jarand

I was notified this by my online Travel Agency:

Starting on December 1, 2015 the standard service charge is increasing from $11.50 to $12.50 per person, per day for Inside, Ocean-view, and Verandah categories. Suite category service charges will be increased from $12.00 to $13.50 per person, per day. Any guest that sails on or before November 30, 2015 will have the option of paying their service charges at the current rate onboard. Please note that Holland America's call center does not have the option to pre-pay service charges before embarkation.

Thanks everyone. I've fed-exed our paperwork and passports off to a company called ABriggs. Crossing fingers all goes well.

Yes they certainly do vary. We are in Colorado, so we're assigned to Houston. Either we must hire an agency or we must go to Houston IN PERSON to get the Visa! I've spent a good part of today getting all of the required documentation together, then off it will go to a 3rd party agency. What a pain... Hope it's worth it!

Thanks for the replies.

I have just learned that we will need to get a Brazilian Visa for our 2 day visit to Rio after the cruise. Does anyone have any suggestions for this process? Is there a company you've used that you'd recommend? (We live in Colorado--under the jurisdiction of the Houston location.)

Thanks.

Forgive me if this is a silly question, but having never been on Celebrity I need to ask: If you have no beverage package, do you still get complimentary coffee, tea, and lemonade? Thanks.

Where are the smoking areas? Are there certain cabins or areas to specifically avoid if you don't want smoke wafting on your balcony? Thanks

Thank you. It's all very confusing but this does help me to start sorting it out!

Has anyone cruised on the Zaandam in South America and can tell me what currency the casino uses for small payouts? For example, if you put money into the slots, play a bit, then cash out, will you get USD? Or ?

Thanks.

Thank you. I see that now on the shareholder's agreement, and I appreciate you pointing it out. We have been able to use some OBC in the casinos on Princess and Carnival, but it can be confusing to figure out exactly what can and what cannot be used (and of course, ultimately cashed out).

We have significant amount of OBC on our next cruise. I just want to make sure my understanding on this is correct:

This OBC CAN be used in the casino:

OBC from TA's

OBC from Shareholder's benefit

OBC from Future Cruise Certificates

But OBC from HAL as part of the booking promo cannot.

Correct?

Thanks!

Has anyone had any experience with the tour buses from Cusco to Puno? There are several different companies and we're trying to decide. Thanks.

Thanks. That's what I was hoping to hear!

Thanks!

Can anyone tell me what the policy is for bringing cans of soda onboard? Thanks.

Has anyone booked and completed the cruise with the anniversary sale? I understand that it says "shore excursion credit" but I'm hearing mixed messages as to what actually happens when you get onboard. Does it just get mixed in with all OBC, or is it somehow separated?

Also, there's no way to use this credit to reserve excursions ahead of time, correct?

Thanks.

I just wrote them a few days ago asking about English tour details. Here's what they replied:

Visitas Guiadas (visitasguiadas@teatrocolon.org.ar)

We don't take any reservations. Tickets can be bought at the Theatre’s ticket office. There are guided tours in Spanish every 15 minutes, from 9 am to 5 pm, every day of the week, including weekends and holidays. Each tour is around 50 minutes long.

Tours in English: every hour on the hour from 10 am to 4 pm.

Tours in Portuguese: variable timetable.

During school year, visits from 9 to 9.30 am, 11.15 to 11.30 am, and 3.15 to 3.30 pm are reserved for educational institutions (except on weekends).

Our summer timetable is from 9 am to 7 pm (from January the 2nd to February the 17th). Tours in Spanish: every 15 minutes. Tours in English: every hour on the hour from 10 am to 6 pm.

Each tour takes a maximum of 34 people.

Prices: 60 ARS for Argentinian residents and 180 ARS for foreigners. Children under 7 years old go in for free but must hold a ticket. Argentinian retired people, pensioners and university students have a 50% discount on Mondays.

Tour: Foyer, Gallery of Busts, Golden Hall, Great Hall and boxes. This can vary during specific events, shows, rehearsals, maintenance or other activities which are part of the Colon Theatre's schedule. This doesn't imply any kind of refund or return.

Tickets can be bought at the ticket box of the Colón Theatre (Tucumán 1171). We take debit card, credit card or cash.

Tours will be cancelled between 10 am and 1 pm on Sundays. Days in which evening shows take place, the last tour is at 3 pm.

We purchased a cruise under a HAL promo that included a lot of excursion OBC credit. How do I access that credit to book an excursion? Years ago I know HAL didn't allow you to pre-book excursions using OBC, but I thought they had worked that out?

Also, how do I even find our receipt or balance sheet on the HAL website?

Thanks.

I guess by now you've heard that your wish list may not be practical in one short trip. :) I'm in the middle of researching a trip with similar stops, but we will have about 5 weeks.

If you'd like some tips on where to peruse for cruises, drop me an email at judyran at hotmail dot com. I'm not a TA, just a person who enjoys looking for deals, planning trips, and of course seeing the world!

We will be ending one cruise in Fort Lauderdale and starting another in Port Canaveral, then possibly returning back to Fort Lauderdale later. Is there a good mass transit option, or would we be better off just renting a car? Any recommendations for a car rental location in Port Canaveral? Thanks.

Does anyone have a link where it states the OBC associated with HAL Future Cruise Certificates? I'm looking specifically for the OBC on a 14 night. Thanks.

I've been watching OV prices on two different cruises. On one of them, they simply raised the interior price to match what the OV had been all along. But on the other, they dropped the OV down to near interior price. We booked that one today.

Thank you!

My parents are finalizing a cruise this afternoon. He has had some serious health issues, but has the go-ahead from his doctor. They are most concerned about emergency medical travel insurance, which is really hard to find for people over 75. They are looking at Princess travel insurance. I know it's just for the cruise, but I think they may book EZ air and hotel and transfer--everything through Princess. A few questions:

Does it cover pre-existing conditions?

Does it cover emergency medical care?

The price is based on the cruise itself, correct? (No extra $ for air, hotel...)

If they book everything through Princess, will the time period of their one night pre-cruise be covered?

If they have to cancel or cut the cruise short, will it cover things like change of flights and emergency evacuation?

All refunds are in the form of future cruise credits, correct?

I'm still looking for a link to the details on Princess insurance. If anyone has it I'd appreciate it! Thank you so much for your help!

Thank you so much for posting. We are in the early planning stages, and this was so helpful!

If you've not been to Sydney before, I'd definitely choose the harbor cruise over Bondi. The harbor cruise is lovely and shows off the famous icons of Sydney. If you have any extra time, you'll be right there at the Circular Quay with plenty of great sites and restaurants. On the other hand, Bondi is simply a popular beach with a nice walking trail.