crystalspin

Everything that Nancy said! I'm lazy so I don't pack notes and envelopes, but make sure that I have crisp $5 and $10 bills. I may print some 1/8 sheets of paper that declare that I have kept the Crew Appreciation in place, so that the individual tips can go to the ones I compensate. It is something of my last day's ritual, that I wander the decks looking to press my appreciation into the hands of those that made my cruise more special. I have even waited while they fetched a Lido server up from the bowels of the ship to bestow my humble $5 upon. Haven't cruised since the Navigator became as useful as it (apparently) is now, but look forward to using it to applaud individual's contribution, rather than trusting my memory to the email survey at the end!

We sailed Trans-Atlantic and north Med: Gibralter/Spain/France/Italy in Apr - May 2015. I packed one-each of everything from a camisole to a wool cardigan. And I wore it all! Also https://weatherspark.com/ For historical weather factors!

Here are four YouTube videos for either aft corner suite on 8th and 7th decks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvA_nsjot98 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZ302HWBBGQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qG3yLd-h2Us https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBUDedYP68c

I think that is good reasoning and a reasonable decision. I do not know what choice I would have made! I should have pointed out earlier: coming from a Verandah booking, you will not get the double Mariner points for the upsell. Not to be a downer! but just don't expect them.

Hi Cliff! We have always used AYW (As You Wish) dining as going when we wished -- to either dining room (where we would tell the M'd sit us wherever makes your life easier and not waiting to be seated), Lido, or specialty -- with no one missing us for not showing up. It seems from many questions and answers on this Board, that lots of people want to use AYW dining to have a fixed dining time, and preferentially same table and servers -- just not at the conventional early or late times. Those that practice this can pipe up and tell you how to fix it, whether by phone, Navigator, or in person.

Right I know, I'm sure I never got any pins (and very few tiles!); I thought the pins might be discontinued! Keep watching eBay; put a permanent search with email notification on it?

Hi and welcome back to posting on CC! If you go to the top banner and click "Find A Cruise", you can filter by "Florida: ALL" and "Dec 2023". I got 291 hits! https://www.cruisecritic.com/cruiseto/cruiseitineraries.cfm?depcity=342&startDate=2023-12 There is also a Florida Departure sub-forum: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/386-florida-departures/ that will mostly be of interest once you pick a port (for things like hotels and parking), but may help choose one, too. Then there are Destination or "Ports of Call" forums for Bahamas, Bermuda, and the Caribbean (three different sub-forums there). Find them on this directory: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/2-ports-of-call/ I can't offer a cruiseline recommendation for your group as I have not really tried too many lines and none with your age-spread! But you can get some ideas of what is available from the Find a Cruise link -- and then each of the major and moderate lines also have their own sub-forum for specialized Qs: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/4-cruise-lines-“a-–-o”/ and https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/11-cruise-lines-“p-–-z”/ Good luck and have fun!

Have never gotten a Mariner pin from the Society or the ship. I buy them on eBay!

Hi Cliff! On the Lower Promenade, you are steps away from the biggest balcony on the ship -- the true Promenade! If you're going to be aft, choose far enough back to be under the sitting area of the MDR and NOT under the galley -- they roll heavy carts there all night long. Have sailed twice Zaandam and once Volendam (sister ship). For a total of five weeks! Did have some motion MIDSHIP Deck 3 in the bay of Alaska, but if there was motion there, you know it was everywhere! Have eaten in Pinnacle Grill and Canaletto on these ships. We enjoyed both. Recommend lamb and crab in PG and Short Rib Gnochi at Canaletto.

The Viking Ocean forum is here: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/689-viking-ocean/ My aunt and uncle (siblings) just finished an Athens to Viking Viking cruise. My aunt compares it to a pre-pandemic Viking cruise to Norway: "since Covid it does appear that things have not remained the stellar excellence prior to. The Norway ocean tour was superb, the best cruise I've ever taken. The Athens to Venice was nice, but that's because we were family together. The ship is amazing, the food is good. But there were some kinks for sure." She likes that the ship is smaller, without casino or children or art-sales! I think all the sub-forums on each cruiseline (on Cruise Critic and off) are reporting cutbacks or other changes.

There is no way to "pay" except giving them a card to swipe. The way around having lower priced drinks counting against your SBP $11 (alcoholic) quota is to buy a beverage card (available in several denominations, I am thinking $50/$100/$250?). HAL won't let me login to my bookings today, so I can't walk you through where they are offered but I think it's below beverage packages under "Indulgences" on your booking.

Hah, I didn't know that, but if the cruise is after that AND booked with the promo Crew Appreciation, it will be covered even after the increase. If not booked with the promo, pre-purchasing will also lock in the current price.

Before you upgrade, check at a bar if they are offering the "HIA and more" where you just pay the $11 overage (plus 18%) for better wines. Then balance that against the cost of $11.80 PPPD for the upgrade. Plus the unlimited non-alcoholic beverages if that is a concern! If they are NOT offering the HIA-and-more, then the upgrade is less than ONE drink PPPD over $11, and comes with the verbage of unlimited non-alcoholic drinks.

Yes, Crew Appreciation is new name for Daily Housekeeping Service fee AKA gratuities. The amount covered is $15.50 per person per day in a standard stateroom and $17pppd in a suite. It applies only to the first two passengers in the cabin. ETA: the crew "covered" by the CA are housekeeping stewards, dining stewards, as well as behind the scenes people like laundry, kitchen help. Bartenders and servers, as well as spa personnel, etc are covered by the 18% service charge added to all of those purchases. If you have HIA (Have It All) OR you have bought one of the Beverage Packages, those charges are covered as well! Some people tip more, some people scoff at paying more... Welcome to HAL!

The 5-pointed star indicates Ambulatory Accessible. Ambulatory Accessible means you can walk into the bathroom over the regular step there, and a small step into the shower, but you will have additional grab-bars and either a fixed 'bench' or the steward can bring you a shower stool.

Oh right! I forgot to mention if you buy the Premium Plan before sailing (it is the only plan available for pre-purchase) it is 20% off, making it close to the Surf in cost. It's hard to keep all the details in mind!

30 less three days of travel!

Hey my (two) dinner reservations and (two) shore excursions are there in my first upcoming cruise, but I can't figure out how to view the second of our B2B... The dinners and ShoreXes are each one HIA perk and one pre-paid-for. Anyone walk me through seeing my second itinerary? I can "see" my upcoming cruises all the way to 2024, but not the itinerary or any way to add to it.

Assuming you would like views of some land in the distance, the map says you will be "hugging" New Zealand with portside towards land. Maps can be deceiving -- you may rarely see the shore, or lots. That's a lovely itinerary, btw!

Sounds like you are within the Final Payment window, so the $25 deposit doesn't apply.

7

I'll bite! Is it cruise ships you want to see, or just MANY ships? I will suggest San Diego CA. There is a nearby Naval Base; there is a still-afloat tallmast former slave and immigrant ship (the Star of India) that you can tour; there is the aircraft carrier Midway museum. I believe the ticket to Star of India also lets you tour a racing yacht on the next dock. As others said, cruises out of SAN tend to be 7-days-ish (Mexican Riviera) or longer (Hawaii) -- it is also a great port for one end or the other of a Panama Canal transit!

I seem to have mucked this up royally. I just thought that since JohnMik was helpful with the photo of the hooks, that he might be willing to help bdd123 with a pic of the grab bars. (I recognized the cabin number from the other thread.) I did not know that John did not know he was in an ambulatory suite or that it would hijack this thread so completely!

I believe you can buy one day at a time, but don't know if that is midnight-to-midnight. There are frequent mentions of the internet slowing to a crawl the last day when people are using it for airline checkin! For one day, the Premium (necessary for video and VOIP) is $30/day, but in a package 2 to 8 days it is the $20 you have seen. My husband was able to make a VOIP (not Skype or Zoom) conference call from north of France (with some pausing and buffering). It *should* be better in the Caribbean because closer to the equator. Here is a part of the FAQ on HAL website, note particularly the LAST bullet item/paragraph: "Available Internet Packages: "Social: Per day package, $14.99. (Access the most popular social websites and applications. May not allow for audio/video calling and streaming.) "Surf (most popular): $24.99. (Surf your favorite sites including e-mail, news, sports and more. May not allow for audio/video calling and streaming.) "Premium: $29.99 (From e-mail to streaming, receive the highest volume of data. Supports audio/video calling and streaming where coverage allows.) "Keep in Mind: "Satellite transmissions are inherently slower than shore-side connections. "You’ll find a select number of free sites under “Complimentary Browsing.” "For more information please see the Frequently Asked Questions or one of our Guest Relations team members. "Each package comes with a daily volume of data for a superior experience. Volumes vary by package and subject to change. For a current listing of the daily volume soft caps, see the Internet Plan Selection page."

Whether Crew Appreciation is part of your fare depends on the promotion for the specific cruise. Are you booked? if so the confirmation PDF will have a list of everything that is included in your reservation (on the last page thereof). It also shows somewhere on the on-line booking, but I can't direct you where to see it because HAL's website will not log me in today!