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Be careful Uber surge pricing can be expensive. We were going to Uber then decided to use the hotel shuttle for $12 pp and saved $20.

Yes, absolutely 100% yes, we did a 10-day cruise in the Mediterranean with my daughter over the summer and she had a blast. They will definitely be other kids onboard because it's the holiday season. The kids on her cruise still have a group chat going and they keep in touch. She is a cruiser for life!! No better way to travel. Taking her back on celebrity next summer to Greece and turkey. You don't listen to the naysayers on this board and go for it !

Yes, that is fortunately false. Just did 7-night Eastern Caribbean on NS and most people dressed up for the formal nights and there was a nice splattering of tuxedos in there as well. This was even a bit dressier than our celebrity Mediterranean cruise last July, which surprised me. No wife beaters and my husband felt underdressed in slacks and a golf shirt.

It's ok - we lived! ☺️ I think I should have followed my instincts instead of following the crowd. Moral of the story / wear what you want and don't look back! 😘😘

Just disembarked from 7 night on Nieuw Statendam Eastern Caribbean. For every person on this board that insisted and argued that they wear golf shirt to chic night (and many insisted they wear shorts), there were a large number of people wearing suit jackets, long sleeve shirts with ties and even tuxedos. I saw several women in beaded (even long) dresses. If you don't like to dress up for your vacation, this message is not for you, but for those of us that DO - go for it! Enjoy dressing up and have a glamorous, relaxing evening on board. I didn't bring a jacket, tie or even long sleeve button down for my husband and really felt bad that we did not. Next time I will know better from my own personal experience. Cheers!

We left Bimini yesterday. The beaches are amazing! We rented a gold cart and did our own thing. Watch YouTube videos about it. It feels more like an eastern Caribbean port not the Bahamas. Take the golf cart down the road and find this little shipwreck behind the cemetery.

Mine was decent - nice heat. They also provide a make up mirror!

You need a glass of wine and a vacation 🤣

Good to know! Thank you so much!!

Boarding now!!! I definitely wasn't proposing to taste every wine. I was wondering if they walk you through the descriptions, you let them know your preferences and they make recommendations. Sometimes if you are unsure they will pour you a TASTE. Not uncommon. My husband had the bartender pour him a taste of a beer at the airport bar yesterday for an IPA he had never tried. It is also proper etiquette for the wine steward to present the bottle that you chose for you to verify the proper vintage, inspect the cork and to allow you to taste it. I've never turned away a wine, though. 🍷

Question on the wine package - do they walk you through it or let you taste the wines prior to making your selections or is that not a thing? 😊 We are leaning towards a wine package.

Love this!!!

Love it!

Yes, seems to be on every excursion. My hubby likes to joke "and now I'm going to be taking you to my brother-in-laws shop to look around" 😂🤣

Rick Steves offers some pretty good waking tours on his app "Rick Steve's audio Europe". I did one in Venice that Rick made with the public transportation boat through the canals - it was amazing. You can pause, slow down, speed up and skip through the audio tours on the app as well so it made it really easy. We also went in several HAL EXC tours through the Mediterranean, which we absolutely loved and enjoyed every moment. This was pre-COVID. We just did another Mediterranean cruise through Celebrity in July and, although we absolutely loved the ship and onboard experience, the tours felt incredibly rushed. This was partly due to the post-COVID world that we are in now. We have two HAL cruises booked and one Celebrity, so we will be doing a combination of on our own things and special shore excursions. Thanks for the tips!! Cheers

With ice tea and lemonade as included beverages, my husband makes himself an Arnold Palmer with 1/2 ice tea and 1/2 lemonade. ☺️ I like the creativity 🥰

So it is a hurry up and wait situation?

You can go there to get TSA precheck hours at every airport https://www.tsa.gov/precheck/schedule Clear is only good for one year but puts you at the front of the tsa precheck line

So even though my boarding pass now shows 11am, I won't be boarding until after 11:30am? And does Group A mean anything? Thank you !!

Yes!! We have similar philosophies!! I never realized unlimited laundry is less expensive than most baggage fees on airlines these days. Thank you!!

Cool! I will check it out!

Thank you! It is a refundable deposit. I don't think the amount of the deposit would change depending on the person...I'm paying for both rooms I just want to keep my current fare and perks! Thank you again!!

Yes, just trying to bring a light topic to the board with some positivity. We are clearly supporting HAL and spending money while onboard and I just recently learned about the spa raffle and some other fun ideas. I figured the HAL connoisseurs on the board knew fun free things to do on board or other money saving traveling tips! We like to spend but do so economically. We also splurge to treat ourselves. We attend happy hour where the second drink is 25-50% off. We will probably also bring two bottles of wine onboard. It is good to know about the spa coupons and doing lunch in the pinnacle. Also, we do this no matter where we travel - not just this cruise. We usually have a good idea of our budget and try to stay within reason but most of all relax and have fun. That is one of the things that we love about cruising Holland America is that all of the meals are included and there are no surprises trying to track down touristy restaurants. Happy cruising!

I saw the lunch in the pinnacle grill and that is a good one! I had forgotten about that - thank you! It is exactly what I was looking for and I will check out the wine packages. I was wondering about those as well. Thank you and happy sailing!!