denton1

2 minutes ago, BigMattT said:

It is certainly what you make of it— but it’s utterly charming.

 

Is that Iceland trip? The crew seems legitimately excited about some of the lesser traveled itineraries coming up this year. Several specifically mentioned Iceland.

Yes, it is the trip to Iceland. We are really looking forward to it. We were on the Amsterdam, sister of the Zaandam, in Alaska 4 years ago. It also got into some small, otherwise inaccessible ports. Sorry that ship is no longer in the fleet, as it was a very comfortable ship. 

I really enjoyed your review. We will be on Zaandam for a 25 day cruise at the end of July. This will be our longest cruise ever. Your description of the ship reassures us that it will be a pleasure on this ship. 

There are 2 Hyatts inside the airport that can be reached by the AirTran train. If you want to go outside the airport, try the Sheraton on TX-114 about 3 miles away. They will pick you up. Almost all the chains have hotels outside of the airport, mostly on TX-114 and will likely pick you up with a phone call.

Go to You Tube and search for how to do a Covid test. Several people have posted step by step videos of how to do such a test. I have used the Abbot Binax test a couple of times. It is actually quite easy. You will be led through it by a monitor. Just follow his instructions.  

On the April 2 cruise, our substitutes are Dominica, Grenada, and St. Lucia. Barbados is moved back a day to Sunday, April 10, not Saturday the ninth.

We are on the April 2 version of this cruise. Last night, our itinerary blanked out Martinique, St. Vincent, and Trinidad. Our previously booked ship tours in those 3 places disappeared. No notification from Princess as to what is going on. 

I have tried 3 different browsers, Safari, Chrome, and Opera, to make a payment on our cruise. None of them have a drop down box listing ship names. All it says is select ship. Clearly, this is a problem on the RCI side. I am surprised that it isn’t fixed yet, since they are losing a lot of income because of this glitch.

I faxed in the request with my brokerage statement this past Thursday. It was posted on my cruise personalizer within one hour.

This happened to me the other day. I figured out that the price went up because I picked mu own seat assignments on American Airlines. They charge extra to do that. The cheap price is if the airline assigns your seat number when you actually check in for the flight. You get whatever is left. 

One more thing. If you go on your own, make sure you know where the bus will be to take you back to the ship. You will have to walk back down the hill to some assembly point. I saw the tattoo as part of a land tour. It was too hard to get to where our bus was supposed to be. We ended up walking a couple of miles back to our hotel. 

34 minutes ago, surgie said:

We (2 adults) have booked the ship's excursion to the Military Tattoo in Edinburgh for the purpose of having return transportation to the ship when the event is over. However, we plan to get ourselves into Edinburgh as soon as the ships docks at 8:00 am and do sightseeing on our own. 

 

The ship's excursion "begins" at 6:30 pm The Tattoo begins at 9:00 pm.  We will plan to have a light bite to eat somewhere within a mile of the castle. How much time do we need to allow to enter the castle, go through security etc. and get to our seats in advance of the 9:00 start time? Should we be done with dinner by 7:00? Or would this be cutting it too close? 

That should be plenty of time, if you are within a mile of the castle when eating dinner. Be aware that the climb to the castle is a continuous uphill walk that takes a little longer than just a mile hike. Also, the area will be really full of people. Getting into a restaurant might be a bit of a challenge. A reservation, if you can get one, would be helpful. 

The Geirangerfjord is the most beautiful and well known in Norway. It is a must see.

It is about a quarter mile from the entrance to the passenger terminal where the large ships dock. The terminal only has room for one large ship. When we cruised out of Amsterdam, a Celebrity ship was docked at the terminal, and our HAL ship was docked at a commercial port about 7 miles from downtown. We had to take a car service out to it. We did return to the downtown port, however. I would recommend that you check the port of Amsterdam website to confirm that your ship leaves and returns from this dock. BTW, cabs are plentiful in the city, and there are plenty of less expensive and more interesting hotels in Amsterdam close by. I would try to find a hotel closer to Dam Square. The Movenpick is kind  of isolated, except for being adjacent to the cruise port.

The C cabin seems to be the same size as my cabin, I think there is good space for 3 people there. I actually think it is larger than some balcony cabins aboard larger ships. It really depends what you consider large space, but I think its good for 3. There were some teenagers, but not many. Like I said, maybe 50-60 children total in the ship, and most of them were a little younger than 14. Maybe 10 or so teenagers?

Thanks very much for your quick reply. I really appreciate it.

Gambee:

My wife and I are taking our 14 year old granddaughter on the 2 week Alaska cruise on Amsterdam next July. We will be in a 3 person C cabin on main deck. It is one of the remodeled cabins. Will this be big enough for us all? Also, did you notice some teenagers on your cruise that she would be able to interact with? Thanks for your review. It is great. The pictures are very informative.

Thanks for the info on the poor internet connection in the fjords. We are on this cruise in a couple of weeks. I'll rely on my Verizon plan more.

I wonder of you know anything about a possible shuttle between this terminal and trainstation Amsterdam Sloterdijk?

Just so other passengers will know this too.

 

I noticed RCCL-Vision of the seas offers this.

I haven't heard anything about shuttles. HAL really answered only the specific questions I had asked. We are staying downtown near the main train station the night before the cruise. I imagine we will just get a cab to the port. From what I can see, it is about 10 KM to the boarding point from Centraal station.

I received an emai response from HAL today about some questions I had regarding the Waterland Terminal. I have copied the response from them below.

Thank you for your recent correspondence with Holland America Line with regards to your upcoming July 30, 2017 sailing of the ms Koningsdam. Please see the answers to your questions as follows:

Are taxis from town allowed to drive into the site? Yes

Will there be luggage attendants to help with bags? Yes

Will there be places to sit as we wait for boarding? Yes

I guess that they will have adequate facilities there. Just more inconvenient than normal. At least the ship will return to the main passenger terminal downtown.

We are also on this cruise. I noted the change in embarkation terminal also yesterday when we got our boarding passes. A few days ago, we got an email from HAL listing specific check in times for boarding based on what deck your cabin is on. I wonder if these specific times are due to the lack of passenger facilities at Waterland terminal.

Hi all

I`ve read many reviews on various sites (trip Adviser etc...) regarding what to do in Santorini. I know about the donkeys, the winding steep path with 600 steps and the queues for the cable car. I was advised to book a trip from the ship but even they seem to require getting the cable car back. Any advice from anyone? It will be my birthday that day and just want to have a great day!! Have heard and seen that it is a beautiful place. Thanks for any help.

We took a ship's tour that included all the major sites and a cable car ticket back down. Instead of taking the cable car, we walked down. It took about 20 minutes and allowed you to stop for photos you won't get on the cable car. The path ends up right next to the lower cable station, adjacent to the tender dock. You could ride the donkeys for a fee, but it looked a little to fast for us. It would have been an E ticket in the old days at Disneyland.

Here's the link for you http://www.princess.com/military_benefit_program/#.VeEz3Pm6fIU

 

I think you still have time to get the credit.

Both my wife and I are veterans. We mailed our DD214s in and the credit was on our account in less than a week. There is also an option of attaching a scan of the DD214 to an email or sending it in as a fax. The office that does this at Princess is very efficient.

My wife does not qualify, she only served 14 years, it's 20 for OBC

 

 

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My wife served 4 years as an army nurse. We sent in her DD214 and received OBC for our upcoming cruise. You don't have to be retired, only an honorably discharged veteran.

Is the distilled water free? How long extension cord do you take? Thanks. Marlster

I always pack a 12 foot extension cord for any trips we take. Make sure it is at least 14 gauge wire in the cord, particularly if going to Europe. That way, you ca use it safely in a 240 volt outlet with an adaptor.

As to distilled water, the tap water coming out in your cabin is distilled in the ship and can safely be used in a CPAP machine. They may give you a bottle for free, but it is not necessary.

What is "RSVP"?

 

Formalwear for me would be okay, but my husband doesn't own a sport jacket. We'd have to bring his suit, dress shirt and dress shoes. And hang it up/pack it carefully. I think we'll probably end up at the Lido and hope it's not too crowded.

Your husband could order a rental tuxedo and shoes from Cruiseline Formal Wear on line. It will be delivered to your cabin when you embark and be picked up at the end of the cruise. Costs about $110 for the duration. Cheaper than buying a suit, and you don't have to pack anything. I've done it 3 or 4 times.

I would like to know from people who have done the HAL excursions on Santorini that went to the town of Oia how much time did you get in Oia and was it enough time. I know on the HAL website you can read reviews but I would like to know from other sources. Thankyou

We did the tour that tours the island, goes to Oia and ends up in Fira. The stop in Oia was about 2 hours. It was enough to walk the town, stop for coffee at a cafe you and do a little shopping. We arrived in Fira in time for a late lunch.