lizziebargain

Does anyone know if you can use OBC to purchase the test "in the terminal or on the boarding deck". Thanks in advance.

I called on Monday to make final payment on Iceland in August. I waited 2.25 hrs but used my time productively-noticed online that a $500 onboard credit was available so asked for that once I got through. The lady then said I qualified for another $504 off for being a loyalty member. So we kept the same cabin and saved over $1,000 which I was pleased with, I am glad I asked for a further discount/credit.

Duck Duck, I got an email from my travel agent the other day for the S Africa Jan 9 cruise saying the following. I know your cruise is later but perhaps this will be of some help.

I was booked on the Pursuit on Jan 15/22 with a safari-the package included airfare and was through an agency. I decided to cancel several weeks before final payment was due-the agency had let me know upon booking that the sizable deposit was only refundable as FCC. I asked both Azamara, the agency and the credit card company if I could get cash back but I had to accept the FCC as those were the terms I had agreed to. Anyway I have booked a cruise to Iceland next summer so all is not lost. 

33 minutes ago, Rabo said:

We’re in the US. After a very positive experience with Azamara’s ChoiceAir on our “extended” March 2020 Pursuit cruise in South America, I’m sold on always using it. The responsibility and costs are on their shoulders to get us back home. 

Yes and my air would be booked through Azamara so all should be well there.

1 hour ago, Rabo said:

Fingers crossed here . . . we're on the one following yours!

That makes two of us! I sure hope it is a go. I have an "all in" price for safari, air and the cruise from a discount travel agent but it is still a large expense. I have to make final payment by Aug 18 or just take the deposit as an Azamara credit-hopefully over the next few months I can figure out whether to pull the plug and limit my losses. My husband was telling me yesterday that a family at his school had been delayed 6 months in just returning from a visit to South Africa!! Flights kept getting cancelled etc-hard to believe it could be that long-perhaps they were fussy first class flyers or who knows.

I did speak to a friend living there and he reassured me it would be fine to come from his perspective. Although he says Covid vaccines are not far along there and he will probably get his on a trip to the US this fall.

I am booked on a South African cruise on the Pursuit Jan 15/22. I am hopeful it will go ahead. Does anyone have their crystal ball handy? Thanks

I just booked a special deal through a travel agent with  a great single discount. I believe when cruises aren't selling sometimes they promote them to travel agents with big solo discounts and/or also put them on their website. On my first cruise with them 3 years ago the single supplement was only $999 or about 20% and it appears similar on this one( although a little harder to figure out since it also includes a safari). However when I cost-compared last week on Azamara for the same cruise there was no single discount offered.

It was nice to have tips and drinks included in the fare-the Azamazing evening in Thailand was great. Smaller ship so can get into smaller ports. I enjoy both lines but Azamara is better-but definitely pricier.

We were cancelled in April for a May cruise and applied for our money back through our credit cards. My brother thought he had not received his $200 deposit back but when he looked carefully at his July credit card bill in fact he had-so he was happy to see that he was not out any $.

We had 3 cabins booked on the Maasdam on May 18 and we all went the credit card dispute route. Saved us all a lot of aggravation and we have had our money back for over a month and can use as we choose. Clearly I am not as patient as many of you! 

We contacted our credit card company about 3 weeks ago-they gave us a temporary credit and advised this morning that the dispute has been resolved in our favour. We should have been disembarking in Vancouver this morning.

Just got ours today through the cc company-2 days after we requested it.

I just got a charge back from the cc company within 2 days!

I requested a charge back from my cc company last night-the ports have been closed for 2 months and the cruise "cancelled" for 1 month. Enough is enough. If HAL is not up to the challenge of refunding our money in a timely manner, then I have made it easier for them by having the cc company look after mine.

1 hour ago, jeremystevens said:

We have a HAL cruise booked to sail from Vancouver on 3rd June i.e. within the closedown that Canada is enforcing. Dates are important as we wanted to concentrate on whale watching, which is seasonal, so cruise credit and the option to re-book doesn’t really work for us. What are your thoughts on whether a refund will be offered in this circumstance i.e. the cancellation is caused by the Canadian closedown, rather than HAL decision?

I am sure you will receive a refund in due course-I am sailing a couple of weeks before you to Alaska and regardless of the reason the ship is not sailing so I think they will have to pay us back. If not you have a good case to have your cc company request the $ back.

I think they will have to-my cruise to Alaska starts May 18 and I am expecting a full refund since the cruise is cancelled-my guess is that they will offer more FCC than cash back but just a guess. I am sure we will hear more this week.

I was in cabin 3352 and it was comfortable. The Drake passage did not have too much movement but coming back up from Antarcitca we hit a storm and the ship was moving quite a bit.

Yes I had not calculated the per diem but did feel I got good value with the single supplement being pretty reasonable compared to most-I am sure airfare would have cost me at least $1500 if purchased separately. Another thing I really appreciated was the free shuttle buses in each port.

Overall I was very happy with this cruise March 25-April 8( Singapore-Borneo-Vietnam-Thailand). It was a segment of their world cruise.The things I really liked were

-small size of ship(690 friendly passengers) and great staff with a good crew to staff ratio-like HAL used to have.

-the captain and cruise director were ever present and very funny-the banter between the two of them.

-lifeboat drill was in the cabaret and they even made us laugh at that-although they do take safety seriously

-the mostly all inclusive nature-one price included return flights Calgary-Singapore, transfers, 2 nights hotel with breakfast, free port transfers, soda, bottled water and wine, beer and many mixed drinks-( premium drinks were charged), daily service charge, Azamazing Evening which is a free and well done shore excursion for all the passengers.

-the food was excellent. I ate mainly at the Windows Café( like Lido) and the on deck BBQ. They often had theme nights-Thai ,Indian, Greek, Mexican etc. Great coffee in the coffee machine in the café. There was also a little coffee shop with specialty coffees and pastries( no surcharge) Did not really utilize the sit down restaurant much on this cruise. Cannot comment on the specialty restaurants as I did not go-but I think the $35 upcharge was a bit steep.

-I liked staying longer in ports-our 2 week cruise included an overnight in Vietnam and 2 nights in Bangkok.

-Internet seemed faster-I bought 60 minutes for $19.95 and usually downloaded and sent my email within 5 minutes per day. Other options were the whole cruise for $259 or 24 hrs for $29.95. I also used some shoreside WIFI

-Guest lecturer for all the ports was great. They had trivia, mahjong etc but I must admit I did not attend a lot of the entertainment.

-free self serve laundry. If you had it done it was priced by the piece with the occasional bag special for $40 which seemed a bit steep.

What I didn't like-

-I missed the raisin buns and bran muffins in the morning!

-I did not utilize their shore excursions as I felt they were quite pricey-as I do HAL shore excursions.

-I had a balcony cabin but there was no bathtub and the shower was miniscule.

-small ship size meant we were able to port closer to Ho Chi Min City and Bangkok which saved a lot of travel time.

-My cabin was a balcony guarantee ( unfortunately, above the cabaret, which is not recommended for an early to bed person). Normally I only pick cabins with cabins above and below me, but this was an upgrade from an inside( no extra charge) and booked through a discount agent so you could not choose the cabin 4 months prior when I booked). I did ask them to turn down the base a bit which they did and I did not let it ruin my cruise-I usually went to bed between the early and late show so it did not stop me from falling asleep.

Overall I think most HAL customers would be pleased with this ship. Normally it is above my price point, but due to a special that was emailed to me from a last minute travel agent on the West coast in November, my total cost was $4199 plus a single supplement of $975-total US $5174 for all the inclusions listed above( including return airfare from Calgary to Singapore). Total trip length was 18 nights including hotel stays.

Yes we will be docking in town and enjoying 3 nights in Bangkok. When I consider that air fare, taxes, transfers, hotels ,drinks and gratuities and single supplement on HAL would I am sure cost at least $3,000 alone( if not more), and that would be for an inside cabin, I feel like it is a very good value. I am quite sure to enjoy the cruise at such an amazing price.

I will be celebrating a milestone birthday on this cruise and I am hoping they notice and upgrade me to a butler suite-lol. In my dreams! I don't have any Celebrity points and I don't know that I have anything white to wear-will have to check!

TG-I think what DH is saying is that we have spent many thousands of $ to get that "free" laundry on HAL.

Ols Salt-I believe our whole group( 30 cabins) is staying at the Swiss Hotel Stamford so the shuttles should be just fine. The HAL cruise in the same area that I cancelled did cost less per day but like you it was an inside cabin with no air, gratuities, transfers, drinks etc so I think the final price would have been similar in the end for their inside. Albeit the HAL price could possibly go down closer to the sailing date. I have stayed at the airport hotel in Singapore and it was indeed quite lovely.

Thanks everyone. I will definitely report back after my return on April 9th. I believe this is part of their world cruise too, so I think they have a lot of complementary shuttles in the ports which will be handy.