-
Posts
1,913 -
Joined
Content Type
Forums
Store
Blogs
Downloads
Events
Gallery
Everything posted by sunviking90
-
Check your final bill and watch out for that minibar!
sunviking90 replied to sunviking90's topic in Holland America Line
Well, I finally got through after 2 hours and 10 minutes! Gosh, itâs great to be newly retired so I have time for these things! She was very nice, corrected it for me and said it happens all the time, even when people request to have the minibar emptied. Next time, I am not disembarking until I have seen the bar person do the count for our minibar. -
I know this has been discussed before, but I just wanted to remind people to watch out for unwarranted minibar charges. This happened to me years ago, and we used to have them clear it out for us, but I guess I got lazy and sure enough we have $35 in minibar charges on our final bill for our cruise which ended Wednesday. We didnât take anything out of it, but rearranged things to fit in my birthday cake. I have now been on hold for 1 hour and 35 minutes with HAL. Ugh! I think in future, I might demand that the bar people check the minibar while Iâm there before we disembark.
-
12 Year Old on Inside Passage on Koningsdam
sunviking90 replied to ninaks's topic in Holland America Line
There are usually a lot of children on the summer Alaska cruises. It is definitely a younger demographic with lots of extended family groups, etc. They also run the kids programs almost all day, so she wonât be bored. My son used to love cruising with us. -
Onboard bill charged in U.S. dollars only?
sunviking90 replied to traveling teacher2010's topic in Holland America Line
It was available as recently as 2 weeks ago when we were getting ready for our cruise. Unfortunately I donât currently have any cruises booked with HAL, so I canât tell you exactly how to find it, but if you log in and go into âmy bookingsâ there should be options there. I âthinkâ it will be under onboard gifts, etc. -
You can do that ahead of time, as well as upload your photos, etc.
-
Youâre right then. You would put the 23rd in. I didnât look at your itinerary that closely. Looks like a great cruise. Enjoy!
-
Agree. Verifly really expedited things for us.
-
Yes. I looked up your cruise and it is the 14 day round trip? You will fill out ArriveCAN within 72 hours of boarding. You will enter September 25 as the date you return to Canada in the app. When we boarded the Zuiderdam last week they were making sure people had their ArriveCAN filled out and many people were pulled to the side because they hadnât done it, or had entered their dates incorrectly.
-
Onboard bill charged in U.S. dollars only?
sunviking90 replied to traveling teacher2010's topic in Holland America Line
We have a Mastercard that doesnât have the 2.5 fee and thatâs what we use for USD charges. We have had other cruise lines give us the option of having the charges converted, but we always decline as the exchange is not favorable. What you can do, if youâre at least 4 days before your cruise is purchase onboard credit for at least the amount of the tips, or what you think your charges may come to. These are purchased in CAD so you donât have to worry about the CC exchange AND right now they are charging $125 for $100 usd, so a bit better exchange than the current 1.30 ish. -
Yes, we used them for our Zuiderdam cruise last week. We are in BC so had the free kits from the BC govt (ours were the blue âArtronâ brand). Very easy and only $25 for the two of us and we were able to do them at the same appointment. When you book your time, the form will ask you to select which brand you have, and you can enter BTNX.
-
eclipse still in port 10;25pm on 28th ???????
sunviking90 replied to c-legs's topic in Celebrity Cruises
The itinerary round trip from Vancouver is much more scenic and generally much smoother as it takes the inside route between Vancouver Island and the mainland. Seattle itineraries go on the west side of Vancouver Island, in open seas. Weâve done the itinerary from Seattle twice, and 3 times from Vancouver and IMHO there is really no comparison. -
On the Beyond Sept 5th. Where are irons or steamers?
sunviking90 replied to Lindabee5000's topic in Celebrity Cruises
I used to really worry about this, but I have to say that on our last few cruises simply hanging the clothes seems to get any minor wrinkles out. No longer having to bring a suit for DH also lessens the issue. I leave my nicer dresses in the dry cleaning bags and have no issues. In the past I have used my hair straightener for minor touch ups. -
Yes! I always bring mine. Works for emergency pressing touch ups on clothing too. We are also boarding today. See you there! đ
-
I always bring my Arcâteryx goretex jacket. It doesnât take up much room and I can layer under it if itâs colder. I never use umbrellas (and I live on the âwetâ coast). I like to have my hands free.
-
COVID test required for Quebec City - where to get?
sunviking90 replied to snoopysnake's topic in Canadian Cruisers
As others confirmed, you do need to test. Most people now are doing online proctored tests with their own (sometimes free from the government) kit as itâs the most cost effective way. If you have hotel wifi, it should be fairly easy. If youâre not comfortable doing this, I would contact the hotel where youâll be staying in Quebec City and see if they can recommend a private testing clinic nearby. I googled and found this company. https://covidtest.santemedic.ca/quebec#contact Their location is about 3 miles from the tourist areas in Quebec City. Hope this helps. Enjoy your cruises! Your itinerary is one of my favourites. -
HAL vs Princess (2k vs 3,600 passengers) for Alaska
sunviking90 replied to redroses's topic in Holland America Line
Weâve been in a number of HAL and Princess cruises, but I would pay more for the HAL for this itinerary. HAL ships have the retractable roof over the pool, meaning your family can use it even in poor weather-it looks like youâre planning on May. Youâll also have much more deck space for viewing on the Eurodam. As far as staterooms, HAL veranda cabin will be larger and the balcony will be much larger too. The Standard balcony cabins on the Royal Princess are very small, the deluxes a little bigger, but for most the balconies are tiny. I donât see your family enjoying time out there viewing wildlife comfortably. We donât travel with our son anymore, but when we did we took HAL to Alaska and it was nice to have more space. We love the Royal class ships, but I just donât think theyâre suited to Alaska. As far as food, they each have their strengths, and weâve always been able to find enough that we like. I realize HAL is more expensive in this case, but prices fluctuate. Deals come up all the time. HAL isnât necessarily a âmore expensiveâ line than Princess. Your itinerary may go down. We used to be able to take advantage of some great âkids sail freeâ offers with HAL. We used to joke that if they knew how much our son ate, they would never have let us have that offer! Good Luck! -
Review of Zuiderdam Alaska 10-17 August
sunviking90 replied to rover16's topic in Holland America Line
Thank you for the review. Weâre on the Zuiderdam this Wednesday for the 3rd time and really looking forward to it. Glad to hear things are still good. Enjoy the Zaandam Montreal to FLL. That was our last cruise before Covid and we loved it! -
There is a testing facility at YVR on the departures level at the far end of the US departures. There is also one upstairs in the Fairmont YVR.
-
This seems very strange to me too. Usually hotels will pre authorize a daily amount on your credit card for âincidentalsâ, but youâre not limited to that amount of spending. I would think this is an issue of inexperienced/poorly trained employee. Did you book the hotel directly with Marriott? When you say you had to put in your pin that makes me wonder. We usually are only asked to show the card we booked with, but are never required to enter our pin. I would also call Visa and ask why the card wasnât authorized (as they say) for the additional $25.
-
I am so sorry to hear you are going through this. At least it sounds like youâre being well taken care of. $500 a night for the Airport Sheraton sounds like a major price gouge to me though. Thatâs at $250 a night hotel at best! Weâve paid less for the Airport Fairmont! Sort of adds insult to injury.
-
Your question may get more replies on the ports forum for Hawaii, but I can tell you that last time we did that cruise on the Solstice (2019), we rented thru Costco for Hilo at the airport. Itâs very close to the port and the rental car companies all had shuttles picking up at the ship. We looked into rentals for Lahaina, but the closest to the port was in Kaanapali at the Sheraton, and the hours were too limited to make it worthwhile. They also didnât pick up at the dock, so we would have had to get ourselves there. Weâve been to Maui many times, so we decided to just Uber to Kaanapali beach and rented chairs/umbrella from one of the hotels and had a nice beach day.
-
So, I did end up getting boosted last Monday-they booked me in the same day when I called and said I had travel coming up. As it happened though, DH came home from work that day with symptoms, and tested positive on Wednesday. I tested positive on Friday even after avoiding him all week. 2 1/2 years we have been Covid free, and now it finally got us. This BA5 variant is SO contagious. Fingers crossed that we will be negative in time for our upcoming cruise.