vms

When I first signed up for the Bon Voyage thread over a year ago, it seemed this day would never come, and now it's less than a week away! Thank you so much to all of you who have answered my questions and shared your love of HAL over the last year. I'm so excited to see everything that HAL has to offer. A special thank you to Jacqui for maintaining these! What a herculean task, but it makes this trip even more special. Thank you so much!

What an amazing itinerary! Going on my bucket list for sure. Enjoy every moment. Bon Voyage!

While I don't spend much time in my cabin except for to sleep, if the price is close, I would absolutely take the balcony. The extra space wins over the possible advantages of the solo lounge in my book. Bring earplugs and download a white noise app to your phone to mitigate any issues with an undesirable location.

There is supposed to be bottled water as a perk of renting a cabana onboard. How many bottles of water can a person get each day? Wondering if I need to supplement with water I bring onboard?

Celebrity's new ship the Edge has solo cabins with balconies. I haven't priced them recently but when it first came out, the price was almost the same as a double-occupancy balcony cabin for less space, but I'm hoping once the ship isn't so new that prices might come down a bit.

Thanks! You've whet my appetite even more for my upcoming cruise on the Eurodam. Is there a venue that would make a good gathering spot for a sail-away get-together? Tamarind bar? I thought maybe Sea View bar but expect this will be packed.

I thought it was very nice when flying from North America to Singapore to have check-in day 1 and sail away day 2. Although I flew in a day in advance, with 27 hours of travel time, if something had gone wrong, I knew I could likely still make the ship. So I only needed 1 night in a hotel upon arrival before moving into my already paid for cabin. I saved a bit of money and still had both peace of mind and extra sightseeing time in a new-to-me port.

Thanks Rob! The Cabana retreat area looks like it's in perfect shape for my arrival 11/11. 🙂

Have you considered an inside cabin? I find that I sleep much better in an inside cabin than an outside or balcony- I love the total darkness that an inside cabin provides. With an outside or balcony, I am up with the sunrise, even if I've been out late the night before. I hope you find a remedy so you can continue to enjoy cruising!

I'm an extroverted introvert. So I love cruising solo because I'm in control of how much social time I have. There's always someone to chat with if I want to, and there's always somewhere to sit quietly and read, craft, or just watch the ocean go by. I've traveled with too many people who wanted to be together every moment with their travel companion. For me, solo travel is much preferred to that kind of trip because it allows me to recharge my introverted side.

I'll commiserate with you! I'm sailing in just over a month and don't yet have a cabin assignment either. I'm trying not to be too obsessive and only check the website once per day to see if something is there. I'm sure as we get closer I will probably not be able to help myself from checking more frequently. Last Friday a ton of people on my sailing (including myself) got upsell offers, so they're clearly trying to shift people around. I assume once the dust settles from all of that, then I'll get my cabin assigned. I know I'll be on the ship, which is all that really matters to me at this point. But the suspense is heightening my excitement, that's for sure! :D

Thank you for your comparison! Having exclusively sailed X in the past, I admit to some small amount of nerves in trying a new cruise line for my upcoming cruise. Glad to see that HAL performs so favorably in your eyes!

Happy Anniversary! This looks like an amazing itinerary. I hope you enjoy every moment.

So if I've prebooked/prepaid for a cabana for the length of the cruise, those amounts will be counted toward Mariner credits?

Unfortunately no. There is a snorkel excursion and the Atlantis sub options through the cruise line, which could be less-preferred 2nd choices. Harris- thank you as always for your willingness to share your knowledge. I will take your advice and see if I can make it work with Big Island Divers.