Ken the cruiser

I thought Guarantee Cabin bookings come with a nonrefundable deposit? If this is the case, does HAL even allow a booking with a nonrefundable deposit to be refared? I know back in 2019 they didn’t when we couldn’t take advantage of a $3500 drop in price of our VS cabin category on our 30-day cruise prior to FP.

Thanks for posting this @mahdnc! Just saw them on our June Eclipse cruise and will be refaring quite a few tomorrow morning! 😁

9 minutes ago, Quartzsite Cruiser said:

To really see the very far north and come close to the polar ice cap, you should do the cruise that includes Spitzbergen.  They used to do it once a year in late July or early August.

We agree! We’ve got an Aug 2025 cruise booked with Viking that spends a couple of days there. Here’s a list of the various cruise lines that still visit Longyearbyen and Svalbard, Norway.

 
https://www.cruisemapper.com/ports/longyearbyen-port-897

We’re also booked on the June 2025 British Isles cruise on the Eclipse and suggest you book one of the aft-facing cabins that are still available before they’re all gone. We were also on the Eclipse in the Spring of 2023 on a transpacific cruise for 33-days and had an awesome time and posted some of our experiences both on and off the ship in a Live From thread that’s included in my below signature area.

BTW I just checked and the Concierge Sunset Veranda is about $300 pp cheaper than a regular Sunset Veranda on the June 4 cruise! 😱
 

Looking forward to following along on your adventures on the Zuiderdam. Thanks for taking the time to share them with us! 😁

49 minutes ago, whogo said:

I don't see why it matters whether a blogger posts here or elsewhere.

 

Jeff will be posting about his Holland America cruises from November 2, 2024 to May 3, 2025 and from September 21, 2025 until May 17, 2026. https://amazingvoyages2.blogspot.com/2024/08/planning-for-future.html

 

I would bet that the long Holland America voyages starting in January will have a number of bloggers.

 

I spent more time than I should have reading last year's world cruise blogs, here, elsewhere, Holland America and other cruise lines.

It doesn't. Folks can choose to post their cruise experiences, if they so desire, whenever and wherever they choose. That's up to them. But being someone that does post to them quite frequently on various CC forums, I was just curious why there weren't very many on the HAL forum when compared to others, such as the Celebrity, Princess, and NCL forums to name a few.

For me regarding my search for Live From threads, I was just trying to get some "real time" insight as to what cruising is currently like on a HAL cruise, especially now that they are starting to bring back the singers and dancers as well as the production shows and noticed Live From threads were slim pickings on the HAL forum.

18 minutes ago, canadarocks said:

Great attitude! I sincerely hope you have an awesome time! 😁

Thanks! I’m sure we will, especially since we’ll be going through the locks in an aft-facing cabin and stopping at ports where there is an abundance of wildlife to enjoy watching them do their thing. 😁

1 hour ago, canadarocks said:

Ken, not to burst your bubble… Hopefully things have changed. We spent 20 days on the Eurodam earlier this year after 30 days on the Emerald Princess. Comedy and Game shows are not Holland America’s thing. While we LOVED Simon (the entertainment host- who literally did EVERYTHING)! He was literally one compared to the seven we had on Princess. We’re 4* on HAL but I doubt we’ll be back. ☹️

You haven’t. 😁  One thing among many we learned when we went on our 38-day Middle East/Africa B2B on the NCL Jade back in the fall of 2022 is not to judge a cruise line based on experiences from other cruise lines. I mean who knew NCL would not allow us to use the nonrefundable OBC we got from our TA to help pay the $20/day/person gratuity charge, or that bottled water wasn’t included in the FAS beverage package, or that NCL never offers any port talks or lectures on sea days! 😱

However, once we stopped comparing and started appreciating how cheap our cruise fare was for our aft-facing Club Balcony, we started having a great time! Heck, Cowboy Dave, who worked for the Entertainment section and a school teacher back home, even started developing lectures that he would give to a packed theater on sea days! Something that is normally unheard of on an NCL cruise! 😂
 

As far as HAL goes, we are also 4*, but moved on to other cruise lines back in 2019 when they implemented the Music Walk entertainment strategy along with partnering with a variety of odd vendors, to include selling timeshares, bamboo products, and other weird stuff. Of course, that was on top of having to listen to music from the Frank Sinatra and Big Band era.

But on a more positive note, @0106 is currently on the Rotterdam and is posting to a Live From thread where she uploaded a couple of Daily Programs the other day where we saw a trivia being held in the Billboard Onboard lounge, followed by the Majority Rules game show in BB King’s Blues Club, and then a show in the theater, all on the same night! That’s all we needed to see to start getting excited about our cruise! However, port talks and maybe a lecture or two would also be nice, especially since we’ll be on a 22-day Panama Canal cruise.
 

We’re really not that hard to please, especially now that HAL has dropped their prices and offer all kinds of booking perks! 😂
 

One reason I was looking for HAL Live From threads is because we want to start getting excited about going on our April 2025 Panama Canal cruise on the Eurodam. We’ve heard about production shows coming back along with the singers and dancers, and Live From threads have a way of highlighting their quality. We like to go to comedy and game shows and good Live From threads have a way of making its followers aware of their quality. But maybe it’s just wishful thinking. 
 

Have a wonderful cruise and here's hoping you'll see some Northern Lights on your adventure as the skies have definitely been receptive to them this season.

Aurora Dashboard (Experimental) | NOAA / NWS Space Weather Prediction Center

Here's a suggestion, if you haven't already done this, just to see how much OBC you actually have left at this point in time to prebook excursions. Basically, start the process to book an expensive excursion. Then go to the Cart to start the process to pay for it. If you have any OBC left, it will show up, as it did for us in the below example. I also used my DW just to make sure how much each of us have left.

Then once you have determined if you have any OBC left, go back and Remove the applicable excursions from the Cart so you don't inadvertently wind up booking them. Again, this is just a suggestion.

In our case we’re in our early 70s, fully retired, and most importantly have become cruiseaholics that enjoy cruising to various parts of the world before we get too old to enjoy it.

At the same time during the pandemic, I “met” some awesome folks on CC that helped us make it through those tough “dry dock” times and wanted to give back by posting to a Live From thread on our first cruise back in August 2021 on the Celebrity Edge, along with of course sharing our first cruising experiences with our family members back home.
 

We had so much fun posting to that first Live From thread, we have continued to post to them ever since. It’s amazing how much more fulfilling our cruises have become by doing them, especially when it comes to noticing some of the wildlife we might otherwise overlook along the way! 😁

48 minutes ago, 0106 said:

I have the premium wifi that came with the early booking bonus.  
 

One important point, I had trouble posting with the Surf package in some challenging locations: transatlantic and Antarctica.  
 

Also, I was having trouble uploading multiple pictures at the same time on this cruise. I learned that if I select one photo at a time to upload, it works better.

Good to know. BTW if you are ever curious what your upload/download internet speeds are as well as who your satellite provider is, this is the link I use. 

https://www.speedtest.net/

Just click on “Continue on the Web” at the bottom of the page if you don’t want to upload the app. 
 

On 8/10/2024 at 8:06 PM, 0106 said:

I had difficulty posting pictures on my TA on the Rotterdam last October and my SA & Antarctica cruise on the Oosterdam in February.  I had the best luck before I went to bed or as soon as I got up.  I was never able to successful load brief videos shot with my iPhone with the internet included with the HIA package.

 

You have motivated me to do another Live thread from my Best of Norway cruise.  My first post will be in less than a week.😉

We have been following along and are enjoying your posts on your Live From thread. If I might ask, are you posting your photos and text to your CC thread using the Premium Wi-Fi package you possibly received with the HIA Early Booking Bonus package, or the Surf Wi-Fi package you get with the basic HIA offering?

The reason I ask is because our cabin category for our 22-day Eurodam cruise just dropped $350 per person, probably because they eliminated the optional HIA Early Booking bonus perks, such as the Wi-Fi package being reduced to the Surf option which doesn't sound all that inclusive. 

Wi-Fi Surf Package definition - Stay connected throughout your journey. Surf the web, use social media, check email and send messages to friends and family.

Since we really don't want to upgrade again to the Premium Wi-Fi package once we board the ship because I can't post to my CC Live From thread and my DW can't access the multi-level websites she visits, we're just curious which Wi-Fi service you are using on your Rotterdam cruise? Our inclination is to just keep what we have as we still got our cabin for a very reasonable rate.

5 minutes ago, millybess said:

Yes, you can't make reservations at the restaurant and it opens at 6pm.  However, at times, we have seen the line up to get into the MDR at 6:00 is backed up to the elevator. We also like to dine around 6:00, depending on sail away time because we like to watch that.  So if dining around 6:00 is important to you, I would suggest that if you want to dine in the MDR, be there about 20 minutes early.

Thanks! Good to know! 

13 minutes ago, millybess said:

We like being able to book the excursions so much earlier than before.  For us, it's a head start on the excitement of the cruise.  After that, we're done -- other than final payment.  We don't usually bother with the dining reservations anymore because we find them very easy to reserve once on board.  Enjoy your cruise!!  

Us too and will probably book the free ones as well as those special ones for a fee that catch our eye as soon as we can. But since my DW needs to eat early, we’ll also book our SD reservations as early as we can. However, our understanding is that dinner in the main dining room is “anytime dining” and opens at 6 pm. Is that correct?

5 minutes ago, millybess said:

Yes, the dates you listed are the new earlier dates.

Just making sure. 😁

1 hour ago, CCWineLover said:

Yes - it is listed in payments and cart section.

As I stated, sometimes our OBC is there ahead of excursion booking but now that excursion booking is much earlier, I have not seen it there til closer to sailing.  I always check.  Once it was not there a few days ahead, so had to call TA and it turns out they had somehow neglected to post it to Viking.  Glad I asked.

You mentioned that excursion booking is much earlier now. It’s our understanding  these are the various start dates one can book excursions based on cabin category. Are these the “new” earlier booking start times you are referring to?

11 minutes ago, CDNPolar said:

 

 

I have done some digging on this.

 

TA's are actually "gifting" the OBC to you as their client.  They go through a process of paying for and applying a gift to your account, and Viking have limits on how much they can give depending on the length of the cruise.

 

The TA can choose to have it show on your invoice and be used prior to sailing, but as "gifts" often do, they don't show until you board the ship and show on your account then.

 

The standard - I believe - is that it shows when you board, and the TA has to ask for it to be on the invoice as a SBC and to be used in advance.

 

I think however in Clay's situation, it was there, so Viking applied it once everything flowed through their financial system.

 

Often TA's will not apply until close to sailing, because this is a payment that they have to make when they attach it to your account.  So, if you book 18 months out, for it to show on your invoice from the beginning they have to pay for that 18 months out.  This is why often a TA's OBC may not show until closer to sailing because they don't want to be out of pocket for months at a time.  

That makes a lot of sense as well. Thanks!

It's fascinating how each cruise line we sail with has their own unique "read between the lines" game they play when it comes to folks preparing for their upcoming cruise experience. Part of the fun for us being cruiseaholics is keeping up with the continuously evolving rules.

However, I must say we have been quite impressed with Viking's open approach so far and can see why a lot of folks speak so highly of them. For example, we have found the MVJ to be quite useful when completing a variety of pre-cruise documentation requirements as well as providing an exact date/time when we can start booking excursions or making dining reservations.

Plus they have some pretty cool itineraries as well! 😀

43 minutes ago, Clay Clayton said:

Ours used to not show up until after we boarded, but on our last two cruises it was in our MVJ account a month or two before embarking even though we couldn’t see it. We booked some optional excursions using a credit card on the first day our window opened. A month or so later, I had a credit from Viking appear on my statement. After digging into it, discovered that they used the credit from the travel agent to pay for the excursion. 
 

I’ve learned that Viking’s financial systems make little or no sense so hard to say what you may experience.  

Thanks! Our plan is to ask our TA after the final payment date has passed, if they might be able to post the OBC as early as possible so we might be able to apply the potential excess OBC after gratuities to the cost of an excursion. It can't hurt to ask anyway.

35 minutes ago, CCWineLover said:

Good question.  As explained before the excursions have to be "paid" when you reserve/put them in your cart, in order to truly "have" them reserved.   Yes this can be 4-5 months in advance (the length was just extended an extra month or so).  That can indeed mean paying by credit card way ahead of time.  It is what it is.

 

Some travel agents will send their OBC to Viking way in advance for "deposit".  If this is done before you book excursions, you use that OBC.  If not then you have that OBC for other things.  That is one reason we never pre-pay gratuities, as we always want to have something "due" to put unused OBC against.

 

Hope this makes sense.

It makes perfect sense. Thanks! Plus doing the daily gratuities math, the OBC we get from our TA will pretty much pay that bill, with about $100 in OBC left over. Which begs my next question. Once the TA posts the OBC to our shipboard account, is there somewhere on the My Viking Journey website interface where it will be listed, possibly in the Payments and Cart section?

We have an excursion payment question? When do we actually pay for an excursion, if we book it prior to boarding the ship?
 

In other words, once onboard will the OBC our TA puts in our onboard account be used to help pay for them, or do we have to pay for them in full with a credit card when we prebook them 3-4 months in advance?

We just booked this itinerary for Jun 2026, with our first Viking cruise booked in Aug 2025 from Reykjavik to Bergen. Here’s hoping you have an awesome cruise, as we look forward to reading about your first time adventures with Viking! 😁

8 minutes ago, LACruiser88 said:

@Ken the cruiser forgot to mention that they are in a Reserve Collection mini-suite for the voyage he was referencing.

 

True. In fact we always book in a RC mini suite or higher on every cruise we book, except for the 2026 Solar Eclipse cruise where M1 cabins were sold out by 10 am the first day the cruise was available to book. The food and service in the RC dining area is that awesome!

31 minutes ago, Ellipooh said:

It’s possible I’ve been Day Drinking today, but can you help me understand how Elite status provides Reserve dining? I thought you had to have a higher cabin category for RD

You and @startedwithamouse are correct. You have to book a Reserve Collection mini suite or higher category to dine in the RC dining area, which we do. And since the food and service is so awesome in the RC dining area which we already pay extra for, we have no desire to dine in a specialty restaurant. 
 

However, once we made Elite, we now get 10 alcoholic drinks (or Heineken beers in my case) and 10 non-alcoholic drinks (or water in my DW’s case) in our cabin fridge plus we can order a 12-pack of water before the cruise at a super cheap rate. BTW my DW only drinks water and hot chocolate, so we have no need for a beverage package.

As far as the Internet goes, we prebook one 4-device package, where we each can be signed on with our iPhone and iPad for $22.50 per day, which is cheaper than each of us purchasing the 1-device package.

We don’t need any of the special desserts that come with the packages nor do we need any digital pictures taken by the crew on and off the ship.

So when we do the math, paying $120/day let alone $180/day makes no sense for us. YMMV