sambamama

Although whale watching is expensive, it's totalling worth it!! I highly recommend Gastineau Guiding Discover Whales Small Group Experience! How many times will you go to Alaska???

I saw someone turned away to fly and someone turned away to cruise because of Real ID. People, it's here. Don't ignore it.

I wouldn't even do a 12:20 flight. But then I am ultra conservative. What if there is traffic? What if you are slow in clearing customs? What if they call your group late? Me, I would book an evening flight or spend the night.

I shared cabins with strangers. Two were great, and my longest cruise, 22 days, the woman was an absolute lunatic. After I committed to her, I realized I had made a horrible mistake and it was worse than I ever dreamed. She was mentally ill, and made my life a living Hell! I won't ever share a room unless I know the person better. I reported her to the woman who organized the site.

Thanks, I will keep an eye out!!! I got a refund right away, so I thought the survey would follow. I leave for remote Alaska parts, so I may miss it.

Is the end of cruise survey only on the Navigator app? In other words, if I don't have the app, will I not get a survey? Just finished my Alaska cruise and I'd like to know. Thanks.

On the contrary, I've made out extremely well booking guarantee cabins for many, many cruises. It depends on your strategy. I aimost always book an N guarantee. I've always ended up with an outside, which I sometimes upsell to a balcony.

I booked 1 year or more in advance and sometimes 18 months. When I printed my boarding pass and looked at it this morning, I had been upgraded to an HH-an obstructed outside cabin totally blocked by a lifeboat. The funny thing was I never got any notification at all. And any time I looked at those solo cabins on the Konigsdam or on NCL, they were priced more than half a cabin. In fact, I had booked a solo cabin on NCL and it ended up being priced more than a regular sized cabin and paying double. So I canceled-why pay more for a 100 foot cabin?? A

The bargains in the industry seem to be last minute, and my work does not permit that. Perhaps when I am retired I can try those. I have become disenchanted with HAL. I have a 1 week cruise to Alaska with them in 3 days which I don't have high hopes for. I think I'm going to shift to land travel.

I think that waiting 24 hours is NOT a good rule. Lots of bargains fly away. And as a solo, the cruise bargains, at least for me, are few and far between. Do a quick guesstimate on airfare. And then make your decision. But that's me. My cruise strategy was find a bargain and book a guarantee inside cabin. Usually I got a free upgrade to an outside. Then wait and buy an upgrade to a balcony. It used to work well. But I don't know how well it would now with the cruises squeezing occupancy to every last drop now

HAL started that policy some time ago. I think it's been in place for 6 months or more. They even displaced people from cabins they booked, which is a travesty!!!

I think that the TA and longer cruises have busier roll calls because people want independent tour options. On my 14 night Asia cruise, most of the roll call was about people finding independent tour groups, visa questions and travel logistics. I think less people do independent tours in Alaska or if they do they, they don't need to find other people to book them. In Alaska, there always seem to be enough people.

I'm a lawyer. This isn't legal. Some bean counter came up with this BEFORE running it by legal and published it. The garbage about in line with the industry is wrong as no other cruise line does this because "DUH, it isn't legal.!!!" Another bone head move by HAL and another reason I doubt I will be cruising with them again after my upcoming Alaska cruise in 3 days where I booked 18 months ahead on a Have it all fare as a 4 star Mariner with 200 actual sea days on a guarantee and went from an N to an MM-one category up-with 3 days to board. I've never gotten less than an outside before-NEVER, and I've booked at least 10 guarantees!!!

Absolutely no extra costs to an American unless Trump's tariffs has effected cruise prices. Celystyal has brought value and service back to the cruise industry. Do not hesitate and book a cruise with them!!!

I use roll calls to find people for small independent tours. I hadn't thought about trying other mediums. So thanks for letting me know about that. But for this cruise, I don't need anyone for those as I am doing the ship whalewatch tour, and a big independent train tour in Skagway, and nothing at all in Ketchikan. I was part of the record-breaking longest roll call on my first Panama Canal cruise-and that cruise was amazing. But my cruising seems to be on the way out anyway as I've diverted into scuba diving vacations and traveling on my own on land vacations unless I can find a no supplement small group land tour. And PS-I still have no assigned cabin, so I imagine it will be 3 days out, or maybe even on the dock. But it won't matter anyway to me.

But then sometimes you get what you pay for. I wouldn't go on a Carnival cruise if someone gave me one for free! I have no interest in a cruiseline with wet T-Shirt contests, and mountains of drunk people everywhere all seeing how many of their free drinks in their package can they drink in one day. If you catch Oceania at the right time, it might be the right price for you. Sometimes they throw in free airfare and hotels before

I disagree. I don't know that particular hammam. I stayed three nights in Istanbul as a solo woman, and had no isses at all, and i traveled all over the city, and I traveled at night. Yes, I am sure that the ship experience is more expensive. Check the reviews of the one you are talking about on Tripadvisor. I will tell you that any of the really nice ones ARE NOT CHEAP IN ISTANBUL, and you do get what you pay for. A compromise might be to find a nice one near where you are, but take a taxi or public transport there and back. Or if it's daylight, perhaps walk in the daytime, and take a taxi back. The hammam experience is AMAZING, I've done them in Istanbul (that one was just ok), but did great ones in Morocco, Spain and Egypt!! I doubt you will get hassled by street vendors-I never got hassled by any my whole time in Istanbul! Go look at Tripadvisor at the top 3-5. If the ship is not near the Old City, then the Hammam is probably not that good. That's where the super good ones are. Honestly, if you aren't going to get a really good experience, (which won't be cheap), don't bother with doing it. One done OK just isn't the same thing at all. My first one was in Madrid at a 14th century hammam and it set the bar for the rest-and none have come close!

Have rolls calls died? I leave on an Alaskan cruise in a week, and my roll call has 9 responses on it, of which 4 are mine. I am traveling solo, and was hoping to meet at least a couple of people, which I've alwasy done before. I've stopped cruising like I did before as HAL has made it unaffordable for singles since everything I see is now 100% solo supplements (I have to book far in advance because of work schedules.) Or is this a function of Alaska Cruises? As an aside I see HAL is booking cruises up to the brim now, too. I booked my cruise 18 months ago as a guarantee. The first Alaska cruise, my guarantee was bumped up to an outside from an inside long before the ship sailed. Here, 10 days out, and I don't even have my cabin assignment, and I expect I will get it about 3 days before, or perhaps even at the pier. I expect I won't get much of an upgrade either-probably none at all.

I did a 22 night RT Auckland South Pacific cruise on the Maasdam in 2014. I got off in Tahiti, took the 45 minute ferry to Moorea and spent the night there, and then reboarded in Moorea. I had a free night at the then IHG Intercontinental. DO THIS-EASY PEASY AND GREAT!!!!!! I would up with about 1 3/4 days on Moorea. There was a super French restaurant I went to eat at. The first day I spent hopping between the beach, and the two different infinity pools-one with an in pool bar! A couple got married at the resort, and I got to peek at their traditional ceremony. The next day, I had a tour on a smal sailboat where, with another couple, we swam with rays and small sharks, snorkeled amoung ancient totems,and snorkeled in gorgeous coral and fish!!! All I had to do was get early permission from the ship! This was the best time of the entire cruise- and that cruise was the best one I ever had!!!

I have the opposite problem, and that's usually the case. I request a large table, main sitting, and at least 1/3 of the time, I end up eating alone. I eat alone all the time at home. I don't do anytime dining because: A) I don't like waiting; B) I am somewhat of a picky eater and I like having the same waiter, so I can let him know that I want 2 glasses of water with lemon each night, and he can deal better with my pickiness; C) I like getting to know the people better rather than meeting different people each night; and D) I eat alone at home all the time and like to eat with peole when I am on vacation-HAL cruisers usally have very interesting stories! Yet I end up alone at a table for 6 or 8, or once, eating with another solo woman, who half the time didn't come to dinner. I am leaving for an Alaska cruise in a week, and I bet I will be sitting alone again!

This app is still the junkiest piece of IT that HAL has, and that's saying alot!!!! The app hates android phones. The app is made by HAL IT. Enough said. You don't need it to enjoy your cruise. I don't bother with it anymore after the last cruise when I wasted 10 hours on it, unistalling it 5 separate times and it never worked once!

In 40 years of cruising, I have NEVER had my cruise luggage tags come off. I use the stapler at the hotel. PERIOD! These tags just have to last from the cruise terminal to your cabin. And I always have my normal luggage tags with my name on them.

The way to get around the problem is easy-DON'T BOOK WITH HAL! Book with a TA! I've never booked with HAL. And now I certainly will never book directly with HAL. But I doubt I will for other reasons as well. Most all the things I liked about HAL are gone. The classical music, the libraries, the yum yum man, the chilled fruit soups, the lunch in the dining room on embarkation and on port days, and the deals for solos on transatlantics. There are no deals for solos at all now. All cruises are 200%, and what I get is not wrth 200%. And if this the help I get with customer service as a 4 star, I am gone! I doubt anyone will get back to me. Maybe I won't even be able to board my cruise.

I wrote to Celestyal and they let me put together my own special package. For the quality of the tours, they were very fairly priced. I have never gone on a ship tour that was as good as theirs with the exception of one. The Santorini tour was AWFUL! Every single archeology tour was AMAZING!!! I would easily book this cruise line again. The cabin was a good size, the cruise staff were great, and I was very happy with the food.

Those "solo" cabins on HAL are a total ripoff! They are jammed way up at the front, and are much smaller, and are hardly reduced in priced compared to a normal cabin priced for two people. I am 4 star on HAL with over 200 sea days and have been happily sailing on HAL since the 1980s. But not any more! They cancelled 4 cruises in a row, including a TA where I had booked flights, hotels and tours. Then a week later they sent out an email saying we didn't cancel the cruise, it was a mistake-so no travel insurance would pay for it! I went all the way to the President of HaL and finally got $300 back. But all these cruises I had gotten bargains on and lots of shipboard credit. My Asia cruise was cancelled 4 years in a row, and it was paid in full. By the time I went, HAL no longer had Lincoln On Stage, or any classical music, dining room lunches the day you board, dining room lunches on port days, cut back on food, and no yum yum guy. The cruise I paid for was NOT the cruise I got. All the HAL cruises now are 200% for a solo, and there are no bargains. I doubt I will be sailing on HAL or any other cruiseline again. I get far better bargains traveling alone on land where I don't pay any solo supplement!