Tom O.
-
Posts
1,676 -
Joined
Content Type
Forums
Store
Blogs
Downloads
Events
Gallery
Posts posted by Tom O.
-
-
22 hours ago, Krazy Kruizers said:
This is not new to Mazatlan -- just do a ship excursion if you want to something away from the port.
I agree -- do not go outside and take a taxi to town.
A number of years ago Mazatlan was removed from itineraries.
When we were in 2016 the shop area at the pier had been expanded -- very nice.
I was on one of those cruises where Mazatlan was taken off the itinerary. It turned out to be a stroke of good luck for us. what happened is that the ship went straight to Cabo. Instead of the usual 1/2 day in Cabo we arrived a day early, and the ship stayed at anchor there all night. We loved spending the whole night there while the ship swung back and forth in the harbor. It was one of the most beautiful night we have ever spent on a ship.
We never cared much for Mazatlan anyway - we usually just stay on the ship that day.
-
56 minutes ago, Fouremco said:
Unless I'm misreading catl331's post, you'll be saving $2.18 by leaving your order in place.
You are right, I finally actually did the math. $2.18 is not a big difference, but I can't figure out how to cancel it anyway. I will leave the order as is.
-
13 minutes ago, catl331 said:
The price on-line includes the 15% service charge, and the room service menu does not. It will be added.
Here is Roger's price list scan from May 2016
http://www.rogerjett-photography.com/here/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Minibar-Price-List.pdf
Thanks, that is what I needed. I could not find that menu on his web page. I think the prices are still good, because the price of Heineken is still current.
Also I understand now the price difference for a 6 pack. But I was thinking there would be some sort of savings buying the six pack. If it is the same price, then I will cancel my pre-order and just drink beers out of the fridge or order room service.
-
19 minutes ago, doublebzz said:
Very odd. I had an existing paid in full booking and then purchased a $500 on board credit on the HAL web site with my AMEX card. Both the charge and credit went through simultaneously.
9 minutes ago, POA1 said:Same here, except we purchased ours through our TA. The purchase was recorded as a Holland America Web Order though. Email confirmation from Amex came immediately. The credit posted about a week or so later.
I'll see what happens, and will post here the results. Also after carefully reading the terms, I don't see anything that limits it to new bookings.
-
I searched everywhere trying to find the cost of soda and beer that are kept in the room refrigerator. I could not find the prices on any of Roger Jet's wonderful web site of HAL menus.
Is the price of soda and beer out of the fridge the same as the price on the room service menu? If not, what is the price for items out of the fridge?
I just noticed that the 6 pack of Heineken I pre-ordered for $37.50 is higher per beer than if I just ordered each beer off the room service menu. The room service menu has a price of $5.75 per beer, that works out to $34.50 for a six pack. So I think I will cancel that Heineken package.
-
1
-
-
Just thought I would relate my experience I had with this offer.
I saw this thread just before I booked an Alaska land/sea tour.
So I added the offer to my card, and then contacted my TA to make the booking. She told me there was a HAL special right now that only required a $200 deposit at booking time. I told her that I wanted to qualify for this offer and make a $500 deposit instead. She said no problem.
So, after waiting several days the $100 never showed up on my AMEX account, so I started a chat session with AMEX. I was told that Holland America recorded the $500 deposit as an onboard purchase and therefor did not qualify for the credit. The offer states that the credit is only for new bookings.
So, AMEX is going to contact HAL and try to solve this problem for me, because this was indeed a payment for a new booking. The only thing I can think of that could have gone wrong is that $200 went down as a deposit and the other $300 went down as shipboard credit.
If AMEX can't resolve the problem, than I will see what my TA can do.
-
42 minutes ago, terrydtx said:
You can also go to HAL and under manage my bookings find your cruise booking. On the left and side is a field "Book Flights and travel", click on that and then check "I need to book travel for flights: and hit begin. That will take you to a page that says find flights click on it and it will pull up you confirmed flights that you booked yesterday. From there you also add your Airline loyalty number and choose seats. You should get a confirmation from HAL or your TA if you used one, within 24 hours of booking confirming your air travel.
Thanks, I tried that and got to the page I wanted, finally. What is confusing, is that in order to get to it, I have pretend that I am starting a new booking. It would be nice if after I got to the Flight Ease page, there was a link that said "View Your Flight" or "Already Booked" or something similar.
-
Update: I found out I can examine the airline booking by going to the airline web site. In this case Delta Airlines. So I am happy now.
-
OK, so I booked my flights with Flight Ease yesterday. Today I thought I would look at the booking online. But, I can't find it on the HAL website. I can only find my cruise booking. I also never got a confirmation email. Any suggestions?
-
In the past, I have always done my own airline booking, because it was much cheaper. We just booked our Alaska cruise tour yesterday, and our TA said that the current offer from HAL included $100 off per person on HAL booked airfares. So I checked online at the HAL website, and found the prices to be a real bargain. The $100 was taken off the price per ticket, but even without that savings the prices were cheaper than what I could book myself. And as someone already mentioned, I don't have to pay anything until our final cruise payment is due. I can also change flights and cancel at any time.
I am very impressed with Flight Ease. I am very particular about the seats I get on airplanes, and I was able to select seats immediately after booking. I would not have even looked at Flight Ease, if my TA hadn't mentioned the $100 off. Unless I run into some sort of problem, Flight Ease will be my go-to method of flying to and from a cruise.
-
Thanks Kazu! I found it. This new HAL web site leaves a lot to be desired. I never had problems like this with the old one.
-
It has been 2 years since I sailed HAL. I have always been able to pre-order bottles of liquor before my cruise. I just booked a cruise for next August, and I thought I would shop for liquor on their web site. I have looked into "indulgences" but there is nothing there except a wine package. Am I too early? Should I wait until later to order booze? Or is there somewhere else on their web site that I need to look?
-
4 hours ago, ChinaShrek said:
Did you try the link above?
That worked! Thank you. It is kind of a mystery that it didn't show up among the 100 other offers when I logged in like I usually do.
-
I just searched through all my AMEX card offers, and I don't have this one available. It has either been removed, or it is not available for my card. I have the Preferred Blue Cash Card
-
I am looking at Alaska Land/Sea tour D2L, next August. The HAL website has a price for Verandahs starting at $2999. But if I make it a Seas the Day reservation the price goes up to $4267. That is a huge difference, so there must be some big benefits to the Seas the Day promo, in addition to all of the restrictions.
-
I can't find a description of this promo anywhere on the HAL website. I am sure it has been discussed here, but I wasn't able to find it when I used the search.
I found the "Terms and Conditions" info on the HAL website, but it doesn't actually say what you get with it. I noticed that the cruise I am looking at was quite a bit more expensive when it included the Seas the Day promo.
Sorry if this has been discussed extensively on Cruise Critic. Both the Cruise Critic and the HAL websites have been redesigned since I last used them, and I am finding them both difficult to use.
-
I appreciate the good advice. The links to brochures are very helpful. I think I understand all this a little more. Now I am leaning to a triple Denali tour. That will give us plenty of time to do the longer bus trips. pmjnh - I often book my own excursions, but for this trip I think we will just have Holland America take care of us.
Thanks again everybody, I am a little wiser now.
-
I have cruised many times, but it has been a while. I have never been on a cruise that included a land tour. I am considering a Land / Sea tour to Alaska, so we can see Denali.
I have found the HAL web site to be very difficult to use. It has been completely redesigned since the last time I looked at it.
I am trying to find out what is included in the land portion of the trip, I cannot find that anywhere on the HAL web site. Does the cruise include a bus tour to Denali, or is that an excursion that is extra? I just want to have enough time in Denali for one of those all day bus tours through the park. I assume that I would need to book at least one of their "Double Denali" cruises, is that correct?
Also, since my last cruise on HAL I find that all of their cruises (or maybe it is just the Sea/Land Tours) have numbers that I don't understand. For example D6C, is this just an arbitrary number or does it mean something?
Also which is better, starting the cruise/tour in Denali or ending it there?
I don't have any desire to visit Fairbanks, I just want to enjoy a nice cruise and be able to see Denali. I would appreciate any suggestions.
-
The main advantage in buying by the bottle, is that you have far more choices of wines. Also, if high quality is important, then the bottle is the way to go.
I have never done this, but last time I checked, if you don't drink the entire bottle in one sitting they will store it for you for your next meal. So, you and your husband could each have their own bottle served over several meals.
Personally, I am OK with cheaper varieties of wines, and my wife doesn't drink at all, so the wine by the glass works for me.
-
Thanks everyone, especially Calliope for that analysis.
We will probably try a Northern Mississippi route for our first river cruise. We are just in the very early planning stages right now.
Thank again.
-
First, I just wanted to say that I am not sure I am posting this in the right forum. I could not find a forum dedicated to North American River cruising.
Although I have a lot of experience with ocean cruising, I have never been on a river cruise. My wife and I thought that a Mississippi cruise or other North American River cruise would be an interesting experience.
It seems there are two competing cruise ship companies that do these cruises, and I don't know anything about either one.
If I pick the Mississippi, I have a choice of Northern or Southern routes. While the Southern route might be more traditional, I am concerned that I will be mostly looking at barges loaded with shipping containers and such.
We aren't interested that much in excursions, mostly we like sitting on a balcony watching the world go by. So a river cruise might be just what the doctor ordered.
So, I am open to all suggestions. Go ahead and tell me if these cruises are any good or not. Which river or route is the best? What cruise company is best? Ship recommendations?
-
One more "Do not drive in Boston" -- I regularly drive in New York, and occasionally in Houston and Los Angeles: both awful - but not as bad as Boston - where there is so much to see and do which you would miss by driving there - a truly great walking city.
Good advice. And what makes this city a great walking city is that the main attractions are all in a rather small area. The last time I was there, it was a port stop on a New England cruise. The cruise port is not located in a convenient location, so we took a cab to Faneuil Hall ($10). We spent several hours shopping there. Then we walked to the North End, visited the North Church, and then had lunch at an Italian restaurant. Then we took a cab back to the ship.
I was able to do this walk, even though I don't get around as well as I used to (since I had a knee replacement).
-
I forgot to mention there is the Amtrak train that goes south from Boston. But I don't think it goes through Plymouth. You will need to check Amtrak's schedule.
The city of Plymouth isn't really a major destination, it is a modern suburban town. But a lot of people do visit Plimouth Plantation.
-
I have been to Plymouth and stayed a few days there, but we didn't go to the plantation. I have always found places like the Plimouth Plantation to be kind of hoaky. A fabricated village full of reenactors, is not my cup of tea.
However Boston is my favorite city in the US to visit. You can spend several days there with all there is to see.
Here are some of my favorite things to see in Boston:
1. Walk the freedom trail, the highlight which is North Church.
2. The Haymarket and Fannuil Hall.
3.The Italian District in the North End.
4.The USS Constitution.
5. Having a Guinness beer in an Irish Pub
I would choose any of the above activities over Plimouth Plantation.
Also, you might want to buy passes for the Bean Town Trolley. It is a get on or off anywhere trolley that goes to all the major places of interest.
In my opinion, Boston is much more interesting than Plymouth.
Price of drinks in refrigerator
in Holland America Line
Posted
Is that off the room service menu or the Mini-Bar list? The price is probably the same whether it is room service or Mini-Bar. The beer prices are higher than what I found on the Room Service menu on Roger Jets site.