Hlitner

Not sure why you cannot get the late (main) dining anymore. But you might consider that HAL is one of the last cruise lines to even have Fixed Dining. Just about every line has moved to an open dining concept. Why? We asked this question of a long time Matire'd when we were last on Princess and he told us that Fixed Dining had become a nightmare for staff. Many folks would select Fixed Dining and simply not show-up on most nights. This left empty tables, many empty chairs, messed up planning, and created staffing problems. Princess has tried to deal with this with a system that allows folks to reserve dining times (you can do this well in advance or the day of) but even this has issues. I do think that Fixed Dining has become somewhat of a dinosaur in the cruise world. But as we are aware, HAL does tend to hold onto dinoaaurs whether it be their policies or their fans 🙂 (Ok folks, lighten up). We would add a shocker to many HAL fans. Seabourn, which is part of the HAL Group, does not even open-up for dining until 7:00 (in their MDR). Hank

There are some other nice options from Warnemunde. For example, you can walk over to the nearby train station and grab a train over to nearby Rostock. From that town you can spend much of the day taking the Mollie Steam Train. Later return to Warnemunde where you can have a relaxing dinner at one of the seaside restaurants. It is a much more relaxing day than the long round trip haul to Berlin. Hank

Guess we are hard core ship lovers as our normal goal is to be among the first on the ship (at embarkation) and the last off (at disembarkation).

Interesting comment about port times. We have always seen port times as a major incentive/disincentive when we choose which cruise (cruise line and ship) to book. With fuel costs sky high, it is tempting for cruise lines to cut-back on their port times. A 1pm (or 2) in Aruba is a real bummer as it makes a beach day (which is why many like Aruba) almost impossible. And leaving Half Moon Cay at 3pm (which means all aboard by 2:30) is not necessary. This is done so that HAL can reduce cruising speeds and it is even worse on some of the other HAL cruises such as with the Zuiderdam, Consider that on one of their 7 day cruises that ship leaves Grand Turk at 3pm (be onboard by 2:30) and does not arrive in St Thomas until 10am (leaves at 6). One could also look at the Volendam's Christmas cruise when they arrive at Curacao at 3pm! That is crazy for an island where many passengers might want to go to a beach, snorkeling, etc. For these reasons alone, we have advised some friends to book Princess in the Caribbean! Almost all the Enchanted Princess itineraries include a full day in port (usually in by 9 and out around 6 or 7). Hank

There are two issues, 1. When can you debark and 2. How long to get transport to the airport. As to the first, assuming your ship docks on time they will likely start express debarkation (folks that carry all of their own luggage) within an hour of getting the gang plank in place. Also keep in mind that it is a pretty long hike from the ship through the long gang plank system used at Barcelona, into the terminal, down the escalator (or elevator) and out the door. At that point you might face a long queue for a taxi which also adds time. But your likelihood of making it to the airport by 8:30 is pretty good. At that point, who knows. European airports have had lots of problems (often due to staff shortages). Personally, I would want to be at the airport about 3 hours prior to my flight and even 2 1/2 should normally suffice. On the other hand, some would suggest that the best course of action is to spend a night or two in Barcelona (a terrific tourist city) which makes it much easier to control when you get to BCN. Hank

We already see some key differences from Viking. It does not look like Explora is going to have any prohibition against kids and Explora includes tips as well as all beverages. There is also a big difference in "space ratios." Viking puts 930 on a 43,000 ton ship but Explora puts about 900 on a ship that is over 60,000 tons. While Viking has a passenger space ratio in the 40s, the Explora ships will be around 70 which is competitive with vessels of companies like Seabourn. Actually, the Explora ships are nearly 50% larger than the Viking ships and carry about the same number of passengers. Hank

I will be careful how I answer because the answer, "depends." It depends on the cruise line, the type air, etc. So, for example, several of the CCL owned lines (i.e. Seabourn, HAL, and Princess) will often have amazing international Business/First Class prices that can save a person thousands of dollars. The savings on domestic flights are not nearly as good. Those same CCL owned companies also have a "Flex air" option that allows folks to not pay (or commit) until relatively close to the cruise (often about 60 days). When dealing with the CCL companies you can choose your own flights. In many cases you can also choose your seats just like if you booked directly with the airline. There are also some downsides to doing cruise-air. I am not a big fan of letting the cruise line assign the flights as you may find you get awful connections, lousy airlines, etc. Some cr uise lines, such as Oceania, do have an option where a cruiser can pay an extra fee to choose their own flights (and also get some booking assistance). One big advantage to cruise air is that if the cruise line cancels the cruise they will also cancel the air (in most cases). If you booked your own air and the cruise line cancels or changes the embarkation/debarkation ports or dates you may find yourself stuck with the change or cancellation fees/vouchers etc. Hank

You should add Chase Sapphire Reserve (and Preferred) to the mix as that card also has cancelation/interruption and some evacuation insurance. Although we tend to agree with you regarding "travel insurance" we are very strong advocates of having decent travel medical insurance. For some folks that coverage will exist with their regular insurance, but for many others (especially those of us on Medicare) folks need to buy decent medical. I am also very critical of the medical component of many trip policies as the limits are way too low (usually no more than $20,000). Companies like GeoBlue and Allianz sell some decent travel med policies whether for a single trip or annual...and they have reasonable prices. Hank

We learned a lesson, on HAL, a few years ago when it came to wine service in the MDR. Our rule is very simple. We will not order dinner until after we have our wine! Even when we have shared large tables (our norm) there has been agreement (from table mates) about our "wine rule." I should mention that we generally follow our wine rule (do not order until the wine has been delivered) on other cruise lines. We like to enjoy wine with our food, not as an after-dinner drink. DW and I tend to dine late (on HAL that would be after 4pm 🙂 ) which means after 7:30 or 8. HAL has a rule in their MDR that none of the staff gets to leave until the last passengers have finished their dinner. If service is slow, we simply relax, chat with our tablemates, and have a good time. If it were to take 4 hours for them to serve dinner, then it will be around midnight before any of the staff get to go down below. Of course, this has never happened on HAL :). Hank

Very true. We were recently on the Seashore, in the Yacht Club, and stopped to chat with one of the Future Cruise folks who had nightly hours in the YC. We asked her if MSC was promoting Explora and was it possible to book Explora from the YC. She said it was now being handled as a completely separate company and the future cruise folks (on MSC) did not have anything to do with Explora. To me, it seems like a lost opportunity as those who book the YC would be the perfect group for marketing purposes. I will mention that we also cruise on Seabourn (which is a favorite line) and it is a completely different kind of experience than being the YC. We enjoy both types of cruises but being in a "ship within a ship" is quite different than being on a luxury cruise line. Our question is whether Explora Journey's will be a true luxury line or will it morph into more of a Premium product like Oceania or Viking. Time will tell. Hank

No question cruise/travel agencies are in business to make money. From my perspective a good agency/agent is a win-win for me and the agency :). The agencies that we routinely use (at the moment there are two) have made a lot of money, from our business, and show their appreciation by treating us well. From my perspective, we have saved 10s of thousands of dollars because of all the on board credits and other amenities we have received from cruise agencies. There have also been times when our favored agencies have been able to use their clout, with cruise lines, to resolve some issues. When a lone cruiser calls or e-mails a cruise line for help the are just one customer out of thousands. When a high volume agency (that handles hundreds or even thousands of bookings a year) deals with a cruise line, the cruise line tends to listen. Hank

The simple solution is that a decent cruise agent/agency that not only gets you the best deal but will also enhance it with additional On Board Credits (which can be thousands of dollars). Hank

Can help you with just about anything in PV (our winter home) but cannot recommend a specific company in Mazatlan since we have no personal experience. I do understand the excursion credit (we have upcoming HAL cruises with HIA) but keep in mind that Mazatlan is very tourist-friendly and most in the tourist industry speak some English. That funicular tour does look interesting :).

We were recently on the Seashore (out of Miami) and our cruises were nearly at full capacity. We know there were more than 4000 on our cruise and the Yacht Club was nearly sold out. Hank

I know this is bold of me, but have you considered just doing that funicular on your own or booking with a local tour company? Hank

I don't think that is much of a mystery. Those piers, that are located up and down the Hudson and East Rivers are owned by different entities ranging from private companies to the Port Authority. So while the Port Authority of NY/NJ owns the Red Hook facility (and nearby container terminal) as well as the Manhattan Cruise Terminal (12th Ave, Manhattan) and facility at Cape Liberty (Bayonne) there are other decaying piers owned by developers, various companies (some bankrupt), etc. Eventually, some of these crumbling structures do get developed (you can see some good examples in south Manhattan while others rot for decades while various interests try to get through the NYC bureaucracy to get the necessary permits to develop the sites. Sometimes everyone does get their act together and you do get good results such as South Street Seaport and the area around parts of Hoboken, NJ which went from rotting to expensive developments. The history of the port at Bayonne is fascinating. At one point it was owned by the US War Department and fell into disrepair. The Port Authority if NY/NJ managed to get ownership away from the Federal Government and developed the facility with the financial help of RCI. The Port Authority is a very political organization, but somehow, they do get some things done. Over the years we have watched as they gradually improved the three cruise ports (Manhattan, Brooklyn and Bayonne). On the other hand, nothing gets done in any of those ports unless it has the stamp of approval of the various labor unions (such as the International Longshoremen's Association). And I doubt if anyone can change a lightbulb in any of those areas unless it is done by a member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. A new bulb probably costs a few dollars, but the cost of getting it replaced is probably measured in the hundreds of dollars. DW and I once sat on our luggage, just outside the door into the Manhattan cruise terminal, because HAL had only hired a single "gang" of Longshoremen to handle the luggage. We happened to arrive during their lunch hour and they told us, in very strong language, that we had to wait until 1pm (after their lunch hour) before we could drop our luggage. It was an amusing moment shared by a few passengers embarking on the Prinsendam. Hank

I want to pose some questions?. You say, "wait a little longer to cruise." How long? 1 month, 6 months, 6 years, forever? Do you think that COVID is going to disappear? What about flu and other viruses? Will they disappear? Many folks (and health authorities) have come to the conclusion that we must live with COVID just like we live with Flu, RSV, and other viruses. There is nothing new about folks boarding cruise ships when they are sick. I am not sure what the medical staff can do? When we were on the Seabourn Ovation (last March-April) the cruise line still had mandatory pre-cruise testing and also required vaccinations. If anyone tested positive during our cruise (27 days long) they were immediately quarantined for 7 days. Despite all the precautions we still had a major COVID problem aboard (Seabourn would not tell us now many cases but it was substantial). We do not have the answers other than it seems that in order to "live" we must learn to live with this nasty bug. Hank

This depends on one's budget and taste. For us, nothing beats one of the small ship luxury lines and our favorite Alaskan cruise was a 14 day on the Seabourn Sojourn where we had about 425 passengers. If doing it on a mass market line, we would opt for either Princess or HAL because they have the shore-based infrastructure to go along with the cruise. Consider that Princess has their own rail cars, hotel (near Denali) and HAL has their own buses. Also keep in mind that when you are on a 3000+ passenger ship going into an Alaskan port with barely that population it leaves something to be desired. That being said, many on those large mass market cruises think of Alaska in terms of Diamonds International. large bars that cater to cruisers, tours designed for large cruise groups, etc. If that is what folks prefer than bless them :). Hank

We have had a couple of medical emergencies, while on cruises, and I am curious about the OP's situation. The "norm" is that the onboard medical staff will refer anything other than routine situations to a shore-based facility. The medical capabilities onboard are limited, and the ship's physician cannot be a specialist in everything! Is it stressful to have a medical emergency or urgency when on a cruise? Absolutely. But it would be no different if you were traveling on land. In fact, while on a ship you can get almost immediate medical care and consultations, but on land you might be at a complete loss of what to do, where to go, etc. This is all part of the "travel game" and those of us who do a lot of cruising and international travel must learn how to deal with these situations. Hank

Having done this for decades we have a few simple rules. Do not take any valuables off the ship that you do not really need. This especially goes for good jewelry, watches, etc. Our 2nd rule is that any valuables we must have (such as phone, money, credit card) go into a waterproof pouch that stays with me whether on the beach or in the water. What we leave on the beach is a cheap backpack with towels and sometimes our Kindles (not overly valuable). As to Passports, we never carry them unless it is absolutely necessary (very rare). We have pictures of our main Passport pages on our phones but the real documents are almost always locked in a safe whether it be in our cruise ship cabin or in a hotel. Over 50 years of International travel has taught us that the risk of NOT carrying our Passports is much greater than the risk of carrying the document. There are a few rare times (such as in some countries where I rent a car or a country such as Russia where you must carry we do have our Passports, but they are in very secure places (such as a Passport carrier under my shirt). We have never been to a beach where we needed our Passports Hank

A few years ago we boarded a Celebrity ship, at Port Everglades, for a few weeks in the Caribbean. We had the basic (at the time) beverage package which we intended to upgrade to a Premium package. As soon as we boarded the ship we saw an "old friend" bar tender who was staffing a table selling beverage packages. We stopped to say hello, and I told him we were going to upgrade our package and would be happy to give the sale to him. But I mentioned that we would wait until in International Waters since we did not want to pay Florida Sales Tax (it might have been 6% at the time). He said, "no problem" and he wrote it up on a manual receipt and assured us it would not be turned-in or processed until that evening :). The point is if you are making a larger purchase (like a drink package) it is best to wait until in International Waters unless you have assurances that it will not be processed until that time. The same thing can happen in Europe (sometimes you cannot avoid VAT depending on your itinerary) so there is much to say for booking packages before you ever get on the ship. Hank

So the OP asks about 3 specific ports (i.e. Mexico and the Bahamas) and folks post about Alaska and whatever, So for those ports, on a closed loop cruise, the countries do not require any Passports. However, you should check with MSC on their own requirements. Hank

There are dozens of cruise lines in the world and each have their own policies. There are also multiple fares for many lines, some of which are more inclusive than other fares. So your question is not easy, even for a person who has cruised on 16 cruise lines (me). We have all heard the saying, "there is no such thing as a free lunch." Even some of the best luxury lines (which are very pricy) sometimes will have a restaurant option that costs extra. There is also a lot more to cruise ships than included amenities. For example, so-called mass market lines (think Carnival, RCI, NCL) cram a lot of folks into a relatively small space (called space ratios which is the gross tons (a measure of space) divided by number of passengers). And when you talk about included food, keep in mind that the quality of food on some lines is far better than on other lines. If you post a little more about what you are seeking (number of days, part of the world, etc) many of us can help. You also could try and find a decent cruise/travel agent that can help steer you to a line that meets your wants. But keep in mind that you do truly have fare options on some lines, You can book just aboutt any line with or without various drink packages and/or dining packages. Disney is an excellent (but pricey) cruise line that really targets families with kids. Similar lines would be RCI, NCL, and MSC (some might also include Princess). Hank

The other options (other than cable car) would be that they can walk down to the tender port. We rarely see anyone take the donkeys down. Hank

Have no clue what ship left PV yesterday (when we are living in PV we can watch the ships come and go from our condo). Over the years we have seen unscheduled visits which are often to off-load medical emergencies. During COVID we also saw a few ships using PV to rotate crew. The PV port is actually close to an International Airport and also near several decent hospitals. As to the posts about ships tendering, as others have said, our port can handle three large cruise ships at time. When there is a 4th (or more ships than that ship will drop anchor just outside the harbor and tender. Over the years that seems to happen very few times and even less often since RCI pulled out of that market. If the new Vidanta Elegant ever starts operations than we would expect to see more days when somebody will need to tender. Hank