hal2008
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Posts posted by hal2008
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Advantages of GTY (other than substantial lower price):
You can do better but not worse.
Many years ago, GTY meant higher chances of getting an upgrade!!!
in those days before sophisticated yield management, prices tended to remain stable and cruise lines will keep selling Inside cabins even when all cheap inside cabins are already booked. So those who booked late with GTY inside, inevitable (more than 95%) got some upgrade
key is to monitor inventory.
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All of these online testing sites work USUALLY work reasonably
EMED of course is best of the lot.
When they work fine, it is not news. They are suppose to work fine
News is when they drop the ball.
If you have time and inclination to go through various threads in various cruise line forums or Roll Calls, you will notice that OnPoint has some negative reports
OnPoint uses three different organizations and they have almost non-existent escalation point of contact when they make mistakes.
Again, when things go smoothly, they all work fine
Based on our personal stressful bad experience, we will not be using OnPoint again especially when their failure rate is higher (based on feedback from others on CC) primarily because of how they are setup
Rapidtestandtrace seem to be better
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It seems moral of the story is that if you are not hung up on particular sailing then it is best to wait until it is 2-3 weeks remaining (but monitor inventory)
If you live near a homeport and have flexibility then for a sailing with huge inventory, you can even get cruise fare that is less than port taxes!!
Inventory status is the key
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On 8/8/2022 at 4:25 PM, purpleally said:
We will be three nights Oslo beginning July 1. Planning on taking the train to Bergen and stay one night before boarding cruise the next day. I have no idea if a hotel near cruiseport is feasible.
I believe we can take a train from Oslo airport to city enter so I’d like a hotel not far from train station. Certainly does not have to be anything fancy, would like breakfast included. Thanks
Scroll up for some suggestions in hotels near station in Oslo.
There are three within the building itself And many of various budget nearby
Bergen (town center) is quite compact and plenty of hotel choices both near byparken or near harbor
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9 minutes ago, Ret MP said:
I'm not trying to start a whole other debate here and I have no issue with you. However, I personally believe that an industry like a cruise line believes that their public is the people on their ships. Therefore, if a cruise line experiences a "public health" issue, it could effect its revenue. Just like Legionnaires disease did. It severally had an impact on Celebrity and the Horizon had in 1994. It impacted, maybe just a little, the passenger count and it cost the cruise line millions of $$$ in court ordered restitutions and legal fees.
Not to mention how much COVID effected the entire industry, even though COVID didn't start on a cruise line, it almost drove the entire industry to bankruptcy. I think the cruise industry has to keep both "public health" and revenue in their sights. And many other things.
Agree.
They certainly will keep "public health" in mind as it will inevitably affect profits
Point was that their primary objective is (and should be) their bottom line. Everything is secondary and only to the extent if affects primary goal directly or indirectly in short or medium timeframes. (That's why if public health is a consideration, appropriate regulations are needed. Self-regulatiome have not worked well in ANY industry - finance, pharma, aviation - cruise will not be an exception)
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On 8/4/2022 at 7:45 PM, Another_Critic said:
It's great that you can now test 3 days prior, but that makes the test even more useless.
Depends on the "real use" of the test
For the goal of preventing covid from coming on board, of course tests done 3 days prior (and then undertaking relatively higher exposure journey from home to port) are not much of value medically
These kind of requirements, though, do serve as a deterrent to certain type of people who are most likely to engage in risky activities (and hence more likely to bring and spread covid onboard)
But real reason for testing, at this point, in absence of govt mandates is more for show (similar to ineffective checks done in Security lines at airports)
Requirements will go away or may get stricter based on feedback from PR/Legal/Marketing teams
After all, their main goal is revenue increase for the cruise line, not public health
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Royal palace itself is on a hill.
Will need to take Tram 12 if wishing to visit the sculpture park. (On way back, get down at Soli and walk flat to palace orgetdown at National theater I'd you just want a look of the palace)
Main pedestrian street connects palace to the train station. Parliament, Frieda sign, Storvet, are all located at or near this drag
Munch Museum and Opera (walking its inclined roof is a great experience) are between station and the harbor
Tram 12 also connects station/opera toN9ber Peace center/City hall area
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is it logistically possible during 10 hour port visit as DIY?
(assuming tickets can be pre-arranged)
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2 hours ago, JupiterTwo said:
A vaccine is an inoculation intended to induce immunity. An inoculation does not need to be for the purpose of immunization, although that may be the widely intended usage.
Since the Covid-19 shot does not induce immunity, it is not a vaccine. It is an inoculation intended to aid the body's immune system's response to Covid, but it is not intended to provide immunity from Covid.
As such, in my opinion to be medically consistent, cruise lines should either require passengers to show proof of flu shots, or drop showing proof of covid shots, as neither shots induce immunity but both shots aid the immune system's response to their intended pathogens.
You are right on the money.
When WHO (or CDC) declares that we are in flu pandemic with number of deaths/cases similar to CURRENT expected actual cases/deaths primarily caused by Covid, they should require that from public health perspective.
Right now, flu and covid numbers are still far apart (irrespective of how the last person who got covid felt it like flu) in USA>
But let be honest. In absence of any govt regulations, vaccine related regulations on cruise lines are less related to public health and more weighted by what their PR/marketing/legal gives as feedback.
Policies will be governed based on that feedback.
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2 hours ago, Ravensfan1973 said:
Yep. "You will not get covid with these vaccines" Said someone we know in summer of 2021
Statement was correct in summer of 2021 for the variants prevalent that time.
Look at historic chart. In counties where vaccination rate was high, covid cases almost dropped to nothing.
Old vaccines are not able to offer much protection against new Omicron variants in terms of prevention from getting mild infection but supposedly help with recovery.
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10 hours ago, willwill2323 said:
Thanks so much for this detailed post!!!! Just finished our ONPOINT and got results in our email and text. It went exactly as you described and very smoothly. We double checked the date and time of their letter, it was one hour off (uses central standard time) but no worries. Thanks again!
They should be using local date and time of the person who is being tested.
But they use Dallas time, Philipines time, etc.
This is no big deal if it still puts you within 2 days.
But it gets you out of 2 days then this whole testing circus becomes useless.
Problem with OnPoint is that they are is no easy customer service to contact using either phone or email when they make a mistake.
Their competitors get much better feedback on these boards.
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19 hours ago, DragonOfTheSeas said:
I’m so glad you made it. Not surprised if there’s no line. Ha ha ha
Awaiting you live report....
Hope ferry 80 worked out....
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which port?
Assuming Frihamnen, Bus 76 or Bus 1 can take you back. (covered by your day pass)
Uber is easily available (especially back to port) and you will know the cost upfront.
For taxi, apps mentioned above are useful.
Hailing one from the street or picking one up near tourist area, you have to be very very careful as they are legally allowed to rip you off.
Not a fan of HOHO bus when local transit is so good.
BTW, if you have time, commuter ferry 80 from Nybroplan (which also stops behind ABBA museum nnear Vassa museum) provides a nice 45 minute ride (also covered by your day pass)
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Scandic Hotel questions:
Bergen
Any opinion on Ornen located next to train station?
Oslo:
Byporten - we discussed
How does Scandic Oslo City compare?
Copenhagen
Which Scandic you prefer?
Webers or Front or something else?
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On 6/22/2022 at 12:50 PM, 2mydaddy said:
Hi everyone, I will be going on NCL Star cruise from September 26 - October 6, and our group of 9 (ranging from ages 47-83) are planning to stay 2 nights pre-cruise in Copenhagen. Unfortunately it looks like our incoming flight won’t arrive Copenhagen until 6pm on Saturday 9/24/22, so we will only have all of Sunday 9/25/22 to explore Copenhagen. I need help with what is the best hotels to stay in, and things to do with our limited one day.
depends on your interest and budget.
There are two hotels right at the airport (Comfort and Clarion) with 15-20 minute metro ride to touristic center.
There are numerous hotels near Central Train station too
(Radisson Royal, Hotel Nimb, Scandic Webers)
Bus 23, 26, 2A are of interest
Right at Nyhvn, there are Hotel Betel. 71 Nyhvn, Scandic Front, Admiral
There is also a 3 star at Osterport station. with bus stop at front door (and across from train station)
Bus 25 starts here and goes towards Cruise terminals.
Bus 27 starts here for Little Mermaid and DFDS terminal.
Bus 23 stops here which goes through touristic center to Central train station
Purple dotted line walk on tourist office map covers most of the major points of interest in the central area.
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Hopefully, you landed at ARN and are on way to the ship.
Luggage operation might have shutdown by now but someone from the staff will certainly help you.
You are fortunate that there is an overnight at Stockholm
Best wishes
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One plus about Marriott beyond comfort zone for Americans (true air conditioning)
Most hotels in Copenhagen that are listed on Tripadvisor or other hotel search engines as having A/C DO NOT have true A/C. They have something called air cooling which cannot remove humidity and leave you feel sticky on those rare hot and humid days in CPH. Those days are becoming more frequent each summer with global warming
Marriot has true air conditioning.
Taxis in CPH are ridiculously expensive for short rides within city but are easily available at train station. With your back to the tracks, take right exit out of of the train station (by the Coop store) and there will be dozen plus taxi waiting.
Taxis have three components to their fare:
1. High base fare (just to get in)
2. Per km charge
3. Per minute charge
CPH does not allow Uber.
But bus stop is also right there (bus 26 going towards Sankt Ann Plads) and your ticket from airport to train station is still valid on that bus and bus drops you right in front of the Marriott
Unless price difference is significant, take a look at 5 star Hotel Nimb which is right across the train station (opposite taxi stand) located in the grounds of Tivoli
Of course Radisson Royal, very close to train station (next to Tourist office and also convenient to multiple tourist friendly bus routes, new metro stop and less crowded S-torg stop) is along time favorite on CC board BUT does not have true A/C (which may or may not matter on any particular summer night)
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20 hours ago, purpleally said:
I know there is a train from the airport to city center; any hotel recommendations near the station?
Also, is that the same station where we would get the Oslo to Bergen train?Both @kaisatsu and @Noreaylady are local experts and their feedback obviously should carry more weight.
my 2 cents:
Scandic Byporten has neither AC nor Air Cooling. It is a non issue for Oslo on most days in a year but it was hot and sticky earlier this year. If you have long day ahead on BergenRail, you indeed need a comfortable sleep the night before. Otherwise it is a nice hotel connected to station via underground shopping area.
Thon Opera is closer to the train tracks and has air cooling and better breakfast option (IMHO) and great views of Opera and harbor if you get high floor room facing in that direction.
Also, the commuter train from the airport takes only couple of minutes longer at significant cost saving compared to the expensive airport trains (Google for more info and even YouTube videos)
Confirming that our train to Bergen did not stop at the National Theater station.
if you have time (and inclination), Gronland street (just north of the station) offers amazing variety of authentic international cuisine at very reasonable prices. If you prefer American fast food, Berger King. McD, Subway - all are located within or close to train station and open early for take away for the long train ride.
Most mainstream luggage sold in US dept stores and warehouse clubs have wheels meant for smooth surface of airports. I envy Europeans chugging their Saturday wheeled luggage through rough pavement and side walks
For most Scandinavians a hotel located "10 minutes" away is not a big deal. Most Americans never have to drag luggage through street in USA for half a mile or more, ever. Many find comfortable hotel connected to train station lot more convenient.
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22 hours ago, seapad said:
Or if you have a booster (i.e. the 3rd shot), then you are NOT subject to the 270 days time requirement. You are considered fully compliant and up-to-date.
Comment was clearly about Europe requirement for Europe based cruises.
Are you sure those have been changed recently?
If sure, thanks for updating us.
We were told that last shot (second shot or booster) has to be within 270 days. (which make medical sense).
Person with 4th shot was out of 270 days and had to take 5th shot (reluctantly as person was waiting for newer formulation booster) to comply with EU rules that RCL still follows in Europe.
Hope, your information is indeed correct
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On 7/28/2022 at 2:40 AM, Norwaylady said:
Hello
Welcome to Oslo🇳🇴
Fillipstad is not miles away, but compared to the 2 other ports, it’s further out. But is a flat walk into Aker Brygge/Tjuvholmen. There you walk into the new National museum.
Deepening on your plans, you can do a public transport card 24h or you can use a Oslo Pass, do the math for your plans 🙃Monday is a regular day in Norway and school is starting, so everything is “back to normal”
Temperatures are hard to predict, but this summer we have had 15-20c sun, showers in the afternoon a lot. Some days has been excellent 25/27c but be prepared for lower temperature and a shower in the afternoon😌
One marked in blue all the way to the left is the berth.
Tram stop is half way between what is labelled as "Aker Brygge Shopping" and "Nobel Peace center" right in front of the "Nu" national museum.
From there Tram 12 goes to Sculpture Garden in the west direction or to station area in the west direction (you can switch to 13 along the way to get dropped close to Opera and Much museum)
If weather cooperates, from cruise berth, it is a nice walk to national theater (or even palace royal - bit uphill for the palace). From there you can make a left on to the main pedestrian blvd (Karl Johnas Gate) and wonder your way all the way to station area and onto Opera/Munch museum
Area north of station (northwest of bus terminal) around Gronland street (there is a metro station for it too) is an abnormality for this pale white country. It is quite cosmopolitan with authentic cuisines from all over the world available at quite reasonable price (by Oslo standards).
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On 7/28/2022 at 1:15 PM, greatestvalue said:
We are opposite direction but only a 3 minute walk from Central Station, at the Andersen. Who has had fabulous customer service thus far!
I think this exactly same location as old Selandia hotel when this area was very seedy (red district of copenhagen)
It is much better now but after dark walking from station one has to be bit alert.
Everything googled so far seem to indicate that this hotel has true air conditioning and not air cooling.
After your trip if you can confirm it, it would be great.
(Climate change is not going anywhere, better to start preparing for future high summer stays at CPH)
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On 7/28/2022 at 6:55 AM, Ex-Airbalancer said:
We staying at Wake up On Bernstorffsgade
When you are there, can you confirm and report back if they really have true air consitioning or typical Scandinavian style "air cooling" which is basically an electronic ventilation system (allowing you to change temperature of the room by couple of degrees but not remove humidity)
Air conditioning is very rare in Copenhagen with most reidences not having it.
Historically, it was never deemed necessary.
However, with climate change, there are nowadays many days during cruise season where humidity in stuffy hotel room lends to an uncomfortable night (if one is unlucky to catch those nights while visiting). It is a noisy city and hence many times opening windows is not an option on the lower floor.
Most US hotel search engines including tripadvisor are outright wrong when they list "air condition: as an option for most hotels in Copenhagen. For many hotels, tripadvisor wil show hotel having A/C but response from hotel itself will say that "we do not have air conditioning, we have air cooling".
Even 5 star Radisson Royal does not have air conditioning.
(On the other hand, Marriott does have it)
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If you are on a Baltic cruise this year, it is easy to secure a cheap upgrade from ridiculously cheap internal cabin. Most ships are running at 30 to 40 pct capacity.
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On 7/27/2022 at 3:20 PM, DragonOfTheSeas said:
We had a fright when we got here.
United looked at our tickets and said Lufthansa is on strike. We do not think you had a connecting flight. We can't send you to Germany and leave you stranded. Of course, I said I want to go to Germany one way or the other. They called Lufthansa and our flight tomorrow am still on. Then they looked at the flight coming back and said there is no such e ticket #. Yikes. I called Air2Seas emergency number and they answer immediately and gave me new RL numbers and stayed on the line until the agent could pull up the flights. Thank goodness.
We leave in 1.5 hrs so I guess we are actually going. Flying is so stressful.
Bon voyage
If your luggage doesn't arrive with you, start buying stuff on Saturday itself as most places closed on Sunday. You will get reimbursed by airline or insurance within reason
For Frihamnen, your ferry option is thousand time better than bus option (avoid taxis who are legally allowed to rip you off. Uber are easy and cheap)
In Helsinki, hotel Torni (tallest place in downtown) has a viewing platform outside their bar on the top floor. Nice views of the city. It is very close to famous sculpture outside Stokmann store. If you can manage, take short boat trip to Sumolina island. Even if you don't walk there, roundtrip boat ride is scenic.
In Riga, you have plenty of time. Do visit art nuovo streets. Also, worth paying to go up by elevator at Peter's church.
In Copenhagen, download dantaxi app to get taxi from terminal if you find public option overwhelming.
Also, from your hotel, Veserbro s-tog station is closer than the central station and the new metro station at Radhusplan (city hall) is very convenient too just as bus 26, 23 and 2A. Main tourist office with detailed transit maps is literally next door to your hotel
In Tallinn, you might want to take Uber to Russian cathedral directly from the port. Do level walking of upper town and then take long pikk (it is a gradual slop down) to main square. After visiting Katrina Kike, come out at Viru Gate (you can get Uber back to ship from McDonald's for 3-5 euro)
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One day short of diamond level - any ideas?
in Royal Caribbean International
Posted
But there is a point
Cheap inside 3 niter and 10 niter balcony got exactly same points after conversion.