DaveOKC

I found a number of nice wines included in the basic package ($11 or less), but then again I am fairly easily satisfied.

Reports on this board have been mixed as to whether or not you can do it. Seems to vary by ship and even which person you ask onboard. Typical HAL - inconsistant policies.

How expensive are they? From the website I gather that they only do PCR tests, which are normally more expensive than the Antigen.

How many ships are in SD the same day? In April we had 3, so the third was a block or two away from the other 2. And the twoo HAL ships were separated, with DIsney between them. I think the more remote HAL ship was a smaller one.

Normally they do assign buses based on your departure time, but sometimes if you ask you can get assigned to an earlier one.

Whi;e it depends on your cruiseline and how early they will let you board (some will let you on early), I would just head to the pier. By the time you get your bags, get to transportation and travel to the pier it could easily be 10-10:30am, if not later.

Correct. One time we did a late Sept sailing and got very close, and then the following May on the same ship we were far away from it and many people were disappointed and upset.

Was there a second line to checkin after they checked your Verify?

On our Dec and April cruises there were 4 & 5 Star and Neptune passenger separate checkin lines. Sailed out of Fort Lauderdale and San Diego. We also were allowed on the ship first.

Normally you have to fill out a form concerning your post cruise plans a few days prior to debarkation. The day before you should get an envelope with your luggage tags and directions on what to do. Of course, this depends on what options you selected. If you are self disembarking (carrying off your own luggage), you naturally keep your luggage with you, but otherwise your luggage has to go out in the hallway by your cabin around midnight. Self disembarkers leave the ships first, then HAL starts calling off colors to get off in order. When you get off you go get your luggage in a color coded area on the pier and then proceed to exit. Color assignment is based on Priority clients first, then those with early flights and or transfers. Order can vary depending on the port.

Not certain of the exact cancellation policy, so I will let others answer that. I do want to add that HAL is very good about working with you on last minute cancellations though. Once I cancelled about an hour prior to the excursion and was expecting no refund of course, but I ended up with a full refund because the excursion was waitlisted and someone else took my spot! That was very nice of HAL to do this and again was totally unexpected by me.

Our phones are with Google Fi and I can normally access my emails and the net while in port, most times right from the comfort of our cabin! So much better than in years past where I had to go into port and hunt down wifi access! If we have alot of ports on our cruise I do not see the need to use the ship's internet, but thats just me.

Yes, tours do sell out. Mostly these are the ones that have restricted capacity and of course are very popular. Further, with all the startup issues for the cruise lines, to me it makes good planning sense to book it ahead of time, as you can always cancel for a full refund (but check the restrictions on this first of course). In the past we usually waited to book, as we often had alot of OnBoard Credit to use up, but nowadays I am paying up and booking the tours I really want.

The way I see the offers is by doing a trial booking, after logging in with my account of course. Scroll through the bookings and you should see some $200 fares, those are the ones still open to you.

Did you check your account online and see if the cruise is listed there for you? It should show a $200 fare if you got the casino free cabin offer.

Also, the staff in Club Orange is very attentive and get to know your dining habits very quickly. Far better (and quicker) service versus the MDR.

I have never really noticed it while dining. Plus there are some tables away from the windows. Further, I have heard that on the Rotterdam it is not as open as the other two ships and a bit nicer.

There definately is a capacity limit on these casino offers and it may vary by category on the same cruise. Example, we recently booked a free cabin offer and at the same time had them upgrade us to a Neptune for a very attractive price. A couple of days later I looked again at that sailing and while it still showed the Verandah cabin for free (basically $200), the Neptunes were now double what I paid!

The problem with calling in to ask questions like this is that the person answering may not REALLY know the answer and thus relies on the standard conservative stock response. I would call RC again and if you still get the same answer, ask to speak with a supervisor, who is more likely to know.

Just because the website says sold out does not mean it actually is. I have seen this often when HAL is in the middle of assigning cabins or doing an upsell offering. They need to do this to avoid accidentally double booking cabins (IMO). This may clear in a day or two.

We like the separate dining area on the three Pinnacle class ships as it is much quieter, service better, and food prepared fasted and seems warmer. The big benefit however is the free cabin upgrade to the best avialable in your category (like Verandah). The difference is sometimes less than you would pay to upgrade yourself (for example from a VH to a VA).

Most times I agree with you, but in this case the Vista suite is not that much larger than the Verandah the OP booked and the balcony is smaller, even though the Vista balcony is larger than most other Vistas. Looks like a wash to me, as the longer balcony would be nice with 4 people.

Sounds like you have it correct. One thing to add, with the email free cabin offers you generally do not get any perks (like free crew incentives, shore excursion discounts, etc) and you cannot use your stockholder credit. To be clear, some people get free drinks while in the casino while others get a free Signature Beverage package. On one recent cruise I got so many perks with my booking using the casino discount rate that it ended up costing only a bit more than if I had gotten the free cabin email, so always do your due diligence before booking. The discount rate approach also has the advantage that it is refundable (prior to final payment date of course), you can book further out than the free cabin deals, and it most times applies even to the more popular cruises that may not be on the free cabin offer list. Keep in mind that my comments only apply to my situation (small time player), as the more you play the better offers you get.

Question 2 - most times the prices will be the same, but some TAs offer you extra perks (or cash back). Mostly these are the very large online and big box store agencies. One thing to keep in mind - you need to constantly monitor your booking fare even after you book, as price declines and/or sales happen all the time. Generally, the cruiseline will allow you to "refare" your existing reservation if it is prior to the final payment date (on most of my cruises I refare at least once if not two or three times). In doing this, you have to accept the total deal (price plus perks) for the new deal, you cannot keep part of your existing deal and not the rest.

Some things (shops, excursions, etc) may not be open, so check on things you want to do first. As you expected, while the glaciers will be "open" you may not be able to get as close as you like (of course a week or two would not make much difference).