Vineyard View

Unfortunately there are no overnights, only a late Belfast stay. I appreciate the recommendation though! Since starting this thread, it sounds like at least two of the published ports are not the best choices for having quality time - Ringaskiddy as well as the tendered port advertised as Newhaven for Edinburgh. That gives me some pause, but I am grateful to know ahead of time. looks like I need to do more homework.

Thank you for this information. These tips are priceless. Knowing these types of situations impacts the itinerary so thank you.

The published statement was pretty clear that any cabins below PH would not have anything refurbished in the bathrooms. For some, this is a pretty big disappointment.

We’ve only sailed once since Covid, and it was on a line we had not previously sailed. I read about the comparisons with pre/post Covid on the several lines that I follow and would consider. My goal is to find a great itinerary in the BI for 2025. This HAL option caught me by surprise. It’s pretty awesome from first few glances. I was looking at four other lines, and this itinerary just stood out to me. I am not sure what to expect from the current vs old HAL, but we do know where we want to travel. I’m not quite finished with my research, but how does one weigh it all out…..I don’t quite know. I sure do appreciate all the feedback though.

Thank you Hank. We haven’t sailed on a ship over 1k pax capacity in a long, long while and do understand first hand what you are referring to. This itinerary checks more boxes than any of the others I have researched. Years ago our HAL experience was a good one - it was on the old Rynam so a much smaller vessel. Maybe the Orange Club is worthwhile based on all these responses.

Thank you for all of this information fruitmachine. I have no idea the logistics of the port for your Beautiful city. I was only looking at the itinerary posted on the website for Newhaven. It sounds like tendering with HAL, and other larger operations, is a roll of the dice. I guess the good news is this ship is not the largest.

Thank you for these further answers. From what I have read, Edinburgh is a non optional tender port. I also notice different “port names” with different lines for Edinburgh. It really is one we would like to explore as long as possible. In the past we have booked excursions to get someplace, then asked when and where to meet back at the bus. We tip the tour guide and have found that to be a positive experience that meets what we want to do, and also values the tour guide. Maybe this is a good port to do so

I thought that I read it is only Neptune and Pinnacle where tendering is prioritized. If that is the case, then Club Orange may be worth it. On our last HAL cruise, when a country required immigration checks prior to, there were times when that occurred the evening before. Not sure how they made that happen, and it could very well be a thing of the past, or only with specific countries this is allowed.

This one starts in Rotterdam, and first port is Newhaven for Edinburgh, which is tendered. We’ve traveled quite a bit in the world, but British Isles are still boxes unchecked. If that’s the case I am sad to hear about immigration check as it’s a big one for us to see. Ugh. Thanks for the heads up though. This might make club Orange worth it alone.

We haven’t decided quite yet. We sailed Neptune last time, but this one I am looking at the two suites below that. Not knowing what club orange is, I just looked and it appears that one can pay for that if not in a Neptune. It seems to have quite a few benefits, including tendering priority. It shows $13/day for longer cruises so might be worth it. Thanks for the tip!

Thank you both. We haven’t sailed on this size ship before with tendering. Each line seems to have slightly to very big differences in how it handles tendering - everything to lining up for tickets the day prior, to zero boarding with excursion groups, to allowing early tenders for DIY, to priority based on stateroom category……being as this is Scotland & Ireland, I also know weather/seas can particularly affect this part of our world no matter what size ship you are on. A two hour wait time I would hope is on the longer spectrum of expectations…..and I am hoping an hour would be reasonable but not necessarily guaranteed, but I just don’t know with HAL & 2,600 pax.

We haven’t sailed HAL in a long time, and never on pinnacle class. We are looking at a 14 day British Isles cruise in 2025. There are 4 tender ports, including a couple that are key for us. We tend to DIY or private tour. We haven’t experienced the tendering process on this size of ship before (we have on smaller ships). I am wondering how that all tends to work. Do booked excursions have priority access, but still have allowance for DIY space? What would be a fair expectation of disembarkation time after clearance if you are DIY? I would assume there is just a general last tender time at the end of the day? Thank you

Next April, on 4/21 departure, Izmir has been changed to Corfu. We had no issue with that tbh.

This is such a valid comment. It truly does speak to the traveler who is more DIY vs excursions in most ports. When we look at cruises, we look not at included excursions, but rather the ports where we will need to determine private vs ship excursions in our decisions. Any port where we can do DIY is a bonus round. When we look at all included excursions, we see ports where we would absolutely not want ship excursions. No wrong. No right.

After reading all this great feedback, I ended up finding one stop flights in BC that were previously not showing (I have been frequently checking for some time). Flight times both departure and return are favorable with good layover times. I’ve not flown on AC for a long time, and never on ITA (obviously newer line), but the reviews seemed to be fairly good (particularly with ITA) and the price was as well. Will continue to watch flights a short while but grabbed these yesterday.

Clearly stated in the announcement that the bathrooms under suite level will not be refurbished. Soft refurbishment will. Not clear if that included carpets, but I may have missed that.

Thank you Marazul. As always, I appreciate your helpfulness.

Understanding they are co-branded, I just thought that booking Via BA would be preferable. As a result I thought to go with BA. This is really good to know. Are you paying extra per seat for BA in this AA codeshare route? My best options seem to be mostly this AA/BA codeshare. Followed by Swiss Air (zero experience), then Lufthansa/Canadian Air codeshare with 2 stops each way. Most cost effective but least desirable. on up the price chain is Virgin. So if booking via AA allows for seat selection with a known upfront total cost that sounds attractive.

I Did not know that. Do you know what the reason is for them doing that?

Thanks for all the BA advice. This was very helpful. This morning am looking at other options on Flight ease…..lines I have not flown on in BC so will do some research.

We generally have flown on AF/KLM and not paid for seat selection. We did not for BA previously as well. That said, we often use miles so maybe that is the difference. Thank you idk-atlaga for clarifying the FlightEase cost to choose seats on BA Regarding BA flight issues, I can only say that our TA stated that she and the firm have experienced a lot of issues this year with BA. Our friends are a one off for sure, but their flight was cancelled. Thank you all fpr responding to my question

Fair response/question for sure. Thank you. Cancelled flights. Re-routed flights and inability to book seats on transatlantic flights. This question did not necessarily pertain to Flight ease at all, but experience in the past several months with BA specifically being more so than other lines. I truly realize that this occurs with all airlines, but I was told by more than one person in the travel industry that they have experienced more than normal with BA. On an aside, friends who recently travelled independently on a land trip to the British Isles via BA, that we spent this weekend with, had a flight cancelled - their return flight at the last minute. It was not a well handled situation - so that combination prompted my question.

The change in Marina refurbishment, and the concern for booked passengers Concierge and below cabins, vs what was projected to take place and done on Riviera is legitimate. The change in restaurants is also legitimate for many. A 3,260 pax ship makes a huge difference vs a 1,200 pax ship for a lot of people. The timing of the announcement change could also be pondered. The article stating it was changed due to amount of time available, vs funds available could also be debated. We do not disagree with your, and others position of dissatisfactions/disappointment with all or some of the above. Many of the above positions are not deal breakers for others, which is legit for them. There are options….other lines, other Oceania ships…. Legitimate things to ponder

It’s 4:30 here…probably back, or heading back, from some wonderful place we just explored…..ready for caviar and champagne (sounds quite lovely)….on the balcony…..listening to the sounds of the ship cutting through the sea if weather is nice….observation lounge if too chilly. We would be very happy either place!

Thank you for this info. Do you recall what the charge was to choose the seats, and were you able to do that via Flight ease?