Blackduck59

I'm not sure how good your relationship is with your TA but this is squarely in their lap. Never let the bird in hand go before the other one is secured. I'm not sure who's customer service you want numbers for. Unless you have booked a pre-cruise and ship's transfer from the cruise line the cruise line isn't going to find you a hotel. If the Fairmont (any of the 3 in Metro Vancouver) and the Pan Pacific are fully booked it really won't matter who you talk to, they aren't going to miraculously find you a room.

Thank you. So when were you supposed to arrive in Victoria?

Thank you Ruth, I forgot that it was not an "Alaska" cruise; but a much longer cruise with Alaskan ports at the end. That being said Victoria is a pretty nice port stop, if it is more than a couple hours in the evening.

Wow, I took the time to read this whole thread. I also read "The Letter" everyone commenting should do that first. I'm afraid any "scenic cruising" would have been during the short hours of daylight when entering Queen Charlotte Strait and the daylight before arriving in Victoria keeping in mind that sunrise around here at this time of year is 0530 hrs. The rest would be in the dark. I think there would have been a very big problem if the Victoria port call was missed, being that it is required for the PVSA. I still haven't heard anyone say anything about the Port Visit which for several reasons was way more important than "scenic cruising"

It is unfortunate that you missed the Canadian inside passage. It is very scenic. That being said, on our cruise (on another line) most of that passage was done in darkness. It was also before the speed restrictions were implemented to minimize the effect on sea life in the area. Time and tide are critical for successful transit of at least 2 passages on that route. Did you get your full day port stop in Victoria? Even though it is mandatory due to US protectionist laws, it really is a great port stop, even though I am a little biased.

For us the biggest thing is the shift to encouraging families, when the ships are woefully under prepared for a large contingent of kids. For those saying the "Traditional" HAL demographic is dying off, no they are not. For those aging out of cruising their are those that are aging into the prefer fewer kids while on vacation demograhic. There are plenty of kid friendly lines as well as many party ships from certain lines. What there is few of is ships with some quiet elegance few kids and great itineraries. Why can't the marketing wogs just butt out. I haven't heard of HAL ships sailing half full and in need of attracting "families" most of which would be a constant stream of complaints about "being bored" Couldn't Carnival Corporation just leave HAL as a haven for cruisers who don't want hustle and bustle, where there is some small acknowledgement that there is a large group of international travelers who choose to not travel with kids..

We looked at that Arctic circle cruise too. I like the itinerary, Lynn wants our next Alaska trip to include the Yukon. At any rate that cruise would have to stop in Victoria so we could be your personal excursion provider.

I think the HIA early booking bonus works on the premise of number of days since the cruise was announced. Unfortunately I don't know how many days that is. We booked on board in September of 2023 for a cruise in March of 2025. Later we decided to extend that cruise to a much longer voyage. Our travel agent made several changes including room category and cabin number (that was an adventure getting the same cabin throughout the extended voyage) We were able to have the early booking HIA on the second leg of what is now a B2B scenario. Your best bet is to get your TA to check if you are good for the bonus. Often when you are searching for a cruise they availability of the Early Booking Bonus will be clearly stated in the cruise description.

It's good to see that you have another adventure planned Lyndon, is your normal travelling companion signed on for this one? You had mentioned she was thinking of travelling less. It's nice to read reports from Julie @OzKiwiJJ and Linda @Mareblu about their travels to far off distant lands. We have a friend that we met through CC and in person, she was on the east coast cruise with us. She is going to be in town on the 30th of May for one of those ridiculously short port stops that Celebrity does here. We'll pick her up at the port, she is travelling with a different sister than we met on the other cruise. With such a short stop it will be a bit of a scenic drive and then supper at a pub we like which is away from the tourist zone. We look forward to seeing her again and meeting her sister.

Well that's not good news Les, I had a great fall last month and my ribs were very upset with me for weeks. Speedy recovery mate, pain sucks. Thanks for the tip about the debit card, we haven't looked into it deeply yet, we have lots of time.

I have driven the Vancouver to Jasper route several time and it is ever changing. Of course the jewel of the drive is the "Icefield Parkway" no train for that. The Rocky Mountaineer tours that include the Icefield parkway are driving you there in a motor coach, believe me it's better by car and it's different travelling north to south and south to north. You have to be careful with the VIA service, be sure you are travelling through the best part in daylight. That's why the Rocky Mountaineer stops overnight and you stay in hotels, you are always moving in daylight.

The fact of the matter is we would have to open an account with a totally different institution, with a totally different debit system. We can withdraw cash from an ATM but we can't pay with our debit card. We are considering doing this but we really don't travel overseas that much. I just think it's BS that vendors who require you to give a credit card number and even take Pre-payment on that Credit Card and still have the cheek to charge a percentage fee on that transaction.

For all the excuses for not signing the slip, that's your personal decision. Look at it this way, if you want to dispute a charge and you refuse to sign it's they said you said. If you always sign (we sign) they better have the signed slip to prove the charges. How hard is this? Sign the chit.

I see someone brought up the subject of the POS terminal. That has some interesting twists for the international traveler. We can't use our debit cards overseas (at least my financial institution doesn't support that) so we would use a credit card to pay. This opens up the whole percentage "fee" for using the credit card. Which seems to be a thing in Oz. Hotels demand a credit card to book, some even demand prepayment months in advance. Then charge a "fee" because you used a credit card. That is just off putting to me. Whatever the fees charged by the POS terminal provider are part of the cost of doing business, build it in to the price.

We have thought about "The Rocky Mountaineer" several times and the price is just not on for us. We haven't actually looked at pricing recently but that trip would be much less expensive by VIA Rail or as @mr walker said it is a very nice drive. For some reason people are willing to pay the inflated price for "Luxury Rail" journeys. I guess we maybe would too if we had the budget. I really have become weary of flying.

Nice photos with the last one showing a faint 2nd rainbow 🌈

I don't think you will find that guy entertaining on a cruise. Imagine what the cruise fare would be.🤔

Exactly Mic. The "tips" debate shows up from time to time on most boards (less here). Almost always when the subject comes up there is someone who insists they get better service using a particular unusual denomination of bill. I guess if you "think" it works it must be true.

That would be a great cruise for country music fans. I recognize several of the acts. I'm not sure I would be up for a whole week of it, but clearly it is popular and sold out.

I wouldn't mind a bit of country music in the 1990s vintage, like Garth Brooks, Alan Jackson, Keith Whitley etc. I think there are a few cruises (on other lines) that have actual "Country" themes with some pretty big acts. Of course I doubt you would see that on HAL. I think Country Night would be great.

If your "Gratuities" are included in the fare then consider yourself covered. You will probably have the going rate for "gratuities" added to every drink or specialty meal you purchase. Make sure you mention any crew member by name when they give you exceptional service. Take a moment to recognize those who you think deserve a bit extra and search them out close to the end of the cruise with a bit of cash (only if you want to) I have to say the whole "tipping" culture is out of hand in North America, with so many people thinking they can bribe "special" treatment with a couple bucks. We are so looking forward to our down under adventure where the servers don't expect an 18% reward for even the most basic of service.

That guess was for the mountain. There was some kind of lag because I didn't know there was a new image when I posted that...At least we know it's not Mount Shasta 😁😉

I decided to read through this thread, I took note when it started but didn't comment. We have not cruised Celebrity since before covid and had 2 cruises planed and cancelled because of covid; those cancelled cruises were both scheduled on Celebrity Eclipse. When it came time to try for a 3rd time to schedule that down under trip, Celebrity had changed to the "Edge" for that route and that was the end of that. I hate the edge class, they are ugly and the "Infinite Veranda" is an ocean view cabin with a large window that opens sometimes. We then started looking at Princess and booked a shorter East Coast Canada cruise to try them out. Then Princess decided to go all in on the "Medallion" even though the system was full of bugs and failed often. We cancelled that and tried Viking, which was a one and done because we didn't think it represent value for money charged. We then decided to try HAL for the East Coast Canada trip we had cancelled on Princess. We enjoyed that cruise even though it was the smaller, older Zaandam. This cruise suited our needs although the main stage entertainment was okay it didn't wow us. There was only one thing that was absolutely unacceptable for us and that was a "Presentation" in the main stage about "Canadian Icons" which this proud Canadian found offensive. It was taken care of in a satisfactory manner. We decided to book our Down Under adventure with HAL for next year (3rd time lucky?) while we were on board. We later decided to eliminate the long haul flight home by extending our cruise to include the 29 day trans Pacific which will bring us home. One thing is certain we will never sail on a Celebrity "Edge" class ship and I guess we will continue with open minds about HAL in General and Westerdam in particular because that will be our home for 6 weeks next year.

I'm going to try Mt. Shasta in the USA

For us the long haul is about a month before the cruise and to a different country. Although there is the flight from Melbourne to Auckland, also a few days before the cruise. We will most likely use Air New Zealand for that flight. Everything about the Air New Zealand "Business Class" is just strange, best to stick with "Premium Economy" for that relatively short flight.