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@BetsyS. I remember that!

We always book cruise only and have never added HIA. HIA works for many people but nothing is free .You have to do the math and see what works for you. the math has never worked out in our favor but HIA is a convenience and you are buying convenience.

Oh my gosh, I would never step foot on that monster of a ship. I remember our very first cruise on RCCL's tiny little Song of America...700 passengers. Great photo!

@doublebzz This doesn't sound right. Our upcoming cruise was booked on a "Mariners Society" rate as well and my shareholder OBC has been applied. I would try again.

I love the laundry service . They do a great job...except when they put the little room tags on a vulnerable seam or part of the fabric and it doesn't want to come off. When deciding on by the bag or unlimited (we are very close to free) I look at how many days we are in port pre-cruise. if several days pre cruise I will be ready for laundry almost right away when on board, which generally equates to unlimited package.. Otherwise I do the math and we never bring bulky clothes like jeans or heavy sweaters, etc... light layers in most cases, depending on the itinerary.

Yes..and we have used it before in FLL. I wonder if the day of the week was a factor. We disembarked on a Wednesday. I love this service. It is so convenient and works like a charm.

Ohh, interesting. We were flying SWA. Guest services said that luggage direct was not available for that sailing. There were a lot of disappointed people.

Luggage Direct was not an option on the Oosterdam TA in November. I believe that it is available only on the "regulars" as far as ships coming in and out of FLL...ie Panama Canal, Caribbean sailings, etc.

Thank you for sharing. Glad to hear it!

We have been tempted to try the seafood boil offer but we are native New Englanders and live on the coast of Maine in the summer. I love HAL and generally speaking have no complaints about the food...especially when Executive Chef Willem is in charge....but the seafood offerings cannot compare to what we can get fresh off the boat , so we skip the boil...yes, seafood snob 😬

When I applied for my teacher OBC I took a screenshot of my state retirement pension plan account page, showing only my name and retirement status. Because it was a screenshot, the top of the photo had the web address of the state retirement membership association. I was approved in 20 minutes.

If both accounts are logged on, the navigator will have both boarding passes ( a few days before boarding) as well as any paid shore excursion tickets on each of your phones (after boarding)

@S&BYes, our Oosterdam sailing in Oct 23 we had AARP OBC , Education OBC and CCL Shareholder OBC. As far as educator documentation , if you are retired with a pension, you can submit verification from your retirement system. They accepted a link to the plan administration for me.

In our experience, the second cruise of a side by side cruise has shown up on the Navigator app about 24 hours after disembarkation from the first. As was suggested above, you will have to access the second booking on the website if you need to. When it came to needing the boarding pass of cruise #2, we just showed the booking # it to the first embarkation monitor and they will print you out a boarding pass. This process was for boarding a different HAL ship. If you are on the SAME ship for cruise #2, and using a TA, have your TA link the 2 bookings together and both bookings will flow without interruption on the Nav App.

We were in 5096 midship on the K-dam, which is also the larger angled balcony. I loved this balcony because you could use it all the time...plenty of shade if you want it...which I did because I need sun protection.

Thanks, yes, we are aware of that .

We will be in Honolulu in April. We plan to find our own way to Diamond Head to hike to the summit. What is the best way to get from Pier 10 to the Diamond Head visitor center? Thank you

@GeezerCouple we generally do book our own but HALs rates were better this time. We are scheduled to arrive in Auckland 2 full days prior to cruise departure, so we have a little bit of a buffer, thankfully. it is our first time in this part of the world and we are very excited. Bucket list! @NHDOC , thanks, yes, we will definitely be monitoring this situation. @Mary229 no, the flight has not been cancelled yet. thanks, all!

We booked air to NZ for an upcoming cruise via flight ease. Final payment has come and gone. We are booked on a United flight to LAX from the east coast on one of the Boeing Max that has been grounded by the FAA. Our flight is not til March. I read on another social media site of some people having issues with United assisting passengers with other flights. Has anyone had any recent issues with Flight Ease assisting passengers with these cancelled flights that are specific to the Boeing Max issue?

We received this as well. There was a question at the end asking about seaports you would want to have included (or visit) and they included Singapore and Tokyo.

Generally speaking, does anyone know if the 20% off premium package continues to be offered til just before the voyage ?

We just recently booked flights to Auckland with Flightease. There was no place on the flightease site to put in our United club numbers. After purchasing and paying for the tickets, I went to United and logged in under my account and have been able to manage my flight with no issues...now if they get rid of those blasted 737 Max (domestic end) I will be delighted.

Same. Our drinking habits on the ship are exactly the same at home. We are not on vacation..we just change location. But to each his own.

That must be very recent as mine from November 2023 do not have an expiration date.

We were in 1010 (forward OV) on the Noordam last summer for 2 weeks. this was close to the MainStage and there seems to be some noise detected for about 30 minutes or so after the performances. sounded like things moving around. Not sure if it was storage or some kind, but we did go up and try to figure out where the noise was coming from. A wall with a door but no sign to indicate what it was so I assume storage. It wasn't a problem with sleeping at all. The other mystery noise detected was during the day once during one of the port days. It sounded like rushing water but it lasted for hours. Cabin steward had no idea what it was so he called GS and someone came down to listen. They had no clue either and called engineering..they had no clue either and they called someone else. Turned out that it was the direct line for water replenishment from the port..I think it was in Ketchikan. It was quite interesting that no one could figure it out. it ended about an hour before departure and we could see the giant hose on the dock.Only that one day.