MAVIP

3 hours ago, 689florence said:

I had 6 suites booked on MSC and they wanted to charge me for distilled water - so I asked where in the airport I would go to buy as I could not carry it on the plane and then I pointed out that we had so many suites booked and they brought it :free"  each day  - about a quart each day - this time on HAL we are  3 rooms and 18 days on  board so I wil pay the $3.00 a gallon  - first time I have had to pay though 

Orde in advance and it will save you $ 0,05 because the price is $ 2,95  🤑

17 hours ago, TippySue said:

How far from the cruise port is it to the center of Valencia?  Are taxis readily available?  Are there til tuks?

Last time we were in Valencia, Holland America (or was it the port?) had a shuttle bus availabla to the entrance of the inner city. A taxi to the Plaza de la Reine takes about 15 minutes.

23 hours ago, 3Shelaghs said:

 I'm not sure the true reason, but have read it was due to low river water level, environmental issues or sea water mixing with fresh water. Also read that the new initiation of tourist tax in Amsterdam was ticking quite a few cruise lines off??????

 

It is a bit complicated, but you remembered the reasons correctly. 

The changing of the Amsterdam Tourist tax did not concern the ships embarking and disembarking passengers in Amsterdam. Only the ships just calling Amsterdam.

On 3/24/2023 at 4:28 PM, Skicruiser55 said:

Do you know how far before the sailings they made this change?  It looks like this didn’t impact sailings until August last year.  

https://sea.cruiseportamsterdam.com/adjusted-passage-regime-at-ijmuiden-sea-lock-affects-calls-at-cruise-port-amsterdam/     See here the message of July 26th 2022 about the adjustments.

Hallasm is right, Roterdam is a different forum location. But anyway: right accross the street of the cruise terminal is a nice hotel: Hotel New York, in the former head office of Holland Amerika Lijn. Nice location and close to the center and 5/7 minutes walk to Metro.  And, with a shuttle to cruise terminal for cruisepassengers:  ss Rotterdam (Rotterdam V)  now a hotel in the port of Rotterdam, not far from the terminal.  Enjoy your stay and the cruise!

22 hours ago, fowler9 said:

Yes I have. A fast 15-20 mins walk to Messina station and easy train to Taormina. The bad news is that the station is out of the centre. There is a public bus you can get which gets busy. Last time we decided to walk which wasn't a good decision!  Big hills in August are not recommended!

So wait for the bus or get a taxi. Think EUR15. Something like that.

 

 

And be in time for the bus, because they do not run every x-minutes!  We missed it a few years ago and had to go by taxi we met during our walk back to the terminal (perfect by the way, he was back in Taormina for our returntrip at the time of our appointment and we paid after he brought the four of us back as close to the ship as possible. Not all Sicilian taxi drivers are - you name it. )

2 hours ago, casofilia said:

@MAVIP

 

Thank you.   I don't think it was there when I responded initially very soon after your initial post..

 

Mike

Can you imagine: discussion in a minute from NZ to NL and back 😉 

15 minutes ago, casofilia said:

@MAVIP

 

You will see from the calendar that it will be Cruise Port  Amsterdam. Close (walkable distance)  to the center of Amsterdam,

 

  I suggest you visit the website once in a while,

 

Thank you again but calendar & website?

 

We will be there for 3 days (Sunday 27th to Wednesday 30th) before we join a Viking cruise to Bucharest.

Please see  #2  where you will find it too https://sea.cruiseportamsterdam.com/cruise-calendar/

8 hours ago, VMax1700 said:

Now if only I could use my Mariner 50% discount on wine packages plus the $11 per bottle HIA discount I could be on a winner.

Interesting, especially for Cellar 2 and 3 bottles 🤣

5 minutes ago, casofilia said:

@MAVIP

 

Friday 25th August

 

Thanks

 

Mike

You will see from the calendar that it will be Cruise Port  Amsterdam. Close (walkable distance)  to the center of Amsterdam, Centraal Station, and  other public transport.  I suggest you visit the website once in a while, so you will notice any change in the coming months.  Enjoy your cruise and your stay in Holland!

9 hours ago, casofilia said:

Is anyone able to tell me where the Prima will dock in Amsterdam please?

 

Thank you

 

Mike

The date of departure or arrival? https://sea.cruiseportamsterdam.com/cruise-calendar/

On 2/20/2023 at 5:19 PM, Turtles06 said:

 

Thanks.  Can you tell me that bottom of what hill?  (See @marazul's comment above.)  Also, about how long did it take for you to get up to Eze Village?   Thanks!

I think you will start from the Moyenne Corniche (middle road from Nice to Monaco etc)? It will take you maybe 10 minutes to the entrance. Anyway there is a tourist office close to where you start.  I just found this page and it might help you to plan your visit  to this very very nice village   https://wanderingcarol.com/village-of-eze-france/  

7 hours ago, VMax1700 said:

Just trying to get an early feeler for information regarding water levels and any possible effects for this years cruises scheduled from Amsterdam.

Have there been any indications in the local media as to if the cruises will be moved again to Rotterdam or Ijmuiden this year or does it appear that Amsterdam sailings will be ok?

 

@MAVIP @Dutch_Travelgirl @FreestyleNovice @Ine

No warnings at this very moment, so no warning for high levels or low levels.  Quite a few pages with all waterlevels, but the pages with warning signs: all signs green at this very moment. I hope I read them in the correct way.  

11 minutes ago, USN59-79 said:

Not sure if I understand this.  If the list price is say $200, does that mean that the actual list price is $236?  And 50% off for a 4/5* would be $136?  I think that I the way I was charged when I cruised pre-pandemic.

Ray

Pre pandemic we paid f.e. the € 136 you mention (Service changed in the meantime from 15 to 18%).

In you example we paid € 118 on the Rotterdam last year (one of three cruises we did not buy HIA). 

3 hours ago, VMax1700 said:

Yes 50% discount from the package price plus 18% gratuity which is charged on the full value, so

(Package Price - 50%) + (package price x 0.18) = billed amount.

 

Colin, I had a discussion with the HD about this, because I thought it was a mistake that we got 50% reduction on the price of the 8 bottle package INCLUDING the 18%. The answer was that they got too many complaints and decided to skip the method you mention.  IMO the work for personnel is the same.....

6 minutes ago, John Bull said:

 

Hi again, Lenny'

As you know, there's open water to cross (? 30 minutes?) to reach the limestone karsts, and the one with the cave is right at the front. 

We'd already researched the cave - and seen photos of the double-parked junks - so declined to stop there and very quickly got amongst the karsts. Hardly saw another junk until we emerged to join the others to cross the open bay back to the mainland.

 

Others  complained  that their two-hour cruise gave little or no time to do more than cross the bay & visit the cave.

But with a 3 1/2 hour cruise you surely spent time lost in solitude amongst the karsts ?

 

JB 🙂

 

Pity, those crutches of my husband just enabled us to disembark and mount/decend the steps of the cave. But if my memory is not failing me, the cruise itself was absolutely longer than 30 minutes. If I fiond time I could check the photo's....

6 minutes ago, John Bull said:

 

Hi, Lenny,

 

BTW was your junk cruise ship-sponsored, and was it two -hours or longer? 

 

JB 🙂

 

 

Good morning John, In 2017 It was a Holland America Shore Excursion of 3 1/2 hours . "Halong Bay Cruise and Thien Cung Cave".  The cruise and boat were OK, with of course just HAL passengers. The guided tour of Thien Cung Cave was OK too, but what a pity that tourists from a nearby country did not accept to stay behind the tour and guide and.... see above. 

On 3/9/2023 at 2:38 PM, John Bull said:

I can't help thinking you're reading too much into what you've learned about Halong Bay cruises.

 

Yes, cruise excursions tend to be quite crowded - the cruise lines go by the junks' capacities.

But booking a private junk means you can limit numbers to as few as a dozen - room for all to lay out on the roof etc. And the cost need not be as much as a ship-sponsored junk cruise. A minor disadvantage is that if your ship is moored you may have to take a tender to shore first, whereas ship-sponsored junks are usually from a pontoon moored against the ship.

Worth checking your RollCall for anyone seeking sharers for a decent private junk trip?

We also took an afternoon tour of the city - a waste of time. The highlights were a neon-lit t

 

But if you can't be persuaded to take a junk cruise, then MAVIP's suggestion of Hanoi is a good one.

It's a long drive (? 3 hours plus ?) so don't make it a day-trip, it needs an overnight. And altho we're independently-minded, with the long distance and hotel & visa complications  - I think that the visas issued by the ship to all passengers  are only good for overniting aboard 

If we were to go to Hanoi it'd be on a ship-sponsored excursion.

 

JB 🙂 

Beacause we already would have HAL issued multi entry visa (stop in Hong Kong and back to Vietnam) we did not need to go to the vietnamese embassy for our overnight stay.  In 2019.....

20 hours ago, catweazlecat said:

Thanks a lot for your advise!

We will indeed stop overnight and we have to think about what to do and see over there.
Had been informed by vietnamese people at a restaurant that Hanoi would be much poorer than Ho Chi Min City and lots more crime.
Did you feel safe in Hanoi?

Wishing you a nice weekend from Germany
Silke

Yes, we felt very safe. We stayed at the Hanoi Pearl Hotel, small and very pleasant. By the way I found the touroperators name www.smiletoursvietnam.com; www.specialtoursvietnam.com  An american (Cruise critic) couple reserved 2 tours to Hanoi (and Hue) with them and we joined. In 2019 $ 140 per person for Hanoi (hotel not included), for car, driver, guide and the whole programm. 1st night, after a riksja tour we had dinner at Duong's restaurant in the neighbourhood and walked back feeling safe to our hotel. I can send you the programm, but maybe visiting their website is better to see what they offer now.   

(By the way we visited Halong Bay etc on an earlier cruise, beautufull, absolutely, but indeed crowded and some people do not hesitate to "crawl through you legs" to be in front of you... 

I in my turn wish you a good weekend from Holland, and of course a perfect cruise.   

Lenny

17 hours ago, catweazlecat said:

Hi there
we will be stopping next January in Halong/Vietnam during our Asia cruise and I would like to know if anyone can suggest what to do or see apart from going on a day bay cruise inside the National Park.

 

Have read a lot about the bay cruising and it does not seem to be the kind of tour we would like (too many people on boats, long rows of tourists on the stops, dirty waters etc.)

Therefore we would highly appreciate to get recommendations on alternate activities/tours for a whole day in that port. 

Thanks in advance 🙂

 

Best regards

Silke

Try to find a 2-day tour from Halong Bay to Hanoi. Absolutely worthwhile if your ship has an overnight stop in Halong Bay.

25 minutes ago, Peadar2000 said:

 

Hello everyone. This is my first post (transferred from the Roll Call section where in my ignorance I originally posted it). My husband and I (early 40s) are going on our first cruise this summer aboard the Constellation. It’s a belated honeymoon. For most of the ports we’ll do our own thing, except for Kusadasi/Ephesus. I’m torn between the Celebrity excursions and the independent providers. I have some queries.
 

1.  

3. I’ve seen competing tours offer pretty much the same sites but one might last 4 hours and another 6 hours. What can account for this time difference? Is the short one going to be ‘bang, bang, bang, you’re done’ and the long one an in-depth, informative dive into history?
4.

5. Another area of slight concern is the carpet demonstrations which seem hard to avoid. From what I can tell they are used to pressure guests into buying largely unwanted products. I have no interest in learning how rugs/carpets are made; can I get duck out of these without too much issue?

6. 

I’m sorry for throwing all these questions at ye, but I would really appreciate any helpful advice. We booked this cruise last September when July seemed so far away but it’s scary how fast the time is passing and now July is coming into sight. I’m getting excited!

It was in 2015, but we booked for € 50 a taxi for the 4 of us with CAN TAXI https://www.kusadasitaxiport.com/  in Kusadasi for a half day trip to the Ephesus site. From the ship to the taxi was a 5 minutes walk. Our advise: go as early as your can, so before the tourist busses arrive.... CAN Taxi waited for our return at the exit of the site in Ephesus and drove us to other sites we wished to visit that morning. So NO CARPETS.

We bought the entrance tickets plus extra tickets for "the villas" (worthwhile!) ourselves.   (We paid cash in Euro.)   I see they offer Ephesus and House of Virgin Mary now for € 75.  The brother of Yucel Bor drove us and we still remember the box of sweets he gave us on the way back. 

Enjoy your visit! 

1 hour ago, rotjeknor said:

Like on the Volendam/Zaandam and how it was on the Rotterdam VII with lots of books about culture, destinations, shipping, art etc.

Thanks and I agree fully with the contents!  Just my apologies for the yellow mark: without any doubt you meant so say: Rotterdam VI. 

On 2/7/2023 at 3:43 AM, REOVA said:

Also there may be exclusions on which cruises the FCD can be used for so make sure you know if interested in those cruises. 

Cannot be used for World Cruises or Grand Voyages

On 3/2/2023 at 4:16 PM, whtabtbob said:

Do you need to upload a picture to the navigator app in order to utilize the facial recognition check in during embarkation? I called customer service and they couldn't answer how or where, telling me to contact Navigator support by email. They have not responded. I haven't been able to locate anywhere for an upload. We sail in 12 days, so thinking maybe that service pops up closer to departure. 

No picture in Navigator, but we have pictures in Verifly and HAL still took pictures at embarkations.

11 hours ago, mhg7274 said:

We have a stop in Warnemunde (Berlin...however Berlin is 2 1/2 hours away). Does anyone have any recommendations of what to do in Warnemunde instead of traveling to Berlin?

We preferred to go to Rostock. Bij train (short walk to the railway station in Warnemünde) or by riverboat (next to cruise terminal). Rostock is worthwhile.