VermeulT

This makes me beyond happy. Onbeschrijfelijk blij. 
 

that menu will mean I’ll have to not eat the entire rest of the week. OMG YUM!

Every cruise I want to look at comes up with unavailable or sold out.  I mean EVERY.  I cleared my cashe and changed browsers.  Makes it hard to see what the prices and availability really are.

It's killing me!

I had to cancel the 28 day Alaska Stolstice cruise.  $319 for 7 days???? though more than that for port charges.  All in it's less than $100/day for an inside.   

Unfortunately for me it's still nearly $500 for a flight from the Southeast.

I'm keeping an eye on early May and if everything falls together - I'm there!

9 minutes ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

how much were umbrellas and chairs, and was there wifi? 

It was several years ago and I don't remember how much.

Check this link to the beach webpage.  https://www.playaportomari.com/

I get that they want to max out capacity as @FlaMariner said. IF they add to occupancy, it'll be the free 3rd & 4th guest - yes probably children - so no advantage to the corporate bottom line.

If they're goal is to get more families on board all voyages - forget shooting themselves in the foot... more like drinking some special "punch" and killing the line.

This cruise line is about couples or adults - I'd say mostly 35+.  Sure summer and holiday cruises will have greater booked capacity, including kids.  But the longer ones usually do not.  I thought that was part of the reason so many of the Caribbean itineraries were going 9-10 days instead of mostly 7 days.

If you sign up for a promotion to that includes gratuities, the cruise line still pays out the gratuities, correct? On our side, our account it will appear “free” but on the back end it really comes out of cruise cost? The line “eats” the cost… the overall amount out of pocket to me is whatever and however they want to call it. 
I just want to make sure the crew isn’t shorted because so many of them work so hard….

I emailed cclshareholderhal@hollandamerica.com back on 12/10 with a screenshot of my statement. I got an email back on 12/17 asking for a PDF.  I've sent it.  I cruise on Jan 5th (less than a week from now).  I called yesterday and they said it still hasn't been approved.  Should I try the app or ... ??

This is the first cruise since 2010 (9 cruises) that I've had issues with.

Any help would be most appreciated.

You do need to have the notifications settings turned on for the app.  (To do that go to the phone's settings and go to the app, where you can select banners sounds and badges settings.  I would also make sure you select background app refresh and don't close the app when you turn off the phone's display).  After I learned about this, it improved the chat function.

for my cruise in Jan...

Log in. Under packages...

On 12/18/2023 at 7:37 AM, Real NHDOC said:

I wouldn't jump to any conclusions about this issue.  They have been putting zero $ charges on the bills for several years (some ships do it differently than others).  For example, sometimes on the Pinnacle class ships if you order something from the NY Pizza and Deli or Dive In they will ask for your cabin number and show a $0 charge. 

 

They just do it for internal accounting so I wouldn't say it is indicating any changes to the "free room service" policy. 

For accounting for sure.  Someone with a statistics analysis background figures out how many people eat where and at what times.

On 12/6/2023 at 12:47 PM, Vict0riann said:

The first day on board, I usually find the internet pretty poor, so we often wait a day (or two) to buy internet.  The price goes down that way.

Like how much down?

I have a 9 day coming up in Jan with only 3 possible days of getting wifi in ports (really 2 cause Grand Turk is tough).  My prepurchase price is $155.99 for premium for 9 days.

Probably not much help but 10 years ago it was $20pp round trip to Porto Playa Marie. 

I've only been to porto playa marie and it was amazing.  Quite a ride from the port (40 min maybe) and you can't see much for much of the ride. But once you get there!!! FANTASTIC.  We went early (11a or so) and it was dead until early afternoon.  We took a cab and pre-arranged for him to return at a set time to take us back to downtown.

I've done a few dummy bookings and have yet to find any that show the OBC.

I've been keeping an eye on some last minute sailing specials.  The Dec 3rd Rotterdam 12 day partial transit is as little as $599pp for an inside.  The itinerary still includes Columbia, the partial transit, and Costa Rica.  The port charges are almost more than the actual fare. 

If they dropped the transit on this and made it Southern or South/Western (maybe add Belize?) I'd jump on it.  I've done Panama once.  And while I hope to again some day, my wallet is currently wishing for the change in itinerary.

On 10/24/2023 at 1:42 AM, Haljo1935 said:

I think I could handle full time life on a ship; however, I would miss my fur babies.

I believe there was an option for 1 pet (?)

3 hours ago, rafinmd said:

I wonder what's happening here.  Veendam is still at it's dock in Aigio which I don't think is a place for renovations and is not on the December 1 Fort Lauderdale schedule.

 

OK, just checked the Victoria Cruises website and startup is now July 6, 2024.

 

Roy

They recently pushed it back saying they need 80% booking to start up.

https://cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/2023/10/victoria-cruises-delays-residential-cruise-start-up-again/

Its a fantastic concept.10-15 years from now I'll be ready.  Victoria though doesn't seam reliable at the moment.

4 hours ago, acctgtogo said:

I like the idea of taking the bus from Seattle to Vancouver.  Does it have a name?  Searching online shows many options - not sure which are good.  Also, is there a bus that goes from Canada Place but to SeaTac?  Thanks.

Amtrak runs a train and several buses from downtown Seattle to Vancouver.

4 hours ago, landlocked12 said:

We got caught up in the Southwest debacle last December. Four members of our party were booked on the first flight out the morning of the cruise.  Fortunately my niece, my disabled mother and I planned to fly down the evening before.  It was San Francisco to Los Angeles so a short flight.  When it became clear that our flight would not depart, despite the assurances from the the Southwest gate agents, I called my sister. She drove to the airport, picked us up, and we began the 6 hour drive to LA. The other three members of our group drove down at the crack of dawn after collecting our luggage from the airport, bless them.  We were very fortunate.  While waiting at the gate, I overhead several people trying to rent cars to make the drive to LA and having very little luck. It was our second cruise on the Emerald Princess and she was surprisingly uncrowded for a holiday cruise.  Word was that 300 to 400 people did not make it on the ship. 

 

March 2022 I had to do the same.  White Plains NY (just outside NYC) to FLL.  No planes headed to Florida the afternoon before my trip.  I changed my flight to ATL.  My sister was on Frontier and was cancelled also (due to labor dispute).  She picked me up at ATL and we drove through the night to FLL. We were exhausted when we got to the ship but it was better than sitting around hoping flights would get us there.

There are SO many things out of your control that could make getting in on embarkation day a nightmare.  Traffic in getting to the airport, weather delays, connection issues, .... 

I haven't trusted it for years.  And with how the airlines are these last few months - Nope. 

I'd rather pay $200 or whatever for a hotel room and the peace of mind.

Did Panama charges go up recently or has this been a while... $560 pp in port fees!!  I know it's been steep but the port charges are almost as much as the Thanksgiving cruise costs (cabin only) on Rotterdam.

When I booked Alaska 2024 several months ago the EBB included extra OBC for Mariners.  I just dummy booked under the current $99 deposit HIA EBB and don't see extra OBC mentioned in the "included" section, even when I log in.

Does anyone know if that's still included?

I dealt with this on my recent March cruise.  We paid for HIA for the first two in the cabin at time of booking.  Later I could add HIA for the 3rd person for $200 (7 day Caribbean cruise) through the website.  With the 1 x $100 in shore excursion and 1 x Pinnacle plus wifi and regular drink package it was a no brainer.

Can anyone provide feedback to Alaska Air... seats comfortable? suggested to upgrade seats or class for coast to coast flight? luggage fees?

I am probably choosing between Alaska Air and Delta for my cruise next Summer.  Alaska Air is priced better right now.  I will likely sign up for whichever's credit card for the miles &/or companion ticket and free luggage...

Any feedback would be appreciated.

Thank you.

also DAM isn't like hot damn  it's d-ah-m.

cone-ings-dahm