majmaj4

The answer seems to vary by port and ship.  You might try posting on a recent roll call for the same itinerary and ask them.

I am looking for advice on what time I could safely book a flight from Singapore to Thailand after my RC Spectrum of the Seas cruise.

It says the disembarkation time is 7am.  Would 11am be cutting it too close?

Thank you for the answers!

I am experienced cruiser but no recent Holland America Experience.  And have some questions on the Have It All (HIA) Package. Currently the cruise does not show shore excursions from some ports but I don't want to miss out using my Have It All credit for interesting shore excursions, so I am trying to determine if I should go ahead and book something now using the credit and how flexible they are to change later.  I have $200 in shore excursion credit.

1) the fine print on HIA it says up to $100 per excursion, but when I started to do a mock booking for a shore excursion it looks like my $200 credit would cover all of the a $150 shore excursion leaving me $50 remaining credit.    Is the $200 flexible to cover a combination of shore excursions up the the $200 or is it really just $100 on 2 excursions?  

2)  If I book excursions less than $100 each could I spread the $200 over 3 different excursions.

3)  My cruise doesn't have all the excursions (hopefully)  posted.  So if I book now and use the credit, but later new excursions are posted.  Can I  cancel and reallocated the credit to some of the new excursions.

Meals.  I get two specialty meals, when I called they said I could use both in Pinnacle, but when I tried to book on line, it would only let me do one in Pinnacle and one in Cannaleto.  I think I saw this in the fine print, but wanted to confirm they both can't be Pinnacle.

TIA

When I took the free shuttle the stop was Near the corner of haifagade and istanbulgade but a little closer to the water.  Where it looks like the metro is going to be extended.

Hallasm, Thank you

On NCL my bag was put in holding because of wine.  I got it out of jail with the corkage fee, which I had intended to pay anyway.  I am pretty sure they have found liquids in my carry on previously so I would be up front and pay the required corkage.  

@Happycrafter123thank you for those detailed writeups!

34 minutes ago, Stuart Suss said:

Here is how I see it.

 

You lose money at the start of your journey whenever you exchange you home country's currency for the local currency in cash.  You lose money at the end of your journey whenever you exchange the local currency back to your home country's currency.

 

In an ideal world, you would never exchange any currency and you would pay for everything with your credit card. Your credit card issuer provides a better foreign exchange rate than a currency exchange store and at least as good an exchange rate as an ATM.  Your advantage increases if your credit card does not charge a foreign currency conversion fee (which ranges between 1% and 3%).  Your advantage additionally increases if your credit card provides a cash back rebate on purchases. 

 

My Capital One Quicksilver card does not charge a foreign currency conversion fee and provides a 1.5% rebate on purchases.  If you are using a credit card with a 3% foreign currency conversion fee, you are out of pocket $1030 for every $1000 in purchases. With my Quicksilver card, after the 1.5% rebate, I am out of pocket $985 for every $1000 in purchases.

 

As the Scandinavian countries, and the rest of Europe, become cash free, we are approaching that ideal world where you only need a credit card, not any local currency.  Using your credit card is great.  Who cares if you need to sign the receipt, that is how it would work back in the U.S.A.  Using a contactless credit card frequently bypasses the need for a PIN or a signature.  And using Google Pay or Apple Pay may be even better.

 

To the best of my knowledge,

1. Transactions above a certain amount (which amount varies from country to country) may still require a signature.  Solution: Sign the receipt.

2. In some locations, a request for a PIN may appear if you make five consecutive contactless credit card transactions. Solution #1: Try Google Pay or Apple Pay.  Solution #2:  Restart the transaction, this time using the chip or magnetic stripe on the credit card.  Sign the receipt.

3. If you are driving at night on the highways in France, some tollbooths or unattended gasoline stations, with older equipment, may require a credit card with a PIN.  As I understand it, this is becoming less common.  Solution #1.  Try Google Pay or Apple Pay.  Solution #2.  Use your home DEBIT card which has a PIN.

 

 

I agree credit cards are the preferred method especially since I am on trip with at least 6 different currencies, so want to have minimal hard cash.  The reason signature is a problem for me:

-  I cant buy tickets from the machine and need to wait in long ticket lines.   

-  If I board a bus and try to pay contactless and it doesn't work ,I can be fined for not having paid a valid fare.    That means some places I may need to walk a long way or pay a high taxi fare if I cant get it figured out reliably.

-  I feel sorry for the clerks at some of the very busy grocery stores that my transactions take the extra steps. 

I am trying Apple pay now to see if that is more reliable.  My debit card is not contactless so that wont work for some of the future cities bus concerns, but that might save the long lines at some train stations.

7 hours ago, dccruisin said:

I will throw my 2 cents in on the currency discussion.

We have been traveling in Europe for 6  weeks. We have been to been to England, Norway, Spain, Morocco and France.  We have been to 23+ cities (large and small) and our US chipped Visa cards have been accepted for 1 Euro bathroom charges and many times for small snack purchases to purchases much larger than 100Euro.  Never have we been asked for a pin.   Very few places including small vendor stalls, public transporttion and taxis do not accept credit cards.  

In fact in someplaces if you paid the bus fare by credit card it was cheaper than using cash. 

Handling cash has its own expenses for vendors that people don't think about.

I found that the Marriot Visa Bonvoy card seems to give a better exchange rate than our Capital One card. 

I have notifications turned on so that anytime I purchase something I receive an email instantly with the amount charged in $$.  So I can see instantly what we are actually charged even before getting up from the resteraunt table. 

Linda

We have used some cash for tips and such.  I found it interesting in several ports where the locals ran the shuttle bus to the city you did need to use cash.  

I am not having the same luck in Switzerland with my Chase visa.  I get asked for signatures most places, and the pin I requested from the credit card company evidently only is used for cash advances.  I reached out to the credit card company and they said if use contactless vs chip it won’t ask for signatures but the only significant purchase (>$50) the machine would not accept my contactless payment and requested I use the chip and signature.  I am going to see if using Apple Pay makes any difference.

I purchase 3 cruises for July in early May, and the prices of all 3 have gone up.

Thank you for posting! Any impact to the trains to Malmo and back?

I am flying on SAS 07/22/2022, any ideas on how worried I should be.  Should I start checking out contingencies?

I used a NCL drink list someone posted to try lots of drinks that I don't usually try...

A few I liked, Sidecar,  French 75, Negroni,  Aviation Martini.

On 6/9/2022 at 1:33 PM, CeleryCruiser said:

Welcome to Kotka! Just to inform that the big ships are docked to the Mussalo Harbour abt. 7 km away from the city center. The transport is arranged by coach from the ship to the center- naturally depending of the cruise company.  Only smaller ships like Saga Tours and Silversea & Regent Seven Seas are docked walking distance from the city center (named Kantasatama).  In our small but well -kept town you can spend nice time just walking around our parks. Please look at the tubed  https://youtu.be/aWTqCj09NZg. Don't hesitate to stop and ask people about directions when you're here. People are pretty talkative here in eastern areas of Finland.

 

Thank you CeleryCruiser.  Do you know if there is a schedule posted somewhere.  I am on the NCL Dawn in July, and trying to figure out where we will dock.  If it is Mussalo Harbour, do you know if there is public transportation to get to the city center.

Can you use Uber to and/or from the port?

You may also need to check the NCL website for any country specific information.  I believe some countries have additional requirements still

7 hours ago, Happycrafter123 said:

Tallin- the best of medieval Tallin tour through NCL

 

good tour.  We left at 845 and returned at 2:45

 

they drove us close to the top of the old upper village then Walked down to the lower village.  Walking tour was interesting with history of the different regimes the country has endured.

 

it was interesting to hear about the city’s past as a member of the merchant hanseatic league and the role of the merchant groups and traditional  power during prior times despite political ownership of the country 

 

we went into the Russian Orthodox Church, as well as another more simple Estonian church.  Enjoyed a 20 minute concert of medieval music featuring a lute, fiddle and hurdy gurdy.  Lunch was included in the square and about 45 minutes for self exploration.  At the end of the day we took a drive to look at residential areas and the song grounds, and learned about the economy and lifestyles. 
 

i would also recommend this tour.

Thank you, did they give you the option to spend more time and get back to the ship on your own.

6 hours ago, insidecabin said:

Tallin we walk to the 

 

https://en.astri.ee/bjt/

 

Then head into the old town

Did you find Balti Jaama Turg interesting?

Thank you for this update.  I am considering going to  Schwerin from the NCL Dawn in a few weeks.

I misplaced mine earlier this year.  I couldn't get through my doctor, or the hospital that did the vaccine.  Luckily I found the card.  For NCL they said if you could get a digital through a government source that was sufficient...

firewife09  how do you get an electronic version from CDC?

Here is the website:  https://www.62.no/en/articles/adventures/wildlife-sea-safari/

On 5/27/2022 at 4:59 AM, hallasm said:

Now it is possible to take the harbor buses from Orientkaj to Nyhavn or Refshaleøen or the Opera.
 The harbor bus sails in the period 07: 00-22: 00 and departs every half hour.  The last two departures sail with hourly operation.

 You can travel with the harbor buses on same ticket or card as metro and buses (including City Pass or (Copenhagen Card) which is valid in zone 1.

A single ticket for 2 zones for an adult costs 24 kroner.  Tickets can be purchased in the Ticket App or ticket vending machines at Orientkaj station.

Thank you that is great info!  Would reasonable size bags be okay (bigger than carry on but not huge).

what time are the shows usually on Royal, I am starting to make dinner reservations and then I realized I may want to adjust for the shows.

Same blank screen for me on the RCL page... I used expedia to do the check.  No price drops on my cruises.