niknot

Regarding check in time - with AMA you are allowed to come on board prior to check in time. I recently took the "Tulip Time" cruise and we were welcomed on board in the morning. Our room was not available until the afternoon but guests were allowed to wait in the common areas. They did offer light snacks, coffee and tea. Baggage was taken and stored until the rooms were available. Our room (on the Mora) did have two USB plugs located on one side of the bed. There was one US outlet and 230V European outlets.

As of today (April 27) one can indeed book excursions when getting off the tender. I walked through a small group of vendors selling boat cruises to Shipwreck Cove €50 and boat trips to harass loggerhead turtles €40. Once you leave the dock area, head to the left where there are a large number of tour agencies selling similar trips. You may wish to research costs before you leave so you have an idea of costs. I saw some signs in some of the shops with multiple prices. Probably depends on which ship is in port for the day. I was told that the official tour season doesn’t start until May so there will undoubtedly be more options when you arrive.

Here is another expensive cruise line with some Alaska sailings with no solo supplement, Uncruise. You will need to dig a bit in their website to find them though.

Earlier today, the cruise director mentioned that they were close to finalizing the entertainment schedule and would be publishing February’s shortly.

Hi All, It appears that Ponant cruises does not charge solo supplements on at least 110 of their trips. They currently have some offers that include airfare or air credits as well. If you are in the US, use their US website to check them out. At least one excursion is included in each port of call. Free WiFi, non premium drinks are included and so on.

AMA Waterways has announced no solo supplements for all room categories for “select sailings” if booked by 12/31. I haven’t played around with their website yet to see any type of pricing. Good luck if you are able to find something that works for you.

On the Nieuw Statendam at the moment. It increased to $35 per bag. Attached should be a couple of pics with laundry pricing.

Just answering a couple of questions for Sandnes (Stavenger area). We docked at the Somaneset port. HAL offered the following options once on board: 1. Stavanger on your own. -$44.95 Departure times offered 9:30 or 11:30. The information provided indicated that you will be dropped off at the Concert Hall parking lot and that you will have two hours in Stavanger. 2. Hop On, Hop Off Stavanger - $44.95 Departure time 8:30 3. The last option appeared on the daily program the night before our port stop. It was a shuttle to the Sandnes Tourist Information Building. $19.95. The first departure was at 8:30, running every 30 minutes. The last shuttle from Sandnes to the ship was at 3:45. There were plenty of taxis available on our stop. I have a GoPro set up on our balcony and it recorded a line of taxis in the morning. A public bus stop is also located nearby.

I am a cynic as well. Should I learn that HAL assisted those with non HAL excursions I will report back. This is my third cruise with HAL and each one has had ports cancelled, which we all agree to in their terms and conditions. So I can’t complain too much, I guess. Typically, I do not advance book any excursions because of HAL’s tendency to modify itineraries. I broke my rule this time because there were to be two ships in port in Flam and the railroad was a must see for my husband. I booked the tickets directly with Vy (Norway Rail). They were kind enough to provide me with a refund when I explained the situation and I then rebooked the tickets.

An update. The captain explained the reason for Ulvik’s cancellation and replacement with Eidfjord. It became apparent that Ulvik’s infrastructure just was not sufficient for Nieuw Statendam based on other visits. Really not sure why Alesund and Flam were switched other than that we are to receive additional time in port at each stop. A positive, was his comment to visit the customer service desk regarding cancelled plans. I was able to modify my Flamsbana tickets without a penalty however others may not have been so lucky.

Hi Rich, Here is the information you requested.

It is already there as well. Since not everyone joins the roll call, I thought that it would be a good idea to post in the general forum as well.

Enjoying your report. Thanks for taking the time to post.

Hi All, Just a heads up to check your emails. Ulvik has been replaced with Eidfjord and the dates for Flam and Alesund have been switched. Molde has a change as well with a later departure time. Longer time in port for Flam is a bonus though.

It includes local buses, trams, Dart and commuter rail in the immediate area around Dublin. The official name is Leap Visitor Card. The main bonus for us was that we didn’t need to join the queue at the ticket machine. For some reason, my copy paste function is not working, so do a search for Leap visitor card Dublin and the website will show up. Cotswold Eagle was faster than I was with a reply. Thanks.

We did this last week. It was an easy walk with signs available to follow. Just when you exit the port area, you will encounter a tourist information stall. The people manning it were friendly, provided maps and advice. You may wish to consider ordering a Leap all day pass in advance. It was eight euros per person. I actually received ours in just over a week.

Hello All, Just off the Regal Princess British Isles itinerary. Posting this so you are prepared. Upon handing our steward our laundry the second day, he handed me a card indicating a 72 hour turnaround time for laundry services. This turned out to be accurate, with one experience taking longer than that. It was returned at 8:00 PM (20:00) on our last evening on board. Laundry rooms are available to do your own laundry. I mentioned to our steward that we read about the possibility of free tokens for doing our own laundry. He had no idea what I was talking about. This was my first time receiving free laundry services on board and had planned on a 24 hour turnaround so I was caught off guard for the first bag. I am normally a “wash my clothes in the sink” kind of girl and as a result am a light packer. So I was missing my favorite pants and sweatshirt the first three days of the cruise. Such first world problems! Other than timing though, it was great to have the service provided.

Currently on the Regal Princess - over the past few days I have noticed locals wearing shorts in Cobh, Cork and in Dublin. The temperatures have been between 50 and 60 degrees (sorry, too lazy to convert to Celsius). As others have said, wear what makes you comfortable.

Thank you for the follow up.

There actually are many ports that do not want food brought off the ship. I recall New Zealand's ports being that way. In fact, the room steward removed our fruit basket right before we arrived there. Good luck with your mom. I can only imagine the fun you are having.

When we booked our cruise, the stop was already Ulvik so we can't be disappointed. It should be beautiful though. We will probably just do some hiking/wandering around. If anything happens to be available at the dock, we may see if anything sounds interesting. A person on our roll call has been trying for months to arrange a tour with one of the cider farms, but they are not responding to her emails. Our ship arrives on May 30th, so we arrive before everything opens up.

NCL has some early and late season Alaska cruises without a single supplement. They also have a transatlantic available this April as well.

A couple more things, some cruise lines do offer land packages as well. For example, Princess has some in Japan. Also, some tour companies have packages that include a tour and a cruise. Or even just a tour prior to the cruise. Globes/Cosmos partners with Holland America and NCL. Of course there are many others. With one of these options you would have everything taken care of, but you will definitely pay for it. Good luck

Not really a regular on any line yet, I tend to go where I can find a good itinerary and a good price. Last year I was on the Zaandam, Emerald Princess, MSC Seashore and Carnival Pride. All had their positives and negatives. I also watched youtube videos of the Pride and did laugh about the decor. To be honest though, I didn't even notice it after the first day or so. One interesting thing about Carnival, was that they do not match ship time to port time so some of our port arrival and departure times were earlier than many planned for (Spain and Portugal). Room size was fine (similar to Zaandam) and in much better shape. The staff was excellent. You will be fine as long as you adjust your expectations.

I will be on a ship that visits Ulvik in May. The forum did not appear to have too much information on the village so I thought that I would post the information which the Ulvik Tourism office sent me for future reference. "It is so nice that you want to learn more about the activities offered in Ulvik! Here is a list of activities that we normally suggest: The Olav H. Hauge Centre, this is a museum about a famous poet from Ulvik, and is interesting for those who are into poetry and literature. For more details, contact information and opening hours : https://hardangerfjord.com/en/attractions/the-olav-h-hauge-centre-969913 The fruit and cider route, this is the only fruit and sider route in Norway, the route consist of three apple farms that you can walk or drive between to taste or/and buy their amazing products. The route takes about 1,5 hours. For more details, contact information and opening hours: https://siderruta.no/en/ You can also visit the farms individually: Hardanger Saft- og Siderfabrikk, their website: https://hardangersider.no/english/ Syse Gard, their website: https://sysegard.no/english-summary/ Ulvik Frukt- & Cider, their website : hakestadsider.no B-active, B-active offers rental kayaks, small boats, and bicycles, and they offer small, guided tours. For more details, contact information and opening hours: https://www.bactivecenter.com/en_GB ANGR, ANGR also offers rental kayaks, SUP boards and Canoes. For more details, contact information and opening hours: https://angr.no/en/ Ulvik has a lot of beautiful nature and has shorter and longer hiking trails, depending on how long you are staying. For more details visit the website: https://ut.no/utforsker/kommune/17604/ulvik/turforslag, or contact us at the Ulvik Tourist information. For a quick bite we recommend: Den Grøne Kafe, this is a café that offers different variations of foods, and is located by the dock, at the bottom floor of the Olav H. Hauge Centre. For more details, contact information and opening hours: https://dengronekafe.no/en/ or their facebook page https://www.facebook.com/dengronekafe/?locale=nb_NO Sentrum Café Ulvik, this is a small café that offers homemade food. For more details, contact information and opening hours visit their facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/SentrumCafeUlvik/ We also recommend walking around town exploring and looking at the beautiful landscaping, hope this was helpful! Best regards, Ulvik tourist office"