OC PAT

Hello wise ones and that includes you OCSC Mike! We are Diamond, leaving on an 8-day cruise on the Enchantment to New England at the end of the month. We are seniors who fake their understanding of the Internet World. She has a laptop for emails and FB and an iPad for games. He has an iPad for delving into the secrets of the Internet world and a reader pad that he downloads books pre-cruise. We have 1 cell phone rarely on for emergencies. We want to continue our internet behaviors. How does the Diamond discount figure into the costs of the Key, do we get something off? If we don't do the Key, how should we purchase our Internet package? Right now, the costs are $27.99 per person per day for the Key, $21.99 Voom Surf Package for 1 device, per day, per guest and states discount for additional but doesn't quote that price, and the Voom Surf Voyage is $17.99 per day, per guest, per device and again not quoting the additional costs for additional devices. If we go on one device each and compare the Key costs to the Voom surf, we are paying about $50.00 more for the priority perks offered so I am thinking that's not so bad, but do we really need the Voom surf and if not, we are paying $80.00 more. We would appreciate your thoughts as to what we should book. Also, any chance the rates will go down? THANKS!

Okay, great discussion on how much and what with but I need a clarification. Does the server/bartender get the 18% tip as noted on the receipt? If they are than why are you not figuring in the 18%? So, if I get a 13-dollar drink, I will want to tip at least 20%, thus it would be at least an additional 2%, 26 cents. Not trying to be cheap, just trying to figure how this works with the already designated 18%. We are good tippers (WE THOUGHT) but only tipped a dollar thinking they were getting the 18%.

Yep, the whole Mississippi, about 150 passengers but never a big crowd. Only lines were to get drinks in the very beginning of Happy Hour.

I was just spoiled for the last 21 days on the Mississippi River. The boat was just perfect, loved our cabin 217 and the staff were fantastic! If you want to dive into the pool, gamble, stay up all night and watch Las Vegas Shows this is not your cruise. If you like excellent hospitality, regional music, a great piano player, fun happy hours, enrichment & historic talks on the Mississippi River, good tours of towns and cities, and a boat well managed consider this cruise up or down the Mississippi. The upper is much prettier. Food and drinks were good. We really enjoyed sitting on our balcony listening to bull frogs, saying hello to locals and going through the locks. We made many friends and at least 8 of us booked the Pride next May that goes on the Snake River. Just wanted to give folks an idea on how much fun this cruise was but again it is not a Caribbean Cruise.

Rats, Enterprise sold out. Not sure I want to go to the airport to get a rental.

Thanks, Butch5. We are only there for the day. But with your info. I have a plan. I will have hubby walk to the ABC store and then pick me up at the port and then do the reverse order at the end of the day. Is there a good spot by the port that I can meet him?

Response from my TA. Well, as I always point out, one person's experience may or may not be true, especially given who they actually talked to. Case in point; right now, when you call the cruise line, you're more than likely talking to someone who's only worked for the cruise line for a couple of months. Plus, you could very well be talking to someone who's in a foreign country. It was pointed out by CLIA (Cruise Lines International Assoc) that we all belong to, that when you call the cruise lines: 1) you're talking to someone who is not a certified travel agent; 2) you're talking to someone who has only worked there less than 6 months; and 3) has never even been on a cruise or to any of the ports. They're just there to take your order. Often times, when you ask a question, you'll get a wrong answer, because they don't want to spend the time putting you on hold, while they call a supervisor. The average lifespan of a reservationist is less than 6 months across the industry. And due to the pandemic, cruise lines are having an extremely difficult time filling the vacancies. Hold times have very often exceeded 1 to 2 hours! There are days that we're on hold for half the day with various cruise lines when we can't get answers. Luckily for us, being one of the biggest agencies in the business, we often have special numbers not available to other agencies, but even with that our hold times can be very long. In other words, when you call the cruise line and you get an answer you don't like, hang up and call back - you may get a different answer from the next person. With this individual, I'm willing to bet that was the case. I've been doing this for 20 years (just celebrated our 20th anniversary a couple of weeks ago!) and we have over 3500 clients around the world. I've never heard of anyone not being allowed to stay off the ship. As I mentioned, we've had clients that got off the ship in one port and gotten back on the ship the next day in another port. We've also had clients disembark ships before the cruise ends. They just went up to customer service the night before, settled up their account, and carried their luggage off the ship. Think of it this way; if you get off the ship one day and don't come back on board until the next day, what are they going to do about it? Obviously, it's always good to let them know, but there's no requirement to do that - just common sense in case of an emergency. The only thing that may impact that decision would be a restriction in the port itself, not the ship, which could very well have been the case in Hawaii, given their restrictions during Covid, which were more restrictive than other places. I would be willing to bet it wasn't HAL that had the problem. There were people on our NCL Hawiian cruise that spent the night off the ship in a couple of ports. Then again, that was a few years before Covid and it was NCL, not HAL. In your situation, as long as the resort says there are no restrictions in Bora Bora, I would believe you won't have any problems and I don't see HAL forbidding you from doing it. We'll see if we can get a more definitive answer from someone in charge, but so far, as you've seen, none of the 3 people that I've gotten responses from have any problems with it. But one person's experience with a reservationist is definitely not something I would hang my hat on, that's for sure!! Pete & Nancy Peterson

Thank you all for your comments. I finally found where I had heard that we could not do an overnight on our South Pacific Cruise on HAL. A cruiser had contacted HAL directly and was told that it could not be allowed. This conversation took place in September 2021. We think it may have been a Covid wariness by HAL. But judging by my TA's frustrating experience and your comments it may be someone not knowing what they were talking about. Will keep you updated!

Update TA has not been able to get a straight answer for HAL. He has asked them to send it up the line. He is rather shocked by the lack of knowledge, but he is pushing it. I wish I could track down the rumor.

It was suggested that we rent a car for this isle, Kauai. We need to get to the Lahue airport for a helicopter tour in the morning. So, I see a rental for about 130 dollars. From what I can tell the rental companies are at the same airport as our helicopter tour. I did not see any shuttle from the cruise port. So, I will have to pay a cab fee back and forth for two in addition to the car, correct? So why assume the extra costs for a rental? Our trip is in October. Is there Uber at this port, and should we consider that resource? Is there a rental company near the Wal-Mart? Any insight is greatly appreciated. Yes, this is our first trip to Hawaii.

A while back I was told by someone on the boards that HAL will not allow passengers to stay off the ship on two-day ports overnight. Maybe Covid related? We are doing the South Pacific this fall, and I so want to stay in an over water bungalow. Can anyone tell me if I dreamed this conversation or if it is accurate? Where did I hear this? Thanks for any info.