CNSJ

Everyone looks for their own best "deal" My strategy is based on hotel points being more useful than airmiles. That's because airlines fly specific routes and the availability of reward flight reductions is so hit and miss. With major hotel chains (Hilton/Marriott/Hyatt/IHG) as examples, you can usually find a hotel in most cities around the world, and then use points for the room. I find very good value in booking travel related (cruises/tours/parking/car rentals) with Chase Sapphire Reserve. At 3 points per "travel" dollar, which I convert to Hyatt points (worth about 1.7 cents each per many websites) I get more than a five percent return. (also, when you book Hyatt rooms with points you don't pay 'resort fees'. If I buy AARP gift cards to pay for HAL items, I use another no fee Chase card that nets 1.25 points per dollar, using the same plan to convert tot Hyatt points (1.25 x 1.7 = 2.125% return), plus the 10% (now only 8%) savings from AARP gift cards. I pay a portion of cruise fare with Chase Sapphire for the travel insurance protection. With the cost of cruising going up, we need to find ways to save when we can.

Totally agree with Frantic! You will do many times better with Chase Sapphire Reserve. Three points per dollar on all travel....including cruises no matter who you book them with. As for the Magic Jack, has a similar issue when I was issued a new card number. Barclays should work this out. Chase bends over backwards to help when I have any issues.

Lived in New England for 25 years and we did whale watching up North from Maine south to Cape Cod. The big difference is in the environment. In New England, we were out in the open ocean. In Alaska, when we took the excursion from Juneau, the boat was in very sheltered waters -at times like glass. We left from Auke Bay and heading out into Favorite Channel basically circling Shelter and Lincoln island. We saw many whales and many other sea wildlife, birds, and even some land creatures. The boat was well set up for the excursion. Recommend it.

This is a good strategy.

Yes. This is what I am talking about. You can use the AARP purchased HAL Gift Cards on HALs website to buy/pay for just about anything, cruises, specialty dining, internet access, spa time, and just plain old OBC. No need to wait until on ship or go through your TA, unless you are paying for cruise fare.

Since you are using the gift cards for gratuities and other OBC expenses, you can add them to your account yourself as long as it's a week or so before you sail. Just logon to HAL website, select 'my account', 'my bookings,' 'extras', and then "On Board Credit.' Buy OBC in any amount in increments of $5, $25, $50, or $100. You would buy eight $100. Then checkout using your gift card to pay. You can see your OBC purchase just like other pre-cruise purchases. If you cancel cruise, they refund back to your gift cards.

Are you roundtrip Vancouver? If so, it really doesn't matter. HAL tries to get the wildlife to show up on both sides of the ship (contracts vary). If you are Northbound or Southbound, then, it matters a bit more.

Great photos! Love Cadiz! Love Spain. We enjoy Spanish, Greek and Croatian ports the most in the Med. Lisbon is outside the Med, but we love it as well! Just have not had as good a time in the Italian and French ports. To each their own I guess.

Is there a way to know which Captains are on which ships? When picking cruise A or B, that might be the deal breaker!

We had great service and enjoyed the ACT Bug Bus Anchorage to the ship. They picked dup at the Captain Cook Hotel and dropped us off at the ship. Easy!

We said with Captain van Hoogdalem transpacific in the Fall of 2022. (In our opinion) He was by far the best of more than a dozen HAL Captains we have sailed with. He handled the tail end of COVID like a master, and was the most open and candid we could hope for. We often found him enjoying meals in the Lido and seemed to love his job!

You need to (1) Join AARP - Its cheap. (2) Log into ARRP website. (3) Go to AARP Rewards section of their site. (3) Scroll down to the gift card area, select "See all rewards"

My understanding: The max onboard spend mariner points for a 28 day cruise is 56, one for each day of cruise (28) and a max onboard spend of 28. If you book a suite (not an upsell) you get double cabin points for 56, but are still limited to one per day for onboard spend. If you had HIA, you get usually get the max points based on the cost of the packages.

I believe I did the same cruise Fort Lauderdale to Bahamas. About the same time, the SS Emerald Seas again to Nassau. I was 15, and they rented me a Honda motor scooter.

There is something to be said for having some cash USD$ and widely accepted credit cards whenever you go ashore. Depending on the port, I also take my passport.

Reading the stories today about the NCL Passengers who missed last tender at an African port visit. It seems they had to chase the ship to catch up. Sometime I book HAL tours when the ramifications of missing the boat are extreme. Having to get from Zeebruge to Rotterdam, or Crete to Santorini is easy.....but remote parts of Africa.....I'll take the HAL Guarantee. From the Guardian: In a statement, a spokesperson (from NCL) said: “On the afternoon of March 27, 2024, while the ship was in São Tomé and Príncipe, an African island nation, eight guests who were on the island on a private tour not organized through us missed the last tender back to the vessel, therefore not meeting the all aboard time of 3pm local time. While this is a very unfortunate situation, guests are responsible for ensuring they return to the ship at the published time, which is communicated broadly over the ship’s intercom, in the daily print communication and posted just before exiting the vessel. “When the guests did not return to the vessel at the all aboard time, their passports were delivered to the local port agents to retrieve when they returned to the port, as per the regular protocol. Our team has been working closely with the local authorities to understand the requirements and necessary visas needed for the guests to rejoin the ship at the next available port of call. Given that these guests were on a private tour and did not return to the ship at the communicated all aboard time, they are responsible for any necessary travel arrangements to rejoin the ship at the next available port of call, per our protocol.

Recently had to cancel a cruise where cruise fare payments were made with gift cards. Her sure to keep the gift cards (e-gift card emails) - as you will need the gift card numbers and PINs to reuse them. Saving 10% is a very nice deal. Plus you can earn (with some credit cards) another 1-2% in cc points. Be savvy, cruise more.

I look forward to trying the King Crab of the Southern Hemisphere!

It is my understanding that the small amount of King Crab available is from Russia. Enough said.

Thank you for all you do and help with Cruise Critic. Enjoy your cruise and an early Bon Voyage to you!

Thank You BermudaBound2014 for a simply wonderful live blog. Truly appreciate the detail and opinions. Helps all of us cruise smarter. Look forward to a similar itinerary in 2026.

As with most cost-based travel decisions, "Is a suite worth it" depends on what you could do with the cost difference between a Verandah (or in this case a Vista Suite) and a Signature or Neptune Suite. Sure, an upsell is nice and is usually a bargain, but even then.... it depends on your financial situation. For some folks, thousands of extra dollars for business class airfare and a Neptune suite mean much less cruising. Then again of you only get two weeks vacation a year, and want to have a great time, maybe its worth spending the money.... No clear cut answer unless you are wealthy and cost is no object. In those cases....why not a Pinnacle Suite?

Very familiar with San Diego from my time in Navy and afterwards.....1 am, solo woman.....you should take a taxi. Since it's Amtrak, you'll be late....at 3 am, still need a taxi or Uber.

Very short walk on flat sidewalks. Area is safe.

I am not sure what Dutch tea is. Isn't most tea imported from Asia?