Ken the cruiser

Thanks! Were there any lectures and/or port talks given on sea days?

When I run into that issue, I go back into the photo gallery on my iPad where I loaded them from, go into "crop" mode, spin each applicable photo at least 3-4 times, then save them again. Usually, the next time I upload the photo(s) into my CC post, the photo(s) are upright.

Thanks! I thought it might. That's the main reason why we booked the "cheaper" Sky Suite with Veranda cabin.

Quick question. Do you remember if the AC turned off when you opened the Infinite Veranda window in your cabin like it does on the Edge class ships?

Inquiring minds, at least my DW and myself, would like to know, if you are willing to share, just exactly what happened after the StockPerks app launched your brokerage account's login procedure?

Possibly. Maybe in the breakfast buffet line on the 9th, as we will be getting ready for our Quito excursion, and you'll probably be getting ready for your flight to Baltra. @mahdnc, you are going to have such an awesome time!! There is just so much wildlife to see there, both flora and fauna!! I still remember back in 2015 when we did the Southern Loop on the Xpedition and stopped at Espanola Island where we hiked over to a spot to watch the albatross fly around and then try to "gracefully" land near their nests, and a Galapagos mockingbird landed on my hat! Get ready to have a great time!!

We'll be flying into Quito on Dec 8 to start our Galapagos adventure on the Flora. Here's hoping you have a wonderful time and create a bunch of memories that will last a lifetime!!

According to the X website it is, even for us in the cheapest Flora sky suite with veranda cabin. Celebrity Flora Sky Suite with Veranda - Cruise Ship Suite on Celebrity Cruises

We just got confirmation emails from StockPerks that both of our SOBC requests were added to our bookings, of which we subsequently confirmed after logging onto our accounts. Yay!!

From what I can tell on the X website, if you are on the Xpedition and are in a Junior Suite or higher, you get 2 bags of laundry. Celebrity Xpedition: Deck Plan & Amenities | Celebrity Cruises

I’ve also learned that keeping up with each cruise line’s booking “rules of engagement” is also very important and are sometimes drastically different between cruise lines. That is another thing that attracted us to HAL. Some of those new booking perks include booking within 90 days of an itinerary becoming available and booking more than a year out provides additional HIA early booking perks. Then there is the new Military OBC perk along with the AARP membership perk. Then on top of that there are the AARP 10% discounted gift cards. Am I missing anything? BTW none of these that I’m aware of were available prior to the pandemic, with some only recently appearing.

Thanks, and that's OK too. We're still looking forward to what the Eurodam has to offer on our 21-day PC cruise in 2025. One thing we definitely learned from our 38-day NCL Africa cruise last year was that we need to treat every cruise as if it was the first time with that particular line and not judge them based on what we take for granted on other cruise lines OR even on the same cruise line prior to the pandemic. But I will say the overall cost for a HAL cruise, if you book early enough, is definitely less expensive overall than they were on average 5+ years ago when we stopped booking with them! For example, our upcoming HAL aft-facing veranda cabin on the PC cruise, with the HIA Early Booking bonus, was $254 (gross) or $149 (net) per person per day, with "net" meaning minus the HAL provided OBC, TA booking discount, and $60 pp/day for the HIA option. That definitely wasn't the case regarding cruise fares back in 2018 and IS the main reason we're giving HAL another try. So if their evening entertainment is not what we have come to expect on the other cruise lines, that's OK. Just like with NCL, we will adjust and appreciate the entertainment options HAL does provide and form our opinions at that time. My guess is we're going to have a great time, as the itinerary is also something we are very much looking forward to!! 😀

If I might ask as we are looking forward to cruising with HAL again starting in April 2025. For those that have cruised on any HAL ship in the last year or so, do they offer some sort of entertainment in the main theater every night? It’s OK if there aren’t any production shows, but at least some sort of entertainment every night that we can sit and watch? Also, is there usually a fun game show every night? We enjoy doing these two things in the evening on the others lines we cruise with as well as on HAL when we used to cruise with them from 2012 - 2019.

I would imagine the benefits will stay the same as they have every year. The date should change to sometime in 2025 once Carnival has their annual shareholder meeting early next year.

If you click on Carnival Corp and then Holland America, you should be able to click on the Redeem Perk option if your brokerage statement has already been approved/verified by StockPerks.

Pretty cool!! You definitely have the knack for taking awesome pictures!!

Tomorrow is the big day for us too. We applied last Thursday for SOBC to be reinstated on two of our bookings, one for this coming January and one in July. We originally had the SOBC applied to both of them. But it was eliminated when we refared each of them after the No MOBC-SOBC policy was implemented June 29. We're hoping that we will be able to have the SOBC put back on both of the bookings since that policy was later rescinded (according to what we read here on CC). 🤞

Use the Alinea option and StockPerks won't have any access to your brokerage accounts.

As @azbirdmom mentioned above, you can use the StockPerks Alinea option rather than the “default” Plaid option, to avoid logging onto your brokerage account, to manually upload your applicable brokerage information.

A Reserved mini-suite or above (i.e., suites) is our minimum when booking a Princess cruise. The bottom line is you simply get spoiled eating in the Reserve dining room. No reservations required, you get the same table every time with the same wait staff, or one nearby depending on what time you arrive, and the meals are always hot and tasty. In addition, when it's just us 2 we're usually finished eating dinner in about an hour or less, which gives us plenty of time to get to the early theater show.

Wow @Norwaylady!! I'm so sorry to hear your transition to your first Sky Suite didn't go as smoothly as you were hoping. Here's hoping it gets better from here on out. I do have a couple questions though. From what I have been reading, the "new" sky suite steward now has to double as the "butler" for all of their assigned SS cabins. If this is true, could this additional duty be causing him to periodically be detained elsewhere to perform "butler" service for a few of his "more demanding" SS guests, which is inadvertently causing your long wait times to have your cabin serviced? Hopefully not, but I was just curious. My other question refers to the internet service on your SS balcony when the sliding balcony door is completely closed. When we were in an Edge SS on the port side back in Aug 2021, the internet service on our balcony was nonexistent until I cracked the sliding door open 3-4", which unfortunately also cuts off the AC in the cabin. I would periodically have to close the door as it would get a little toasty for my DW inside the cabin as we were in the Caribbean. Is that still the case? In any event, here's hoping all gets smoothed out from here on and you have a great cruise!!

Yes. Just like we do when we use to email it to Princess.

FWIW when I registered last week on StockPerks, all I provided was my First and Last Name and my email address. I left all of the other profile information entries blank.

If you look in my expanded signature, I’ve posted to some Princess Live From threads since cruising started back up. Maybe they can offer some insight on what you might find. But I will also note we usually book a Reserve Collection mini-suite or higher so we can dine in the Reserve dining room.

We’ll be on the Flora early next month and I’ll be doing one.