Tokyo Mom

We are heading to Africa in January. While in Cape Town for four nights we'll be staying at the Cape Town Hollow Boutique hotel. We are using PG Tops for three full day tours (one day city tour/Table Mountain/Kirstenbosch, 2nd day Cape Peninsula - nature reserve and penguin colony, 3rd day Cape Winelands. We will also be having high morning tea at the Mount Nelson hotel. In Walvis Bay we are using Namibia Tours and Safari for a full day private tour and a full day Sandwich tour. After our cruise we'll be flying to Victoria Falls, spending two nights at the LLala Lodge and then on to Botswana to spend 3 nights at Ngoma Safari Lodge for safaris at Chobe. Both of these add-ons were booked with Namibia Tours and Safaris. Good luck and enjoy your planning. Michelle

Thanks so much for sharing. That is great news! Looking forward to our trip to South Africa in January.

:) Michelle

I had a deposit for a veranda cabin and was waitlisted for a PH. When one became available (about 3 weeks ago for a January 2019 cruise), my TA told me (by email) that I had until 9:00 that evening to decide if I wanted it. We did switch.

Check this: https://www.fodors.com/community/africa-and-the-middle-east/storing-luggage-in-johannesburg-1299986/

Thanks for the link. Do you know if it's possible for economy passengers to pay for excess baggage? Everything I've read says the limits are strictly enforced.

I checked and, at least, on South African Airways, you are "allowed" one checked bag and one carry on - but you can pay for up to three checked bags. Look under "additional baggage"

https://www.flysaa.com/manage-fly/baggage/checked-baggage

Thank you so much for your response and information. Your points are all well taken and make perfect sense. After re-reading all our info regarding our post cruise trip (which I booked months ago) - I realized that our transfers are by land and not air. So, I have contacted the organizer of that trip to confirm that since our transfers are by land - we are not restricted to the size of our luggage (as we would be on the small prop planes). I do appreciate your helpful information. Thank you!

My husband and I will be traveling to Victoria Falls after our cruise (in January 19) and will need to store most of our luggage at the Johannesburg airport. There is a flight going from Cape Town to Victoria Falls with a 2 1/2 hour layover in Johannesburg - do you think that is enough time to take our luggage to be stored before boarding the plane to Victoria Falls? Thanks so much for any advice. Michelle

Thank you for your suggestions. Pretty sure our plan is to fly out of Dallas on 12/30/18, arriving in Cape Town on 1/1/19. We'll then spend 4 nights in Cape Town before departing for our 16 day cruise. Once that ends we'll fly from Cape Town to Victoria Falls - flying through Johannesburg to store our luggage. Then it's 2 nights in Victoria Falls and then 3 nights in Chobe before flying out of Kasane back to Johannesburg and onto the states. We'll be gone a total of 28 days. It is a lot of flying but seems to be the most efficient way to see as much as possible in that time frame. Hoping to get flights booked this weekend.

Thanks for all the suggestions - we decided to book the Cape Town Hollow Boutique Hotel. It has gotten very good reviews on Trip Advisor and is about half the cost of many of the other hotels I looked at. We'd rather spend the money saved on the hotel - sightseeing around Cape Town. Now the hard part - waiting 11 months!

Oh my - thank you SO much for all of that information. We will be flying into Victoria Falls. My thinking for flying into/out of Cape Town is that the cruise will start/end from there. We will be flying in a few days early and do our touring of Cape Town before the cruise. I was thinking we could store our luggage, except for the two small bags we plan to take with us for VF/Chobe at the Cape Town airport. We are planning on flying BA to and from South Africa from the states - so perhaps when we make those arrangements - the other flights can be made with BA as well. To be perfectly honest I did not know that BA had routes to VF and Kasane. I truly appreciate all your help/suggestions. Michelle

My husband and I will be on an Oceania cruise in January 2019, starting and ending in Cape Town. After the cruise we will be traveling to Victoria Falls (where we will spend 2 nights) and then spend 3 nights at the Ngoma Safari Lodge in order to see Chobe National Park. We will then fly out of Kansane to return to Cape Town for the flight back to the states. My question is, is there a particular airlines that anyone can recommend above another for the local flights? Thanks so much - Michelle

Thanks Terry!

Thanks so much for the suggestions/advice so far.

:)

My husband and I are looking forward to our Cape Town - Cape Town cruise on Oceania in January of 2019. I am starting to do some research into finding a hotel in Cape Town for 3 to 4 nights prior to our cruise. Any suggestions/helpful information would be greatly appreciated. I'm guessing I will be looking for a hotel located in the V&A Waterfront area. Thank you - Michelle

Hi Terry,

Thank you for your quick reply! Yes, thankfully, up here in Dallas we were spared the hurricane. Unfortunately, it just still feels like summer - highs in the mid 90's! Hopefully, I am doing this correctly - michelle.eisn gmail. I have communicated by email before on roll call boards and haven't had a problem so am hoping it's all good here too. :) Michelle

Terry,

I just spent a good portion of this afternoon/evening reading this entire thread - better late than never. My husband and I will be on a 16 day cruise (nearly the same itinerary as yours) in January 2019 with Oceania. I cannot thank you enough for sharing your wealth of information and unbelievably beautiful photographs. We have traveled quite a bit and typically do all the planning on my own but appreciate the fact that we will need assistance to make the most out of this trip. We, too, plan to spend a month in Africa. My question is, how did you find a travel agent to work with who was "well versed" in Africa? Thank you again for sharing so much wonderful information. Michelle

Thank you for sharing your experience in Tallin. We'll be heading there next summer and I'm just starting to take notes on what to do in each port.

Thank you for the review. I'm glad you enjoyed your time. We Will be on the ship in less than 2 weeks. It's nice to know if the retreat cabana area is closed, HA will refund your account. Did you have to ask?

No, we did not have to ask - they called that morning to let us know.

I booked the retreat cabana through our travel agent about 2 weeks prior to sailing. It was $299 for the week, though we were refunded one day because the entire area had to be closed on our first sea day due to high winds.

There is not a hydra pool in the cabana area at all - only lounge chairs and a couple tables and chairs/seating areas. You may be thinking of the other types of cabanas - I know they have a different name but cannot think of it at the moment. These cabanas are on the lido deck itself and appeared a bit cramped to me. I much preferred the retreat cabana area on deck 11 instead.

I forgot just a couple of things. We did watch one of the culinary demonstrations and enjoyed it - my husband actually talked to one of the chefs the next day after seeing him and telling him we had been at the demonstration and enjoyed their conversation. We also played bingo on the first sea day (with just about everyone else on the ship). The "bingo guy" said it was the most crowded first day bingo he had seen in years! I think because the weather left a lot to be desired. It was so windy that the entire cabana area had to be closed for the entire day (we were refunded one day's use). Another thing that I found very interesting was on the first "Gala night". What I typically find on cruises is that the women tend to dress up much more than the men but I found the exact opposite to be true on this sailing. I saw more men in tuxes and suits and women in just a "nice dress". I can't quite figure out why, just another interesting observation.

I think that's all for now. Glad you have enjoyed the review.

My husband and I just returned from a week on the Eurodam. I thought I'd share my thoughts. First a little background. We are both 51 and have sailed on Carnival twice, RCI twice, Celebrity once, Oceania once and this is our second cruise on HAL. We flew into Ft. Lauderdale the day before and stayed at the Embassy Suites (because it was within walking distance to food, very close to the pier and we had free Hilton points.). We had lunch at the Boatyard - about a 10ish minute walk away and it was really good. We bought $9 per person transfers from Embassy Suites - I'm sure a taxi would have cost less, but it was convenient and taxis weren't exactly lined up Saturday morning. We were in the lobby at 11:30, on a shuttle by about 11:50 and on the ship by 12:30 - no lines and we were able to go right to our cabin.

We were in cabin 6095 - pretty much mid ship and we were happy with the location and room. It was very tastefully decorated, the bed, though a little firm, was very comfortable and I really appreciated the big bathroom - with both a tub and shower and two sinks. The balcony was also very large - there were two chairs and a small table with plenty of extra space. My husband also loved the huge TV (he watched college basketball every night) - and there were always free movies to watch at any time. A couple other things I appreciated - a fairly strong hair dryer, the large makeup mirror and robes that weren't so long that I couldn't wear them. The only downside is that it is a connecting room so because of that I'm pretty sure we were missing one extra set of storage space (to accommodate the door to the other room). We still had enough room, just an observation.

Food ~ We chose the any time dining - since 5:30 is too early and 8:00 is just too late (for us). We ate in the main dining room 3 times and the longest we waited to sit down was about 15 minutes (after being told it would take 45 minutes). We were always seated with other people and truly enjoyed the company of everyone we sat with. The service on the first night was very slow - with dinner taking 2 hours, but other than that, the food was good, portions a good size with a nice variety of choices. We also ate in each of the three speciality restaurants. Although we thought the food was very good in Canaletto, please note, it's located in the Lido dining room - I guess that's why it's only $15 extra a person. The food is meant to share and we thought the polenta, gnocchi and risotto were all very good. Tamarind was our favorite. I had a ginger lobster and it was delicious - my husband had a curry that he loved as well. Everything from start to finish was wonderful. Unfortunately we were not very impressed with the Pinnacle Grill. They did not get off to a good start right after we sat down. There was bread on the table but it took about 15 minutes and having to ask for butter and bread plates. Two people came to say they'd be right with us but they just seemed overwhelmed. The food was fine, just not what I was expecting - which was more (not more food - just better quality and service). But, to their credit, they knew we weren't happy and called our room that night and apologized and asked if we would like to come back - so I do give them a lot of credit for wanting to make things right. We had breakfast each day in the lido and I really enjoyed the eggs benedict and crepes. We typically had lunch in our cabana.

Retreat Cabana ~ My husband does not like to get a lot of sun so I decided to surprise him with a retreat cabana (after reading lots of reviews on here). We loved it and I would definitely rent one again. But, my advice is (and what I will do next time) would be to request a cabana that faces the front. We had one on the side (Santorini). Although I thought it was worth every penny and we were happy, it would have been nice to look out at the open water (albeit over the lido roof) instead of the glass on the side (which was quite covered in salt). There are two lounge chairs in the cabana and a small table and two chairs. There was always bottled water and fresh fruit available and each afternoon we were served a glass of champagne and chocolate covered strawberries. It was so nice to know we always had a chair waiting for us - both in the shade and sun. There are also a good amount of lounge chairs in the sun and the only people who can use them have to be renting a cabana. We also would just order food from one of the two cabana "boys". My husband's favorite for lunch was one of the hot dogs - especially the toasted bun. I thought the burgers were also good and I liked the pizzas but thought it could have been cooked a bit more. I also had soup one day and liked that too. We could have eaten breakfast there but just ate in the Lido.

Entertainment ~ I apologize but I can't really comment on this. We never went to any of the evening shows and only listened to some music here and there - not enough to give a fair review. Although we're on the younger side of HAL's demographics (I would say the average age was around 70) - we go on a cruise to relax and do not need or want to be entertained. Instead I read 4 books during the week. :)

Ports of call ~ Because of the weather - our port stops got all changed around, not that that was a problem. First up was Half Moon Cay - the day started out a little cloudy - got sunnier and then very cloudy again. So, we were only on the island for about an hour or so. You tender over - but on a large ferry type boat (not the actual tenders). The beaches are large and the water is a beautiful blue and there are plenty of chairs available. Had it been a pretty day, I would have loved hanging out on the beach. Again at Amber Cove, we had bad weather - very, very cloudy and a bit cool. We had booked an all inclusive resort (through the ship) for the day and just decided not to go. I really wasn't looking forward to being cold on a beach and most likely having it rain on me. Finally at Grand Turk, the weather improved. I had rented a golf cart (with Karib Rentals) ahead of time. It was $100 for the day - though we only used it for about 3 hours. It's a very small island and we drove all around it in that time. Grand Turk was a bit of a puzzle for me. The beaches are beautiful, as is the water. Nearly all the homes are in very good shape and well taken care of, the streets seem brand new but there just really isn't anything to do there. I'm not sure if it's a "up and coming island" or just at a standstill. We drove out to the lighthouse, drove along the coastline and walked along a couple of (empty) beaches where I found lots of pretty shells and sea glass and a very large intact conch shell. There is also a beach right where you dock and all chairs are free. Key West was our last stop and we did the hop on/off trolley tour (through the ship). There were 3 ships in port so we were happy to get an early start (tour left at 8:30). We got off about half way though the tour to go through the butterfly house (got a $2 discount card from the trolley driver). We went in just as it opened and although it's not huge we both really enjoyed it. We then walked to the southernmost point (not much to see) and then started walking towards Hemingway's house with some stops along the way in various stores (a huge cigar shop was one of my husband's favorites). We toured the Hemingway house and enjoyed that too. We then got back on the trolley and took that to a stop where lots of boats were. We walked around there and then just decided to walk back to the main (shopping/tourist) area - mainly because I wanted to go in the Fresh Produce store. We loved the cute/quaint cottage homes (most worth a million each) and the whole feel of the island. We had lunch at Amigos Tortilla Bar and it was very, very good. Probably the best fried avocado taco I've had (and we live in Texas). We also shared key lime pie for dessert - of course!

Overall, we had a very relaxing week, which is what we were hoping for. Unfortunately the weather wasn't the best the first three days but obviously no one can control the weather. The last HAL cruise we went on was 10 years ago (to Alaska) and we will definitely go on another in the future. Our favorite cruise line is Oceania (but we tend to go on those for the "big" anniversaries). :) Yes, the people tend to be older but we found everyone we talked to to be very interesting, well traveled and very nice. All staff we came in contact with was very friendly and everyone seemed to want to make you happy. Unless you are looking for non stop entertainment, I don't think you can go wrong on HAL. Happy sailing!

We had a SY Guarantee on a March 3rd sailing and we just got our cabin assignment today - to an SS on deck 6 midship. Can't wait!

I've really enjoyed all your videos and the fact that you took the time to answer everyone's questions. Thank you for sharing. My husband and I will be on the Eurodam in less than 2 weeks - can't wait.

I also forgot to mention two other things. I thought the internet package was very reasonable - $99 for the week. You could also switch it out between different devices - we switched ours from my husband's phone to my phone to my iPad. And the second or third night we came back to our cabin to find a "Happy Birthday" message to my husband (his birthday is this month) written in blue and red marker on the mirror. There was also a $25 gift card towards any bottle of wine and a $50 gift card to the spa. This was completely unexpected and very appreciated.

ColoCruze - that's amazing that you are in the same cabin! Have a wonderful trip.