*Miss G*

At YYZ there are in-terminal shuttles available as passengers exit the jetway. (Deplaning passengers are physically separated from those waiting at boarding gates.) If a passenger needs to wait for the next available shuttle, there is seating at multiple points along the way. These are clearly marked as seen in the picture in the attached link. Or they can be flagged down if one happens to be between pickup points. YYZ In-Terminal Shuttle Service

YYZ has self-service wheelchairs if you want to take your chances. YYZ MOBILITY SERVICES

At YYZ you will want to have made the request through your airline. Firstly, because it is a long walk to get to the mobility assistance area where wheelchairs and assistants have been pre-booked. Secondly, because the assistant will take your party through an expedited process. (Assuming by “we” that your party is no more than the three of you.) If you do not pre-book, you can try to do a walk-up request (pre-security) but it is subject to availability and will impact timelines. Without knowing your airline and/or terminal it is difficult to provide further information.

Wow. What a shambles. Thanks for the heads up. Happy to hear that you enjoyed your cruise and thanks for bringing us along. Enjoy your time on Maui.

The onboard credit bonus used to be a lot higher. The real benefit of the future cruise deposit, now, is that you can use them to book cruises which require a larger deposit. I had to scroll up to the flyer to see what $25 gets you. If you’re taking shorter cruises then it’s not as beneficial as the longer itineraries where the deposits can be quite healthy.

I feel like this is something which needs to be eaten following all night happy hour. I’m not sure I’m up to the challenge!

Statements can be viewed on your TV. I’ve seen the statement printer terminals on each of my sailings. Which ship(s) are you not seeing them on?

The issue with YVR, when flying into the US, is that the passenger must go through US Customs & Immigration pre-clearance prior to entering the gate area. (Or re-entering, in the OP’s case.) Connecting within the US is not even remotely comparable.

Longer cruises require the larger deposit. Here is the flip side of the form:

Just in case you are relying on a window, I specifically took a look at that row on my last flight as I was curious as to the layout. My favoured seat is a window but I don’t enjoy having to disturb my neighbours in the middle and aisle if I have to get up. There is considerable space between the “window” seat and the actual window which, if I recall correctly, is a bit forward of that seat, so more towards the row in front of you than beside you. For me, it just won’t work because I like to lean against the wall to get away from my neighbour and to try and get some rest. (Impossible, of course, but I do try.) On the bright side, there is room to put your under seat carryon beside you for easy access during the flight. My sister likes these seats because there is only one person beside you when you are flying solo. If you don’t mind the bathroom traffic next to the aisle seat you should be fine.

I did a walk-in at the Service Canada office last Friday. Boy, was that a mistake! Stood in line for 1.5 hours just to get to the registration desk! It turns out that it was March break and everyone who was not out of town was taking care of Service Canada related stuff. I no longer pay attention to when March break is so mea culpa. Since I had a lot of time to listen to the goings-on around me, I learned that the office only took regular passport applications. Those who were coming in requesting expedited service were referred to the passport office in Hamilton for the fastest service. (This was in Oakville.) The registration desk person (who was excellent, I might add; definitely knew his stuff) was telling people they don’t do expedited passports at Service Canada offices. Whether this is across the board or specific to certain locations, I don’t know.

Here is the last future cruise flyer I received. (The other side of this page is the future cruise deposit form.) I have not purchased a cruise onboard so I can’t recall if there are additional benefits tied to a specific cruise.

Yes, very true. I was responding in the context that the question was referencing a previous post where HAL had said their standby request was on the wait list. Perhaps I interpreted it wrong. My humble apologies. I will send myself to timeout now.

Oh NO!!! This is absolutely horrible. I am so so sad and so very sorry for the victims, their families, and all the crew onboard who will be devastated. Such a terrible terrible situation. 😭 💔

It is one and the same.

Yes, that is correct. I was one of many who posted that I would not book at the initial offering price. Following my experience as a NS perq on Pinnacle-class, I did start booking at the lower price because I felt that the CO dining was well worth it. (I am not as interested in the upgrade benefits as I am in the smaller dining room.) I will need to revisit whether CO dining (on Pinnacle-class) will be worth it at a price increase. I may decide that it is not as high on my priority list as it currently is.

My point was in reference to room size, (based on @3rdGenCunarder’s post) but I’ll bite. The way I look at ship stateroom pricing is that the price isn’t so much “per person” as it is per room. It just happens to be broken down into a pp cost (based on double occupancy) so it appears more affordable. (Appearances are everything.) This is reinforced by the single occupancy surcharge in order to have their base costs covered. ”Kids Sail Free” and “3rd/4th Person in a Cabin Sail Free” promos also reinforce that the price is per room. However, a camping-style budget has repercussions on crew AND on what that budget will allow for onboard expenditures.

What I believe will happen — now that the prolific posting about it has done their marketing for them — is that they will raise the prices to their original pricing when it was new on the market. The introductory pricing was $50/day for pinnacle ships and $35/day for non-pinnacle ships.

Isn’t that funny. I am sitting in my hotel room and actually did take a look around, for comparison purposes, while I was writing my previous post. I have a King bed, but I am not a King. Luckily, hotels haven’t moved to the HAL occupancy model or I wouldn’t have been able to book this room.

I, personally, stay away from any quads or triples, so it’s unlikely I will be warned off or relocated. So far, I have been lucky with my strategy of avoiding high season crowds, but if I start encountering them in the shoulder season then my cruising days are numbered. I do not like this style of revenue generation and am curious, now, of the team leading the charge. Changing the model may increase revenue, but it will have a direct and negative impact for both passengers and crew. (Unless you are a passenger who is new to cruising, or are used to something less refined… at which point you will be oblivious.) I would hate to see the HAL cruising experience cheapened.

We did the Canaries in December, over Christmas. The Bay of Biscay was a crazy ride!! It was amazing to sit in the pub and watch the waves go over us! I think most people were experiencing Mal de Mer so it was pretty quiet around the ship for a few days. I got some great pictures and videos! Funchal had a great Christmas market in the town centre. The weather was beautiful in all ports. I highly recommend!

It was super easy to download the app, purchase the tickets, and then jump on the ferry. We could see our ship from Pier 11/Wall Street! That made it more exciting. Since we had already purchased our tickets on the app, all we had to do was get in the South Brooklyn (SB) line at the pier. One, two, three stops and we are at Red Hook! I would say 15 minutes, tops. We got off the ferry and the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal was right in front of us. I wouldn’t hesitate to do this again. Our ferry. You can see the “SB” identifier in red.

You are reading too much into an unofficial survey of only CC’ers and no actual guidelines. It is an unofficial poll! We sailed the Oosterdam, recently, and have no complaints. We totally enjoyed our cruise! There are just preferences but you will find that every HAL ship is wonderful. Enjoy your cruise! Editing to add: The Vista-Class ships cut through marine conditions like a hot knife through butter. If you are going to encounter rough water, a Vista-Class ship is a great ship to be on.

Pre-COVID: Post-COVID, it’s just the first two pics. (The third pic has the aforementioned bath salts behind the cotton balls.) Oddly, I don’t have any pics of the amenities post-COVID. But, I believe, only the cotton balls/q-tips, and loofah pads remain. And a shower cap.

Speaking of class…. the Pinnacle Class is the overwhelming favourite, so far. Signature leads the rest of the classes, but not by much. Interestingly, I would put them in this same order. SHIP CLASS PERCENTAGE Pinnacle 52% Signature 17% Rotterdam 16% Vista 15%