S&B

Hello Candango,

Which fall cruise are you booked on? We are looking at the Sept. 15 cruise on the Zuiderdam going to the Med. There is also a cruise on the Rotterdam in October. I have not seen any roll calls for either ship after Sept. 15. We just got off the Oosterdam so I have to give my hubby time. (LOL) He doesn't know I am already looking at flights and excursions.

Sorry, I should have been more exact. I meant 1399 for a guarantee balcony.

Randy, anxious to look at your pictures. I always enjoy looking at pics of where people have taken their vacations.

I have been looking at HAL cruises within the 90 days after final payment and have discovered that even though there are a lot of cabins available there does not seem to be the lower discount prices as was seen last year. Has anyone else noticed this? I am looking at the Europe sailings. I remember last year there were 11 day cruises for 1399.00 in the Med. and those prices were before the final payment date. Not this year so far.

Now that I am looking at the lay out of the ship will we be able to see out the front windows or is it all blocked and only see out the side window for 5002 on the Oosterdam?

Thanks for any answers.

We got our cabin assignment today and we are in 5002. Now, I do not like being in a handicap room because it makes me feel like I am taking a room someone else would need and it also makes me feel older. I know that is all in my mind but in a few years we will be there. However, think of the view that we are going to have. Yes, it might be rough at times and hubby can get sea sick but I will watch the waves and he can take a nap!!

So, someone tell me what you think of the cabin, please.

I have been reading all of this because we do not have our cabin assignment either and we leave in 3 days. We are on the Oosterdam and had a VF cabin that we picked out. All of a sudden the SZ guarantee cabins were only 200 pp more than what we paid for the VF so we jumped on it. Hope I did the right thing!!! So now we are waiting patiently. Our cruise is one week from tomorrow but we are leaving early.

Happy cruising to everybody!

Thanks Dave.

HAL is telling my TA that this new SZ price is a Flash Promotion and does not apply to us. You actually do not know who to believe any more. They have several cabins left and we sail in 18 days. However, they did finally agree to give us a SZ for 200pp more. We paid 1799 and the SZ is 1999.

On this same cruise we have friends that went from the basement to a balcony. Great upgrade for them!! Plus they had OBC. I wonder if a TA has more pull than another TA.

Can anyone tell me how noisy the cabins are on the Navigation deck as they are under the buffet, etc.? i have a chance to go to a Signature Suite. Thanks for any advice.

We are currently booked on an Oosterdam cruise. The SZ cabins have suddenly gone down in price and are now only 200.00 more than our VF. I see there are only 4 SZ's and are located on the Navigation deck. Is there something about these cabins we should know about?? Thanks for any answers.

Thank you Flyer Talker. Actually, I am cracking up laughing. What I needed. And, this is our 50th Anniversary celebration cruise. I have the 24 inch suitcase on the floor right now and just realized that we used this 24 inch when we went to Germany several years ago. Tags are still on!!! And, he took a sport jacket. So, I guess this is the way it will be. We can expand it coming back when we are on United. I will look for another wheeled carry on though because I cannot see me carrying all this "stuff"(camera bags, cosmetics, etc.) through the Tampa, Denver, SFO, Sydney, Auckland airports with out wheels.

Cheers!

I have spent a good part of the day looking at Columbus Day adds because I need to do this in the next two weeks.

Here is the thing: if they take the length plus the width plus the depth I am only a little over an inch too long. However, if they measure just the length then I have been had. In the depth VA says 9 inches and my carry on is 7 inches in depth.

And now we have the problem of the large suit case. Hubby says that if we are limited to a 24 inch suitcase there is no way he is taking a suit. And I am saying there is no way that I am going to eat in the buffet for all the formal nights especially when they have Beef Wellington!!! So we are in a fix.

We fly United, Delta and the German airlines all over the world and Southwest in the U.S. and never a problem. The last carry on I bought (a year ago) was exactly the size required. I think it is confusing because they allow a suit bag which is very long. I carry a tape measure with me if I need it.

Thanks for your help.

I read the restrictions about the roller board carry on when flying Virgin Australia. Our carry on is 3 inches longer than what they say is allowed. Will we have a problem? We have never had a problem on any airline with this carry on. We are flying from Sydney to Auckland.

Thanks for any help. I do not really want to buy another suitcase.

We will be on a cruise from Auckland to Sydney. I am presuming when we reach Australia we will be required to declare what we have purchased or are bringing from NZ. Is this correct? Is there anything that we could purchase on our cruise in NZ that we will not be allowed to bring into Australia? such as a souvenir made from wood, etc.? I do not care to buy something and then have it confiscated. Would prefer to know ahead of time. We have purchased many beautiful seashells in our travels. Will we be allowed to bring that into Australia?

Our origination point is the U.S. but we fly into Sydney and then take another flight from Sydney to Auckland to board the ship.

Thanks for any advice.

What is there to see when sailing out of Auckland? Anything we should not miss? Any mountains, etc.? Small islands? We set sail at 4 p.m.

Thanks for the help. Fletch, I have printed out the Melbourne port information and it is very helpful. I am doing a lot of studying.

Sylvia

We are in Melbourne from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. If we take an excursion that gets back to the ship at 1:30 p.m. will we have enough time to get into Melbourne to see the Royal Botanical Gardens? How far is the visitor center from where the ship docks? I believe you can pick up the $5 shuttle from the visitor center. We will have about three hours.

Thanks for any help.

We have our tickets from SFO to Sydney on United with FF miles. To upgrade to the Premium Economy seats is an extra $169.00. If these seats do not sell out do they reduce the extra cost or will it always be $169.00. We were upgraded one time with no cost and now I am spoiled!! Didn't know it was so much better.

Thanks for any advice.

I am sorry if I did not make things clear. We are flying on United with our FF miles into Sydney. Arrive at 8:30 a.m. We now have a ticket on Virgin Australia at noon arrive at Auckland at 5 p.m. This is a separate ticket. That now gives us 3 1/2 hours. I realize we will have to go through customs, get our luggage and go back up to get our ticket. I don't think United will check our luggage all the way to Auckland and I would be nervous that somewhere in Sydney it would be lost.

Thanks for any tips on getting this done efficiently. Next i have to find a way to get to our hotel in Auckland. Thanks again.

Thanks for any of your thoughts but I got nervous and found a flight that leaves Sydney at noon which now gives us 3 1/2 hours. Hope that is o'k. If not please let me know.

We will be arriving in Sydney at 8:30 a.m. from the U.S. We then need to get a separate ticket to Auckland to meet the cruise ship. There is a flight on Quantas that leaves SYD at 10:55 a.m. Is 2 1/2 hours long enough to clear customs, get to the Quantas desk and check luggage, etc.

We are looking at cruises that will take place in the next ninety days. My TA tells me that there is a price increase even though the HAL internet site gives me the same price as last week. Is the HAL internet price the same as my TA price?

Does HAL ever raise the cruise prices and then have a big sale and reduce them to the previous price?

Thanks.

We are looking at a particular cruise and I have looked at the shore excursions offered by HAL. Is this a partial list of excursions that I can see before booking the cruise? After booking and I have a booking number, etc. will there be other excursions listed when I go into my portfolio? Or is this it what I see now.

Thanks.

Thanks Travelgirl,

We originate from Tampa but we were wiling to return any place in the U.S. that we could get a FF return ticket to. Then get a one way ticket back to Tampa. And yes, it is on the Noordam but the date of return to the U.S.was Sept. 27 or 28.

Here is the worst thing!! Don't flame me because I have already done that enough! I had a FF ticket and let it get away from me. There was a ticket to get home to several cities in the U.S. and I said, Oh, I will do it tomorrow!! When "tomorrow" came they were all wiped out. They were actually available for two or three days. Now I am looking again at least two times a day. I already know what you are saying!! I don't know how stupid I was because even if something happened I could put my miles back into my account.

See ya!

We are flying United. I have one more question. If we fly Rome-Toronto-Newark, where do we do our customs and passport control? In Toronto or Newark? That will tell me how much time we have to allow for transfers and customs, etc.

Thanks again.