rodndonna

Just off the Volendam on a Can/NE cruise staying in an inside cabin - nothing to worry about! Great ship - easy to get around - and Inside cabins are actually quite large. Edit: Should add that our ship was full booked - and never felt that way at any point.

Good point. "Generally" we (Canadians) have been doing better with anything you can pre-pay in Canadian with HAL with regards to exchange rate (HIA and Grats come to mind..)

If it doesn't indicate and shows just shows a price with "$", it is USD$. When something is priced in Canadian - it will note it as CDN$.

I think that may be in part to the fact that NCL cruisers are typically a younger and more mobile demographic. We're on the younger side of HAL (late 50's) and on the scenic cruises we've done with them (Alaska. Panama Canal and Norway) we were just constantly walking about the ship's viewing areas continually (no moss on us !). I think NCL crowd might be more like that as well - especially with the 8th deck on those Prima class ships.

There are a couple of reviews on Tripadvisor .. https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g12841003-d27119478-Reviews-Cabo_Rojo_Port-Cabo_Rojo_Pedernales_Prov

The Can/NE itineraries are now appearing on an external booking site (which shall remain nameless for CC rules) so HAL should have them up now within days (never sure why external sites have them up before HAL).

Just off the Volendam yesterday with an inside in the "least preferred" location (1st floor near medical centre).Our room was certainly looking pretty dated with a dreadful shower curtain, but the furnishings themselves and even the carpet were surprisingly in decent shape. I somewhat attributed that to the fact that those rooms would always the last to be assigned and only if the ship is full (which it was). You definitely need a white noise app running on a tablet to sleep in those rooms 1st floor aft rooms though, no shortage of noise sources especially below (not sure what they were doing down there) We were pleasantly surprised at the state of "most" the rest of the ship's furnishings, loungers, carpets and such as many newer or in good shape.

We can "join" and get the OBC (which we have done). Purchasing gift cards in AARP requires you be US based.

You can use USD gift cards for on-board expenses, but not the cruise itself if booking in CAD. Purchasing the AARP discounted gift cards is not something we have had any success with as Canadians.

Thanks everyone - a beach towel it is for this trip (although I am still going to order a travel yoga mat wen I get home). Pretty sure it will be the only use for a "beach" towel on this cruise (Can/NE). I wasn't even sure we would have them but watched a Cabin video earlier today (same cruise last month) and they actually have "beach" towels in the cabins 😀

The situation you describe - where your flight was cancelled - was totally out of your control. Not getting back to ship because of messing up the time is not out of our control.

I'm "doubting" insurance will cover - as it could then be easily taken advantage of anytime one wants to overnight in a port and pick up at the next port and having the tab (hotel, travel and extra meals) picked up. If the rental car broke down or they were in an accident that caused missing the ship - then more likely (just guessing)

Sadly I only had the epiphany of wanting a yoga mat for the cruise after my routine this morning. I did find something similar available on Amazon (which is now in our "cart") but we leave mid day tomorrow .... so wouldn't be able to get it in time, but order on return and have it for our next holiday. https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B0869R723H/ref=sw_img_1?smid=A3DWYIK6Y9EEQB&psc=1 Worst case - I will have an excuse to forgo doing planks for a week .. 😉

We're coming up on a short (7 day) cruise and at sadly that age where I seem to need to maintain a minimum level of stretch and floor routine (even on holiday!&*%) I would rather not go the gym for the few things I do that require being on the floor for, so would like to have a yoga mat in my room without having to bring one myself. Has anyone ever rented (or borrowed) one from the gym? I believe the "spa" rooms have one, be we are inside GTY and ended up at the back on deck 1. If not, maybe there is a small business case for renting mats ... I can't be the only one???

Not sure what that means? Do you have "alternatives" that are somehow not available to the rest of us?

Yikes - we're boarding Saturday and staying in an inside on Dolphin deck. (i'm afraid to ask your room number ) Will be prepared for the worst but make the most of it!

"Dual" as in two playing together like the last iteration on HAL ... or "Duel" as in two piano's "duelling" ...which many confusedly thought the other format was supposed to be doing but wasn't

Are you comparing an NCL price with Free at Sea (FAS) ? I find after I total everything out - NCL fares are comparable (and sometimes better) than HAL (with HIA) or Princess (with the Plius package). If you are looking for bare bones cruise price with no perks ... hard to get that on NCL unless you are looking last minute (I think they offer the Sailaway rates with no FAS).

I'm not a marketing expert, but I suspect the cost to bring in you-tubers (and other social media people) is peanuts compared to the exposure they get for it.

Best innovation on dining we have seen on any "XXX" ship - NCL, Celebrity, HAL, Princess... On our south Caribbean cruise on the Viva - it was also great outdoor dining option for evening.

That's good news for us ... we're booked on the Constellation Jan 2025. 😀

We're on deck 1 - Sept 28-Oct 4.... I guess we won't have to feel too bad if we spill a drink on the carpet anyway 😗

You're confusing Mariner Early Booking Bonus (OBC) for booking within 90 days of launch with just general Early Booking which has no dates attached. For instance a cruise I am looking at for next summer still has the "pumped" HIA as "Early booking" (which includes grats). The cruise was launched about a year ago, but is still a year away.

Not sure what constitutes recent - but we used BOGO flights for our Jan 2024 and everything went smoothly. We had direct flights (we were flying "day off - egad!" and there were only 2 options that could get us there so we had a good idea what we would get. We were seated together. That said we generally don't pay for seat selection. I really can't remember the last time that we were not sitting together in a flight. It has happened years ago, but it is not an issue for us. I can't remember if we had the option to purchase seat selection that trip. It may depend on the airline.

We met in working in Ottawa, returned to Maritimes (Fredericton) and on retiring and deciding where to live it was a hard "no" to return to Ottawa because of the harsh cold.Although a place like Fredericton or elsewhere in the maritimes has a shorter summer, it does not have the extremes you have in Ottawa.