Lorabelle

I have always wondered if they take that into consideration when dishing out the offers. Some cruises with long port days, and places where you can't gamble at all for days, like Hawaii, really cut into the time the players have to spend in the casino. Seems unfair to be penalized for that when you're on a longer sailing.

We used the Aloha Tower Marketplace location. It was the closest to pier 2 that we found. It is super convenient for those lucky enough to call at Pier 11, as it is just steps outside the terminal building. From Pier 2, it's about a 3/4 mile walk, if you cut through a few parking lots, rather than go the street route that Google Maps showed us. It's an easy walk, and we walked back to the ship in darkness and did not feel unsafe. If you have someone who has limited mobility, maybe best to send the faster walkers to retrieve the vehicle and go back to the port area to pick up the others.

The Hearts cruises are what used to be called the VIP cruises. They are special sailings. While on board, there will be some special activities in the casino for the invited guests, as well as a special Welcome Aboard party. There will also be a gift delivered to your stateroom each day. I just got off a Hearts cruise in September. We received chocolate covered strawberries, truffles, a bottle of prosecco, some packing cubes, and something else that escapes me at the moment. These are not based on how much you are playing onboard for the cruise, but are just part of the Hearts booking. The other offer, I suspect, is just a general offer where you will have many more options as far as sailings and dates. It will not come with all the goodies in your stateroom, and no special casino activites.

This is exactly correct. I have free play on every cruise. When I play my free play, I watch my point count. I always play it in small increments of $20-40. I watch my counter, and I accumulate zero points. On the very spin that I actually get a point added to my total, I know that I have exhausted my free spins and I am now playing with my winnings from the free play. At that point, I cash out to my player bank, and load some more free play. When I have played all my free play through the machine, I now have real money in my player bank that I can choose to play or not. If someone loads free play onto a machine and then plays until it is gone, if you have won any spins at all, then you have not only played your free play at zero points, but then have also played your winnings. You will accumulate points on the winnings from the free play.

Our excursion was on Aug 15th last year. Hopefully you will have even better luck than we did and get a bear or two right in the beginning of your time at the platform.

We did it last summer with Island Wings. It was wonderful. For us, it was the very beginning of the salmon season, so the bears were not abundant. We had to wait over an hour for a bear to appear. Two bears finally showed up, and it was amazing. Just like the videos you see, the bears got in the water and began fishing. They caught several. The bald eagles showed up to get the leftovers. Sadly, we had to leave after a short time, because we had to go back and catch the plane. But I still feel that we got our money's worth with what we were able to view. It's a beautiful walk through the forest to get to the platform and a beautiful (but short) flight to get there. I would recommend that you bring some binoculars if you have them.

I completely agree. The first time I saw Mendenhall Glacier was in 1992. It is much smaller now than it was back then. It has receded quite a bit. Same goes for the various glaciers in the bays that the ships cruise. It's very sad to watch over the years. Nothing funny about it.

I second the Sand Bar suggestion. Delicious halibut and chips there. Definitely a local's spot, nothing fancy, but really tasty.

There are so many options. Personally, if it were me, I would just put the rest on their shipboard account. That will give them a credit when they board the ship. At that point, they can spend it on whatever they wish to. They could buy beverages, (fancy coffees or cocktails). They could use it in the spa, they could use it to buy an excursion in one of their ports. They could use it to play in the casino. They could use it to go to one of the specialty restaurants. This just gives them the choice instead of you having to make it for them. You are wonderful kids to do this for your parents. ❤️

I just got off the phone with a cruise consultant over this matter. I have an Alaska sailing in Sep I wanted to all the HIA to. There was nowhere online to do so. The CC tried to add it and she said it was coming up "not combinable" and therefore she was unable to add it. My sailing is a VIP sailing, so not sure if that makes a difference. I guess I will try again another day and not call my cruise consultant, and see if it can be added by someone who knows a way to make it work.

Thanks for doing this! We are boarding (also on a casino comp) on May 27 as you disembark. We also fly into Oakland, we do find it much easier, and typically the price of the airfare is a bit less for us as well. Thanks for the casino photos, I'm always interested in what games are onboard, it's been awhile since we've sailed on Ruby. Can't wait to follow along on your journey. Have a fabulous time and win big!!

I have never used Major Marine, but have gone with Kenai Fjords twice, and would have no qualms booking with them again. Our experiences were wonderful. I do agree, though, to do the longest tour that you can. You will see and have more glacier time, as well as more opportunity to get out where the wildlife is. Both times we have had up close encounters with orca, sea otters and many other types of wildlife.

Thanks, everyone! After almost 3 hours, I finally got through. Pretty sure my guy was from an outsourced call center somewhere. After getting partway through the first booking, our phone connection began going in and out. He said he would call me back in 5 minutes. Well, an hour and a half later, I had somewhere to be. On my way there in my car, I got that return call. Sigh. Luckily, I had brought all my paperwork and info with me, so I pulled over and got 'er done. Oh, and my TA is my daughter in law, so I always book my own stuff when it's a freebie. She doesn't receive any commission on these, and I don't feel it's fair to ask her to spend her entire day on the phone for me in that situation. And I definitely used my cell phone on speaker so I wasn't tied down around the house. Thanks for the tips!

I'm currently on hold, it's been an hour and a half now. I was on hold for over 2 hours on Friday before I finally had to hang up. I just want to make a couple of bookings and I can't get through to anyone. Am I better off to take the option of having them call me back? This is so ridiculous. I wish I could just do it online, but the prices online don't reflect my offers.

Just off the Miracle yesterday, and we had to park at the Convention Center. If you do have to park there, you should get an email that notifies you. I want to say we got our email about a week prior to cruising. You drop off your luggage at the port first, then they will give you the parking pass for the convention center. You pay as you enter the structure, then head to the top to park. You have to take stairs to the bottom as there is no elevator, and the shuttles will be on the street to take you to the port. On the way back, the bus will take your luggage over to the Convention Center with you. Then you either have to carry it up the stairs to your vehicle, or have someone wait at the street, while someone else goes and gets the car. Kind of a pain, but not awful.

Just off the Miracle today. No 24 hr ice cream. It didn't open until 11 AM, and not sure exactly when it closed, I think it was around 11 PM or midnight. Pizza open until 4 AM.

Hmmmm, I didn't even know there were pins. LOL I am currently a 3 star, half way to 4 and have not received a pin for either level. Not that it matters, I guess, not sure what I would do with it anyway.

I am on a sold out Christmas cruise next week, and just received an upgrade offer in my email. Interior to veranda for $199 pp. So, upgrades are out there, even on the sold out ships as others have mentioned. All depends on what cabins they need to fill and if they can get a little more revenue from upgrading some folks.

We pay $10 per taxi ride to and from downtown in PV. $12 to Zona Romantica. And then we add a few bucks for a tip. As others have said, make sure you negotiate the price before you get in the cab. It will be basically the same price to use the vans inside the port as a cab to get to downtown, if there are two of you. If there are more than 2 in your party, the private cab will be a better deal because the cost is per cab, not per person. With the van, you will have to wait there until they fill the van. Depending on how quickly they gather up passengers, it can take a bit. If you don't want to wait, it's very simple to get a cab. Just walk out the port gates to the main street. Stand at the curb and hail a cab. Cab drivers will often be standing around right there to offer you a ride as well. We prefer this over the vans because we can be dropped exactly where we want to be dropped, and we don't have to wait on others. Our preference is to be dropped in Zona Romantica at Playa de Los Muertos. We choose a restaurant there to spend some time. Then we slowly make our way back across the bridge and into downtown and walk the Malecon. When we are ready to go back to the ship, we hail a cab from there. Works better for us than walking the other way as we aren't interested in shopping, but more just want time on the beach and some good food.

This is how it was on the Sapphire Princess in November. Open on all the sea days to and from the mainland, but once we hit Hawaii, no casino until we left the islands for good.

You're welcome. We have used them twice to Stone Island and my adult kids have taken their Jungle and Beach tour and enjoyed that one as well.

I have done a similar tour twice through King David Tours to Stone Island. Their cost is $35 per person. They pick you up at the port and take you to the ferry station. Once you're on the other side, they have a wagon that takes you to the restaurant where you will spend your time. It also includes the two activities you mentioned, lunch and some beverages. You can order other things if you want something different than what comes with the package. We have also done Stone Island on our own many times. As others have said, it's a simple process to get their on your own. However, if your husband has mobility issues, you might want to consider the tour, as there will be minimal walking with that. When we were there last spring, my knee was acting up, and we figured we'd just grab a taxi to the ferry. No one would take us. They didn't want to leave the port for our little fare and risk missing out on a potential customer wanting a full day tour or something. We ended up walking to the ferry, which was fine, but I'm going to guess it's about 1/2 mile to the ferry dock. And once you get on the Stone Island side, there may or may not be anyone there you can pay to take you to one of the restaurants, that's always been hit or miss with us. Many times we have had to walk down the beach, in the sand. And it's a fair distance, even to the closest one. So, anyway, while it's easy to do both, if you have mobility issues, I feel like you are better off with a tour, whether the one you mentioned or the King David that I have taken. The first time we did the King David tour, he gave us a brief old town tour before heading to the ferry. I can't remember if they did that the second time or not. You can ask them about it, maybe they can do it if you request. It was only about 15 or 20 minutes, but it was a nice, quick tour with a brief stop at the beautiful cathedral in town.

In PV, we like Cuates y Cuetes or Langostino's, which is right next door. Good food, good prices. Nothing gourmet, but solid food and the service is friendly. Both are just a short walk to the pier, if you want to take a little stroll. As long as you are ordering beverages throughout the afternoon, they are fine with you camping out at a table. We usually have chilaquiles in the morning when we get there. We have beverages throughout our stay and by lunch time we are ready to split a plate of nachos, coconut shrimp, or some tacos or something. Note that most of the restaurants on the beach are cash only. You can do US or Pesos. You will typically get a better exchange by using pesos, but if you have to pay to purchase them, it may not be worthwhile, depending on how much you plan to spend in ports. In Mazatlan, we like to go to Stone Island and hang on the beach mostly. We like Lety's there, but we've hung out at many of the beachfront places there. You have to take a ferry over, you can search this board and find the instructions. Or if you want to follow the blue line to old town Mazatlan, there are some good places there. If you get down there during breakfast hours, and you'd like some delicious chilaquiles head to Raices de Mar. It's located in the Old Town Square, Plaza Machado. They are the best I've ever had. Delicious margaritas as well. I've eaten at a few other places on the square that were also very good.

I'm not sure when you are traveling, but thought I would give you an update since we are now home from our cruise. We had absolutely no issues with our Hui Car Share rental. The app worked perfectly to unlock the doors and start the vehicle. There was a bit over a quarter tank of gas in it when we got it. (There is a requirement that you leave it with at least 1/4 tank.) We reserved a Prius, and it was just a block from the ship. Super easy and convenient. There is a credit card in the car to use if you need to replace gas back up to at least quarter tank. We went ahead and filled it up, and there was no charge to us to do so. The car was clean and in good working condition. We rented for the full day. Ended up returning it about 3 hours earlier than our reservation, and there is no adjustment to the rate for that. The full day rate was $125.50 out the door. A bit pricier than a rental from Avis, etc. But the convenience was well worth it! And as far as I know, there are currently no rental shuttles running to the airport, so you would have to pay for Uber rides to get there and back which adds to your rental cost. Not to mention the time involved in standing in lines at the agency. This was so simple, we will definitely do this the next time we are in Honolulu. We also did the circle drive around the island, taking our time and checking out the sites. We had lunch at a North Shore shrimp truck, chocolate haupia pie from Ted's Bakery, and lots of beach time here and there.

Does anyone know if there is currently a shuttle service from the port in Hilo to the airport for car pickup? I tried to call Alamo, but the number routes me to some outsourced location. They didn't even understand my question, and I went through the employee and the supervisor. They tell me no, there is no shuttle, but they also told me to go through baggage claim to find the car rental company, so there's that. LOL Anyway, I'm thinking there may not currently be a shuttle, but I'd like to know if anyone here has better info.