crystalspin

Huh that's funny, not that I have eaten in many specialty restaurants, but I swear service charge was automatic. GOSH I hope I never stiffed the servers!

Yes, but you *owned* the shares and had a statement thereof, way before two days. Just saying. Seems like they wouldn't want people buying (at least at these prices) just before sailing, because they might sell quickly after the cruise.

Cruise Critic has an Insurance sub-board: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/499-cruisetravel-insurance/ Pre-Pandemic we had an annual policy with Geo-Blue... let it lapse when travel was called off.

I don't think so. Planning to buy additional restaurant meals purchased on board!

There is the red italic message below the cart, AND when I click CheckOut I get a popup that says: "Checkout is currently unavailable "Checkout is currently in maintenance and is unavailable. We apologize for the inconvenience. Thank you for your patience" and only a button that says OKAY. No way to go ahead and make purchase.

As RKA implied, do not "watch" the muster video on your or someone else's phone. Watch in on your cabin's TV and watch it as if your life depended on it. DO NOT let it play while you are unpacking out of sight or hearing of the video. Your life may in fact depend on it.

89 and 98 (back to back).

Thanks, CS, I was just considering booking Canaletto for a Tuesday (shortribs with polenta). Now I know to just wait.

Agree, the early booking sale INCREASED the price of my 2024 cruise by $400! But we're good with what we've got.

Last Drydock: Oct 2017 About half the time since then, cruise ships were either not sailing or sailing with reduced pax

Just noticed in the Mariner Society Rewards for 4* and 5*: "25% Discount of $49.00 per person surcharge in Rudi’s Sel De Mer fleetwide." $49 is 75% of $65, but my pre-booking price for Rudy's is showing as $47.20, only slightly more than the PG at $46, although Rudi's is not included in the 3* discountable specialty restaurants, nor the complimentary restaurants in the current HIA. I've even read that the $47.20 includes the 18% service charge...

Hi Kelpie, and welcome to Cruise Critic not long ago! We cannot mention Travel Agent type sites, nor Travel Agents by name. Obtaining a Travel Agent is often recommended, specifically those with cruise expertise. But the fact is, they aren't always available locally. I lived in a major metropolitan area and had trouble finding one! (I did find one to use in my planning before cruise lines became easier to access. Yes, as bad as they are, they used to be worse!) Some frequent posters work with an on-line TA. I work with my HAL Personal Cruise Consultant (but I am not in a specialty population, cruising with my husband). Cruise Critic has a Solo Cruisers board and this is a place to read about lines/ships with solo cabins and/or reduced "Single Supplements". https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/279-solo-cruisers/ There is a running update (about ten threads down) for people to post new findings.

Well, boo. I took my 3x$500 out of my cart bc I thought they wouldn't honor them. Of course I missed the hour or so they were on line anyway...

We had booked my aunt (mother's sister) with my mom for an Alaskan sailing. We were paying for both of them. My aunt was being a little flaky from the get-go, so I bought Standard Cancellation Protection for her. When she opted not to come -- the CCP would have paid back 80% of her fare... but my mom's fare would have gone up 90%! We went with a "no show" and kissed the CCP fee goodbye.

Hi Linda! Great question. First of all, I want to tell you, you can do it! We have travelled (cruise and land) all around the world with carry-on plus "personal item". We even made a trip home from Copenhagen on Norwegian Air which may have the strictest weight requirements of any airline! My first major carry-on only cruise was a 26-day transAtlantic with HAL. I did all our laundry by hand with quarter-sheets of Wash-EZE (find on Amazon). I no longer carry these! I now trust the ship's laundry (HAL will even AIR DRY! it just takes an extra day to get back to you) and use the bodywash-shampoo for any smalls I do handwash. From your list, I would pick "accessory" and "hair-care". I generally bring 3-4 pair reading glasses and coordinating peeper-keepers that my sister has strung the beads for... often with matching earrings. That is my signature, and I would say: whatever is your signature deserves to come! As far as haircare, I have to bring my own shampoo(s) due to seborrhea. I have to rotate my shampoo every 10 days to 2 weeks! However, here is my trick for that: If you are going to fly to port, you are familiar with the 3-1-1 bag. NOTHING goes in that bag that isn't a liquid or gel. Toothpaste but not the toothbrush, etc. Make up a wet-bag and a dry bag. The 3oz is a limit and not a requirement! Get some go-toobs or the other brand, in 1oz and/or 2oz. And some even smaller tubs... My hair does actually look like my avatar's (only grayer). So it takes very little shampoo, every-other day. I believe I could go two months with 1oz each of 3 shampoos! But surely no more than 2oz. Buy a 3oz "travel" bottle of your own shampoo and see how long it lasts you at home. Reef-safe (inorganic) sunscreen is the stickler here, and I suspect I would be shopping near the port for a larger container for our tropical cruise, if we weren't driving to port. Enjoy your retirement! -- Elizabeth AKA crystalspin

What cabin? I would personally opt for the walk-in shower over the shallow tub/shower I have had on the Volendam and Zaandam...

Currently (on my upcoming K'dam cruise), EBP is described as "Our premium, Elite Beverage Package allows you to select from a variety of wine, beer, spirits, cocktails, non-alcoholic beverages, sodas, bottled water (sparkling or still, 400ml or less) & coffee. Only on the ms Koningsdam & ms Nieuw Statendam, the package includes Freestyle Coca-Cola which provides 100+ refreshing Coca-Cola flavors to choose from. Includes any beverage priced at $15.00 or lower (up to 15 beverages per day). " In other words, it no longer says unlimited non-alcoholic. Tip -- Stock up on unopened beverages that you can store in your mini-fridge, on the first day when you are not maxing out the 15. Or at end of any day you didn't get to 15.

Yikes I guess I never removed this from the list in July when I cancelled: N Amsterdam - 03-Oct-22 - 45 day South Pacificcrystalspin We substituted the Mexico B2B (Dec/Jan) to use up our FCC and hopefully get enough points to be 4* Mariners.

If you have any confirming emails from HAL, in the blue banner at the top you should have been assigned a PCC, with their extension. I recommend you contact them and let them get you the dining time you want. Also whether you want to allow upgrades (automatic or offers) to your cabin. RKA and Bruce answered the question about the window request. There are no windows in the PG.

It came on at 11:30 Eastern but went off quite quickly. (I missed it.) All of the $500 cruiseline cards are no longer available (Carnival, RCI, X, Princess, HAL), and I don't expect them to come back. I used the Chat function last week, and "Michele" said they were analysing usage data, that it wasn't a web or tech problem.

It should be Oct 16, I guess! ETA: I make final payment a few days early to avoid technical or memory errors!

Did you keep your confirmation e-mail? Final Payment should be in it. My January 7 sailing has a Final Payment date of October 9; I guess that is 90-days...

Holland America and Princess are the go-to lines for AK cruise-tours, having their own Denali lodges for the shore part. I have not done the cruisetour, as we did self-drive after our first Alaska (northbound) cruise. I am partial to HAL for cruises, but the evening entertainment might be seen to be lacking (!), however I don't know how Princess is for evening shows either. My Princess AK cruise was cancelled by the pandemic! The "regular" stops for one-way AK tours are Ketchikan, Juneau, and Skagway. Ketchikan's draw is native culture and totems. Juneau has guaranteed whale watching. Skagway is good for the rail trips and goldrush history. Sitka is a very nice, less developed port, but you usually have to give up Skagway! I recommend Fortress of the Bear and the small boat trip to view rafts of otters (also saw whales and other wildlife on shore).

So I looked at "All Rewards" and saw that ALL of the cruise gift cards are only offered in $100 denominations. I figured that they are not going to honor the $500 ones even if they are already in my cart, so I removed them and put five $100 ones in. The checkout is still disabled! Why do I think it won't be back up in September (when I could at least save $50 for September and $50 for October)?

Interesting! We are all expecting a new promotional FROM HAL on the turn of the month, though.