Tom O.

Thanks a bunch. We have not cruised since our last one was cancelled because of Covid.

Since that time, my wife has become partially handicapped, and we though we might never get to cruise again.

We decided we could try cruising with a wheelchair. We would not use a regular wheelchair, just what they call a transport chair which requires someone to push it (that would be me). We don't need an accessible room since she can still walk short distances.

I was wondering if HAL still allows people to order a meal out of the dinning room to be delivered to the room. That would be easier for us than going to the dining room.

I have never been on the Koningsdam, and I have never booked a suite before. But on the cruise I am looking at the price difference is not much for a Veranda.

The vista Suites on the 4th deck are on parts of the ship that stick out slightly. This sounds good to me, but are these room a good choice? What are the cons and pluses of these rooms.

Thanks in advance,

I will have extra time in Cabo and would like to charter a quality fishing boat. One that is capable for going after tuna, wahoo, etc.

Any suggestions?

5 hours ago, Astro Flyer said:

This brochure shows all of their dining options by ship including the cost for specialty restaurants.

 

 

 

dining-options.pdf 1.56 MB · 32 downloads

Thank you Astro, that information was just what I needed. There was nothing on the Princess website that I could find that told me the actual prices. But that may be because I don't have a cruise booked yet.

I am sure this has been answered a hundred times, but I cannot find it anywhere.

How much extra are the specialty Restaurants?

I would be on the Crown Princess, so I believe the only specialty restaurants are Sabatini's and the Crown Grill.

Also what is the charge for the Ultimate Balcony Dining?

3 hours ago, mom says said:

And cowboy hats. I don't care where you're from.

 

 

Cowboy hats can be part of formal wear, as long as they are taken off at the table.

Thank you very much for all that information. My travel companion will have an Iphone, so he will probably make more use of the medallion than me.

I feel better about booking now that I have a better understanding of it.

I downloaded the Cruise Answer Book, and there is no mention of medallions in it. In fact it was mentioned that I would get the old fashioned cruise card, that I could open my room with.

Thanks again,

I have not sailed with Princess for several years, and all this Medallion stuff is new to me. I am very confused. 

First I do not use a smart phone, I use a flip phone and am very happy with it. I have no desire to use WiFi on the ship. Will I still get a medallion even though I cannot download any apps? Does the medallion cost extra?

I suppose without a smart phone I can still use the medallion as a room key and for making purchases.

But there is no way I can input information into the Medallion since I won't have access to the app.

Can I just show up at the terminal and get the medallion at the counter?

Does Princess still have the old room key cards available, like I am used to?

I understand the ban only applies to the largest cruise ships. Does anyone know what size ships will be affected? 

34 minutes ago, kazu said:

 

I think you summarized it well.

Unless things get under good control, I doubt Canada will open the borders but there’s a lot of time between then and now, so who knows?

Everyone here is right. And just to clarify, no cruise to Alaska can happen, if Canadian ports are closed. U.S. law requires all foreign flagged ships to make at least one stop in a foreign port, before they are allowed in a U.S. port. On Alaska cruises the only foreign ports in reach are Canadian.

I would hold off buying airline tickets and wait and see what happens.

This is a little off topic, but when I read this article, I was surprised  at how many crew were on board. This ship is out of service right now, but still had 105 crew members on board. I guess they need that many to maintain systems and keep things looking nice. And this is a small Viking ship, how many are on board the big mega ships?

Meanwhile the cruise lines are paying all these people while no money is coming in. No wonder Carnival has sent several ships to be scrapped.

I would just like to mention that Holland America Line ships are registered in The Netherlands, but that hasn't kept them from hiring mostly 3rd world employees, and making them work long hours with little pay.

It looks like it is a buyers market for cruise ships. I wonder how much money a cruise line gets when they scrap a ship. Maybe I can afford one - it would make a heck of a houseboat!

Thank you all who replied, this information is very helpful.

1 hour ago, Baron Barracuda said:

Don't know what VO will do but just today Norwegian, Regent and Oceania cancelled all their October sailings.

Yes, I heard that too, about Norwegian. I didn't know about Regent and Oceania, but then I remembered that Norwegian owns both of those cruise lines.

25 minutes ago, Heidi13 said:

Our FCV could be used for any costs up to embarkation - SS Package, gratuities, air upgrades, pre-booked shore-ex, etc.

I guess I didn't make my question clear. What I wanted to know, did you get 125% credit for cancelled flights and excursions as well as the cost of the cruise? Or did you get 125% credit for the cruise, but just received 100% credit for the flight and excursions.

I am trying to advise some friends who have a mid-October 2020 cruise booked. They are expecting Viking to cancel that cruise, but so far they haven't.

They would like to have that 125% offer to book a cruise next year, but are concerned there won't be any availability if they wait any longer for Viking to cancel the cruise.

I have two questions 1.) Does the 125% offer just cover the cost of the cruise? Or does it also cover the  cost excursions and airfare that they also booked through Viking?

And 2.) Has anyone heard anything about October cruises? Does anyone think they will actually happen?

Their cruise is an Adriatic Sea cruise.

I finally received my deposit refund yesterday. I cancelled the cruise on March 28th, well before the final payment was due. Since then HAL cancelled the entire cruise.

So it was pretty much exactly 60 days before I received my refund.

After reading replies to my rant, I decided to call Allianz, and see what they could do for me.

All of the information on their website said I would not be entitled to any refund. But when I called and told them my situation, they said they would make a one time exception to their rules and will refund my money.

They just sounded so negative on their website, that is sounded hopeless.

So, I am a happy camper once again, and will consider Allianz in the future.

1 minute ago, Coral said:

I purchased Allianz for my cruise in April. Since I had not filed a claim, and because the cruise was cancelled, they refunded my money. They would have also transferred it to another trip 2 years in the future. I actually found them easy to work with.

 

Yes, I saw that. But because my cruise was farther in the future (August), that didn't apply. I was hoping they would extend that policy to cover my dates. But not so far.

 

4 minutes ago, RJ2002 said:

Will they let you apply the premium to another trip?

No, they won't even do that.

They must be rolling in cash, since they collected all those people's money, and have no claims, because nobody is traveling.

Their refund policy is that the policy can only be cancelled within 10 days after purchase. It can be longer for residents of certain states, due to state laws. But unfortunately my state, Utah, is not one of those states.

I purchased insurance from my travel agent when I booked my August Cruise last December. The insurance was from Allianz, the largest insurance company in the world.

We bought it mostly in case we needed a medical evacuation or something during the trip. I never thought that my cruise would be cancelled, I have never cancelled a vacation myself.

So now the cruise is cancelled, and Allianz refuses to refund the $575 we paid for it. Also, they refuse to cover any loses we have suffered from this cancellation. HAL should refund our deposit, but we also added the cost of our flight and an expensive hotel in Copenhagen to the coverage. Delta allowed us to cancel our flight for a future credit, but we are going to lose the money we paid for that hotel. Allianz says that since this is caused by a pandemic, they are not responsible.

So Allianz won't refund our money or pay for our loses. What a completely useless insurance policy. I will think twice before ever buying travel insurance again. And I will never do business with Allianz again.

Just letting you folks know, I received a refund today, for the extra items I ordered for my cruise. This included some excursions, specialty dinners, etc.

I cancelled them on March 21. I have not received my deposit refund yet, I cancelled the cruise about a week after cancelling these incidentals. So, I am thinking I will get that soon.

12 hours ago, Krazy Kruizers said:

Even though we don't have any current cruises being cancelled, in the past when we did have to cancel a cruise, our pre-booked specialty restaurants and excursions were cancelled right away and saw that money on my credit card right away.

That was our experience in the past also. But it is not our experience now. We cancelled all excursions, specialty dinners, etc. a month ago - we received emails for each item, but no refund to our credit card. In fact, when I didn't get refunds for these extra items, it alerted me to the fact that HAL was experiencing problems. That is when I went ahead and cancelled the entire cruise. No one from HAL warned me that I wouldn't get my money back right away, but when I cancelled the entire cruise, my TA said it would be about 60 days. So I assume the same delay applied to the extra items as well.

Just a heads up.

I received an email from Delta Airlines last night, where the CEO announced a new policy for all canceled flights through Sept 30th. If you cancel your non-refundable flight you will get Delta E-Credits to fly in the future. These E-Credits are good until Sept. 30th, 2022.

So, I canceled our flights to Copenhagen next August. I had already canceled our Baltic cruise with HAL, so I was thrilled with this new policy. I thought the money I paid for our flights was lost.

I would assume other airlines will soon follow suit.

I have no doubt that major airlines will survive this pandemic, flying is a necessity in this modern world. So, I do not hesitate to accept future flight credits. But I don't have the same confidence in the cruise industry, because cruising is not a necessity. So, I would be very hesitant to accept future cruise credits.