IPB4IGO

No, you cannot get Wi-Fi by the day. You can sign up for it any time during the cruise, but you are charged for the remaining days of the cruise. Also, pay attention to what is available in the three different Internet plans We really enjoy the specialty restaurants; we usually use them about twice a week. The most desireable times book up early on full cruises, but you can make reservations even before the cruise starts.

Yes, when you purchase cocktails, wine, coffee drinks, soda, beer, etc. an 18% gratuity is added. The $1,200 per person price comes out to $48/day on your 25-day cruise. Once you take into account the shore excursion credit, free Wi-Fi, and free specialy dinners, it comes to much less than that for just the drinks portion. Since drinks and wine are $9-11 plus 18%, it doesn't take many to make the Have It All package attractive.

I had the same experience. When our cruise ended on October 24 we had several hundred dollars of unused OBC that we had purchased with gift cards. A few days later I found that amount posted to our credit card on October 24. It was a pleasant surprise, especially since we had purchased the cards at a 10% discount through AARP.

I tested that last week on the Koningsdam. Accessing the Internet was just as slow on the computers in the Explorations Cafe as it was on our wireless devies.

To clarify, the Navigator app DOES require Wi-Fi (unless you are using the ship's computers in the Explorations Cafe). It doesn't require Internet service for many of its functions.

There is no difference in speed between the three levels of Internet sold by HAL, only differences in sites and capabilities you can access. Regarding location, on our last cruise, because the Internet service was so bad, I walked around the ship with a Wi-Fi sniffer app. I found only minor differences in signal strength. The problem was not getting a good Wi-Fi signal on our devices. The problem was the capacity of the ship's satellite Internet service, shared with 2,400 of our closest friends. It was mostly unusable. Once connected to the Internet, ping times were 950-1150 ms. With latency like that, web pages would seldom load.

I haven't seen an Internet Center on a HAL ship in years. There are a few public computers with access to the Navigator app, through which you can access the Internet if you have purchased an Internet plan, but it is exactly the same service as you get in your cabin. In my experience, shipboard Internet access varies from acceptable to abysmal. Our last cruise was a 16-day Hawaii round trip from Vancouver on the Koningsdam, and 80% of the time it was so slow that web pages would not open. Ping times averages 950-1150 ms. (Here at home they are around 17-18 ms.) One day it was down completely for the entire day. My Internet-quality speculation is that the virtually full ship (2,400 passengers) with lots of sea days overwhelmed the meager satellite Internet service the ship uses, but that's just a guess.

I wouldn't fret too much about reaching 4-star Mariner status. The differences in benefits between 3-star and 4-star are trivial compared to the hundreds of dollars a day you are paying for the cruise. Free laundry at $7/day? Yippee! A 50% discount rather than a 25% discount on specialty meals that you use only a couple times a week? Priority boarding that never seems to materialize? You are wise to continue looking for cost savings in the fares. Mariner perks pale in comparison.

We were on the Koningsdam this month, and it was packed. Long lines and crowds. The Internet service, which I have happily used on six prior HAL cruises, was almost unusable when it wasn't down completely. We will be sticking to smaller HAL ships in the future. Even when they were full they weren't as crowded.

On a related note, it cost us $160 to upgrade from one device to four devices for our current 16-day cruise.

We are currently on a 16-day cruise. It cost us $70 to upgrade from the included Surf package to the Premium package.

At the terminal you go through a bunch of lines. One of them is the line for checking your vaccination card. At the beginning of that line there was a sign that directed us to a "Priority" exit that bypassed it if we had completed VeriFly.

The recent problem we had was a result of a change in testing requirements. When I first entered our cruise, a test was required. After that requirement was dropped, VeriFly said "Action Required" but it had the testing requirement flagged as "complete". There was no action that I could take to clear the "Action Required" flag. It was not necessary to uninstall the app to solve the problem. On the advice of another CC member, I simply added a "new trip", using the same booking number. All the information I had previously entered was carried over to the "new" trip. I simply had to upload our vaccination card images again, and it was done. VeriFly saved us from needing to stand in the long line for vaccination verification at the pier. We were directed around it to the "Priority" line.

Thanks for posting that. It hadn't occurred to me to add a duplicate trip to Verifly. Now my checklist is complete.

There is no need to request open seating. Just show up at the MDR any time between 5:30 and 9:00 (8:00, according to some) and request a table for two or for more. We have done that on every cruise. If you are currently set up for fixed dining, just cancel it at your first meal in the MDR. If you find waitstaff that you really like, you can request a table in their area.

When we used that lot in May 13 to June 5 the charge was about $134, approximately a third what it would have cost to stay at Canada Place. When we entered the lot I was fooling with the QR code on my phone until I realized that their reader had already recognized our license plate. They make it easy.

I just reviewed the document for my reservation in the long term lot and it says that the shuttle only runs in the wee hours of the morning, when the skytrain is not running. I guess we'll be shlepping our bags on and off the train.

Thanks. I just reviewed the document for my reservation in the long term lot and, sure enough, it says that the shuttle only runs in the wee hours of the morning, when the skytrain is not running. I guess we'll be shlepping our bags on and off the train.

We will be driving up the day before our Oct. 8 cruise out of Canada Place, parking in the long term parking lot at the airport. We will have several bags, more than I want to deal with on the Skytrain. Is there a shuttle that will take us from that lot to a taxi stand? Thanks.

We did that last time. We are staying at the Pan Pacific, as we did then. The drive from the hotel back to the airport was not a lot of fun. The Skytrain from the airport back to Canada Place was OK. Dropping the car at the airport before going to the hotel will avoid doubling back through traffic. Thanks for the suggestion, though.

We will be driving up the day before our Oct. 8 cruise out of Canada Place, parking in the long term parking lot at the airport. We will have several bags, more than I want to deal with on the Skytrain. Is there a shuttle that will take us from that lot to a taxi stand? Thanks.

Another point to consider is that the "bonus" cards from HAL expire 12/31/23.

If you are talking about upsells, rather than upgrades, you are probably better off not getting a TA. Upsells can sell out quickly, and if you are dealing directly with HAL you get the email offers directly from them and call them directly to review what cabins are available. I have purchased an upsell through a TA but the process was not as streamlined as dealing directly with HAL.

Yes, there is free Wi-Fi for use while aboard. The Navigator app uses it for purposes such as those you listed. It also gets you to New York Times and other news summaries and is used for the very lame Navigator "Chat" feature for communicating with other passengers.

Only the Premium plan can be purchased before the cruise; purchase the others while aboard. "Have it all" includes the middle plan.