sandiego1

On 9/23/2023 at 6:12 PM, Reagan0712 said:Since I’m already getting $400 OBC and can buy HAL gift cards at reduced prices at Target, I’m keeping the rock bottom pricing.

How do you get gift cards at Target at a reduced price? I see them at full price. I know AARP sells them with a discount.

On 9/21/2023 at 4:33 AM, Caribbean Chris said:

Private tour may well be better, if it’s smaller vehicle, better guide, etc.  I’ve had both good & bad experiences with both ship-provided and independent tours, as I’m sure we all have. There are some points in favor of a HAL tour, including sometimes being on the first tender.

 

As far as price goes, HAL now promotes a best price guarantee - if you find the same tour at a better price, they’ll refund 110% of the price difference as an onboard credit.  Has anyone tried it?

I tried but it didn't work. HAL often adds an insignificant item to their tour to ensure it's impossible to have an exact match. For example, for the Flam, Norway train ride, they offered a waffle and a "host" to escort you to the train station. The price was more than double the price to buy the train ticket independently. When I tried to get the "best price guarantee," I was informed that the tours weren't identical because of the waffle and the host. That was one very expensive waffle! We declined the tour and did it on our own. The train station was visible from the ship and a very short walk!

On 9/16/2023 at 9:07 AM, AllTheSun said:

Does HAL have card shufflers you can borrow? We use a hand crank one at home.

I’ve never seen one, but then again, I wasn’t specifically looking for one.

1 hour ago, IPB4IGO said:

I don't see a post by TheInsideCabin.

#2

5 hours ago, Toad said:

Do you happen to know if that is true on the zuiderdam as well?

The measurements listed above by TheInsideCabin are accurate for the Zuiderdam.

3 hours ago, Wayfairers said:

Do we each get two meals ?

Yes if both of you qualify for 5*

No. Book 2 cabins.

When you apply for the passport, I suggest checking the box for the large book. There is no additional costs flans you get more pages. I neglected to do that last year when I renewed (stupid error). Now I have very few completely blank pages. Immigration clerks don’t stamp in order as they are in a rush and just look for a blank page. I have many pages with a single stamp. When we go on a long or World Cruise , we need at least 6 blank pages before starting the cruise. Between that and Visas which will sometimes be attached to your passport, I will definitely run out of pages before my passport expires.

2 hours ago, Iamthesea said:

Glad this thread is staying on the HAL forum.  I started an insurance question a week or so ago that had to do with questions pertaining to HAL and what to and not to insurance.  It was sent over the the Insurance Forum, so I never really received an answer to my question.

 

Do y'all insure your entire trip cost? Total cruise amount, Club Orange, and airfare, if booked independently?

Yes. 

On 8/20/2023 at 10:21 AM, stevek2952 said:

We're doing a global cruise starting in January.  It's been great working with this program:

Full Service Travel Medicine Consultation Program* | Costco

 

We're catching up with good vaccinations like Hepatitis A/B as well as several specific for a global cruise.  All of our planned vaccinations are covered by our Medicare plan.

We have used Costco for our travel vaccinations too. We were very pleased with the service. Prices are considerably cheaper than going to our regular Dr or local clinic.

I noticed that they recently added additional states. I don’t believe it was previously offered in Florida.

There is a TA site that displays all cabins available per deck. I find it much easier to scroll through that site than the HAL site. I don’t need to select aft, mid ship, or forward. That site is considerably more user friendly. Since it’s a TA site, I can’t share it.

Officially, HAL charges $20 corkage fee on every bottle. Unofficially, they sometimes forget to do it. You are supposed to carry the wine or champagne in your carry on luggage, not checked bag.

I have often ordered an entree in an “appetizer “ size and switched the sides that go along with an entree. The waiters and chefs in the MDR are very accommodating.

On 8/19/2023 at 5:58 PM, Heidi13 said:

 

In the MDR, with 2 of my favourites dishes on the menu, I've been known to order one as an appy and the other as a main course.

Me too!

6 hours ago, ceeceeDee said:

P&O Australia states the following on their website:

 

When you book your Shore Tours with P&O, you know you are getting great value. If you find the same tour for less elsewhere, we will offer a 110% of the price difference back to enjoy in the form of non-refundable onboard spending money.

 

I can't comment further as I have never had to try to claim, but it would appear that at least one cruise line is not particularly over priced.

 

 

HAL has the same guarantee. They just add an insignificant item to their itinerary to prevent you from making an exact match to an outside tour. For example, there’s a brief stop at a hotel for a waffle on the train ride in Flam, Norway. That waffle cost over $100 per person compared to booking the train online! And there’s an escort from the ship to the train station (line of sight from the ship). Those are the 2 differences that eliminate the possibility of getting a refund using their guarantee. 

10 hours ago, exiledowl said:

Thank you to all of you for your advice. 

I've actually been tracking our ship , MS Amera from Phoenix reisen in Germany, on its last 2 and current cruise and checking the menu each day and the food offered is following the revolving pattern I mentioned in my original post.

Hopefully on a world rather than a regional cruise we'll get different dishes to reflect some of the exotic destinations!

HAL definitely incorporated regional cuisine on the World Cruises in many ports.

We had different menus every night on the 2019 and 2023 Hal WC. Some dishes were repeated, but never the entire menu. And they had a handful of “always available” entrees. I looked forward  to repeats of my favorite desserts and entrees. They weren’t on the menu often enough for me. 

If they don’t find your clothing, they will pay for the cost of the clothes. They ruined a polo shirt of mine and reimbursed me. The red shirt came back with wide streaks of black on it. They tried to get it out, but couldn’t. I assume it was washed with a black item that ran in the wash. Don’t know why only that item was damaged.

I recommend http://www.kingdomprivatetours.com/

Charles Morgan +447480527825

kingdomprivatetours@outlook.com

We had them pick us up at the Portland cruise terminal and take us to Stonehenge and Salisbury Cathedral to see the Magna Carta. The entire trip was custom for us and our friends.

33 minutes ago, Mary229 said:

My DH seemed to remember it on all of our ships. He recalled it very specifically on the Zuiderdam and this incident was on the Volendam.  It is nested with all of the other buttons and switches on the headboard and is not specifically labeled. 

It wasn’t with the headboard light switches in our J cabin on the Zuiderdam. The speaker was in the middle of our beds (pushed together) and was covered by our pillows. Perhaps it was near the speaker and we didn’t notice it??

1 hour ago, Mary229 said:

It was for me too.   Your mention reminded me.  It was a first.  There is a button near all of the other light buttons on the headboard that does this.  It is actually just too close to light switches and easily tapped mistakenly 

I’ve never seen that button on any of the HAL ships we’ve been on. Last 2 cruises were GWV on the Amsterdam and Zuiderdam. Is it specific to certain ships or cabin category?

6 hours ago, Blackduck59 said:

@kazu thank you for your helpful information. I think I would probably be happy to pay the extra for a lunch in Pinnacle. Unfortunately with my non existent and probably never much "status" we would have to pay full price 🥺. How does this burger compare to the "included in your fare" Dive in burger.

On our next cruise we won't be ordering lobster on the ship. It's a New England/East Coast Canada itinerary, we'll get our lobster ashore.

Dive in burgers are horrible in comparison to the Pinnacle burger. No comparison!

Go to websites to see any info you need. There’s a ton of info available online. WhatsInPort is one resource. CruiseCritic port boards. TripAdvisor. TheInsideCabin…. So many to choose from

Another common complaint was the lack of decorations in the MDR on theme and Gala nights. They sold the Amsterdam with all the decorations. The Zuiderdam doesn’t have as much storage as the Amsterdam did so they weren’t replaced. They also weren’t able to store our luggage and we had to rethink how we packed to ensure our luggage would fit under the bed.

We were on the 2019 and 2023 WC. The biggest difference was the lack of pillow gifts and the number of complaints by others. We don’t care about the gifts. We don’t need “stuff” to collect in our home. Some of the old-timers seem to complain if they change the butter dish in the MDR. Really some of the complaints were very petty. It got annoying after a while. Some people are just grumpy and look for things to dislike.
 

We liked the Zuiderdam compared to the Amsterdam. The music walk gave us more choices at night. Again, there were complaints about the different ship.
 

People also complained about ports in West Africa for a variety of reasons. What did they expect? We were visiting 3rd world countries with wide spread poverty. We didn’t expect Four Seasons luxury there. We had never been to Africa before and were happy to go there and experience local cultures and meet people from very different backgrounds. It was educational and eye opening. We booked independent tours in each African port and had a great time in most of the ports. 

There were some food shortages which led to grumpy people. Considering it was the 1st WC since COVID, we thought they did a great job. Was it perfect, no. But considering the state the world was in (ie many countries opening up for tourism again), we expected some issues. They ran out of the pillow chocolates and based on the number of complaints, you would have the thought it was a critical issue. Honestly some people need to just loved to complain! 

The staff was fantastic and we had great service in every venue. Our cabin stewards were the best we’ve had! Miss those guys!!

Overall we loved the cruise and signed up for the 2025 Pole To Pole.