Roz

The food in the MDR is good to very good, but I wouldn't call it fabulous.

@saz25, are you asking because you want to book your own shore excursions? As @Host Jazzbeau explained, they're included and built into the fare. If you read the tour descriptions they can sometimes give you an idea about how much time you'll be in a particular port. Booking or doing things on your own can be risky if the ship has to move.

I don't think most river cruise lines show port times. What lines are you looking at that show times? Time in port varies. Sometimes you'll spend most of the day in a port but the ship moves and you catch up with it later. I've found river cruises are more likely to have overnights in port, especially at the beginning and end. For instance, if you're doing Amsterdam to Budapest, you'll overnight in Amsterdam and Budapest. I hope this helps.

I would think it would be something the cruise director would bring to the attention of guests at his/her daily talk. Especially for repeat passengers who may not be aware of the change.

Interesting...none of this is explained on the Sky Train website. So I buy a card I'll never use again and load the fare? What does "tap out" mean? Sorry, we don't have subways or passenger trains in Nashville. Anyone know how to cancel a HAL transfer?

Thank you, @julia. I booked a guarantee and don't have my cabin assignment yet, so haven't printed out the boarding pass. I thought about using the Sky Train. I went on the website and it seems complicated. I couldn't figure out if there's a station near my hotel, and buying a ticket seems difficult. Seems like it's set up for daily commuters, not one time users. I've had bad luck with using public transit in other large cities. People weren't very patient with me as I tried to figure out how to use a new system. My biggest concern is traveling with a suitcase and if I would would be able to get it onto the train car and where to stow it once on the train. Thanks for everyone's information and advice.

I was wondering the same thing.

That's wonderful (being facetious). That's the hotel I'm staying in pre-cruise. Hope you make a full recovery and get home soon.

Me too. Worth the cross country flight.

There's a gap between April and October, and only a couple of 7-day Mexican itineraries.

Maybe they just haven't been posted yet?

I just checked the Uniworld website, and it says this under Inclusions: Gratuities for onboard personnel (ship staff, crew, Cruise/Tour Manager) are included during the cruise/tour The bolding is mine. Very subtle, wouldn't you say? I wouldn't have even paid attention to this if it weren't for @beesKate's post.

@Mary229, do you happen to know where the desk is located in the airport? Maybe in the luggage claim area or ground transportation? Haven't flown in or out of YVR since 2003.

I'm sailing from Canada Place on Oct. 2. I get into Vancouver late on Oct. 1 and am staying at a hotel near the airport. I purchased a transfer from the airport to the cruise terminal. Other than the email I received confirming my purchase, I don't have a ticket or time I'm supposed to show up at the airport. Anyone know how HAL handles this?

I've spent hours pouring over travel and airline websites trying to find the best flight for my South America cruise next March. I need a one-way flight from Nashville to Buenos Aires with only one stop. I've never used HAL's Flight Ease but I started there. Economy seats are in the $593 - $727 range, Premium Economy is $922 - $1,050, and Business is $2,425 - $2,345 😲. I've seen posts here on CC where people said they got Business class seats thru Flight Ease for about the same price as Economy. Where are they finding these fares? I'm going with Premium Economy. When I priced the flight on United's website, it was about $40 more, so not a whole lot of savings. Before I book with Flight Ease, I want to know what this means on the HAL website: Prices and availability are not guaranteed until the cruise and air booking are paid in full. Does that mean the fare can go up until Dec. 10 when final payment is due? Or that I may not even have a seat when I make final payment? If either of these is the case, why would someone risk booking with Flight Ease? Color me confused. 🤪 Should I just book directly with United? Any first hand experiences with Flight Ease are appreciated.