HMSDingy

On 6/9/2023 at 1:18 PM, Rick&Jeannie said:

Not on board right now but we sailed on her a couple of months ago and had a great cruise. Note that you can always find people who like to complain or point out things that are not quite up to par. Take these reports with a big grain of salt. If you enjoy cruising and start with a good attitude you'll probably have a great trip!

My take exactly. I've been on marvelous cruises where I've read horrible reviews. To each their own, I guess.

Does Princess have wine packages by the bottle like they used to? I can't seem to find any.

Are upgrades only given when a ship is not full? Or are their other circumstances?

Are upgrades only given when a ship is not full? Or are their other circumstances?

1 minute ago, rodndonna said:

 

I'm a "day-of-er" when it comes to pre cruise flights .. but would not be comfortable with that one. 

 

Quite a lot of potential extra delays in addition to potential flight delays -  baggage claim, customs and transport to the port. 

Then I go to plan B & fly in the night before & book a room.

Would I be cutting it too close if I book a flight out of Athens at 2:20 PM with the cruise arriving in port at 6 AM?

Am I cutting too close if I book a flight arriving at 10:25 AM in Rome for a cruise leaving at 3 PM?

Thanks to all for your responses & advice. I checked the price list on this website; https://rogerjett-photography.com/ and choosing 8 bottles that I would normally order, I find that the cost for the wine package would be beneficial in that I would be saving approximately $100. The cruise we will most probably book is 18 days and I would probably buy 2 packages. DW and I are Italian & we always have wine with our supper.

Although we've cruised before, we've never had a guaranteed cabin. Now looking at a European cruise in 2024, we may go that route. I know the basics of guaranteed cabins but can you get an upgrade even with this category?

7 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

We will sit back at hope that Cruisemom sees this thread and jumps in with her hotel suggestions.  We have yet to find the "perfect" Rome hotel although we do favor places in the Piazza Navona/Campo de Fiori part of town.  Like most major cities, frequent travelers all seem to have their favorite neighborhoods.  I do like to find locations that are convenient for walking to local eating venues and some nightlife.  In Rome, we worry less about tourist sites since we can always use public transit and our feet to get to those areas in daytime.

 

Hank

Same here about the touristy places. We've been to Italy several times and pretty much know our way around but since we have family there and I have my grandfather's place to stay at, unless it's pre-cruise, we rarely rent. 

2 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

Then you are in big trouble :).  As confirmed DIY folks, are knowledge of private tour/transfer companies is limited.   When going from Rome to Civitavecchia we hardly ever use a transfer company  If we do not have a lot of luggage we may just take the train.  Otherwise, we just have our hotel get us a taxi.  We have also had a lot of experience with rental cars and have often dropped or picked up a car in Civitavecchia pre/post cruise. Our personal knowledge of Rome In Limo and Rome Cabs primarily comes from using transfer companies to get from the port to FCO for an early flight.  

 

One warning about recommendations.  The travel world has changed because of COVID.  Many companies (around the world) have either changed ownership or simply disappeared.  And those that survived have often been forced to replace experienced folks with new hires.  It is almost like we are starting all over again...with a clean slate and many companies have employee shortages.  We recently saw this, first hand, while cruising in Asia where quite a few private tours and ship excursions were cancelled (we think it was mostly due to skilled labor shortages).

 

In Europe the changes are sometimes surprising.  Shortly after travel reopened in Greece, DW and I took a ferry to Naxos (from Pireaus).  We had booked a rental car from a Europcar office, located a few blocks from the ferry port.  When we got to that Europcar office it had become a motorcycle rental shop.  The local Europcar franchisee had closed that office over 6 months earlier, and Europcar (normally an excellent company) had failed to update their web site (and they kept taking reservations for an office that did not exist).  A minor bump in the road of independent travel, but also a heads-up that many things have changed as the result of COVID.

 

Hank

Wow, I did get an earful or rather read full.😆 Thanks. Our last Med cruise was pre-COVID and as always, we booked a stay in Rome pre-cruise but I don't recall the transfer company we used to get to the hotel in Rome. DW and I are Italian & we speak our language fluently so getting around is easy peasy. The transfer companies I listed seem to have decent reviews elsewhere and their prices are competitive although I find Rome Cabs a tad more expensive. BTW, can you suggest a decent moderately priced stay in Rome? We're looking at a HAL cruise in 2024 out of Civitavecchia and we plan to stay in Rome.

Just now, Hlitner said:

Sir?  OMG...it has come to that :).  Sorry, but I have no personal knowledge of either of those sites/companies. 

 

Hank

With all of your knowledge & input, it's the best I can do😎

14 hours ago, Hlitner said:

If you want a private transfer company we would add "Rome Cabs" (Romecabs.com) to the list.  Another option (assuming you can easily handle all your luggage) is to take a train to Civitavecchia and than grab a shuttle bus to the port.

 

Hank

Morning sir, what do you think of welcomepickups.com & booktaxi.com?

The HAL website won't allow me to see their wine packages if I don't have a booking number. Does anybody have access to current packages?

I may have misunderstood when I spoke to a HAL rep but I was told that my refundable deposit was fully refundable as long as it was done before a certain date. I'll have to all them back. 

7 minutes ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

I'm sorry I don't understand the question. I use a future cruise deposit of $100 to hold my cruise.  I purchase these on board and my cruises are usually 14 days or less.  I suspect I'm not answering your question properly. 

I just got off the line with HAL and the advantage fare with the refundable deposit is more expensive for the cruise I'm looking at. I'd like more info on the $100 for future cruises.

1 minute ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

Yes, it does just as a refundable hotel costs more.  There are 3 prices, the non refundable, an advantage fare, and the hia fare. You can't see the advantage fare online,  a ta or pcc needs to get that for you.  It's s deep dark secret.

Thanks for that. The I will have to either contact HAL or a TA for the advantage fare. One more question, can I use either of the deposits as a credit for a future cruise would I need to cancel?

18 hours ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

Good reason not to buy refundable.  When I've seen non refundable it's always noted that you need to buy insurance at that time.  I'm not sure why it would be assumed thst non refundable really means refundable.

Does the price of the cruise increase if you choose the refundable deposit? When I search the cruise on the HAL website, it asks for a non refundable deposit. I don't see an option to choose refundable.

We've cruised with HAL before and looking to cruise next year. I noticed on the itinerary we're looking at the deposit would be roughly $800 CAD. How does this work in case of cancellation? Is it non refundable? 

Sorry deleted post

2 hours ago, ontheweb said:

Just try to ignore the posters who are nasty. There are a lot of posters who are not nasty and do try to be helpful.

 

Within a year of being in Kusadasi on a cruise, I went to donate blood to the Red Cross. When I said I had been in Turkey, they had to look up whether that part of Turkey disqualified me from donating blood. It did not. (Another time I was disqualified for going into the interior of Belize on an excursion to view Mayan ruins.)

Thanks I appreciate your response.

5 hours ago, Grego said:

Amen.

Yes, I did look at a map. I just wanted poeple's input.

On 2/23/2023 at 11:03 AM, wowzz said:

It's like not going to Norfolk, Virginia,  because of an earthquake in Boston !

Don't know the distance between those two as I'm Canadian, Why are you assuming that everyone knows that?

On 2/23/2023 at 10:55 AM, Astro Flyer said:

Checking a map of where Kusadasi is located in northwestern Turkey it’s a long distance from where the quake was centered in the southeast portion by Syria. Based on Google Maps the general quake area I’ve read about is about 700 miles away. You could do additional research to better narrow down the quake area’s distance from Kusadasi however based on my cursory research it wouldn’t affect Kusadasi.

 

We greatly enjoyed a tour to Ephesus from Kusadasi during our cruise about a decade ago.

 

I asked a simple question and I was put in place for not researching the location of Kusadesi.  Why are you people os nasty? 

The Princess Med cruise we're looking at is stopping in Kusadesi,Turkey. Will there be any itinerary changes because of the earthquake?