OHCruiser

Thanks for bringing this situation to light.  We sail on Princess in August for the 1st time in years, and being forewarned about this will be forearmed.

We tend to buy basic FCDs near the end of a cruise, and we want nothing more.  This program sounds like just the kind of thing that people pay for and can never quite get the value out of it.

Here's a thread on it that's from 2/23: 

 Princess Promotions - Princess Cruises - Cruise Critic Community

We were on a 28 day cruise in March & we had towel animals nearly every day.  They were on the bed each evening when we returned from the early show.  Some were simple, some very elaborate.

In looking at the I cabins on the Rotterdam [cruisedeckplans.com, a small fee site], they are larger than the Js.  There's more room at the end of the bed & a large couch next to it.

We, too, feel that the I cabins are too small to be comfortable for 2 people--no couch, bed almost touches the TV wall, etc., but I'd book a J any time.  

Uhmmm, I think I can add to this mystery. 

We sailed on the same cruise--in a free interior--so we only paid port charges [$1530 ea.] .  Our onboard spend was less than $2K and that INCLUDED about $750 casino.  DH thinks we spent less than $750 on HAL excursions.

Our points are: 28 days + 20 onboard spend

I mean, isn't it $300 equals 1 day?  So, 20 days = $6K.  I know that we spent less $5K total.

I'm confused, but happy.  We're working toward 5* and this made quite a dent.

The very reason that we NEVER book 7 day cruises on ANY LINE anymore.  We also make note of SPRING BREAK and don't start a cruise between [usually] March 10 & April 10. 

We also avoid short cruises over summer vacation months.

We'd rather deal with walkers & scooters than kids.

We figure that the timing and economics of longer cruises are great screens for kids.

Our last cruise was 28 days to the Amazon & the one before that was 18 days to Hawaii.  Only kids on board were maybe 2 or 4 officers children--well behaved and unobtrusive.

Their website is a mess today.  I can't search ANY cruises for July 2025....

I was able to look at the 11 day cruise on a big box store site & could find lots of specific rooms to book...

No.  And, don't take one with you because they'll confiscate it & return it when you disembark.

The vaccine is a one and done, good for life, so if you have many years of travel ahead of you, it's a worthwhile investment.

In March of 2020, Covid was barely on the radar.  We flew to TX mid-month & decided to wear masks.  I was filmed & laughed at while boarding our plane having done so.  Almost NO ONE was doing anything about it, including world governments.

There were no vaccines & no treatments.

The idea that ANY cruise line should have/could have done anything to deal with it is so absurd.

In some ways, had it not been for the artificial environments of the cruise ships, the incredible contagious transmission & severity of infection may have taken much longer to understand.

After these ships were turned away from ports, or made to become quarantine site, how was Carnival responsible for care?

Does this judge think that on board sick bays were going to diagnose & treat an unknown illness?

Or, perhaps, they should have figured out how to develop a vaccine?

Ridiculous.

Thank you to all who've replied.  Sounds like I can be confident & not have to do laundry every day in the sink😁

I'll be testing it out next month on a round trip Hawaii cruise & report back.

Happy sailing, everyone!

We're headed on a 30 day cruise and plan to pack light. This means mostly "travel" clothes, pants & shirts made of polyester/nylon/spandex that are cold wash, low heat or line dry, and no ironing.  I often wash things out in the room & hang to dry, but I'd really like to send these out. 

We're 4* and get free laundry.  Seems sad to only use that perk for underwear & socks.

I'd love to hear from anyone who's had experience with the ship's laundry handling these specific types of clothing.  I know that we can put a note on the laundry list.  My concern is that if it's ignored or forgotten, we'll be out a lot of wardrobe & $$.

Any tips or suggestions would be much appreciated.

Thanks!

I got this message today using my Microsoft browser.  DH uses a different browser & things were fine, so I downloaded FireFox and was able to go into my HAL account, make a payment, buy transfers, etc.

Have I said lately that I DESPISE the HAL website????

I bring

1. a 10 ft. extension cord [no surge protection]

2. a short corded round "power strip" with 3 outlets & 3 usb ports

3.  a EU to US adapter so that I can use the EU outlets.

Never had any issue with them at check in.

Since they're in use primarily while we're asleep, I do remove them and put them in a drawer when we're not in the room.

I've sailed in that cabin & loved it.  I look for that type of cabin whenever we're on a port intensive sailing--all I do is sleep in it.

Thanks so much for posting this.  I'm so sorry for your loss.

I just told my husband that this is for me.  Take me to Alaska or off the coast of Ireland [I'm 75% Irish] and send me off at sunset.  I can't think of anything more comforting, respectful, & aligned with me.

I'd call again and ask for a table for 2 to be specified.  Another agent might be more helpful.  If not, yes, go to the main dining room when you get on board and ask for one so that you can have the same table & waiters each night.

We rarely eat in the dining room anymore--it's usually specialty dining or the Lido--but if we do go there, we've never had trouble getting a table for 2 last minute, but we do eat pretty early to get it out of the way so we can enjoy the evening.

I'm sure that you'll be able to share a table if you choose.

We always avoid them because we had times when a meal took over 90 minutes because of slow order taking, slow order delivering, and slow eaters who caused delays in putting in dessert orders.

We've met some nice people, but it's also caused us to miss shows & other timed events.  We don't really lounge over meals, so it's always a two top for us.

18 hours ago, toyotamom said:

We have done Alaska on the 3 lines you are thinking of.  The only one we would not consider doing again is HAL.  We did HAL twice thinking maybe the first time wasn't typical but the second time was the same.  It was a very stuffy feeling group on board.  The funny thing was both times we took it, it was because it was the cheapest.  But the passengers all acted like it was a country club, not the bargain cruise it was.   The people didn't have a reason to be uppity.  We are very laid back travelers and getting dressed up for meals isn't a vacation for us.  Unless HAL has changed they were very rigid about that.  We had a great time on both our Alaska cruises on Princess and have been numerous times on NCL and will be going again in July.  We will be traveling with family and friends on this one with passengers ranging from 21 months to 90 years old.  NCL has always been a pleasure no matter the age of the travelers.  I hope you have a wonderful time on the cruise you choose.

Well, we're, as some have said above, "young boomers"--66 & 67. 

Yes, HAL has changed. No more Gala nights.

At 4* Mariners, we just can't beat the fares, itineraries, loyalty benefits, service, & comfort.

We just dress the way we want, eat where we want, and don't worry about others.  

21 hours ago, Firehunter said:

 

 

Oh wow! Yes, we were considering the Sun over the Encore due to it's smaller size and extra 2 days. Did everyone's cruise end at that point?

Yep. Norwegian Cruise ship hits iceberg near Alaska, video shows (nypost.com)

We were actually on the NCL Sun, considered a smaller ship, in mid-May. That ship hit an iceberg in Alaska last year, was damaged, and limped back to Juneau.  It was a mess, so maybe the company or the park service is being more cautious this year?

HAL goes to Stehen's Passage, Hubbard Glacier, Glacier Bay, and Endicott Arm/Dawes glacier, depending on the itinerary.  The 7 day "7-Day Glacier Discovery Southbound" hits 2 of those.  You'd be sure to see something, I'd think.

I've cruised to Alaska on HAL, Princess, and now NCL.  I plan to go back and it WON'T be on NCL.

We had many issues on the NCL cruise that I've never experienced on HAL or Princess, but we were very disappointed in the way ports were handled. 

There were no talks about the ports other than shopping info [HAL often has history/nature talks]. 

NCL has a 30 year contract to dock 20 minutes away from downtown Ketchikan.  Shuttles are SCHOOL BUSSES.  I saw NO options for mobility impaired guests.  Once downtown, you...are...on...your...own to figure out the town operated shuttle.

Intense heat & melting is causing increased calving in Glacier Bay.  Our ship sailed in for about and 2 hours and then turned around and went out--too many "icebergs"...I don't see that improving much this summer, but I feel that on my HAL & Princess trips that conditions were similar and we were taken to the faces of glaciers without incident.

Other issues included a 3 hr. wait to board being held in a crowded, hot, unventilated area with no explanation ever, no fans or bed padding [the beds were rocks] available and unless USB powered guest supplied fans were confiscated, 2 bottles of wine confiscated rather than charged corkage and took 2 days to get it delivered to the room, ridiculously small buffet [The Garden Cafe] that offered repeat menus & barely cooked meats [had to request that truly bloody--not just rare--meat be put on the grill EVERY SINGLE TIME].  Not impressed.

There is no "enforcement". Clean & neat "resort casual" seems to fit the bill all of the time.

We no longer pack "dressy" clothes.  We don't enjoy dressing up & we don't want portraits.

We usually eat in the Lido--often the same food from the MDR served buffet style--and go to the show.

I'm over having other people care what I'm wearing.  I want to be comfortable when I'm on vacation.

On 5/22/2023 at 12:53 AM, insearchofsun said:

Mostly just looking for other’s experiences. Also folks should know that people are being told that everything is back to normal and that when one discloses Covid, there is nothing done to prevent spread.  No one wants to go back to early pandemic days, but I would expect them to treat it the way they do norovirus. 

I believe that you're correct. They simply no longer want to deal with it. 

I imagine that only if it begins to take out staff will they then begin to care at all.  Since staff is disposable, they can simply chuck them off the ship should they get very sick or develop long term Covid.

And, that is why we just returned from an 11 day NCL Alaska cruise that included wearing N95s at all times when in the indoor presence of others.  We know that people aren't testing, isolating, or telling, so we do what we can to protect ourselves. We do this on land and on planes, too.

I will say that we noticed that dining staff seemed to realize that our masks indicated that we wanted a table for 2 away from other tables, and that's what happened every time we ate indoors. 

We heard LOTS of rheumy coughing & sneezing around us, but we came through healthy--and we don't give a damn what others think about our choice to mask & isolate.😊

Those are "add on cabins" put up there a few years back. The balconies aren't deep, but they do accommodate 2 chairs.  

I personally like the location.  My only issue was with the HVAC when we were on a cruise during warm months in a warm location. 

The HVAC seems to be scavenged from other areas, so it was woefully inefficient--these cabins have nothing above them to insulate them from the sun. Combine that with the balcony doors and boy, did it get hot.  We had to put a note on the curtains so that the stewards never opened them.  Keeping it buttoned up and with the thermostat as low as it would go, we could only get it down to about 82 degrees at night.  I complained multiple times and they tried to fix it, but nothing worked.

I'd definitely book one of these rooms again, but only traveling during cooler months and to cooler destinations.

7 hours ago, Iamthesea said:

Biden may think that the epidemic is over, but some people are still getting very sick with it.  Just this past week, we had a local lawyer catch Covid and he had to be hospitalized.  Ended up losing a foot  and a few toes off his other side.

No, "Biden" doesn't think the epidemic is over. There are many different factors and agencies that have weighed in to make this decision.  It's not based on the opinion of one man.

The virus has essentially become endemic--regularly occurring--and because of mutations, like the common cold & the flu--it will continue to circulate indefinitely. 

So, the standard procedure, at this point, is to remove government from diagnosis/testing & treatment, and to handle it the same way the yearly influenza season is handled.  Testing, vaccines, and treatment costs will shift to individuals and insurance. 

We don't get flu shots, Tamiflu, or hospitalizations for flu, paid for by the government--sadly.  Now, if we could get universal healthcare............