cruzemaven

Will Fernando be the cruise director for the entire Serenity world cruise or just for a few segments?

We were on a charter on the Nieuw Amsterdam last week. Hope they have sanitized the ship and are enforcing Masking. Many passengers are reporting coming down with Covid while on last week’s  cruise. The Malt Shop Cruise has its own Facebook page - that’s where people are reporting. Out of our group of 6, 3 caught Covid while onboard.

Will be embarking next week on our cruise. I noticed that according to a few posts on this board that there are a few HAL ships which  have been experiencing recent outbreaks of Covid. On some of those ships, the captains have reinstated mask wearing by the crew and passengers.  Haven’t seen any posts on that topic concerning the Nieuw Amsterdam but would appreciate any updates from current or recent cruisers. Thanks 

Cruise Law on Facebook posted this…"Passenger Infected With COVID-19 on Carnival Vista and Abandoned By Carnival in Belize Dies After Returning to U.S." 

Marilyn Tackette, a 77 year old retired Sunday school teacher in Oklahoma dies of COVID-19 while Carnival Cruise Line falsely claims it's handling "small number" of cases on cruise ship . . .

57 minutes ago, Gigi1977 said:

This must be new.  We are booked in Jewels of Baltic and then on the transatlantic. 28 days.  Our final payment is due 90 days before sailing.  Maybe the online booking is at special restricted fare and those are due quickly.   You pay less but sooner.  Call HAL to get a non-restricted fare.  

Thank you, that’s most likely the case.

We are interested in booking the TA on the new Rotterdam for 10/21. On the Holland America website it shows that after the initial deposit, the balance will be due in a few days. Is there a way to book this cruise where the final payment isn’t due until a few months before the cruise sets sail....or is this a new protocol? Thank you for any info on this topic.

Are there any veranda cabins on The Eurodam that offer a separate shower stall in the bathroom or do they all have tub/shower combinations?

On Insignia now...using the ship’s WiFi right now to post this...WiFi works well most of the time.

We’ll be disembarking in New York City on a Sunday morning in a few weeks along with thousands of other passengers from The Escape. Decided it would be better to book a car service in advance instead of waiting on a long line for a taxi or trying to get an Uber..Can anyone recommend a reliable car service?

We’ll be disembarking in New York City from The Insignia on a Sunday morning in a few weeks along with thousands of other passengers from The Escape. Decided it would be better to book a car service in advance instead of waiting on a long line for a taxi or trying to get an Uber..Can anyone recommend a reliable car service?

Thank you for all your replies. Since we don't have a plane to catch, we will stay on the ship as long as possible.  Hopefully,  they'll allow our car service to pull up to the terminal after we text him...that would make it much easier for us. Normally, we would take a taxi but with The Escape disembarking at the same time, the line for a getting a cab could be huge.

We will be disembarking from our ship Oceania’s Insignia on the same morning as The Escape disembarks. Realizing that there will be thousands of passengers leaving the ships, what should we expect as far as crowds going through customs? Do we need to walk across 12 th Avenue in order to meet our car service or can the car pull up to the terminal? Are we better off leaving our ship as early as possible or should we wait as long as allowable? Would appreciate any suggestions that would help make departure as easy as possible, thanks.

The NCL's The Escape will be disembarking thousands of passengers the same morning as The Insignia's disembarkation. What can we expect at the terminal in terms of getting through customs and then locating where are car service will find us. Are we supposed to cross 12 th avenue with all of our luggage and meet our driver near the taxi pick up? Would appreciate any recommendations that would help make this process as hassle free as possible..

thanks for any advice.

OMG! This is the best news and the most wonderful outcome... a fairytale come true... May both live happily ever after!🎊

We are 4  couples who booked our Insignia July 28 cruise based primarily  on having Havana as our very first port of call- a major highlight for us on an otherwise humdrum itinerary. Would never have booked this cruise without that full day stop in Cuba. Of course, we fully understand the circumstances of why it was cancelled but we're truly disappointed in the substitution of what amounts to as only a half day stop which requires tendering into an  underwhelming  port - Grand Cayman (been there several times). Since  the ship is only staying for about half a day  - there's not even enough time to  go someplace nice for lunch since tendering takes time. Wish they would have chosen a port that had dock space- wouldn't matter which Caribbean island...basically all the same. Since there was absolutely no compensation or discount offered, we feel that we are not getting the same value that we paid for. The substitution they made- a half day in a tender port is not equal to a full day docked in Havana. I know cruise lines are entitled to change ports without any obligation to its passengers but in this case the inclusion of Havana on this itinerary was truly the hook that made many of us book this cruise. Oceania could have done better. We have sailed many times on Oceania in the past and we're hoping that the shipboard experience will be as good as we remember.

Thanks to all for your suggestions 

This July, our Insignia Cruise includes a day in Havana, Cuba. Just received an email from our travel agent to fill out the forms required to visit Cuba and return them to Oceania. The forms were accessed from a link provided in the email. I printed them out and will fill them out. Just wondering if anyone else has done this, did you take a picture of the completed forms and email the picture of the completed forms back to Oceania?

Can you text from your IPhone while connected to the ship's WiFi or do you need to be connected to Cellular at Sea?

If my iPhone is connected to the ship's WiFi, would I need the Cellular at Sea phone service in order to text? While on the Celebrity Reflection last summer, we had no problem texting from our iPhones when connected to their wifi only...I hope the same will be true when we are on The Insignia this summer.

We were on the Celebrity Reflection this past summer and the WiFi worked great. We were able to use our iPhones to text our grandchildren in Florida from the middle of The Mediterranean using the ship's WiFi ...How is the WiFi onboard The Insignia? I know they offer free Wifi for one device at a time....is there an upgrade we can purchase to have two devices connected at the same time? 

1 hour ago, CANDYAPPLE said:

We are on this itinerary, also  (see Roll Call) After checking around, we have booked info@vintagecartours.com  They mostly use convertibles, but due to the expected heat, we have opted for an air conditioned vintage hardtop. They seat up to 5 passengers, but we decided to go with just the two of us with a driver/guide. They will take you to a money exchange kiosk to obtain Cuban currency  (CUC) which is at a better rate than at the port. The pickup spot is a two minute walk from the cruise terminal.

 

Enjoy!!!

Thank you...sounds perfect!

We will be on The Insignia this summer which visits Havana at the end of July. Can anyone recommend one of the vintage car tour companies? Would appreciate any suggestions regarding best tours to take as well as reliability of the tour company...thank you

17 hours ago, Paulchili said:

Keep in mind that the computer changes dates at midnight EST/EDT. Depending on where you live that can be a different time for you 

Thanks... we’ re on EST ... and will try to reserve online at midnight😴 

11 hours ago, LHT28 said:

depends on the cabin cat you booked

check your invoice  it should have the exact date on page 3 with the itinerary

Thanks- checked my invoice and I see the date👍

Our cruise on the Insignia begins this July 28... how far in advance do the reservations for specialty restaurants open online for booking?