Sea42

The HAL website is notoriously awful. Try again another day and it will be back. I've had entire bookings disappear one day and then reappear the next.

For the one cruise we did do on Oceania, their price was very competitive with HAL. They also offered overnights at Easter Island and Bora Bora, which the HAL cruise did not. It was a great cruise and I wouldn't hesitate to sail with them again under the right circumstances.

If there wasn't an upcharge, I would try it out of curiosity.

With Oceania switching over to Simply More you can no longer opt out the package of items included. Price and itinerary have not been comparable for the the cruises we've looked at. Recent example being South America/Antarctica. O came in at almost $3000 pp more. Both without air. Both included WiFi, beverage pkg., excursion credits. HAL price also included crew incentive and 3 specialty reservations. O specialties are always included. While we did enjoy Oceania very much, we didn't like it that much more! BTW the HAL price was for 2025, O for 2024. It doesn't look like O is sailing there in 2025.

Thanks for sharing you thoughts. We haven't cruised with Celebrity but we did enjoy our Oceania cruise very much. I agree that the food on O was much better than HAL. I do prefer the service on HAL though. Oceania is the only cruise where I had a very poor experience with a cabin steward and the wait staff was very hit or miss on our cruise. We would sail with O again for the right itinerary and price. I do check when I'm looking to book a cruise and I haven't found a price/itinerary on O that I prefer over what HAL offers. I'm also not a fan of the new Simply More concept so we may just be a one and done with Oceania.

Because I thought HAL's charge for the excursion would be much higher than what booking directly with a provider would be. To me, that wasn't a very big mark up in price by HAL.

I had HAL cancel a shore excursion I was booked on with a HIA credit and it was available to use again but it was not on my OB account as a credit.

Wow, I think this is the first time I've read about someone getting the price match! Good for you for pursuing it! I'm surprised the HAL price wasn't much higher though.

Sometimes the HIA packages include the gratuities for your cabin steward/housekeeping and sometimes it does not. That will be on the list of included items on your invoice from HAL. There is a list on the invoice that will list WiFi, shore excursion, dinners, drink etc for each passenger. If you did not receive this invoice email your TA and ask for it. It always includes the tips for the drinks you order thru the package, unless you go over the dollar amount allowed by the package. If you go over you are than charged the price difference and the tip on only the overage amount. Ex. If drink is $1 over the price limit you would pay $1.18. The service charge for the specialty restaurant dinners included in the package is included with HIA.

I'm curious how any of this is cruise related🤔

Thanks for the information!

Do you have a particular cabin you're interested in?

This same thing happened during our recent cruise in Norway. We could see all of the buses and cars lined up from our balcony on the ship. Both ship and private tours were effected and the ship did wait until everyone was back onboard.

Thanks so much, this sounds like a good one to use for our excursion credit.

We bought an 8 bottle package on our last cruise (NS) and were only allowed to have 2 delivered to the stateroom at a time. Just a little bit extra effort in having to call when we wanted the next bottle and to keep a tally so we remembered how many bottles we had left. But what I really didn't like is that my favorite wine of the package was not available the next time I asked for it! We wait until we're onboard to use our OBC.

My husband and I sent in our initial application on Sunday and had conditional approval on Tuesday. Appointments at the only location in WI, Milwaukee, are not available until Nov. 1st. We're going to take a little getaway and go to Sault Ste. Marie instead. They have available appointments every day that I checked starting tomorrow. Yay!🎉

It will probably be about 4-6 months before your cruise.

Yeah, that one I just don't understand

I don't see any problem with going from your cabin to the spa in the provided robe. I, too would wear flip flops or water slippers/shoes/sandals.

Blackduck59 started this thread about his experiences on his upcoming cruise. Many people comment on their pre & post cruise experiences when they do this type of thread. It helps others who will be doing this same itinerary. Your questions about finding info about your booking would best be answered in its own thread as it has nothing to do with the OP's experiences on his trip.

All of my show up and download properly using Windows 10 Pro and Firefox.

Yeah, I've learned not to even bother with the website on weekends. Truly frustrating

Could you share any more info on this excursion? Is there a description available? Our cruise isn't until 2025 so nothing showing yet. Thanks!

I enjoy your posts so much BUT I really wish you wouldn't futz with the TVs. Others with less knowledge will think they can try it too and before you know the TV is broke and the next person in that cabin is out of luck. JMO of course!

We were in an aft balcony cabin on deck 7 on the NA and did not notice any more vibrations than any other cabins. We did have one rough night where the hangers were banging around in the closet. I just hung the robe over the hangers and tied the robe.