Ray4Fun

 ILA ports. https://ilaunion.org/map/.  After looking I cannot guarantee this is an up to date list

On 9/6/2024 at 5:12 PM, Budski54 said:

I have until October 8 to cancel, so I will give it a lot of thought.  More than likely, I will go on the cruise. 

1. Evacuation Insurance. Worth $100k or more. We carry $250k at all Times. One major flight company is close to our house. Chaperoning school children to them I was made aware just how expensive flight evac. can be. 

2. With regards to being 4 days in around Antartica , yup it is lonely for those few days. 

3. As for Valparaiso, BA , Montevideo, Puerto Montt, Puerto Mardryn and Ushuaia all have fairly modern Hospitals. Yup Ushuaia has a real deal hospital. 

We have done this cruise twice. Fabulous memories. Do It, just carry the proper insurance. 

Would you do me a favor. After you all return, post a message how it all went. Curious,,,

On 8/7/2024 at 10:36 AM, ShipWalker said:

You could always upgrade to polenta.

I Like them both. Different flavor profiles. 

It has been 8 years since we were on a Celebrity ship. We are elite, however life and needs got in the way.    In March 25 I just booked a C Caribbean cruise. Also a x A trip for October 25. C is now back and I need choices. Please....

We are in a plain Jane balcony cabin. (No diss to Jane, Just my age showing).

A few questions. Oh and if you have new details PLEASE. 🙂. 

1. Spa package, do I book the package for the trip for the two of us? Last trip was on Viking, which we enjoied the daily spa. 

2. Premium Drink V Classic drink package. With us at the Martini bar most nights in the past need to know. Expect fun, not drunk. For ELite folks, what are the details for getting drinks with being elite? Do we skip buying the package and just do one off during the day?

🙂

3. Basic Laundry and Dry Clean Laundry prices. Yup we get the bag. 

4. Most importantly, Thank you all. 

Since your trip is one lock,

Start at the Bow.

Then flip to aft for a quick view. 

Back to the Bow.

On 7/28/2024 at 1:25 PM, St Pete Cruiser said:

I agree with the poster, but the Legendary Voyage, which the current Voyage of the Vikings is superb. 

Live music in the Ocean Bar every afternoon. 

classic trio in the Explorer Lounge. 

Rolling Stone Live Band with volcalists.

Three enrichment speakers. 

Live production shows with singers and dancers.

Unfortunately we have to pay more for a Legendary Voyage to get what we had previously on every longer cruise, but at least Holland America Line does still know how to please its guests.

Printed news at the MDR.

Thats Great news. We are on the 25 VOV,,, 

We are on Her from Vancouver to FLL. Would my assumption that the above menu's will just repeat as we go?  That the basic menu's are not changed due to a ship repositioning?  

3 hours ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

 

Did the non-legendary cruise serve unlimited lobster tail at the buffet every gala night? How complimentary about ice cream socials? Chocolate on the pillow every night? Fancy canvas bags? Just trying to figure out what I can expect on my non-legendary 22 night cruise. 

We always treat our Cruises as legendary. Our bed made daily. Food choices galore. No need to run to Publix for milk and bread if a snow storm is coming. Live Entertainment daily. A Bartender is always ready to mix one for you. No need to drive the car or gas it up. Wonderful. 

Your question is not stupid. What I think is after reading the above the crew treats this as just another day on the seas. Have a great time in Japan. We loved it.... 

Did you call HAL? 

To answer some of your Q.

We have the Teacher OBC as well as AARP. SO Prob yes the CCL stock OBC would be added as well. 

How long does it take to get AARP OBC approval?  Minutes. 

Seemed to be added to existing bookings almost immediatly.

Ok, Done! 

Thermal Suite Day Cruise Pass. Is it worth it? Nieuw Amsterdam ? It is a 21 day cruise. I think it is a great idea. No clue if it is. Please advise your experiences ,  Do I book this for my bride?

I just ask the box store how to. Details above arecorrect,, I was told you have 60 days to do so. Now if your TA is not that Big Box TA they may assist a bit more. 

1 hour ago, isosika said:

We almost missed a cruise once when our flight was cancelled and we were flying in the day of the cruise.  We made it but if things had been delayed another 15 minutes we would have missed it.  I'm sure that we were the last to board.  Because we were so late, our room steward greeted us stating that she didn't think we would make it.  We started flying in a day early after that.

 

Fast forward to seeing massive flight cancellations and/or delays we upped our game.  In 2024 we went three days early.  It seems that when massive cancellations happen it takes days to get things sorted out.  As a backup we planned a roadtrip from Michigan to Ft. Lauderdale to be implemented if the weather looked severe.

 

Our 2025 cruise we are headed to Auckland 4 days early.  We don't "need" to go 4 days early.  We have been to Auckland before so an early arrival is not necessary for touring.  However, it is lengthy flight from Michigan and if it is cancelled and we need to wait for an available flight, we still need a lot of time to arrive in a timely manner.  The hotel costs were roughly $800+ but a small price compared to losing a $20K cruise.

Q:  4 Days prior upon landing in NZ? Why I ask is we are doing similar departure port.

With it taking 2 calendar days from USA to get to NV I was going to fly out 5 or 6 days prior. Giving us 2 or 3 days in country as backup. Is that sufficient? 

Given This weekends drama with flight cancellations. We will now fly not one but two days prior to departure.

As a side, Today we were scheduled to be in Boston on the VOV cruise. Last week HAL offered us an opportunity to move today's VOV to next year.

Our schedule had us flying from Atlanta to Boston yesterday. That flight, along with all flights to BOS were cancelled until this PM. If we had not made that decision to switch cruises we would have had a major challenge reaching the ship.

This is the second time in the last 3 years our flight to a cruise was cancelled the morning of the cruise.

I suppose twice bitten now we will fly in two nights earlier for any cruise that we cannot easily drive too. Boston is 16 drive hours away.

As for taking a Redeye, if you can get some sleep on board they do work. Have done a few from Vegas, 

Since we are retired we can swing the extra 24 hours away from home. I get it if you're still working. 

Refundable v Non-Refundable is that the point here? 

I just re-checked. Now it is lower. $76.00 lower. With a $1,200 deposit required. Doing the math at current interest rates, I am way ahead. As a Sidebar I will ask for the difference if it get to say $200. All good. I am happy. For those heading to a cruise via flight today, God bless. 

2 hours ago, crystalspin said:

It is true. You can rent one for a low price -- at least it used to be low, $5/day I believe. You will have to decide where to put it -- either on desk or in knee-bay OF the desk, placing the chair elsewhere.

Better, Do I reach out to ? Now? Our trip is a year out. 

2 hours ago, crystalspin said:

The recent thread on Volendam, made me realize you may not know your outside cabin will not come with a mini-fridge, although you can rent one for a nominal fee.

Rent a refrigerator ?   From ? 

Booked a trip yesterday. 1 dollar deposit. I just checked, today cabin next door to booked, same category , same price. When will there be a price drop I will ping, "with our Low Price Guarantee, we'll ensure you get our best fare regardless of when you book." 

I will ping them if it goes down. Per HAL, 

From your description. Yes you would be some of the youngest onboard. As for the activity list for 6 days at sea? It is what you make of it. The Pinnical class ships pool deck , On Sea days, have an afternoon movie playing. The pool deck has a great Hamburger/Hotdog, Pizza / Salad / Sandwich lunch options. The Bars are open. The Crows Neck, either Day or Night is a great location.

In the Evening B Kings is our go to place. Excellent Jazz. Rolling Stone's and the Piano's are great as well. This sort of round robin entertainment is what we enjoy.

We have done TA' and Trans Pacific cruises (If I said TP's I would have laughed). We have never been without something to do, or not do.

You make the journey, the journey does not make you. Heck if you have nothing to do go talk to a crew member, they are always interesting. Enjoy. 

5 hours ago, richwmn said:

While not 15, the Grand Australia / New Zealand that started January of this year had about 12 different shows, so this is not exactly "new". The Singers/Dancers from the GANZ stayed aboard for another month and performed again on the following Panama Canal and Atlantic Coastal. One of the singers also told me that they had been constantly performing since the restart and had been on the Grand Africa in '23.

 

Did they replace Music Row with this? 

HAL made us a good offer. Yes we are OK with the situation. It was worth the cost of admission. 

8 hours ago, SilvertoGold said:

Good for you. Which cruise is this? I am interested in the timeline and how long before the cruise in question?

8 Days out...