emilygrace

It seems that since HAL changed their website there is no link to the deck plans of all the ships, or at least I cannot find it. I know I can look at other sites, but it used to be easy to click on "plan" and a drop down menu would include "ships" and you could click on this and get deck plans for all the ships. Am I missing something with the new website?

Also, if your mom got her passport 9 years ago that means it is expiring sometime within a year. Make sure it is not expiring less than 6 months from your cruise dates.

I just tried to look this cruise up on the RC site and it's not even there! Where are you seeing these prices?

I forgot to mention that with all the HAL cruises I have booked there has only been gtys available, probably because I usually book a short leg of a much longer cruise. I have never been able to select my cabin. I'm OK with this, have been pleasantly surprised more than once. But it's not like I booked a guarantee because it was cheaper, it's because it was the only thing available. This time we booked an obstructed OV (hey, it's a 3 night cruise so the view isn't crucial) but when the price dropped after final payment we were able to move up to a verandah cabin. Right now this short leg of the longer cruise is showing as sold out across all categories (sail date Oct. 4) so maybe they are in the process of offering people upsells and when that's all settled they will assign the leftovers to us guarantees.

Why does Holland America wait so long to assign guarantee cabins? I have booked guarantees on other cruise lines and have gotten my cabin number anywhere from the same day I booked up to a month before the sail date. I have sailed on HAL 3 times before, all in guarantees and I don't remember waiting so long to find out my location. Last cruise with HAL was 2 years ago so is this a recent thing?

I second the Harbour Hopper suggestion. We did this on our last time in Halifax and it was so much fun. The young woman guide knew SO much about Halifax and its history and knew a lot of the people around town who would wave at her as we passed by. And seeing the city from a small craft in the harbor is always a treat, totally different from seeing it as you come in or go out of the port on your big ship.

I have never gotten anything from Oceania, but Princess is the one that bombards us, at least 3 or 4 a week. And I don't even like Princess! We've sailed with them a few times, but I never go to their website to browse or anything. Yet in addition to the hard copy mail from them every other day, I get emails from them almost daily. I get a few things from HAL, but nothing like Princess. Emails from Celebrity and Royal Caribbean daily, but rarely ever anything in the mail.

Brilliance was fine

 

Just a mix of wrong people for dinner which is a big part of our enjoyment

We should have just asked to move

 

Looking forward to trying something different

 

You must have had the same dinner companions that we had a few years ago on the Brilliance! I tried to look at it as "dinner theater" but that experience is what pushed us over the edge to opt for anytime dining now.

Think of it this way.....they are GAINING business from cruisers who do smoke and don't like the more restrictive smoking policies on all the other cruise lines. Believe me, they are not losing any business over this.

Another option is to get some of the packets of hot chocolate from the Windjammer and then order coffee for you and tea through room service. That way you will have the carafe of hot water!

After 27 cruises on various cruise lines and ships (including the QM2 and all the Radiance class ships) the Jewel is still my favorite. So easy to get from point A to point B without a lot of going up or down a deck, beautiful views from almost everywhere on board and love, love, love the outdoor dining area at the back of the Windjammer.

 

Davecathy got it right about the Schooner Bar....best place to hang out, day or night. I hated the SB on the Allure....no windows!!! No windows anywhere (almost) on the Allure, for that matter.

 

Second best place to hang out is the Safari Lounge, and the self-leveling pool tables are pretty cool!

OH geez, this reminds me of when I was on the Allure last year. My friend and I went to the library for somewhere quiet to read (me) and use her iPad (friend). It seems like anytime I sit down when on a ship I drift off to sleep. A while later I opened my eyes (I must have heard a sound) and the library was filled with people! A woman said that they were having a FOB meeting and we were welcome to stay, but she was very apologetic and said this was where RCL had assigned them for their meetings. I told her we would leave them to their meeting, which we did. I was not offended or put out as they had no choice about where to meet.

My only complaint was that the Allure did not really have anywhere quiet and comfy to sit and read, as the Viking Crown Lounge (my usual afternoon reading place) was closed to everyone while they doing construction in there.

I'm surprised that HAL is still doing their muster drills outside on deck. Every other cruise line I have been on in the past few years has moved this inside to lounges and the theater. On some cruise lines you don't even bring your life jacket to the drill, you just watch a demonstration of how it is used. I'm sure this cuts down on the accidents when everyone is returning to their stateroom and tripping over the belts hanging down.

 

I just appreciate that I don't have to stand outside in the heat waiting for those inevitable stragglers.

I have done two transatlantic, and both times I used the cruise line air for the one way flights to/from Europe. I booked the domestic flight portion on my own because I can use Southwest. Both my cruises were on Royal Caribbean and their one way Choice Air flights were 1/3 or less than directly through the airline. Once I booked with Choice Air I was able to take my confirmation # and go to the airline website and pick my seats and even upgrade them (for a fee, of course). Definitely look into HAL's air program.

My $10 watch that I bought 10 years ago is still working.....replaced the battery once. But I usually don't buy anything at these sales.

I have done a Transatlantic on the Jewel and would do it again in a heartbeat. One of the best cruises ever. Beautiful ship, views from everywhere, and wonderful service. Our cruise included Iceland and we had a great guest lecturer from there on board, so we were well prepared when we got there.

We were on the Zuiderdam a few years ago and loved that our ocean view cabin had a floor to ceiling window, sort of like a balcony cabin without the sliding door. Are the OV cabins on the NA like this? I'm not worried about any obstructions, just want to know if it is the same kind of window (or wall of glass). Thanks!

I agree that the WJ on the Allure is lacking, both in seating and food selection, but when you really think about it, it makes sense since there are so many other options for complimentary meals. I think we only ate at the WJ two or three times during our 12 day cruise, once we discovered the other eating venues. I really liked the Wipe Out Cafe for breakfast or a small lunch. The Solarium Cafe was nice, but a bit too "healthy" for my taste. Johnny Rockets was also good for a plain, American breakfast.

Flights only become available 330 days in advance, so if you are looking at a cruise in mid-April 2017 they won't be available until around the 3rd week of May this year.

Just off the Solstice this morning, and we also had 6240. All I can say is that the location and balcony make up for any noise that we heard. As others have said, it was sort of a white noise 99% of the time. Every once in a while there would be some rattling noise, but I hardly noticed it. Absolutely no noise from below.

 

But during our cruise they were doing some sort of construction somewhere near us. I could never see any going on anywhere, but every morning at 8 am it started up with the power drills and pounding. It sounded like they were building another ship somewhere inside our ship! Since there were no inside cabins in our hallway maybe there is some kind of construction shop behind those walls.

 

It was still a great cruise with lots of good entertainment and wonderful ports. I can hardly believe I have now been to Australia and New Zealand. We were just in Akaroa last week and now they just had a major earthquake in Christchurch. We felt one when we were there, but this one seems to be more damaging.

We leave for Sydney 2 weeks from today, so when we return home (or maybe while I'm on board, if I can remember) I will come back and report on the noise. Or lack of......

kuldalai, thank you for this detailed information. It looks like we will just get our Myki visitor pack in the cruise terminal and head on out from there. Looking forward to exploring Melbourne on our own!

Thanks so much for all this information. I just like to know my options so I don't waste precious port time when we get there, wandering around and standing in line to ask someone how to do this. I have a plan now!

 

We were not going to do the official HOHO bus, but rather catch the Visitor Shuttle, and I don't think that goes all the way to the pier.

 

Thanks again!

Does anyone here know how far it is from Station Pier to the center of Melbourne? We were planning on taking the Melbourne Visitor Shuttle around the city, since it is similar to a HOHO bus. But I think we need to get into the center of town first. Are there shuttles (either free or pay)?

I've always read about folks having trouble accessing their reservations, but I have never experienced it.....until yesterday. Tried to go into my booking to look at shore excursions for our Feb. cruise.....got THE message. Tried again several hours later....no luck. So today I cleared cookies, etc. and tried. No luck. I guess X just doesn't want my money for excursions so I will start shopping private tours.

 

I'm just glad I got my registration filled out before this came up. Although I don't know how I will print out my Set Sail pass (or whatever it's called), but I can leave that problem to my travel agent.