lissie

I applied for a July 23 cruise last week - after our final payment. I had approval within hours of HAL returning to work on the Monday !

What's stopping you? I wish I'd bougth the shares now rather than in Jan 2020 LOL

If your CC is denominated in US$ why would you not want it to go to your card - I certainly don't want heaps of cash to carry around! I use credit cards but they are denominated in NZ$ . My debit card is multicurrency and if I'm paid US$ it will go to my US$ balance. avoiding the conversion back to NZ$ . That way if I spend US$ I avoid the conversion back to NZ$. Overall the conversion costs me 2.5% each way plus the buy/sell difference. I I juggle the 2 - I would use a credit card to register at the start of the cruise. But if I was going to end up with a credit - I would change to a debit card near the end of the cruise. The debit card gives me a better exchange rate too and much lower margin if I do change the US$ to a difference currency. The card is Wise.com but there are others. Its a game changer for those of us who are paid and spend in difference currencies compared to our home country. If there was an accounting error I'd get it fixed regardless of the type of card - they are both Visa cards as far as the cruise line is concerned. If you mean pending holds - I used the debit card exclusively for cruising last year and the pending never affected the balance - the balance settled at various times - about once every 10 days. I don't know if that varies by cruise lines - but I may try it with HAL this year.

The current gratuities are $16 US / day

Why would I want it in cash? They can refund back to my travel debit card - far more useful than cash.

Wow I had no idea - we're doing a 25 day cruise and we are booked in A$ (because apparently NZ is a state according to HAL LOL) . I happen to have quite a few A$ available on a travel card from a cancelled Australia trip a couple of years ago. There is a saving - but we also will have a fair bit of OBC which we will probably use but its border line - so this is very helpful to know.

That was a huge screw up by the staff - because it means that somehow your card was swiped in the wrong bar - or more likely - someone didn't bother with the swipe and incorrectly entered the wrong cabin number. I noticed last year that the bar people were very careful to always take a card even though they knew us by name after a few days. I really liked having your account available on the app - you could check charges basically real - time and got into the habit of doing so at least once a night because then we could correct any error immediately.

There may also be an option for him to hire a gala outfit on board. They didn't have a size to fit my partner otherwise we may have considered it

Google maps is really good - I had not idea where the airport was either - but its actually very close 55 minutes WALK apparently. You won't have an issue getting an uber I shouldn't think

And indeed - discussion on the local boards suggest that nothing is changing anytime soon.

Yeah, nah as we say downunder. Exclusive: Survey shows Australian cruise to be stronger than ever (cruisepassenger.com.au) Australia has always booked cruises at a higher rate per a head than Americans - they are the largest per capita cruisers in the world. And it looks like even more ships are coming next season. And with vaccine rates much, much higher than the US most cruisers really don't mind or think its a positive that there is vaccines and testing prior to embarkation. Its not just even talked about here - its just something you do - you buy a test for about US$1.5 at any pharmacy and test yourself - take a pic with your cell phone, print out your vaccine records. It's just life. There's no political imperative to change anything. this is nothing to do with a visa to get into a country its a just a a reasonable public health requirements. I suspect the cruise lines know there would be push back if they dropped requirements.

Yes but governments can make their own rules and currently either the Federal and/or state governments of Australia have shown no signs of changing the rules for cruise ships even though the rules for entry to the country have changed. Many have not forgotten the Ruby PRincess debacle Ruby Princess Inquiry Slams Health Officials Over Covid-19 Cruise: Australia US Deaths (forbes.com) - and yes of course the disease has moved on since then but politicians still get to make the rules in their jurisdictions.

That's irrelevant - Yellow fever has never been a pandemic (well not recently) - but you certainly need to show proof of vaccination to enter some countries after you've been in places where its endemic. You've always been able to be denied boarding an aircraft if you were visibly unwell - I bet the same applies to cruise ships too and is nothing new.

Well the facts are pretty clear - I doubt the cause is contaminated seafood Norovirus Fact Sheet - MN Dept. of Health (state.mn.us)

Yes they are CruiseHealth™ – Health Protocols for Your Cruise - Princess Cruises

So am I - HAL doesn't operate in NZ and Australia in the winter - but P&O does and they require testing and vaccination because that's what the authorities require for cruise ships - so unless that changes before October when HAL returns the same will apply

I think that was one on Zuiderdam? which was one way from Europe to Boston via Greenland and Iceland - yes far fewer interesting ports and too much time spent in places we know very well like Ireland and the potential rough sea across the north Atlantic Yes very much hoping for good weather!

Nope not at all. New Zealand still has a requirement for a 7 day isolation if you get Covid. Australia still requires vaccination and testing.

On most nights he doesn't need a tux or suit. He needs long trousers and a collared shirt - I assume he owns both of those as a doctor? So the only nights you'll have an issue are the gala nights - and yes the code will keep you out of the theatre too.

It's 2 Greenland ports - one on the way to Iceland one of the way back plus a day cruising through the fjord. The ban on Bar Harbor doesn't start until next year so Zaandam is calling this year (and in fact already has)

I doubt they would change coins - mostly once you are out of a country the coins are souvenirs

Its an excellent book - I read it while cruising a different line last year - and only after I'd booked our upcoming cruise on the Zaandam did I remember it was the same ship 🙂

There's nothing much to see around the airport in SF. We booked a hotel literally within walking distance of the embarkation wharf. Very near Fisherman's Wharf etc. Even down town SF has more to offer than the airport.

25 days - they last 3 days - but you don't want one on if the sea is flat either

That's the same in NZ - Gordon's is pretty much the cheapest one here for years - now there is a Larnios brand from Italy which is slightly chaper. Bombay is a permium brand. The truely expensive and excellent brands are Nz gins e.g. Scrapegrace or Australian e.g. Bloody Shiraz