mcrcruiser

looks great

Oh Really just because we are not technological in jow to ,we should not be cruising . Well how would you like to hear that id if were to refer to you ?

can we use The AARP gift cards to prepay gratuities & are they refundable if you can not take the cruise TIA

This is for our friends who reside outside the USA As a ivestor in precious metals ,we are seeing a weakening dollar ahead . When the Federal Reserve stops raising the interest rates ,we see more weakness coming in the dollar . This is good news for those paying their cruises in other currencies you can use the web site XR.com for your currency conversions

If we understand you correctly ,the entire compensation other than what the cruise line supplies is a separate compensation tip poo; for all the bartenders ,then a separate pool for all the staff in the special restaurants & the $32 per day goes to every other service personnel in front of the customer & behind the scenes like the cooks .Seems reasonable to us

We feel the same .It is not that we can't splurge on a cruise to go to one or 2 of the special restaurants but ,more so than ever before we now consider that we not only give up the standard meal choices which we already paid for & then go & pay a much higher price for a special restaurant meal .just doesn't make much sense Since all the cruise prices have increased ,we can hope that the MDR & Club Orange food selections & quality is creative & good tasting

Jacqui prices have kept going up on food in general ;which has made it even harder for many families same for the cruise lines even as they buy in such large bulk .Maine Lobster & caviar are so expensive & not good for those with high Cholesterol problems .We stay away from them

Thanks for the update

Ah do there is a away around the high tech stuff of take a picture & send it lol

Crystal ,so even of you can prove that the money on your chase Sapphire credit card was used to but the gift cards to save $50 each & apply it to a cruise you would not be reimbursed if had to cancel for medical or death or on the trip you were ill & had to leave .Seems to me that that would be rather a harsh punishment .nit saying you did not get info on this however it apparently has never been challenged in a court . Here in Calif a person can bring a case before a magistrate under $10,000 & no attorneys can be present on either side , Additionally ,how would a person know this ? Id that in the rules for the Chase sapphire credit card ;which we have not seen in print ,.It just seems pretty harsh PS perhaps our TA will be able to get HAL to accept my AARP number .so I gave it to my TA to get one $200 on board credit ro apply to a new cruise just booked doe 18 days in 2025 .will see .Personally ,if HAL makes it too hard for people then that marketing idea will flop . for me it is not worth going crazy got $200 if it takes too much time to learn a new trick .We asked the TA ti deal with it , I haven't heard back yet

We filled out all the information for the AARP card on Holland America's web site then they say send a picture . Surely they don't explain how that is done . Do they really think we old timers know all this tech stuff ? Do we wait for our adult grand children to come & help us ? We do not sail Princess any longer because of what you need to know to dull out on line a bording pass electronically . I am sure that they have lost business do to the difficulties some of us have with that new system

That could be a problem is a court of law,, especially in Calif in a small claims court

What is the proper process to take a picture of the AARP card to send to them as proof that you own it .Thanks in advance

I remember your negative about using AARP gift cards not covered by insurance . We use a paper trail to show that we bought the gift cards from AARP & applied them to the booking using the Chase Sapphire Credit card .That is all that needs to be done to insure that money with the Chase Sapphire credit card . so there is no problem with reimbursement on the trip cancellation & trip interruption of the ins part of the Chase Sapphire credit card

How do you take a picture of your AARP card to send them ?

Mary we have 3 booking booked ,all of them 14 days & over & all in a balcony .If we were booking now we get $200 PBC each booking ;bit because we are already booked they will not give us the $600 in AARP OBCs .HAL should really understand that this is a negative to those booked people .We san understand why they are promoting AARP to that demographic .

That is a sad review .We also hope that this is not carried over time on Eurodam or any ship of the HAL fleet . Un the cases that the OP stated I believe should be addressed to the Hotel Director personally ,so that HAL has a chance to clean up those matters

Jim enjoy it all ,those are very nice cruises .We have sailed on Anthem 2017 New England Canada ,from their Bayonne NJ port.A very nice ship but huge Cliff

what a neat cruise that was for you .Unfortunately ,Bora Bora is restricting any cruise ship must be under 1200 pax now to some in. to bora Bora .This is the only island so far doing this rextriction

Wow how old were you in 1938 Jim ? That is the year I was born . Cliff

Wow what a experience

The Chase Sapphire credit card has a $95 yearly fee .We took out the card for Hawaii cruise & placed a $4000 down on the cruise initially ,That $4000 satisfied Chase requirement in 90s=days ,Because we did that we got 80,000 bonus points ,That 80,000 bonus points converted to $600 in our pockets .What is wrong with that ? Come on people it makes perfect sense to get the best cash deals & simultaneously get free trip insurance for trip cancellation ,trip interruption & baggage coverages . Then get a Allianz yearly travel ins policy like I said above .But ,if people want to spend big insurance fees for short trips &then no more value ,well we all make our own decisions

Credit card fees are nothing if you are saving hundreds to thousands on the cost of travel insurance policies . We once bought separate policies for each cruise from web sites like Insuremytrip.com & squaremouth.com ;but ,especially when you become 70 years old & over the insurance premiums are quire high . The Chase Sapphire credit card will cover the vast majority of cruise prices & ;land trips for the trip cancellation & trip interruption portion as well as baggage insurance .Then we went to Allianz travel Insurance to get a yearly plan pf insurance for all travel trips that covers medical m medical evacuation ,car rentals & some other coverages . What is very very important id yo understand clearly that the medical evacuation will only get you to a medical facility that is equipped to handle your case .Lets say that you are thousands of miles from home * in a foreign hospital near a major airport & you want to come home the med vac will NOT get you home .You must own a policy like Med Jet Assist which will take you by ambulance to a special medical jet with a doctor nurse ,pilot & co pilot. patient & one companion or spouse ,.With out that type of insurance ,the cost to get home from a bed in a foreign hospital is in the 6 figure range .. If you cannot board a common carrier jet on your own you can not get home with out that insurance or paying over $100.000.00 Also be very aware that foreign hospitals will NOT accept insurance ,so have a credit card with ah high line of credit with you at all times or more than one credit card with high limits. In 2008 I was hospitalised in Rome Italy to get into the Rome American hospital they said $15000 & there was no surgery , Just one day intensive care & 2 days follow up in a semi private room . fortunately ,it was very high blood pressure that they got back to a normal range & we could dly back on a common carrier get after the 3 days in that hospital & I was 69 teas old at that time I was also in a public Rome hospital before the private hospital .Believe me you would not want want I went through at that place & litterally beds were in public areas with patients .Definitely not a good thing .Another thing to be aware of in foreign lands there are no guarantees they speak fluent english Good Lick yo us all

We will be getting that HAL credit card place only orders for AARP discounted Holland America gift cards & saver more like another 12% .Initially the $200 gift after spending $500 in 80 days we use as on board credit to offset the gratuities .We also buy for only a very short time the 100 CC:L stock shares to get the other $250 on board credit on our 14 say & longer cruises ,under that to 7 days is only $100 OBC