richwmn

Just remember when cruising within 2 miles of shore they turn off the ship internet. When we sailed the Adriatic Sea last year on the Oosterdam they recommended against taking internet packages. This year we are doing the Baltic on Zuiderdam. I think we will be even closer to shore so still not an option.

 

 

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They turn off the ships cell phone service when approaching shore. The internet service stays active even while tied up at dock. While at the dock, others services may also be available from shore to keep from using the ships wifi.

No advice given though I have certainly discussed this with my CPA.

 

And who the ---- takes tax advice from an unknown person on a travel forum :eek:

No disrespect intended toward your CPA, and This is NOT intended to be tax advice.

The US Federal Tax Code is big and convoluted enough that if you posed this question to 3 CPAs, 3 Tax Attorneys and 3 IRS agents you would likely get 9 different opinions citing different sections of the tax code for support.

The fact that it appears in the annual report with a schedule of how it is to be applied points more to it being a benefit rather than a "GIFT" and therefore taxable.

Ultimately, the final answer will be if you are audited. The opinion of the IRS agent reviewing your return will determine its status.

Have you received a 1099? Ya me neither ;)

Have you had to pay tax on the shareholder OBC, or do you know someone who has?

Technically, you are supposed to self report any income you receive. This includes the OBC, small lottery winnings, cash paid for small services, gambling, etc. Realistically this rarely happens. You are also, at least in several states, supposed to report out of state purchases and include the sales tax owed when you file your state income tax. Again, this rarely happens.

... true, but it is necessary to purchase more than 100 shares in order to receive more dividends and realize more profit when you sell the stock after its price has gone up (as it has over the past several years) ... but then again if a person is making an investment (of ~$4,500) only to receive the OBC, she/he probably doesn't need/want to know the "rest of the story" ...

Smooth sailing :ship::ship::ship: ... and investing $$$

However, most financial planners preach diversity. The market contains many stocks that have the same or higher dividend return with an opportunity for growth. As far as the "rest of the story", that varies with the individual needs and desires of each person. That is why many different types of investments exist. What you are comfortable with may scare the h*** out of someone else.

Thanks for this. There are some severe limitations, like it is only good in the Caribbean Islands. For the rest of the world the Passport plan seems to be better and less expensive; there is a link to it on the website. It is clear that the Passport plan works on land, not at sea. It is not clear it this plan will work at sea. Incidentally, we use AT&T and I have a sim chip in my iPad. Worked great for wifi when we were in port or within a few miles of any of the ports in Alaska.

from the linked page:

Save on talk, text, and data usage over pay-per-use rates while at sea and on land in Canada, Mexico, and some Caribbean islands.

for Charles4515 - I believe the plan you are talking about is International Day Pass Plan which does not work with the ship's cell tower.

I happened upon this page Cruise Ship Plans while searching for something else.

Last time I called (in December) I was told that the best plan I could get would be the "Passport" plan that would work on the islands, but this seems better.

Plan prices are for 30 days and expire automatically.

Talk only:

$30

50 Minutes of voice calls, $1/minute overage

Talk and Text

$60

50 Minutes of voice, $1/minute overage

100 text messages, $.50 per message sent overage

Talk, Text and Data

50 Minutes of voice, $1/minute overage

100 text messages, $.50 per message sent overage

100 mb data, $10 per 10 mb data

Non Plan Prices

Voice $2.50 / minute

$.50 per text message sent

$1.30 per picture sent

$8.19 / 10 mb data

After checking for the Carnival Stock, I see there are two: CCL and CUK . I have read on this thread that it is the Carnival PLC stock. Can someone explain the difference and which is the correct one to purchase for the OBC and dividends.....CCL or CUK. My husband handles this, but I am trying to become educated since I use Cruise Critic and plan our trips.

Thanks in advance for your help !!

"CCL" is the stock symbol of the Carnival Corporation stock you need to buy for the OBC.

Smooth sailing $$$

Just out of curiosity, why did you purchase only 100 shares of CCL?

I think you will find that most posters on this board who own CCL/CUK stocks own just the 100 shares required to get the OBC. Since the OBC doesn't increase with more shares, it is not necessary to buy more.

I get why OP is mad with HAL, but shouldn't their travel agent have been aware of the regulations and not tried to make the booking in the first place? A lot of folks on the CC boards here weren't aware of Jones Act and PVSA, but a travel professional I would think certainly should have known that the planned trip would run afoul of the law. Think I'd look for a new agent before I permanently write off the cruise line here but YMMV. (No, I'm not a paid HAL plant.)

Unfortunately many so called travel agents are simply order takers. They have never seen a cruise ship, let alone been on one. They know how to fill out the form and take the commission.

In this case, I think the travel agent might have know enough to be dangerous. It appears that the agent might have tried to "get around" the PVSA in some manner that wasn't caught until final manifest checks. There have been many reports on CC of PSVA violations being caught in the 3 week out time frame.

Do they still do this if you have bought shipboard credits before sailing?

 

Thanks

Buying advance OBC is a deposit, just like plunking down cash on embarkation day. If you have enough OBC you probably wouldn't need to have the hold as well, but when we've purchased only a few hundred HAL applied the full standard hold.

If you have OBC in an amount close to $60 per day you don't have to register a credit card. Just mark "Cash" when you fill out your online information. When you check in, they will mention that you don't have a credit card registered. Just let them know you have OBC and they will tell you to check with the front desk.

I thought the Koningsdam had cabins for singles. Are those prices doubled as well??

 

Cheers!

No, that would make no sense since it can only accommodate a single. ;)

I just priced out the 10 day Koningsdam sailing for Nov 19th:

Solo in Solo Cabin - $2516.00

Solo in Reg Cabin - $3076.00 or $3114.00 depending on deck

P/P Double Reg Cab - $1619.00 to $1649.00 depending on deck

so right now, for a solo cabin, there is a significant savings

I have gone through the search forum on this item and have yet to see where Cruise Critic have any intention of fixing the problem that they have created on their new format. The bit about a "cookie problem" is a red herring, telling me that Cruise Critic has no idea how to correct the problem. If I have missed the info from Cruise Critic on how to solve this problem, please accept my apology, if not , are you not planning on correcting? :(

I have clicked the keep me logged in button; however, I still get randomly bumped off, often in the middle of a thread. For instance, if I am reading a post and backtrack to review a previous post, I will be bumped off, or I will be bumped off between Roll Calls. Very frustrating, especially when I am in a hurry. And yes, I have repeatedly reported the issue.

Please understand that Cruise Critics did not write and does not maintain the software that drives this forum. The software is called VBulletin and according to one graph I found they are the software behind 15% of the online boards like Cruise Critics. VBulletin is the group that needs to fix the problem

Hi Serendipity. HAL's parent line, Carnival, uses the term partial charter. This is an excerpt from the CCL cruise contract:

 

"For cancellation charges related to group bookings, partial ship charters or full ship charters refer to your charter contract or group booking agreement for terms and conditions."

However, Holland America does not use that terminology. In order for people to understand each other, they need to use the same language. Staying consistent with HAL language, especially when on the HAL forum, is what makes sense.

And in an attempt to make sure everything is correct Aquahound, Carnival Cruise Lines is NOT HAL's parent line, Carnival Corp - another entity - is the parent corporation to CCL and HAL which would be considered sister companies.

It looks like you are on the Rotterdam, doing a relocation from Montreal to Fort Lauderdale.

I can't talk about the weather in October, but I have done the Northbound version of the cruise twice and will be doing the Southbound version a week before you. The ports are good and plenty to do.

As far as the Roll Call, the date is not in the title of your Roll Call, so it can't be found by the "find your roll call" function and when looking, people won't pick up on when your cruise is. I would try the "report this post" option and ask the moderator to rename the thread.

I hope you find others on your cruise!

The other option that we have used successfully in the past (albeit in hotel rooms where the remotes also often lack the input button) is to unplug the HDMI cable that is already there and then just plug our HDMI cable into that port thus using the input the TV is set to. Then when we are done, unplug our cable and replug the hotels cable.

Unfortunately the new TVs on the Koningsdam, and I suppose other ships post dry dock, are not connected via a HDMI cable, they use a network cable to receive data streams rather than video signals

Can't you access your account through the television? If so I couldn't imagine mixing brands within the same ship. Whatever special software is running to allow the television to interact with your account would have to be implemented separately for each brand, wouldn't it?

Many (Most) smart TVs are based on android, so if the account access is by way of an APP any android based TV would most likely work. The other way to access the account would be via a web page, just like the laptops and tablets do, so it would only require a browser be installed on the TV, also common to smart TVs

Oh my gosh!!!

What brand tv is it?

There is no guarantee that the TV in any given cabin is the same as others, even on the same ship. Although HAL might replace all sets in a drydock or other upgrade, it is likely that because of individual problems a set might be replaced with whatever is available.

The TV in my cabin on the Koningsdam did not have a brand that I could locate. It did have a usb and a hdmi port but in a location that would be difficult to use. The remote didn't include any function to use those ports.

This is great! Thanks so much for sharing. :) Does anyone know if this is available on Koningsdam?

It also was not available on Koningsdam mid February. Just the normal 100/250 minute packages

I don't think I misunderstood. If changes in the expected norm are there on a repo (changes in menus, reduction of activities, stress on crew), why would someone who is sensitive to noticing the changes take that short cruise extension? Would it not diminish the overall extended cruise experience because the last 4 nights are below the "normal standards" in offering?

 

I brought up crew training because it has to happen sometime. The shift of staff to serve the Alaska season has to be trained by the existing staff while the existing staff tries to work those last days. It is always physically and emotionally draining to try to do your "regular" job while also having to train. It takes longer to do normal tasks, have to positively correct and coach the new staff. My eye opener was when I shadowed our best housekeeper for a day (all of us shadowed for a day in a different department). It normally takes her 50 minutes to clean a standard room - with me "helping" her and learning what she does, we took far too long. She ended up falling behind in her cleaning schedule. At the end, she had to drop 3 rooms from her list (fortunately we did not have a full house and could leave those for the next day).

 

I'm going to shut up again. I'm going to enjoy my upcoming repo - visit friends in San Diego, go into a relax and refresh coma for 4 nights, and do some izakaya in Vancouver. Then, I'll go back to the Summer Season rat race. I'll stick to a land vacation for my Fall relax and refresh or go back to one of the cruise lines I have used before. Honestly, reading posts here on this board have made me wondering if I made a bad choice of HAL. Yes, I'm in their target demographic, albeit on the young end (I'm 62).

Your mention of crew training needs to be clarified. First, there is not a massive change of crew for the Alaska season, or at any time. Crew is changed regularly and not always at turn around points. Also, the incoming crew is not "green". The housekeeping crew has undergone training in "Hal's Way" in Indonesia and the bar staff the same thing in the Phillipines. The amount of training any one crew member in those positions receives aboard the ship is minimal.

See here Hal Training

Particularly:

We operate training centers in Jakarta, Indonesia, and Manila, Philippines, where a majority of our shipboard employees are hired. Courses at these centers simulate cruise ship facilities so employees are job-ready when they report to their first postings.

Other cruise lines offer unlimited high speed internet. So no need to take a land based vacation if you want internet for non business stuff. I know some of HAL ships offer unlimited as well (though no sure how fast), just hoping the one I'm on does. I want to be able to stream music and check facebook and call home via wifi calling.

HAL has only experimented with unlimited on one or two ships, Zuiderdam was one, but I'm not sure if unlimited is available on any ship now. Reports vary.

As far as streaming music, you might want to load what music you wish to listen to on your device. The internet on HAL ships is far from high speed, and you are sharing it with many other people. People have said that voice only wifi calling has worked, but video calling has been a problem for the same reason as music streaming.

So I'm a bit confused by what I've read in various posts on the forum. Obviously, I know that HAL offers several internet packages of different minutes to be used during the cruise. What confuses me is that it seems like people are saying there is some sort of "free" wifi you can connect to and use for free texting apps (Cruise Messenger, WhatsApp, etc.)? Am I just misreading?

You can connect to the wifi signal for free. This will give you access to services that are on the ship, such as the new Navigator function, and possibly some local messenger applications. This is commonly know as inTRAnet. Functions here can not access anything off the ship. Anything that requires access off the ship requires the inTERnet, which is what you pay for and is limited to the minutes you pay for.

WhatApp relies on external services so it would not work on the inTRAnet.

I guess that is what happens when a company tries to run their website off of an IBM PC running Windows Home (they got it for free from that little company nearby). They thought "Home" meant for the Home Office ;-)

 

I learned WAAAAY back when: Friends don't let friends use Microsoft...

Wish Cruise Critics had a "like" button for this

Sorry. I'm a bit confused now. When you're talking about this Navigator app, you're talking about an app that was on the cabin television, not one that you were able to use on your smartphone. Correct?

 

This message may have been entered using voice recognition. Please excuse any typos.

You can use your phone, tablet, Kindle. I found it very user friendly. So it must really be easy! As my plans changed I looked at the offerings and Voila! I knew where and when the next movie played in the theater and where was the closest Happy Hour.

The TV in the room was nice too lots of info and movies etc

 

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It is not actually an "APP" that you load on your device. It is a set of web pages internal to the ship which provide the information listed. It is very nice, and can be used from any device that has a web browser. I used Firefox on two different ships and had no problems with it at all.

pictures of both cabins can be found HERE

I agree - there are other repositioning cruises besides TA's.

 

I love TA's and continue on. I wouldn't want to do the San Diego to Vancouver/Seattle but I am not sure if that is consdiered repositioning or not? I think it is since they are changing to Alaska?

San Diego to Seattle would not be allowed. However, Vancouver to FLL, Montreal to FLL and the reverses are all repositioning. I have done Vancouver to FLL, and FLL to Montreal and both are nice cruises with a good mixture of sea days and ports. I am about to do the Montreal to FLL leg, and would do FLL to Vancouver without hesitation.

Thanks, Walt, for the good news!