PSR

We cover the flimsy HAL paper tags in heavy clear tape and use a hole punch to make a hole for the zip tie we use to secure the tag to the bag. Often use 2 tags per bag: one on the top handle and one on the side handle.

 

Love the zip ties! Also use them to 'secure' the bag zippers as security can easily cut the tie if they want to examine the bag and it may deter anyone else from taking a peek.... TSA did not seem to mind as we did get 1 bag returned with a zip tie cut and the TSA note inside telling us they had examined the bag and all was okay.

We do exactly the same things, but only one tag per bag. Use a longer, heavier zip tie for the HAL tag and shorter ones for the bag zippers. Works great! Decided to put on the tags before bag pickup from the the hotel. Reread HAL pre cruise info and it says we claim our baggage then meet the transfer bus. By the way, we are still at home. Our first leg flight was cancelled due to mechanical problems early Sat. morning and the only flights we could get leave Sunday; we arrive the next day. Disappointed we had to cancel a preplanned Rome tour for Monday.:(

Thanks for everyone's responses.

Penny

Guess this question is a little late, but we are leaving Nov. 1 AM for Rome to get on the Prinsendam. We are using HAL hotel transfers. Should we put on our luggage tags when we leave home, or do we have to claim our bags in Rome anyway, and just put them on when we put the bags out at the hotel the day of the cruise?

Thanks for any info.

When someone posts a comment about an activity involving cruising/ air/etc. near where they live, without mentioning the area, it is quite annoying to look at their CC top info and not even see a state or country.How does that help the reader? I look to the top right quite a bit and see nothing. :confused:

We were just on the Oosterdam in 8074 below the Lido and never heard a thing above us. We were concerned before the cruise also, but it was a very nice cabin.

In all honesty I have not seen a lot of tuxedos. I checked with Gigianne who has early dining and she has had the same experience. I would say maybe at the max about 19% in tuxedos. A deli tie shift from the other European cruises on the Prinsendam.

Thanks for the quick answer. Helps a lot!

Penny:)

Enjoying your cruise description very much. One question: are the men wearing tuxedos during formal nights in the MDR, or mostly suits or sport coats/ties?

Penny

P.S. to others: this is just a simple question to help us packing. Please do not start a clothing argument.:)

I haven't seen my question answered yet. If we have a lanai cabin is there a dedicated pie table outside each cabin on the deck?

The face I saw in the post #730 was on the far wall, on the stone behind the black and white framed photo. It is behind the right top corner. Anyone else see this, or is it just too late and I am a little sleepy...:rolleyes:

I also saw a kind of face in the triangular stone in the forefront of the photo.

Hi, Penny,

 

Entrance to the Forum is a three-minute walk from the Colosseum, up Via Dei Fori Imperiali toward the big white and very easy to spot Vittorio Emanuele monument ("the Wedding Cake").

Entrance vaguely opposite the junction with Via Cavour. Short walk, just far enough to make you wonder whether you've missed it ;)

 

You can then exit the Forum top right behind the V E monument - here there's an exit turnstile but no entrance.

 

You can also enter/exit the Forum via the Palatine Hill entrance on Via Di San Gregorio, but it's the long way round so don't use it unless you also want to look round the remains of the villas etc on Palatine Hill, which is between Circo Massimo and the Forum.

 

That was the situation up to about a year ago, I doubt it's changed.

 

JB :)

Thanks, JB:)

In Rome itself, Colosseum through The Forum to the Vittorio Emanueli monument & on to the Pantheon(not the other way round, the Forum has an exit but not an entrance at the VE end) is a sensible walking route, Trevi, Spanish Steps & certainly Vatican are a bit far to walk in your time-scale but train tickets include free travel on Rome's metro & service buses, or you could take the occasional short taxi ride.

 

 

JB :)

I am confused. In all my readings, I thought the entrance to the Forum was at the north, near the Piazza Venezia and the exit was at the south, near the Colosseum. Is this incorrect? It was my understanding that you cannot access the Forum directly across from the Colosseum. We have seen the Colosseum and just want to do a DIY tour through the Forum, perhaps with an audio rental.

Thanks for any info,

Penny

I am sure you can (people who stay at Pan Pacific do this as they pickup the luggage from your room at 9 AM). Just drop the luggage (right near where the taxi's dropoff under Canada Place) and then walk out the up ramp to the street - easy walk.

 

DaveOKC

You're right Dave! I should've known this. We stayed at Pan Pacific last year and they picked up our luggage about 9am, and then we just went to check into the cruise about 10:30am. Had to wait until about 11:30am to board. We wanted to try the Mariner lunch. This time we'll drop off our luggage by the taxis, then have our special lunch ashore. Thanks for reminding me!

Penny:)

We've been to the Vancouver cruise terminal many times, but have never done this...can you drop your luggage at Canada Place about 12n, then NOT get in the boarding crowd until later? We would like to have a nice lunch ashore at a local place we like, then get in line to board about 2pm. We would rather do this, even with our carryons, rather than go aboard, leave and have to recheck-in later.

Thanks for any tips,

Penny

You've actually got the steps pretty much in the right order, except that you drop off the luggage before the check-in line. After checkin, you may have to wait awhile, 30min-1hr at the most, if you arrive at a peak time, about 12n-2pm (times may vary), before boarding.

So very sorry for your loss.

I don't remember taxis lining up at the pier, but the visitor's center is on the dock. Maybe they can help you find a taxi if one is not there. I couldn't find the shuttle route online tonight for some reason, but even if they dropped you off at the left side of Creek Street it would be about a 1/2-3/4 block walk on a wooden sidewalk to the funicular (which occasionally,but rarely) is not working.The right side of Creek Street would about a 1-1&1/2 block walk. A direct taxi might be a good idea if walking is difficult.

I was away on vacation for awhile, but I just looked at the Alaska 2015 cruises and found out that the Statendam will be doing 14 day cruises from Seattle in 2015 throughout the summer. I guess this will replace the Amsterdam? I did not see any comments on CC about this; maybe I just missed them. Is this not of interest because the ship is older? The ports are all the same.

I thought for sure I'd go with Costco, but I found better insurance with AIG from insuremytrip.com for about half what Costco was going to charge me. None of us have any existing conditions, though, so that part didn't matter much to me. What mattered most to me was being able to cancel for work requirements. You just never know.

You also should check if the "non-coverage for pre-existing conditions" applies to non-traveling family members, if that is important to you. Some insurances are specific about that, also.

Thanks to all for the information!:)

I tried to search this using "back to back" and got alot of "to"s highlighted :rolleyes: I think I read about this before, but couldn't find the answer. We are on two 7-day b2b cruises to Alaska and would like to purchase one package to last the whole 14 days, which I think would be cheaper than 2 smaller packages. Can this be done?

We would usually buy a 10 bottle package for 14 days, but can't finish it in 7 days. I know we could take the excess bottles to our cabin after 7 days, but if we did, would we have to pay "corkage" in the dining room on the 2nd cruise, with no way to show we purchased them previously? That would not be practical.

Thanks for any info!

Penny

We usually go to Alaska in September. The first time we went was sometime in the early 1990's and it was so warm I thought we were going to get sunburned! Our seaplane flight over the Juneau icefield was clear,sunny, and one of the most beautiful sights I have ever seen! It has never been that warm since...but we still go in the early fall because the ports are not so crowded. It rained last year, but not continuously. So you can get everything from sun to drizzle to rain to "pouring". The layering idea for clothes is a good suggestion.:)

just noticed it and tested it. It worked!

So sad to hear the OP had to experience this dissapointment. Fortunately, we have managed to escape that thus far, but only because the perks are not important to us. About fifteen cruises ago, HAL lost one of our 14 day cruises. When we found out that we could not straighten this out with a phone call, we dropped the matter and totally lost interest in the Mariner Program. (We don't bother attending the luncheons and award ceremonies anymore.)

 

We cruise for the ship and for company of our cruisemates as well as the service provided by the excellent staff and crew. We would rather win our buttons doing something truely important like Team Trivia. :D

You should go through the Mariner Society link on the HAL board. I believe they can correct your days if you have anything to show that you were on the cruise: copy of room key, final bll copy, etc. (maybe even a daily excursion sheet?). You can email them instead of calling and ask what you could use. i have emailed them in the past and they get back to you quickly.

Penny

I'd like to put in another vote for Yakutania Point. We walked there several times when we ran out of things to do in Skagway. It was a nice, easy walk. At the end it can get a little rough (path gets rocky, at least the last time we were there about 5 years ago); but you don't have to go all the way. It is very peaceful, because most people don't know it is there. If you do a ship/private tour, you can probably squeeze it in at the end or the beginning, if your tour isn't too long (you need at least 30-45 minutes to get there and do a short walk of the path from downtown). We ran into the same local walking his dog when we were on 2 separate cruises. Amazing!!:)

The wine check in process is pretty straightforward. It's a desk after security but before you get your key. They sticker your wine and write a ticket to charge your corkage. If you have one bottle or less per person, you bypass the wine check in.

 

We saw very few people checking wine and got more than a couple of "stink eyes" when people saw four of us carrying six bottles each. I suppose that's the cross we bear in our pursuit of science.

 

Bottom line: You are required to carry your wine all the way to your cabin. The check in process is quick and easy. They do not log in your individual wines. They just take a count.

Did they mark your bottles in any way to show you had paid corkage?

Thanks for the information. I thought that maybe because the debit card needs a pin, it might work. I have a couple of "chipped" cards, but they are "chip and sign", not "chip and pin". Evidently useless in Europe for unmanned locations.