Godsonsafari
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Posts posted by Godsonsafari
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On 2/17/2024 at 12:53 PM, amandas friend said:
I have been on two Celebrity cruises. Both times the venues sometimes seemed crowded. I have been on two HAL cruises but not in several years but I believe they didn’t ever seem crowded. We are going to Alaska in early May. TIA for any opinions.
I took Celebrity on the Summit last May and have been on 3 Holland America cruises since 2022 in both Vista and Pinnacle class vessels. I would say to you that most ships will feel somewhat crowded at peak times, but the Pinnacle class ship I was just on (Nieuw Statendam) probably felt the least crowded of the bunch. Finding places to sit well in advance (20+ minutes) for live music venues was generally a good rule in the evening, but the pool deck would usually be empty. We didn't dare brave the breakfast buffet, but between the dining room, Grand Dutch Cafe, Dive-In, and New York Pizza/Bagels, we didn't feel as though we missed out on anything and were able to be served fairly efficiently and quickly while getting high quality food. Zuiderdam was on par with the Summit, and the trip on Westerdam was still when the boats were not yet at 100% occupancy.
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Just to add my unrequested 0.02 USD: I assume that the issue with kettles comes down primarily to the lack of uniformity in what guests would take on board (similar to other devices they've banned) and thus concerns about condition and safety related to their operation from a liability standpoint. They may also be something which is not permitted based on some component of American maritime law as relates to bringing articles on board which have heating elements. There is a real cost for cruise lines in retention of guests who have items confiscated such as this, especially when those same articles are available in cabin outside the United States on the exact same ships. There is nothing specific about an electric tea kettle or hair dryer that would inherently draw electricity differently from anything else and cause explosions.
I've been on cruises all over the world and pretty much exclusively on what people would perceive as "American" lines. I have absolutely had tea kettles in room at least on Mariner of the Seas when in Southeast Asia, and I recall them possibly being installed on the Celebrity Constellation when I was in the Middle East. Both lines would ban those same devices from being brought aboard when those ships are cruising from the United States. This suggests to me an external element that prevents them from being installed in the US.
As for lithium-ion batteries being the genesis of this: you all do realize that the phones on which the apps installed for you to be able to have a decent cruise in 2024 are powered with lithium-ion batteries, right? Obviously they are not banned. That would also ban e-readers and laptops.
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Bumping this old thread to ask a question:
I historically got offers on the last day of $750 off my next cruise + free play ($50? Can't recall right now). This past cruise we played a bit more and our offer was inside + $300 free play for any 6-14 night cruise in the next 12 months. That said, the rule of thumb was always to wait for the casino offers in email rather than take the offer provided at end of cruise since they tended to be better. That's been my experience now, with the last offer we received being a $200 free play + oceanview cabin, an obvious improvement over $750 off.
Having said that, is this it still good SOP for Casinos at Sea with HAL to sit back and wait for email offers rather than take what's provided by the host? I'd probably book on Zuiderdam for November on the 11 night over Thanksgiving, and $300 free play isn't insubstantial. Usually holiday weekend cruises other than Alaska, New England, or transatlantics don't make my offer sheet. That offer sheet I got was a huge improvement over past cruises and a similar difference in email offers would (I imagine) lead to more oceanview and balcony offers.
Speaking of Zuiderdam, if anyone has been on it very recently and is a video poker player, there's a question I'd love to ask about their progressive TDB machines in DMs before I book it again. -
11 hours ago, CafeBruno said:
If you see a cruise on the list they sent you, and it’s a good deal (though not free) take it. No guarantee you will receive another offer.
The free offers were given out like candy when HAL needed to boost occupancy right after the Covid shutdown. But in the last few months, many people including myself have seen those free offers disappear. If HAL can fill cabins at retail prices without giving them away, that’s what they will do.
When I started getting those free offers, I took advantage and have taken 4 since last October, with 2 more coming up in November and January. But it’s been months since I got a new casino offer and I now doubt I will receive any more, as occupancy is increasing and fewer free cabins are being offered. It was great while it lasted!
Makes sense. I've got some work things going on that basically mean no time off from my birthday in February until April, and that kinda hurts realistically whether I'll be able to do much cruising before April of 2023. Downside to that is there's only about 4 on offer from them after that!
Thanks for the input. That's what I was expecting but obviously want it confirmed first rather than just assume the worst. -
Alright, bumping this to get some advice:
Got my first free casino offer back in June and booked w/HAL for the beginning of this month. Went on, budgeted a reasonable amount for play ($2500) and had coin in around $4000 in total, playing a mix of slots and video poker only. Wound up winning for the trip because we caught great luck on video poker early. Got the offer on the door to book again within 30 days w/750 in casino free play on the door last day of the cruise and figured "OK, we did enough to be noticed."
This afternoon I get my first new targeted promotion: mix of cruises from October to August but not that long a list, discounts anywhere from 60-70% off current pricing + $150 in free play. Not bad, but also not a free cruise. So the part where I ask about advice:
-Realistically if I don't book the emailed offer, what is the likelihood I'm dropped from future offers? I think about how when I don't take free rooms and play again after getting promotions from land casinos, I usually don't get free room offers for long.
-Has anyone with this sort of experience seen free cruises populate again on future offers after not getting free cabin offers? -
The $30 for a new SIM chip and data/minutes even for Curacao alone to avoid roaming charges seems reasonable.
Yeah, it really isn't bad at all, and given that once I figured out that it was Curacao only and I'd have to buy more airtime to use it in Bonaire and Aruba, again, you have a working phone/GPS/everything tool. I believe that there's a Digicel retailer near the cruiseport at one of the camera shops, but if you're in a rental, I say just go to the main store and they'll even activate it for you while you're there.
Also with the Patters: I'll try and get those up sometime soonish, but probably not until next week.
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And here is part two the trip report, which is on our time in Curacao:
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This should work for the Youtube - not why the playback in window isn't functioning:
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Howdy- I'm a bit late in putting these together, but I'm finally getting around to writing about my cruise to the ex-Netherlands Antilles on the Caribbean Princess. This is our second time on Princess, and we had a way better time than when we took the Ruby Princess in 2011. Having the experiences we have with other lines made us really start to rethink that trip and that perhaps it was a case of misguided expectations. Could also be that we'd had a run of kinda mediocre Royal Caribbean cruises. Anyhow, some real content for you all to start with:
Cabin video of our inside cabin:
[YOUTUBE]
[/YOUTUBE]Flickr Album with pictures from throughout the trip (I'll expand more on the ports in my review:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/67879140@N06/albums/72157673833598563/with/31540176526/
Trip report Part 1 - Ship Review:
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Gotsonsafari - that's a great info!
I have couple more questions if you don't mind. When did you get to Peru?
We went in March of last year. I have a series of trip reports on my Wordpress blog if you want to check them out. I tried to be pretty detailed.
Did you buy your train and entry tickets to MP in advance before you left US?Yes. The train from Ollantaytambo does fill to capacity. My recollection is that MP's site told you how many tickets were remaining when you searched for specific dates. I don't believe it was a sellout that day - capacity is capped at 2500. Still, the train we were on was definitely full. Zero empty seats.
Is it risky to wait to get train tikets until we get to Cusco?It isn't as risky, but you won't save any money. It may be that you can avoid rain keeping an eye on the forecast and booking around it, but with the time of year being what it is, I would personally accept the risk and just get the train schedule that worked best for me.
Also, did you get a special timed MP ticket involving climbing to the high point, or we can see enough with just a regular ticket for the day.We did not do Huayna Picchu but talked plenty on the return ride with a couple people who did. I think both of us are reasonably fit, but climbing around in the altitude was a bit of a shock to the systems, and we would definitely have had a hellacious time with that. Also, everyone agrees that it has some legitimately terrifying points. Someone died this year there trying to get a picture taken while hiking and managing to plunge off a cliff.
Keep in mind that there are two mountain hikes; Cerro (aka Montana) is supposedly a much easier hike and doesn't require a timed ticket, though it is also limited for entry. I've heard excellent things about that. However in both cases, if you choose just to do the ruins themselves, visit the entire complex (its a 90-100 minute round trip hike to the Sun Gate, which is included with the base ticket), plan to eat up there, or maybe spend some time in Aguas Calientes, that'll fill up a day no problem.
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OK, that's really good info. I hope you're ready for a wall of text to get you started (I can give more info if you need it)....
1) If you haven't looked yet: spoiler, all the flights into Lima from the US arrive around or after midnight. I would suggest booking yourself a night at the Wyndham Airport Hotel, buying a bottle of water in the terminal before going to check in (they were $8 USD in the room, and public water in Lima is non-potable), and staying a night there. There is nothing else worth discussing in the immediate vicinity of Lima's airport, which is really not a particularly great part of town.
We flew on LAN-Peru; seating is tight, akin to Spirit, but you do get a snack box filled with authentic Peruvian delights (maybe you'll like the lima beans more than I?) and there's television monitors which showed a practical joke show on our trips. Everyone laughed, even the quechua people on board.
2) It's rainy season. That doesn't mean it'll rain all the time...well, unless you go to the Amazon basin. But that's not where you're headed, right? You're going to the Andes, so just plan to have smart footwear (hiking shoes are good, especially if waterproof) and get some basic ponchos at any big box store. $1 ones are fine. You'll get intermittent storms. No big deal, not any worse than summer in Florida.
3) It's rainy season. That means the rail link between Cusco and Ollantaytambo (Olly, for short) is shut down. That's a problem if you're planning to make Cusco your only base of operations, because you'll have to take a mini bus to a train station to take you to Aguas Calientes to get to the next mini bus to take you to the ruins. My suggestion at this time of year is to just book yourself into staying out by Urubamba. There are three hotels in Urubamba which are listed with a full five circles on Tripadvisor. We spent 5 nights at one of them, the Tambo Del Inka. Here's a room tour I took on one of our point and shoots:
[YOUTUBE]cBqEJch7hg4[/YOUTUBE]
I can't recommend them enough. One especially great aspect to Tambo is that there is a Peru Rail station right in the hotel grounds. You can still get there if you aren't staying at the hotel: just inform the guard at the gate of the hotel and he'll let you into the little village area that leads to the train. That train will probably run with next to no one on it before arriving in Olly and picking up all the people taking the shuttle bus from Cusco. Urubamba is also a really cool town with a great pottery store/museum and some restaurants. It's very laid back, which compared to Cusco....
4) If you want to stay in Aguas Calientes: OK? We chose to go back to the hotel the same day. Most of the better restaurants in that town don't open except for dinner, but there are plenty of tourist traps happy to take your money almost any time. If you choose to come back the same day, we chose to take the Vistadome from Urubamba to Aguas Calientes in the morning, but opted to terminate our train ride coming back in Olly since there are much later trains, then take a taxi back. Our pre-arranged shuttle through DUP Tours never showed up and we ended up playing roulette with the taxi drivers there to get us home. It totally worked out just fine, but I admit that getting off a train at 10PM and not seeing the guy who's supposed to grab you in a totally insane ancient Incan city is an un-nerving experience. Just go through the hotel.
5) About Olly: So every guide book you'll read will tell you it is actually the thing everyone loves the most, not Machu Picchu. Yeah, Machu Picchu is really cool and all, but the steep entry price and the exorbitant costs involved to get there and eat (food on site is ridiculously pricely: $12 for a sandwich or almost $40 for a buffet, all outside the entrance) make you feel kinda exploited. Ollantaytambo is one of the locations at which you can buy your Sacred Valley ticket (boleto turistico) that's good for just about everything else in the region for less money than Machu Picchu tickets costs. There's fewer touts. There's really good stores nearby to purchase things actually made in Peru by Peruvians, and decent food too. And it looks like this:
I would happily go back to Peru and never go to Machu Picchu again, and I say this having liked it. But Olly is truly outstanding and has only a trickle of people by comparison. Plus that ticket is good, like I said, for all these other really big archaeological sites like Sacsayhuaman, Chinchero and Pisac.
6) Cusco lives by the same rules as the rest of Peru. Pedestrians do not have the right of way against motorized traffic, which is an issue especially in a busy city chiefly designed by people who did not have the wheel. I stayed at the JW Marriott there and it was great. There's several other options near the center of the city which are all very good and honestly all of them look similar. Everything, even the hostels, are gonna be converted haciendas with big central courtyards. The difference comes down to how much the cost keeps out wild college kids/Germans/Israeli Defense Force soldiers on vacation (not joking) and helps pay for superior linens and oxygen rich rooms. The JW has a nice indoor pool and a whole museum of its own based on the ruins it was built on. You're just going to have fits trying to get anywhere because of the busy intersection it is on.
The Palacio Del Inka and the Belmond hotels are generally on less busy side streets, but also further from the Plaza De Armas. There are a couple of crosswalks in the Plaza vicinity, and you will cherish them. The majority of museums on the boleto turisico are frankly lousy, but the Museo de Arte Precolombino is top notch, can't miss.
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A) What time of year are you going? This can make a difference on what station I suggest you start your journey at and where to stay.
B) How many days are you planning to slot in for this? Do you want to see any other sights in the area? There's some really great stuff, and it's also all really cheap compared to MP.
I would suggest all of the following without knowing much else -
If you're planning to do this and activities in Lima, do the layover at the airport hotel in Lima, take an AM flight out to Cusco. The longer you're at sea level in Lima, the harder it will be to acclimate to the altitude of the Andes. On the other hand, if you're flying a substantial distance from Europe or the US, the airplane is pressurized to roughly the atmospheric pressure at 10,000 feet.
My wife and I found the combo of Diamox and coca tea to be plenty sufficient for dealing with altitude sickness. I am prescribed medication for migraines, and I can assure you I did not get a single headache during an entire week over 8000ft. I will also remind you that being at high altitude actually changes your metabolism, so you may not find yourself so desperate to eat.
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It really depends on a number of factors. I booked my wife and I's trip to Peru independently from top to bottom and am very familiar with the processes involved. Is this pre/post cruise? If not, how many days do you have from the ship to go to Machu Picchu?
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Rented from AVIS at the pier: like others have said, this is not a major location for them, they close early (around 5PM) and there's no dropbox for keys, so we just locked them in the vehicle and went back onboard. We requested a GPS and didn't get one. Luckily I had saved some maps on my phone before leaving home, including one to the biggest Digicel store on the island to get a SIM card.:D
Definitely inspect the vehicle carefully as you would anywhere. Tire damage is a serious issue out this way because of the island's topography.
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We are on Connie in Arabian Gulf in January. Can anyone advise if taxis, buses are available at the port in Dubai and MUscat to access the city centres. Any help on the cost of taxis, and if they are metered or if we need to negotiate at these ports would be most appreciated.
Can't speak for Muscat, but to add to everyone else, yes: taxis in Dubai are metered. However costs are very low for licensed taxis compared to the United States or Western Europe and probably more akin to something like Uber. Uber, for what it is worth, is also available.
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I looked at that thread for the 11/23/17 departure (http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2289383&page=33): something that caught my eye is that the boat overnights in Callao, but then you pick it back up in Pisco. To those who've never traveled to Peru before: Pisco is around Paracas, roughly a 4 hour ride south of Lima. There is no airport there providing service. If you need to be back on board the ship by 5PM for a 6PM departure, you'll need to leave Callao by no later than noon, which means an AM flight from Cusco. That's a tight window to hit if you're on an independent tour and doesn't leave a ton of room for error. If you are going on that departure, you'll be arriving at around the start of the rainy season, and this can lead to delays. It can also lead Perurail to shut down service between Cusco and Ollantaytambo (as is the case right now for Jan-Apr '17), which means you may have to transfer to the train only after a long bus ride through the Andes after you arrive in Cusco.
A "cheap" excursion to Machu Picchu will still involve round trip airfare, round trip train fare (which is inflated in cost), the bus fare, the tickets into MP (which are ~$40/person), and all the costs within (pay toilets, limited dining options at exorbitant pricing), plus your lodging. There is no "cheap" way to do Machu Picchu. It can also be physically taxing. If you are not used to high altitudes, it is important to grasp that everything once you step off the plane in Cusco will be at high altitude. Are you prepared to do a lot of climbing at 8,000 feet?
In the frame work of this being just a side trip as part of a longer, much more expensive vacation, here is my suggestion. If your heart is absolutely set on going to see Machu Picchu, book through Celebrity and get the guarantees involved. If it sounds like something that is good to see but not something that you need to experience at this time, skip it, do things in Lima and the surrounding area and book yourself a fancy excursion in Pisco to go see the Nazca Lines or the Ballesta Islands.
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Wife and I were in Lima last year - not a cruise, just as part of a larger Peru trip I put together. Some things I'd note:
-There is nothing else near the airport to stay at other than the Wyndham, which is also ridiculously overpriced and does stuff like provide bottled water only at an exorbitant charge. Almost anywhere else in the country, a decent hotel provides it at no fee because, surprise!, you shouldn't be drinking the tap. Miraflores is 40 minutes away if there's no traffic. Downtown is probably close to the half hour. And since you're arriving at midnight and clearing customs/picking up luggage around 1AM, do you really want to go about heading to either?
-Callao is the opposite of anything special. It is, as other described, an industrial port town that is completely non-tourist oriented. There's a submarine you can tour in dry dock, but I can't speak to that. One tour operator does boat trips to a set of islands called the Palominos, where you can enter the water and swim with sea lions. I would recommend that, though I would note that the tour operator is primarily spanish speaking. Anyways, you don't want to walk around Callao, even if you are feeling particularly durable, because it isn't worthy of your time.
-There is plenty about Lima which, in my opinion, is worthy of time. There's three distinct zones which I think are worth seeing with limited time: the historic downtown, Miraflores, and Barranco. Since we are in our early/mid 30s and worldly types, we chose to walk between Miraflores and Barranco and, aside from the distance involved, was fine. You'd want to take a taxi (which is cheap) to the historic downtown from either, and from Callao a taxi is absolutely mandatory. Miraflores is the least aesthetically interesting of the three but the easiest to negotiate. Barranco is gorgeous and, IMO, just as safe. Downtown can get sketchy after it gets really dark, but there are some reasonably non-scary zones. Again, I understand that this is through my lens, not yours.
-Someone mentioned using a tour operator: I'd suggest Lima Tasty Tours (http://www.limatastytours.com/) who provided us not only the opportunity to eat well and different food, but took us around downtown Lima and to the national museum. With re: to the asian immigrant thing, yes, there are many "chifa" establishments doing Chinese/Spanish/Peruvian fusion. My wife, who is vegetarian, didn't have as much luck finding food she was about, but I'd say as a carnivore that I had plenty of good food.
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Glad I could help. Just as an FYI: There's a splash pad/water playground for kids, but it is closed according to their website through the 19th of November (it was closed when we went in March as well).
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(and here's the last part re: the Florida Aquarium: https://realtalkguidetoawesome.wordpress.com/2016/10/28/tr-veendam-caribbean-cruise-2016-pt-7-florida-aquarium-32016/)
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Desperately trying to get these done before I end up on another cruise: what a dilemma. Last ones of the cruise proper with Costa Maya:
Am I the only person who just doesn't care about this port? Town is pretty much charmless, archaeological sites are far away, I guess there's some good diving? Is there something I'm missing?
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Just posted an update with Santo Tomas De Castillo, Guatemala:
It may come across as though I am being contrarian to say that this is one of the best ports I've been to in the Americas, but seriously, it is. The Rio Dulce area is gorgeous and about as exotic as anything you'll see via big ship cruise. Unlike similar journeys in places like Belize, there's not a road running alongside the river for any serious portions. You get out a few miles, and it is wild and very real. Too real for some, honestly. I would definitely recommend going with an independent provider for the tour and to bring small bills. Not a ton, but a few for incidentals and what not. There's some interesting ones you'll come across.
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Thanks for the link to your report.
Are you planning to post a photo of yourselves on "Formal Night"?
I do have a big ol gallery of spoilerific pictures here:
But I'll save you the clicking -
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Howdy - my wife and I took the Veendam several months back, and I've been so busy with life since that I really haven't gotten a chance to attend to anything related to that trip on Cruisecritic. I hadn't even gotten a Flickr gallery up until September. It was that kinda summer. This was one of the cruises to the Central America region, with stops in Key West, Trujillo in Honduras, Santo Tomas De Castillo in Guatemala, and Costa Maya in Mexico. All 4 ports were new for me, and 3 were new for my wife.
Anyways, I'm finally making some headway with my long form pieces about it, and while it isn't the most timely of items ever, I invite anyone to read it. I've got a placeholder page on my blog, and as I get done writing something, a new page will go up. I'm about halfway through right now, and will be getting through the Guatemala portion next (it'll be the longest, I'm sure):
https://realtalkguidetoawesome.wordpress.com/2016/10/10/2016-veendam-cruise-trip-report-series/
I know that the boat is derided online, but we loved the smaller ship. Of course, we were lucky enough to have working A/C the whole time, and the water system issues on the ship, while annoying, were dealt with in such a manner that we really weren't that badly affected by it. After our prior cruise together with Royal Caribbean out of Singapore, the difference in food quality was night and day. In fact, we agreed it was the best we'd had from a big boat line, and that's with having taken all the ones noted in my signature line. I loved it, and I'm excited to give them another shot on something like a Panama Canal itinerary in the future.
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You're giving me motivation to catch up and get to writing on this cruise. Costa Maya ended up being the port we cared for least, and that's probably the opposite of a lot of people's takes. Veendam has a couple "show" issues where it needs some cleaning up, but overall for our first HAL cruise, we were really impressed, especially with the food. It made the food we got served on the last three RCCL cruises I've been on seem terrible by comparison. I'm 100% an itinerary first guy, but the food was so good, I'd take HAL to generic Eastern Mediterranean ports just to eat with them again.
Casino offers - be sure to check the website!
in Holland America Line
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Big thanks to both of you: I think based on your commentary I'll plan to book off the ship's offer in the next month. Glad I brought this up now when the certificate doesn't go active until tomorrow and not 2 days before it expired!