jennjess

Thanks for your answers, sounds like they will have somewhere to go.

A couple more questions.

Is there a buffet dining option and what are the opening times. Are there vegetarian meals available there and in the MDR?

Also are the excursions offered in English?

Considering a cruise on this ship, can anyone tell me where the smoking areas are, as one of our party is a smoker? I believe that the cabins and balconies are non-smoking areas.

I will also continue to sail with HAL but then I am a smoker who prefers the option of balcony smoking to having to move several decks away to enjoy my habit.

Well done. Hope they can fix you up. :)

The travel agent made request with Thomson but it appears that the second part of the b2b I wanted is unavailable. Unclear if it is full for that cabin type or completely full. I checked on the website and it still seems to be available?

I called thomson again to ask, they said they would call me back but 3 days later I've still not heard from them. This is getting annoying, do they not want my business?:(

I have found a dutch travel agency that CAN book Thomson for me. Should get back to me shortly. :)

Could you not get a friend or relative resident in the UK to book for you and send the payment into his/her bank account? I know that some US Thomson cruisers have done this in the past.

 

Looks as though it is lucky that we kept Hubbys UK bank account active when we became Ex-Pats.

Luckily I still have family in the UK so this would seem to be the only way around it.

In Amsterdam rather than the HoHo bus, I would take a canal boat which also is a hop on hop off and stops at most attractions. It is much nicer to see the city from the water and less likely to be snarled up in traffic.

http://www.dutchamsterdam.nl/134-museumboat

http://www.lovers.nl/en/tickets-and-prices/museum-line-hop-on---hop-off/

Nemo is great fun for a child of that age, if you can find the time to fit it in.

Watch out for all the bicycles when walking around as they rarely obey the rules, such as, being on the right side of the road or stopping at crossings.

This was meant to be a reply to Jakanne1 but somehow wound up here.

Hmmm I'm a bit puzzled by that - I can see why they say that about debit cards (as they tend to be tied to banks) - but credit cards are usually issued by big specialist firms that are multinational.

 

Have you actually tied to book and the credit card been rejected, or are you believing what it says in some small print.

No, I haven't tried to book but was looking at the faq's and called Thomson to ask, which they confirmed. You need a UK card tied to a UK address. I have neither.

Nobody cruises with Thomson for the ships. It's only for the itineraries, IMO. They are not competitively priced so look at other lines too. Also, don't expect good customer service.

 

 

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It is the unusual itineraries that interest me. The major lines always seem to visit the same old ports. Those that don't are usually the more luxury lines that are out of our budget.

That's a coincidence, because I have just been pre-booking tickets for our one and a half days in Amsterdam on the Spirit mini-cruise. I paid for the Anne Frank House with a debit card, no problem. Then I tried to book tickets for the Nemo Science Centre but it would not take any British visa or credit cards only iDeal cards. :(

 

I sympathise with you and it is frustrating and annoying. And there are some UK travel agents who do not book Thomson cruises either. :rolleyes:

Yes it is annoying, I will try some UK travel agents today to see if they will accept non UK issued cards. But then I suppose onboard expenses are also charged to a card? so don't know if that will work either.

Enjoy Amsterdam and if you need any advice I am here to help.

Well it looks like we won't be able to go on this cruise as Thomson will only accept UK issued credit & debit cards which we as expats don't have.

Online searches have failed to find any European travel agencies that will book Thomson so we seem to be stuck. :(

Thanks for all the answers so far, very helpful.

What is the laundry situation? Do they sell laundry packages?

We went to St Petersburg last year and used SPB tours. I would really recommend them. They also use mini buses and no packed lunches but sit down in a restaurant.

We are considering a Thomson cruise in the autumn because the itinerary looks so interesting. We cruise for the ports rather than facilities so the fact that Thomson's ships are older won't be a big problem for us I feel. I would prefer a balcony but they seem to be short supply on their ships. Which ships have them and which don't?

Also the drinks packages seem very expensive. We are not big drinkers so what sort of prices do the ships sell drinks individually for onboard? Anyone have a drink menu? My son drinks a lot of fruit juices are they available? Is it possible to bring soft drinks onboard?

Also would like to know more about the food onboard. Is it mostly British style? We are British (but long time expat) so British is fine with us. Are there vegetarian options? Is there also a self service food area? Does it have long opening hours?

Questions, questions? I'll probably think of more but that will do for now.

We have sailed before on RCI & Holland America.

We lucked out today but a win is a win = 3 points! :) Respect to the Aussies! Looks like Spain is going to be out of it, losing to Chile. What a disaster for the Spanish!

Yep, the Aussies played well but luckily didn't quite have enough to win.

Amsterdam is buzzing :D

The game against Chile is not going to be easy either they looked very good.

You can be guaranteed that Holland's epic 5-1 win versus World and European football/soccer Champions Spain was followed/watched below decks in the crew bars of all fifteen HAL ships yesterday (satellite reception permitting) :) Due to the versatility of crew representing numerous nations around the world, crew will usually dress up in their nations national colors with lots of cheering going on

 

Even though a great win yesterday, Team "Oranje" (orange) still has a long way to go to reach that illusive final game and, if they make it, their record hs not been good, having been bridesmaids in 1974 - West Germany, 1978Argentina and four years ago in South Africa, so we shall see! If they make it, Yes, there will be special events on all ship for soccer fans; The Aussies are next on Wednesday ;)

That sounds like fun! Hup Holland Hup!

We cannot buy cancel any reason insurance in Australia. Don't know where you are from though.

It is available via the HAL website. I was able to purchase it from Europe.

After final payment we needed to change cruises as the original dates became difficult and as we had the insurance it was no problem to rebook another cruise.

I wonder if HAL has considered implementing a policy whereby anyone who books a room that has a balcony must declare if they would like to smoke on their balcony. It may mean that as HAL assigns rooms, they could attempt to put the smokers in the same general area. If a non-smoker has a specific room request it would be HAL's responsibility to notify that non-smoking traveler that the room they have requested will be in the middle of a group of cabins that have smokers around them. That cruiser would then have the option(s) of staying with that room, moving to a non-smoking area or cancel the trip with no penalty. I get that this is not a perfect solution but I think it might be a better approach than what is in place.

 

Cruising is and should be a pleasure trip. There is enough angst before the cruise - will my flight be late?, What is the weather going to be like? etc. The reality is that there will always be a conflict between smokers and non-smokers but each group has the right to enjoy their cruise.

 

Just some thoughts...

This sounds like the most sensible option.

As a smoker I always book a balcony cabin and would prefer only to have other smokers around me. I do not want a sensitive non smoker in the cabin next door. I want to enjoy a cigarette without upsetting those around me and I want the non smokers to enjoy their balconies as well.

On my last cruise I booked a balcony guarantie and found myself on the highest deck with smokers either side and no one above me. This was perfect and I am sure that HAL had arranged it that way (they know who has asked for an ashtray in the past). Have the smokers together and as far away from the non smokers as possible. Since smoke rises up rather than down I think the higher deck option would work best.

Someone would have to pay me a large amount of money to induce me to eat escargot. :eek:

Deepest sympathy for your loss.

Just got off the Eurodam in Amsterdam today to make room for you.;)

We are already home and this will be a great way to imagine we are still onboard.

This is a trip we would also like to take one day.

You have to walk to Østerport station to get the 24 hour city pass.

 

https://maps.google.dk/maps?saddr=Langelinie+All%C3%A9,+K%C3%B8benhavn&daddr=%C3%98sterport+st,+K%C3%B8benhavn&hl=da&ie=UTF8&ll=55.696128,12.594774&spn=0.007365,0.01929&sll=55.695168,12.593279&sspn=0.007365,0.01929&geocode=FWblUQMd6ULAAClpJbYJ3VJSRjE_T-yaL8rkaw%3BFdPQUQMdVxjAACndd6q64VJSRjFTBZ7usitaWw&oq=%C3%B8sterport&t=h&dirflg=w&mra=ltm&z=16

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From Strøget you take bus 26 back the pier at the Indiakaj bus stop (also the destination of the bus) from Kongens Nytorv.

 

http://www.moviatrafik.dk/dinrejse/koreplaner/Buslinje/afgangstider/Pages/AfgangsTider.aspx?line_direction_gid=9014200002610000&stop_gid=9025200000001357

 

 

Mondays to Friday you have to take the B departures.

Thanks for your reply.

We will be in Copenhagen on a Sunday, will there be any shops open on a Sunday on Strøget? Also does this mean that the bus will run less often and is it still bus 26?

Hi

We dock at Langelinie and was wondering if there is anywhere near by to get DKK? Is it possible to use euros anywhere in Copenhagen?

Also is there anywhere near the dock to get a public transport day ticket.

We will try to walk as much as possible but if we get too tired may need to use a bus to get back to port.

My plan is to walk past the Little Mermaid to Amalienbourg then Nyhavn for a canal boat and then to Stroget, do think this is possible to do, we have from 8.00 to 5.00? Also what bus/metro to get from Stroget back to Langelinie?

Lots of questions, sorry:o

Of course I can't provide proof, but I cas assure you that all bags are not x-rayed at every port. End of subject. Believe what you want to believe.

 

On RCI they have x-ray scanners to scan all handbaggage when boarding the ship and also after a port day.

My traveling companion had a very small bottle of ouzo in her bag which was picked up and confiscated until disembarkation day.

I am sure the scanners will soon appear on HAL too.