mobilemac

My wife and I took the port transfer from Rotterdam to AMS at the end of the 150th Anniversary cruise last April. It was a bit confusing in the bus parking lot ... the buses went as they filled. We were put on the 2nd or 3rd bus, a double-decker pulling a trailer filled with luggage, leaving the port around 9 am. The bus only made one stop, on the lower driveway directly in front of the Airport Sheraton Hotel. I think you will be fine with a 12:25 pm departure.

I want to second the recommendation to take the train from Amsterdam Centraal directly to Rotterdam, then taxi (or tram) from the train station to the ship. It's inexpensive (far less expensive than HAL's transfer option), simple, and certainly faster than working your way to the airport, finding the HAL representatives, and busing to the ship.

My experience is that calling for a price adjustment basically means cancelling and rebooking for a lower price. Then the question becomes ... does the lower price make up for the bennies you will lose from your cancelled booking. Example ... I just rebooked to take advantage of the Black Friday sale price and "free" gratuities. Making this change meant I lost the $400 OBCs I'd gotten when I originally booked on board, but the value of the included gratuities exceeded the $400 OBCs. The only OBCs {I think) that always stay with you are any bennies from your cruise agent and the CCL stock ownership OBCs.

Yes, you can find the Sommelier Wine packages listed on the HAL website ... Cellars 1, 2, or 3 ... think good, better, best. Each package is available with 4, 6, or 8 bottles, and includes a selection of reds or whites. You can have as many bottles open at one time as you want ... they are yours, prepaid and available to drink while dining or taken back to your stateroom. BTW, an 18% gratuity will be tacked onto the price of the package ... the gratuity is not included in the package price.

No pre-planning required ... simply tell the Canaletto wait staff when you arrive that you already have an opened bottle of red or white stored at the MDR, deck 2 or 3. They will send one of their staff for it and it will be back to you in 5 - 6 minutes. We dined in the Canaletto several times and that's the process we followed earlier this month during our TA to FLL from Barcelona. The same applies for dining in the Lido.

We are planning a one-way flight to Europe, followed by some DIY touring before returning on a transatlantic cruise back to the USA. Does flightease also apply for one-way flights? or only for roundtrips? Thanks.

I have to admit we haven't visited the CT in 10 years, so I'm disappointed to read it has changed so much. Depending on your viewpoint, I guess you can either thank or blame Rick Steves, who has promoted the CT in his Back Door books.

La Spezia is a great jumping off point for a day of visiting the Cinque Terre. La Spezia Centrale is a short train ride to the 5 villages, all of which are connected by a walking path. Each of the oceanside villages has their own character and would be a wonderful way to get away from the crowds for a relaxing day.

My wife and I also used the ship's shuttle from the Rotterdam (at the Rotterdam dock) to AMS last week after the 16-day 150th Anniversary crossing. The ship's shuttle cost $39 USD per person. We had luggage tag Pink 1, which was called at 8:30 am. Since we had cleared EU customs and border patrol the previous day when we arrived in Rotterdam, it was a quick shot off the ship to pick up our luggage and proceed to the double-decker coach. Yes, it did take more time than using a taxi, but on balance was pretty efficient. Traffic was not a problem, and we were off the coach and on our way with our luggage by 10:30. Hope that helps.

My wife and I are 4 * Mariners with an upcoming cruise on the Rotterdam. We have a particular night and time we need to reserve dinner, but I am concerned that if we wait until we board ship, like we have always done in the past, we might not get the time slot we need. If I reserve now, however, I'll need to pay the full price for two people now, and the system won't recognize our 4* 50% dining credit. Question ... once we are onboard and go to dinner, will the shipboard accounting system then recognize our discount and return the overpayment to our onboard account? Thanks.

We have always gone directly from the ship to the airport for our return flight home. For our upcoming T/A to Rotterdam in April we would like to take one of the ship tours to Delft and The Hague that finishes at the Amsterdam airport. The tour description says this tour is only for flights after 3 pm. Does this normally mean we'll arrive at the airport in the 12 - 1pm range? or closer to 3pm? Thanks.

We just returned from the Oosterdam, cabin 5108, an "A" portside veranda. It was an inset cabin. Granted, we did not have a full sightline view up and down the side of the ship, but by being inset we had a bit more overhang from the balcony above, helping cut down on the amount of full sun streaming into the cabin in the afternoon. We were very happy with our selection and would book it again.

I was the OP for this topic and have been closely following everyone's responses. I'm pleased to read everyone's positive experience with OnPoint's zoom testing process since we would like to use it next month from our hotel in France. Although we will have a 6-hour time zone difference in France from the Eastcoast US, it sounds like OnPoint has reps available throughout the day. I debated making our appointment before we leave the US but now think I will wait until we get closer to the actual testing date. Who knows (fingers crossed), HAL might change the policy again and remove the testing requirement from our cruise. I doubt it, but I can always hope 🙂 Again, thanks to all for your responses.

My wife and I are crossing from Barcelona to Florida in November on the Oosterdam. Our cruise is one of the cruises that requires a pre-cruise negative covid test to board. We arrive in Barcelona the afternoon before we board and will be in Perpignon FR before Barcelona. I can't find a testing clinic near Perpignon so we need to complete an emed test. Has anyone used OnPoint for your testing? I'm attracted to them because they allow us to use the iHealth tests we received from the US government a few months ago. Your experiences with OnPoint will be appreciated.

My understanding ... Medicare will only cover one on-demand proctored covid test per year. The 2nd, 3rd, etc., will be covered by Medicare only if it is medically prescribed by your physician. So if you only cruise 1/year, you're covered by Medicare. For your 2nd, 3rd, etc., you'll have to pay CVS, Walgreen, or an on-line proctored service like the Optom Store's Binaxnow emed proctored test kit.