leaveitallbehind

They offer both - round trip and one way - of 13 (one way) and 16 (round trip) day itineraries. Mainland departure ports are LA, San Francisco, and Vancouver. Here is the link to that information: https://www.princess.com/cruise-search/results/?trade=H The HAL itineraries are of interest as well and I was not aware of them - thanks for adding. Also, most of the repositioning cruises I mentioned originally have their origins in Australia, to include the south Pacific and Hawaii en route to Vancouver for Alaska itineraries, and visa versa, and are in that 30 day plus range in total.

As example, both RCCL and Celebrity offer repositioning cruises in April and October on several ships that typically are in the 10 - 13 day range between Vancouver and Honolulu and offer ports of calls in Hawaii. Typically the April itineraries are from Honolulu to Vancouver and the October itineraries are from Vancouver to Honolulu. We have done the April sailing a few years back on RCCL Ovation and found it very enjoyable with 5 days in Hawaii and 6 days on the crossing with a port of call in Vancouver Island en route to Vancouver. Princess cruises offers routine long itinerary Hawaii cruises from the mainland to Hawaii between December and April. I believe they are the only mass market cruise line offering this.

The OP stated that he and his wife have been there many times and that he has been there on business more than 60 times. From that I would think he has an understanding of the land travel. He is looking for information on cruises to and from there, most likely to provide an alternate form of transportation v flying, either to or from a land trip. Just my opinion.

Did you have to convey a deposit at the time of the October booking - and if so, how did you make that payment?

I've not heard of that as I also have not factually heard of intentional overbooking. That doesn't mean it can't or doesn't happen, I just am not aware of it. It's not like an airline with point to point transportation with more options than the one flight if it is overbooked. I think it would be pretty difficult to deny someone - especially if they travelled a distance to get to the port - boarding by saying "sorry, we are overbooked". I know how I would react........

I guess the weather certainly can differ as in our two cruises our experiences were as I described them. Maybe we were just more fortunate.

Mum2Mercury said: "Really? I've never heard that before, and I'm surprised." This actually is a true statistic - at least so a few years ago. This is what led to many of the mass market cruise lines implementing a non-refundable deposit option to help reduce this cycle. While resulting in a lower fare, it restricts changes and cancelations through a penalty with the deposit. Some lines require this with no option for a refundable deposit with suite bookings to mitigate changes within that category even further. As a side note, when it was first introduced it had the benefit to the cruise lines of also being a price increase tool as the refundable deposit fares in place became the non-refundable fares for new bookings, and the refundable fares were then increased so that you paid more for that booking flexibility. At the time we had several bookings via a refundable deposit in place and doing mock re-bookings on each resulted in our then refundable deposit fare being essentially that of the new non-refundable fares and the refundable fares were now measurably higher.

I understand, but in this case the OP confirmed that it would be an ACH transaction, which is a direct cash payment from your bank account to the provider by way of a third party conveyor. Not processed via a debit card or a check. So in that manner it is truly a cash payment. The discount offered is likely an offset to the credit card processing fees paid by the provider. (Viking, in this case).

You typically depart late afternoon on day one and by early afternoon the next day (day two) the weather is comfortable enough to be outside. At this point you would typically be off the coast of the Carolinas and still with some benefit of the gulf stream, so it gets warmer fairly quickly. The return would be similar in that the last full day at sea would gradually get cooler from the morning and by late afternoon it would probably be cold so as to be back indoors, and would remain so until you dock the next morning. We have done a December cruise similar to the one you describe a couple of times and that was our experience. So you maybe lose two of the seven days outdoors due to the cold, but not four as you suggest. December in the north east US is typically still relatively mild in terms of winter weather, so you should not be risking too much.

I think they do. It apparently is just their option to avoid the credit card transaction fees. But it still relies on a third party involvement (ACH) who must have some skin in the game as well. I, as you, prefer not to have my accounts accessed directly by a third party - even when secure - and would still opt for the credit card payment method.

Well that at least clarifies how the cash payment would be made and it is, at least in this instance, unique to Viking, as I am not familiar with that type of payment being an option with any of the mass market cruise lines. ACH is typically a safe method of a cash transaction, if you are OK with having your account accessed directly. I would check for more clarification with the TA you used for the booking to see if it is a good option for you. Personal preference, I guess.

Am I missing something? I am not familiar, at least with the mass market cruise lines, with a "cash with discount" option. All payments are via a credit card, and with no payment option discount. Where would you go, and with whom, would you make a cash payment? How did you make your deposit payment? Are you referring to a big box TA? If so, any payment option discount would be through them and not the cruise line. As to credit card benefits, as @crystalspin mentioned, different cards offer different membership benefits, but third party insurance is always a good idea to investigate.

If you are not happy with this, contact whomever you made the reservations through (TA or the cruise line) and ask to see if there are other locations within that category available that may be a more desirable choice. Most cruise lines will allow you to make that switch without an issue. If they cannot do it it may be because of when you made the booking and low remaining available stateroom inventory.

In our experience we have had the assignment as far in advance as 45 days prior to sailing and as close to sailing as 5 days prior. We also have been able to move to a different location as available within the assigned category on several occasions if the assigned location was not preferred. Perhaps we have just been fortunate. The primary value of a GTY booking is with the fare. We only do it when the difference is attractive, but have never had any issues when we have. On more than one occasion we have been assigned a higher category stateroom. And we are ones who definitely care where we sleep!

And to add one more thing. GTY stateroom offers are typically across all stateroom categories - from insides to suites - not just the lowest category listed by the ship. And they do not always only assign the worst locations within that category. We have been fortunate in the past to book a Junior Suite GTY category on RCCL, for example, and had a Grand Suite issued as the actual stateroom. At the very least you are assured the base level of the GTY category you book.

Short and simple - a guarantee stateroom booking only means the cruise line will select your location for your selected category v you choosing it, and this is usually at a lower price. (They may also issue a higher category stateroom if available). It is your stateroom and not one shared with anyone else - but I assume you meant that tongue in cheek. Also, with most cruise lines, once it is assigned, you can request a change to a different location if available within the same category if the assigned location is not your preferred choice. If the price is attractive enough we book GTY's frequently and with no issues.

Oh, so you mean the now promised refunds aren't in the mail??? 😧

There is at least this one ship - The World - which according to their website currently is in operation. https://aboardtheworld.com/ But I agree that anything speculative for sometime in the future is not a venture I wish to invest in.

.....and a rather bad one at that!

Unless I am missing something in the article, something else doesn't make sense. They notified the passengers "a little before November 1" of the departure delay and then ultimately, "two weeks before the rescheduled departure date" they were notified of the cancellation. They lost the bid on the ship in September with other options falling out shortly after. First, why would they wait until just before the original departure date of November 1 to advise them of a delay? They had no ship, so they had no ship to delay. So why wait until two weeks before the departure to finally announce the cancelation? It would seem to me they knew they had no option to sail shortly after they lost the bid on the ship in September! Second, with a two week notice prior to sailing of the cancelation, why would anyone be in Istanbul (or anywhere else) waiting for a ship that was already canceled? I realize many passengers sold everything in anticipation of this cruise and maybe had nowhere else to be, but why would anyone go to a port to wait for a ship that they knew two weeks earlier did not exist - and wasn't scheduled for that port even if it did exist? Sorry, this all just doesn't make sense and I just don't get it!

Not taking shots at those who made the decision - and I feel bad for those who did - but why would you place any money on a plan as speculative as this where the entire program is contingent upon buying a ship requiring further renovations by a certain date just to be able to fulfil the plan in the first place? Especially when the price was prohibitive to begin with and requiring the defined "small company" to depend on non-committed outside investors to accomplish this? Sorry but that is far too much risk and speculation for me to part with my hard earned money.

That's great news. Typically the additional perks you identify would transfer to the new booking. What may change is any OBC that was associated with the original booking fare. But very glad this all worked out for you! Enjoy your cruise.

I think that is the key. I have not heard of any full ship booking or charter that was singles only in its make up. But, as you indicate, there are singles groups that are booked into general bookings on ships that would be oriented towards their own meet and mingles, on board functions at various venues, port of call activities, etc. And different cruise lines would be better choices for this than others, such as Carnival v HAL, RCCL v Celebrity, Virgin v Disney, etc. A TA who offers singles groups would be the best route to pursue IMO.

On the RCCL and Celebrity ships mentioned the only larger showers will be in the Junior Suite and higher standard Suite categories where it will either be part of a bathtub or separate larger shower. Otherwise, all standard staterooms have the same size shower. The shape may differ between RCCL and Celebrity but the typical compact size will remain the same. So unfortunately you will likely have to break the bank as you indicate to some extent.

Mostly with groups - not sure about full ships.