sunviking90

I was just going to add this. You beat me to it. Because it is really 2 7 days cruises, it could also be that the “same” cabin isn’t available for both legs, and that’s why it’s showing sold out.

If you’re looking at the Noordam, they are actually 2 7 day cruises, and they usually hold back cabins to sell as part of the cruise tours. The rest may be held by TAs as group space. They will open up. I always get emails for these cruises after final payment at greatly reduced rates.

I can let you know soon. We board on the 22nd, and intend to show up an hour before our assigned time. I have never missed MDR lunch on embarkation day in over 30 years of cruising and I don’t intend to start now. (My flame suit is on 😊)

I guess in my mind, I’ve seen it AS their salary for a long time. This charge is added to our fare to pay it. It would be nice if it was just included in the base fare, but it’s not. My understanding (and someone correct me if I’m wrong) is that their base salaries were increased after this change so that they would not be so dependant on “the kindness of strangers”.

I do understand your point, but wasn’t the change partly to make things more balanced between the behind the scenes crew and those who interact with passengers? And wasn’t it also a result of dining changes with the end of the same wait staff nightly who were tipped at the end of the cruise? The cruise environment has changed and for me at least, going back to the “old” tipping style doesn’t really fit the new reality. I understand that people don’t like the idea that their CA is then pooled among all the ships, but it probably is the easiest way of doing things.

The daily CA is charged to our account and any OBC we have is applied towards the balance.

I would never remove crew appreciation as I really don’t want to go back to the days of having to bring a lot of US cash on vacation with me and then put it in envelopes to distribute at opportune times to the crew. I love having CA automatically charged, and know that the crew are paid a mutually agreed upon contracted salary and not depending on people doing the right thing in compensating them. And I can used OBC for this or prepay at a more favourable exchange rate beforehand. We obviously do bring some US cash on cruises for extra tips if warranted, but I’m glad I don’t have to travel with $1000 cash on me for the basic CA on a longer cruise! Plus as Canadian it’s always a big “ouch” moment buying the US cash pretrip, lol. I don’t really care who Princess decides the crew appreciation goes to. It’s not for me patronize a business and then decide to second guess how they pay their employees when mutually agreed upon contracts are in place.

They are only offered in USD online for us and we book our cruises in CAD. Is purchase in CAD an option by calling in? I only see other pre-purchase items such as onboard credit, flats of water, etc offered in CAD online.

Nieuw Amsterdam and Eurodam also have Tamarind (sorry, I don’t remember what “class” they are). So, 5 ships total.

No. They’re in the Piazza making a racket! See the other thread. Actually, the bands that perform with the production shows are usually very good.

Thank you for your honest thoughts. Sapphire Princess was our first Princess cruise years ago when she was new and still one of our favourites. I would also love to do the itinerary you’re on one day. I agree the lack of a couch in the balcony staterooms has been a Princess weakness for years. The newer ships do have couches in deluxe and premium balconies. I also agree on the decor. Princess seems to have decided on a palette and decor sometime in 1993 and just stuck to it for years! We do love the classic look of the promenade with the chairs. It’s been a long time since we were on her, but we definitely walked every morning on the Promenade deck. That is the definition of “promenade” whether a noun or a verb after all! Maybe there just weren’t as many walkers at the time we walked? I know Sapphire has a wider Promenade deck than some of the other ships which should allow space for lounging and walking. I fail to understand why Princess (Celebrity is bad for this too) have the smoking areas where people go for exercise and fresh air. I’m glad you’re enjoying your cruise! How are the enrichment programs (lectures, etc) on that itinerary?

Have a great cruise! We are on the Koningsdam in January for our first Pinnacle class cruise, so we’ll definitely be following along.

May I ask you if it was a Canadian company or US and if you were booking in USD or CAD?

Thank you. I guess I’ll continue patiently waiting.

We have a guarantee booked for November 22 and are still awaiting an assignment. Cruise has been listed as sold out for a few days now. I was just wondering for those of you who have had a guarantee, when did you receive your assignment? It has been a long time since we’ve booked this way on HAL.

And the presumably young and female teller has to politely laugh at your “joke” because you’re the customer. Ick.

Did you choose this room on the Emerald Princess? Or was it a guarantee assignment? Are there other non-connecting rooms still available in the same category? If so, call Princess and tell them you would like to change rooms. Check before hand to see what is available so you can tell them which room you want to switch to. Basically keep it simple for them and they will do it. We have done this a few times when we didn’t like the location of our guarantee,

I’ve only bid twice and won both with minimum bids. This was when I could clearly see the ship was a slow seller and knew my chances were good. I don’t think I’d bid more than the minimum and I certainly wouldn’t bite on the news I was “outbid” with an invite to up my bid. This sounds like a new game. I won’t play.

Thank you for explaining it. What a lovely idea to bury your husband’s with him.

I’m sure many people do a search first, but I find search engines on forums are usually weak. I use Google for the topic with CC at the start of my query and it usually works well. It’s also amusing when you see the long threads that veer so completely off topic by the end. It’s like the telephone game.

Yes, most of our cruises lately have been Celebrity and Princess, and I was starting to realize that a quiet spot was getting to be a rarity. HAL ships are certainly prettier on the outside, but I agree about the inside although I haven’t been on the newest 3 which are supposed to be more light and bright.

Bon Voyage!

This thread made me go in and count my actual days, and I just realized I’ll pass 100 days during our upcoming Volendam cruise. I never knew before that there was any such thing as a 100 day medallion, but I guess I’ll get one? I thought only star levels mattered.

Yes, it seems to be getting noisier. I’m not against having fun activities but they seem go over board with the constant “fun”. I actually avoid the piazza now except for early in the morning. We just made elite, but we are taking our next cruise on HAL for a little peace and quiet.

I can remember my late parents proudly showing me the pins they had received years ago. I think they had only reached 2 stars at that point and they certainly never became more than 3. These things were very important to them back then. When we did our first cruise back in 1991, most of the lines had under 5 ships, fewer people cruised, and it was a LOT more expensive. These milestones were much more unique, and the cruiselines obviously really valued their top cruisers. Now with truly mass market cruising, SO many people are reaching or have reached the premium levels on the cruise lines, it’s not unusual anymore. I really don’t think they care anymore.