koolforkatz

We have been on enough cruises now that we rarely go to shows anymore. The Cirque ones used to be very good but most production shows are a bit amatuerish. For us entertainment on board is live music. And nothing holds a candle to the BB King Blues bars on Holland America.

Thanks @crystalspin. That's what I had read on here too. However, the HAL rep I spoke to insisted we could upgrade on board. There are a couple of wines my husband really likes and 2 or 3 glasses of them would definitely make it worthwhile upgrading. If we can... And yes, I would prefer not to have to keep checking our account either 😉

We sail with the Koningsdam on Saturday and currently have the HIA package. Our plan was to upgrade when on board to the elite drink package. I have been reading mixed messages on here now though as to whether that can be done. I just was off the phone with a HAL rep and was assured that this could be done on board and in fact cannot be done ahead of time. What have people's experiences been recently? We have lots of OBC so if we had to could just pay for individual drink upgrades but it would be a lot easier if we can just upgrade the package. Thanks!

I have also been following your cruises and reviews over the years. We even went to a restaurant in Buenos Aires you recommended and it was fabulous as you said. I will be interested in hearing your review on Ponant although probably out of our price range. We are also fairly loyal to Celebrity but are branching out and trying Oceania in March. Also: go to Africa. It is incredible. We went to South Africa, Botswana and Zimbabwe a year ago and there is nothing like it.

Is anyone seeing this promotion on their website yet? I'm not.

Thank you. I had heard that it was less crowded, presumably because of location.

We have an upcoming TA on the Enchanted Princess in November. I am considering making dining reservations ahead of time but wondered which dining room people prefer and why? I know there’s probably not a huge difference but maybe enough of. Thanks for any advice or comments one way or the other 😊

Thanks for posting this. I have been trying to decide whether it is worth it to upgrade or not. My husband and I both like the wines covered by the premium package and have enough OBC that we could upgrade onboard. I wonder if Rudi’s restaurant is included as one of the specialty restaurants.

We did a fabulous 15 day Antarctica cruise with Princess in January. We had four days in Antarctica too versus two that Celebrity was doing.

Thank you for posting this! I was considering upgrading to SM a couple of weeks ago to take advantage of second log-in. When I asked my TA, she said I already had two log-ins from what she could see. I was going to follow up with Oceania but never got around to it. Great news.

My TA was able to do just this for me last week. I was pleasantly surprised that they could and I got the cabin I wanted with a no upgrade added to it.

Booked our flight last week for a cruise next March. We are flying on points so book as soon as the window is open to do so. Over the last couple of years when paying for flights we have booked as soon as they open up and the prices have just continued to climb after that.

Thanks for posting - sounds amazing!

We are locals and whenever we do the short cruises we like to start our holiday early and stay at the Fairmont or Pan Pacific. We gave the concierge our luggage when we checked out of the hotel and didn't see it again until it was delivered to our cabins. Eliminated the luggage drop off line.

Agree. The lido was definitely an issue but our group was fortunate and had set time dining plus ate 3 nights at specialty restaurants. We stuck to the Dutch Cafe for a quick bite in the morning and the deli or Dive In for lunch. I can forgive the negatives in exchange for the amazing bands at BB Kings and the Rolling Stone rock room. We had a great time and are sailing again on her in September.

Just got off this morning. Both Tamarind and Rudi’s were fabulous. You could get 3 appetizers per couple at each restaurant which was appreciated because they both had such great choices. Rudi’s was a lot of food! We also went to Canaletto. It was good, but not my fav although their beef carpaccio was really good. Also enjoyed Dive In although it was super busy. Deli was also good and made a great rueben.

I am happy to hear you finally received some of your refund @Buffalo Boaters although not as much as you were expecting. It gives me hope that I may finally receive the rest of my promised refund soon together with the refundable OBC which I have also not received. I would never book a cruisetour with Princess again.

Interesting. Ours was also South America/Antarctica, 14 January. We are also waiting for the rest of our refund for cancelled Machu Picchu tour but that's a whole 'nother horror story, lol... The woman I have been speaking with did say they were currently working on the cruise before ours but OTOH my friend has already received her OBC. Who knows. Hope we both get ours soon!

I am still waiting for almost $300 OBC from our January South America cruise, all of which is definitely refundable. I have been dealing back and forth with a very nice lady in customer relations but so far she hasn't been able to make it happen although she says "we haven't forgotten about you." I have the statement from when we got off the ship and also a folio that they emailed me that all supports this. So I wait.... Strangely, friends we were sailing with did receive their OBC cheque about 4-5 weeks after the cruise.

I would second @BSinPNS and recommend Tomas Hughes in Buenos Airies. In Chile I would highly recommend https://www.thegermanpirates.cl/en/nosotros.php . We have used them twice now, including most recently in January. We also did Antarctica on that cruise and loved it. Drive-by only, but I didn't feel I missed anything by not landing. I was just thrilled to see it. It was absolutely amazing and magical. We were also in southern Africa in the fall @cashmeremypuppydog. I thought Cape Town was one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen.

Thanks for taking the time to do this.

I have 4044 booked on an upcoming Koningsdam cruise. Can you tell me what you liked or didn’t like about cabin? I have heard it’s a bit dark. Thanks!

@Buffalo Boaters have you checked the social media group for your cruise (there is one). There has been a discussion on it about the refund and a couple of people have referenced amounts received. I was booked for the cruisetour starting January 14th (pre-cruise tour) which was cancelled six days before we flew out. We had to quickly figure out a plan B as we couldn't change our Lima flights. I have received some of my refund, but not the promised amount so have been trying to chase down the remainder of it which has been a struggle.

I still have mine and use it for documents when travelling. It is held up perfectly over the years.