amoba

Hi,  I’m really enjoying reading about your daily adventures, trivia, crafts, meals, shore excursions, plus seeing all the photos (which I’m able to access from the link in post #208).  The calm seas and sunset look amazing.  I’ll be joining in Cape Town and wonder if there’s a way to reserve a spot on a trivia team, an early seating dining table, the watercolor class, or anything else that might be tricky finding a spot if I wait until aboard.  Any help or advice will be greatly appreciated.  After reading this blog (and that of G and J Travels), I feel like I know a bit about the ship, activities, plus several of the ports, and can’t wait to be there with you all myself, in just a couple of weeks.  Keep having a great time, entertaining us with tales of your adventures and time aboard, and see you at the meet and greet.  Thanks for all the info, take care, Vicki 1946

11 hours ago, Scrapnana said:

I am officially negative and free to leave my cabin.  Heading outside for fresh air right now!

Congratulations, Kathi, on your negative test and release from captivity!  I am so glad you are now out and about and free to enjoy the rest of the cruise.  It's been very enlightening following this blog, hearing about the cruise including the really unfortunate experience of quarantine.  I'll be joining you all in Cape Town and very much looking forward to it.  If anyone would be so kind, would it be possible to find out if I can sign up early for any of the watercolor classes starting after Cape Town?  Thanks also for posting the itinerary showing all the crafts projects, which look great.  I know yellow fever vax has been discussed a lot but I'm wondering if, when boarding in Montreal or Ft Lauderdale, HAL required seeing yellow fever vax waivers or the yellow international certificates of vaccination showing dates within or beyond 10 years?  Thanks so much for all the postings and happy cruising!  Vicki

On 10/13/2022 at 5:34 AM, zelker said:

@Scrapnana  Inquiring minds (who will be boarding Zaandam December 5th for 32 days 😆) wonder if they've started installing the new flat-panel TVs?  

That is so interesting that you are boarding mid-segment.  How do you go about doing that?  Do you need special permission and can you choose any port in which to board?  Thanks!  Vicki

Hi, 

Holland America's  FAQs states: 

Documentation of Recovery consists of the following: 

Paper or electronic copies of the positive viral test result from a certified laboratory (dated no more than 90 days ago), or 

A valid digital COVID-19 Certificate (DCC) or a document issued by a health or government authority showing confirmed previous infection.
Guest who present these documents will need to go through a secondary screening at the terminal, and boarding will be approved at the medical staff’s discretion.

Does anyone have experience with this or know what the secondary screening consists of?  If someone is, appears, or feels fully recovered, can they count on being allowed to board?  Any tips for handling this?  Thanks!

Using HAL gift cards to make the final payment for my cruise was quite an experience and if I ended up with a discount overall, it was well earned.  I’m glad to hear that they changed the $25 bonus cards to higher denominations as all those cards and numbers took plenty of time to enter (and manually remove the spaces between numbers).  It took me 7 days of attempting to purchase cards, calling “buyatab”, trying the “chat” option (no response), calling HAL, emailing HAL and “buyatab” (no response or help), and receiving hundreds of emails but it’s finally (mostly) complete (I hope).  As has been the case with many others who’ve posted, several times the transaction was canceled as they were “unable to authenticate” my order.  My credit card companies said it wasn’t them, it was a problem with the vendor.  Most of the phone numbers for “buyatab” did not work (fast busy signal) and when one of the phone numbers was answered, most staff didn’t know anything about HAL gift cards.  Eventually, I spoke to someone at “buyatab” who did know about them and how to “authenticate” my order.  She just verified my email address and said to wait 24 hours and I would get an another email.  The email stated “your order has been reassessed and is now active”.  This worked and I was able to continue with the previously canceled order(s).  Due to not getting all of the bonus cards that I’d calculated, I ended up having to buy extra cards and tried to move the excess to my on-board HAL account.  Although the correct amount shows in an email, it does not show anywhere in my HAL account, that I can find.  Does anyone know if it should show or where I can find it?  When calling HAL, they haven’t been able to find it or help.  In all of my attempts, successes and failures at purchasing these cards, at least I wasn’t subjected to having to select photos (ha ha, that’s little consolation but another wrinkle for some).  The very first HAL staff I spoke to about the gift cards recommended that I simply pay by credit card instead – maybe he was right.  Thanks for listening!  Vicki

28 minutes ago, Nancy&Frank said:

I was able to buy $10,000 (in $500 increments) today and $10,000 (in $500 increments) yesterday through HAL and sent them to my agent to apply to World Cruise with no problem on either end.

I just read SKCruise007's post stating that there is a limit of $10,000 per day so that may be the issue.  Did you wait 24 hours after the batch you bought yesterday before buying more today?  It would be great if this were the solution.  Any reason to buy in increments of $500 rather than $2000?  Could that also be an issue?  Thanks, Vicki

On 4/21/2022 at 10:03 AM, Lido - Lanai said:

I purchased several gift cards (separate transactions) and received that message on just one of the transactions. I called the support number and they were able to validate the transaction after I answered several identity related questions. I received the gift card via email within 24 hours, which was the timeframe they told me to allow to receive the gift card email.

Thanks for this info.  Can you provide the support number that you called that was able to validate your transaction?  I've been having this same problem for 2 days now and it is seeming hopeless.  Thanks very much, Vicki

On 4/19/2022 at 5:02 PM, SUESEABE said:

@Red Haired Lady The AARP cards are a 10% discount. They have been available for several months. The Carnival gift cards have been on for at least 3 years that I know of. You must be a member to purchase the Carnival, Royal Caribbean and Celebrity gift card.  You don't need to be a member to purchase the Holland America or Princess gift cards. They are all digital and have no expiration noted.I still have some Carnival ones from 3 years ago and no expiration date given. The site says limited time offer and I assume they mean that they will sell them until they run out🤔 Only downside is that you can only purchase max of 5 cards per month.

Is it HAL cards that only 5 per month can be purchased?  Do you know if that means calendar month or 30 days from last purchase of 5?  I keep getting my gift card orders canceled with an email saying my card cannot be "authenticated" yet there is no issue with either of the cards I've used, according to my credit card company, credit limit, etc.  Maybe I should try to find the fine print on the HAL gift card site but any tips on what might be going wrong would be greatly appreciated.  Thanks, Vicki

Hi DaveinCharlotte,  I just wanted to let you know that your information on public transportation to Memphis airport worked perfectly.  Instead of from Beale Landing, I went from 3rd and Union (where my hotel and also the Peabody Hotel is located) on bus 39 to Hudson Transit Center.  It was simple, cheap, and only 45 minutes altogether.  No one at the hotel where I stayed knew anything about local buses going to the airport so I'm very glad for this information from you and MATA.  Thanks again, Vicki

On 2/12/2022 at 6:24 AM, DaveinCharlotte said:

OK, here's what I've found out so far.  MATA's Bus #28 (www.matatransit.com) leaves from the Hudson Transit Center every two  hours at 7:15AM, 9:15AM, 11:15AM, etc.  It is a 30-minute ride to the airport, and cost $1 per-person, cash to driver.

 

From Beale Landing (I'm assuming that will be the ship's location, but could well be somewhere else), it's a two-block walk east to the corner of Beale St. and N. Main Street.  There is a covered trolley stop there where every 12 minutes a northbound trolley will take you 1.4 miles north to the end of the trolley line at the Hudson Transit Center.  This trip is 13 minutes and also costs $1 cash.

 

When I used Google Maps to schedule the trip, it said: Leave Beale Landing at 8:35AM, walk to trolley, board trolley 8:43AM, arrive Hudson Transit Center 8:56AM, board Bus #28 at 9:15AM, arrive Memphis airport 9:45AM.  This is tempting, as our flight isn't until 1:00PM, and we only have carry-on luggage.  We could stay on the ship one extra hour, shave almost 3 hours off our long airport wait, and save $54 in the bargain. 

Thanks very much, blctlc, for that website.  It answers all my questions.  Vicki

Hi,  Does anyone know if there is an airport shuttle from New Orleans airport that goes to town, near where the AQ hotel is?  I'm not sure if the info I found on the internet is current.  Also, if there is a shuttle, how late does it run and does it run every day?  Thanks so much, Vicki

OK, thanks, pookeysmom, I've now completed the passenger information form so will see what happens.  Is this the same as checking-in?  Is anyone on a roll-call for a winter or spring 2022 Mississippi cruise with AQ?  I'm very much looking forward to seeing a new (to me) part of the US on this trip.  Thanks for all the info, Vicki

Thank you very much, DaveinCharlotte, for the detailed info on the trolley to the bus to the airport in Memphis.  That is very tempting for those with only carry-on bags.  Also, to pookeysmom, that's interesting about final documents being sent only after everyone has completed online check-in?  Do you know how far in advance we can check-in on-line or how late it can be done?  Thanks, Vicki

On 2/9/2022 at 3:13 PM, DaveinCharlotte said:

Hope somebody can answer these questions, because we've been wondering about this as well.  Our flight isn't until 1:00PM, and the airport transfer PDF seems to indicate that the transfer begins at 7:30AM, with arrival at the Memphis airport at 8:00AM.

 

The "Elvis" excursions don't arrive at the airport until about 1:00PM, too late for us.  There's a bus to the airport ($1) but would have to leave the ship by 8:30AM to catch it.  I guess taxi is the only option; from what I can find, that would cost $30 w/o tip. 

Hi DaveinCharlotte,  Can you tell me more about the $1 bus to the airport in Memphis, please?  Where do you catch it and what time does it leave from it's location?  Is it only once a day?  Thanks very much, Vicki

thank you very much for the info. that's good to know that Princess is like HAL and segments will likely be added. also good to know that if you end up getting approval for a custom segment, you'll still have to pay for a bigger segment. I'll wait a while and see how they divide it as surely, there will be more options. thanks!

Where I've seen it, is in Australia circumnavigation cruises, more departure ports added after the time I booked. Where I'd like to see it, is in Around the World cruises on Princess, segments longer than 22 days but fewer than 94 days, as an example. Do they wait for people to request other options or how is it done? Can one count on more segment options to be added during the year before the cruise begins? Vicki

On a HAL cruise I booked a year ago, I noticed that more segments of the original cruise became available over time. Does this happen on Princess also? How and when are they divided? Is it possible to embark or disembark in other ports, not shown as an actual segment of a cruise? It seems some of the passengers are starting a few days after the beginning of one segment although nowhere can I find this as a segment. Thanks for any info on this. Vicki

is there any chance of HAL reading posts on cc and adjusting buffet hours (or any other thing) accordingly or would this only happen from the end of cruise surveys or never happen for any reason? I'm glad to learn that I am not the only cruiser finding an after show snack to be lacking on HAL, although I'd never chose a cruise based on buffet hours. I like Princess for their loyalty program and HAL for their smaller sized ships but I seem to mainly choose based on itinerary.

it's been interesting to read about the differences in room service menus between HAL and Princess. personally, I can't imagine a time where I'd order room service as it seems as though one would then be trapped in the room, waiting for the order, in presentable attire, not showering and not sleeping. for those with partners in their room, balconies, etc, room service might be just the thing.

as far as being asked for room numbers every time one enters the MDR, could it be so someone doesn't go to early fixed seating and then also go to any time dining a couple hours later? maybe during one of my hungry moments I tried to do this and was turned away. Upon questioning HAL staff more recently, I believe I've been told that having 2 dinners, fixed plus any time, is not allowed. having some limited snack items between 7:40 pm and 10:30 or 11:00 pm would solve this issue.

Explorations Café would be a great solution but when I've gone there after a show, they've had nearly nothing left. the dessert/ice cream area has also been totally out of ice cream each time I've tried to get there in time. it would be great to have a refrigerator in the room and then be able to keep a sandwich or something from the mid day buffet. maybe some rooms on HAL have fridges but I haven't had one.

the International Café on Princess is wonderful for the hours and food quality, especially desserts which seem to be better than at the buffet. yes, this buffet hours issue on HAL is a small, but momentarily glaring, thing when a snack is wanted. I don't need 24/7 food hours, just 8 pm-10:30 pm, if the buffet re-opens at 10:30 pm on some ships.

since they have 2 buffet lines, cleaning it is not the issue since they can close one for cleaning and have the other one open, like on every other cruise line.

I think for my next HAL cruise, getting some non perishable snack during the day and hiding it in my room for the evening, is the best option. but not ice cream. I've appreciated all the comments on this topic - thanks! Vicki

Hi, I've been on 4 HAL ships and on each of them, the buffet (on the Lido deck, I believe) was closed from 8:00 pm until 11:00 pm, when it would re-open for snacks for 30 minutes. is it the same for all HAL ships or does it depend on the destination whether they will keep the buffet open for another hour or two at dinner? does it close so early because they believe the passengers are older and want to go to bed early and not eat after 8:00 pm? or another reason? I understand that late seating in the MDR would allow for later dining but many passengers would like a dessert or snack after seeing the early show without having to wait until 11:00 pm. I also appreciate the wanton depravity of complaining about not getting enough to eat on a cruise ship! thanks to anyone who can shed light on this mystery. Vicki

Thank you, grantdrive, for the additional info on this ship. I emailed Portuscale about the issues you raise and they, as expected, assured me that all is well. but at least I wanted to bring it to someone's attention that these issues matter to passengers as it can make such a difference to repeat business. Although seas can still be rough, I'm at least hoping for hand sanitizers to be available and will watch out for missing railings. Here's hoping for the best, smooth sailing, and a pleasant cruise although my expectations are a bit lowered. Vicki

have you seen the posting from grantdrive about his cruise on the Funchal in August of 2014 - I'll try to copy and paste the link here and hope I get it right:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2092724

I did email portuscale cruises about these issues and they, as expected, said all is fine but at least I wanted to bring it to their attention, even if just to make someone aware that we are concerned about matters of stabilization, sanitation, and safety. Vicki

I too enjoyed Discovery, although I wasn't so keen on the food and actively disliked the MDR and buffet. However, she is being replaced the end of this year and CMV have chartered Funchal and Azores from Portuscale Cruises. I am looking forward to trying Funchal in October - a 1961 liner and ex-presidential yacht!

Hi Host Sharon, are you booked on the CMV Oct 21, 2014 cruise from Bristol to Lisbon? If so, did you book once the Discovery for this date was cancelled? I booked when the cruise was for 18 days and on the Discovery. Do you know if the Funchal will have proper stabilization or should we expect quite a bit of rocking as one post has explained? I've tried to start a roll call for the Oct 21, 2014 CMV cruise but not with much success. Do you know if there is one that maybe I haven't yet found? Thanks! Vicki

grantdrive, that sounds very discouraging and as though I better bring extra seasickness tablets. How many days were you on the Funchal, where did the cruise go, and was it this past summer? Which deck was your cabin on? Were many passengers seasick? Hopefully, they'll have hand sanitizers and nets for the gangplank as standard practice by the time I go. But there probably isn't time to get proper stabilization. I'll have my camera ready! Thanks very much for any more info! Vicki