kirin

Thinking our best option is to go straight to the pier and pray for an early checkin. ;)

To be honest, that is what I would do. There is often a long line in front of the luggage storage place at Piazzale Roma in the mornings.

I cannot say what your experience will be, but last summer we were on the People Mover at 11:00 a.m. Arrived at the port a few minutes later and were met by a HAL mini-van shuttle that took us to the terminal. Check-in was a breeze. We did not bother going to the cabin, but took the water bus from the port and were having lunch at Harry's Bar near St. Mark's at noon. Check-out time at European hotels is often much earlier than American hotels and HAL staff in the terminal seemed to be prepared to handle us "early arrivals."

I would not take a water bus/taxi from the airport. Lifting luggage up and down into a boat is no fun. The regular bus will get you to Piazzale Roma and the People Mover is only 1 euro to the port and easy to use. Once you get rid of luggage and get checked in at the terminal, you can take the water bus from the port to whichever part of Venice you wish to explore.

Definitely check out the Ports of Call board for there is much good information there. And enjoy the N.A. She is a beautiful ship and sailing out of Venice is a wonderful way to start a Med cruise.

Kate

To the OP, very sorry to hear about your husband. Hope he is feeling better soon.

 

On this single supplement matter, I'm trying to understand how this would come into play. Would it only be applicable if the travel insurance was through HAL? I'm asking this because in the case of third party insurance (or none at all), HAL would not be refunding anything for a last minute cancellation. In other words, they have collected a fare for 2 passengers. Are you saying that they would impose a single supplement on top of the double occupancy cruise fare they have already collected?

This has come up before. There was a thread a few years ago which I cannot locate.

The cruiseline reasoning seems to be: A couple books a double occupancy cabin at the rate of $1,000 per person. They pay the $2,000 in full. The cabin is paid for. However, the husband cancels or is a no-show at the last minute. His cruisefare is forfeited to the cruiseline as they are well past final payment. This leaves the wife sailing alone at a "one person" cruisefare of $1,000 in a double occupancy cabin. Therefore, she is liable for the single supplement.

I don't know if this policy is etched in stone or only applied on a case-by-case basis, but I think that most cruisers who suddenly find themselves "going alone" would assume that since the cabin was paid for in full, there will be no further charges. It would be nice (and garner some goodwill) if HAL recognized the disappointment of a passenger who was having to travel unexpectedly without their spouse or traveling companion and accept that the cabin was paid for in full and let it go since they have gotten the "2 pax" fare already, but, apparently, that is not always the case.

I hope the OP did not have to deal with this and will have a good cruise and that her husband will soon be fine and ready for their next cruise.

Kate

Not worried about the smell-just curious. More curious as to whether it is generally allowed on the motorcoaches, or if I will be able to avoid it completely.

If you are taking ship sponsored excursions, I do not think you need to worry about smoking on the motorcoaches. The cruiseline wants to keep passengers happy and they know that most dislike or cannot tolerate cigarette smoke, especially in confined spaces. I do not think that your cruiseline would contract with a local tour agency that permitted smoking on board the bus. There would be many unhappy cruisers and they would all be blaming the cruiseline, which sold them the excursion (and rightfully so).

I have never been on a ship's shorex where smoking was permitted on the bus during excursions.

Kate

That $100 for an extra suitcase will be CHEAP compared to international shipping costs. I sent a large box of BASKETS (about 2 feet x 1 foot x 3 feet high) to the USA via EMS. With Customs Brokers fees, extra insurance and international shipping, the cost was just slightly over $300. And then EMS only cleared them to the "free trade" zone in Phoenix, so I had a 100 mile drive to retrieve my baskets. NEVER again.

Greatam has kindly taken the time to write in detail about this issue to the benefit of posters here.

My personal experience is.......I fly Delta on the U.S.-Asia long hauls several times a year. I was not happy when they cut us back to one free piece of checked baggage, but it is what it is.

I stock up on various things in the U.S. and pay the $100 for the second suitcase coming home. It is preferable to dealing with the hassle of international shipping, insurance, the higher costs and the wait time for the shipment to arrive. At least I know all of my "stuff" is on the same flight and I can take it straight home and not have to think further about when a shipment might arrive.

I would be the last person to let Delta know that the $100 for a second suitcase is actually a good deal (might give them ideas about raising the cost), but it works for me.

I hope the OP will enjoy Asia and the cruise......

Kate

I assume the shorex you are waitlisted for is on the N.A. in the Med (?).

I was on the N.A. in the Med last summer. I did not book any shorex in advance on the website. Once onboard, I booked two and was waitlisted. I found that the situation was very fluid. Many people book a number of excursions as they (understandably) want to do and see as much as possible. However, on a port intensive cruise after X number of ports in X number of days, they feel energy flagging and need some downtime, so cancel.

If you really want the excursion, I do think it is worth your while to stop by the shorex desk, introduce yourself and make sure you are on the waitlist. After that, I would stop by once a day, just to ask in a friendly fashion "how the waitlist is going." This will give you an idea as to whether to go with Plan B.

I got both of the excursions I wanted, which of course is no guarantee you will get yours, but fingers crossed for a happy resolution and a great cruise.

All the best.

(Another) Kate

I don't know Birdland or Kaikaya, but Maisen is the best for tonkatsu. Ask for a table in the big (main) room at the back. The sashimi appetizer is always good and Maisen is famous for its potato salad. You can get a small side dish to share, if you fancy that sort of thing.

As you are interested in native cuisine, I would suggest you try unagi (grilled eel) if you get a chance. Some people are put off by the idea of eating eel, but it one of Japan's culinary treasures. I cannot recommend a particular restaurant as I just go to the place in my neighborhood, but you can probably find information on the internet or ask the concierge at your hotel, if you are interested.

Regards,

Kate

I know these cities have a plethora of dining. We would like some recommendations for upscale food that is not over the top expensive, and we like to have reservations. We have 3 nights in both cities. Just your favorites would be perfect. If you lived there, where would you go on a Sat night?

 

Thanks in advance for helping me, I know I need to reserve in advance and I will be there in a couple of weeks.

Food is subjective, as are phrases like "upscale food" and "not over the top expensive," so I hesitate make any recommendations for Tokyo. And, I can't see if you are looking for American, French, Italian, Thai, Chinese, Indian, Nepalese food, etc. It is all available and we have British and Irish pubs where you can get beans on toast, play darts and drink Guinness.

I am only posting to say that if you are interested in food and have 3 days in Tokyo, you might enjoy going to one of the food halls at a major department store where samples are handed out. You can sample many foods and sometimes wine and it is a pleasant way to spend an hour for people interested in food. Mitsukoshi in Ginza seems to offer the most samples, but other department stores are good also.

I hope you will enjoy your time in Japan,

Kate

P.S. I agree with BruceMuzz about street food in HX. Hawker food in Singapore or K.L. I would do, but not HX and never India. I guess it just depends on your experience.

 

 

So, if I had a trip to St. Petersburg scheduled, I would just look upon it as my being more involved in the history of the world, but I would not schedule a new trip that included Russia as an act of protest. I wonder if Baltic cruises will be less popular because of this.

Is your conscience ruled by which cruises you have already booked? You state that you would go ahead with a Russian cruise if already booked, but that your morality would kick in and you would not book future cruises calling at that country.

I don't have a dog in the race in the whole Russia/Crimea scenario. I am just confused about certain cruisers who will accept a given situation if they have a cruise booked that they are looking forward to, but will choose to "protest" if they don't happen to have a cruise booked to the countries involved.

Any enlightenment would be appreciated........and I mean that sincerely......not snarky,

Kate

a different slant from Tunisia News:

http://www.tunisia-live.net/2014/03/11/israeli-tourists-denied-entry-during-port-stop-in-tunis/

 

"It is unclear, however, if the Israelis had obtained a visa before arriving.

Israeli citizens have been allowed into Tunisia, although a previously-obtained visa is required.

Israel and Tunisia do not have formal diplomatic relations."

“There was no visa requirement that we are aware of,” AnnMarie Mathews, vice president of public relations for Norwegian Cruise Lines

told Tunisia Live in an email Tuesday.

Thank you for the link. It clears up a lot for me.

Kate

The government of Tunisia refused to allow Israeli nationals the right to disembark Norwegian Jade in the Port of La Goulette, Tunis on Sunday, March 9, 2014. In response to this discriminatory act, Norwegian Cruise Line announced today that it has cancelled all remaining calls to Tunisia and will not return.

 

“We want to send a strong message to Tunisia and ports around the world that we will not tolerate such random acts of discrimination against our guests,” said Kevin Sheehan, Norwegian Cruise Line’s CEO. “We are outraged by this act and the fact that we were not notified in advance of this practice. We apologize sincerely to our guests who were affected and want them to know that we have taken the appropriate action in response.”

No foreign nationals have any "right" to disembark in any country. Entry into any given country is at the discretion of local Immigration officials.

No one on this board claims to be an expert in Middle Eastern politics. No one seems to know the current state of relations on a political or diplomatic level between the two countries.

As the Tunisian government has not issued a statement (that I can find), we can only go on the statement by NCL, which does not detail any particulars as to why the passengers were denied entry into the county.

The Tunisian government may well have a good reason for denying this group permission to disembark, but this is not taken into consideration on this board. The politically correct stance seems to be........"Arab" country denies Israelis permission to enter.........discrimination.

Wonderful PR coup for NCL in their handling........taking Tunis off their itinerary will stand them in good stead with all politically correct cruisers.

Kate

It was some years ago when at the first dinner in the MDR we were getting to know our tablemates and someone asked where I was from. When I responded "Japan," one gentleman asked me how day-to-day life was now that we had been handed back over to the Chinese. I was so starled, I couldn't reply immediately.

Another gentlemen jumped in and said, "I believe you are thinking of Hong Kong. Japan is a different country."

The original questioner asked, "When did Hong Kong stop being a part of Japan?"

That's a very good question, kirin. I wasn't worried about a repeat bad performance on the cruise to Bermuda, because the horrible incident took place while we were on a tender, and the cruise to Bermuda didn't involve any tendering.

Thanks for the explanation. I can understand. I have had bad experiences while tendering. I'm just glad you weren't seriously injured and are still enjoying cruising.

Kate

No, I didn't realize it because the opposite thing happened to my traveling companion and me on a Celebrity cruise. We were 2 of approx. 96 people who were treated absolutely abominably on the cruise. Everyone on the ship knew about it, because they made several public address announcements about it. Whenever people brought the subject up, I said that I was one of the people involved. I was always asked if Celebrity had asked me to sign something. I always said no. Then I was asked if Celebrity had offered me any compensation. I always said that they hadn't offered me even one penny.

 

I never contacted Celebrity about this or even told any officer on the ship that I thought I deserved compensation. However, a couple of days after the cruise, Celebrity called my friend and me, and we told them how horribly we had been treated. We did not ask for anything, but we said that we hadn't been offered even one penny while on the ship. A couple of days later, Celebrity called us back and offered us enough cruise credit to pay for a cruise to Bermuda, including port charges and autograts. We accepted.

 

However, they never asked us to sign anything at all, so we felt free while on our cruise to Bermuda to tell everyone the circumstances that led us to being on that ship.

 

That is why I am surprised to hear that Disney makes people sign non-disclosures saying that they won't talk publicly about being treated terribly, because Celebrity never said the slightest thing about it.

 

I never wanted to sail with Disney anyway. And I'm certainly not going to sail with Celebrity again.

After being so badly treated by Celebrity that there were public announcements on board about your ill treatment, I am just curious as to why you would accept a free cruise to Bermuda on the same line. Weren't you afraid of a repeat performance of what you had already suffered?

Just curious,

Kate

Knowing "they" can get in your cabin even when you engage the deadbolt, really bothers me.

By "they", I assume you are referring to the crew. Please correct me if I am wrong. However, if you do mean the crew, does "they" include Western officers and entertainers on board?

I think our perception of safety and security is often based on personal experience. Based on mine, I feel safe on a HAL ship surrounded by "them"; far safer than I feel walking across a parking lot in broad daylight in the U.S.

One of the reasons I continue to sail on HAL is the wonderful crew who are so attentive to and protective of solo female passengers. I will continue to sail the line (a family tradition for the female solo cruisers in my family of which I am the third generation) and will order room service whenever I feel like it without any sense of trepidation.

I do realize that others may feel differently about security issues, based on their own personal experience.

Best wishes to all for happy upcoming cruises,

Kate

For those who have cards that require notification of travel abroad, doing so is important, but there are other kinds of trouble.

My ATM card was scammed somehow at an ATM machine in Paris and I had no idea. I had informed my bank of my travel dates and that I would be returning to the U.S. on Aug 6 and I did return on that date.

At the end of the month (August), I reviewed my accounts and found 8 ATM withdrawals had taken place from Aug 20 and Aug 30 at ATM machines in Paris and Rotterdam.

The bank knew my return date to the U.S. was Aug 6, but their computers did not catch withdrawals in Europe after I had left there. Further, I was using the card almost daily in the U.S. after returning there while someone in Europe was also using "my" card to withdraw money on the same days and this did not send up any red flags to the bank's computer system either.

I would suggest all travelers keep an eye on their accounts for a month or so after returning home, if they have made withdrawals or used a card abroad.

Kate

Whenever I´ve had the cheese plate as dessert on Princess it comes cold and ready prepared straight from the fridge, in the old days they came round with a selection of cheeses for you to choose from. What happens on HAL?

 

Sandy in Spain

As a poster explained above, you can choose four cheeses for your customized cheese plate.

To view the cheese menu, you can go to the thread "Dave's Live from the Ryndam....", currently on the first page of the HAL board. In post #68, he has kindly provided us with a photo of the cheese menu. Some wonderful selections........

Kate

I stopped reading at this post, so if somebody else has called you out on this and I missed it, sorry.

 

This post is utter bullsh*t. HAL can run any kind of cruise it wants to, and it has every right to expect it's crew (and passengers, for that matter) to act in a civilized manner. Crews for other countries and religions know damn well what they're getting in to when they sign up. Blaming HAL for this is absurd. The blame falls directly on the shoulders of this one criminal.

Post 93........but no one has paid any attention to it.

Kate

As I have stated before, Hal has no business contracting 'nude' cruises, trouble is coming anytime you have this with crews from other countries and religions, sorry...

HAL, as owner of the ships, has every right to charter them to any law-abiding self interest group, if they so choose.

Since you have posted about trouble from "crews from other countries and religions," I wonder if you would care to elaborate about your thoughts. Most on this board know that HAL service crews are Asian. Are you saying that Asian people become so incensed upon seeing Westerners nude that they cannot control themselves and commit unspeakable acts of violence and attempted murder? Would you say that this has more to do with what "other country" we are from or our "religion?"

I am thinking of the hundreds (thousands?) of HAL cruises each year and the thousands of wonderful crew members on board. One evil person has committed despicable acts on board. He might have been of any nationality or from any region or of any religion or cultural background. Bad people are bad people.

I pray for the physical and emotional healing of the victim. God bless her.

Kate

If you google "Goodwill Guides, Japan" you will find that some are operating in Kanazawa. There is an e-mail address so you can contact them. (I'm sorry I don't know how to send a link.) My understanding is that they are amateur guides operating in the area they live in. There is no set fee, but you do need to cover their out-of-pocket costs such as transportation and lunch.

I am a member of Eihei-ji Temple, (through the Tokyo branch, Chokoku-ji) and I spent 5 days there for meditation and lectures when I was young. I think it would be a very interesting and meaningful shore excursion.

I hope you can arrange this and will have a wonderful cruise overall.

Kate

It is feasible if you have the time before your ship departs, but I find it very touristy and the ramen is not particularly good.

I would recommend going to Chinatown instead, which is quite near the Osanbashi Pier where the International Cruise Terminal is located. I don't know how long the walk would be, never having done it, but I'm guessing about 15 minutes. If BruceMuzz or Jacksan1 are around, they would have better information than me on that.

Yokohama's Chinatown (Chuka-Gai) has an authentic Chinese temple for the local Chinese people which you can visit, a great many shops selling not only souvenirs but Chinese spices, foods and medicinal herbs and of course many restaurants. You can get very good ramen in most places, along with many other delicious Chinese dishes.

When I have a free day, I often head to Chinatown in Yokohama. Yama****a Park is on the waterfront near the pier and is also a good place to stroll and take photos.

I hope you will enjoy your time in Japan.

Kate

There is a wealth of good information here. I also prefer Anytime Dining on a port-intensive cruise. You not only have flexibility as to dining time, but can also request a table for one if you are tired from a long day in port and don't feel up to much conversation.

When eating in the Lido, if you need to go back to pick up something at the buffet before you are finished, pull your chair out a bit and tip it forward so it rests against the table edge. This will indicate to the waiters that you are coming back to your place and they will not clear the space, having mistakenly assumed you have left.

Just me, but I prefer the twin bed configuration over the "double bed." The little bit of "walkway space" between the beds gives me the illusion of having more space in the cabin. Others may have a different opinion.

One of HAL's greatest treasures is the crew. They are very attentive to, sometimes almost protective of, solo lady cruisers.

Best wishes for a wonderful cruise,

Kate

We walk the whole promenade deck frequently, and have never really been bothered by smoke. We like going round and round and seeing the different views from the different sides of the ship.

I have the same experience. As the smoking policy for the promenade deck was explained to me...smokers may stand in close proximity to one of the two ashtrays affixed to the deck railing and smoke. They are not allowed to wander that side of the deck with a lit cigarette or use the lounge chairs while smoking.

If I see someone using an ashtray there, I just give them a bit of a wide berth and walk past them, which takes only a few seconds.

Kate

I also recommend going to Kyoto. You will be so close and having the chance, it would be a shame to miss it.

Please note that April 29 is a national holiday and the first holiday of Golden Week. Public transportation and tourist sites will likely be crowded.

Hope you will enjoy the cruise and your brief stay in Japan.

Kate

In the square there's a left luggage "shop". I forget the name of the Piazza, but it's the last spot that cars can go to, probably there will be a bus.

 

I think it's the Piazzale Roma. From there you can take a waterbus or walk just about anywhere.

Vict0riann is right. If you take the People Mover from the port to Piazzale Roma, the "left luggage" shop is only a few doors from the People Mover exit. Water buses are straight ahead (a 2 minute walk) for sightseeing. I would suggest you do some research on the various water bus routes ahead of time, so you are sure to get back to Pizzale Roma in time to claim your luggage and make it to the airport. Some water buses are on a pretty quick and direct route; others meander with a lot of stops and take longer. You might check the European Ports of Call boards for more info.

Enjoy the N.A. I had a good Med cruise on her last summer, Venice to Barcelona.

Kate

As far as I know HAL will not cash a personal check..We always took Travelers checks up until last January when we took our long South American/Antarctica cruise..about a week prior to departure I went in to our bank (Wells Fargo) & was told they no longer sell Travelers checks...We ended up with thousands in cash which made me very nervous until we got it into our Cabin safe..Next time will try to google American Express Travelers checks & see if we can find a local bank which sells them..

 

Betty

 

P.S. What happened to my spell check on the new posting box? :confused:

I see that you are in Florida. If you have a Suntrust Bank nearby, you might inquire there. I got Traveler's Checks from them about a year ago. I don't remember if they were Amex, MasterCard or Visa, but I could cash them easily at the front desk on the Westerdam.

Like some posters above, I also find that hotels, restaurants and merchants will generally not accept TC these days. Some banks (including Bank of America) will also refuse to cash them, as their computer system is not set up to handle such a procedure. (So I was told by Bank of America.)

Kate