SFBayAreaShipLover

I've never been on a Hawaiian cruise, however, with Royal Caribbean or any other cruise line EXCEPT NCL, you either have to do a one way trip to Hawaii which averages about 10 nights, or you have to do a roundtrip from the west coast which is usually 15 or more nights.

 

 

 

The ONLY cruiseline that cruises around Hawaii from Hawaii is NCL because they have the only major US flagged cruise ship. That is the only way you can get a Hawaiian cruise for less than 10 nights and embark and disembark from the same port.

If you enjoy nice sea time, then recommend doing a Princess or HAL cruise from the west coast. There lot of LA /San Diego, SF, and Vancouver depending on time of the year. With the Pride of America being a America flagged ship, it’s required to have American crew which get paid a much higher wage. They are allowed to have a small percentage of foreign workers to enable them to provide better service and fill slots on the vessel and are also paid America. Wages.

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Go enjoy and take break from studies, congratulations on going back to your studies.

HAL is Great line for LBGT folks. Partner and I really love and enjoy them, many other lines are the same.

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There both very nice ships but as the ships carry

More and more folks, you

Seem to lose some of smaller ship feel and found harder to run into folks you have met and also depends where you stateroom is,,, makes it harder for the older and folks with walking issues....

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Same thing when the Sapphire and Diamond Princess were built. The ship to be named Diamond caught fire during later part of completion and names were switched to Sapphire Princess. Several welders went to jail for in proper safety during welding that set Carpet and card board on fire on next deck up

 

 

 

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Also built in Japan

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Building passenger vessels is a very complicated and specialized undertaking.

 

The European shipbuilders have the technical knowhow, the best marine engineers and builders and the most experience. ( sometimes doubting about Fincantieri but they are cheap and deliver the product as promised).

 

Recently, Mitsubishi in Japan thought they could build Aida Nova and Aida Perla better and cheaper than Meyer in Papenburg, EU. It proved to be an absolute tragedy and financial nightmare for Mitsubishi, a company known for technical excellence.

Same thing when the Sapphire and Diamond Princess were built. The ship to be named Diamond caught fire during later part of completion and names were switched to Sapphire Princess. Several welders went to jail for in proper safety during welding that set Carpet and card board on fire on next deck up

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The main dining room is usually open from Noon to 1:30 unless there is a special group on board.

That good ideal to check and want to avoid then crowds. On our last to cruises in the west coast on Oosterdam and Amsterdam MDR was closed but 2 ago was open on the Westerdam. I heard it also very,s if lot new crew are signing on and still settling in.

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Has always been closed when I sailed on her. Buffet most head too

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Yes, we can build those ships right here at Newport News Shipbuilding, one of the largest contractors in the world, where almost all new Navy ships (aircraft carriers and subs) are built. BUT the problem is cost. It would probably cost twice what a cruise line is willing to pay to build one of their ships here. To my knowledge, the last cruise ship built here was the ss United States, which still holds the record for a trans-Atlantic crossing.

That’s exactly what I said......we can’t build them efficiently..... we tryed with pride of America class was last ones and ended up being completed in eroupe and only the Pride of America built and heavily modified.

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Hypothetical :

 

You book a cruise with a TA and decide to cancel and transfer the booking to another TA (because of more perks). You have already purchased trip insurance with the original booking.

 

 

 

Question- can the trip insurance just be transferred to the new booking with the new travel agency? would a phone call to the insurance company take care of this?

 

 

 

TIA

As mentioned already it’s up to the TA. You also have to think about ethics. They have already properly done lot of work on the booking. TA’s don’t work for free. That’s there livery hold. Those perks someone offering now could have been offered after you already booked ur cruise. I’m hoping to of the seasoned travelers on here agree with this.

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I think the original point was use of the contraction "it's" as in "... due to it is/has location ..." rather than "its" as in "... due to its location ..."

Awww ok......

We must all be bored to today to be talking about this

Time to start making packing list for our cruise in 3 weeks. [emoji41]

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That's a crew elevator and stairwell area. The crew doors (port and starboard sides) leading into the guest corridors have "door stoppers" on them that will prevent them from "slamming shut" There are no additional doors "inside" that area

And think there a few offices and storage close by. The door stoppers help the slamming a lot.

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I'm not sure how wrong this sign is. IIRC, there is a gangway on A-deck at the midship stairs. An elevator right at the hull would likely land outside the security checkpoint when a gangway is set up there. There are several elevators at the midship landing including some right opposite the main staircases. Those "other elevators" could certainly be used to get to an A-deck gangway. The wording is a bit awkward but I think perfectly reasonable.

 

 

Roy

I agree. It tall work, think she was talking about using our vs the,

It all good.....

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Thanks for your work in keeping ships safe. :D

 

I find my work in keeping the world safe from grammar, spelling and punctuation issues is often underappreciated; ne'ertheless I persist.

 

One might wonder how the world is kept safe by my efforts -- I have only to point to the difference in the following:

 

"Let's eat, Grandma!"

 

"Let's eat Grandma!"

Believe me, we need folks like you! [emoji851] Thank you!

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Its clear to see that any ship should carefully review it's signs before posting.

 

 

 

;p

 

 

 

(My English degree + first job as a proofreader kicking in.....)

This elevator?

Thanks proof reader. I wasn’t a A student in English, Ended up being a marine engineer and project manager that refits and keeps ships safe.

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Well, at least she didn't lose her herring...

Indeed. I’d prefer some positive items too, we need to realize these are ships designed and built in other countries as we aren’t capable to build them efficiently....

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are you talking about a grammar or spelling error for elevator?

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So true. You feel like you can reach out and touch the ship(exaggeration, of course, lol). I have some fabulous pictures standing on the balcony! We always wheel our luggage over with no problem. I have already booked it(with points) for October 2019 when we leave (and return) on the 51 day Tales of South Pacific cruise.

That’s the best part of staying there. You are right there and can almost touch the ship lol. Still found shuttle to pier helps as last time found road rough and hard on luggage wheels.

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We just use taxis.

We usually arrive day early and take shuttle to Wyndham for the night, then they take us to pier the next morning. One of few close hotels that still have shuttles. And use airport shuttles at pier to airport

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Sounds about the right time.

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I have read several posts about box wine but the 2018 Know Before You Go pages on HAL's website have this statement: "Guests are not allowed to bring beer, boxed wine, or other liquors and spirits onboard." Is this new? Has anyone had success boarding with a box wine this year? My wife likes them and was planning on taking that instead of a bottle. Now not so sure if she can do that. Thanks

Box wine has t typ been allowed on several lines. As it’s typ larger qty than you allowed to bring onboard and some folks have swapped the the wine for Liquor

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We sailed to Alaska from Seattle for 14 nights on the Zaandam. We have previously sailed Carnival (1), Regency (1), Norwegian (3) and Oceania (4).

 

 

 

Our room was nice, our cabin attendant was lovely and attentive. The ship was clean and furnishing were nice. The itinerary was fine. The price was very reasonable.

 

 

 

The food was sometimes good, and usually ill-prepared and uneatable. This was both in the main dining room and the buffet upstairs. The orange juice tasted like powdered Tang, and the coffee was so weak you could almost see through it. Sometimes meat was so rare it was raw, and when sent back, it came back like shoe leather. Mushroom omelettes had mushrooms floating in lots of liquid. Vegetables were overcooked.

 

 

 

Several people in our group of 7 have celiac disease. It was important to sit at the same table with the same wait staff for all dinners, so that the correct gluten free meals could be ordered. It took 4 nights to get this arranged, and that only after a discussion with the dining room manager.

 

 

 

There were very few on board activities that didn't involve a fee of some sort. Very few lectures or educational activities. Movies were shown during the dinner hour.

 

 

 

I told all of this to the powers that be midway through the cruise. They, of course, are unable to change the situation because poor management starts at the top down.

 

 

 

My last Holland America cruise. Someone else can have my cabin.

Sure dosnt sound like sound like HAL.

My partner and I have always had the best meals on HAL and even Princess.

and feel one reason food good on HAL they have smaller ships with less folks. Sure Oceana and Regent are known for top meal service, you are also Paying a much higher rate. I have to agree there with there

OJ it is hit or miss. Last HAL cruise OJ was much better in dining. Room.

Yes there are less activities, but HAL always been that way to some degree, since it seems to draw a little older crowd. Alaska runs are port driven.

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HAL will have to keep the ship in compliance with all safety rules and required inspection during the time there leasing the vessel. Maintenance and up keep of the vessel will be part of the sale contract. Didn’t expect any major upgrades. Indeed it is very sad we’re losing the smaller ships to larger ones. Seems like most folks still prefer medium to smaller ships. 1200 to 2000 passengers. They tend to make better ships for world cruising.

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Then I hope you come back and update us when you hire a lawyer (Lol) and when that lawyer starts working for you for free (lol). I guess there are no court costs either in the UK. Lol.

 

 

 

Have fun! How much money do you want from MSC because your sister got sick, which was most likely unrelated to food poisoning?

It’s amazing how some folks just can’t let go. 99 percent goes well and they still talk Lawyer. When no lawyer in his right mind would do it with out a retainer... maybe 30k?

Take that

Money. Go on your booked cruise and relax.

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Yes, and just like every other mainstream cruise line.

 

 

This message may have been drafted using voice recognition. Please forgive any typos.

But don’t get me wrong,,,, I still feel you get very good value for your money across most of the brands. Been sailing over 40 years, back in the Sitmar and start of Princess on the Princess Italia

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I agree with you ....

Concur tooo!!! Nicely put. Bottom line it’s all about money to stock holders

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