ptcgal

My airfare is set.  Contacted TA and got info on Air France schedule.  I was able to fill in all the info for airline tickets. Still can't get into Trip Personalizer. No documents yet.

Cruise is on Scenic.  Will definitely let y'all know if all issues are finalized.  

My Danube river cruise is going out on April 11 which is 3 weeks from now.  Do not have flights confirmed and also can't get into trip Personalizer.  Says that cruise is closed for finalization. This is cutting it too close.  I will contact my TA to see if they can get a response.  Very stressful !!!!

We have a river cruise going April 11.  We are supposed to have free air included in cost of cruise. Unable to get through to Scenic and have not received tickets yet. My TA is on a cruise and cannot be reached.  I am extremely stressed about this since the clock is ticking. I called Scenic on March 12 and call was dropped. Called again that afternoon and busy signal.  Sent email to Scenic and no response. Are the April cruises really happening?

Ship Disembark in Vancouver.

Is the same true for CBP when you return to US. At the airport is there US Customs before boarding plane for US?

Just purchased a lido cabana for a cruise to Alaska in July. Traveling with 2 grandchildren, 11 and 16. We have an oceanview room and I felt that we could use the cabana to look out over the ocean. If the weather turns cold and rainy we can be assured of a space at the pool. Also the kids can go there and get pizza or burgers and lounge at the pool. I think it will be a good choice for us on Alaska cruise.

I was also on the Eurodam for this cruise. We had a great time except for the Pinnacle Grill, Had a reservation for 6 and left there at 8:30. 2 and a 1/2 hours. They were rushing around but we waited 1 hour between the salad and dinner. Don't know what the problem was.

Looking forward to seeing this on the Eurodam! Does anyone know if they show this more than once per cruise?

Just off the Eurodam on March 12. They only showed this for one night.

How about bringing along a portable DVD player. Works great for long car trips with the grandkids. However, I probably wouldn't bother unless it was a long cruise.

Very interesting review of large ship. I am sailing on HAL in October on the Zuiderdam. I only sailed once before on Hal but have many cruises on Royal Caribbean. I went on the Allure last year with about 12 family members (6 children). They, of course, had a great time. Me - not so much. More than 6000 people onboard because it was in June when school is out. Very crowded and long walks to go anywhere; traffic jams on Promenade deck; packed pools and long lines everywhere. I know that many folks really like all the restaurants and night life and the big ships are always full. I am really looking forward to going on a HAL ship again and will enjoy the peace and quiet.

Just looked on roll call list for Jan 15, 2017 and found 3 roll Calls - Maasdam, Zuiderdam, Koningsdam. If it's not one of these, you might want to start a roll call for your ship.

Upgrade=no double points. Up sell=double points. If you pay even a little to move into the suite you'll get the Mariner suite bonus points.

This is all very confusing. I only have one completed cruise on HAL so I did not know how HAL does the upgrades. I booked a veranda and with the last sale I upgraded to a signature suite and received a refund for the overpayment. The HAL PCC said that I would get the double points since it is before the final payment date. She explained that an upsell is usually after the final payment date and you pay extra to get an upgrade and are able to keep any special promotions from the original booking but no double points. She did not explain upgrades after final booking.

Port----starboard----

The views can be hit or miss, as others have said.

 

All that I know is on the Oasis class ships I still go the wrong way when inside the ship ---when ever we go somewhere.

 

It could be the theatre or our loft suite, or the lounges, I can never get my direction correct.

 

I should have a ship GPS

 

There has to be a secret.

 

Safe travels

I was on Allure and I found that class of ship very difficult to navigate. It was hard to get from one side to the other because of the large space in the middle of the ship - Central Park and Boardwalk. You can't just walk across the hallway to get to the other side rather you have to plan where you are going before you start out. What I did was go to neatest elevator bank and look at the ship map. If you locate the front of ship, turn and face it. Starboard is on the right and Port is on the left (4 letters in Port and 4 letters in left). They also have installed location interactive software on these maps that are located by the stairs, dining areas and elevators. [/i]

Thank you for the article. Very informative. I only cruised with HAL once in Alaska. The last 4 cruises were with Royal Caribbean. I am booked on Hal to Panama Canal in October. Looking forward to getting back to HAL. I had enough of the rock climbing walls, ice skating rinks, zip lines, etc. Why do I go on cruise lines where I don't even use any of these "great amenities". A lot of the changes that HAL is bringing to the bigger ships will probably get more people interested in sailing with them and also can appeal to younger people and the senior crowd also. They have to move with the times if they want to attract new cruisers.

Upgraded to signature suite on Zuiderdam 10/30/16. So excited. 1st time evahh!!! Some questions.

1. Get emails from HAL hailing new amenities in Suites but website does not show them. Are they on all ships or only on Konningsdam?

2. What does a Concierge do or what is the advantage of using service?

We have only sailed 1 time on Hal to Alaska and not familiar with all Hal ships. Thanks.

I'm going to be heading to Barcelona for a cruise as well. I don't particularly want to spend another $600 on hotels pre-cruise. But I also really don't want to miss my flight.

 

So what is everyone recommending? Arrive at least two nights before the cruise?

I went on New England cruise starting in Quebec last year. Thank goodness the ship overnighted in Quebec before leaving. Scheduled to fly out on 11/2 (One day ahead)but flight was canceled and rescheduled for next day. OK I thought. I still could get there since the ship did not leave that day. Next day the second leg flight was delayed 3 hours & missed the connections. I was rerouted - McAllen to Dallas to Newark to Philadelphia to Quebec. After 18 hours I arrive at ship at midnight. Thank God the luggage made it. Only a few hours in Quebec the next day before 3 pm sail time.

Going to Barcelona this Oct.31. Booked air to depart Monday Oct 26. Arrive in Barcelona in the a.m. on Oct 27. I want to see the city and take some tours with extra days in case I get delayed again. Less stress and time to get luggage if it doesn't arrive with you.

RCI is bringing out new ships every year. Harmony will be out 2016. That makes three Oasis style ships. How many Quantum class ships? Someone is paying for these bigger than big ships. I don't know - higher prices, no new or innovative itineraries, 5000 to 6000 passengers on cruises- no wonder cc folks are getting the wonderlust.

I guess it could be my own preference about food quality. I think I might try HAL again just for something different. I'll keep looking for the right price and destination.

I went on HAL in 2012 to Alaska and really enjoyed the trip, especially the food. The next cruise was in 2014 on RCI's Allure of the seas. Really disappointed in the food. The food in the specialty restaurants was better than the dining room and the Lido but overall I felt the food was low quality. I chalked it up to being on a ship with 6000 people. How can you do a great job trying to feed that many people. Next cruise was on RCI Legend of the seas and found the same quality food. I just remember the Zuiderdam and how I loved the food even in the Lido, especially at breakfast. Thinking of booking with HAL again this time mainly because of the difference in quality. Am I just imagining this because I enjoyed the cruise on HAL so much?

Just finished my first solo cruise- a 12 day repo from Quebec city to Ft Lauderdale on RCI. I did My Time dining. I tried different times during the cruise enjoyed eating with a different group each time . Iwent to the Buffet one night and a specialty restaurant another. I wound up with one group of folks who eat dinner at 6 each night and enjoyed their company for the rest of the cruise. Went to the dining room for breakfast and lunch in dining room few times also. Just find out what you like.

usually that's the suite lunch area for freedom class - if you are in a suite, you can pick up your food at windjammer but eat it in chops or portofino (depends on the cruise). if you flashed a gold card, that's why you got in. if you weren't in a suite, maybe they just used it as overflow for embarkation day, or maybe they just liked you. :D they are usually very strict - i usually travel in a suite but with non-suite friends, and they are not allowed into the suite area for lunch (which means i don't eat there, either).

 

 

 

 

You never know what people's limitations are. personally, if i eat more than a cracker within 3 hours of getting up, i get nauseous. which means i'm smack-dab in the middle of windjammer chaos, because i get hungry just as we board.

 

My best embarkation lunch experience ever was on allure - we spent $15 to eat lunch on embarkation day at giovanni's, and it was one of the best $15 i ever spent. made for a much more relaxing first day. and i liked it so much, we went back a second time. normally i would not pay for lunch, but thanks to being open on embarkation day, royal made an extra $120 off of us (lunch for 4, at $15 a head, twice during the cruise).

 

the buffet was chaos on all 4 lines we cruised. the worst was my disney dream cruise last oct - they usually have a second buffet set up in one of the other dining rooms but for some reason didn't that cruise, so it took us over half an hour to find a table (we ended up eating leaning on a counter), and our food was frigid by the time we found even that. some un-disney-like words left my lips that day, let me tell you. i have not been on carnival, but based on cruising on 4 different lines, i think the buffet is probably a mad-house no matter what.

We also chose Giovanni's Table on the Allure on embarkation day. Nice, quiet, empty and you can sit out front and watch the insanity of boarding day with a glass of wine. Good value for $15 and great for your disposition. Other RCI ships have some specialty restaurants open and almost all have the Park Café.

I was on the Vision when we missed Halifax port. I never thought about asking for a refund of port fees because I thought that the cruise line paid those to the port in advance of the cruise to reserve a place at the port. So if we missed the port then the cruise ship forfeits the fees. Does anyone know how these things work. I found the customer service reps may not have all the answers and sometimes give you the wrong info.

Although one person mentioned Vision, the rest seem to be complaining about Allure. I wonder if there are just too many people on board for them to effectively manage food prep. I know many dishes have to be prepped in advance and then held. Which would explain tough, rubbery shrimp and lobster.

We were on the Allure in June. 5800 pp on board plus crew. It was very full. I felt the dining room tables were squished together very closely and it was so busy for the waiters that they could have use roller skates to get around. They all seemed very stressed. No wonder they can't have great food trying to feed that many people at the same time. Specialty restaurants were great and waiters had a more relaxed attitude. I made a special point to tip extra to our MDR waiter and told him we appreciated all he had to deal with. I prefer the smaller more relaxed ships but it's great to experience the Allure at least once.

Been on Alaska cruise with HAL in 2012. All other cruises on Royal Caribbean. Thought I'd like to go back to HAL for a 2016 Panama Canal cruise. So... I went to HAL website and had a very hard time trying to find out the cost. I figured I must be really getting to old for this since the last time I booked with HAL it was so easy. Then I found this thread on CC. Guess I'm not the only one!!!

Our Compass Day 1 from February lists:

 

Royal connect Device Rentals

11:30AM to 3:00PM and 5:00PM to 7:00PM Card Room Deck 14

 

ken

Thanks. This info will save us a lot of time when we get on board.