islandwoman

This discussion brings up another laundry question: If I have clothing that includes items that need to be dry low and items that need to be hung dry and maybe even items that could be dry medium, do I need to send them in 2-3 separate bags with different instructions on each bag?

It is my understanding (although I have no experience) that in hotels, concierges expect large tips in return for fixing problems. Is it the same on HAL, or are their tips covered by the assessed crew gratuities?

Do you think the Neptune Suite on the Zaandam is worth the extra cost above that of the Vista (notice I didn't say "Vista Suite") ? I'm not asking you to guess whether it would be worth it to me. But I would like to hear your perspective on whether it would be (or was) worth it to you, and why.

How do the Club Orange cabin upgrades work - When can you get them - how many categories can you upgrade - can you pick your upgraded cabin?

Can I order a pitcher of mimosas from room service?

Canadians, If you're flying on Westjet to Florida to board a cruise, be sure to allow an extra day (in a hotel in FLL for example). The last time I flew Westjet from Orlando to Calgary, the flight was delayed by 12 hours! There was a thunderstorm, (OK, not their fault) and they had to stop at a different airport on the way for re-fueling and were therefore VERY late landing in Orlando.

Where do you find the time? I'm retired and can barely fit in 1-2 cruises a year !

Sandiego1 said: Air credit for an inside cabin is an incl perk for the P2P. One must purchase the flight through FlightEase and the credit is $500pp. The Surf WiFi package is also a perk. If we live in Florida and can drive to the port (Ft. Lauderdale), will HAL credit our account the $500 that we will have received toward air fare? Also, what is P2P?

I agree. I'll happily do a 4-7 day cruise where I can easily drive to the port, but if I have to fly a quarter to half way around the world to embark a ship, I want the cruise to be long enough to be worth the time, trouble, and expense.

My first Celebrity cruise was on the Chandris Amerikanis August 4-11, 1992. After requesting credit for this "missing cruise", Celebrity gave me 30 Captain's Club points.

"Aquadesiac Of course, in a perfect world, itinerary is important. However, it is not guaranteed. No cruise line can be certain they can deliver the ports they advertise.... .....The serene vibe on Viking is one of the reasons we chose it for 2025. " As much as I would like to take your advice to consider a WC on Viking, their cancellation penalties are too punitive for us. At our age, we don't even buy green bananas 😟

I agree. The first thing DH does when I show him a new cruise is to look at the itinerary to see how many new to us ports there are. That isn't easy because after more than 50 cruises over more than 60 years, We have visited most cruise ports. DIY land tours would offer new places, but we should have done that early and cruised later 😕 At our ages, packing, unpacking, repacking and schlepping luggage from hotel to bus to airport to train to another hotel has become a bit much!

The cruise line didn't want to talk to us. They kept telling us to contact our TA, but after much time, effort, and persistence, we were able to get the cruise line to give us the information we needed to then get our TA to give us the information we needed, to fix the latest and most serious issue ourselves directly with the cruise line. At this point, it is not worth the trouble and aggravation to change the TA for this cruise (judging from all the helpful posts on this thread. Thank you everybody.) But we have found a different TA for any future bookings.

It's now 2024, five years later. DH and I are booked on the Volendam in November. I would hate to think that HAL hasn't fixed such serious issues in all this time. If that's the case, someone who's been on that ship recently, please tell me before my final payment date in July. 😟

I think shore excursions (one in each port) are also included on Viking. That's worth a lot too. Does Regent also include shore excursions?

Princess has a World Cruise starting in Australia.

We will be sailing on the Koningsdam in April, 2024. The ship I am considering upgrading on in 2025 is the Zaandam. Thank you for pointing out that the cabins on different ships and different classes are very different. I will check the HAL facts.

What perks?

How long does Holland America offer an "Early Booking Bonus Have It All" package for a cruise booking? I'm thinking about upgrading from a Vista Suite to a Neptune Suite for a cruise sailing in September 2025, but I'd like to wait a few more months until I have a chance to sail on HAL and hopefully get to see and compare the Vista and Neptune Suites because the price difference would be substantial. I like the "Early Booking Bonus Have It All" package and wouldn't want to lose the opportunity to purchase it by changing cabins too late.

I am booked on the Volendam 42 day Ultimate Mediterranean and Atlantic Passage beginning November 9, 2024. I certainly hope that the dry dock has been completed by then and that it included plumbing and heating repairs.

Has the Volendam been in dry dock since last June? Has anyone sailed her since then who could tell us whether these plumbing and heating issues have been fixed?

In other words, "no".

Can I change travel agents after a cruise has been booked and deposited, but before final payment? If so, how would I do that? I don't want to discuss the reason I want to change travel agents on a public forum, but I will say that it is not because I have found a better deal with a different agent. Rather, it is because I no longer trust my current agent to handle my bookings.

If I were intent on a particular port, I would book a flight and hotel.

I like the older ships, so that wouldn't be a problem for me. But as for "a lot of issues", that might be. Could you specify? LOL. I don't know why HAL calls the balcony cabins "Vista Suites" . From the looks of them on you tube, they are not suites at all. and as far as I can see they have no suite benefits. IMHO, it is misleading to call them "suites".