Ready2go11

On the New Statendam last Christmas we had to wait at dinner a few times with a pager when we were there as a group of six and I believe there were only two tables set that large. At breakfast one morning they did push a four table and a two table together for us. Whenever we were in the club orange dining room as a two person or four person table we had no wait. 

To those that feel it is unfair that a new promo does not apply to existing bookings (I have multiple cruises booked and will miss out too)….

a few years ago I asked a TA that handled my all inclusive vacation if I could get a refund for the difference when my booked package dropped in price on their website. The reply- we don’t charge you more if the price goes up after you book, do we?

Logically, if you cancel and rebook you can get the new OBC offer but you have to pay today’s price;  the same as anyone else who is booking today would pay when they get the OBC offer. For that reason it is totally fair that it only applies to new bookings. 

I often book through an online company and I have to call and read them the numbers and pins from the gift cards and then wait on hold while they call Holland to apply the payment. A few extra steps necessary but worth the savings. I did ask last time if I could email them the card details and they said they cannot accept the details that way. Maybe your TA will be different but that is how mine works.
 

The gift cards all start with the same numbers, usually only the last 4-6 digits are different if that helps when reading them the info. 

I am not a fish fan and never order it but Dover Sole at Rudis is the exception. The foie gras there  is divine as well 

i used to love the truffle fries with garlic aioli at Pinnacle dinner but they discontinued that. Occasionally they are willing to special make it upon request. 
 

Best holiday treat is the panettone (tender white bread studded with dried fruits) served Christmas Eve in MDR and in Lido on Christmas morning. When you get it freshly bakes, YUM. 
 

p.s. there are now many crab seasonings out there but as a life long Marylander, nothing beats Old Bay. My nephew takes it everywhere with him, including to put on fresh Thrashers fries on the boardwalk. He brings a smile to others by sharing with strangers. 

I did the test booking last night both ways and it was not double for HIA but was $140 more than just the single cost so an extra $10 per day???  I did test bookings on big box site too and as a single the HIA w early booking bonus (I was pleased it was available) was exactly $700 as a solo and not the $840 using HAL’s website. They have different cancellation and final payment dates so I will have to consider that but may book through them since they offer the store credit bonus upon completion of the trip.
 

An aside - I have booked on board HAL and transferred to big box and then I have gotten best of all worlds. I love a deal (so I can book more trips)!

thanks everyone for the help!

Thanks Jacqui!

I am only in the planning stages at this point and considering how to maximize perks/minimize costs if I go solo. I may wait until we are onboard the October Rotterdam trip to book for a little extra OBC. 
 

There is still an early booking bonus available for an April 24 TA booked so hopefully it will still be available on the Fall 2024 cruise this October. 

Love CO for room upgrade. I am looking at a Nov 2024 TA using FCD and adding CO. Question- since this date is so far out, and I’d have to prepay CO when it is added, if I cancel the trip is CO fee refundable or not?

Extra credit question- if I book this online and add HIA now, there is a surcharge for HIA booking as a single. Does anyone know if I add HIA later (meaning in a week or two) if I can still add HIA and get the early booking bonus (or is early booking only good if you add HIA at initial booking)?
 

thanks for sharing any experiences!

Also, just off the QE. I agree with the prior poster. It is a beautiful ship and has been well-maintained. Of course it is not modern in design, but it is not expected to be.  It has the old world elegance I had hoped for on my first Cunard cruise.  Very clean, easy to navigate and everything was in good working order. Service and entertainment generally exceeded our expectations. 

I returned from the 12 day QE Alaska trip last Tuesday. I started with a sinus headache and congestion at the airport before flying home and less than 24 hours after disembarkation (just after I arrived home) I started a fever and chills and did a home test that was positive.

There were a significant number of people on board who were coughing, sneezing, sniffling, etc. especially when eating in the dining room and very few people wearing masks; mostly waiters and other crew members.

I had never tested positive for Covid before this. We did not mask, but washed hands frequently and used hand sanitizer. We also tried to avoid crowds and always shared a table for two (but tables are very close together in some venues). Fortunately my sister traveling with me continues to test negative but she had Covid about 8 months ago so that may have helped protect her (we both have had all available vaccines too).
 

Just a reminder that you may want to take masks, tests and take extra precautions to not get sick. My case was not life threatening but miserable for 4 days with a variety of symptoms and I am not fully recovered yet. 

I am so happy for you that this trip seems to be exceeding your expectations! 
 

We are In Alaska beginning late next on another line because they had a 12 night option with a few new stops for us.
 

Question though based on your reports- sounds like it might be colder and /or windier than you expected. Is that the case?  I may need to rethink what I packed because forecasts I’ve been tracking sounded like 50s and even low 60s and was hoping it would not feel like winter (just maybe late fall 😉). 
 

thanks 

Last fall in Ketchikan we really enjoyed the Silverking Lodge seafood feast and boat ride to get there. The scenery on the boat ride is amazing and the seafood feast (a seafood boil) both exceeded our expectations. The hosts at the lodge were welcoming and the brief walk through the rainforest at the lodge was otherwordly. Our expectations were exceeded. 
 

in Skagway i would go back for the fry bread at the small shop in town (on a side street off the main road). Eating that warm, cinnamon sugar crispy yet pillowy treat was heavenly. 

I did see a sample menu when I clicked on the dining tab and then clicked “see details” for the Frontier venue after I signed in to my journey. Not sure if you happened to see that to get an idea of what it might be like 

Good morning.
 

Looking forward to my first Cunard sailing in a few weeks and I am considering wifi purchase now. Shows as $288 for premium plan for 12 nights. Does the price go up if I wait to book onboard?  I am a long time HAL cruiser and they do charge more if you wait, but waiting will let me use generous OBC I have. 
 

thanks!

Thank you so much for documenting your journey!  I know it is time consuming and feels like a chore at times, especially over 182 days!

i cant wait to retire and take a longer cruise although I plan on starting with a 30 day to start and work my way up to the WGC. Someday….

Until then, i know where to find good pizza in most ports around the world thanks to you. And everyone in my family wonders where on earth is Bill and Mary Ann today as we have followed your various journeys.  We were on the last leg of your repeat Alaska journey last September and appreciated the tips you shared in your blog the first weeks you were on. Helped us know what to look forward to. 
 

many thanks!

52 minutes ago, Uncle Sugar said:

What was done, after we disembarked, several non-refundable OBCs were inexplicably listed as “Charges” on the Guest Services rendition of our final folio. Because they were charges, they reduced the amount of non-refundable OBC we had available for our onboard purchases by about 30 percent. Since the non-refundable OBC was smaller, more of our purchases were then applied to our refundable OBC balance. This had the effect of reducing our refundable OBC as submitted to Bottomline Technologies.

 

How do we know that some of our non-refundable OBCs were removed? Because the Reference codes on the Guest Services version of our final folio listed them as separately as “SZ” (Shareholder), “FZ” (Future Cruise Deposit), and “BZ” (Promotional). These particular codes all had a time stamp almost ten hours after disembarkation and fell under the "Charges" category of “$$COMPUTER." Bottom line, the Guest Services folio did account for all of our earned non-refundable OBCs, but then removed some of them after-the-fact—very curious.

What happened to us is exactly what is listed above!  We have checked the gift cards, and they still have zero balances. The folio print out shows the gift cards being added to our accounts and each is listed as refundable credit. 
 

With the BBB complaint we uploaded the folio with notes and highlights on the questionable post- cruise charges and included our booking documents showing OBC and crew appreciation was included in the fare paid. The first items on the folios show the included OBC loaded and the shareholder OBC.  Its just after we got off the ship they took them back. I just can’t believe they won’t even talk to us to explain their reasoning and refuse to refund. 
 

I will try the customer service email and again include the pdf of documentation supporting what the refund should be.
 

thank you everyone for your suggestions and commiseration!

My family and I traveled in two cabins on the Royal Princess over Thanksgiving. We loaded gift cards to our onboard accounts and didn’t end up needing them.  When we left the ship we each had a credit balance and we thought the unused balance of approximately $300 each would be loaded back to the gift cards. instead we received a check for $15.59 by mail for refunds of port charges. I called Princess three times and they referred the matter to their accounting office. However, no one ever got back to us after these calls. 
.

In January I filed a complaint on the Better Business Bureau website. Princess responded that they owed me another $65 and that they had sent a check for that amount to me. More than two weeks later I have not received that check. I provide a detailed one board account statements and explanations to them and rejected the BBB response. I asked for a phone call to discuss the accounts. They replied that I had received the refund I was due, and they considered the matter closed. 
 

To absorb the credit balance in our on board accounts, they reversed promotional OBC from the booking, shareholder OBC, added back crew appreciation that was part of our booking package and billed us for random charges, all in the days after we were already back. 
 

We are furious that they took our money, doctored our on board account statements after we got off the ship and that they refuse to address our concerns or even talk to us about it. This is dishonest and fraudulent. 
 

Any suggestions for next steps are appreciated. 

Thank you for the advice but i already tried both. I started with the HAL reservation line listed on the web page for help. They received the same error after entering all the info) and then gave me the number for FlightEase. I called that with the same result and they are the ones who told me about the 200 day “tip.”

i will likely just go straight to the airline; in this case IcelandAir. Flightease was slightly cheaper but luggage not an issue so I would rather lock in to a price 

I have been trying for a week to book a flight in October using flightease from BWI to Amsterdam, first online and then via phone. Although it says flights are available and they have a limited supply I keep getting errors saying purchase cannot be completed at this time. This message comes up after entering all of my information and trying to click on book. The same thing happened to the agent when I called on the phone.
 

They told me when the trip is more than 200 days out, they sometimes see this error and that I should try again when it’s less than 200 days. The fare is very good so I hope it is still available then. A little frustrating that they show flight options and let you get through all the screens only to have an error. 

Thanks for the quick response. Disappointing given how much money I’ve spent on HAL. I thought it would be nice to attend a bronze ceremony with my sister as a shared memory. I guess it will be memorable in a different way now 😉

We do not need 4 star pins. Important thing is to receive the benefits (which we did). 

I reached 100 nights earlier on this Koningsdam cruise but did not receive an invite to the 11am on board ceremony. Do they make you wait until your next cruise?  I always thought it was the cruise you earned it on. 
 

Btw, my sister and I achiever 4 star at the conclusion of our last cruise in October and never received a pin or any recognition, although our account and benefits on this cruise do reflect 4 star. 

Thank you for all for the helpful replies!

Leaving next week for my first cruise as a 4* since earning it in October. Very excited to enjoy my new perks. 
 

Curious as to any recent experiences of the wine tasting listed on the Mariner star chart, specifically on the Koningsdam. Do they actually hold the event?  If so, what can we expect?

thank you in advance for any helpful comments. 

13 hours ago, Hygge! said:

We are currently on the Koningsdam and in Club Orange. You can easily request a table of two - which is what the majority of folks are doing. Also, fresh squeezed orange juice in the mornings and no up change. Great service.

Thanks to everyone for the information and the photo.  We are a party of 6 trying CO for the first time on the Kdam on a Christmas cruise. Can you share the in room breakfast menu that is supposed to include some extra choices?

I received a similar notice in my cabin on my September cruise on the Zuiderdam. I use an app to control my credit card and often lock it to avoid fraud, and the card I registered to my online account was locked when they tried to do the authorization. 
 

i unlocked the card, went to guest services and they re-ran the authorization and had me sign a credit slip. All fixed and all my fault in the first place. I will admit to being a bit peeved when I saw the notice until I realized the why. 

Thanks for the responses. I will be glad with the free extra day they added to the cruise right after I booked. They added a 15th night with a stop in Half Moon Cay. Thanks for that bonus HAL !