Aulanis

I know this is an old thread but we just booked through an agent and there is nothing on the paperwork to indicate we have taken "select " other than a wodge of OBC 🙂 Consequently we do not know which ports might have shuttles. Should I be able to see this list somewhere other than having to make a dummy booking and then closing it?

Do you know anyone currently on the Arcadia? We are considering a Baltic cruise in June It is cheap 🙂 but having read the reviews from Christmas/New Year not so sure 😞 I was sure I posted in their roll call but perhaps it was a bit notPC anyway it has been deleted and oddly I have not had a warning. Maybe I forgot to press submit.LOL. I will maybe try again not that there are many on the roll call and not many posts at all.

There are quite a few in the main shopping area. We just call them Charity shops over here. So if you google charity shops in southampton you will get many hits and a googlemap comes up showing where they are. Dont get your hopes up for seeing much at North Cape we didnt go but last June it was cloudbound the "guides" were poor and people were just dumped there and picked up later. Many on the ship trip got refunds. We had the best view of it from a sail past when the ship left.

And I thought ours from P&O came through quick sent 2pm on 22nd Dec recd 12pm on 23rd. Rather better than the 2 weeks I spent arguing with Holland America in the US. ADD They also say as we booked via a TA I have to order a revised booking confirmation to see it?? Does it not appear anywhere else , In our account online? in the app?

I preferred the old ways for another reason IIRC ( that is getting more difficult) We used to book a cruise more often then not on the phone direct or via a TA. Main problem after that was what to pack, the TA or cruiseline used to do the necessary and send us boarding documents and Airline tickets and we just strolled up and presented these together with the passports. Now with all the benefits of electronic gadgetry I spend hours getting our documentation ready , praying the printer doesnt packup before its all done. I appreciate many will just save it all on their phone but what happens when some glitch makes it disappear. Getting an answer to a question is a nightmare - by the time it sometimes takes to get a reply I have forgotten what or why I asked. Our cruising has mainly been based on destination and we liked what was on board that was a bonus. Service levels also appear to have dropped lots of little things - no bed turndown, no chocolates, cabin staff servicing more cabins, No bar service , waiters desperate to get orders and manage the electronic ordering, ice no ice whats the difference, can you send a drink back if you really didnt want ice? Salad with cheese comes with no cheese at least 3 staff must have moved the order and no-one noticed. Vegetarian mains the size of a starter. Wine on the menu not available. Many drinks not available. They ask what type of meal service you prefer relaxed (slow) normal or fast. We normally eat early and try and get to the first show ( if its something we want to see) so we opt for fast. Go to eat and end up on a table for 8 with 3 couples who cant decide what to drink then when they do its not available . Oh and another thing all the cruise lines seem to have cut back on extras that they used to provide in loyalty schemes. Perhaps I am just not cut out for todays "big sell" cruising environment. Problem of course is what do we do instead. 🙂 These days with

That is rather why I asked which dock you were leaving from. See here https://www.cruisemapper.com/ports/southampton-port-115 scroll down to the map this will give you an idea of the problem - there are 4 cruise terminals. Some can take more than one ship if you click on "Schedule" it has the dates in Aug 2023 when Disney ships are in but they may not have allocated a berth yet. Aug 19 4 Ships showing so busy Aug 26 3ships. Berths can change anyway and you may depart from one and return to another. Maybe open a googlemap of the area and see where the hotels are. We have stayed at the Moxy @John Bull mentioned and it was good and we walked to the QE11 terminal from there. ( It is a Marriott Hotel and I am not sure if their points interchange with Hiltons)

Which dock are you sailing from? on cruise days southampton can be chaotic last twice we have been we walked to the ship 2 of the 3 docks are quite a hike One you can get a bus near to but its still some way. Taxis are queueing for ages.

LOL I have always read the instructions incorrectly!!! "(for example, photocopy of shareholder proxy card, a dividend tax voucher or a current brokerage or nominee statement with your current mailing address and your brokerage account number blacked out)" I think it is because it is such a long statement I stop to breathe (for example, photocopy of shareholder proxy card, a dividend tax voucher or a current brokerage or nominee statement with your current mailing address ....Breathe...... and your brokerage account number blacked out) Not that I see the problem with leaving your address on? I have seen posts where people have sent them in the week before and had a reply by return and some where they sent them in weeks before and didnt get a reply before they left home but took the proof with them that they had applied and got it whilst on board. I think they just want to keep the applications spread over as long as possible as they wont want to be swamped though I imagine it will be pretty much the same year round. Anyway when they got a bit stroppy with my application at HAL it did occur to me the exercise is very open to abuse as I could have bought shares 4 weeks before sailing , applied and got OBC then sold them before going on the cruise?

Thats an interesting point, we wouldnt normally leave a booking that late but good to know if we did.

Ok I have been ok with princess sending photocopy of my share certificate and a screenshot of my holding using Shareview at Equiniti who are the UK registrars of Carnival PLC . I used to have the shares held by equiniti but got a certificate when they started charging something ridiculous for an electronic entry. Is it not possible to log into HL. and get a print of something showing name address and shareholding dated recently?

Who are H&L......... TAs?

Hi More dining info required. It is many years since we sailed with HAL and on Princess we always choose Any Time Dining. Since medallion we have been able to book different times in different restaurant each day if we wanted on the medallion app. HAL seems to have "As You Wish Dining" but in some places it suggests you have to request this when booking the cruise. We are in the UK and our TA didnt ask us. Our itinerary show blank for dining times. Havent spotted anything on Navigator or on our On Line booking info though I may have missed it ( not the easiest site to find anything) We are on Volendam Amazon cruise So questions are: 1 Do you have to specify this when booking the ruise? 2 Can it be amended when on board? 3 Can you book days in advance on Navigator or on the TV once on board or do you just have to turn up when you want ( not usually a good idea) Unrelated question Are we supposed to be able to see shareholders on board credit credits on our account now or only when we board. They say it has been allocated. TIA

Success - sent a long explanation as to why nothing they ask for as proof of ownership is available and including the definition of a share certificate as proof of ownership in the uk) and they have said we will be credited upon boarding??? It doesnt appear to show anywhere will be taking copy cert and copy of their email;

??????? did you mean to start posting something? perhaps in your roll call?

Anyone had any problems recently in getting shareholder benefit OBC from HAL. We have not been with HAL for years but are going next month. Having had several cruises with Princess since Carnival stopped paying dividends I sent the same docs ( copy Share Cert and Equiniti page showing my holding at that date) and having had no problem getting the OBC I was surprised when HAL said it wasnt enough. Not sure when a share certificate wasnt proof you own shares? none of the things they ask for are relevant in todays doitonline paperless society so I am a bit stuck. A paper dividend counterfoil was always good but whats a dividend???? LOL

I am currently having a spat with HAL they come across as being pretty useless on many levels. 13 September I sent off the only documentation I have for shares I bought when they were cheap at £30!!!!! . I have used the same documentation for many cruises since they stopped paying dividends, a copy of the share certificate and a copy showing my holding as at the date I send it. These are of course UK shares in Carnival plc which are registered a UK registrar Equiniti. Granted we have not cruised with HAL for some time but many times with Princess. Our TA has sent off to HAL but has indicated even they have to wait 2 weeks or so for a reply. Any UK folks reading this ? have you had any problems? Some have posted you can get the credit added on board I hope that is the case. as it looks as if that will be what I am doing.

Well i think it is ridiculous that staff should not wear masks! We will definitely be wearing them on our next HAL Cruise - to protect the staff? I would like to know who decides these things? I enquired what they think the benefit is in insisting on MEDICALLY SUPERVISED tests as against say a picture of one we can do ourselves £1.5 as against £30. I have asked HAL but they didnt reply - I have asked again today.

I am currently having a spat with Holland America. I sent them what I always send to Princess UK ever since they stopped sending dividends. (Copy share certificate , holders number blanked and copy page from equinity) and they said it was not enough. Lucky i sent it early. I have gone back and said there is nothing else I have and copied in Beth Roberts SVP Investor Relations, so waiting to see what happens. On another tack they are still asking for Medically observed Covid tests. so £30pp as against ~£1.50pp I have asked them why but no reply.

Depending on timing you might want to consider a coach. See here: https://www.nationalexpress.com/en/destinations/bath/heathrow-to-bath?gclid=CjwKCAjwg5uZBhATEiwAhhRLHoabRZ9NnD91sc44fhHLGGL563UpPqRW_cc7wUW6i6wYCz5KJIMQaRoCjfQQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

What questions did you have? Is it mainly about the ship or cruising from Dover?

We are on the Volendam in November FFL to Manaus. It is on the Extended list so testing is require. I dont mind testing ( no way would I fly to the US or anywhere else without taking a test before we leave home ) but recently many lines have changed their protocols to self testing without medical observation. Our last cruise was 16 days on Island Princess and we just tested ourselves. They said confirmation was not required but we took Pics of the tests in case they changed their minds. This saves us £60 so I have asked HAL how is it that other Carnival group lines trust us to do our own tests and they dont. Also the suggested reason it might be needed is for cruises 16 days + is a pointless exercise if you dont have to test for a 7,8,9,10;12,15 day cruise what benefit is there in testing for a 16 day+ one? You can test negative on sailday - 3 and be a carrier/spreader by sailday+2 let alone 16+ . The transit to a cruise dock Train Bus Plane Airport Hotel are ideal places to pick up Covid .

Hi, anyone in the uk had such a refund recently? I have been reading posts of US members who suggest that they get a cheque for these refunds rather than a credit to their creditcard. As someone said a dollar cheque is a pain in the UK. Someone else said they had to pursue repayment through Princess UK I did ask onboard if we had to spend it and the answer was no it would be credited to the card registered. UK to UK cruise. It has only been a week so not done anything yet other than check my CC account. Closing statement says "referred to corporate" which is what others have said. If anyone has received a refund how long did it take, and did you get a CC Credit or a cheque Was the cheque in £££s? TIA

@babs135 Has there been any update on this? if someone took the wrong bag in error there should at the end of the day been a bag left over.

Hi John Yes I had discovered that whilst on board ;my original query was for a cruise back in june. AS it happens it was hilarious it was on a fated Sky cruise that left soton with one generator not working so could not reach full speed. We were late getting to the first port. Another port they changed the route making us late as they discovered the ship was Too Big to follow the planned route. To crown it all the return date was the day of the annual regatta in Soton. To get into port we had to be there by 5am or after 11am. Not sure why but we didnt leave Bergen any earlier and being unable to reach top speed failed to get home by 5am so any plans for debarking earlier were up /down the Swanny. Whilst we were off and missed it the Fire alarm was set off in the luggage collection area causing further delays. Fortunately for us {Really} it was also the day of a major rail strike so we could get any train on any company going vaguely in the direction of home.

EDIT too late so new post https://www.celebritycruises.com/gb/healthy-at-sea/southampton-travel-requirements Looks like celebrity are totally different to Princess - No booster Reqd BUT test within 2 Days.!!! So maybe test at home town early am then train or whatever to Soton, Hotel , Board next day.. or get a test at lloyds in Soton ( better check if they still do them) stopped for a while on cruise days.