Wavelet

To me the Vista suites on the Sky don’t look like suites at all. From the pictures I’ve seen the layout looks like a bigger balcony cabin or mini suite cabin. I’ve not sailed in one, but if it were me I’d definitely take the mini suite on Riveria deck and save the money. The only Vistas I’d take are those aft on the grand class ships.

Regardless of which one you choose I hope you have a great voyage. It’s nice to be sailing again!

Thank you for your comments on your travels. It makes me excited for our cruise. It’s fun traveling with all of you. Just a question … is there another cruise commencing 9/5 on this ship? I see 9/12 but not this week. It seems strange that the ship isn’t in service this week. Hopefully nothing went wrong on previous cruises.

   Anyway, thank you for taking time to let us know about your cruise. Safe travels home.

I will be traveling along with you vicariously 😊. Safe travels!

   Thank you HaveDogWillTravel for all your hard work keeping us informed about this cruise. I’m so happy it was a successful cruise with no major outbreaks of illness. It’s great to see cruising back and so many people anxiously awaiting their turn at the fun. I followed this post the whole week and found it very interesting. My only concern was with all your time posting did you have time to enjoy the cruise yourself? 
 Safe travels home.☺️

While our cruise isn’t until Oct ‘22 (I know way off😆) I’m really interested in following this thread. Especially in the onboard experience and what is similar/different from precovid cruises.

 Thanks for starting this topic and have a great time!

Thank you for your reply. This helps. 😊

First, this is not a post on ship gratuities. We’re planning on a cruise from LA to Sydney Oct ‘22. We’re planning on spending a few days post cruise in Sydney. As we’ve never been there, I’d like to know what is customary with regards to tipping/gratuities when we’re at hotels, restaurants, etc. in the city. In the US it’s customary to tip in restaurants, bars or hotels. I’ve heard this is not the custom worldwide and some countries/cultures find this offensive. We don’t want to offend anyone either by giving/withholding a gratuity. What is the custom there?

It must’ve been a mass email for anyone booked on any cruise. We got the email for our Oct. ‘22 cruise. That’s fine with me though. It gives me something to look at 😉

Good morning,

    On a transpacific cruise we are flying home from Sydney to Detroit on Delta. There are no direct flights, the 1stop flights have either 3, 5, or 7 hr LAX layover options. For those familiar with LAX, is it possible to clear customs and change planes with a 3 hr layover? 
 

Thanks in advance.

Are there any recommendations for medical insurance when traveling outside of US? My husband and I have Medicare together with supplemental health insurance, but I believe they can’t be used in a foreign country. Any recommendations? We will purchase Medjet, but that only covers evacuation not medical bills. Thanks.

My husband and I (75 and 71) are planning on taking a South Pacific cruise next year from LA to Sydney. We are US citizens with Medicare and supplementary insurance.  I understand this only covers medical expenses in the US. Should we purchase any extra insurance, and if so, are there any recommendations? We usually purchase a Medjet policy but that only covers an evacuation, not necessarily medical expenses in a different country. Thank you.

Thank you all for the great suggestions. This gives me a lot of choices. I’m happy to read that there’s a lot to do in this city, and the hotels are in close proximity to the attractions. Thanks again!

Thank you all. This is really helpful. I know it’s a long way off, but it gives me something to plan :).  

  My husband and I booked the LA to Sydney cruise in 2022. We’ve never been to Sydney and are planning on spending a couple days after the cruise to sightsee. Usually we book hotels through Princess when traveling to a new city (hotels, transfers to hotel/airport, etc.) but thought someone here might have some recommendations. The hotels Princess recommends are the Four Seasons or Hyatt. Would it be better to go through Princess or book on our own. We’d like to stay near where the attractions are, which look like near Circle Quay. Also is transportation easily accessible for transfers, sightseeing, etc.? Any suggestions would be appreciated. TIA.

Thanks Dave. I’m new to HAL and not familiar with the pricing. I really liked the 35 day Hawaii/Tahiti cruise and usually cruise in suites, but the price point here is a little too much for me. I appreciate all the information you’ve given me. Maybe we’ll try HAL with a different itinerary.

I’m basically concerned with the Neptune cabins. Neptune suite on the Zuiderdam was approx $24,500. I did see a 34 day cruise on the Noordam ( I believe the same class ship) a Neptune suite for approx $13,500. Maybe it’s the destination combined with ship I don’t know.  It just seems like an unusually large discrepancy with this particular cabin compared to other suites on the Zuiderdam or other Neptune suites on other comparable ships.

I have a question regarding Neptune suites on the 35 day Hawaii/Tahiti cruise. The price of these cabins seem extraordinarily high compared to other suites/cruises. A Neptune suite lists at approx $24,000. A Signature suite on the same cruise is approx $12,000. On a 31 day SA cruise a Neptune suite is approx $12,000 and Signature suite on same cruise is approx $9,000. It seems like a big difference for cruises approx the same length, or even between Signature and Neptune suites on same cruise. I’m new to HAL so I hope someone can explain it to me. TIA.

Thanks Kazu. That’s something to consider.

Thanks terrydtx! This helps.

Good Morning! I have several questions about HAL as we have never sailed on them. I’ve looked back several pages and can’t find the answers so I figured I’d ask now. Apologies in advance if I missed them. 
  We are thinking about the 35 day Hawaii/Tahiti cruise in a Neptune suite on the Zuiderdam for our anniversary. We have only cruised Princess before, so I’m trying to compare the 2. Here are the questions:

   1. Does the Signature drink pkg include 99% of the liquids (bottled water, specialty coffees/teas, most wines, cocktails, beer, etc)? I saw somewhere that there was another pkg also. 
     2. It appears there is only 1 dining room. How does “as you wish” work? On Princess suites get “Club Class”. I understand HAL suites do get a special breakfast room somewhere. 
   3. Do retired military get OBC?

   4. We love aft cabins. From pictures it appears that the SB cabins are smaller than the SA cabins. Is this true? (I’m comparing Zuiderdam cabins on deck 7 if it makes a difference).

 We love long cruises and did the 28 day Princess RT LA a few years ago. The 35 day one looks fantastic and cruisers who have taken it seem to agree. My only concern is the length being this would be the first time on HAL and don’t know what to expect. Any help would be appreciated.

Thank you Skynight. This was exactly the information I was looking for. I am hoping this cruise comes back for the 22/23 season.

Does anyone know when the 28 day Hawaii Tahiti rt LA will open up for 2022/2023? I realize with the pandemic, cruises are being altered or deleted as ships are sold/redeployed. I tried searching this board with no luck. TIA

Thank you Navy Veteran. This is very helpful.

We have back to back cruises scheduled for the Caribbean in February 2021. I understand if Princess cancels the cruise all monies paid would be refunded ( either FCCs or cash/credit card reimbursement). If we were to cancel the cruise ourselves early, say Sept. or early Oct., would the insurance we already paid for be refunded to us? We have Princess Platinum insurance. It’s too early to see when/if these cruises will happen, just don’t know how close to final payment it might be cancelled. I figured someone on this board has cancelled a cruise which insurance has been paid for early. Thanks.

We are scheduled to leave 2/5/20 on Crown Princess. We have our medallions, and until yesterday, were ocean ready. Now our ‘travel documents’ show the orange exclamation point even though in the personalizer on the pc shows complete. Anyone else having this problem?