Granny DI

2 minutes ago, Copper10-8 said:

 

Me thinks if HAL is forced to cancel Havana and Cienfuegos (due to new/revised federal regulations) and substitute, say George Town, Grand Cayman and Ocho Rios, Jamaica, you will see beaucoup cancellations 

Our cruise also includes the Caymans and Ocho Rios so to subtract Cuba and add something like Nassau is a no go for us.

2 minutes ago, Petoonya said:

 

I'm with you Granny DI. Just love relaxing, being waited on, nice people, reading, eating amazing food, yoga classes- it's all good.

DH is up on the same things, and it might just be the last TA was a little TOO boring. The ports for this while not too plentiful are better than the last time. So hoping that maybe ending up in Italy he might find it more exciting to have something to look forward to- and not want to get off and fly home on Tenerife like your husband wanted to!

Tell him the cruise beats 10 hours on an airplane to Italy. DH hates flying more than sea days! I love sea days!

Cruising is a real vacation for me......DH doesn’t cook, clean or do laundry so cruising to him is just a location change.

8 minutes ago, Petoonya said:

Whoa Granny DI....not what I wanted to hear but the feedback I needed to hear! The other side of the coin is that we just did a 17 day that had 15 port days and he was sick and tired of that towards the end. But your husband wanting to get off and fly back is the worst I've heard. Maybe I'll just hang on to our reservation and let him evaluate at final payment time or when it would be time to get flights, rather than hope he enjoys. We have another Papeete- SF next April- will see how he is on that again and re-evaluate. Thanks once more.

DH says 14 days is too long now but 11 days is manageable. DH has to be doing something 24/7. I on the other hand enjoy days without cooking, laundry, cleaning etc. 

3 hours ago, Petoonya said:

We did a a Rio to Barcelona on O 10 years ago. I loved, dh disliked. There were only three ports, Praia in Cape Verde Islands(very sad place, full of the worst poverty and homelessness), Tenerife and Barcelona. My husband was 62, still working and very active. Although he loves O, that cruise bored him to death. So yesterday I booked another for 2021 (!), 14 day Miami to Rome, stops in Bermuda, Azores, and Malaga. He'd then be 74 years in 2021. We're both avid snorkelers and figure he'd be happy in Bermuda and Costa Del Sol. Plus after the cruise we can spend time in the Sorrento area which he loves. He's till very active, working out heavily 4x week and loves the gym on O. Other than being an avid reader he doesn't partake in other stuff on O. We've done Papeete to LA with stops in Tahiti and Hawaii which he loved even tho lots of sea days, but the ports are heaven.

 

Is it possible for one to get get older, change and love a TA? Anyone have experience with that? He's lukewarm on this cruise but loves TA pricing.

My DH is also 74 and it’s worse.  He drove me nuts on the QM2 from NYC to the North Cape and back to NYC. We were on the ship 24 days. Day 17 was Southampton.....he wanted to get off the ship and fly back to NYC. This was about 10 years ago. We have done many 14 day cruises since and he is fine if it is port intensive....but two consecutive sea days is a no go for him. 

1 minute ago, sandyss said:

If HAL makes changes to the Cuba itineraries, I hope that they also make changes to the pricing since we are paying premium prices for the cruises that stop in Cuba.

Agree 100%! DH says if HAL substitutes Bahamas etc....we are bailing! Luckily final payment isn’t for awhile and our deposit was only $100. We’ll lose the $100 to avoid the Bahamas.

2 minutes ago, JPR said:

So would anyone here want to go to Venezuela today? The regime is murdering its citizens, with the protection of Cuban troops. 

Chavez’s body guards and doctors were Cuban. I assume the same is true for Maduro.  The mercenaries in Venezuela are Cuban. Chavez’s mentor was Fidel Castro. Close ties between the two countries for a long time.

2 hours ago, JPR said:

I second RJB’s comment. We were in Cuba on Sirena last October. The poverty outside of (and even in parts of) Havana, and particularly in Santiago, is truly shocking. Our guide’s college class had 32 members; all but two have left the country because there is no future for them. (Our guide and his wife make good money from tourists, but they have been detained out of the blue for no reason on more than one occasion).

 

As a non-government Cuban, you get what you pay for with the vaunted “free Cuban healthcare”. The doctors are not really all that well trained and get paid almost nothing; worse yet, they are effectively sold like chattel to Venezuela and other nations in Cuba’s increasingly limited orbit, with their families in Cuba held hostage to deter defection. Bring your own sheets and light bulbs to the hospital, and get tests with antiquated obsolete equipment. 

 

There is a a thriving arts community but even they are under increasing oppression. There is no reason to treat Cuba any differently than North Korea.

And please no “Why not China and Russia too?” Those regimes have serious human rights issues too, but there is no comparison today.

The only comparison is Venezuela. We lived there for years during the Hugo Chavez regime. It is now a million times worse and it was really bad during Chavez. 

We spent many years living in the Caribbean and Europe. DH worked in Russia for a few years but we never lived there.  If you haven’t lived outside of the US or Canada it’s pretty hard to understand what is really happening beneath the surface in Cuba, Venezuela, etc. 

2 minutes ago, cloudninecat said:

There is a difference between an itinerary and a destination. I booked a cruise that was listed as a "Cuba" cruise. It will be like booking one for Alaska and going to Canada instead. It's not what you booked. Now if I booked a Caribbean cruise that goes to St Thomas and they change it to St Maarten instead that's an itinerary change. I may have really wanted to go to St Thomas but it wasn't booked as a St Thomas cruise.  If they have to change the destination they should offer you the chance to cancel without penalty. 

Agree 100%! Our Cuba Cruise also goes to Ocho Rios and Caymans.....don’t want to go to either but decided to book anyway to get two ports in Cuba. DH says not interested in changing the ports in Cuba for the Bahamas. Luckily cruise isn’t until Jan 2020 so time to cancel.

3 hours ago, CCLcruiser91 said:

John Bolton said:

"The Department of the Treasury will implement further regulatory changes to restrict non-family travel to Cuba. These new measures will help steer American dollars away from the Cuban regime or its military and security services who control the tourism industry in Cuba," Bolton added.

 

I have a Cuba Cruise schedule for June.  I have been worried that the US would stop travel to Cuba due to them helping Venezuela.  Looks like it's going to happen...

This has been happening for years. We lived in Venezuela for many years during the regime of Hugo Chavez. Chavez’s body guards and doctors were all Cuban. Right now there are Cuban mercenaries operating in Venezuela. The common people in Cuba and Venezuela are really hurting due to the dictators in Caracas and Havana.

I have a cruise booked on the Veendam for Jan 2020. I have not booked airlines etc because I feared this could happen.

This is all about Venezuela. 

We lived in Venezuela for many years during the Regime of Hugo Chavez. His body guards and doctors were Cuban. 

Too many ties between the dictators in Caracas and Havana. 

I have a Holland American cruise to Cuba in Jan 2020. I haven’t booked airlines etc because I knew there was a strong possibility this could happen.

This new directive is all about Venezuela. I lived in Venezuela during the regime of Hugo Chavez. Chavez’s body guards were Cuban. So many ties between Cuba and Venezuela.

On 3/25/2019 at 10:30 AM, newty25 said:

We booked Symphony and then rebooked on Getaway (exact same ship as Breakaway) for last Thanksgiving. We wanted the Haven experience.

 

Personally, Symphony and the RCI ships look amazing. Much better designs than the NCL ships. The suites, to us, looked much better on NCL. Combined that with the Haven and we were sold.

 

If I were booking a non-suite, I'd probably do Symphony. If I were looking at a suite, I'd definitely book NCL and the Haven.

 

In fact, we loved the Haven on the Getaway so much that we booked the Breakaway this November in another two bedroom suite.

My DH said no more suites on RCL......no bang for your buck...minisuites only. Our favorite cabin at Sea is 12304 on the Breakaway. Would never consider anything on the Breakaway below  Haven aft suites. We sail for the Haven experience.

6 hours ago, myjillian said:

My TA checks all of her bookings every week looking for price drops and or specials that she can pass on to her clients.  Her idea is to have her clients save money so that they would cruise more.  She works from home and if she has a local group that may not know each other she'll invite everyone to her home for a party before their cruise and helps them get on CC to join activities for their sailings.  Her clients are very loyal to her because she puts them first.  Once she even told my friends that she couldn't match the price of an online website ( she usually matches or her price is better) and gave them that information to book....she found the website ..not them....Once she called clients that booked their air with Princess and informed them that overall the air fare was cheaper now and she got them the reduced rate.  She just enjoys doing this...I don't think she makes much money but I do know she's looking out for me🤗  I also know that Princess would not have informed the client of the reduced air etc.  So sometimes we can find a gem in a box of rocks !

My TA of 18 years is the same. She is a personal friend now.

BTW I grew up in Plattsburgh NY.  Love visiting in the summer.

I use the same TA I’ve used for 18 years. 

H6

Breakaway

7 days...NYC to Bermuda

$2499 pp

OBC, tips, drinks, specialty restaurants

May 2014

6 minutes ago, blcruising said:

All I know is that if I was going to spend $16,000 for an upscale cruise experience, I'd be thinking Regent, Seabourne, and Crystal, not The Haven by Norwegian Cruise Lines. You know what they say... You can put lipstick on a pig, but at the end of the day, it is still a 🐖 pig.

Forget Crystal! What a rip off and not upscale. We spent $9000 for a tiny Ocean view. We couldn’t wait to get off. We have NEVER PAID that for our favorite Breakaway Aft Haven Suite. We love the aft Haven suites on the Breakaway. 

I have always paid the bills, made the budgets and played travel agent.  I assumed this role because my husband traveled a lot on business....most of the time out of the country...plus I am the frugal one. My husband told me when I booked our first cruise in 1998 not to tell him the cost as it would spoil his vacation if he knew the cost. We started in balcony rooms and now enjoy suites. I rarely tell him the cost. I have tried to cut corners over the years but find he is very unhappy with anything less than a Haven aft suite on the Breakaway. I told him the cost after our last cruise in the Haven last month on the Breakaway. He also knows the cost of our aft Haven suite for the Encore in 2020.  He has no problem with either.  I always look for the lowest prices with the most goodies. I have a budget and if everything is over my budget we don’t cruise.  We took early retirement years ago to enjoy life so my theory is if we don’t cruise in the cabins we love our kids will spend the money on something they love.

1 minute ago, rocky1 said:

So..... flying in/out a day or two early or late is totally out of the question?

Travel agent called NCL. If you fly in early or stay later it’s considered a deviation. Deviations are not permitted with the free airfare. The only way around this to book a pre or post cruise hotel with NCL. 

We refuse to fly in the day of a cruise. We had a problem two years ago. We tried to fly in two days ahead of time. Missed connection in Atlanta due to thunder storms....no planes available ...made cruise with 30 minutes to spare.

We had the unlimited internet and thought it was pretty good. It’s almost as good as RCL Vroom. My husband was able to work everyday using the internet. 

I had a similar problem last summer. I downloaded the forms, had my picture taken at CVS, then dropped off the passport etc at the post office. I sent it certified. I had my new passport within a week. My old passport wasn’t returned for about a month. Make sure you take pictures of your old passport before you send it off. 

In the old days it took about 6 weeks to get a new passport. Perhaps I was just lucky. I sent it from  podunk post office in VA. 

We declined the free airfare for two reasons.

1. We had to use LGA in NYC

2. We had to fly the day of the cruise.

We’ll book our own flights or just drive as it’s just a six hour drive.

Margaritaville is free for Haven guests only on the first day for lunch. I think it’s available until 3. We dropped off our bags in our cabin and headed to Margaritaville. It was perfect for the first meal on the cruise. There was no way we were going to the “trough” aka buffet. If you order a drink you will have to pay tax if the ship is still docked. It wasn’t much.

When we cruise NCL Breakaway we always sail in the Haven aft Suites. We sail in suites on the smaller NCL ships as the Haven is way out of our budget on the smaller ships.  We were just on an 11 day cruise out of New Orleans. We were not in our favorite cabin because I did not book a year in advance. I booked the last aft suite 8 months in advance. Our 11 day cruise was $4000 pp. that included all the perks and $600 in OBC.  The price has not increased much in the last six years or so. Our first cruise in an aft balcony suite from NYC to Bermuda on the Breakaway  was $2600 pp for 7 days....no perks of any kind. The price increased a little each year as more goodies were added. 

We are not interested in staying in any of the cabins in the Haven area. We enjoy the aft privacy and the walk keeps us in shape.

Celebrity used to be our line of choice but the price increased and the product did not. We are booked on Oceania next year staying in the cheapest penthouse. It is more than our recent 11 day cruise. We want to see Cuba so not much of a choice. We sailed Crystal last year. We were in an Oceanview tiny cabin and the price was $4400 pp and no goodies. Never sailing Crystal again. Save your money! 

7 minutes ago, NCteacherlovescruising said:

Our anniversary is Sept. 3rd, so we are hoping to be on a cruise on that date.  

We’ve been to Bermuda at that very time of the year.  We had to skirt a hurricane and it was hot and humid. 

We’ve been to Bermuda 5 or 6 times. We usually go in May. Going again in May 2020. Bermuda would the clean and functional Caribbean Island.   Going to give Cuba a try in Jan 2020. The political situation is very iffy so want to go before it’s closed again. We lived in Venezuela for many years but left in 2000 as we had enough of Hugo Chavez and his shenanigans. Now it’s worse and will never return.

There are close ties between Cuba and Venezuela...so nothing will surprise me. I have another cruise booked for the Eastern Caribbean at the same time in case the Cuban ports are once again closed to US citizens.