LAFFNVEGAS

It has been my experience in the past 12 months that it is taking HAL longer to give hotel options.They have been showing up between 5 and 7 months out instead of 9 to 10 months out. If you are flying into FLL or MIA getting HAL hotel is good because not only do the take you to the pier on embarkation but they will pick you up from either airport. For me it was great having a HAL Rep there and then we had a Private car transfer it was actually quite nice. The hotel we were placed in by HAL was Renaissance Fort Lauderdale - Plantation. We went out to dinner by getting a Lyft that only cost $5.00 and went to J. Alexander's that was near by. For breakfast there was a fairly good buffet with typical hotel breakfast food offered but the coffee was very good.We did not think breakfast was included we charged our buffet breakfast, a few days after we got home from the cruise the hotel refunded the charge to our credit card minus the amount I tipped So guess breakfast was included..

Excellent Web Cam viewing tonight and seeing the Sails going up.

Web Cam is giving us a nice zoom in of Wind Surf for Sail Away

I sent a message but did not think it went through but it did, or at least they just zoomed into Wind Surf, she looks pretty with the sun shining on her in the late afternoon sun.

Just call into Holland America normal Customer Service, they will still assist event hough you have a HAL PCC, they will apply it for you.

A beautiful day in Sint Maarten today, Wind Surf is alone today so doubtful the the Web Cam Operator will zoom in but will try to send them a message again.

I think it is more that you see very few kids and they do not really cater to kids.

Windstar Cruises ranked number one for Best Boutique Cruise Line and Wind Spirit was voted Best Adult Only Cruise. And in a Very Large category of all cruise lines Windstar came in number 3 for Best Ocean Cruise Line. These are some pretty good numbers for Windstar. https://10best.usatoday.com/interests/explore/best-cruise-ship-cruise-line-2024/

USA Today has done their yearly Best of Cruise categories and Eurodam came in Number one for Best Alaska Cruise. https://10best.usatoday.com/awards/travel/best-alaska-cruise-2024/ Holland America also had some other mentions in other categories https://10best.usatoday.com/interests/explore/best-cruise-ship-cruise-line-2024/

Bon Voyage!!! Wishing you an amazing cruise!!

I have done 2 Japan Cruises 2017 and 2019 both on Diamond and totally agree that Princess and the Diamond Princess definitely know Japan and you will get a more Japanese feel. Princess tends to know the various regulations and rules and can change in Japan and things tend to go a lot smoother. But with that being said the itinerary for Diamond is not very good and the Celebrity itinerary is definitely much better.

While I do not know for sure but I am guessing not, I am noticing that the ships are selling out prior to the sail date. There might be an odd itinerary that may just have an opening but it appears in very recent times WS is not having problems selling out their inventory in advance.

Yes, it is at Holland House. They actually have an excellent web cam with great zoom on the camera but that needs to be done by the operator of the web cam.

It was a very beautiful day in St Maarten, not at all windy or overcast. Guessing the web cam operator was not watching the web cam today because it never zoomed in even for sail away for Anthem of the Seas and at their Sail Away there was over 40 viewers. So not expecting them to zoom in for Wind Surf in about an hour. The sun is shining on Wind Surf and looks like the aft is probably enjoying a nice sunset.

There normally is a process that need to be done but it is totally up to the Traveler to advise the airline. I have to admit the way it was described there would not be any North American Airline that would be that strict when when it comes to airlines outside North America rules do change. Although based on what is being written they may have done what they were suppose to do. This is where Travel Insurance would be extremely important.

Did you have Travel Protection Insurance? If you had HAL's Platinum Insurance this would have been covered and refunded at 90% no questions asked. If you had another travel Insurance I would certainly be looking into filing with them.

Thanks Roy!! I knew someone here would know an answer. It just shocked me since I have never seen an itinerary like this.

I was looking at The Ritz Carlton Yacht Collection for the fun of it, talk about crazy high prices but I saw an itinerary that makes no sense to me. Since it has been many months since anyone has even bothered to post in the CC Ritz Carlton board, I thought I would ask my friends here how this cruise is even possible. It is a 7 day cruise that starts in San Juan PR and ends in Ft Lauderdale??? November 20 2024 San Juan, Puerto Rico November 21 2024 Virgin Gorda, BVI November 22 2024 Sailing Time November 23 2024 Grand Turk, Turks and Caicos November 24 2024 San Salvador, Bahamas November 25 2024 Cape Eleuthera, Bahamas November 26 2024 Bimini, Bahamas November 27 2024 Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA Last I knew San Juan was considered US and was not a distant foreign port to not have a problem with the PSVA Passenger Vessel Services Act They are selling their smallest Suite for $6900 per person plus port taxes of $253 but if you want to splurge their Owners Suite is just $46,700.00 pp for this 7 day cruise. This is on their newest yacht coming out this year called Ilma.

Kathi, that is wonderful news, I am so glad to hear it!! I am sure a cruise will be just what you need. Hopefully your stamina will improve to help with standing and walking.

No, that is definitely something new. Out of the last 3 HAL cruises 2 both when in a Neptune Suite we have been given about 2nd or 3rd day in a Gift Certificate to spend in Effy. The first one was for $500 and the second was for $300. We were not given one when we booked a regular balcony despite having previously purchased Effy when we got the $500 on board credit for them. I do have several Effy pieces and do not mind purchasing when I have a whole lot of SBC from HAL, when I have that and the $500 from them and then my bottom line is only about $250 I consider it a win. But with that being said I honestly would not pre buy $1700.00 or $1500. I see it is fully refundable but just not sure I would do it. Some of the Effy shops will work with you on pricing especially toward the end of the cruise 😉

@albingirl Thanks for your review. We love NCL and HAL each for different reasons. I think a lot depends on your cruising style and where you like to hang out. I will admit for the most part we do book The Haven. With that concept you have the best of both worlds. Lots of quiet places to relax, but yet you have the whole ship to see great entertainment and be out and about.Tom loves their buffet because they are open a lot longer and more hours than HAL and is actually very good. We love breakfast in the Haven Restaurant far better than Club Orange. We also love restaurants on board such as Le Bistro, Onda (but that is currently only on 3 ships) Ocean Blue and Q Texas BBQ are our favorites. We generally only eat night time dining 2 to 3 times in the Haven restaurant because we very much enjoy the specialty restaurants. I know it can get crowded and noisy on NCL but to be honest we just stay away from it. NCL tends to have a bigger variance of ages on board and everyone is friendly. To me it is kind of crazy I have never seen so many people chat with each other in the elevators like I do on NCL. People tend to not talk much on HAL to others in elevators (Princess is even worse) but on NCL everyone is happy and saying Hi to everyone. I find it kind of refreshing. If penny for penny was equal in comparing The Haven to Neptune Suite, I would probably never return to HAL but in my experience in the past few years since the return to cruising from the pause The Haven even in the lowest category for same cruise HAL offers is considerably more money. On more expensive cruises with HAL I can at least get a Signature Suite that gives me more real estate. Since we want to cruise more rather than less I need to look at the bottom line. We do have 2 upcoming NCL Cruises in the Haven for 2024 then next one is mid April. But I also have 3 HAL cruises booked one for 2024 and 2 for 2025. For the time being we are just going to split it up between the two.

Unfortunately the cam operator was MIA tonight but she is on the move for Sail Away

Hoping the web cam operator will zoom in soon to watch Wind Surf Sail Away which hopefully will be in about 20 minutes. Just 5 weeks till be will be on board 😄

We got out 21 points as well but we had already hit 5 Star in November and it was quick and applied for our December cruise. I certainly can sympathize with those moving to the next level with a cruise coming up very soon. It appears HAL has gotten it fixed.

Sails are up and she is on her way for the Classic Caribbean itinerary.