hawkeye3d

If you are on a tour through the cruise line and the tour is delayed, the ship will wait. If you are on your own and you are delayed then "into every life a rain must fall." The ship will not wait for you.

To wait, or not to wait is at the captains discretion. On another cruise line we, with another couple, got stuck in rush hour traffic in Amsterdam. When we got in sight of the ship there she was with a tug. Tugs cost around $5k per hour but they had waited for us, the guide called the ship as this was not a ship’s tour. They rushed us aboard, no security checks, and from there on our mantra has been “remember Amsterdam” when planning our own tours we try to get back at least 1 hour before the all aboard time.

Bob

Oceania has already announced that the remainder of the cruise where the incident happened, as well as the one immediately following it, have been cancelled.

 

What that means is that the next scheduled departure, as of my writing this, is the 180 day World Cruise, which is was supposed to sail from Miami at 5PM on January 10, 2015.

 

At present, Insignia is being towed, very slowly, by the salvage rescue vessel Abeille Liberte to Puerto Rico, where the damage will be fully assessed.

 

Given this situation, it is my opinion that the World Cruise Passengers will be informed first of the Insignia's next sailing date.

As of a few minutes ago Abeille Liberte was moored in Cherbourg France so I wonder who/what's towing Insignia

We just completed a 14 day New Zealand cruise on Oosterdam and did a price check. The wine was from a winery in Marlborough which we visited on a shore excursion. Villa Maria Sauvignon Blanc - $49 on the dining room menu. $11.99 in the local supermarket in Port Chalmers (Dunedin), and $15 at the winery itself. Paying the $18 corkage charge (for all bottles after the first two on day one, with a one bottle each exemption for the winery shore excursion) made this a $15+$18 = $33 bottle, which was still much cheaper than buying it on board.

 

I wouldn't say HAL is unusually high - Celebrity, which we had just done 2 cruises on immediately before this one, was much the same level. Celebrity doesn't allow any extra wine to be brought on board after the first day's 2-bottle limit. Should any cruise lines charge that much - that's another question. HAL's policy (new as of autumn 2013) is at least more flexible.

I have found that buying wine in port and paying the corkage was definately less expensive. I'm a fan of low priced wines, around 5 euro's, and I've mostly found some drinkable wines at that price, but there's always the barely drinkable which can also be said of HAL's lower priced wines. I found that even though Celebrity has a policy similar to HAL's that you cound bring wine abord in any port with no questions or fees. Other's who had many more Celebrity cruises confirmed that this was the norm.

Bob

We stopped using cruise line tours years ago unless there was no other choice, such as a change of schedule mid cruise. We find private tours more cost effective, tuned to our needs, and flexable so that more or less time can be spent at any specific locattion. We like the smaller size of the participants in private tours and the lack of busses.

Cruise lines now tend to try and extract every cent they can anywhere they can and it shows. Our upcomming HAL cruise includes 0 ship tours.

I’m already starting to feel a pain in my wallet.

I’ve had “this wonderful disease” for over 10 years and never (so far) an abnormal A1C. Don’t go carb crazy like I once did, you need a certain amount of carbs and total avoidance may drive your blood glucose to low. Get to know the glycemic index http://www.glycemicindex.com/index.php You will find it’s pretty easy to control your carb intake and that some high carb foods like pasta can be eaten and still maintain a low carb absorption. I’ve cruised every year since I was diagnosed and simple common carb sense and sensible portions have worked.

Bob

IF you print your own tags, look them over. As others have reported sometimes the cabin numbers are wrong. I thought it was a bug in my PC as the first tag would be ok but subsequent tags would have non existant cabin numbers. Now I print them one at a time and no problems

I don't go thru the folding process, just grab a pair of scissors and chop um to size and slip into plastic holders which we bought from HAL

Bob

The problem with this “policy” is its subject to the whims of the dining room management and can vary all over the place.

On a recent cruise we were offered a jacket in Pinnacle while other guests were seated with just a dress shirt and tie, no jacket. We got the impression from the manager that tie was the minimum acceptable. They were gracious to us and we reciprocated and enjoyed our dinner.

For my two cents if you are going to have a “policy: then enforce it or change it, which HAL seems incapable of :mad:

Bob

I think that if HAL offered some reasonably priced wined ($25-$30) then there would be fewer hue and cries.

Like some others I enjoy buying a bottle in port and have found some pretty drinkable reds around 5 euros, add the corkage and you are still below $25. On a recent Zaandam Alaska cruise there was a crew member standing at a desk near the gangway with a bag of bottles on a table, contents unknown.

Other cruise lines have a similar policy to HAL but ignore them and it seems that it’s hit or miss with HAL. So you get caught with your wine, the pay the corkage and be done with it you’re still better off than what HAL sells.

Bob

We went thru this process a week ago and Canada Place/HAL went smoothly. We got to the Lido when they opened and there were plenty of tables, even when we were finished there were tables available.

Surprise, they only collected the customs declaration, didn't ask for passports.

Ride to YVR about 45 minutes. all smooth so far

And then there was Air Canada about 1 hour in line to check in they have 2 lines for cruise ship pass. but still a long wait. Only a few check in machines available. Nothing like YYZ which is bigger, busier and has more check in machines.

Bob

I second RuthC's comments re Insuremytrip. I had a problem a few years back with a claim that was taking to long to process. They jumped on it and got it taken care of. Their service was terrific They no longer use that particular company by the way.

Bob

I've taken the train once before and can only say that the views are breathtaking. I can't comment on the bus but in a few weeks we are taking a private tour to Fraser and then taking the train back.

We’ve used them a few times with only good experiences. They promptly refunded when a port was cancelled. This contrasts with our bad experience with a guide from another company where the guide found the pier and couldn’t find the ship. (hint it’s big and white and FLOATS)

One day last week I got 3 of um. Not a simple few pages but what would pass for a full color magazine in one case. This has got to cost them a fortune as mail to Canada isn't cheap. I would much rather that reduce fares and curtail the advertising blitz

Bob

:eek: We do a combination if ships tours and independents. About 6 years we were on a private tour. Going back to the ship in plenty of time, opps accident highway blocked. Guide knows another highway and opps accident this highway also blocked, Now we are on city streets at 5PM in Amsterdam and anywhere at 5PM there is going to be traffic. We finally get close to the dock ½ mile line of traffic, but we can see the ship and gasp the tug. We got to the ship and the other guy and myself run into the terminal leaving the ladies to pay the guide. Two pursers were there and they yelled Nautica and we said yes. That was the fastest boarding we ever had no security just get on board. We arrived about 1 hour after all aboard and a little after scheduled departure, but the guide had called ahead and they did wait for us. Ever since our mantra has been “remember Amsterdam” So it’s up to the captain, but they will do their best to wait for you. Since then we have insisted that any guides get us back 60-90 minutes before “all aboard”

Bob

I always buy insurance but not the cancel for any reason part. I’ve had several small claims the last one took almost 4 months to collect but I always got reimbursed. My Dr has told me of instances where unpaid treatment has resulted in lawsuits which the hospitals have won. The costs of treatment, never mind the lawsuits, could bankrupt a person.

Bob

Ridiculous policy change from one extreme to the other.

 

Wrote the letter and also received back the thanks for the feedback...to bad it's the policy.

 

Oceania has sent us enough brochures to paper the walls with. Now those are no longer going in the recycle bin. HAL's are.

I completely concur I e-mailed, and got the same form letter response. we are done with HAL, back to Oceania :D