Taters

@Haljo1935, right backatcha! See you on board at the M&G. 😊

Thanks everyone! DH and I are so excited about our first trip to Japan and of course visiting our favorite place of all, Alaska! We live in Fairbanks and haven't been to several of the towns in literally decades. We fly away tomorrow night. Woot woot!

I think it's simply a matter of supply and demand.

We took a public bus. If I remember correctly it the cost was about 3 euros for the day pass. There is a bus stop a couple of blocks from the pier.

Bon voyage! Have a wonderful time!😊

Hubby and I love days at sea and the more, the better! We do love ports, but when there are 5 port days in a row it becomes too much. We've been on 6 transatlantics and will board Westerdam in Yokohama in 2 weeks for our first transpacific cruise. The days at sea are a luxury for us. We can forget what day of the week it is, catch up with each other like we cannot do at home because we are both so busy (still working). We play cards, dominoes, and other games together (something we never get to do at home). We enjoy any lectures and shows that might interest us. We walk the decks, read, take naps, hang out with friends, new and old. We love enjoying our meals and savoring our coffee in the mornings. It never gets old for us.

You should have your own Mariner ID. My husband and I have cruised together on HAL many times and each have our own Mariner IDs and accounts. You might want to give HAL a call to find out what your Mariner ID is and go from there.

I'm love the HAL libraries onboard and am so pleased they brought them back. That is my go-to for a good book while onboard.

1971 on the Song of Norway. It was a brand new ship and the Captain's daughter was in my Brownie troop. (I grew up in Miami.) He invited all of the families on a 4 day fam trip to the Bahamas! I was 8 years old and fell in love with cruising right then and there!🤩

Bon voyage!

It is Ocean Players Club. https://oceanplayersclub.com/

I LOVE the bread pudding! However, I only like a little bit of the vanilla sauce it is served with. A couple of tablespoons is more than enough. I always ask for just a tiny bit of sauce, but inevitably they dump way too much on my portion. So many times, after asking for a very small bit of the sauce and getting handed an absolutely drenched bowl of the bread pudding, I have to hand it back. First world problems, I know....

Hi Vlad, We haven't gone on this cruise yet. It's for 2025. We are going to be watching for guidance regarding the Covid insurance requirements for New Caledonia closely. Nothing on sites for US citizens visiting New Caledonia mentions this requirement. I've only been able to find that info on sites for Australian citizens. But we will have that insurance if it is still required for Australians because we won't know how well the staff at the embarkation port in Brisbane are trained in these policies. We don't want to be turned away! Cheers, Annie

I love the planning!

We are hoping to use our Alaska Airlines miles to get to Brisbane and back. We are going to be watching the fares closely, and also checking into Carnival's air program to see what kind of fares they might offer. Another thing we'll be doing is watching fares from Honolulu to Brisbane. In the past we could have used miles to get to Honolulu, then purchased tickets from there to Brisbane for around $400 one way. Alaska Airlines is trying to buy Hawaiian Airlines, so things may be very different once the fares become available. There is a lot to consider and we do not want to have to pay $2000 USD for coach fares each way. Oy! But we're going and just can't wait!

Have a great time!😊

All of the Pinnacle class ships, Koningsdam, Nieuw Statendam, and Rotterdam have stairs leading into the pools. All of the other HAL ships swimming pools have ladders.

We will arrive into Ft. Lauderdale on Volendam on October 19, 2024. We wanted to spend one night there before flying home and I was stunned to see rates for IHG hotels (Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn, etc.) in the $500 per night range. I did a quick search and found that Taylor Swift is performing at the Hard Rock Arena on October 18th and 19th. Needless to say we decided to just fly home.

We haven't been on a Carnival ship since 2019. I was looking for an Australia/South Pacific cruise for a 3 week vacation in February, 2025 for our anniversary. Carnival Luminosa fit the bill for us! 7 night Australia (Arlie Beach, Cairns, and Port Douglas) followed by an 11 night South Pacific (2 ports in Fiji, 2 ports in Vanuatu, and 1 port in New Caledonia), for a total of 18 nights. Perfect! No other cruise line on a non-mega ship is offering this type of itinerary that is affordable. We booked it! We are going to use miles to get there and back, so the cost of the air is minimal and will be around 40,000 miles each way. It can cost us 30,000 miles just to get to Dallas or Ft. Lauderdale, so getting to Brisbane is a bargain. Australia can be done, but you need to do your research and check out all of your options.

Hi Jacqui! Please add me to Westerdam's 16 day North Pacific crossing beginning in Yokohama on April 27, 2024. We're super excited about this cruise! Thank you bunches! Annie

You can easily create you own tour of Alaska prior to the cruise. 🙂 Rent a car and book your hotels. You can't get lost, as our road system is minimal.

What do you mean when you say you didn't need the insurance? Did they not ask for the paperwork when you checked in for your cruise?

I am also interested in finding coverage for COVID for our Carnival Luminosa cruise to New Caledonia in February, 2025. We have a yearly Allainz policy, but am not sure if it is sufficient for visiting New Caledonia. We are flying from Fairbanks to Brisbane for B2B cruises, with the second one going to New Caledonia and I don't want to get kicked off after the first 7 night cruise. Looking over Carnival's policy details, I do NOT see COVID mentioned anywhere.

We had it on Oosterdam last spring. It looks like the same menu that Vict0riann had on Rotterdam.

I'm wondering why this thread is not active at all. It says there are 1.1 k views, so it must be interesting to a lot of people.