erdufylla

Book now if there are ones you definitely want to do, especially if you have excursion credits from a HIA package. It’s super frustrating waiting and then finding your promotional credits are going to go unused because everything’s already filled up.

No worries! This is a massive list to keep up with, and you do such amazing work to maintain it! Thank you for adding me to the June 1 NS sailing! 😁

I’m super late to the game, but I’m heading off on two cruises soon! Both solo journeys, and both my first cruises longer than 7 days! (Well, I guess by the time I board the Nieuw Statendam in Copenhagen, I’ll have one 14-day cruise under my belt. But still…) Zuiderdam - 11-May-24 - 14-day Azores, Normandy Transatlantic N Statendam - 01-Jun-24 - 14 day Norwegian Fjords & Islands of Iceland & Scotland

Thank you! Just clarifying — the ~$185 was for 4 cartons? Or a single carton?

I’m sure this has been addressed numerous times in this thread, but wasn’t able to find an answer scrolling back several pages, so hopefully my redundancy is forgivable. I’d planned to quit smoking months before my upcoming trip, but that didn’t happen, and I’m faced with trying to source nicotine for a 6-week trip which includes two cruises. I assume the HAL shops are still selling cartons of cigarettes. Are they still running the deal where you buy 4 cartons for the price of 3? Assuming the answers above are “yes,” anyone know if they sell just the classic Marlboro Gold Pack? And if so, anyone have a rough estimate on what a carton sells for on HAL these days?

I took my 14yo nephew to Alaska on HAL last summer. Aside from excursions and dinner time (my one rule), I barely saw him. We even rescheduled dinner a few times to accommodate his schedule with the teen club activities. There was stuff every day and every night — sports, board games, trivia, video games, I don’t even remember what all. But he loved it. And he was really mopey when we had to leave. It’s not a huge party ship, and you’ll definitely see fewer teens and kids than on other lines like Royal Caribbean or Disney, and on other HAL itineraries, but summer time in Alaska? There will be kids. And there will be lots for them to do.

There’s no point in printing it out early, though, since I don’t have a room assignment yet. And I’ll have access to a printer until a couple days before embarkation. Might as well just wait and print it all once the room assignment’s been made. 🙂

I just did mine for a cruise I’m 22 days out from. I didn’t feel particularly stressed about doing it earlier, and I didn’t do it immediately after final payment, because I was still waiting for my new passport to come in. I don’t have a barcode or room assignment yet (opted for a guarantee on this one), so I’ll still have to wait to print out the luggage tags and boarding pass (which I always have a paper copy of in case something happens to my phone on the day of embarkation — I’m a worrywart like that).

That’s ok. I fully expect that. None of the work I do is super critical, and all my clients know I’ll be on this trip with limited connectivity. A lot of the work I expect I’ll be doing can be done offline (and I don’t plan on doing a lot of work), so when I can connect, great! And when I can’t… guess I’ll just have to lounge with a margarita and a book… Real shame, that.

That suits my situation just fine, as all I need is emergency coverage when I’m outside of the US. It’s good to note for people who want coverage for their US-based trips, though. 🙂

Thank you for mentioning this plan! When I ran my numbers and looked more closely at what I wanted to cover, I realized that the bulk of my expenses I’d want covered under trip cancellation/interruption coverage was going to be covered by the HAL CFAR Platinum plan, and what I really wanted to tack on was additional medical coverage, for when I’m not on one of the cruises, and to supplement what’s covered by the HAL plan when I am. The GeoBlue plan does that, and for a fraction of the cost of the Allianz plan. It’ll mean cutting my losses if anything happens during those two weeks I’m not on a cruise, but those expenses are honestly minimal compared to the rest of it. Thank you!!

Thanks! I suspected that was the case, but I hadn’t investigated it yet. Ok, good, so it sounds like multiple plans of coverage are a normal thing, and they’ll play together to fill in gaps and help cover what one or the other might not. Thanks! I’m feeling better about having it and less like I’m wasting money having one plan already and buying another on top of it. I appreciate your input and advice!

Thanks! I believe I get some minimal trip coverage with one of the cards I have, but it’s not nearly enough for a trip like this, and I don’t travel enough (at this stage, at least) to make it worth getting another card just for that benefit. This type of trip is one I’ll only be able to afford once every 5-10 years, unless my circumstances change. 😂

I know the topic of insurance comes up often, but I haven’t been able to find a previous post that talked about the pros and cons of purchasing multiple insurance plans for extended travel. I’ve got two HAL cruises coming up this spring, with some time between and after where I’ll be traveling beyond my cruise bookings. I’ve got the HAL Platinum coverage on both (~$1000 total), and booked most of my airfare through Flight Ease. Because they’re international trips, and my health insurance doesn’t cover much if anything outside the US, and also because I’ll be traveling about 2 weeks on my own outside the HAL bookings, I thought it wise to get a separate travel insurance plan that includes medical coverage, like Allianz (which was quoted ~$500 for an annual plan). My dilemma is whether to keep the HAL Platinum coverage (if it’s even possible to remove — I added it when booking, and I’m still before final payment on both cruises) and just get the Allianz, or whether it’s worth it to have both. I like the “cancel for any reason” option of the HAL coverage, but realistically, I’m not canceling this trip unless I’m in the hospital (which I don’t expect to be). Thoughts? Advice?

I think it all just depends on personal preferences and conditions. People who suffer from claustrophobia, or people who have difficulties with sleep/wake cycles might find an inside room difficult to be in, especially over time. I’ve got an inside GTY for my upcoming transatlantic, because I wasn’t majorly concerned about being able to wake up early most days, but if I’m offered an upgrade to a room with a window, even an obstructed view, I’ll probably take it, just so the natural light of the morning will help me wake up.

Excellent to hear! I’m doing a transatlantic on her this spring, and I was hoping to be able to get a little work done on some of the at sea days.

It won’t help in all things, but one tip that’s helped me when getting my bearings straight is the trick for remembering “port” vs “starboard.” If you’re facing the front of the ship, port is on your left side, and both “port” and “left” have 4 letters in them. Also, that’s where even-numbered staterooms are (odd-numbered being on the starboard / right side of the ship), and “even” also has 4 letters. (Not sure it’s as difficult to remember “forward” vs “aft,” but someone once pointed out to me that “aft” and “ass” are both 3-letter words starting with “a” that refer to the behind.)

I did this (the one with the s’mores) with my 14yo nephew, and it was one of the highlights of the trip for him. There were a lot of kids on that excursion, and they all seemed to have a really good time. I also wouldn’t feel guilty about dropping the kids off at the Club HAL kids club, either. That’s what it’s there for, and they’re great with kids. Your kids will likely be bemoaning the time they’re *not* there.

One of my fondest vacation memories was a road trip we took several years ago that had us spending a week in coastal Maine. Between the lobster (and other fresh seafood) and the Maine wild blueberries we consumed on a daily basis, it was a difficult task making myself leave when our week was over.

I saw someone on TikTok who was on this ship and talking about the delay. They were allowed to get off the ship and explore SF, and reboard that night. They were given the option to either be off the ship for good by some time that next day (10am Sunday maybe? I forget now) and take a full refund for the cruise plus some amount of FCC (50% maybe?), or remain on the ship for the abbreviated cruise and receive a 75% refund plus some FCC (I think it was also 50%).

I agree that nickel-and-diming is annoying, and adds that little bit of extra annoyance to a holiday. I imagine it’s also extra work for the company itself, tracking those extra individual charges. However, I also understand why they’re doing it, and I don’t necessarily like the alternative. Food costs have skyrocketed recently, especially for some specific foods. And while supply chains are getting closer to being back to normal, there have still been huge fluctuations in pricing on certain food groups that makes budgeting for months into the future tricky for businesses purchasing food. If they reduce the extra fee items and make everything flat fee, increasing the cost of specialty dining across the board, that will probably result in fewer people booking specialty dining and people *still* complaining about how expensive everything had gotten. At $39/ea, Pinnacle Grille is at the top edge of my “worth it” budgeting. I probably won’t be ordering lobster anyway, so if they upped the flat fee to $49/ea but stopped charging extra for more costly entrees, it starts being less worth it to me. I do agree that it sucks that they charge extra for extra appetizers, desserts, etc., especially when they don’t in the MDR. However, I’m sure part of their thinking there is that the more food people order, the longer it takes them to eat. By limiting the number of dishes, they can fit more reservations in a night, earning more money. Charging extra for additional dishes helps offset that, I’m sure. It sucks, but I understand the reasoning.

Yes. If you have the standard drinks package (I think they call it “Premium”), drinks under $11 are covered (up to 15 drinks per day), and if you order a drink that’s over $11, you just pay the difference, plus 18% gratuity on the difference. The “Elite” drinks package covers drinks up to $15, unlimited drinks per day, and again, the same overage applies: you just pay the amount over $15, plus 18% on the overage.

There are lots of threads about crew appreciation fees and extra tipping, and I recommend looking them up, as there are more details than I’ll put here. But to answer your questions: If you don’t pre-pay the crew appreciation, it will show up as a daily fee per person on your statement. You can see this apply and track it daily in the app, but it will show up on your final statement, too, which will be automatically billed to your credit card on file at the completion of the cruise. If you pre-pay it before the cruise, it will not show up on your final statement of onboard spending. I always add a bit extra in cash on the last day of the cruise for my attendants, but it’s definitely not required or even expected. I also like to give tips to particularly attentive waitstaff and bartenders, especially if I see them frequently over the course of the cruise. Again, not required, but always appreciated.

I doubt this will work, but have you tried asking them if they would be willing to swap the promotional code your room is booked under to a different promotional code that HIA is compatible with? That you would really like to give them more money, but their system keeps preventing you from doing so?

One of the things that surprised me (though maybe it shouldn’t have) about the Dutch Cafe when I was on the Koningsdam was that they didn’t have machine-brewed drip coffee ready to go. They did pour over, to order. And it was very good, but very slow, especially when they got busy.