Mary229

You can get egg white omelets in the lido and MDR.  I have no idea about the oil 

8 minutes ago, Hows the Serenity said:

It is in Seattle prior to our Trans Pacific through to Sydney.

thank you

Chris

When is that?

I have gotten them up to 10 months prior.  Be sure to check what they include when you inquire.  HAL little advertises all of the small, valuable perks that come with their hotel reservations and those perks are not the same city to city

i buy them when they include a transfer to hotel, early checkin, breakfast and transfer to ship with tour

1 minute ago, Ljr51 said:

I went to the Viking thread and people there mention the 3% discount for cash. I guess it's a Viking-only thing. I am leaning toward paying via credit card --it just seems to offer some extra protection. And I can get cash back on the Chase Sapphire Preferred card, so that provides some level of discount even if it's not 3%. This is the first time we've chosen and booked a cruise on our own (once years ago, we booked the same cruise friends were on, so that did not involve any research on our part--our only cruise experience so far). I'm discovering it's very complicated! 

Chase Sapphire offers very good insurance with their card.  At my age it equals about 10% value on cruises less than $20000 plus you get around 2% back in points. 

That is how Viking operates.  I like the protections of my credit card and dislike sharing my banking information with strangers.  That said, Viking seems to have a good reputation 

5 minutes ago, ontheweb said:

We cancelled our 2020 cruise with just a refundable deposit before final payment was due as I saw the writing on the wall with Covid. After all how were you going to do a Norwegian fjords cruise if Norway was closing their ports? When I went to our roll call to say we were bailing out on the cruise, I saw someone had just booked it! I wonder how much of a cheap bargain price they got.

I think there were some gaming the system at that point.  They were betting on a cancellation which would have yielded up to a 150% FCC.  I considered doing the same but my predatory urges were suppressed by my conscience 😉

1 minute ago, alwaysfrantic said:

Do I email the TA the numbers and PNs? 

I email mine to my TA.  Please be sure to keep a digital or physical record of your gift cards as even the best laid plans may go astray and any refunds will go back to those cards. 

4 minutes ago, alwaysfrantic said:

I read that one needs to call to have the gift cards applied, but I have an online travel agency.  I have a page I can make payments with a credit card.  Hal wouldn’t take a payment because I have a TA.  How does that work before I spend a lot on cards?

You can pay for excursions, packages and other incidentals with gift cards on the website.  The website is notoriously glitchy but with patience and luck it can be done.  If you booked with a TA then yes all fare payments go through them.  Your TA can use your gift cards to pay.  I have done both things this past week 

11 minutes ago, Charles4515 said:

Reading back through Google results they managed to hype it really well. They got a lot of press including all the major cruise industry publications like Cruise Industry News and Seatrade Insider.  USA Today and local press hyped it. No wonder some didn’t see through it as not realistic. The initial ship was deemed unseaworthy so Life at Sea told everyone they were going to buy another ship. A bunch of passengers bailed at that point. When the replacement ship fell through, the Turkish cruise company they partnered with in response to queries said no way they could afford to buy the supposed replacement ship. Yet there were still some passengers who had faith and went to Istanbul. 

Of course, the promoters are the ones who write those press releases.  It is not like they send out a cub reporter to “investigate”.  Even if the press shows up they are wined and dined. The PR is well managed.  The only legal question is did they commit fraud or stupidity. 

1 hour ago, jsn55 said:

In today's climate of 'bargain, discount, cheapest' travel mentality, these sleazeball scammers probably didn't need to do much other than keep shoring up the dreams of great adventure and deep discounts 'if you act fast'. 

 

I spent 7 years on a travel advocate forum; people today are so easily blinded by the 'cheapest' ... difficult to grasp the things travellers will do to buy a trip that checks all their boxes.  Like they take temporary leave of their senses in the excitement of 'a big score' of a wonderful, perfect, cheap adventure.  Something they can brag about at cocktail parties and family gatherings.  For example, it was obvious last summer that 'Vantage Luxury Travel' was going down, but people still post occasionally wondering if 'their cruise' will sail next month or next year.  

I am sure the allure was “you are so special” more than cheapness. It gets them every time. Bernie Madoff used it, Enron used it, it is tried and true 

56 minutes ago, islandwoman said:

Can I use Holland America gift cards to pay for shore excursions online?

If so, how do I do that?

 

Yes.  Fill your cart and checkout.  During checkout, just above the credit card info there is a small clickable link for gift cards.  Click that and fill it out.  One thing you can’t do is mix credit cards and gift cards, it must be one or the other for each checkout 

They are all Black Friday deals and expire tomorrow.  They may extend a day or two but that no one knows

9 hours ago, Joe33472 said:

 

Thank you for the heads up!  I looked those forums awhile back, but haven't looked recently.  I'll definitely see if there is any good information for Ponta Delgada.    Otherwise, at this point, I think that we're going to skip the RCI tours and do the ports on our own. 

If you want to leave town to go to the nature and volcanic sites up mountain I would suggest a ship tour.  This is one of those cases where you have distances to cover in a limited time with limited options.

That will work.  He will have to change back to his sign in if he wants to check his account or buy shore excursions and such.  Those things can be managed other ways such as by phone, visiting the customer service desk, etc….  Changing back once or twice isn’t a big deal. 

Europe is very easy to do on your own if you do the research.  I use ship excursions for far flung places I want to get to in a limited time, specially priced museum passes, other specialty visits and if I have a free excursion perk. There are plenty of private guides, taxis, Ubers and car services. 

I guess they can go live in their storage sheds full of beanie babies 

2 minutes ago, RonaldL said:

Very seldom is a passport mandatory when leaving the ship at ports of call.  If not mandatory what's the point of taking it?  

Cruising and flying are two separate issues.  For those who simply go to the Caribbean or Canada all is fine until by misfortune you are not able to sail home. If that happens the ship will send your passport to the port agent who will get that passport to you so you can fly home after your emergency passes
 

for those of us who travel further afield a passport and sometimes a visa is a requirement 

9 minutes ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

 

With that, the process is transparent on NCL. Everyone knows exactly where the bidding starts. NCL has been using this system for nearly a decade. I bid every time I sail with NCL. The technology is available in the industry.

 

I am aware.  HAL really causes their own problems.  They are resolved that there passengers are a bunch of old, technology illiterate persons so that is who they cater to. And guess who sails them?  Not all of us but they do attract an inordinate number of refuseniks 

37 minutes ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

What type of transparency are you looking for?

Quite simple. Here is what is available, here is the minimum, please enter a bid.  I don’t need proxy bidding or notifications.  Some do like proxy and notifications but I am very calculating on what I will pay and not easily nudged.   It would be transparent that all guests would know when and where the bidding starts.  People have expressed a lot of angst with calling upsell as well as casino rates.  These features would even the playing field. 

The benefits of booking onboard are not that great, they lowered the OBC last year. I would think prepaid gratuities are more valuable.  Once onboard in January buy a stack of $100 deposits to use in these situations. They are refundable. 

6 hours ago, retird said:

So if I book a specific itinerary say western carib and partial panama canal, can they just change i5 to an Eastern Caribbean with no recourse for me.  I should be able to cancel if the itinerary is (significantly) changed. 

The recourse is the OP is not in the final payment period.  HAL actually has a new best price guarantee that should allow him to refare.  I also think he has a good position to demand club orange be moved with him. To fully cancel with a full refund he would have to have a refundable deposit.  HAL is probably one of the most lenient cruise lines when it comes to changing and refaring.  They also offer a variety of refundable or very low cost deposit  options.  No one should be booking with a nonrefundable deposit 

52 minutes ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

@OlsSalt agree. There are multiple ways to manipulate the market.  CCL has been showing inflated occupancy thru casino offers too. Endless really. 

This may be in partial response to those that grumble about others getting casino rates.  I would next like to see a transparent upsell auction process 

9 hours ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

 

But by day 8 (you mean 8 days before sailing, yes?), there could be a lot of people in line ahead of you. 

So then I don’t go😅.  They are relying on people with a gambling/auction bent, I am one who can take it or leave it 

1 hour ago, tpwolfe said:

It is fare is refundable but is Club Orange refundable?

Work with them to have that transferred also.  If you have a refundable deposit simply re-fare keeping your original booking number.  Everything you have pre-purchased should transfer also. 

I have done it successfully.  We had a series of major expenses and chose to downgrade on our least favorite upcoming cruise.  It was no problem as we were before final payment.  We were able to transfer our HIA package and other cruise prepurchases