hokie_fan

All, good news. Thank you for the assistance.  Now the waiting game for the flight to be ticketed so I can choose seats. They said 55 days out.

I was able to get my flights back.  They booked the wrong one, but a second call corrected that.  I will say it was stressful because we are traveling with other family members. They really need to up their game with their website.

I has something strange happen yesterday. I was curious about the flights that I had and if there would be a way to select seats. (knew that was a long shot) so I logged in and chose "View Flights". It allowed me to choose an airport, and then I stopped at that point realizing I was not going to access my flight. Later I looked at my remaining payment to find out the flight portion of my balance had been removed and I only owed for the cruise.  I called HA and was told that I had cancelled the flights. They were absolutely sure that I did.  I can't imagine that choosing "View Flights" would have cancelled what I had.  Seems there would have been some message to warn me?  Anyway, they were able to rebook the flights, but when I got the confirmation, the inbound was a different flight. I had sent them my confirmation, so I am not sure what happened there. Guess I will be on the phone again today with my fingers crossed.  Getting nervous!

Great news.  I need to pay more attention to Flight Ease options.  We are flying SAS outbound and Iceland air inbound.  Thanks!

HA offered me a great direct flight from IAD to Copenhagen for our 7 day Norwegian and Icelandic Fjords cruise. What are the odds they will change this prior to the cruise?  I have heard of flights being changed after the final payment and don't want to risk that.   We booked during the $500 flight credit promotion. Price ended up being $441 for outbound Copenhagen and Inbound Iceland.  Seemed like a good deal since booking direct would be $1157. Also, we really need to be able to select our seats. Thank you!

You are certainly a HAL professional. 

Great googling skills.  I didn't think to look on the sister ship or other decks.  We can certainly manage and may like the closet location so it is easy to enter and exit when someone is changing.  The reason we chose these was to be close to the cabin with the large balcony that my sister reserved. Ultimately though we spend a lot of time rambling around the ship. 

I peeked in an inside cabin on the Nieuw Statendam and they are tight!

Thanks!

Now that my final payment is coming due for the Feb 5 Panama cruise, I am getting a little worried about my cabin choice.  A family member chose cabin 4166 for the large deck, so I chose 4162, one of the odd shaped cabins with the entrance on the long side of the cabin. I have heard some of these cabins are super small.  Anyone familiar with these particular ones. Some others in our group chose 4156 and 4150.  I guess I am all set but would like to be mentally prepared.

Thanks!

My husband loves the Escargot.  Good idea on the specialty on the first night. I remember things being more hectic the first night in.  Tamarind out of the gate might disappoint others when we head to the main dining room the next night.  What an amazing experience. Thank you everyone.

Thanks. Great news.  I do understand the service slow down with anytime dining.  Love the comment about knowing who can't decide what to order.  There is always one.  Maybe we can decide on a set time and get the same wait staff.  

I was trying to work my two free nights of specialty dining around the "dressy" nights.  I am not sure the menu is really that much better on those nights to worry about though.  I believe the lobster days are over.  

I generally love open seating, but this time we have a party of eight.  Has anyone attempted this with a large group?  I feel it would be simpler to have early or late, but we can decide on which one (and  they are booked already)  We are doing an 10 day panama cruise on the Eurodam.  Also, any idea which nights will be gala nights?  Thanks!

For anyone that is not comfortable snorkeling, Woodwind will keep you safe.  They help you on and off the boat and have groups set up based on experience so they can keep someone in the water to help the newbies. 

For Curacao, we rented a car and beach hopped.  Driving was very easy and we discovered some beautiful beaches that were not crowded. 

Great idea to check Tripadvisor.  If this was a full transit, I would be happy to stay on the ship.  For the partial transit, you just hang out on the ship in the lake until time to return. I am not up for the Canal Experience, toilet or not. 

I need to book my excursions for our Panama cruise on the Eurodam for Feb. 5-15.  It seems some excursions do not have any reviews and the ones that do are very old.  Some are from 2013.  I was considering the Embera Native Village, but have some hesitation because of a few really bad reviews.  I don't want to take any tour with a long bus ride that so many complain about.  I am also a bit concerned about getting stuck in the terminal waiting for the ship to return.

Any suggestions?  Thanks in advance.

Thank you HA hero's.  Sounds like this is doable.  The cruise is priced super reasonable for an inside cabin. Busy itinerary will not allow too much balcony time or pool time so all good there. Thanks for the extra touring advise. I would like to stay about 5 nights or so touring around before returning and have not figured out where tp spend that time. Fall colors here in VA just don't seem to exist anymore.  Leaves tend to just turn brown.  

And YES, This HOKIE fan is pretty darn excited. Let's go HOKIES!

I have been eyeing the 6 day Canada and New England cruise that departs Oct 2.  Would this time of year be too chilly to enjoy the pools and deck activities? I could live in the aft pool of the Neiuw Statendam.  My favorite place!  Would this be too late for fall foliage?  I would like to rent a car and  spend a few days in Canada touring around after the cruise if that is possible. Thank you for your help.  

All have been very positive for choosing Oceania for FP. I am certain it will meet my needs.  At this point it comes down to the weather risk in March. 

True, there are many choices with PG, but I really like to be home during the nice weather months and escape the bad ones.  Tough decision, but I do have some time.  Maybe Tiki will come through for me!

I will definitely be booking something with Oceania, even if I decide against the FP trip in March. The choices are endless.

I already liking the O-Team.  Wow, so much useful information. My takeaways are:

• Add the airfare and remove later if I use miles or other methods.  
• Although Paul Gauguin is better, the O Regatta will suit my needs.  
• Book the  private/small group tour with Patrick of Maohe Nui
• The comment about going cheaper was comparing PG to O.  Seems there is no point in paying double for PG. The Carnival/RCL days are over since my kids are grown. 
• Don't go that far for just the cruise.  Moorea for 2-3 days pre-cruise sounds perfect. I'll see what Marriott offers since I get a lot of perks there.  Thanks Hoopster95 for the wealth of information and delee78 for pointing me to the review.
• Now the BIG concern is if want to risk dropping $10,000+ for a trip that might have terrible weather.  I can handle humidity (remember east coast) but clouds and rain would make me really sad. All the other Oceania itineraries that include FP are super long which I am not ready for yet.  That is the only decision left now and a tough one. 

 The previous topic was what made me question my decision to choose Oceania.  The other lines are double the price and that was a 7 day versus the Oceania 10 day.  I am looking for value, not necessarily perfection.  Just wanted to know if booking O would be a huge mistake. 

Thanks for the airfare tip.  Who knows what things will cost in 2023!

I started researching here be cause French Polynesia is on the bucket list and it seems that cruising is the best bang for my buck. I have never cruised with Oceania, but the prices seem really good and oddly less than NCL.  I read a thread on this site that Windstar or PG would be better for this area, but are they really worth paying DOUBLE for a shorter cruise?  I am more of a "the cheaper you go, the more you go" kind of person to a point.

 I am looking at a 10 day leaving  March 17, 2023.  I live on the east coast and do cruises to escape as much of the winter as possible.  Is March a much less desirable time to go?  I never travel during the summer.  I would not take their airfare deal, because I had rather have couple of days in Papeete to adjust to  the time change.

So far from reading this board, I realize that I need to find a TA rather than deal with the person from Oceania that keeps calling me. Yes, I did make the mistake of filling out one of those forms.  He sends attachments of menus and can't stop talking about the food  and does not seem too detailed.  I can see he will not be super helpful like a TA. I have a AMEX platinum card and was excited to see those bonuses if they still exist when I cruise.  

I am a HA cruiser and certainly feel the same love here as I do from HA cruisers. Sorry for multiple questions in one thread and thanks in advance.

Record locators and stateroom are the same so this might work perfectly.  Thanks so much for providing the scan.  Worse case is that I get charged and have to plead my case to American Airlines.

I have the AA credit card that gives me one free bag for each person traveling with me up to 4 people. I would like to consider luggage direct since we have a later flight (4:30) out of FLL.  It would be nice to spend the day in Fort Lauderdale instead of sitting at the airport.  So, I am curious if there is a chance that I will be hit with luggage fees since I will not be there to make sure that it does not happen? I booked economy since it is just a two hour direct flight. We have four people, so I assume I will need to pay $25 per person and send 4 bags along to make this happen. Thank you for you help.

Leaving on NS on Sunday and introducing 4 people to HAL.  One couple has never been on a cruise so HAL is definitely a good place to start. 

Thanks for the help.  That makes sense.  I was kicking myself after the price increases for not purchasing the alcohol and wine package when the final payment was made.  Just getting things checked off the list.  

I am finalizing my trip on the NS for Jan. 26. I can't remember if the OBC that I have will apply to tips?  I have been planning to pre-purchase a wine package for dinner and gin for the cabin, but do not want to do that if my OBC can't be used for the tips.  Crazy, but we have  4 - person cabin (hence the alcohol purchase) with gratuities already paid for first two passengers.I was hoping to cover the other two with the OBC. I am not sure who's account the credit will land in either.

I got hooked on HA and the NS last February and can't wait to return.  It was perfect.

Thanks in advance.

Did you take the Eat, Drink and Be Merry tour or set your own schedule? I am trying to find something for the ones that do not want to do the falls, which includes me and three others.The Mama Iguana one looked good. The beaches around this port don't interest me too much.