be interested in for 2022 is the same price we paid for our 2021 sailing. 2021 is already paid for using FCC from 2020.

7 minutes ago, rkacruiser said:

 

I am one of those who have recommended this repeatedly on CC.  Wildlife does not care on which side of the ship you are located when they decide to make an appearance.  A PA announcement of "whales off the starboard side" will not be of much interest to you if you are sitting on your veranda on the ship's port side.  

That's true; I usually plan based on what's interesting on land since the wildlife is unpredictable.

Many will say it doesn't matter since you'll be out on deck much of the time, but if you want to sightsee from your room, I think you'll want to be on the east side (starboard northbound, port southbound). If you're doing a roundtrip, I wouldn't think it matters, though I might go with starboard so you get the land side in the first half.

Thanks, I was just thinking the 100-400 since my main lens ends at 105, so there wouldn't be a gap in between. I'm not sure if I'd bring the whole kit on shore excursions (especially if there's hiking involved) but I should be able to make good use of it on the ship.

Yeah I'm definitely thinking the 100-400 for my Alaska trip next year but I'd likely just rent one since I don't foresee needing it after that.

I've got a Sony a7 iii with the 24-105 mm f4.0 lens. It's great for landscapes and moderate close-ups, and I'm thinking for wildlife in Alaska, I'll rent the 100-400 since I don't plan to need it much (if ever) beyond this trip. To the OP, if you're just shooting landscapes, you certainly don't need a longer telephoto than you have. At the wide end, 18 is probably wide enough even for a APS-C (28 mm equivalent for 35 mm full frame). There certainly are lenses in the 12-24 mm range if you're interested but I don't care for the fisheye look that starts to show below around 24.

Second the Sony RX100 - I have an a7 iii with the 24-105mm f4.0 zoom, and my wife has the RX100 mark 7 since she wanted something better than her phone but can't hold a big camera. We took both on a trip to Mexico last week, and I was pretty impressed with the quality of hers - in daylight, they're pretty close. (I chose mine because I wanted high performance in low light.) If you can swing it (it's on the high end of compact P&S prices), the RX100 mark 7 won't disappoint.

I know this thread is kind of old, but I recently got a Sony a7 iii and 24-105 mm f4.0 lens and had a chance to try it out in the Yucatan (including some fairly challenging shots, like handheld at night from moving vehicles). I know this is blasphemy to some, but I must say I'm finding it to be good enough that I don't feel the need for a fast prime - I'd rather have the zoom to be able to frame the shot how I want it without cropping.

For Alaska (tentatively next year but 2022 at the latest), I'm interested in the 100-400 mm telephoto to get some far away wildlife shots. Since that lens retails for $1300 and I don't expect to need it again for a while (if ever), I'm thinking just renting it for the trip would be the best option.

We just got back from a land vacation that replaced a canceled cruise to Progreso and Cozumel. We stayed at the Hyatt Ziva (northeastern tip of the Hotel Zone, by the lighthouse), and while restaurants were on rotation (one or two closed each lunch and dinner), there was no shortage of things to do (and eat). Two of the three excursions we booked went as scheduled (the one cancellation was reduced from three to two times a week, and mine was the day that got cut).

Nothing seemed sketchy anywhere we went; indeed, I've felt less safe driving through parts of Detroit.

10 hours ago, Cruiser933 said:

It looks like the Eielson renovations are not happening in 2021

 

Oh I see, sorry it looks like I missed a couple pages in that thread... I got the impression Eielson Visitor Center and past it was due to close for the renovations, but if not, then would Wonder Lake also be accessible? Or was that due to COVID? It seems with the vaccines coming it would be too early to announce COVID cancellations for next summer.

EDIT: I see the schedule for next year shows only the camper buses going to Wonder Lake. 😞

5 hours ago, pizzalady1 said:

Why???? 

I just answered my own question. Covid of course.

There's a thread on TripAdvisor about it - apparently Eielson Visitor Center will be undergoing renovations and will be closed:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g143022-i1271-k13431179-Denali_NP_update_for_2021_season-Denali_National_Park_and_Preserve_Alaska.html#108440065

Cool... I do love seeing then-and-now comparisons like that. My dad did that with his old apartment building in Budapest in 1970 and 2002... It was amazing how little actually changed in 30+ years (though perhaps not as surprising when you consider how little had changed in the 100 years before that).

I'd love to see the collection if it's scanned.

As mentioned, a U.S. "bubble" cruise (roundtrip with only U.S. ports) wouldn't be legal under the PVSA. A roundtrip out of Canada would be but I'm not sure the Canadian government would allow it to have ports of call in Alaska since the border is closed. Based on my limited knowledge, the only legal possibility I can see would be a roundtrip out of Vancouver to Alaska but with no port stops - that is, just sail to Alaska for scenic cruising (Glacier Bay, Tracy Arm, etc.) and return. I think some people might be up for that but I'm not sure if it'd be enough.

14 minutes ago, jimbo5544 said:

What the heck does that mean?  Why would earnings affect anybodies travel plans.  Riddle me this Batman, how would earnings increase without cruisers?

I think he/she meant not to buy the stock now, not that one shouldn't book travel.

On 9/3/2020 at 12:57 PM, Mary229 said:

Call.  I had a few glitches and called. They can see your excursions as well as your shopping cart

Thanks for the tip; I called yesterday and they were indeed able to see it. As best I can tell, the issue was that I was trying to view someone else's reservation while signed into my own account. We set up an account for my mother in law and the shore excursions showed up correctly when logged into it.

Same here, all shore excursions for my Glacier Discovery Northbound are 20% off.

Maybe I shouldn't have bothered, but I canceled all my booked excursions to take advantage of the sale, and there seems to be a glitch - I booked two cabins together (one for myself and my wife and one for her mother) but they were assigned different booking numbers. I booked all the shore excursions together. When I went to cancel, on my name and my wife's were listed, so I canceled those two, and then when I checked the second booking, her shore excursions have disappeared. Does this mean all 3 were canceled but only two were refunded? I don't want to rebook until I get the refunds and know for sure.

13 minutes ago, kazu said:

 

I guess we are mutual cynics.  If that is the way of it for the future, I won't be cruising.  We'll fly and explore on our own. I take a lot of work to plan and it isn't a HAL tour except maybe once a cruise.  If they were better quality and smaller groups, we'd be on but not for what we have seen as of late.

Same, I don't think I'd stand for that either. Sometimes I just want to walk around on my own.