mustgo

I book thru Princess with a casino discount and then often exchange to a TA.  No problem.

Has anyone done the Hula hopper in Kahului?

6 hours ago, mustgo said:

We were also on the ship and enjoyed your review.  Our impression was similar except that the food was a bit below expectations and the entertainment was better.  I would rather have the entertainment than great food so fine with me.  The dancers performed 4 nights and got even better each night.  We had one movie night, one BBC night with the Lincoln center group playing and one night of Holland history plus the usual music venues.  Jeremy, the CD did some enjoyable lectures on sea days.  There were also at least 2 cooking shows and a variety of other usual events.

My bad.  I was on Niew Amsterdam, not Niew Statendam.  Senior moment!

We were also on the ship and enjoyed your review.  Our impression was similar except that the food was a bit below expectations and the entertainment was better.  I would rather have the entertainment than great food so fine with me.  The dancers performed 4 nights and got even better each night.  We had one movie night, one BBC night with the Lincoln center group playing and one night of Holland history plus the usual music venues.  Jeremy, the CD did some enjoyable lectures on sea days.  There were also at least 2 cooking shows and a variety of other usual events.

Does not sound overwhelming, does it?   Thanks for posting it.

Has there been any entertainment on the main stage in the evenings?

Thanks so much.  That is the ship we are boarding Sat.  

We are getting older and more cautious.  I looked on youtube and saw a bath tub with a grab bar positioned on the far wall of the tub.  Do they also have a bar on the side to hold while stepping over the tub side?

Yes, I know but I can't book Walgreens yet.  Thursday 11/25 is Thanksgiving, so we need to get it 11/26.  Might as well get it on the way and keep on going.  We drive down most of the way one day early.   Walgreens will probably work for our next cruise

I need the test on Nov 26 and had a plan to book CVS this morning.  Luckily I was sleeping 

poorly and woke at 4am.  I decided to try CVS.  It was a good thing.  I got late morning.  I looked again at 6:30am and all that was left was about 5pm.  By 7:03, nothing was left.  This CVS is about 45 minutes from us but on the way to Fort Lauderdale.  The cruise is the 27th.

21 hours ago, Cuedon said:

 

I showed up at slightly past 11AM since I had to fit somebody else's schedule... staff at the entrance asked me when my slot was, looked around at the mostly empty place, looked at my boarding pass with arrival time, and just waved me through. No fuss about it whatsoever, and the process was smooth. This was San Diego.

I think we will go earlier than 2pm.  I am uncomfortable with going that late.  It is at Fort Lauderdale.

17 minutes ago, Cuedon said:

I was on a HAL with a 4PM embarkation recently and they booked me for a 2PM arrival... that evening, I heard some people complain that they felt their scheduled 3PM arrival was cutting it close.

Did you show up at 2 or earlier.  We have a 2pm time coming up on a ship also leaving at 4.  I am concerned

Thought most of my Medallion issues were resolved.  Silly me.  I booked a new cruise following my next one making it a b2b.  Little did I know that Medallion would combine the 2, totally screwing up the fist one and now absolutely nothing is working.  Guess I will join the group taking paperwork to the pier.  I have no wish to spend hours and hours more trying to resolve the new issues.  I only want to cruise.

Negative response from me

1 hour ago, JF - retired RRT said:

Pre-cruise to get the Elite discount. You can purchase on board, if you don't qualify for the discount.

Do you still need to call Princess to do this pre-cruise or can you do it on the medallion precruise?  If so, where in the app?

3 hours ago, Joanne G. said:

Thank you, again,  babr.  Your input is encouraging for our getting an FCC.  

 

 I get that the 60-day period isn't a factor for the FCC, but the wording in the letter denying the refund is that I "may" be eligible for a FCC if I "purchased" the PVP prior to making final payment.  That's why I think it matters what exactly is the purchase date even for the FCC.

 

The letter also stated that Princess would be notifying us about our respective FCC's.    Unless we decide to appeal the denial of a refund, I will probably call Princess for clarification about the FCC rather than waiting for them to contact me.   

 

We need to understand what to do in the future.  If we are successful in getting a FCC, we will book a 2022 cruise.   My friend's condition is now stabilized with medication.  But she will never be cured of it, and I assume it could flare up at any time in a way that would make travel inadvisable.

 

 

We recently had a similar experience.  About 3 days after getting the Aon letter, I called Princess and the remaining credit for my husbands account was there.  Mine was missing but that was because of a typo in the Aon letter.  It listed my husband twice and not my name at all.  It took a couple of weeks and some effort but Aon did correct it with Princess, my credit showed up and we used both credit (FCCs) to book another cruise for which final payment was due.  We need to stick with Princess ins as my condition is not and will not be stable.  The Chase Reserve  credit card will cover some other expenses and my medicare HMO covers medical expenses anywhere in the world as they do in the US.  It gets complicated when one gets old and has disease.  Some day we will probably not be able to use the FCC but that is a risk we will take for now.  Good luck.

Positive thoughts being sent your way from another cancer survivor now recovering from surgery.

1 hour ago, Host CJSKIDS said:

Can’t wait to follow along on your sailing!  

 

Love the idea of the different color posts so we can know which posts are from those on board.  

 

Bon Voyage!

The different colors are quite pretty, but sadly for some of us the black is so much easier on the eyes.

17 minutes ago, HaveDogWillTravel said:

SJC from curb to Trader Vics near my gate a whopping 20 minutes including a bathroom break. First class and TSA precheck helped but even without that the lines were minimal. The Chandon is taking longer than TSA 

 

@cr8tiv1too funny about the heavy load. I will be in the moment enjoying and taking in everything I’ve missed for so long. I’m not really into posting on social media at all. So no actual live from me. However I will post once a day about my experience. And answer questions as I can. There are so many on our roll call participating. Maybe one of the teens with us will. 

Bon Voyage!!!

I also want to thank you for doing this.  We wish you well, good health and a fabulous time.  We are on the Aug 15 cruise and quite anxious to hear how it goes.

Too funny!!

I know that casino cruises are non-refundable.  Can you cancel and receive a ship credit to use at a later date?

email sent

2 hours ago, Laminator said:

I am on the Nov 10th Rotterdam cruise

We are on the Nov 27 New Amsterdam to Southern Caribbean

12 hours ago, kangforpres said:

I can play table games for hours and break even, where you can lose $200 in 15 minutes on a slot machine, video poker also has better return rates and takes more time to play.

 

I think Laminator is a "whale" whereas I'm just a Salmon.(Classifications used by gaming companies for gamblers) On a 7 night HAL cruise I will probably spend in access of 10-12 hours in the casino (aprrox. 3 hours a night for 4 nights)  and wager between ($1200-$1500) a cruise averaging about $300 a night. My biggest losing cruise was over $2k twice, I've walked off with $1k to $1200 more on me than when I started twice too. And have won 2 cruises playing bingo!

 

Four of my next five HAL cruises are Casino offers, one with a free ocean view cabin. (Usually I get about 50% off PP for a Vista suite or above. (On top of the Casino discount connected to my mariner # for every HAL booking)  Yesterday I just booked an RCI casino offer for a 4 day from Galveston this September, I've only sailed on them once before. Today HAL sent an offer for 20% any Stateroom for the NA's last sailing to Alaska this Summer season from SEA.

 

-Paul

and then there are us minnows who spend a little here and there but get cruises with casino discounts.  I have my first casino cruise from Holland coming up in November but upgraded from free inside to balcony so not a real steal.