DocJohnB

Have a cruise booked on Caribbean Princess for mid-September. I have only cruised on Princess once before and on the cruise the drink package was a part of the group package.

1) Looking over the Princess website I see they have a Premier drink package for $69 including gratuity. On other cruise lines there is usually a 2nd less expensive option. Are there 2 options on Princess or strictly the Premier.

2) Again on other cruise lines amongst their restrictions is that if one person in a stateroom/suite purchases a drink package, all other adults in the stateroom/suite must also purchase the same package. Does this hold true for Princess? I also checked this on their "terms and conditions" for drink package and there is no mention of this restriction.

Thanks in advance for any input.

Saturday 4/7/18 - Aruba - Continued

 

 

There is another ship docked next to us - Freewinds. We heard this is a Scientology ship and they stay docked in Aruba. I didn’t Google it or research it, that’s just what I was told.

 

 

 

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I have seen that ship there on previous visits to Aruba, but have never heard of the connection to the Scientology church. Googled it - you are absolutely correct. However, it does head out to sea on occasion.

Just found this thread today. It is really quite interesting and well composed. Great pictures!

I am doing this same exact cruise in February with a group of folks that have cruised together since 1998.

BTW your rant regarding the complainers (not quite the verbiage I would use to describe them) is my pet peeve. Unfortunately, one runs across these types on every cruise. I have close to 40 cruises now and cannot recall one where there wasn't at least one of these sad folks flapping their gums.

Looking forward to the rest of your review.

Some are lucky, some MEH!! I am in the latter group.

As a single cruiser and a recipient of the one guy pays for two syndrome, I have just started booking 'guarantee' cabins. I am booked on the Maasdam for a 14 nt. round trip, Boston - Montreal - Boston. I booked a category L inside guarantee. The cruise departs 5/19. I received my cabin assignment 2 days ago and guess what? Received an L inside. I was, of course, hoping for an upgrade, but "it is what is is". But, isn't that what booking "Guarantee" is all about?

Guess what? I will still enjoy this cruise.

I have cruised on most all the major cruise lines. The only line I did not experience an "emergency" is Princess. However in the interest of full disclosure, I have only sailed Princess once.

i would not be concerned about what one couple says about a ship. Different people have different expectations and perceptions.

 

I've seen some doozies on board that were never happy with anything no matter how good the cruise is. So, unless you know the couple really well i would take their comments with a grain of salt.

ka ching!!!!

These are my two favorite lines. I have cruised more on Celebrity than HAL, but find them similar in many ways and dissimilar in others. Others have written of those and I agree with all that has been said (but have never cruised on the Koningsdam). I am currently booked on HAL for a 14 day Canada/New England cruise in May and Celebrity for an 11 day So. Caribbean next February.

I personally feel that you will be more than happy on HAL and believe "caribbeanboy" has a great suggestion. However, you don't have to limit a 7 day cruise to just Fort Lauderdale. The have 7 days out of Tampa (Caribbean), Boston (Canada/NE) and west coast (?) (Alaska).

"Lady Arwen" mentioned HAL's interesting itineraries and she is right.

I think the best way to answer your question is to take the plunge and book at least a 7 day and you will be able to make you own comparisons.

Ummmm, errrrrrrrr, Kazu.

I failed in one of the most basic of all posting rules - DID. NOT. PROOFREAD. WHAT. I. TYPED.

I sent you the following information regarding my upcoming HAL cruise.

Veendam - 19-May-18 - 14 day Bermuda & Canada/New England Collectors

The only thing I had correct in that post was the date. This is a prime example of why one should be really careful while cutting and pasting ;p. My actual cruise is:

Maasdam - 19-May-18: 14 day Canada and New England Discovery.

Would you, pretty please, make the appropriate correction?

Just started reading your blog yesterday. Trying to read 7 or so days of it at a time. I am having an amazing time on your adventure.

I have a quick question. You mentioned early on in the blog that you would follow up this Grand World Voyage with a Panama Canal cruise on (I believe) Crystal. You also mentioned that you lived quite near the San Diego port. I also noticed that the Canal cruise terminates in L.A. after a visit in San Diego. Are you able to debark in San Diego or must you finish the cruise in L.A. (as I believe the Passenger Service Act covers)?

After I finish your current blog, I am going to have to look for some of your others.

Interestingly, I just visited the site, logged in and was able to find my history..

Took Kazu's advice, took a screen shot and emailed it myself.

Not sure if it is the old or new version of the site.

Hi Kazu,

Could you please add me?

Veendam - 19-May-18 - 14 day Bermuda & Canada/New England Collectors

DocJohnB

John,

 

The discussion is whether Azamara, and its parent RCCL, should offer discounts to active duty and retired military personnel from the 5-Eyes countries, similar to Princess (and likely other Carnival lines). I have taken advantage of one RCI military discount offer some 5 years ago and it actually gave us a Grand Suite for less than a balcony. However, those are extremely rare and far between. Princess makes their offer of onboard credit on all sailings and is based on length of cruise with a max credit being $250.

 

Note that I generally do not seek out companies offering discounts or credit to those of us who have retired or are currently on active duty. However, there are at least 100 companies that do offer something to those who have honorably service country. I am old enough to remember when airlines offered a special fare for service members... Not anymore.

Now on these two paragraphs we "agree". While I have never cruised on Princess, I am scheduled for my first next month on a r/t Hawaii. My travel agent informed me of the credit and sent in the required info (kept on file from other cruises). I have a $250 credit on my "account". I have cruised mostly on Celebrity and have enjoyed a few discounts (given to military) over the years. But they are not offered on all cruises. If memory serves me I also received discounts on a couple of RCI cruises.

Like you and others, I also do not seek out companies offering military discounts, but, if asked/informed, I will take advantage of any offer.

Lowes just started offering "military discounts" this year (1 May), previously only on special holidays and sales.

Respectfully disagree. Lowe's has been offering "military discounts" for a number of years now - but it was to active duty and retired military (and possibly VA disabled vets). I know this to be a fact as I am a retiree and I have used their "military discounts" for at least 5 years in ME, MI, DC and now in SC. However, this year they did open the program to include all veterans, who provide the information you stated. Not sure of the marketing statement (my SIL is a veteran (USMC), provided the information and receives the discount. He signed up and, to date, has not yet received marketing materials or calls. The SIL provides his phone number and receives the discount, I, so far, have only shown my retiree ID. He is not eligible at Home Depot.

Home Depot has offered it all the time for at least the last 12 years that I am aware of...on everything I have purchased to include small items like light bulbs to large purchases like appliances.

Again, I have to respectfully disagree. Home Depot may have had some form of the program going for the those 12 years, but, at best it was willy-nilly and local(ized). At times (in the 4 states I mentioned) it has been honored throughout the country, has had a (per local determination) tag applied and has even gone away completely intermittently (based on locations) in the states I listed. In my experience, once Lowe's started the program, they have not deviated, except for the recent addition of the "all vets" status.

I will definitely be following your thread. My daughter, SIL, granddaughter and her boyfriend are on the cruise with y'all. They are somewhere in that crowd of folks waiting to board.

Enjoy your cruise.

The only thing that seems to be missing is the Crow's Nest lounge.

 

But there must be some other method that can be devised to avoid this type of needless frustration and anxiety of the herds converging at the gangway. Send non-co-operating guests to wait in the engine room perhaps ? A stern lecture from the captain ?

 

 

 

I'm thinking horsewhipping for first offenders :o and keel hauling for a subsequent attempt ;p.

Seriously, I agree with you. It is not a difficult procedure. If one feels they need to get off the ship earlier than their assigned time, they can either go to Guest Services and ask for an earlier time or do the walk off with luggage route.

As a follow-up to the above. The check for the full amount of the claim was in today's mail. That is 5 working days from (completed) submission to receipt of check. I will take that kind of service every time.

I realize this was a relatively small (minor) claim, but I did all they asked and provided all the required documentation and they provided quick service.

Covering the ship's doctor is another area that can be fraught with high costs and insurance repayment complexities. Hope others can provide stories about using any of the ship's medical services. And how they got reimbursement; if any from either their regular medical plans or any additional travel medical plans.

On a very recent Panama Canal transit I developed a cough that worsened over a few days. At 7 days I visited the ship's medical facility. I was seen by the ship's doctor, diagnosed with acute bronchitis and given a Z-pac (antibiotic).

I have used TravelGuard (Gold) for the past few years and this would be my first experience in submitting a claim of any sort.

On 4/27 I electronically submitted a claim for reimbursement of the billed amount ($163.76) and e-signed a medical information release form. Unfortunately, when I went to scan my receipt, I discovered a malfunctioning printer. I submitted the claim anyway. On 4/29 after purchasing a new printer, I sent a copy of the receipt.

On 5/1 I received a message from my adjuster saying he requested payment (in full) but the claim was subject to audit and if approved I would have payment in 7-10 days. On 5/2 I received a 2nd message from the adjuster stating that a payment had been made along with an invoice showing the service. (In other words - "the check is in the mail").

I fully expect to receive the check within a week.

I just got off the Veendam 9 days ago after a 19 day Panama Canal transit from San Diego to Boston.

To answer the questions.

Plumbing. No flooding in the room. One day the toilet did not flush - told the room steward, it was "corrected" immediately. There was a problem (that didn't bother me) with the bathtub faucet leaking. It was also taken care of (although it took 2 tries).

Air conditioning worked just fine (from start to finish).

Food quality. This is really too subjective a subject for me to comment on other than to say I never went hungry the entire cruise. Also there was enough variety that I was able to maintain my weight (well + 2lbs).

I will say this. The Veendam is one of the oldest ships in the mainstream lines fleets. However, she wears her age quite well. Without being sexist, I would equate her to a middle aged woman. There may be some flaws, a few sags, etc., but over the years she has been maintained quite well and is still a beautiful lady.

There was a mechanical problem that did affect the cruise. See

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2488508

But read the whole thread including my response.

For the past few years I have cruised as a single. Mostly with Celebrity. Up through my last cruise with them, I have paid a single supplement between 145% and 200%

I was looked at 3 fall transatlantic. One was at 200%, another at 200% + $100 and the last was at 200% + $400. WTH is up with this.

I understand (but don't particularly like) the 200%. But can anybody give me a reasonable explanation for me having to pay even 1 penny more.

I enjoy Captain's Club status of Elite Plus. I say this not with the thought that it should play into the pricing, but only to show that I am a fairly loyal cruiser with Celebrity. However, when I feel when my loyalty is not being reciprocated, my loyalty will fade (rather quickly).

Does anybody have the email for the head of Celebrity. I would like to discuss this one on one with him or someone high up the food chain at Celebrity.

(This is not restricted to Transatlantics as I also checked out Panama Canal cruises and Caribbean cruises - sort of hesitant to look at European cruises).

Great webcam view of the Veendam at Saguenay.

http://tourisme.saguenay.ca/fr/camera-sur-le-fjord

luvtwotrvl: you might want to incorporate this webcam into your daily ship whereabouts posts, now that the Canada/NE season is on us. :D:D

This has been a fun, albeit vicarious cruise for me. And, I am a week or so behind you having just arrived in Cadiz (on the thread) :')

Thanks for taking the time to write the "review".

A review of the Solstice class cabins (see the pinned thread at the top of Celebrity forums), cabin 7305 does indeed have an oversized balcony. While there are no comments regarding 7354, I would assume it is a mirror of 05.

That area of the ship, especially since there are cabins above and below, is quite quiet. The only downside I have ever read or heard is the distance to the elevators can be onerous for some folks. I had a similarly located cabin (although 1 forward of the cabin you are enquiring about) and found the long walk to the elevators helped in weight control :halo:.

Hey Hank, I was just on the Veendam that was delayed coming in on April 21, 2017 it was due to mechanical issues with the propulsion. The Captain knew this on April 20 around noon but waited to tell everyone closer into 7:15 pm that evening leaving everyone to scramble on changing their flights late in the evening. Their we're hundreds of people in line with guest relations for hours and the the only thing guest relations did was to give everyone 100 minutes of free internet time to contact their airlines which was a joke as everyone knows that as soon as you get on the ships internet you will lose satellite connectivity which is exactly what happened to most of us. Guests relations had no concern over our worries and trust me they expressed that to all of us in fact most of the ship started complaining about it and Holland issued a form the next day telling everyone to send in their bills and they "might consider" paying it (Key words "might"). Many of the people on board were elderly and didn't have any Idea how to go on line to fix anything in fact guest relations had no one available to even help them it was like they could careless. The cabin service was great but, higher up service was awful. I purchased a case of water on the ship as soon as I boarded and it showed up 3 days later??!! It was the absolute worst service and trust me I never complain.Not too mention quite a few of the toilets were not flushing and the food was the worst of any ship we had ever traveled on and it wasn't just me and my husband that were complaining it was a lot people. The ship clearly was not prepared to handle the issue with the delay and the only thing I was thinking was Thank God the ship was not sinking as there was no way any of them would have been prepared for it!! After this entire issue and the lack of concern over everyone missing their flights and the disorganization of handling the whole issue not too mention the way they were speaking to people we have decided that we will never travel with Holland America again as I don't think it would be a wise move to put your life in their hands.

Wow!!! It is amazing just how two folks can experience the same situation yet view it so differently.

I was also on this sailing. (For full disclosure - I continued on to Boston, so did not experience any of the discomfitures felt by many). However I disagree (almost totally) with Highlandgirl1.

First off, I am not sure how she knows with certainty when the Captain became aware of the situation. After steaming 2 full days from Columbia, we arrived on time at Half Moon Cay on time. We left a bit late and it seemed to me that there was a problem. The Captain came on the speaker and told us exactly what the problem was - "one engine was down, we could only make about 14 knots, and that the engineering department was hard at work trying to solve/correct the problem. However, if the engineers could not correct the problem, we would be late in arrival to FLL". He also told us that he would keep us informed as the evening went on. I am not sure exactly when the OP thought he should have first notified the passengers. If, as she claims he knew about it at noon, he had no reason to address it much before he did as the majority of the passengers were enjoying the the offerings of HMC, until later in the afternoon and quite possibly thought the problem could be corrected without the ensuing delays. He came on again a couple of hours later and basically said there was no change and that we would be late in arrival with an estimated time of arrival at 1:30 pm (1330). I believe it was at this announcement that the internet offer was first mentioned. As I was not affected, I cannot speak to connectivity issues, but would imagine there had to be some. But I personally saw many, many folks make arrangements that evening - some even obtaining updated boarding passes. Early in the morning of the 21st, the Captain again updated (problem still not fixed). However he had been able to squeeze a couple more knots out of the old gal and we should be pier side by 12:30 p.m. (and we were).

I observed the exact opposite of Highlandgirl1 as regards service. Guest relations were overwhelmed. After all they do not have a huge staff, but they were giving it their best. For the most part I observed professionalism on their part AND quiet acceptance on the part of the affected guest. However, as always, there are some who cannot or will never be satisfied with ANY solution. So, there was some friction. Again, not sure how the OP thinks the ship's staff could have handled it "better", but would like to know.

There were indeed "elderly" passengers who had no clue about computers. However, I personally observed staff sitting at the terminals with these "elderly" folks helping them traverse the internet. I also observed other passengers helping in the same manner. Not complaining - HELPING.

In addition to his announcements, there were 2 or 3 letters with his signature outlining the problem, compensation and other factors. Again, not being personally affected, I thought the compensation was quite generous (it included monies for change fees imposed by the airlines after documentation was provided). Plus all involved were given a future cruise credit of 10% of the price they paid the affected sailing.

As a p.s. to this post. The Veendam was scheduled to depart FLL at 9 p.m. on the 21st but didn't get underway until 10:30. I am not sure of the why of that 1.5 hour delay, but I do know that once at sea everything was working fine again and we arrived in Pt. Canaveral the next morning on time. And, with two more days of absolutely crappy weather, in Boston pretty much on time.

All in all I thought the crew did a great job during this "crisis" and throughout the entire cruise. Unlike the O/P I will continue to sail on HAL.

That's it for me. Next FLL sail-a-way for me will be on 4/21 when Veendam departs for the NE. I will be looking from the other side of the lens (so to speak) on board Veendam.