Hlitner

The situation with overcharges on HAL, goes back a very long time (perhaps more than a decade). The issue, for us, is not as much about an accounting error but the fact (and it is a fact) that multiple errors (often for similar reasons) can occur again and again and again. Calling it to the attention of Guest Services simply gets a message sent to the appropriate department (i.e. beverage, PG, etc) and eventually it does get fixed. But each and every overcharge becomes a separate issue. In our case, there the first few times the Guest Services folks would follow up with a courtesy phone call saying the overcharge and been corrected. But after it happened (many times) Guest Services stopped calling or even acknowledging our messages, but simply corrected the overcharge. After several weeks I mentioned to Guest Services that perhaps we could "help" by meeting with the Hotel/General Manager...but as you can imagine despite 3 requests for a meeting none were even acknowledged. Why? They obviously have a serious accounting issue onboard HAL ships, are well aware there is a problem. and simply refuse to discuss it with customers (even those of us who are 5*). They fix the errors that are caught by the passengers, and likely keep all the overage from the many errors not noticed by passengers. Others (not me) have actually speculated that the errors seem to be deliberate and could generate a lot of extra revenue when one considers the number of passengers and ships. We are not that cynical...but one must admit that problems that exist over many years, and are not corrected, could be construed as deliberate malfeasance. I would imagine if the accounting errors were in favor of the passenger the company would move heaven, earth, and the sea to fix the internal problem. Our most common overcharge was for drinks that were slightly in excess of the drink package. So, for example, a Cosmopolitan costs $1 over the Signature Beverage Package limit and should be charged $1.18. But, in many cases the entire drink charge (not just the overage) would be charged to the account. Day after day...even after it was pointed out to the bar tenders, bar manager, Guest Services, etc. The other issue has to do with free meals in the alternative restaurant (such as for 4-5* or HIA) that somehow get charged at the full price (when it should be zero). Hank

You can use the “change” option but there is always that nagging doubt as you eventually get a message that your original reservation will be canceled. We have never had a problem but you do need to again choose again choose seats as your booking number will be changed. Hank

As a general rule, a cell phone has become extremely vital to anyone in "travel mode" whether it be just flying from point a to point b, taking a cruise, etc. While it is usually possible to manage without a working smart phone, it is becoming increasingly difficult and will often leave the person, without a smartphone, at a huge disadvantage. I could list dozens of situations where a working smartphone becomes necessary to avoid travel delays (sometimes measured in days), dealing with rental car companies, hotels, etc. In fact we now know of one hotel chain (there may be more) that gives a room discount simply because a person has a smartphone that can be used as a digital key. On our recent Westerdam cruise (42 days) our phone and the HAL app saved us hours or standing in line at Guest Relations. HAL kept making constant accounting mistakes (overcharging us on a near daily basis) and we had to deal with Guest Relations to get each and every overcharge corrected (we are talking about hundreds of dollars). The first time it happened we waited in line (at Guest Relations) for about 30 minutes and than spent another 15 minutes at the counter. When we kept getting more errors we simply sent Guest Relations a message, through the app, which took us less than 30 seconds. On some cruise lines, the phone apps are used to make/change restaurant reservations, book excursions, or even order room service! Princess has a medallion system where you can order drinks or food, delivered to wherever you are on the ship (such as in a deck chair)...but it can ONLY be done on a smartphone. These are just simple examples but trust me that having (and knowing how to use) a smartphone can save you hours or even days when flights are delayed, cancelled, etc. Hank

I cannot agree that flightease needs to play nurse maid to folks when it comes to bookings. There is such a thing as personal responsibility. Flightease is simply a modified air search engine which shows (online) many flights. Folks can make their own choices about when to fly-in prior to a cruise, when to fly after a cruise, their specific flights, connections, etc. Like most air search engines, the criteria for flight connections are the "Minimum Connection Time" (MCT) specified by each airline for each airport. Many travelers have learned that MCTs are very tight and it is a personal choice whether one wants to take their chances with a tight connection or would rather cool their heels in an airport for many hours. Like many frequent flyers, we carefully choose our flights based on cost, connections, connection times, etc. Personally, I will drive many hour (sometimes 4) to use an airport that has flights that are non-stop or have fewer connections. We also prefer to opt for longer connection times rather than cut things close....especially when connecting in airports that involve complex terminal changes (such as changing from Terminal 5 to Terminal 3 at Heathrow). Folks should do careful homework regarding flights and connections. CC does have a blog where one can get some excellent air advice (Cruise Discussion Topics/Cruise Air) and some of the experts on that blog will not hesitate to warn folks about lousy choices. I will add that depending on a cruise line or most cruise/travel agents to choose one's flights is not a particularly good idea. Most folks in the business (such as PCCs) are not air experts. Even private travel agencies generally have little air booking experience since airlines no longer pay them commissions and most air bookings are now done online by individual flyers. Hank

Good to hear from my ole friend (very old) JB, I have been intrigued by Flixbus and their amazing pricing, but have yet to be in a situation where we can try that company. For decades, we have been unimpressed with the frequency and schedule of the regional bus service between Le Havre and Honfleur. It is a shame, but an unfortunate truth. One can certainly try to work with the bus schedule, but our preference has usually been to just rent a car. This gives us flexibility to visit Honfleur and other places in the region for a less money than a structured large group tour. Hank

We used to be big fans of Celebrity and cruised the line several times a year. But when Lisa Lutoff-Perlo took over the helm, she quickly noted her belief that Celebrity was providing too much quality for too little money. There were cut-backs (I called it "death by a thousand cut-backs) of which many were small things. But prices quickly increased and cut-backs continued. We stopped cruising Celebrity and focused more on the luxury lines (such as Seabourn) where we get a lot more value for our money. In fact, it is often less expensive to cruise on a line like Seabourn than on Celebrity in a "retreat" suite. Do folks like switching from Celebrity to HAL? I am sure some do and some don't. Personally, we have stopped booking future HAL cruises (after last year's 42 day cruise on the Westerdam) because we are no longer happy with the HAL product. That could certainly change in the future, but that will depend on HAL making some changes that make the line a better fit for our wants/desires. For now, the only mass market line we will book is Princess, but most of our cruises are now on much smaller ship luxury and premium lines.

Thank you, truly, for the tips/advice. We have just started to think this through as we have a Seabourn cruise, in the Spring of 2025 from Japan over to Vancouver. DW immediately mentioned that it might be a nice time of the year to do some driving in Western Canada (we often go to Ontario). Our current thinking is to do a one-way car rental from Vancouver to Calgary (from where we can fly home). That is a part of Canada we have never experienced, and Lake Lousie will certainly be on our agenda. Hank

I get it! DW and I had been in Naples, many times, when we finally were there on a day when the weather was not good for our plans (we are DIY folks). So we decided to finally "force ourselves" to sample some local pizza and went to well known Da Michele. We to a number and waited out on the sidewalk (with a 100 others). Every few minutes a man would come out and call out some numbers, in Italian! He finally called our number and in we went to this famous place where folks were crammed together on long tables that were so tightly crammed that customers had to pass food down the table. They only have two kinds of pizza, Margherita and Marinara. Drinks are soft drinks and served in cheap plastic cups. The pizza was good, the atmosphere a bit frantic, and we had fun. On another visit we stopped at some unknown pizza place (not far from Da Michele where they actually had some toppings and the pizza was even better than the famous place. Go figure. I think Euro Cruiser's message is correct in that there are many good pizza places all over Naples. It is difficult to imagine a bad pizza place surviving in that city. By the way, when we went to Da Michele, a majority of the folks waiting to get inside were Italian! We talked to a few and they were also tourists from other parts of Italy! We also noticed plenty of folks getting pizza to go....just like you see at home. Hank

LOL. We have had some of the best pizza in Naples, and it was not near as good as the average pizza in NYC! Go figure. One New Yorker told me that all the top pizza makers moved to the USA. 🙂 Hank

This is probably not what the OP wants to hear, but the best kids activities and facilities would be onboard! I am not aware of any waterparks in the Le Havre area. I think there are some places near Rouen and Caen, but this is a bit of a trip from Le Havre. Hank

The simple answer is NO! Ships head out to sea (well beyond the sight of land) where there is no shore-side cell service. As you near a port (to dock or tender) you should begin to get local cells somewhere inside of 10 miles (the range is best on the top deck). As far as Mexican cell providers, it is mostly two companies, Telcel and Movistar, both of which have so-so service ranging up to 5G. Service has really improved in recent years, but is still not as reliable as what we get back in the States. Hank

We practically live on Los Muertos spending a few hours, every day, on that beach with our own chairs/umbrella, There are quite a few options for food/beach with some charging nothing for a chair (as long as you buy food/drink) and others having a fee. There are restaurants in different price ranges. You could simply stop at the Sea Monkey (under our PV home) and try to get one of their beach tables. Beer/Margaritas are relatively inexpensive and there is plenty of food options. An alternative is to simply keep walking south (towards the pier and beyond) where you will see many restaurants. Check out the menus, talk to the staff, and make your decision. For a higher-end meal there are places like La Palapa where you can get very good food for a price. We would have no problem eating food at any of the southside (Romantic Zone) restaurants that are along Los Muertos. Hank

WOW, what a horrible mess. You do everything the airline requests and they still reject? You do not mention having travel insurance, so we assume that does not apply. We have some suggestions. Make sure to document everything that has happened (write yourself a memo with timeline) since events can slip from one's memory over time. Make sure to contact HAL, in writing (e-mail or snail mail) and keep a file of hard copies of all correspondence. If you are not getting any satisfaction then you might want to contact Chris Elliott, who has a travel advocacy group that can be very helpful. His website is www.elliott.org. These folks should be able to provide you with professional advice and may be able to help with HAL and Cathy Pacific. Having had some prior issues (related to travel claims) I would pass along some basic rules. Always keep your cool (do not get angry at those with whom you must deal), put on your patience hat (resolving this kind of issue can take many months), always be polite (you get more with honey), and do not give up! That last is very important since there are various organizations (especially insurance companies) that like to wear folks down and hope they simply go away! Hope this all works out. Hank

As others posted, none of those ports "requires" an excursion. In fact, we have been to all those ports and done our own thing using public transit, walking, and rental cars. The "secret" of cruisers is that some folks will not even walk off the ship unless they are part of an organized group excursion and others of us will do everything possible to avoid going on any group excursion. A majority of cruisers will use a combination of ship excursions, private tours, and Do it Yourself (DIY) depending on the port. My advice is to do your pre-trip homework (which can be a lot of fun) looking at all the available info on each of your ports. A good starting point is to simply look at your cruise line's excursions to get some idea of the more common options. You can than look at various online resources, tour books (often found in a public library), and also take advantage of the Cruise Critic Ports of Call boards where you can read previously posted suggestions and also post any specific questions that come to mind. There are quite a few of us who enjoy helping out other cruisers with specific advice on DIY options as well as private tours (you can sometimes join with others using the CC Roll Call Board for your specific cruise). Hank

You can have your wish, but will need to cruise on the new Explora 1 where they have it (along with lots of sushi/sashimi) in Sakura...at lunch. Hank

Good point. I really like Take 5, but that is mostly because it fits with my love of jazz. But the open concept has become very common on large ships. It just fits with the concept of an active atrium. We do a lot of cruising on small luxury ships where they do not have those large open spaces. But we do understand that large ships mean lots of noise! My point is that folks book these large mass market ships and expect something akin to a quieter laid-back vessel. Bad choices lead to unsatisfactory outcomes. I am always puzzled when cruisers complain about certain lines and ship designs, but keep booking those same lines/ships. Sometimes it is just the right time to move on. Hank

So let me try to understand the various posts. Music venues are not good because they have music which makes conversation difficult. Other venues are no good because folks who are talking disturb others. Muts is too loud, Muts is not loud enough! That being said, I truly disliked that the Sky Princess has no Crooners (or another similar option). What am I missing? Hank

I think folks need to accept that booking air, these days, is best done by looking at all your options and weighing pros/cons. EZAIR can sometimes be wonderful (especially for international Business/First Class) but other times may not offer much of a deal (or the desired flights). We do agree that if things go wrong with the airlines (i.e. schedule changes or cancellations) EZAIR may prove to be a real negative. Trying to deal with any third party booking company (like EZAIR) is often a negative when things go bad. The airlines will often refuse to help, insisting you must deal with EZAIR (or other third party companies) and those other entities may or may not be helpful. Folks may find it useful to use EZAIR Flex Air bookings as a "holding action" to secure a reservation months in advance. As the time draws near to actually pay for that EZAIR reservation, it is often wise to again look at other options (such as booking direct with an airline) and cancelling EZAIR. One also needs to keep themselves up to date on schedule changes (you may find out about changes by watching the airline web sites long before you hear from EZAIR). We often like to use the the term "its a jungle out there" when it comes to dealing with airlines. Let the consumer beware. These days, folks who take ownership of their own travel, and act accordingly, are often the ones who are not disappointed. Hank

After several meals in the Westerdam's PG (March-May) we think the only Prime Beef on HAL is in the minds of folks who are living well in the past. It is not that that the food/steaks in the PG are bad (they are OK) but they are just not up to the standard we would except from a mediocre steak house on land. We have long thought that our lunches in the PG were more impressive than dinners. Hank

I will be flamed for this. but dealing with an AI robot might be a few steps up from some of the humans who have previously answered the phone. What does it mean when many folks cannot tell the difference between a AI robot and a real person? Hank

You do realize that there are no trains to Honfleur (or anywhere close) and the SNCF has nothing to do with buses in Normandy? As to the regional buses, I cannot find the future schedules but here is last year's schedule which can give folks some idea of the frequency (not nearly often enough). Of course one would need to get from the port to the bus station in Le Havre. Liaison-LeHavre-Honfleur.pdf (ville-honfleur.com) Hank

Fifty years of extensive cruising has made me cynical to the extent that I think some cruise lines intentionally make it confusing. I will add that in all that time, and having been on more than 50 cruises (we lost count a long time ago) in the Med, we have never heard of any cruise ship tendering into Nice. In all that time we were actually on one ship that docked in Nice (the Regent Spirit) and that cruise line eventually went bankrupt. One thing we have noticed, in recent years, is that more ships now go to Monte Carlo where they can dock. It is something to consider when choosing a cruise. Hank

These kind of discussions are fun. In the final analysis folks make their own decisions and we just smile and sometimes say, "bless your heart."

No problem with a valid US License. However, it is always wise to go over to a nearby AAA office and purchase an International Drivers Permit. While technically not required in France, it is a handy document to have in the event you would get stopped by the police for just about anything. The IDP is valid for one year and it is simply a matter of AAA taking your photo and sticking it into the document. The other issue with renting cars in Europe is how you want to handle insurance. In Europe, the rental car companies do provide some mandatory insurance (within the basic rental agreement) but it comes with a high deductible. You can buy extra insurance (similar to the way it works in the USA) or some will choose to use the excess insurance provided by some credit cards. Hank

Agree with the OP. That was the HAL we adored and the Prinsendam was "our ship" upon which we managed to sail exactly 200 days. We now find ourselves attracted to the smaller upscale ships, and we suspect that much of our attraction to smaller vessels came from those days on the Prinsendam. Hank