knittinggirl

We noticed some cutbacks while onboard, and I got really sick.  Four visits to Medical for me.   Still not over the COVID.

9 hours ago, Sonora5 said:

We were on the Rotterdam from Aug 26 to Sept 9. My husband contracted covid the last week and had to quarantine for five days. He is fine and did not get very sick. We got a letter promising Future Cruise Credits. These have not yet shown up in our account. Has anyone had this happen? I hate to call HAL because that is always a waste of a couple of hours. How long will it take for the FCCs to arrive?

Did this letter about future cruise credits arrive while on board, or after returning from home?

I just got off the Noordam with a five-day quarantine, and my husband two days.  We got a certificate of recovery, but no promise of credit.

We'd already purchased  two future cruise deposits.

I was confined w/ covid, and couldn't make it down to Future Cruises office for clarification.

I got home only to learn I couldn't log in, but DH's still works.

DH's name in the body of the email and my name on the certificate.   Noncontiguous FCD Numbers.

From the desktop, it doesn't recognize my user name, mariner number or password.   But the navigator app still works for my username and password, though it purged my last cruise.

My husband's account still works.

They also lost two of my four future bookings, but charged me for all four.  I only received the emails to my husband's account.

Most of our embarkation experiences are pre-pandemic.    If things are going well for the crew, we were allowed into our cabins at 1 pm.   We got lost on our way to the port, and we almost missed the ship.    During the pandemic, check-in via app, was done the night before and we presented our sea pass forms.   I had printed out two seapass forms for DH and none for me, but the agent printed one out for me.    No more paper health forms, these had to be done online.   We got onto the ship in a wheelchair, and they pushed me to the lifeboat station.   I had watched the safety video the night before.  So, it was the easiest safety drill we have ever had!   I hope they keep it.

Disembarkation is hard to talk about, since Diamond Plus.  So it may not be the same as yours.    Mid-week, we're sent a questionnaire.   We're given luggage tags, and the luggage goes out the night before.    They each have a number, and I put at least two tags on each bag.   They tell us which place to wait, and they call out the tag numbers.    They also display the tags on a computer monitor.

Hope this helps!

I like the solariums with the snack bar.    

One of the new C&A perks, at the 340 point level (I think).

Anybody of a picture of it?

On 3/10/2023 at 11:51 AM, terrydtx said:

The same on Celebrity. On our last cruise in a suite, I gave out Butler an extra tip at the end of the cruise, he told me that he appreciated it, but it wasn't necessary, and just asked that we give him top ratings in the post cruise evaluation.

We don't get many rooms w/ butlers.  But on Celebrity, our butler returned our tips, because what he looked forward to most was our smiles.  He even delivered our specialty coffee on disembarkation day (when he didn't need to) so he could get boosted by our smiles.   Turn around day is rough on crew.

52 minutes ago, mightycruisequeen said:

We're teetotalers, so that takes a lot of the shine off the appeal for have-it-all for us, but I'm sure it can be worth it if you like to drink on your cruise.  

HAL also offers virgin drinks!  DH even arranged for them to bring our specialty coffee to our Neptune each morning.    We're also 4 star, so that may have something to do with it.

On 3/8/2023 at 12:21 AM, AFNavigator said:

Something else to be aware of.  Even with included drinks, HAL has started providing receipts with each order and the receipts include a tip line.  Feel free to include an extra tip if you like but with the knowledge that an 18% gratuity is already included.  You just don't see that 18% with the package drinks--it's baked into the package already.

We had a waiter tell us he prefers cash, because if you add the tip to the bill everyone gets their cut, so a $1 tip turns into 5Cents. This was on Royal Caribbean.

We often do Specialty at noon, because the cover charge starts at 50% off, and as 4*, they apply the 40% discount to that.

I had something similar happen when they sold the Prinsendam.    I had a 24-day booked and they changed it to a 35-day Voyage of the Vikings, and upgraded my Vista to a Signature for the same per diem price.

Is that $600 per person?    

We got diverted to Dawes Glacier when Tracy Arm Fjord was full of ice flow.    We got to get closer to the glacier, and took the boat all the way to Juneau.   Definitely worth it!

Wanted to add that HAL has a great laundry service!   We paid extra for it on our second cruise, and when you reach 4 star, it's one of the perks!    You can do by the bag, or daily.

We prefer Whittier to Seward.   Most of Whittier is covered to the train.    We got off Princess and walked through a covered walkway right up to the train for our 7+6 cruisetour.    Seward is uncovered to the ship, with no covered gangplank.  Not quite true, they have a building available for checking in, but quite a walk to the ship. We saw a man in a wheelchair sitting in the rain.   A surprise for an embarkation port.  That trip, we did a 7+7 B2B round trip Vancouver, on Royal Caribbean.   

We prefer the Vista of Signature Class of ship because they have the signature suites.  Signature suites offer separate showers, so you don't have to worry about falling when climbing into those scary tubs.

We've been to Tracy Arm Fjord, Hubbard Glacier and Glacier Bay.    But not on the same cruise.   Some compare Tracy Arm favorability to the Norwegian Fjords.    Sometimes, they'll substitute Tracy Arm for Dawes Glacier that is also much worth seeing.   The last time, we did Dawes glacier, we took an small ship close to Dawes then back to Juneau.    If memory serves, we left our ship, and returned to the ship in Juneau.

The Rotterdam Class ships may be able to get into a tender port.   But I think there is red tape involved.    We were able to dock in our first cruise to Isaforger, Iceland, but not any other times on the Vista Class.

We also were on a cruise where they turned a docking port into an anchor port in Canada.

Ketchikan offers Misty Fjords Cruise EXC

Juneau offers the whale watching

Skagway offers the train (I've already booked the legacy car)

We were not thrilled with Icy Strait Point, but since it went from Anchor to dock, it may have improved.   I don't know if all ships dock or just the Royal Caribbean.

I wonder if that will happen to us.   We're flying through Denver, but in the past, they have rerouted us through DFW, which is in the wrong direction.

I bought some flights via flight ease along w/ some prenights.   But they are not showing in my itinerary.   When will they appear in my online itinerary, and will these also appear in my cruise paperwork?

Royal Caribbean shipped us our trophies.

We did a 10 day have it all in a suite.   We ended up w/ zero bill, maybe even money back.  Not real sure, because we didn't get a hard copy bill, and I didn't save the app version before we left the ship.   The day before, they told us we had some non-refundable credit and refundable credit.

Dh fell and broke his hip (not complete fracture).  We tried to switch to a handicapped room, but none were available.   So, we booked a handicapped room for a new cruise in 2024.    We were told we need a note from the doctor, and they need it closer to our sail date.     DH always walks w/ a limp, and they have asked him if he needs a wheelchair upon occasion, but the reservation doesn't show this.   He once was told he'd qualify for a handicapped parking spot.

w/o the note, will HAL kick us out of the handicapped room?   If they  do, will they give us the same category or higher for the same price.

Been a while since we've been on a Royal Ship.  DH had ordered specialty coffee to our room every morning, and they kept coming earlier and earlier.  He forgot about the robes.

I heard it was platinum level, but that was a while ago.