msmayor

Will love hearing about your trip...have a wonderful cruise!!

Are you talking about a December 2019 cruise?  If so, I'm surprised that your TA or HAL would tell you that it is OK to move to a new cruise/date...by now you are well into the penalty phase for any December 2019 cruise and any change would normally be considered a cancellation and then re-book.

Is the price difference really worth it?  It's almost three hours by car between FLL and Port Canaveral.  While car rental is certainly an option, you're looking at either two one-way rentals (one at each end of the trip) which may involve drop fees, or a single rental and then parking at the port...not to mention the value of time.  

You shouldn't need to buy two packages - the unlimited laundry package should include pressing.

We sailed Eurodam last month and purchased unlimited laundry for the 11 nights - $77.  Day of embarkation I sent six dress shirts and four cabana shirts out for pressing only...it was covered under our unlimited laundry package.

How early can you reserve one of the cabanas on the island?  

Are you referring to generic gift cards like Visa/Amex, or are these HAL gift cards?

If generic Visa/Amex gift cards then I can easily understand why these would not be processed.  Many times these gift cards are not re-loadable, so if you purchase an excursion with the gift card you would not be able to properly be refunded in the event you chose to change/cancel.  The refund would, by standard, go back onto the card you used to pay for it...if the gift card cannot be re-loaded, where would the refund go?  

There is also the risk of fraud on these cards.  They are often re-sold on a secondary market for a 'discount', or can be compromised by someone getting a hold of the card numbers and PIN.  

IMO generic gift cards are difficult to use anywhere if there is ever a chance a refund might be necessary.   When I worked retail, we hated taking them - could only offer store credit and many people got angry and wanted cash instead.  We could not refund cash or to another card as that violated the terms of the gift cards.

I use them for groceries...I am not likely to be returning those and if needed, I can request store credit instead which I know I will use for more groceries.

We used FlightEase for our recently completed Eurodam trip, only because we had received a generous air credit as part of the promotion that we booked under.  It was the first time that we had an outbound flight cancelled while we were sitting at the airport, 30 minutes before boarding, day before embarkation and needing to travel clear across the country from NJ to Vancouver CA.

Their Emergency traveler line was wonderfully helpful, explaining alternatives available to me should Air Canada be unable to re-route us to Vancouver on that specific day.  The agent who worked with me assured me "We'll get you there today, don't worry".  Thanks to the information they provided to me, when Air Canada's option was not acceptable I presented it to the gate agent and they agreed to re-book me without question.  

I wouldn't hesitate to use them again as a result.

I have never booked on line and always been able to get at/very near the times I want.

On three of the lines we've sailed (RCL, HAL, Celebrity) I've been offered a 10/20/30 discount...If I book three services, I get 10% off one, 20% off the second and 30% off the third.  They've always taken the 30% off the most expensive of the three, and the 10% off the least expensive.  It works out 'almost' to buy two, get one free.

I book this way because I always know I'm going at least three times.  There are always daily deals that are offered, with some of the better discounts on port days (to entice you to stay on the ship).  

After we embark and have lunch, we head to the spa and I make all my appointments at that time.

I will say we enjoyed the movies on demand feature on the stateroom TV.  It was especially helpful for my husband on the first full day into evening...the seas had me down for the count and by 7pm I decided I didn't want to go to dinner and just wanted to go to sleep.  He grabbed a bite in the Lido and by 8pm was back in the room with me, enjoying some movies he hadn't yet seen while I slept.

On the day we packed to go home, we put another movie on to keep us entertained during the task.  Worked out very well.

We used their services twice for family cruises - my then-teenage son really wanted a tux for our first cruise and we rented from them, including the shoes.  My husband even rented just a vest package (he had his own tux).  It was a great service - the tux, shoes and two white shirts to cover both formal nights for under $100.  

40 minutes ago, Krazy Kruizers said:

It is called the Screening Room on deck 3.

 

Has about 30 seats.

If you have your heart set on seeing a movie in the Screening Room, you need to get there EARLY - especially if you have more than 2-3 people who want to view the film.

First movie we went to see there, we arrived at the theater about 20 minutes before the start and there wasn't a single seat available.  Next time we tried, we opted to go about 45-50 minutes early...and there were three seats left.

We just returned from a Mexican Riviera cruise on Eurodam in October.

We took a ship excursion to a resort on Cabo for a few hours (it was actually pretty close to the port) and felt perfectly safe as it was a private resort.

In Puerto Vallarta, we opted to take a taxi to the Malecon because it is a highly visible and popular tourist area, spent a few hours and then returned to the port by taxi as well.  There were what I assume are military police patrolling the area armed with what appeared to be semi-automatic rifles on their shoulders.  We never felt threatened.

Both of these areas are under a 'level 2' warning which is to exercise caution - something we do wherever we are, outside the US or not.  Crime is everywhere and you need to be aware of your surroundings and not place yourself in a situation where there could be problems.  Staying in very public places with lots of people is part of that.

Now in Mazatlan, we stayed on the ship.  There is a Level 4 travel warning there and US government employees have certain travel restrictions there.  As such, we felt the smartest move for us was to just enjoy a relaxing day on the ship.  

It really comes down to your personal comfort level.

I wouldn't count on anything specific.  We were on Eurodam when the World Series began, and there were plenty of folks quite surprised that Game 1 and 2 were no where to be found.  We did finally get the feed for Game 3.

Highly doubtful you will get anything back before dinner the first night.  Generally, the cabin stewards take their break around 1:30-2pm after a very long morning on turnover day.  They don't return to duty until around 6pm to turn down beds and prep staterooms for the evening.

We send all but 1-2 of my husband's shirts out on embarkation day for pressing so they are ready for the week to come.  We've always received them back by the next afternoon.  We'll pack one shirt as carefully as possible to limit wrinkles for the first night.

We were just there...we took the taxi van from the port and were charged $4pp.  When we were ready to return to the ship, plenty of taxis lined up at all the cross streets that meet the Malecon.  We paid $10 total for the ride, being let off inside the port and right near the terminal building.

20 hours ago, taba said:

 

On our recent Eurodam cruise, we experienced our first travel snafu when our outbound first-leg flight (PHL-TOR) was cancelled.  As alternatives were explored, it became very clear that Air Canada would not be able to get us to Vancouver that day, and sure enough their re-route had us flying out the next day (embarkation day) with an arrival just a couple hours before sailing.  That was not acceptable, and we knew we'd need to change.  Having the full day before meant that even if Air Canada couldn't re-accommodate us, Flight Ease already committed to getting us to Vancouver that day - even if it meant multiple flights, in effect hopscotching across the country.  That would not have been possible were we flying in day-of embarkation...instead we'd have missed the first four days of our cruise and spent the time waiting in San Diego for the ship to arrive.

We used FlightEase for our recent Eurodam cruise.  The flights were booked back in March when we booked the cruise, but not ticketed until final payment.

Outbound flights were on AirCanada - we had to wait until ticketed at final payment to access the seat maps and then, had to pay for seat assignments.  We were booked on American for the inbound flights and able to get seat assignments immediately with the locator number, even though the tickets were not yet issued.

9 hours ago, taba said:

I did have insurance and used Flightease.

Having insurance may...or may not...have helped in this situation.  Often where there is travel delay coverage, the delay must be anywhere from four-six hours at a minimum.  With a scheduled landing only 90 minutes from the deadline, you might not have met the minimum delay for coverage.

We always fly in a day before just to make certain we'll meet that trip delay standard.  

One reason this could be almost impossible is because you want to do this in Mazatlan.  There is no terminal there...the ships dock at an industrial port and there may not be any logical way to get immigration officials present to be able to properly disembark.

We were just in Mazatlan a couple weeks ago and the ship staff made it clear that anyone wanting to get off in Mazatlan for tours or independent outings MUST take the shuttle to exit the port - no walking allowed - because it is a working industrial area.  There is no building to go through to exit the area.  It's just a gangway in an area that is loaded with metal storage buildings and shipping containers.  

1 hour ago, TAD2005 said:

I guess I don't understand how the casino rates work.  The OP said they have not sailed HAL for 2 years, and their first cruise back got them a casino rate.   I thought that casino rates were based on your frequency and level of play over a long period of time on a particular cruise line, kind of like Las Vegas used to be for frequent guests.

I spend maybe 5 nights out of 10 in the casino, usually on video poker or roulette.  I have never been offered a casino rate.  How does this work ?

We've been offered casino rates since our very first cruise on Veendam.  My husband and I are not big gamblers, but we do spend time almost every evening in the casino and we always play in the blackjack tournaments on board.  We play very little slots - it's almost always table games.  We get to know the casino staff and interact regularly with the pit boss crew.

That first cruise was in 2012...went again in 2014, 2017 and just last weekend returned from our fourth HAL.  The past three have been on casino rates - we've remained eligible since that first cruise.  The casino rate saves us $300-400pp as a start, and we can combine that rate with other HAL promotions.  We receive flyers a couple times a year for free inside or significantly reduced staterooms (including Neptune suites) for select cruises.  Two days after returning from Eurodam last week I got an email offering reduced sailing rates on select cruises through next spring that include casino credit.

Actually, there is an Evian water package available, 12 liter bottles of Evian delivered to your stateroom for $42 or 6 bottles for $24.

Individual bottles of Evian are also available to purchase on board.

I was expecting to be told that we had to disembark Eurodam after we arrived in San Diego from Vancouver (the end of the four-day Pacific Coastal segment) but no such instruction came.  Maybe because a majority of passengers were considered 'in transit' and continuing on the next 7-day Mexican Riviera?  I believe they mentioned about 900 or so were disembarking from the 4 day and another 900 coming on.

We did get off the ship but did not have any type of in-transit pass, and were told we could return at any time.  We had to go through the same security screening as embarking passengers but they went to a separate area for check-in and waiting to board while we could use the 'in-transit' line and get right back on the ship.  We also were not required to attend muster drill, another surprise as I thought we'd all have to do it again.  Only the new passengers were required to attend.

2 hours ago, Copper10-8 said:

 

Here's hoping you stay on that vacation high a bit longer! 

 

Capt. Draper & HD Ruben K, two of the best!

Their attention to detail really showed, too, especially on the hotel-side.  I noticed that at least in our area of the ship at embarkation, suitcases weren't left in the hallway after delivery...they were actually placed inside the room.  What a wonderful surprise to get to our stateroom after lunch around 2pm and find all four bags ready and waiting.

Stateroom service was really well-run too.  We could see the stewards were working, but they really worked hard to keep equipment out of the hallways and keep any noise levels down.  It was amazing how they slipped in and out of each room to get things done.

Laundry service was also fantastic.  We purchased the unlimited for the voyage and started right away, day one, sending things out.  Clothing was always returned within 24 hours.  Nothing was ever amiss and all items came back in fine condition.  We even chuckled when my husband's undershirts ended up on hangars!  We appreciated the nice cloth clothing bags they used for hanging garments too.  Kept everything nice and neat.  We made sure to always return the wire hangars each day as I know they re-use those often for other guests.

We've sailed four different lines, and despite the hits that HAL takes at having an 'aging' demographic, we still prefer the atmosphere and service aboard these ships.  Friendliest and most attentive crew at sea.

2 hours ago, Copper10-8 said:

Thanks for taking the time and effort for your review! Enjoyed reading same. The Pacific can be rough at the end of the Alaska season. Just a minor correction; the really nice town of Solvang is Danish as opposed to Dutch 

You know, I knew Danish...not sure why I typed Dutch.  Still on the vacation high, I guess...thanks!

2 hours ago, SilvertoGold said:

Very informative, readable review!  Who were your Captain and Hotel Director?

Captain was Henk Draper - loved his noon reports.  Hotel director was Ruben Kooiman.

It's certainly possible...as long as you recognize the pitfalls of planning for that early flight.  Most times it will go smoothly, but there are those times when it won't...

• As others have said, you need to be prepared to be in the first group off the ship.  You must manage all your luggage yourself, be up early and ready to go as soon as the ship is cleared for debarkation.  This may mean being up before the sun to get breakfast and get in line, all before the ship is cleared
• Have your own transportation plan to the airport - either private car, Uber or taxi...don't depend on the ship's transfers
• Have a backup plan - this is KEY.  Know the flight schedules of alternatives to your home in the event you miss your original flight...and be prepared to make those changes BEFORE your original flight departs.  Once your original flight departs if you have not notified the airline that you won't be in your seat, your option to change it is gone.
• Be prepared to make changes on board in the event you learn the ship is delayed back to port.  On our last cruise out of FLL, we had a medical emergency on the way back that required a diversion to Grand Cayman to offload a sick passenger.  This was a full 48 hours before we would be back to FLL and already the captain said we would be late.  Many, many passengers were at Guest Services trying to get early flights changed.  We docked around 8:30am and weren't cleared to debark until 9.  Lots of folks didn't make those early flights.

It's personal choice, really.  For me, I'm not willing to wreck the buzz of a relaxing vacation with a stressful time-crunch return.  Many do it though, and are successful.