zelker

Thanks!! Another Hawaiian name for Barbara taken from the meaning behind Barbara is Mea'e (which happens to be our second daughters middle name ;) )

 

Really!! That's so cool!! We've been going to Maui since 1989, were married there, own a home there, and I have NEVER run across Mea'e as another name for Barbara! Mahalo for teaching me something new!! :D

 

PS - pronounced similar to pikake (me-ah-eh) or is the middle syllable emphasized?

We booked with Costco! I'm going to look into their insurance!

 

AlohaPride - if you haven't already found it, here's the link:

 

http://www.costcotravel.com/Info/insurance

 

You can do it online or over the phone directly with Travel Guard (Costco's provider). The Costco TA's don't handle the insurance part for you anymore.

 

Aloha,

 

Barb (Palapala ;))

Costco's insurance is by far the best deal that I've found. It's always far less than what a cruise line offers while giving you much better coverage but of course you have to purchase your cruise with them in order to buy their insurance. Since I booked with another TA this time (strictly because they are giving us enough frequent flyer miles on United to cover one RT ticket to Hawaii which is a much better deal for us than the OBC from CT), I had to buy trip insurance independently. I bought it from CSA and although it does not cover pre-existing, the coverage is great and it was only 4% of the non-refundable trip costs (and that includes cruise, air, and hotel).

Our high level credit card also offers travel insurance but when I compard it line by line to a CSA policy there were significant shortfalls on the CC program. We went, and always, have gone with CSA regardless. Sure there are some overlap but the travel policy provides for so much more.

 

Glad to hear you've been happy with CSA (and you, too, prescottbob). That's who I bought ours through this time (purchased directly with CSA). :)

There are some services that you can reserve in advance, we used All star. it was really cheap, I think about 16 for the 2 of us. Try google, for airport transport Ft Lauderdale

 

Thanks for the recommendation. All Star quoted $10 pp from the port to FLL.

 

We will disembark on a Monday - 4 ships including ours in port. Is that considered "busy"?

So, final question(s). Does anyone buy their trip cancelation insurance from HAL? If so, why do you buy it for HAL rather than an insurance company?

 

I think you will likely always find insurance independently that's less expensive than what the cruise line offers. I don't know if you live in the States or not but I haven't had any luck finding just trip cancellation/delay insurance ... it always includes medical, etc. which we don't need because our health insurance covers us while traveling. If you do find something, please post back here.

We have time to kill between disembarkation and our 1:30 flight so would you mind sharing more about the free shuttle please. Where do you catch it, how often does it run, what's it called, etc.

 

Thanks! :)

[quote name='cruisingator2']I thought the service on HAL was just average. Actually RCI has better service. The above are my opinions and observations. [/QUOTE]

Conversely, we've tried RCCL twice, thought that for the most part the service was really lacking, and is one of the many reasons we will likely never sail that line again. Just goes to show you ... opinions are like, well, you know. ;) But aren't we lucky that there are so many options to try! :)

The Hotel Director told us that there were 400 locations that received the new repeaters. Our neighbors on the aft got them. Just to clarify, they did not speed up the internet but merely allowed you to stay in your cabin to work.

 

Thank you!!

Looks like a few people on bow of Z'dam. Do they let passengers out there for sailaway? (hope so - that's where I'd like to be in a few weeks :D)

ALT-TAB-TAB-TAB-TAB-TAB.......:D until your fingers cramp :)

 

LOL!!! :p

Thanks for posting this; we haven't cruised HAL yet but these observations are a big plus. One of the things I really dislike about where new, big ships are heading is that they are removing people from the ocean. The lack of a true promenade deck, for example. Taking away great forward-facing interior public spaces to create cabins, etc.

 

Which of the HAL ships would you say best epitomize what the quoted language describes?

 

We haven't sailed all of the different classes of ships on HAL so can only speak to our experience which has been on the Vista-Class ships and R-Class ships (specifically, the Amsterdam and I point that out because the ships in this class are not cookie-cutters of each other) ... though I suspect all of the HAL ships reflect the same feeling.

We sail and enjoy both HAL and X and find them pretty close in the product they offer. That said, I ran across this post on a Holland America Secrets thread the other day which, IMHO, sums HAL up perfectly -

 

We're going there next month! I've read such wonderful things about it and actually have friends that went last year on a land-based tour and said they'd go back in a heart beat. Assume you enjoyed it as well.

 

I can't wait! :)

We'll be staying at the HI Express on SE 17th St? What about Gilbert's 17th Street Grill or Finster Murphys? Or is there somewhere else that's within walking distance that would be better for seafood?

 

Thanks!

Crew News and Joanie -

 

we'll be on Z'Dam shortly and wonder if you know the location of the WiFi hotspots (or if not specifically on Z'Dam, perhaps on another Vista-class ship)? Would be nice to know ahead of time if there are some places where we're likely to get faster speeds.

 

Thanks!

 

Barb

We did the trip a few weeks ago and were constantly changing our time to local time.

 

Since you've done the cruise so recently, thanks very much for confirming! :)

We've booked an Eastern Caribbean for next January and I don't see the offer for the Suite Amenities package offered for our booking. We are in the Neptune Suites, is this not offered for this class?

Thanks

Danny

 

The package is really intended for someone who isn't in a Neptune or Pinnacle suite because you already get most of the perks (and some you get are better). But that said, if you really want the package for some reason, I'd suggest contacting Guest Services.

http://timstafford.net/panama-canal-cruise.htm

 

Hope you enjoy

 

Thanks for sharing photos. We're getting excited!

 

Were you at the Jaguar Animal Rescue Center near Limon?

If you haven't already, try logging into your account, then going into your reservation, then look under Indulgences - Packages - Signature Packages. That's where they show up on ours.

Thanks, all. On an RCCL cruise in the Caribbean last summer they stayed on ship's time the entire cruise and it was very confusing when doing private tours. Glad we don't have to think about it this time around. Barb :)

Can anyone that's done the Panama Canal Sunfarer cruise confirm that the ship is or is not on local time when docked in Limon? I want to make sure we hook up with our guide at the right time but he thinks some ships switch to local and some do not. It'd be nice to get this locked down before we arrive.

 

Thanks!

We have it booked for next month and currently it's $109.95 per person.

KK - thanks for the quick answer. Both staterooms have tubs so we should be good to go.

Quick question: if memory serves, all staterooms have a clothesline, correct?