MortgageChick

On 7/18/2021 at 1:56 PM, DirtyDawg said:

I think my fellow Canadians who have had mixed vaccinations should sit back and open up a nice cold bottle Molson Canadian or take a shot of Canadian Club. Chill, this will get sorted out soon enough. 🍺🥃

Lets hope so....

As I look out the window of my home here in Canada, we have about 40cm of snow on the ground and sub zero temps... 

My cruise is non refundable, as is my airfare, so I think that the obvious choice is to stay the course, knowing that we may not be able to dock anywhere but maybe at  MSC private Island.   If I was in cancellation window, I might reconsider, but I do not see any win in cancelling a non refundable vacation when the chances of infection are still minimal, and we have no pre existing conditions.

Thank you for your response.... I will console myself with the fact we have booked a large aft verandah stateroom with a view of the wake. If things get too bad and we miss all the ports , we will can in our stateroom and imagine we are on a Transatlantic crossing 😉.

Let me start by saying I have sailed on over 50 cruises , ranging from 4 to 33 nights, so this is not my first "rodeo" as they say LOL

 My husband and I are embarking on MSC Divina Caribbean on Feb 28th .  we received an email that among other things included a note that they would implement the following process:

• Mandatory non-touch thermal scans conducted for all guests and crew prior to embarkation for every cruise;
• Anyone with signs or symptoms of illness, fever (≥38 C°/100.4 F°) or feverishness, chills, coughing or difficulty breathing will be denied boarding;

First off, I am not concerned about Coronavirus in the Caribbean, as the majority of those who fall ill with it seem to  recover, and as many have mentioned 32,000 Americans died from the flu last flu season.   What I am worried about, is that if  for example you have a cold/sneezing or a  cough at embarkation ( my husband has a smokers cough ) they will automatically deny boarding.  In a case like this will we be refunded our cruise fare? or are you out of luck because you were coughing that day...it certainly sounds that way

Also concerning will be the quality of our cruise experience..... as we are likely to be constantly having our hands sprayed with sanitizer, and encounter long lines at all meals as the staff serve food choices to each person in line a the buffet ( which is fine as long as everyone does not have a million questions about each dish, and can make up their mind about what they want)

This is our first MSC cruise, and booked it after others have told us that MSC has an excellent cruise experience...though some of the reviews I have been reading over the past 60 to 90 days do not sound like that is still the case.  

On sea days you can have a few drinks, take a nap, have a few more, eat dinner, take a nap...

This is the first time I  have  paid for any fee for a drink package . Last time I cruised on NCL was Dec 5 2015  7 nights  from Houston, W. Caribbean and there was no cost not even the gratuity..maybe it was hidden in the $499 cruise fare(incl tax).... also no single supplement and booked within 10 days of sailing.   This time paying  gratuities on drink package, but still a very good deal for someone who drinks 2 glasses of wine at dinner and specialty coffees :).  There was also a price drop 24 hours after I booked and paid... I called NCL  and they gave me an on board credit of $40, to equal the price drop that i mentioned ( from 239 to 199 )    

50+ cruises many different lines. First Cruise 1994 7 night Eastern Caribbean , Carnival Destiny Miami return...Last Cruise 2/19-3/19... Costa Luminosa Santiago to Singapore :)  How times change ......

32 minutes ago, maryann2 said:

Glad to hear that you are trying Costa again. I love their itineraries.

Actually my favourite cruise line is Carnival and love their longer cruises but they are expensive for solos.

They used to do the 1As with 150% supplement but now always 200%.

The Costa ships are similar in layout to the Carnival ships with even some of the same furniture.

 

I didn't realise that they don't do drink packages on the World cruises or segments.

Have you tried going to MYCOSTA on the website and looking to see what is available. Even booking through a travel agent you should have access.

There will be an English host on board so if you do have any issues to be addressed I would suggest you go through them.

They seat English speakers together in MDR.

Hi Maryann, they have just the one choice Pranzo and Cena, but  I will check the website again. Thanks, I will check with the English host on board as we have been allocated late seating , which on Costa is quite a bit later than what we consider "late " :)

Nope I went to Beaulieu , St Helier....  Ive been back 3 times...last trip was 2004..so i am definitely overdue.  2 years ago connected on fb with an old school friend from Beaulieu . Shes living outside Los Angeles, so I flew down and we did a short Carnival cruise, lots of fun!

Jerseyflyer    Can I assume you live in the Channel Islands?   I actually spent 10 years of my childhood on Jersey. My family moved to Canada in the 1970's.

Hi Maryann

I am hoping that the 7 night Caribbean we did in Sept of 2003 was an anomaly and that our 6 weeks on board the Luminosa will be amazing.  The ship certainly looks lovely.  We have spent hundreds of days at sea and have for the most part been very happy...it is unfortunate that our one cruise on Costa in 2003 was a perfect storm of poor service, inferior food and rude servers. It was a 7 night out of Miami to the Western Caribbean.  Perhaps there was something else going on with the staff or some change in policy that made them apathetic.....something was just "off" that week.  Its not that I think Costa is "bad", I only have one experience with them, so I will keep an open mind and focus on the point of this voyage which is the itinerary.

With reference to upgrading the drink package, when I asked the cruise agency I booked with, about the different packages, i was told that on a World Cruise or World Cruise segments that Pranzo/Cena is the only package available...so I will definitely ask again. That said we enjoy pouring our own drink in our stateroom prior to dinner, and over the last 5 years I feel the  cruise lines are getting carried away with their pricing on alcohol, and their desire to squeeze every dime out of you is getting tiresome.

We are very open to diversity, and have sailed all the major cruise lines and many of the smaller ones as well as those that no longer exist.   My husband and I took our first cruise in 1995, with Carnival, and to this day I still enjoy Carnival immensely.  I also enjoy the longer voyages of Celebrity.  We sailed for the 4th time on Eurodam last October, and have always loved that ship, but on that sailing we noticed a lot of changes, a drop in the food qualify and the staff seemed quite distracted. Not what we have come to expect from HAL....but perhaps that too, was just a one off situation.  I hope so

Also this past week we booked our fourth sailing with Pullmantur.  While some cruisers dislike the fact that Spanish is the on board language I love it...gives me a chance to practice mine :)  

We are booked for a 42 day WC Segment on Luminosa leaving in 9 days from San Antonio Chile  We sailed Costa  once before  ( Costa Mediterannea 2003) , and it is close to the bottom of my 50+ cruise experiences .  HOWEVER, the itinerary we have booked for 6 weeks is exactly what we were looking for, at a fair price, so we are adjusting our expectations accordingly.

I was wondering if someone can tell me the wine policy for Costa. Is it like Carnival , HAL Celebrity etc... one bottle per person allowed at embarkation only?  I would expect that being part of Carnival corp the answer is yes.  Also does anyone have any recent experience with how diligent they are scanning checked luggage and confiscating water and liquor?

We  have the Pranzo and Cena package, do the bar staff ignore you if you have the package?  I have experienced this on some lines, as they feel they are not going to get anything extra(tip).  We usually tip up front when we have a drinks package to make sure the waiter returns, but with the package only applying at lunch and dinner , perhaps ordering more than one glass of wine could be a challenge?  I just want to know what we should expect....part of me would like to think they try a bit harder on a World Cruise...but part of me thinks that may not be the case LOL

TIA for your comments and input :)

On 11/18/2018 at 3:14 AM, Zoey1 said:

We literally just returned last night. We booked day rates at the Intercontinental a couple of months in advance, it is super pricey but having just come back it is so worth it. The p,ace is dreamy, the staff very accommodating and we just found the resort to be paradise! 

Hi Zoey1, thank you for your post.  We will be visiting by ship February 25th/2019, if you book a day rate what does that include?. Is there a food/beverage credit. The best price I see for the hotel for an actual nights stay (2/25/19) is 247USD.  As far as currency goes, can you pay in USD all over Tahiti, or is it necessary to have the local currency . I am fine with both. We are Canadians, so either way I will have to do exchange.  I did email the Intercontinental last night, but have read they often don't respond.  

Only time we  absolutely needed to get a vaccine was 2003 on our Amazon River Cruise. A number of passengers disregarded the Yellow Fever vaccination and we left FLL without them. They were vaccinated at an inflated price and flew to meet the ship in Barbados ( our first stop on our 3 weeks cruise...lots of sea days on that one) 

We are heading out on a 42 day WC segment in February 2019, and the cruise line no longer tells you which vaccines you are required to have...and leave it up to you to figure it out.  From what I can see there are only recommended vaccines and none absolutely necessary. I am basing this on our current residence, and the places we  have recently traveled. We are flying BOS to MIA to SCL..so no connections that are suspect for Yellow Fever, Typhoid etc.     

Our itinerary includes Chile, Easter Island (Chile), Pitcairn, Bali, Tahiti, Indonesia, Australia, NZ, Singapore, Raratonga.

To my knowledge none of the above destinations require specific vaccines unless you have recently visited or connected through countries where these diseases are active.

Are any of you aware of different information regarding the above itinerary??

We are booked for a 42 day WC Segment on Luminosa Feb/march 2019.  We sailed Costa  once before  ( Costa Mediterannea 2003) , and it is close to the bottom of my 50+ cruise experiences .  However, the itinerary we have booked for Feb/March is exactly what we were looking for, at a fair price, so we are adjusting our expectations accordingly.

We are currently booked in a Premium OV and have the Pranzo and Cena package included. My TA fought for this inclusion, as it was mistakenly listed it as included  for this particular itinerary.     We had made a significant non refundable deposit based on Pranzo and Cena being included, before learning World cruises and Word cruise segments are excluded.

 My first question is regarding Coffee and Tea.  I have been reading a lot about coffee not being included in the basic fare cost, and that absolutely makes no sense to me, and I am sure that I would have noticed this on our previous Costa cruise.  Even the lowest price lines allow you unlimited coffee, tea, water.  I may have to pack a french press and some coffee...... is hot water readily available at the buffet, or is that at an extra cost too.  I don't require cappucino or latte...just good strong brewed coffee..2 cups in the morning with cream.

 It is unclear to me from the few "bathrobes" posts I have read , if Costa provides these or not. We have always been provided with robes on the mainstream cruise lines ( NCL, RCL,Carnival, HAL etc).  I am aware that European based cruise lines do things differently, but even on my very low priced Pullmatur Med cruise this past summer, a Bathrobe was supplied.... 

For those who have experience with the Pranzo and Cena packages, do the bar staff ignore you if you have the package?  I have experienced this on some lines, as they feel they are not going to get anything extra(tip).  We usually tip up front when we have a drinks package to make sure the waiter returns, but with the package only applying at lunch and dinner , perhaps ordering more than one glass of wine could be a challenge?  I just want to know what we should expect.

TIA for your comments and input :)

Great info here. We will be on a 42 Day WC segment Feb 12 to March 26. We are both still working so this will be the longest we have ever been away from home. We live in Atlantic Canada and during our time away the temps will be between minus 15 celcius and minus 30 celcius...perhaps lower. We have decided to hire a service to come in every second day to tend to our 2 young cats, and we will ask the neighbor across the street to clear our driveway of the often 25 to 30 cm of snow that falls in a single storm. I am thinking of getting a camera/smart door bell so I can use an app on my phone to check things out. I have been paying all bills online and on auto pay for the past 5 years, so that is already set up.....we are really looking forward to this trip...but I will be more in planning mode after final payment in early November.

Thanks to all for your comments, very much appreciated ..... Just wondering if you know what currency was used to pay the locals for their items?

Good Morning...this will be our longest trip yet and not a lot of time to pull all the details together ( air ,house sitter , excursions etc)

Will spend 4 or 5 hours a week going forward. I would like to know if anyone here has anchored at Pitcairn Island on a Large ship like the Luminosa. The itinerary notes us there from 12 noon until 3pm, and I realize that the Luminosa is too big to tender people to shore so what is the norm here...do they bring locals on board to make a presentation about the island?

Thanks in advance

We are booked on a World Cruise Segment on Luminosa 42 days starting in San Antonio Chile Feb 11 2019. Just found out today that what was advertised at Best Price Cruises as our drink package in our OV Comfort premium room( “Brindiamo”, which will include wine, beer, call brand liquors, cocktails, juices, specialty coffees & bottled water bar service available in buffet, bar, main and specialty restaurants.) Is actually not what they apparently offer on on World Cruises ...even though you pay a higher cost...they offer only the beer and wine and only at lunch and dinner, No one can actually explain why they are advertising it as part of the World cruise and World Segments , but they still have not removed it. I am going to request we be down graded to an OV guarantee ( 1600 USD less) since it seems no matter if you book an inside or an owners suite no one gets anything different in the drink package. I am not sure what the reasoning behind this is.... but I can buy a lot of drinks at $9 each for $1600 and since more than half the cruise is a view of the ocean ....Mheeeh who cares if it is obstructed. This is totally frustrating...and I am beyond pissed that they would try to take advantage of people this way...

Hi all

Some people have asked this same question however the answer has never really been "nailed" so to speak

On deck 4, are the obstructed ( by lifeboat) OV rooms total obstructions ? has anyone sailed in any of these rooms.? I cannot seem to find an OV Picture window photo on line ...one taken from inside the stateroom.

Thank you in advance

Sharon

Ok so I found the number for the World Cruise Dept at HAL and I have made my deposit on a World Cruise Segment for 2020 ..unknown itinerary and they say they will contact me in June/July to let me know if I have a chance.. ( a bit like a lottery) not much else one can do. We are 3 star mariners...but I dont think that matters much ... fingers crossed!!

For those who have a wait list deposit for 2020 WC .how much was the deposit and did you make that through HAL directly...TIA

Thanks All...we are sailing 11 nights from Vancouver in October to Mexico and into San Diego...fairly sure first 3-5 nights not going to be much interested.... but nights 5 to 11 maybe so :)

Can my TA do this? Can I request specific days of the cruise? what is the cost per day...TIA

Clarification, that is the response from an Avoya Travel agent. Avoya Travel is connected some how to AMEX, with whom I have a Platinum Card and I was referred there Very unprofessional.

Im going to call them. I just got a response from the TA I mentioned in the last email. My daughter has been home for a few days so I have spent less time on line, as we dont see her very often,

The response regarding the inquiry on the World cruise segment as follows:

Should I take it that you are no longer moving forward?

Up to the point of gathering info, the responses were quick and sharp, then, at the point of making a financial commitment, it all came to a halt.

Am I reading this wrong .....or am I?

I find this email highly offensive since it has been less than 48 hours since she had last emailed me. The financial obligation she sought was $125 pp to go on a wait list...which makes the email even more offensive..... I already told her I have sailed approx 180 days with HAL so I would not think $125 x 2 is a hard stop for me, but her rudeness most definitely is. UGH People!!

Thank you Ruth. I have booked only with HAL on their website, but of course this is different. Can I contact someone at HALS inside sales team to deposit the 2020 WC? Somewhere along the way I was referred to Avoya travel, and the agent that contacted my told me I could not deposit and wait list for WC segments at all, then a few hours ago I received an email and she said she just found out I can. Needless to say I am not certain how experienced she is if she was not aware of this before today. I know Avoya is connected to AMEX and I use my Platinum AMEX for all my travel bookings. I also heard that Avoya can provide some extra "perks" IF any of you have used Avoya and have an experienced and competent agent I would be happy to speak with them...or am I just better off dealing directly with HAL on price and any Perks? Thank you for your help :)