Paulinda

Fortunately my PCC is long term, professional and efficient.  I receive offers from him every so often.  I did notice that calling him now requires that I set up an appointment date and time.  He will schedule a call back.  I'm pretty sure that HA let go a lot of the PCC's during the pandemic.  

We've cruised 4 times so far on HA and will be doing another in the near future.  We've never had the HIA plan and always opted for a better cabin.  This next cruise we did purchase the HIA plan because we are rec.  $400 in excursions, 2 specialty dinners, WI-FI and 15 drinks/day each.  We are not big drinkers of alcohol but will probably have 1 or 2 per day with the package.  Also my wife like to drink pepsi/coke and I like a good cup of coffee now and then.  If my math is correct we are in the ball park of what the package cost so it made sense to us.    BTW does anybody know if they serve pepsi or coke?

there is a charge on certain items.  We loved the pea soup they served and some of the delicious bakery at no charge.  I believe the items they charge were for drinks, perhaps even the coffee.  The cost was nominal. Have a wonderful cruise!

I have a future cruise and I have a 'Have it All package'.  Do I have to wait till I board to reserve dining times or can I request a reservation before I board?  Same with the excursions.  Thanks in advance for your responses.  

I recently scheduled a call with my PCC and he called me promptly on time.  Originally I tried calling him direct but he was not available.  If it's a new system it worked well 

Like Seasick Sailor suggested use the Luggage Direct service if your airline is included.  We use it all the time and it's beats the hassle of lugging suitcases.  

One suggestion is to make sure you visit the Grand Dutch Cafe for lunch.  The pea soup is delicious if you like such things and the bakery selection is yummy.  

Its been a couple of years so I don't know if they still serve it any longer, I really enjoyed the pea soup.  I also enjoyed that large chocolate covered, eclair-like pastry they served.  Forgot what they were called.  Yummy!

I agree with DAllenTCY.   Your TA should be savy enough to get to the correct person.  Not sure if posting on Twitter or a Facebook page is the way to go.   Good Luck on your problems, I hope they become resolved.  

Our opinion is that it is worth using Luggage Direct.  You won't have to haul your suitcases at the airport until you pick them up at the carousel.  We used them whenever possible.  

We've always used the PCC that was originally assigned to us.  It seems like he always gives us a better cabin for a better price.  We are comfortable using him and actually met his father in Seattle who helped us onto our bus connection to port.  Glad he wasn't let go.  

We cruised the inside passage several years ago on the MS Amsterdam.  It was our first HAL cruise and we chose an OV cabin.  The cabin was perfect as it was only several cabins away from an exit door where we did many laps on the walking path.  We loved it.

Usually we select a verandah cabin but since it was early June and the weather was still a bit chilly at the time we felt we wouldn't use the verandah.  Most of day was spent either walking laps or in the Lido where we could sit and view the passing scenery.  It was a good choice for us.  

No matter what you select you will have a great time.  It's an awesome cruise destination.  

Wonderful pictures!  Thanks for sharing.  Italy is on our bucket list since we have some Italian blood lines.  Hopefully the pandemic will ease and vaccines will be reliant.  In the meantime more pictures will have to suffice.  

It just goes to show that today's 'reporters' are really not going out and investigating the topics they are 'reporting' on.  Their editors give them the topics to write about and told how to slant it.  I no longer trust anything in the newspapers or on tv.  It's all editorialized.  There is no actual reporting involved.  Bring back Walter Cronkite

https://www.yahoo.com/news/carnival-launches-probe-detecting-ransomware-202604928.html

57 minutes ago, oaktreerb said:

This is really disappointing.  Thanks for posting the ADN article.  Too bad the US has not been able to offer people who have been tested for covid19  a reasonable test result within 24 hours.  

I was just reading about a company that is going to market a covid 'spit' test kit that can give results in less than 30 minutes.  They claim that accuracy of the results are extremely high, efficient and administering is painless.  The test kit is currently under review by the FDA.  The company claims the kits can be used for airline passengers, concert/sporting events etc.  Hopefully this is not just a scam. 

Loved the pea soup and the bossche bol was also very wonderful.  We had them on the NS 2 years ago.  We had lunch in the Dutch Cafe a couple of times. 

We love river cruises.  More intimate than ocean cruises and the ports are much more interesting.  Our opinion is the food is better too because they are only cooking for 100-150 passengers.  And wine is usually free at dinner time.   With a smaller number of travelers you also get to know almost everyone on board.    Looking forward to our next Danube Cruise.  

Our first HAL cruise was an Alaskan 7 day cruise on the MS Amsterdam.  It was freshly out of drydock and we loved the old time charm it possessed.   Because it was a smaller ship the Captain was able to get very close at the Hubbard Glacier.  It was an awesome experience and we were totally committed to Holland America ships after that.  We've done a number of cruises since but I guess the first one is always the best one remembered.  

On 6/25/2020 at 7:11 AM, notamermaid said:

Hello Paulinda,

I have found this itinerary appealing ever since I first read about it three or four years ago. The Moselle is very much liked by river cruisers and it is quieter as regards river traffic than the Rhine. You do not mention that your cruise ten years ago was on the Moselle so I assume you sailed just the Rhine. There is a thread on the Moselle, quite long by now: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2268619-the-river-moselle-infos-and-river-cruising-experiences/ 

 

The Avalon Felicity, as you say, no longer sails for the company but is still around, she sails as the Monarch Countess for Gate1 Travel.

 

notamermaid

Thank you notamermaid for the link and the information regarding the Felicity.  Felicity was a relatively new ship when we sailed on it.   Our cruise at that time was strictly Rhine River- Amsterdam to Basel.   We did have a stop in Koblenz and thought it a lovely town but they were upgrading much of it for a pending flower show the next year.  It was difficult to navigate streets.  At the time we thought about a cruise on the Moselle.

We are looking forward to another cruise with Avalon and will check to see what they may offer on the Moselle.  Thanks again!

Thanks a lot Daisi!  That is perfect.

We are thinking about an Oct 2021 river cruise from Remich to Nuremburg on an Avalon River boat.  We did an Avalon cruise 10 years ago so I imagine a lot has changed.  We had a tremendous time on the Felicity and see that ship is long gone.  

e were just wondering how a cruise on the Main compares to the Rhine.  Has anybody here done this cruise?  Could use some help on whether it's a winner.

I totally agree with DaveOKC.  Every HAL cruise we booked with our PCC I felt the we got the best cabin at the best price.  Usually if there was a 'sale' going on (ie drink package, OBC and or gratuities) we would opt out and get a much, much better cabin price.  And he knew what we wanted were usually able to book a cabin in an area of the ship we preferred. 

We haven't looked in to cruising quite yet so hopefully that PCC is still with the company when we start searching again.

• Thanks Prescottbob!  That was a well spend 1/2 watching that clip.  We probably wouldn't have been able to afford a trip on the QE back then but we are so happy with the memories we've had on HAL on other lines.  I hope we will soon be able to create new cruising memories.   Thanks again!

Don't know if you saw this but this is a bit of sunshine for cruising IMO.

https://www.fool.com/investing/2020/05/11/why-carnivals-bookings-jumped-600-and-what-analyst.aspx