hawt1

My parents were on this cruise so I may be able ot help a bit with the cause of the delay.

 

The captain blamed it on weather but the reality is that it was a mix of issues:

 

The first was waitning in Cabo 2.5 hours later than normal because a ship sponsored excursion was late getting back to the ship - so HAL decided to wait for these passengers which is expected BUT it then put them behind schedule. Then they could not get the gangway back onto the ship or away from it. my parents were unclear which way they were trying to move things but it was not working and that caused them an added 45 minute delay so now they are 3.25 hours late getting away from Cabo.

 

Then there was a strong head wind that the captain said slowed their progress. In all they ended up 5 hours late into port so my parents had to get a hotel and change flights at a cost of about 2000 dollars. HAL accepts no responsibility for this and they had to fight with HAL to even get internet and phone access while onboard to make changes.

 

Their original flight was at 2 pm. Lots of time to make it if HAL had not chosen to wait for the passengers who were late or had chosen to spend a little more on fuel pushig into the head winds IMO. In terms of how strong the current or heads winds were, the waves were not that high. The real culprit was the waiting in Cabo.

 

My parents have done lots of cruises and never once has one been even a minute late into its final port. 2 pm should have been fine even with a couple hours delay. HAL (or any cruise line) needs to take some responsibility in this case.

 

I admit I am going on second hand info at this point so this may not be correct but it is my best understanding of what was reported to me by my parents.

 

Gary

We are flying into Orlando for a pre cruise Disney stay and then driving across to Fort Lauderdale the morning of our cruise in a rental car but have not rented yet.

 

Are rental cars allowed to drive up to the port so I can drop off the others in our group?

 

What car rental companies are located at the port and do they then take me to the ship in one of their vans? Or do we drop off the car with them and take their van or a taxi from their drop off location?

 

Trying to figure out the easiest way to do this and the companies that will make it work before booking?

 

Thanks,

[quote name='molly361']The idea behind this concept is to reduce crowding in the DL and CL during the nightly cocktail hour. If folks can use the vouchers at any time then everyone will still be back into those lounges between 5 - 8:30[/QUOTE]

We will be Diamond for the first time on our next cruise. We are always early dining since we have younger kids. I think that the idea of allowing the drinks over a longer period of time, if not all day, makes sense for those of us who are early dining. We cant use the drinks in the dining room and our dinner time covers much of the happy hour time.

Maybe if they extended the vouchers to 4:00 through 9:00 so we could have one before dinner, bring one drink to dinner and have one after dinner and still buy some through the day and still more later at night.

Those of us who are at dinner from 6:30 through 8:30 and getting ready for dinner from 5:30 through 6:30 at least have a chance to use our vouchers or the lounge with extended hours.

And I like that our kids get vouchers as well.

Gary

We have sailed AOS three times in the past and are looking at March 9th sailing next year.

 

We usually just book inside cabins but are going to splurge this year on a balcony - anywhere from standard balcony up to GS category.

 

So, what are your thoughts on deck and category? What are the best cabins in each category in your opinion.

 

We would like to be able to get some sun on our balcony so do not want overhangs. We will need the ability to have our kids nearby (inside likely for them still).

 

Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks.

Intercontinental is a RESORT. Do not bid on 3 or 3.5 stars. Wait until you see a resort and then go to betterbidding dot com and ask there for identification of what resort it is...then do them a favour and use their hotwire link so they get a small commission for helping with the identification.

 

You could also ask for similar help here.

 

I suspect that Christmas may be hard to come by on Hotwire...

 

What are the resorts charging directly from their websites?

Intercontinental 1/21 - 1/25 6 rooms for $160 each plus taxes and fees on Hotwire...

Any Intercontinental winners that can tell me what they paid extra for taxes, fees etc.

 

 

Thanks.