threeedogmedia

I've already told our TA our maximum fee if that wonderful upsell offer comes in. That way, they can accept immediately rather than try and get us across the country. It would be so darn incredible if this happens..... I hope that the TA's get a chance as well as the cruise line agents.

Karen

I had nothing but problems with Chrome but that being said, the last two updates for IE have had problems too. Might I suggest you try Safari or Firefox to see if it helps on this particular problem? When I have weird stuff happen, I close down IE and use either of the other two and all seems to be fine. Can you tell me what file type you're trying to open? If it's a PDF file, you may need to de-install your Acrobat Reader and reload from Adobe again. I know a few people who have had to do this recently and it solved the problem. Good luck. I know how darn frustrating this can be. Hank's suggestion about clearing out your temp files, cookies and history is an excellent idea too. It's easy if you follow his instructions.

Karen

Thanks Peter. I talked to my TA today and they were told by HAL that the price for my cruise actually went up by $300 and that the $400 OBC was for a category of room that we do not have. We're an AA and this offer was apparently for a BB. The email from HAL didn't specify what specific categories of Vista rooms were included so I'm going to go back and read it again to figure out what to do. Then I find out from my friend that they get a huge amount of miles by booking with a certain company and by using their branded card. All I get is my points per dollar spent and it's a darn platinum card to boot. I booked with friends who are TA's and in all honesty, they did get us a good price to start with so I should stop complaining and start getting excited about our incredible cruise...... it's just that it's so far off! I'll be posting some entries on your roll-call spreadsheet for those tours (ie GBR) that I think we want to join you on. The last time we were at the Great Barrier Reef, the weather was so stormy that snorkeling was almost impossible so our tour got cancelled. My husband was able to go diving so he was fine but I missed one thing from my "bucket list".

Karen

I'll talk to my TA this morning and see what we can figure out. I doubt that the cruise fare will go down as it's almost totally booked (the 33 days around Australia) but OBC's won't go to waste for sure. We don't drink but beverage packages would also be a plus for us since they cover most non-alcoholic beverages.

Thanks again to all of you.

Karen

Thanks Sue. The web site and the special offer we received show the same price we paid before and we didn't have anything offered to us like OBC's or beverage packages at all. Nothing to loose except maybe the particular stateroom that we like. If you rebook, do they let you have the same stateroom?

We just received an email from HAL that shows an OBC of up to $400 on the 33 day cruise we're booked for later this year. When I look at the terms and conditions, it says for "new bookings only". Is there any way that we can get this same offer? Our booking had no credits of any kind. Final payment isn't due until mid summer. I'm not used to this kind of price change. We usually cruise Oceania or Regent and they offer the best prices for early booking. The prices have never come down that I can remember. OH, we already have our cabin assigned as we were not aware that there was a reduction if you let the cruise line select your room. I'm quite happy with the assignment we have but would sure like the OBC to spend on the ship.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Karen

I pack skinny necklaces in a straw - you won't believe how easy this is and they never tangle. I tape the end and it works! For larger necklaces, I wrap them around a straw. So far, I've arrived at the cruise and again at home with no tangles. Most other things are in a jewelry pouch that has individual small zippers and I can stick earrings etc in those.

Does anyone have first hand experience with the actual cost of medical evacuations? Trying to determine how much insurance coverage to purchase - we are going to be doing the south pacific (Tahiti, Bora Bora, etc..) in Feb 2015. Of the plans I am considering one offers $250,000 or, for an additional insurance cost of $400 the coverage goes up to $500,000. Would $250,000 get a person back to the USA from Bora Bora?

You may want to consider looking into Medjetassist.com. We have a private membership for both of us and the cost is approx. $300/year for full coverage medical evacuation insurance. (I'm 62 and husband is 71) We also purchase trip insurance from various companies but that is for the other trip costs and we don't have to concern ourselves with the other details of policy differences for such medical coverage. The insurance kicks in if you are in a hospital anywhere in the world. They take over and get you to what hospital you want to go to at home. The trip coverage would then cover things like the ship doctor, dental visits etc so it might be worth looking at. If you need additional information, just let me know and I can send you a private message with more information.

Karen

I agree with you 100%. And I'm betting that after people cruise another line, they may not be back. We have cruised several other lines but when we want the long itineraries we sail HAL. I can see the difference on this board also. It's the same old, same old threads...wine, smoking, dress. Nothing ever seems new or exciting. I'm hoping that HAL gets it together. It seems like the food, menus and service have gone downhill in the dining room. We'll be on them for 49 days soon so we'll see. We tend to have a good time no matter what.

I agree with you but would like to offer an alternative view of why we have cruised on other lines and not HAL in the past..... Even though our preference is Oceania or Regent, we are giving HAL a first try for the 33 days around Australia next year. Our friends have reached a high status with HAL and convinced us that it's worth a try. Our only hesitation in the past has been the "formal nights". We prefer the much more relaxed "country club casual" that was offered on the other lines that we cruise on. We're not snobs. We just like the comfort of not dressing up that way. My husband wore a three piece suit most of his life and it's darn near impossible to get him to wear one now. My "skinny dresses" won't fit now either....(;-) We've been on Princess several times and Royal Caribbean once and it was the large crowds and unbelievable amount of kids onboard that turned us off as well as the dress up. We have fun no matter what we do so I'm sure that we won't be disappointed in HAL. Somehow, I'll get my DH to put on a tie - I've got a year to work on that one. We had the opportunity to tour one of the ships here in port in Seattle (since it's close to home) and thought it was a very nicely decorated ship with very good food. At the time, you had to be assigned seating for meals and that wasn't something we cared to get into after a horrible assignment when on RCL. So, I will board with no expectations and will no doubt be quite happy. I prefer to wake up with a smile and any day cruising gives me a huge grin.

Karen

Per your quote "Australian spelling lesson: There is no 'U' in Qantas Airlines.

Yes, Qantas really IS spelt like this." I never paid attention but would have failed this test for sure. This old dog (or middle aged dog) can truly learn new tricks. Thanks for the spelling lesson. I'll be going to Australia in a year and can't wait to try this out on our cruise mates....

Karen

This brought back very fond memories of our first time at the Sydney Cruise Terminal. We were on a back to back Oceania cruise from Auckland to Sydney and then Sydney to Bangkok. What an incredible trip and I loved Australia! I've always wanted to go back and Sydney is one of my favorites. This particular trip on HAL goes from Sydney to Sydney and hits many ports we've only heard about. From everything I've heard on this board, HAL will treat us right and we'll have a great time. Oh, and I can't wait to hold another Koala and pet another kangaroo!

Karen

We've booked the October 19th - Nov 21st 2015 cruise from Sydney to Sydney. We'll be on the Volendam. We're first time HAL cruisers but long time cruisers on Oceania and Regent.

Karen & George

Louise - I had a good laugh when you mentioned the cute little dogs..... We got off in one port and those cute little beagles were checking all of us and especially our bags while we waited in line. We had to place our bags on the floor by our side. The beagle came up to my tote bag and sat down. Oh, not good..... Anyway, I was asked to allow an inspection and of course I said yes. I had nothing in the bag other than a bottle of water and some tissues, lipstick and some other little things. That poor dog was sure I had something in there. After they removed everything and came up empty, they asked if food had ever been in the bag. As it happens, the day before at the pool while we had lunch, someone bumped my plate and a small piece of bacon from my burger fell into the bag. I immediately removed it and thought nothing of it until the poor dog was having a fit that they didn't find something. They allowed me to go on my way. I know my dogs have a "sniffer" that won't quit and I can hide a ball on the counter where they can't see it and they will lay right below the ball waiting for me to give in so a piece of bacon that was there for less than a minute in my bag shouldn't surprise me.

I think I'll call HAL and ask them what they suggest as far as timing. Thanks for the trip down memory lane. I would make a horrible smuggler. I can't lie without turning red. It would be my luck to end up in cuffs so I just follow the rules. It's much easier.....

Karen

Thanks to all of you. We're used to being able to disembark as early as we need to (on Regent and Oceania) in order to have the necessary time for travel to the airport and for the time we need at the airport. I had no idea if HAL would allow you to disembark after we cleared at the port or if there was some sort of queue we had to endure. We've been on ships where it was such a mess that we waited 4 hours to get off the ship. We almost missed our flight. I've heard such good things about HAL that this will be a new adventure trying out a new cruise line and learning about the ship. Happy Cruising to you all.

Karen

We are long time cruisers but have never been on HAL before. If we disembark in Sydney, what do you all feel would be the amount of time we need to allow for this process so we can make a flight the same day back to Seattle?

Karen

Jan, glad your so had fun on this trip. Maybe one day we'll meet up on another cruise. Glad the party went so well.

Karen & George

KathyPet,

I've never heard about the "fruit and rolls" thing for non concierge cabins. That seems strange to me but as I say, I don't know about it .....but I do know about booking tours and vans via the internet prior to departure. Even though I have one of the best travel agents around, I have booked vans and tours weeks in advance of departure and didn't have any problems. I logged into my account and was able to look at each option available and picked the ones we were sure we didn't want to miss. You pay for them as you book them but that's to be expected.

The tours for the "grand circle of the Mediterranean in April of 2010" haven't been posted yet but I'll be checking back as the date gets closer and book those that appeal to us.

If you still have problems, I suggest getting assistance from your TA.

Karen