lets-cruz

15 minutes ago, startedwithamouse said:

Clear your cache.

Thanks!  That did the trick

Is anyone else having problems with the Princess website?    I can pull up the home page, and then frequently run into a message saying "Sorry technical difficulties..."     Other times I can get as far as loggin on my account and seeing my list of cruises    But then can' open or manage the cruises.  Again, I get a technical difficulties message.   THis has been going on for at least 4-5 days.   I've tried while on Google Chrome and MS Edge.  

However, if I use my phone (again going to website, not using the iphone app) that usually works.

Thanks for any tips.

For anyone else looking for info on this...  I found that MSC offers transfers from the Hmaburg airport to the pier for $43 per person each way.   I added the transfers to my reservation by calling 888-366-1816.   It took two tries, but I now have writen confirmation.    Given that we are talking about MSC, still have my fingers crossed that it works out.

10 hours ago, Rhea98 said:

Just found this on msccruisesusa:

Lost 12 hours of pre-testing time, but at least the tele-monitored test should be a go now. The app still doesn't give the shorter timeframe. Our cruise departs 27/04.

 

I'm on a Northern Europe trip in May, and so far the web sight still says PCR test for that.  Hope it's just taking some time to update their various pages.  

Thanks all.  

Has anyone used MSC transfers to get from the Hamburg airport to the pier in Kiel?  or reverse?  If so, I'd appreciate any info about cost and how well it worked.

The MSC website says that you can arrange such transfers by calling them.  I've called the US office, and they were hopeless (well, what did I expect for MSC?)   Said that they couldn't arrange anything until 2 weeks before the cruise, and they didn't know how much it would be.

(Yes, I know I can book the Kiel bus, and I may do that.  But that option just takes you to the train station in Kiel, and then you still need to get to the pier, so if possible, I'd like to go direct to the pier.)

Thanks in advance for any info.

Well that is annoying. Especially since the "free" burgers in the Windjammer are dreadful. I had so many mediocre food experiences on my recent (Jan 2018) Liberty cruise that I don't see myself heading back to RCCL any time soon.

I was on Liberty departing January 28, 2018. My sister had a power strip in her checked bags. RCCL delayed the bag, and removed the power strip - to be returned at end of voyage.

I had an extension cord in my carry on bag. No issues with that.

Great review! I especially appreciated your explanation of the back 2 back procedure. I'm on Epic for B2B2B - with diff cabin each leg, and was wondering how they would handle.

I was told by on line agent booking the cruise, that it was not possible to downgrade to the soda package. I agree that you could get value with the Ultimate package if you drank the mocktails -- but I don't need the calories. I was able to switch to another perk. In my case the $50 per port shore excursion credit was more valuable to me (This was a 7 day cruise that stops in 6 ports).

I stayed there for a few days in 2015, and was very happy. Excellent location just off Las Ramblas. Nice breakfast. Rooms are small and simple, but clean and modern. Staff is excellent. Very helpful with recommendations. I would stay again.

If you need 24hr on-demand Lido food, HAL ships are probably not designed to offer it. Good thing you found other cruise lines that will.

Oh my, I hope my post didn't sound that demanding. :o That's not at all what I need or expect.

Running out of the advertised meat seems like cheating the customer. There is a certain economy of scale by encouraging people to eat in the lido. It frees up dining room space and wait staff if many eat buffet style verses sit down. It may cut food cost if people fill up on starchy buffet food.

If the dinner meat was gone that is a deal breaker. Buyer beware.

We've had this happen at lunch on Holland America and we were unhappy. Dinner shortages take it to another level.

To be fair to HAL, which I otherwise enjoyed very much, I'm not saying all the dinner meat was gone. But on the three nights I dined in the Lido, the item that was sort of the "featured" item (filet with shrimp; prime rib; another kind of specialty beef) did not make it to the close of the buffet. And of course nobody would starve - there was plenty of other food available. It just seemed very odd to be out of some things, and out pretty early.

I appreciate the responses from you all. Pretty clear that HAL is not the best fit for all of my preferences, even though it is a fine cruise line.

Dinner service does not "shut down" at 8:00 p.m. The regular, late night seating and service begins at 8:00 p.m. We have on many occasions been enjoying our meal or dessert at 9:30 or 10:00.

Yes, I know that you can opt for late seating dining if you choose the MDR. My post was about dinner in the Lido.

Just off the Oosterdam May 21-28 cruise to Alaska. It's been a while since I cruised on HAL. The ship was elegant, and the staff wonderful. But what's the deal with the Lido Market Cafe? Hours are quite limited compared to other cruise lines I've sailed with. And they seem to have some planning issues, because several nights the "featured" items were gone very early.

Re hours -- Most of my cruises in past few years have been on Princess and RCCL. On those ships, the Lido cafe is open, serving something from about 6 am to midnight. Things transition from breakfast to lunch to afternoon snacks to dinner to late snacks. And you can get a full dinner at the Lido until about 9-10 pm. Oosterdam would have significant breaks in service (though you could mostly get Pizza and some pasta). Worse was the fact that dinner service shut down at 8 pm -- do they really think that people stop eating dinner by 8 pm?

But the 8 pm deadline was a bit misleading, because on the three nights that I ate there, the line was out of featured menu items well before 8. One night, they were "advertising" filet mignon and shrimp (prominently noticed on cards placed on all the tables at lunch.) I got there at 7:30, and those items were gone, and did not return. Another night I was expecting prime rib. Learning my lesson, I arrived a little after 7 -- only to see the last of the prime rib served to a guest several places ahead of me in line. Staff then said they should have more in about 20 minutes. None ever appeared. The last night was again sadly comical. The featured steak item was gone by 7:06 pm.

The line staff were so friendly, I felt sorry for them. They clearly were not getting the support they needed to serve guests the items that were listed on the menu. I wonder if this is usual for HAL these days, or if something was amiss on this cruise? The problem definitely did not inspire me to want to come back to HAL.