Balsam12

We stayed at the Days Inn by Wyndham Downtown. Easy walk to the cruise terminal. Not fancy, but clean and a good location. They also include a small buffet breakfast, which adds to the good value.

Interesting..... We had this hotel booked prior to a NZ cruise that was cancelled due to some virus. We now have another cruise booked out of Sydney for August 2024, and have booked it again and paid in full (only a single night). I find it strange that they are taking bookings and accepting payments if they will be closed for 12 months... Do you have a source for your claims?

One very big difference is that any ship sailing from Australia will have no smoking in ANY indoor areas, including the casino. You may see this as a good thing or a bad thing....

I realise this is an old thread, but we have just booked a cruise using an offer from P&O players club. We have a 12 night Fiji Adventure in an Oceanview room with $300 casino money for $500 for both of us. Too good not to take. Can anyone who has used similar offers tell me how the casino money works, and if they give you free drinks in the casino? Cheers

I don't think our play was huge, and I've worked in casinos since about 1988, so have a pretty good idea of what big turnover is. We played 1 and 2 cent slots, maybe averaging two to three hours per day. My other half and I play the same machine together, and we only ever put her card in the machine specifically to see if we would get some sort of offer. The best part is that we walked off the cruise nearly $1000 up as well as now getting what basically amounts to a free cruise... $420 of our $500 cost is Port fees and taxes, so the actual cruise is costing us $80.

Just to throw in another view /comparison of P&O.... We did a 7 nighter on Encounter in October last year, our first cruise with them. Enjoyed the ship, food was just OK, but not bad, crew were good. Embarkation in Brisbane was slow, but from memory there was some issue with customs that caused a delay. The bit that stuck in our minds was the other passengers... if you didn't have a mullet or a rugby league shirt, you looked out of place. Did it impact on us? Not really, but Bintang singlets in the MDR isn't our idea of a dress standard. We left the cruise not saying "never again" but we would need to think carefully before booking another one. We have since just returned from a Koningsdam Alaska cruise, and have decided that HAL are definitely a better fit for us, although next time we won't choose one of their ships that allows smoking in the casino. The twist in the tale .comes with the same story as someone posted previously. P&O just keep sending us offers for cheap cruises. This culminated last week when we got the offer of any cruise of 7 nights or longer at $500 for both of us in an oceanview with $300 casino money, so we booked a 12 night Fiji Adventure. Yes, it will most likely be an obstructed view, but at least it's some light, and we can always bid for an upgrade to a balcony. Hopefully being a longer cruise and not in school holidays might mean a slightly different crowd.

I'm not sure which cruise originates in Seattle in 15 September, then visits Vancouver on the 16th???

Cool. Thanks for the quick reply.

Please excuse my ignorance, but what is that dish?

Yes. As I noted in my post, I have read the HAL FAQ. What I want to know is the "procedure" for bringing water on board, and possibly the cost to purchase water in Vancouver prior to boarding. Thanks anyway...

Hello Good People, Doing our first HAL cruise from Vancouver in September, and not sure about the process for bringing water on board. We know it must be in cans or cartons, and there is a limit on the amount you can bring. The question is about how you bring it on board? With some cruise lines it must be carried on, is it the same with HAL? If so, how early do you have access to your cabin to drop it off? We don't want to have a case of water that we have to carry around for hours on boarding day... Finally, does anyone know the approximate cost of buying said water in Vancouver prior to boarding? Cheers, Balsam

The other thing to note is that with the elite package, non-alcoholic drinks don't count toward your 15 per day limit. If you like to have a few coffees and/or soft drinks, this could make the upgrade worthwhile.

Interesting... one of the things we really enjoy about cruising is the opportunity to sit with two or three different couples each night in the MDR. It's good to chat with new people and get their insights into the cruise and activities, and if you get someone that you don't really like, it's only two or three hours at dinner, so not a big deal. Some nights we prefer just a two top, and if we do specialty dining, it's definitely a two top. We actually thought that cruise lines had done away with shared dining tables due to covid, but if HAL still offers this we will be rather happy.

Now this pic is definitely to my taste....

Apologies if I misinterpreted your post. I read: "Actually I asked a captain once and he said no guns of any kind are allowed on ship and that ban covers crew, officers and passengers. I asked twice to be sure I heard correctly." I thought you did not believe that guns were not permitted, and therefore had to ask twice to clarify the answer. From your subsequent posts, I now gather I was incorrect. It actually appears we have the same view. Peace and Happy Cruising