Sea42

That's good to know, thanks for the information.

The only OBC I know for sure that is refundable is that which is given to us by our travel agent.

If you have refundable OBC you can cash it out and tip them directly. But otherwise I'm not sure how it could be done. I hope someone else can offer a better suggestion!

I have read that on one of the roll calls I've been going thru for excursion ideas for our 2025 trip. Sorry I can't remember which country it was but it seemed to be a requirement. I hope someone with a better memory or first hand knowledge will come along with a more definitive answer for you but I do know I have read that on CC before.

Our TA can arrange for late dinning for us. I would imagine she could do early dinning if that is what we wanted.

It is available in ST. Thomas https://coralworldvi.com/dolphin-splash-swim/

I thought the Military OBC was only available for new bookings only. Is that not the case?

Just wanted to add as an update - We had our appointment on Tuesday and received our cards in the mail on Saturday!

We only cruise every couple years or so. We have not seen all of the shows or gotten tired of the same old menus. I'm sure that's bound to happen though for those who cruise multiple times a year over many years. We have multiple land trips scheduled between now and our next cruise. I can guarantee I won't remember what was on the menus of our last cruise!

I would leave my luggage at the hotel, enjoy a stroll and last lunch in Amsterdam and then make my way to the port.

If you only booked two weeks ago, it is not too late to transfer your booking to your TA. Have you tried logging in on the HAL website to check if you do have the crew appreciation? If you try to prepay them under your booking it will not allow the purchase.

I'd have to disagree. Even here, in a rural, touristy area, we're paying more than that in very mid -range restaurants. I would rate the PG above these places and worth the surcharge.

Wow, that is a lot for a 7 day cruise! It must be a pretty full ship. That's more than we paid to go from a veranda cabin to a Neptune for 14 days in May on the NS but there were only 2 of us.

How long until your cruise?

The HAL website is notoriously awful. Try again another day and it will be back. I've had entire bookings disappear one day and then reappear the next.

For the one cruise we did do on Oceania, their price was very competitive with HAL. They also offered overnights at Easter Island and Bora Bora, which the HAL cruise did not. It was a great cruise and I wouldn't hesitate to sail with them again under the right circumstances.

If there wasn't an upcharge, I would try it out of curiosity.

With Oceania switching over to Simply More you can no longer opt out the package of items included. Price and itinerary have not been comparable for the the cruises we've looked at. Recent example being South America/Antarctica. O came in at almost $3000 pp more. Both without air. Both included WiFi, beverage pkg., excursion credits. HAL price also included crew incentive and 3 specialty reservations. O specialties are always included. While we did enjoy Oceania very much, we didn't like it that much more! BTW the HAL price was for 2025, O for 2024. It doesn't look like O is sailing there in 2025.

Thanks for sharing you thoughts. We haven't cruised with Celebrity but we did enjoy our Oceania cruise very much. I agree that the food on O was much better than HAL. I do prefer the service on HAL though. Oceania is the only cruise where I had a very poor experience with a cabin steward and the wait staff was very hit or miss on our cruise. We would sail with O again for the right itinerary and price. I do check when I'm looking to book a cruise and I haven't found a price/itinerary on O that I prefer over what HAL offers. I'm also not a fan of the new Simply More concept so we may just be a one and done with Oceania.

Because I thought HAL's charge for the excursion would be much higher than what booking directly with a provider would be. To me, that wasn't a very big mark up in price by HAL.

I had HAL cancel a shore excursion I was booked on with a HIA credit and it was available to use again but it was not on my OB account as a credit.

Wow, I think this is the first time I've read about someone getting the price match! Good for you for pursuing it! I'm surprised the HAL price wasn't much higher though.

Sometimes the HIA packages include the gratuities for your cabin steward/housekeeping and sometimes it does not. That will be on the list of included items on your invoice from HAL. There is a list on the invoice that will list WiFi, shore excursion, dinners, drink etc for each passenger. If you did not receive this invoice email your TA and ask for it. It always includes the tips for the drinks you order thru the package, unless you go over the dollar amount allowed by the package. If you go over you are than charged the price difference and the tip on only the overage amount. Ex. If drink is $1 over the price limit you would pay $1.18. The service charge for the specialty restaurant dinners included in the package is included with HIA.

I'm curious how any of this is cruise related🤔

Thanks for the information!