DAF7065

I am on Vista FT Lauderdale to Southampton in Spring 2025. A2 Cabin My TA checked this for SM it is $300 more. I booked standard O a month ago. $300 / Day is $13.66 or a glass a wine per day. No brainer for me. Moving from shipboard credit to excursion credits was not over the top. It was $400 ea. On this cruise I am sure we will be able to find appropriate excursions. On another cruise, Tahiti to LA April 2024. Made no sense to change. $1000 more. But I booked that Aug of 2022, so I am sure since then pricing has increased. Plus the ship is all but sold out. So that one made no sense to change. My next cruise after 2025??? Who knows....can't see that far in advance at this time.

This is now way over the top for me. I have 2 cruises booked, one for April 2024, other for May 2025. The May Cruise I just booked before all this and glad I did. I say...take a deep breath...relax and if you can, wait a month. I will do one cruise a year...that is enough for me. Hope they will be a "journey" of sorts, I am not interested a 7 day Caribbean dime a dozen cruise. So I figure my 2026 cruise will be planned after the 2024 cruise which gives me plenty of time. For my current 2 cruises. I will watch and read and wait till all or most of the confusion is cleared then see if any changes make sense.

I to had a small med issue on our cruise, we both visited the Med Center for some cold (Covid Negative) and the payments are approved. Have not received yet but should be in soon.

I have cabin 9047 booked. It is 5 cabins aft of the lounge and 5 cabins forward of the stairs. So I think good spot. Should be able to easily fill the morning coffee requests. 😎

I am also looking at A2 Concierge. I think Deck 9. What is the lounge all about? Will it be noisy? On Deck 9 I can be close to the lounge or past the Mid ship A1 level rooms. Actually that would be closer to mid ships. Any thoughts?

Thanks for the quick info. Working on it now

I need to get my receipt for services to show I paid on a recent cruise as went to the med facilities. I looked at the info on HAL site and did not see anything that could help. Any advice

63 Cruises...did one cruise a long time ago...West Caribbean and was bored. We started chartering sailboats in BVI and did that for over 10 years. Great vacations. It was some work but a lot of downtime, sun and fun...but we just decided on a cruise this year. HAL 12 day Med, just finished this a couple of weeks ago. The ports were great and a lot of fun meeting folks but thought the ship was a bit tired. We made a HAL booking on the ship for 2025 but will probable drop it as that ship is also old. I end my work live end of the year and we have Regatta booked Tahiti to LA in the spring. Looking forward to the South Pacific and figure the downtime on the ship will break my work ethic. We are also looking at Vista for 2025, Miami to Southhampton. Probable will hold both as can cancel either of them next summer. If Regatta trip is good and we are happy then we go with the Vista Cruise. If not...maybe time to try something else.

Thanks for that input. We have a lot of time till the cruise so plenty of time to review.

We just sailed Oosterdam on 12 day Med. It was a nice cruise but I thought the ship was a bit tired. My wife says next time "I want a newer ship". Not sure if newer ships have less carpeting but thought the carpets were a bit worn and dated for one. On the Med Cruise I signed up for a 2025 cruise on Zaandam, another older ship. this cruise is to the Amazon for 27 days, same as the original post. I did not worry about booking as can easily be cancelled. We booked a Vista Suite on Deck 6. Now my question comes with "Refurbishing" and what that means, how can I find out what will or has been improved. Supposedly to be or has been updated. Any insight to what that means? Where can I find out more details? Any thoughts other thoughts on the ship?

This posting has been around for some time with no action in awhile. I hope I can hear some replies from more knowledgeable cruisers. I really do not have much to compare to as not sailed recently. We just sailed Oosterdam on 12 day Med. It was a nice cruise but I thought the ship was a bit tired. My wife says next time "I want a newer ship". Not sure if newer ships have less carpeting but thought the carpets were a bit worn and dated for one. Now my question comes with "Refurbishing" and what that means, how can I find out what will or has been improved. On the Med Cruise I signed up for a 2025 cruise on Zaandam, another older ship. this cruise is to the Amazon for 27 days. I did not worry about booking as can easily be cancelled. Supposedly to be or has been updated. Any insight to what that means? Where can I find out more details?

Embarkation what happens and when? What happens on embarkation day? When can I load up? Does the line give me a time or do I ask? How does it all work? What can I expect? Have not gone thru this and as you know this site is for "Dummies".

I will be paying for the cruise end of February. Looking for some advice. Do you think I need to cover the plane? If canceled I can put the money back in my account for future use if needed? So do I need to cover the flight itself. For the Cruise and Medical part. How soon should this insurance be booked once I pay for the cruise? Should I be shopping now for coverage and rates? In general any advice is appreciated. Thanks Dave

What is that and where do I find? I have discussions with some "internet Sites" and it is a bit much.

So many good comments and discussions. Thank you for your advice and thoughts. So the Cruise is Spring 2024. When do I book? Do I wait? Do I go to Oceanian Direct? Do I go to Internet Booking Site? You all have been thru this many times. First time for me. Dave

I have Bare Boated BVI a dozen times, Thailand, St. Martin, Belize. We got messed up during Covid Year and had to cancel the last BVI Charter. Have not been back sense. I long for this, I do not mind the sailing, working , doing the boating thing. But we want to be "served" so to speak and no work for either of us for a change.

This may seem very basic. I go to a "cuise dot com web site" or whatever, and look at some cruises. Then try to look at more details and price out and needless to say I have to input my name and all my data. Then I get 100 follow emails. All I want to do is look and check out and see a price. But I do not want 100 follow up emails. What am I doing wrong? What can I do differently? I hope there is a way around this. Dave

A lot of good advice. It pretty much all agrees with what I was thinking. Only difference is I think 3 nights on Tahiti will be nice. Yes it may be commercial but I think we can take a nice Jeep Mountain Tour and see the country side. Then I am guessing a better place for shopping, gifts and the like. I have time to investigate. I checked a flight for general schedule and it arrives early morning. I think I want to get to hotel and go to bed. Get on the time zone. Thanks to all for your thoughts Dave

I hope this type of topic is allowed. Here is my question for those that have cruised both ships. Or in the area we are looking to visit. At the end of 2023 I retire and was looking for a break away cruise. Something to start our new life and get out of the work mode. With that we saw two options. One is the HAL 35 day round trip San Diego hitting HI, Tahiti and other French Polynesia. KONIGSDAM February 17 - March 23, 2024 The other is Oceania Cruises REGATTA March 30 - April 20, 2024 21 days Tahiti, HI then LA. I go back and forth on these two trying to weigh out each option. Here are some questions and concerns 35 days seems long time to be away from home / on a ship, especially as this will be only our second cruise. Plan one 12 day Med in 2023. Any issues / advice for the 35 days vs 21 days? Any thoughts on either line? What I see is both are good in their own way. Dates? I am guessing both about the same for travel and weather. Flights not so worried about as I probable use my Delta Miles will have some left over from work. Round trip San Diego is easier. But for me I have been on plenty of Trans Pac flights for work. So I am OK. but not so much my wife. Spending a few days in Tahiti before the Oceania Cruise seems worth the while, any thoughts on this? I think in general this is pushing us to Oceania. I look forward to hear any advice to help with these questions. I also look forward to hearing your opinions on either of these two lines if you cruised and enjoyed either line. Thanks, Dave

I have read thru a lot of the Photo forum for camera advice. I have been using my phone for some time lately mainly just family and quick email / postings. We will be starting to travel again and I want to use a "real" camera whatever that means. I do not envision myself as being a Photographer with 1000's of photos but I do like taking better photos especially on vacation. We plan Med in 2023 and So Pacific in 2024. This is a point and shoot with "I think" good features. Nikon - COOLPIX B500 16.0-Megapixel Digital Camera I have seen also the basic Cannon EOS Rebel with 2 lenses My main issues with DSLR vs the Point and shoot for me include: Changing lenses More to carry Do I really need the "extra" quality? I do not want a $1500 camera just good and fun. All that said Maybe with a DSLR I will start to enjoy and use the camera more. Mainly with the photos we watch our vacations via Slide shows on the TV Email and so on. May print one or two but those are mainly people photos...this is where we visit. I am not saying above choices are the best as just names I grabbed. Any thoughts advice is appreciated. Dave

I have some questions about a cruise I am thinking of booking I found a HAL cruise in Feb 2024 on the Koningsdam, 35 days. The deposit is 20% which is substantial. On other topics I have read about HAL being sold. Debt in parent company and other craziness. My question is two fold: Is this a real concern? How do I protect my deposit from now till boarding? Have it All program is about $55 / Day / Person. Is it worth it? I am thinking maybe I have 3 glasses a wine, maybe a drink or two, my wife half. But with 35 days I think some days I need to rest. Wi Fi...Why not use and I pad and I load both emails to the unit? Just one Wi Fi. I know there has to be cruisers with opinions on this one way or the other. Last question is HAL says the gratuities are added to the total. I look all over the web site for that info and have not seen? What I like about this cruise is that it starts / stops in San Diego and hits a lot of nice places we want to visit. So do not need for 10 hr flight to Tahiti or 15 hour to Sydney with all the time zones. Just have to fly across from Florida, so not too bad. Thanks for helping out Dave

I saw this 50 essential items. Sound interesting but if I packed all this I think no room for my underwear!!! https://lifewellcruised.com/items-to-bring-on-cruise/ I am not going to hit everything but just some highlights. I am on a HAL cruise May 2023 so thank you for any thoughts. This sounds interesting but do you think I need? non-surge protected one that is “cruise approved”. I tend to think this is overkill Recommended: This OVER THE DOOR ORGANIZER is a favorite due to it’s mesh pockets rather than plastic I have seen others suggest this seems to make sense 6 pack Magnetic Hooks (tyhese are “heavy duty” Do you think this is needed or most ships provide? Recommended: Cruise Lanyard and Cruise Card Holder (waterproof) I have seen a few sites recommend this. Is this real or just a come on? Portable Travel Mini Fan I have my own binoculars. Should I take? I am thinking yes Recommended: Travel Folding Binoculars In general if I took all 50 recommendations I think way to loaded up, but I think some interesting options. Let me know your opinions on what is good and what I can forget. Thanks Dave

We just booked 12 Day Med on Oosterdam starting end of May. This is our first "real" cruise and our 40th anniversary gift. As there is a lot of time from now till then I want to understand how best to make all this work and have a great cruise. I am trying to understand how all this site works. I think there is a place just for the cruise we are on so we can talk, ask and try to understand the cruise and destinations. So first off any advice or is there any FAQ or so on how the site works. Second one of the big questions / thoughts we have is sharing some private tours in a couple of ports. How is it best to make these kinds of connections? Basically right now I am looking for any advice as to how all this works and how to get connected in preparation for our cruise Thanks Dave