cruiseaholic78

Snap, it was a good time to get married we did this in Wales so we have a wedding certificate in two languages.

You will have hit the jackpot arriving on 27th April, its Kings Day! Hotel New York is a pretty wonderful experience. https://aboutnl.com/the-essential-guide-to-kings-day-in-the-netherlands/ happy planning

Definitely looks like Kai Tak. https://www.kaitakcruiseterminal.com.hk/schedule/2024-2/ Happy planning

Have a great time, we did last October on Westerdam. During our pre cruise stay in Tokyo we visited Planet Labs, an amazing experience definitely worth a visit. If tickets are sold out do persevere, we did and on our last day suddenly 8 tickets had become available, while talking it through suddenly there were only three so I clicked. https://www.teamlab.art/e/planets/ happy planning/cruising

For many months I have been unable to price a cabin on my iPad, the website works fine on my computer but all I get is as far as the cabin request and then zilch! Seems silly to have to price HAL’s cruises on third party websites. Rosalyn

Welcome, here is the roll call, please join us. Rosalyn

does this help? https://www.viator.com/tours/Rotterdam/Day-Trip-to-Keukenhof-Garden-and-Flowerfields-from-Rotterdam/d4211-6926P20?localeSwitch=1

Not the Op but we visited Team Lab Tokyo and to be honest I am afraid I can't imagine this being possible in a wheelchair. The start is an uphill sort of steps during which water cascades down (to clean the smelly feet!) then dry your feet and enter a sort of place which is full of fabric which you have to walk through. It is also very dark then are various rooms including one with a mirrored floor, one walking thru water. I won't go into too much detail to spoil it for others. I have just reread Op's review (a great one by the way) and they mention being given a special wheelchair by TeamLabs so there must be someway to acces the venue. If they don't reply I suggest you contact them directly with your concerns. If it is possible it is definitely worth a visit. https://www.teamlab.art/e/planets/ happy planning

Well let an European chime in to this thread! Do not forget that booking a cruise in my case (The Netherlands) is completely different to the USA/Canada, OBC from you trusty T.A. ? forget it we pay them. Many of you say your gratuities are given by the same T.A. nope none of that extra OBC nope cash back don’t even think of it. Try another T.A. for a different quote? no their prices are all the same, occasionally one may have a special offer but thats all. Our final booking payment is only due 6 weeks before sailing but once booked thats it, very difficult and expensive to cancel. We also have to take insurance from the day of booking even if the possible penalties don’t kick in until much later. At the start of Covid all we had been paying was insurance premium and after a cancellation we never got that back or could roll it over to a (possible) new booking. So you will say why not book in USA, well been there done that however the currency rate is something to be considered, on a very long cruise the difference between time of booking and payment was considerable. So fellow cruisers give us a break I am sure that Oceania will figure the tips into their Simply More pricing as they have done with reducing excursions etc. At least that way their prices are slightly more transparent! I also have a feeling that your prices are less than ours anyway!

Ok, well what about this then? is this a possibility? https://hnd-bus.com/highway/y-disney-171101/ If you have spare time in Tokyo may I suggest visiting this place, totally amazing and definitely worth it. While we were in Tokyo precruise they were sold out for weeks ahead and on our last day I checked the website again and some places had become available. https://www.teamlab.art/e/planets/

We have used the Tokyo Limousine service from and to both Haneda and Narita, it is called a bus but is really a luxury coach with baggage loaded underneath. I am not sure where you be docking but I would check their site and see if you can use their services. https://www.limousinebus.co.jp/guide/en/timetable/ If you are staying in Tokyo and want to use public transport I would also suggest you buy a Suica card which you can also use in most shops. With this and precruise purchase we were able to use it on Osaka and Nara, you can top it up easily and if there is any credit left spend it in the 7/11. ( it was crowded with cruise passengers doing this or spending their last Yen! When we went (October) they were only available at the airport due to a shortage of chips. happy planning

Or have their itinerary changed! (Partial canal cancelled next October second half totally different)

This might help. https://www.cruisetimetables.com/cruises-to-ho-chi-minh-city-vietnam.html but as Tranquility Base said it can all be changed any time. I also (think) this is the first time a Riviera size does this port. happy planning

Here is another thread about the Mariner lunch!

Here is an example, KLM used to offer Economy, Economy Comfort and Business. With an introduction to newer seating they now also offer Premium Comfort this is a totally different experience than Economy comfort which only offered a little extra legroom and recline. It is really an offer which is also pricewise and comfort somewhere in the middle of the two. Singapore Airlines and Air New Zealand among others also offer a similar product and to us all of these are a really good alternative if business is not in your budget. As others have said check on F.E. what you would like to book and see on the airline what they are really offering. https://www.klm.co.uk/information/travel-class-extra-options/premium-comfort-class-seats

Same here our Caribbean/part Panama cruise from Boston, October, Zuiderdam has a completely different itinerary for the second part of our cruise. We don’t mind that much as we have done a complete Panama in the past however quite a lot of people are canceling. Because of cancellations I was able to change to my favorite cabin so I am happy.

This is a great website for worldwide cruise ship calendars/port info/excursion info etc. I use it all the time. https://www.cruisetimetables.com/cruises-from-fort-lauderdale-florida.html Happy planning

The MDR was not open for lunch on the Westerdam in October, after being told to go to the Lido I even went to check myself. Taking above comments into consideration it seems that embarkation lunch is not handled the same on all the ships.

I just saw the title was just looking for a plan not looking for tips, maybe you will change your mind to anytime dining.

If you decide to stay on this amazing cruise please join ua on the rollcall. Rosalyn

On the Westerdam in October and we were seated once on the upper level which is (usually) for fixed dining. I think this was on an extremely late stay so they decided to send some people upstairs to keep all the waiters busy! We didn’t like it at all, we were seated at a table for six, just the two of us, right in a corner and we found it much noisier than the lower level. Rosalyn

Our partial Canal for next October roundtrip Boston has just been revised and the ports afterwards all changed. Many are canceling as they had booked to see the Canal and had already visited many of the Islands on the new itinerary. As we have already been through the P.C. previously and not visited some of the new ports we are not that bothered. We also got a great price reduction the day before the announcement so I did wonder if this was going to happen.

So this does actually happen, I have seen it in quite a few films but thought it was exaggerated as they have about twenty Christmas trees and a container full of decorations in each house.

I have not yet received this from HAL but someone posted the changes on our roll call. If I go to manage my booking the map has not changed but the itinerary has. I booked my flights on Friday and in The Netherlands our rules regarding changes/cancellations are not as easy, I could change to another cruise but the shorter/cheaper flights were also an incentive to book this one. That said when I saw the prices had changed I had a suspicion that we might lose the Panama partial but as I was able to reprice I was not too sad. You might want to check your price as well I lost the premium part of the HIA but the $200 OBC each is more than enough to compensate. Rosalyn

Well I managed to book my flights today Amsterdam JFK and Boston to Amsterdam Mint seats direct flights at about half the price of KLM. This is for travel October November 2024. I am pleased with this result, so no problems taking off/landing at Schiphol next year.