Cruise NH

This is exactly how we feel...but you just said it way better then I've ever do.

Thanks. Yeah, seat selection is very important to us too.

We’re you able to get miles credit (assuming you belong) for the ticket cost?

That’s surprising I thought Hal was looking to do more ‘longer’ cruises in the future.

I know the 2025 world cruise has been announced (and the pole to pole) but no other grand cruise for ‘25 yet, or did I miss something?. I keep hoping for grand Asia some year! Are there any grand cruises anticipated for ‘25?

Thanks for the replies, it sounds like it’s a ship to ship thing. We’ll be on the Zuiderdam. We’ll only be using ours for coffees and soft drinks so they’ll do well by us!

We’re going with a HIA package on our next cruise. Will we receive some sort of beverage card to show when we order or do you just sign the slip like a normal drink order and just not get charged? thanks.

Thanks!

When would that bus get you to heathrow?

The VOV gets in on a Saturday so traffic should be okay but unless you’re willing to self disembark I wouldn’t chance it.

We were on in January and were amazed by the turnaround. It was always back the next day.

As I mentioned in my initial reply we use Luggage Forward to get our bags to the ship. I can tell you that we’ve never had a problem even when we shipped our bags internationally, they’re a good company. Check with them to see if they’ll ship to your hotel if you want that peace of mind. We do put AirTags in our luggage which helped with my husband’s peace of mind.😁

One thing that we were disappointed with on HAL (we did two voyages earlier this year) was the enrichment speaker program, if you can even call it that. Coming from Cunard where they always seem to have good speakers on a variety of topics we were sad to see most lectures were done by the cruise director, reading a script. Even when we went through the Panama Canal where there is usually a lot of interesting information to impart, it was just the CD reading. They did it in an entertaining way but it's not the same as having a real expert. We've been through the Canal before but had never stopped in Central America so we were expecting some lectures on the history, etc. Nope, none. Just FYI.

After you get through check in there are places to sit and wait until your group letter/number is called. Don't worry about arriving earlier then your appointed time, we do it all the time and have never had a problem. You just join the line when you get to the terminal. We weren't asked when our time was and we were there just this past Fall.

I'm also a Cunarder but have been on HAL several times. I'll try to answer below your questions

I checked out a youtube video of some ATR-72 flights. The engines are pretty loud but the plane looks comfortable.

I see that. I’ve never flown on a plane with propellers before! 🛩️

I didn’t know that, I’ll look into it. Thanks. We’re going to Boston.

Good point. We’ll get in on a Sunday so maybe all options are open? Well not the train though, I’ve been on a train in England on a Sunday where I learned the phrase ‘track works’!

I have gotten off the QM2 Ana QV a number of times in Southampton but never flown home the same day, but now I am. I never paid attention to transfers before 😗 We haven’t made our flight reservations yet so we can leave out of Heathrow or Gatwick. The flights were interested in leave around 1pm. We’re thinking transfers because we’ll have plenty of OBC but we’re open to anything. We could even self disembark and get a car service if leaving that early is really necessary. Is one airport better than the other for our purposes? This is an international flight. Thanks.

You would think Cunard Air could help with this. They do offer flights for cruisers. When the 2020 WC abruptly ended in Perth they did an amazing job getting flights, at a reduced rate for them, for all of us. I’m not saying they should pay for them, but they could offer the services to those looking to get back to NY and maybe save the passengers some money.

Of course you can always board when THEY board and that would resolve the problem. 😜

On the Cunard 2020 world cruise we used www.guidedtoursisrael.com We were docked in Haifa for two days and they had a two day itinerary. They do service other ports. I have no idea if they're still in business of course. We did it as a private group tour, meaning others from the ship could sign up for the same tour independently (no one was running the show). They kept the group small and the vehicle was very comfortable. Just as an aside, with the confirmation they sent a 'must read' section that basically told you to lower your expectations of Israel in general. Places are crowded, traffic is bad, etc. They were right. Good luck!

Thanks I’ll look at that.

That would be cumbersome but perhaps possible for an individual one. This is for the world cruise so…not so easy. At least I’m happy to see that I didn’t miss something obvious on the website I could be doing. thanks