boulders

We'll see about Paris, it's energy more than cost that's a deterrent at this point.

 

LOL! I got the first three then had to look up what TLA means (3-letter acronym). And yes, totals do make a difference. I do remember that HAL included gratuities. There can be lots of "hidden" costs.

 

Thanks for the feedback.

None of the major cruise lines, including HAL, include gratuities. HAL calls it a service charge. Sometimes you will find travel agent deals where they will include the gratuities for the first and second in a cabin. Otherwise, budget $12 per person per day for gratuities.

Another thing that I've found in scheduling and rescheduling cruises is that although the shore excursions are pretty much the same from cruise line to cruise line, the prices can vary a lot. For example, an excursion on my upcoming cruise is quoted at $170 for HAL. Another cruiser is on Celebrity the same month, was asking about the same excursion on their sailing. Celebrity was charging $99. It's often difficult to find out pricing until you've booked. So, try and do some research on what those costs would be.

How long does it take to get back to the ship. We have a city tour that ends between 11 and 11:30 and then flowrider lessons at 12:20. Just wondering after reading all these posts if we should cancel the tour and stick with the flowrider.

 

Thanks

Often the excursion end time is the time they get you back to the dock. It doesn't allow time for getting back on board. I was not impressed by Belize when we went there. I'd stick with the flow rider.

It's the brand, the short 3 or 4 night cruise, and likely the ship too, but I've had similar experiences on one of the RCCL ships on a 7 night cruise. Sorry your vacation was marred by such behaviour.

If you can only get away for 3 or 4 nights, Disney would probably be your best bet. For 7 nights, any ship would/should see less of that behaviour.

HAL allows you to preorder liquor by the bottle for delivery to your cabin. They have quite an extensive collection.

Sorry, I have to disagree with the majority.

If you agreed that it was OK for A to let you know tomorrow you should have held to that and told B they would be on the 1st backup.

If you put a 24hr hold on a cruise went to book it only to find your hold had been given to someone who wanted to book immediately how would you feel?(breach of promise comes to mind)

If you hadn't said it was OK to to let you know tomorrow my then my apologies the point I made is moot.

Cheers, h.

No, I hadn't said that they could let me know the next day. If I'd said that, I wouldn't have given it to poster B. I didn't check the thread until both had posted. Poster A came back today and said they'd chosen something else anyway.

Royal Caribbean, particularly the newer ships- Oasis, Allure and maybe the Freedom class too.

My kids love Club HAL. My tips are - sign up for the unlimited laundry - best deal ever. Use room service for breakfast and bedtime snacks. It's much nicer to laze around the room in the morning without having to get everyone dressed to get to breakfast.

Have you double checked that you are covered for travel OUTSIDE CANADA? And would that be just health coverage?

 

Here in the U.S. I have good health medical coverage, but it doesn't go outside the U.S. when I travel. And it wouldn't cover cancellation, trip interruption, or transportation home (if needed), so I always purchase a travel policy.

Um yeah, it's good anywhere in the world. It covers medevac, all medical expenses etc up to $5 million.

Thanks! I took a quick poll around the dinner table and they said the same thing. I knew as soon as I posted that I had 2 spots left that this would happen. :rolleyes:

Oooh, that one's on my bucket list. I've been mostly looking at the HAL offerings though. I've been thinking of that type of cruise in a couple of years when my 2 oldest are at university. My youngest will be 11 then. We went to Tahiti for our honeymoon many years ago. What shore excursions did you do in French Polynesia?

I have been organizing a group shore excursion on my roll call. We have a maximum we can take of 12. As of noon, we were at 10. I posted an update and said we had 2 places left. A few hours later, poster A said they were probably interested for 2 places and would let me know tomorrow. Ninety minutes after that, poster B said they definitely wanted the 2 spots.

So, who get the spots, poster A or B?

No one's complained yet, but I told poster B the spots were theirs. Was I wrong?

Glad to hear you had a good time. What was your itinerary?

Your work covers your family for travel interruption, emergency evacuation, and medical outside Canada?

 

 

Autocorrect responsible for most typos...

that would be very odd..

 

is the "bf" paying his expenses or free-loading?

Not odd at all. It's a common employment benefit in Canada.

And if you don't have it as work benefit, it costs about $140 for a family of 4 for a year.

No there are no ironing facilities for passengers. There is a pressing service and a laundry service.

The cruise lines seem to take advantage of inexperienced cruisers with the drink packages. It is NOT necessary to buy a drink package. Onboard the ship, you will have free access to water, coffee, tea, milk , chocolate milk and juices at breakfast. I think hot chocolate's included, but I'm not sure. You can buy coca cola products or other drinks at the bars or from room service. The cost for sodas is about $2.50. You can also purchase a soda package for about $6-7/day which allows you unlimited sodas throughout the cruise. All virgin or alcoholic drinks, bottles of water, wine, can be purchased individually. The non-alcoholic cocktails are about $5 each. Bottles of water are about $3. Only buy the package if you think you'll get your money's worth out of it. All of the packages must be purchased for the entire length of the cruise.

Edited to add: The water from the tap in your bathroom is perfectly fine to drink. You can bring your own container and fill it up to take it off the ship. You don't need to fill up at the mealtimes or purchase when you are getting off the ship, although there will be a table at the shore excursion meeting place for you to buy a bottle of water.

A multigenerational cruise is a great idea. Just don't expect everyone to do everything and be together 24/7.

Hello

 

very very new to all this. had my heart set on may 2015 pride of america in hawaii but have decided been a single to expensive. so popped into the the travel agent and she gave me some books. we discussed asia and i went hmmm.

then i went to the web site and they have this repositioning cruise.

 

PORTS OF CALL: may 2015

Singapore; Kuala Lumpur (Port Klang), Malaysia; Phuket, Thailand; Colombo, Sri Lanka; Cochin, India; New Mangalore, India; Goa (Mormugao), India; Bombay (Mumbai), India; Dubai, United Arab Emirates

 

which sounds interesting. would like to visit asia but

 

don't like crowds

the noise, spitting

dont like too hot food (spicey)

and due to physical issues me and a squat toilet wouldn't work

 

i thought this tour is great still expensive for a single but at least i get to see asia and when it gets to much retire back to the sanctuary of the boat

 

my questions are

 

don't have a current passport can i still book You don't need a passport to book, but you will need a passport to take the trip. You may need a visa for India as well.

will get insurance (a no brainer in my opinion) but if things happen between now and then ie lost of job, illness, illness of elderly parents, lack of money could i transfer money paid to another cruise plan to cruise again in '17 (caribbean for my 40th) The rules are different for Aussies than they are for North Americans.

 

more importantly there does not appear to my day activities yet. have emailed but there is some delay. i don't wish to be sitting on a boat or sitting at a cooking show! i am an explorer!The shore excursions would likely be released around 6 months before sailing.

 

my interests would be

 

animals

elephant ride

ww2 sites

history

 

not on my list

 

forced shopping

cultural shows like a hot curry and watch a dance No one will force you to do anything! There will be a variety of shore excursions available. You can go off on your own if you like.

 

would be there day tours for my interests?

 

do you think this would be suitable for a first cruise? i am guessing been a repositioning cruise it will be hot and choppy sea weather but i come from hot and i can get a tablet or three!

 

many thanks for your help :-)

Answers in bold above.

Quark Expeditions is offering 50% off 10 2013-14 Antarctica voyages. The sale starts Tuesday, Nov. 26 and ends Dec. 2. Triples are not included in the sale.

While a beautiful idea, I'd say your initial plans are a bit unrealistic. The R/T air will take about $1,000 per, the trains from Rome to Venice and then to Paris will be at least a couple hundred each, then a night in Rome, two nights in Venice and several in Paris (with meals) will run to close to $500 more each. You need to figure on taxis or vans for local ground transport as well. As long as you can kick in a fair amount, the money should be no problem. As long as he can stay on the ship in ports, that should be OK, but you are also talking about a lot of getting around, in various challenging areas which could be difficult for an 84 year old with a walker. One particular problem: arriving in Rome "early" after an overnight flight and trying to get to the morning Papal audience is more likely to be a huge frustration than a cherished goal.

You will be lucky if the roundtrip air is only $1000 each. It is more likely to be $1500 each. The land portions, as mentioned will be much more expensive on a daily basis, than the cruise portion. I would look at a longer cruise, if you want to see more cities and towns, and cut the land portion to the bare minimum. There are cruises that start in Barcelona, stop in France, Rome, Croatia and end in Venice.

Excursions in Europe are expensive too. It may be most cost effective to get a private excursion, but even that will run about 600 euros.

Although NCL's advertised prices look the cheapest, other lines can have very cheap fares for the third and fourth which make them most economical. Have a look at Holland America. The third and fourth are often around $399 pp.

Definitely not option C.

Hey all! We just got back from our first cruise ever on the Carnival Victory & had a great time! We loved cruising and would like to book another for next fall for our honeymoon. We know we want a Caribbean cruise & have begun looking at Norwegian, Royal Caribbean, Princess, Celebrity, & Carnival. I know there are several boards and many opinions out there and just wanted a little input. We are a younger"ish" couple (35/37) and although we enjoyed Carnival think that another line might be nice to try. I know specifics help when making suggestions so here are some of the things we liked/disliked to help give an idea of what we're looking for.

1. Very important that there is an "Adults Only" area! Preferably with a pool & hot tubs. One that is not packed to capacity every moment of the day either. Nothing Serene about not being able to find any space to relax or contending with rowdy 21 yr olds partying it up in the "quiet" area. Royal Caribbean's Radiance class ships are good for this. Avoid Carnival.

2. We would really like a ship that has a hot tub/pool that is open late or available 24 hrs. We are night owls and hated the fact the hot tubs closed at 11pm.

3. We enjoy having fun and enjoy our adult beverages but not much of the dance club types. A blues bar or jazz club is much more our kind of scene. Would really enjoy that type of entertainment.Anything other than Carnival would fit the bill on this one.

4. Enjoy flexible dining options. We're not always hungry at a specific pre-determined time. All mainstream cruise lines would fit the bill on this one.

5. Spoiled ourselves with a balcony- Balconies will be a must from here on out :p

6. Enjoy a nice spa (more for me than him) The cruise lines' spas are run by the same company. You will get the same experience on any ship.

7. Comedians, casino, and trying to find a quiet spot on the upper decks to watch the water pass by while enjoying a beverage was how we liked spending our evenings. All mainstream cruise lines will have this.

8. Would like not to feel too "cramped" or "crowded" when in public spaces.Royal Caribbean's Radiance class ships are mostly glass and are fabulous for seeing outside.

9. We would like the dress code to be casual but enjoy getting dressed up one or two nights. Our idea of "dressed up" is more shirt & tie, less tux. ;)Most mainstream cruise lines will fit the bill on this one.

10. Food quality is somewhat important. I'm honestly thrilled to just have a week off from cooking as it is my livelihood. We like options and enjoy trying new things.Royal Caribbean's Allure and Oasis of the Seas will have the most dining options.

11. We aren't much for participating in contests nor do we need someone else to provide us with activities all day. That's great if you enjoy that, but if we did want to participate it would more than likely be in something educational/enrichment related (i.e. wine knowledge class, languages, art class). The only mainstream cruise line I know that would have something like this would be HAL, but it doesn't fit the bill on the flexible dining option. They do have a very good room service, but their buffet does not have wide open hours. Most mainstream cruise lines, including HAL, will have a flexible dining time for dinner.

 

Hopefully that gives you enough to go on to make a solid recommendation. This will be our honeymoon cruise, so we're hoping to make it special! Thank you for any advice you may have!

Have a look at Royal Caribbean's Radiance class of ships.

I really don't see any parents avoiding formal night on cruises. We've always gone. Just this afternoon, I bought a tux for my 8 year old for our next cruise. My oldest is going off to university next year, so it might be our last all together. I want some good pictures! There's nothing so cute as kids in formal wear.

We've been on 5 different cruise lines. The clubs are all more or less the same. Especially for teens, the big difference will be whether your teens will be able to make friends. That depends on the time of year you will be cruising. Royal Caribbean will have the most teens.

An Antarctic cruise is on my bucket list and I absolutely want my daughter to experience that! She is currently 3 so we have several years for planning this trip! How many days is your cruise? Are there minimum ages for cruises with landings?

Hurtigruten Fram's minimum age seems to be 5 years old. I found this on a blog, not their own website, so double check that. Quark's minimum age is 10.

When I was doing the research for this cruise, I found a lot of providers charge the same amount for the third or fourth people in a cabin as the first and second. Other providers don't allow for a third or fourth. That meant that the cost of an Antarctic cruise approached $50K for our family of 4 on cruises with landings. This why we're doing a drive by.

Have a look at Holland America too. In addition to the round the Horn cruises, they have cruises that leave from San Diego or Fort Launderdale and do a return a trip to South America.