LadyBerard

On 8/28/2023 at 11:03 AM, schmoopie17 said:

Good to know about Red. You said the "main dining room"...is that Indigo or Summer Palace?

We'll be on the Pearl in December and have never been on a smaller/older NCL ship...we've been on the bigger and newer Bliss, Escape, Encore and Prima...so not sure what to expect.

 

Any other thoughts on the Pearl?

The aft main dining room.......Summer Palace I believe.

I've just returned from vacation this past Friday.  I know I quickly read of changes coming to Celebrity soon - perhaps Monday???. I thought I read about group rates in particular.   I would like to read it again, but cannot seem to locate where I read it.  Can anyone please enlighten me?  Thanks in advance.

We just came home Friday from our cruise on the NCL Pearl.  Although I am not going to give a review, as we did not attend most shows and don't want to post any negative remarks, I can wholeheartedly recommend asking for "Red" to be your server in the main aft dining room.  We were fortunate to get him as our server the very first night, and immediately after dinner, went to the hostess to ask that we dine with him the remainder of our cruise!  He was the most personable server we have had in many years on any cruise line.  His recommendations for dinner were spot on; he was truly a delight!  If it hadn't been for having him, we probably would have just dined in the buffet on the nights we did not have specialty dinner reservations.  You will see him singing just about every morning when entering the buffet area.  

We did attend one show.....the 1969 music show in the Spinnaker, and we truly enjoyed that show.

2 hours ago, Real NHDOC said:

In answering the prior two posts, there is NO LIMIT to the number of bookings you can use the AARP benefit for.  The HAL representatives just need to be trained on how to add them to the additional bookings (see my post #303 above for what to tell them if they tell you there is a limit).

 

And to the question about the deposit, no, it would have no effect on your deposit.  It just gets added to the booking as an OBC.  Just call in and tell them you want it added to the booking. 

Called and had AARP OBC applied.  No change to our $1 deposit either. Kept same Have it All Plus perks too.  🙂

I booked our July 2024 cruise during the $1 deposit promo and signed up for the AARP OBC the first day it was available.  Does anyone know if I contact Holland to have this additional OBC added, will I be required to pay the regular deposit now, which is $700 for the cabin?  Cabin price is the same as when I booked.

Last time we cruised out of Tampa, we stayed at Marriot Water Street.  Loved it there.

I don't think I will book this excursion.  Watched a video on youtube for it, and where they take you doesn't look that great.  Going to take an excursion to Spice Mill Beach instead.  Lots of OBC from Celebrity.  Normally, don't do ship excursions though.

I thought Redduit Beach was in St. Lucia.

We're cruising on the Eclipse in Jan. 2025.  I was wondering what beach the above excursion takes you to.  

2 hours ago, Oceangoer2 said:

I wish!  There isn't one in FLL.

https://escapelounges.com/us/locations/Fort-Lauderdale/

I just redeemed some points for obc for our Summit Oct. 2023 cruise.  Will this obc show up when I log onto my Celebrity cruise acct. so I can utilize them precruise or will they just show up after I board the ship?  First time I've done this, so I'm not exactly sure how it works.

Today, I upgraded our included Classic pkg. to premium for our Summit Oct. 2023 repo cruise and our Eclipse repo cruise in Oct. 2024.  🙂

Thank you.  After reading the responses, I don't think I need to upgrade.

I am technically challenged.  Why upgrade wifi?  What will I be able to do if I upgrade that I cannot do with the regular wifi that I get with my free perks?  I have never upgraded it previously; however, today, I can upgrade for $4.99 per day.  Educate me please.

16 hours ago, Ellencruise said:

Just booked New England cruise on Volendam in 2024. Anyone have any good reviews about the ship? 
I’ve just read some awful reviews and am worried.

We are booked on the Volendam for July 20, 2024, and after reading the poor reviews, thought about switching to Emerald Princess.  However, we prefer small ships, and love the seaview pool area on Holland ships.  We also do not want to cruise with a lot of children on board.  Decided to keep our Volendam cruise and not switch.

Thank you everyone.  I was able to complete the check-in process after numerous tries of getting the picture to be accepted.  It never was though.  My edocs were not showing up though, so I called and got that straightened out.  Printed first two pages of edocs, just to have, and took a snapshot of them too.  Started packing!!!!  Yea...........3 more weeks and off to Bermuda on the Pearl we will go to celebrate my big 60th!!!!

Check-in opened up for me today for our August 18th trip on the Pearl.  However, although I have tried taking numerous photos for the "required" photo, I cannot get past that point.  I guess it doesn't like the photo for whatever reason.  Is there a way around this so that we can complete our check-in and access our boarding pass?

Are they not taking pictures at the pier any longer?

1 hour ago, kittyraptors said:

Did you do this excursion? How was it? 

No, I did not.  Ended up canceling the cruise and rebooking something else with a better itinerary.

9 hours ago, Ourusualbeach said:

It does not have to be a raised seal, just original.  As you have discovered many states no longer do the raised seal.  

It does not need to be an original birth certificate.  It must, however, be a certified birth certificate.

Call large agencies and ask if they have group rates for your ship/sail date.  Group rates are refundable deposit and include the drink pkg, wifi, and prepaid gratuities.  If you are sailing within 3 months, you will not find any available group rates.

I made a reservation with MJS for us.  Thank you everyone.

Just now, bkrickles1 said:

Doing White Hot Catamaran in exactly 14 days! Can't wait! 

I want to hear all about it when you return.  🙂

59 minutes ago, GTJ said:

I generally base my choice on the itinerary rather than on the vessel. To me, the difference between the two is that one calls at Portland, Me., and Saint John, N.B. (no, it does not call at "St. John"), while the other calls at Charlottetown, P.E.I. The former has the objective advantage of more ports called upon. As to the quality of the ports, Charlottetown is really a small community. While it is the birthplace of Confederation, and one can visit the Anne of Green Gables site, there is not all that much there. In comparison, much urban activity is available at Portland, and even Saint John. Had I not been to Charlottetown before (but I have) then I might consider it; otherwise, I would opt for Portland and Saint John unless the fare was substantially higher.

The fare is MUCH higher on Holland America Volendam, as I expected it to be, as it is only about half the size of the Emerald Princess.  I will be booking an inside on the Volendam.  I could have gotten a balcony on Emerald Princess for a few hundred less than the inside will cost on Volendam.  But as this is a mid summer cruise, after taking everything into consideration, I'm going to stick with Holland America, as I'm certain there will be less children on board.

22 minutes ago, LHT28 said:

Are they round trip or one way ?

Are they both the same length?

 

go for the one with the ports you want to visit most

They are both 7 night round trip Boston.

As a side note, it has been a little over 10 years since we've last cruised on Princess, but we have cruised on Rotterdam and Nieuw Statendam within the last year-and-a half, so we do know what to expect "food wise" on Holland.