Hlitner

This question has been raised a few times over the years. We have gone from Le Havre to Paris on a couple of cruises (once on a cruise line transfer and another time using the train) and I honestly do not recommend either option. Why? It is just too much time in transit and too short of a day in Paris (DW's favorite city in the world). We do strongly recommend visiting Paris, but not for just a few hours. For those taking a European cruise, consider going to Paris pre or post cruise and spending a few days (or weeks). If Le Havre is your last stop on a cruise (and the following day you debark somewhere in England) consider debarking a day early in Le Havre and heading to Paris for at least a few days. We have done this multiple times with several cruise lines. Just keep in mind that you need to request an early debarkation pretty far in advance and each cruise line has their own procedure. As to Le Havre, it is still a terrific port even if you do not go to Paris. You can go to the D-Day beaches, visit Honfleur, take a train to Rouen, etc. Lots of reasonable options. Hank

That assumes that one can get the folks at Guest Relations to properly do their accounting job. Over the years there have been more than a few posts of folks that have had lots of difficulty or were never able to get their money refunded. I do not understand why HAL has so many issues with accounting and software. 5* Mariners should be able to book their free meals online (in advance) and not be charged. This kind of simple programming is not rocket science. We also recently posted another HAL accounting issue where an excursion that is "Wait Listed" cannot later be used as part of the HIA credit. The way it now works is that the cruiser will be charged (direct to their credit card) any excursion where they clear the wait list and then will later have to beg to get a refund once aboard. It will be interesting to see if this is another of those issues where Seattle makes promises (i.e. "you will be able to get credit once aboard") and the onboard staff have no clue as to the promise. Bottom line is that this is "bush league" accounting and sub-standard computer programming. Hank

Woah nellie! Your comment makes little sense. 4 and 5* Mariners earned their benefits by meeting the requirements set forth by the cruise line....a contract of sorts. That has absolutely nothing to do with "ship within a ship" concepts (we have done a few on other lines). In fact, even on MSC in their Yacht Club, folks who are Diamond (akin to 5* Mariners on HAL) get extra benefits such as a free meal in a specialty restaurant. The problem is that HAL is simply selling HIA packages that should be "capacity limited." HAL is well aware of the number of 5* Mariners on a cruise and each is entitled to two meals in the Pinnacle or other alternative venues. On a short cruise there are simply not going to be enough slots in the alternative restaurants to meet the promised meals for those who booked HIA + 5*, And both 4 and 5*s are also entitled to a 50% discount in the specialty restaurants.

Your link makes my point. They audition individual musicians and then throw a few together and expect them to work like a skilled group. That is entirely different then actually auditioning/hiring well-seasoned groups. Hank

Perhaps we need to think, "what's in a name." Be it the HAL Cats, BB King, Rolling Stones, etc. all HAL has done is pay to use a name. The actual bands are simply "pick up" bands in that HAL hired individual musicians, gives them very little time to come together as a group. and than tosses them onto a ship. What you generally get are a group of individuals trying to act like a real "band" but often failing on mulitple levels. As one time, HAL used to hire established groups. In fact, many other lines, such as Celebrity and MSC, still hire established groups, trios and duos. They do not waste their efforts (and money) with a name...but rather use their money to hire decent established groups that go on a ship and do their thing. There are plenty of land-based groups that will jump at the opportunity to work on ships. We have quite a few of these folks on other cruise lines, and they are delighted to be working with a steady paycheck and contract. But, for whatever reason, many years ago HAL thought they could do it better by simply hiring musicians and expecting them to perform like a seasoned group. It just ain't going to happen except in a few rare instances when a group of musicians just happens to come together and create some magic. We think the "suits" in Seattle need to move away from creating "brand names" and change their focus on hiring real quality groups for their various lounges and piano bars (which should again be used as piano bars). Hank

Pricing varies, all over the place, depending on the specific cruise line, ship, dates, etc. At the moment, MSC might have the lowest prices for those that book the lower cabin categories without any of their more pricey "experiences." Hank

I have a SIL that also has a history of motion sickness on just about anything that floats. Last year she took a European river cruise (Viking) and never felt comfortable (although she was never violently sick). I also like to repost an incident that happened when we were on HAL's Rotterdam. We were taking a transatlantic commerative cruise and the Rotterdam was embarking from a pier at Rotterdam NL. Rotterdam is located many miles from the sea and the cruise port is located on the New Meuse River. That river is generally as calm as a highway and that was the case when we boarded for our cruise. We did not depart from the pier until after 10pm, so that first night's dinner was when the ship was securely tied up at the pier. We had dinner with a lovely young German couple, and the lady quickly turned a shade of green and got sick, as soon as she sat down. She left the table (and her disgusted husband) and we never saw her again during the entire cruise. Her husband explained that she gets sick just looking at water :). For whatever reason, some folks just cannot handle being on water. One can certainly try Seabands, Bonine (Meclizine Hcl), or even the patches (transderm Scopolamine) which help many folks. But perhaps there are some folks who need to stay on land. Hank

I would suggest, that instead of relying on the map, one go on the Department of State's web site and read the actual advisories/warnings. They are listed by State (31 States + the Federal Zone of Mexico City) and quite specific. In the interest of full disclosure, we live in Puerto Vallarta (for part of the year)which is where this post is being written. I will also say, that having lived in Puerto Vallarta for the past 16 winters, we feel much safer here than in just about any US city. Hank

Getting "shareholder credit" is not an automatic process. You need to apply for the benefit by submitting the required information, including proof of stock ownership (minimum of 100 shares of CCL). My advice is to apply a few months in advance and make sure to keep copies of your submission (and any response...if any). Take those copies along on your cruise just in case the OBC does not appear on your onboard credit. If the credit is not applied, you can than go to the Guest Relations desk with copies of your submission (including the proof of stock ownership) and they can usually get you your credit. Hank

We would need to leave that to the bankruptcy experts :).

We have pointed out that a major problem for CCL is their more than $32 Billion (yes, billion) in debt. In a time of rising interest rates, the debt service on this debt is going to be a huge drag on the entire Corporation (including HAL). Hank

These days, $1000+ per day (even per person) is not unusual for a luxury line or even some of the larger suites on mass market lines. Consider that if you were to go to a decent resort on Bora Bora, you might pay over $1000 a day for a hotel room. With a ship you are getting your hotel room, food, and entertainment. And that does not even account for the cost of being on a moving vessel that is constantly burning expensive fuel. Since I gather you are from the UK, just consider what it would cost to stay in a luxury London hotel, pay for at least 3 decent meals per day, go to a West End theater, and perhaps stop in a post theater lounge. Hank

We think most cruise ship fish is awful (especially the flavorless farmed stuff like Tilapia). But the best, by far, has been the Dover Sole in the Thomas Keller Grill on Seabourn. The entire fish is finished and fileted, tableside. And with the available cognac marinated mushrooms, it is one of my favorite cruise ship dinners. Hank

Best cruise ship pizza is a topic unto itself :). Having cruised on 16 lines we would call it a tie between Princess and MSC.

You have a number of options, but I if you are looking for the easiest value method, taking the X80 Express bus (from the main road in front of the port) will get you to the Acropolis Museum and nearby Acropolis. The bus takes about 30 minutes each way and I think tickets are 4 Euros. The easiest way would be to simply grab a taxi at the port. I do not know the current taxi fare although would guess it is about 25 Euros. Unless things have changed, you can just walk up to the ticket kiosk at the Acropolis and buy a ticket (there might be a line). You should do some online research since are some combination tickets that might better suit your plans and save some money. Hank

That would be about a 7/8 mile walk. In fact, we just (1/2 hour ago) did that walk+. Hank

That assumes one is interested in the higher category. We usually favor cabins in front of the forward stairs/elevator which are usually in lower meta categories.

As a 5 Star Mariner, who already gets priority on various things, we think CO makes zero sense on the non-Pinnacle ships. Just our opinion. As to "priority" on HAL, if you go on a longer voyage (especially Grand Voyages) it is likely that at least 3/4 of the passengers will have priority for various reasons. A question might be when is priority not really priority...and the answer is when nearly everyone has it! Hank

As others have said, sea conditions are unpredictable and that would include the waters around Iceland. But the National Geo ship is quite small and would likely move around more than most larger vessels. Take along sea bands, Bonine, etc. Like the Boy Scouts say, "be prepared." Hank

The problem we faced was having waited, most of the decent excursions were full. At that point you either do nothing or use the "wait list" option. If you continue to wait, and some slots do open, they are going to be first allocated to those on the wait list. The HAL staffer was very familiar with the issue (she immediately had the answers without a script) and like many other issues with HAL software, the standard solution is to deal with it once onboard. This is only a problem if you happen to have unused shore excursion credits. I assume it is a common enough problem that the shore excursion staff (onboard) will understand the issue have some kind of fix. If not, I guess we will take advantage of the drink package and "moan/groan" in a drink 🙂 Hank

I cannot help but think of FDR's quote "There is nothing to fear but fear itself." Covid is real and somewhat dangerous just like many other viruses and bacterial infections. Each person has to make their own determination what is in their own best interests and deal with their own tolerance level. I think that folks that are living in fear and expect the situation to change are misinformed. It is what it is and the risk will continue for the foreseeable future. The issue is not COVID, but how one chooses to live in a world with COVID. Hank

Our Princess account clearly shows the Premiere stuff and simply says "complements." Since we do not book direct with Princess we do not get an invoice directly from Princess which might display the codes. We also have two other invoices from our cruise agency which clearly show the Premiere Package added, but there are no displayed codes. The normal $250 Military OBC also shows on our Princess account and invoices. I will reiterate that we booked a 14 day cruise, with the Plus package, and the Premiere Package showed on all of our invoices and Princess account, the following day. Neither our cruise agent (who we have used for years) or we made any kind of special request. We first learned of this military credit from a post here on CC, and our cruise agent learned about it a few minutes before she noticed it had been applied to our account. My cruise agent and I assume that if one has the military credit info on their Princess file, and they book a cruise with the "Plus" package, that the rest is automatic. Here is a link to a CC post on the subject https://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/topic/2902222-new-military-benefit-princess-premier-for-the-price-of-princess-plus/ Hank

We stumbled on an issue, today and not sure if has has been previously posted, We have an upcoming HAL cruise where we booked the HIA package which included $300 per person shore excursion credits. The only excursions we had booked were "waitlisted" and just yesterday, we cleared the waitlist on one of those excursions. When I went to confirm the excursion booking, the form required the input of my credit card and I did provide the info and get a confirmation. The booking provided no way to use our shore excursion credit (which clearly shows on our account). I called HAL to ask if we could have our HIA credit applied to the booking and was told that there is a well known "glitch" in the HAL system. When completing a booking from the Waitlist, the HAL system has no way to apply the HIA shore excursion credit (which is automatically applied on a new shore excursion booking). We were further informed that the HAL staff cannot fix the booking and that it can only be done at the Shore Excursion desk once aboard the cruise (a minor annoyance). Just one more HAL software problem. The HAL staffer told me that there is an upcoming revamp of the system (sometime this year) which might solve the problem. Hank

I love the basic question of "Are excursions worth it?" Our answer is that this depends on the cruiser and the ports. For the most part, having cruised extensively for over 50 years, we do not think most excursions are "worth it" for us. DW and I have a simple philosophy. of preferring to do our own thing (i.e. independent travel). There are some cruise ports where we think small group tours are a better option, in which case we do join with others (often on the CC Roll Call) for a tour (generally less than 10 persons). Our general rule is NOT to take cruise line excursions unless they do something we cannot reasonably do on our own or with a small group tour. Why? Large groups have large group problems! Thinks only move as fast as the slowest person, excursions are too structured, and we often feel like cattle (when on a large group tour) being herded around by a tour guide. But we also advise that independent travel required doing pre-trip homework, knowing your options, having a Plan B, having some "travel sense," and generally having a "spirit of adventure." Hank

We have cruised on 16 cruise lines and never been on any that charged for a show. I do know that MSC has started charging for some shows on a few ships (that apparently have two theaters). But you raise a valid issue about things having changed since the COVID shutdown. The changes, price increases, and cut-backs vary from cruise line to cruise line (and even from ship to ship) so one cannot paint with a broad brush. Those of us who have been cruising for a long time (we go back over 50 years) have seen many changes over the years, so what is happening now is just "more change as usual."\ I do think (and we post about this on a regular basis) that many cruisers are making a big mistake by being "loyal" to one or two cruise lines. There is a lot of variance between lines (and even ships) and rather than simply accept what has happened on one or two lines, it can be enlightening to open's one mind and explore other options. Hank