vinonme2

Thank you for your replies, they were very helpful.  After checking several recommended operators, I ended up booking the transfer with the company my CIvitavecchia hotel uses.  I've used them previously for FCO-Civit. transfers, they are reliable and prompt and ended up having the best rate. 

My flight is scheduled to depart FCO at 12:50 pm. I'm thinking we'd be off the ship by 8 AM which would give us plenty of time to get to FCO. 

Would be very grateful for recommendations of transfer service. There are 2 of us. 

Thank you again.

Has anyone had any recent experience with HAL bus shuttles from Civitavecchia to FCO?

I've used the HAL port to airport shuttles in the US with no problems. This will be my first time disembarking in Civitavecchia and I was wondering if the shuttles are available there.

Would appreciate any information on this. I'll be flying Delta and according to the FCO map, that will be T3. 

Thank you!

Jacqui,

I did hit "reply", don't know why your entire post came up. Very sorry.

Gloria

Hi Jacqui,

Please add to the Future Cruise Listings:  

          Koningsdam 31-Oct.-19    13 Day Passage to America

              My sister and I are doing 1 week at Lake Como and then 1 week in Tuscany before boarding

              the Koningsdam...it will be my sister's first cruise!

 As always, thank you Jacqui.

Gloria

Are there taxis waiting at the Rhodes port to take people on tours?  We want to go to Lindes, walk around a bit and then back to Rhodes.  

If you've taken a taxi here previously, the rate would be appreciated.

Thank you.

I am curious about how for 2019 cruise lines such as RCCL, Celebrity and NCL are still able to bring ships over 55K tonnes into Venice, but HAL cannot. None of them are listing the Venice port as Marghera ... are they not disclosing this? It could cause huge issues for clients beginning or end their cruises in Venice on these lines.

 

Or is HAL sticking to the smaller ship so they can sail up the Grand canal, where the others cannot, but all will dock at the normal cruise terminal???? I'm a little confused

NO cruise ship can or does sail the Grand Canal.

Thank you so much for the wonderful pictures of the beautiful new look! I'll be doing the Grand Asia on it in Sept. and can't wait to board this beautiful ship.

Gloria

Hi Jacqui,

Please add us to the Bon Voyage thread:

29 April 2019, Koningsdam, "Ancient Empires" 11 nights.

Get away to Greece for my daughter-in-law and I.

As always, thank you Jacqui

Gloria

As discussed above, you will be fine with a noon flight. No need to pay for any "expedited" service.

Thank you. I thought I would be till I started reading this thread, then I started to worry!

We are going to self disembark, have a private transfer awaiting at 7:30am "Under Ship", use an expediting service at FCO and pray a LOT! I can't see any reason why the airport situation would improve as am now realizing that our trip in October is now considered "high season" along with June and July.

I have never disembarked at Civit. and am a bit concerned about getting to FCO in time for my noon flight back to the US.

What is the expediting service at FCO that you mention?

Thank you so much Dave; your drink price listings have really helped me get a clear picture of drink package or not.

Agree totally with AtlantaCruiser72, the red wines selection is very weak. From my understanding, the package can be upgraded at $5.80 additional per day, per person, but then the total price - for me - gets to the question of is a package really worth it.

Yes, there's a shuttle. I know, because I'm on it! My TA paid for it, but she told me the price was $20. Best to book early to be sure you are on one that makes it in time for your flight.

Thank you! This is being handled entirely different than it was in FLL. There, I filled out a ship form about 2 days prior to disembarkation. The way it was explained to me was my flight info. was sent to the airline and they determined if I could make the flight using the shuttle. Flights that left before 11:30 AM were excluded. Very interesting how different ports do this.

Another bonus of using the HAL shuttle is that your luggage is taken off the ship and taken directly to the airport and you don't see your luggage till you arrive at your final destination. You don't have to handle your luggage at all when you are disembarking and that was worth a lot more than the shuttle price!

I called HAL last night to confirm the shuttle process and I'll be calling my travel agent this morning to book it.

Thank you again!

Last November I took a HAL shuttle bus from the Fort Lauderdale port to the airport. It was very reasonably priced, went smoothly and I was impressed with it.

Does anyone know if HAL also has this shuttle service at the Los Angeles port to LAX?

If anyone has used this service there I would appreciate your feedback on your experience.

Thank you!

I wanted to take this train last October but when I approached the people sitting at the little ticket booth by the train, they said they were not running it that day. No explanation given.

I'll be going back next May and hope to have better luck.

There's plenty of water depth to get there, not sure about the cruise dock length, but you could always tender, and they have many water taxis to use in addition to the ship's tenders if needed.

Thank you for your kind and informed response, it is very much appreciated.

How far up the Amazon does the cruise go? I've taken loaded tankers up to Manaus, which is over 700 miles upriver. Our length, beam, and draft were similar to the Rotterdam, and I saw larger tankers there at the time. We didn't have multiple propellers or thrusters, so any cruise ship would be better at getting out of trouble on the Amazon than any cargo ship. All ships have difficulties in the Amazon, the river shifts so much, that the pilots are more like the Mississippi riverboat captains of Mark Twain's era, shouting advice between ships about where the sand bars have moved to. Our electronic charts were so out of date, that we had the screen showing us plowing through the middle of an island, or a mile aground going around a bend.

The Prisendam itinerary showed up to Manaus. I haven't gotten any information on any possible itinerary change.

So, from what I'm reading of your post, the Volendam should also be able to go up to Manaus?

Sorry, I am just trying to clarify things in my mind to make a decision.

Thank you very much.

Check your email. It says -

 

You will be re-accommodated to the below voyage in the same stateroom category at the rate already paid, or best available fare.

Yes, and the best available fare is not going to cause a stampede to book.

Well . .. .that is not exactly what one wanted to hear on a Monday morning. I am so disappointed for you. Is there perhaps an earlier Prinsendam sailing which you could book?

No, it was a never expected bit of news, and this after I had been talking about it at my aerobics session this morning! I'm disappointed and now have to make a decision - do the cruise on a bigger ship that I'm not sure will be able to navigate the Amazon - or - book something else for the Fall.

I'm doing a Med. on the Koningsdam late April, 2019 and I won't be canceling that so an earlier Prisendam cruise unfortunately won't work out for me.

Will have to pour a glass of wine tonight and try to decide.

Received word from my travel agent this morning that HAL is taking the Prisendam out of commision July 1, 2019.

I was booked on the Prisendam's 30 night Amazon cruise 11/20/19. The Volendam will now be doing that cruise.

I'm sure there are going to be a lot of less than happy people who had reservations on the Prisendam cruises and are now affected.

Bummer!

Well I guess I was born unlucky.

I've got a R/T Rome flight for April, 2019 that I'm trying to book and the HAL Flight Ease fare is a few dollars more than booking directly with the airline. The fare being quoted is equal to the price of my 11 night cruise, balcony cabin!

I've used Flight Ease several times in the past for one way flights to Europe and the fares were always wonderful. This is my first time booking a R/T Europe and it's very discouraging.

HAL Does NOT award double days even when they charge us 200 % for our solo fare

Yes, I understand that. I was referring to the double days given by Princess.

Princess gives solo passengers double points. You can reach Elite on Princess (top tier of their loyalty program, free wifi and laundry) after only 8 cruises. However, they aren't quite as nice as HAL either in service or food.... just my opinion.

I got to Elite the old fashioned way, nice to know they do the double points when you are paying double. If Princess charges less than a 200% rate, do they still give the double credits?

Not that long ago, I always felt Princess was on par with HAL, but I agree with you. My last 2 cruises on them were so disappointing in both service and food. Unfortunate.

In the past 2 years I have done 4 solo bookings with Hal and have not paid 200% for any of them. The rate was between 150-165% for 3 of them. Those cruises ranged from 24-36 nights and were either T/As or Europe. They were Inside cabins. The fourth cruise is an 89 night one I will be taking this September and the solo rate was 178%. This is for a Lanai cabin.

There are several other HAL cruises that I am considering for 2019 and 2020 and their solo rates for Inside and Outside cabins are still in that range. Those individual cruises are to Europe and Australia.

For all of the above cruises, this does not include the generous additional discount I receive from my travel agent.

It appears that Hal is determining the solo rate by cabin category and cruise destination. None of my cruises were to Alaska or the Caribbean.

A few days ago I canceled my 2020 WC because of a multitude of HAL headquarters unreasonable and unacceptable edicts, including their solo rate.

I am 4 star on HAL, Elite on Princess and have also cruised Royal Caribbean and Celebrity.

I thoroughly enjoy my HAL cruises and time on board but HAL's recent corporate decisions have me really wondering if they know what they are doing and how negatively it is affecting their customers.

Tough job, but someone's got to do it... :cool:

You're right!