westcoastcruiser

My only addition to the existing comments is Avalon’s use of Trip Mate as their claims administrator.  I purchased two different policies not knowing, at the time, that Trip Mate did the claims processing.  In my opinion, they are extremely challenging to work with.  In the trip insurance section on CC you may want to do a search and read past comments..a couple of which may be mine.

i had to file two significant claims with them and it was gruelling with the process lasting longer than 3 months.  There is no way to contact them by phone; it is done only by email and that is never with the person handling your claim.  Multiple repeat requests for information previously submitted were made.  I could go on and on.

maybe others have had better experiences with them but I vowed to never purchase a policy that includes them.

It was a long phone call - about an hour - but called our big box TA...who had to call HAL.. but got the prepaid gratuities and beverage card added to our two cruises for next year .  Ours was a case where there was a tiny rise in price which we had to incur.  But the math was in our favor so well worth the time.

Definitely travel to Stockholm.  We also docked at Nynashamn and were disappointmented to have to be bussed into Stockholm but it is truly worth it.  Vasa museum alone is worth the trek.

10 minutes ago, pmjnh said:

 

The Maasdam has three 21 day  cruises in 2019, all round trip from San Francisco. Did you mean 2020?

Yes, that is what my post said....Maasdam is scheduled for 2019 and I was hoping to schedule for 2020 but do not see any 21 day cruises listed.  

Don’t see any 21 day Alaska cruises currently been done by the Maasdam during 2019.  We were hoping to do a 21 day in 2020.  I hope they are yet to be released.

3 hours ago, rkacruiser said:

 

Yes, so true.  I have witnessed such warnings.  Regarding my post concerning the tendering issues at Fanning Island, a warning such as that was not issued.  I was totally surprised with the condition at Fanning Island, but surely appreciated that the HAL crew did everything that they could do insure my safe transfers.

 

Nuku Hiva is another port where I would suggest that there ought to be some concern in the transfer from/to tender.  Stone steps from the "landing stage" cut into the wall that leads to solid ground, no hand railing available--at least when I last experienced this port.  Perhaps this tendering situation has improved since my last visit.  Nuku Hiva is an interesting port to experience.

Nuku Hiva, ironically, is the port I was referring to with HAL cautioning it may not be appropriate for those with mobility issues.  We saw many disregard the warning which not only endangered themselves and those assisting but also significantly slowed the tender process.  

And we have been at a tender port where passengers were advised on the ship if they have mobility issues it is recommended they stay on board because of difficulty with swells and required steps to exit.  Yet have observed passengers ignoring that advice and relying on crew to almost lift them off the tender and up steps to reach the port.  

9 hours ago, teacherman said:

I have a flight reservation I made on the HAL site for July to AMS.  I want to see if any other flights are currently available.  IF I go into the site again to look, will it automatically cancel my current reservation?  I seem to remember some people saying this happened to them a few months ago.

I am in the same situation so would appreciate your coming back and letting us know.  I, too, am afraid to go to the flight ease site and check.  Fortunately I am happy with our flights and price but would still be curious.  I recall reading that same post about someone accidentally cancelling their flight when returning to the site.

We actually purposely traveled to Brugges.  Loved it!  Was a favorite.  Walked around the town and had a belgian waffle, chocolate.  Delightful city!  

I guess it depends.  Our ride was rather rough.  No one got sick but it was not an especially smooth ride.

On 11/3/2018 at 5:52 AM, LDVinNC said:

Also take a look at the trip insurance forum here for lots of good information.

Highly recommend this....can learn a lot from people’s past experiences.  

We did b2b Baltic and transAtlantic on HAL Eurodam.  Enabled us to stop at Greenland and Iceland as well as some Canadian ports.  Was a fabulous cruise.  It is a long day if you try to include Berlin; because of that we chose not to do it.  Tallin, st Petersburg, Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Belgium,  Helsinki all great!  

On 11/2/2018 at 7:21 AM, Chairsin said:

I’m with Frantic on this one - after all I have read I must agree the TA (who no doubt has been banging her head against the wall) deserves to be nominated for sainthood. 

 

 

SMH.....I think this post sums it up.  I know if I was the TA I would be considering a career change.  And whatever commission she got, it likely was no where near enough.  

On 11/2/2018 at 8:06 PM, travelingman said:

This post was in another forum.

 

So this is what I have received in writing from Viking.
 In the past clients could negotiate the final payment date up to 6 months prior to departure. There has been a recent change on this. For new bookings made as of November 1st 2018 (or for existing bookings that revise to a different cruise after November 1st 2018), the final payment date can only be negotiated up to 12 months prior to departure the latest. This is fair across the board in that all customers (all travel agencies as well as passengers that book direct with Viking) can only negotiate up to 12 months prior now." end quote.

It seems this is only a change for US customers.

 

i am curious if this policy change will make any of the Viking customers consider other rivers cruise lines due to this change in final payment?

 

 

That plus the fee they charge if you cancel well before final payment would make me reconsider.  

On 11/1/2018 at 7:00 PM, Loreto said:

The Best Western Yacht Harbor has airport shuttle service and a shuttle to the cruise pier.  We have stayed there a number of times and will be staying and leaving our car there this month for our Eurodam/Mexican Sea of Cortez cruise.  There are restaurants across the street and we have been pleased with this hotel and found it to be a good value for an overnight pre cruise.

 

Karen

This is where we consistently stay.  Short, free shuttle to the port.  Very good parking on-site and convenient to restaurants.  Free breakfast included and recently remodeled rooms.  

1 hour ago, KroozNut said:

I'm sorry, but that is still wrong, no matter how entitled you may think you are!

Totally and completely agree with you!  99% of the people in line likely know what they want but follow proper etiquette and wait their turn.  

4 hours ago, Hlitner said:

You have me wondering what would happen to the CC site if somebody like Terry (a very frequent poster and great photographer) was to start posting 25,000 posts...each with one of his travel photos :).  Just saying.

 

Hank

My thought exactly 👍

We did a Viking River cruise that was perfect!  We walked the Great Wall, saw the warriors up close and personal, visited Shanghi and Hong Kong.  Viking handled all of this seamlessly.  We have traveled the world both on land and by cruising and I cannot recommend Viking’s River cruise highly enough.  They have perfected China.

If you do a search you will see my comments detailing my experience with Trip Mate in the past. I explicitly avoid any company that uses them for claims processing.

Hotel Jazz....great location...liked everything about it, especially the rooftop deck!

We were in an aft cabin on Oosterdam last January. Aft cabins have always been our cabin of choice. But the noise was so loud my husband said “never again”. There was banging & sloshing that was disruptive. We do not mind vibration as we find that soothing and to be expected. We even called the front desk and were told it had to do with the direction we were sailing .. RT SD to Hawaii.

I think they just did a website update. Now Flightease gave me the option of choosing economy or business on the intro page. Just booked business class US-AMS round trip next summer for half what the airline shows for the same flights.

Yes, I did the same thing earlier this week. Fabulous prices. But we are using United business class.

Ours is booked through a big book store and I just booked our flights. I had to wait a little past the 320 day window. I kept checking back. It treats each leg separately..by that I mean the flight there as one and the return flight as another. I got an amazing deal for business class! Half the cost of what I could find by booking directly. I am a fan of flight ease!!

Another vote for Hotel Jazz. Stayed there for several nights pre-cruise...highly recommend it!

We have always had good luck arranging to join private tours with CC posters or with others on the fly at ports.

 

We no longer bother with cruise ship sponsored excursions. It is not a cost issue, rather a preference.

Us too. In fact, I am frequently the organizer and, in some cases, am still friends with people I met by organizing such tours. I make it a point to inform all participants that they owe for the tour even if they end up cancelling. In one case my husband took ill and we had to cancel and without hesitation I shared the tour contactinfo with my tour mates so they could still go as well as paid for our empty seats. I comfirm all details, meeting place and time multiple times. We meet at the Meet and Greet. There is always a chance plans may go astray but I try to do everything I can to ensure that does not happen.