islandwoman

I received one of these "free interior stateroom" offers today. It is not a "casino" offer. The "select sailings" are not at a time when I could go, but I'm thinking about taking advantage of such an offer if I were to receive another one. Just for research purposes, I searched one of the "select cruises" and found cabins available that I would be happy to sail in. If there are better than inside cabins available on a "select cruise", does that mean that upgrades would be available? Can I book such an offer through my TA?

Sometimes you can get better airfare through the cruise lines. We did very well with Princess EZAir from South America to Colorado pre-pandemic. This year Holland America's Flight Ease from Florida to San Diego and return from Vancouver was not a good deal, so we booked our own flights using frequent flier miles that we earned mostly by credit card spending.

Can I use Holland America gift cards to pay for shore excursions online? If so, how do I do that?

Thank you for once again taking the time and thought to post a detailed explanation of your comparison of Viking vs. Princess World Cruises. I would like to ask you for your opinion of Viking's included wine and shore excursions. I have not sailed on Viking's Ocean ships, but I did take a cruise on one of their river boats. We didn't like the wine, but perhaps that was because Viking was serving local (Eastern European) wines. As for the included shore excursions, we signed up for all of them, since we had already paid for them (included in the cruise price). I got really tired of riding for hours on busses and I don't think that traveling in such confined spaces is particularly healthful. So from your experience, what do you think of Viking's included wines? What do you think of Viking's included shore excursions?

I have not been happy with post pandemic changes in a number of companies. It seems that many representatives have suddenly and inexplicably become incompetent.

So if I read this correctly, Viking's OBC and the cost of flights accounted for the small differential in the two (Princess and Viking) World Cruise daily costs?

We are seriously considering a World Cruise on Holland America after we stop skiing. (At this time HAL's World Cruises only sail from North America in our winter.) Can you give me more examples of why you like it so much that you sailed several times?

How do you figure that the daily cost of Viking was the same as the daily cost of Princess?

What is it that makes you want to sail Holland America's World Cruise over and over?

Heidi13, Thank you for your detailed explanation about why you preferred the Viking World Cruise to that of Princess. It was especially interesting to me because I too am a former Princess cruiser - 393 days on 30 Princess cruises. DH and I quit Princess shortly after they sold their last small ship. Also, many of the downsides that you mentioned have annoyed us as well. But still, we were considering Princess for a World Cruise because it is the only one I can find that has a World Cruise during the North American summer (We don't want to miss ski season) and because it is one of the few lines that actually goes all the way around the world. To me it isn't a World Cruise unless it starts and stops at the same longitude. After reading your post, we will be less likely to choose Princess.

Is there somewhere in this thread where you've posted your reasons? If yes, please remind me where to look.

Can you tell me what it is about Oceania that made it so much better for you to do once in a lifetime, than to take two world cruises on a less expensive line?

I also have a 22 day cruise coming up. It's the eclipse cruise round-trip San Diego with two ports in Mexico and then circle Hawaii. Lots of sea days to get to Hawaii and back. I suppose that since this is a very unusual cruise, no one has experience with what to expect on its sea days, but your best guesses would be welcome.

If I spend $600, do I have to make the purchases at $300 on two different days to earn 2 Mariner points? Do crew gratuities count? And are they charged one day at a time to my onboard account? If they add up to $300, would I receive a Mariner Point or would I have to pay $300 all at once somehow?

I see that we can earn one extra Mariner point per day by spending $300 onboard. Is that one Mariner point for each of the two people on the account or only one point for the person whose name is on the credit card? If only one for the account holder, is there a way to separate the onboard accounts, of two passengers in the same cabin, so that each person would have a chance to earn an extra Mariner point by spending $300 onboard in a day? I ask because I'm anticipating having some expenses at the beginning of the cruise, such as a wi-fi package and a laundry package. By the way, can I expect to have the option to purchase a laundry package? (22 days in the same clothing 😝)

Any ideas which sea days I could expect "dressy" dinners? I will definitely be making my specialty dining reservation for a sea day. There are 11 of them on this cruise.

How do I know when the "dressy" nights will be?

Does Holland America 's main dining room have a standard menu, and if so where can I find it? We have a dining credit in the Canaletto on a 22-day Circle Hawaii cruise in April. I think that reservations will be competitive, so I'd like to book ours now, but I don't want to miss a meal that I'd really like in the Main Dining Room.

😟 I hope this wasn't a test to see whether people would watch the Webinars without receiving PUPs. I watched it and I would be sorry to contribute to the demise of PUP.

I have sailed many cruises, but only once with HAL. That time I did not take any organized shore excursions at all. I will tell you my suggestions, for what they're worth. The advantages of booking through the cruise line are that you won't miss the ship and you can use your OBC to pay for them. Also, if there is a change in the ship's itinerary, it's easier and sometimes cheaper to change/cancel your excursion. Buying a ship's shore excursion is less work than using another vendor. Using other vendors has these advantages: Often you can tour with a smaller group. Sometimes you can alter the excursion to suit yourself and/or your small group. You don't have to report to a meeting area on the ship a long time before the tour is scheduled to begin. Usually you can save money. Sometimes, it will be the exact same excursion that you could have paid more for through the ship. Sometime you can designate the departure and return times to suit yourself. In the end, it's a matter of personal preference, whatever is most important to you.

Good for you 😊 Now tell me how I can get 4 star status if I have Elite status on Princess 🤣

How do you do that?

I've read several posts from Holland America credit card holders who said that their card was cancelled by Barclays. Since I have a card that I have been planning to use to pay part of my upcoming cruise, I called Barclays customer service and asked whether they would cancel it if I didn't use it before my final payment date. The answer was that if there were no transactions for 6 months, it could be cancelled, but that Barclays would notify the card holder before cancelling. I'm not sure I believe the notification promise, but I'm guessing that the six months is accurate. Those of you who have had cards cancelled, do you remember how long it was without a transaction? This policy seems a bit overzealous to me inasmuch as this is a cruise credit card.

"embroidery" embroidery? Someone please explain why embroidery is unacceptable.

I hope it's accurate and will apply to all future cruises. That would save us packing "gala" wear.