boulders

I also cherry pick. I booked a cruise last week on a cruise line that I've never sailed. I'd been watching one particular January '23 cruise on a cruise line I'm familiar with. Let's call it cruise line A. The pricing seemed to be stable at around $1800 for a solo inside. It's a pretty good fare, but was more than I wanted to spend. They have a lot of unsold cabins. For fun, I did a search on an online agency's website and opened it up to any cruise sailing around that time. I discovered that cruise line B, which that cruise line A is usually compared to,  was offering a very similar cruise, same length and same week, for less than half of cruise line A's price. So I booked a balcony on cruise line B for much less than cruise line A's inside price. Bonus is that I can drive to the port for cruise B. 

My best cruise bargain was in 2010. Disney cruise lines neglected to market their Mediterranean cruises. The Med cruises were offered at rock bottom prices plus kids sail free. They still didn't sell well. I ended up with a balcony for 4 people on an 11 night Med cruise for under $2K. 

I have a bucket list of cruises or places I want to visit. I don't restrict myself by  deciding on one particular place where I want to travel next. If I see something that goes to someplace on my bucket list for a great price, I jump on it. 

27 minutes ago, cwd79 said:

Ok. So, would it fall under the 2 days or 3 days side of testing?

The FAQs on the HAL website are unclear whether non-PCR NAAT tests are acceptable for embarkation in Canada. In their embarkation in Canada section, they say they require an antigen test within 2 days or a PCR test within 72 hours. In another section, they mention NAAT tests being acceptable. They also say that if you tested but don't have the test results back in time by boarding, they will test you at no extra charge. I personally wouldn't trust that promise.   https://www.hollandamerica.com/en_US/worry-free-promise/travel-well/frequently-asked-questions/faq-for-cruises-from-usa.html#testing

Many airports have a testing center which does rapid PCR. We had to do a 3 hour journey to the airport last week so that ds could go back to boarding school. They buried the PCR test requirement in a long email sent several weeks before. Check to see if a nearby airport is on this list. https://www.xprescheck.com/locations  Cost was $175. Results were available in 30 minutes. Most of the locations are pre-security, so you don't need to fly out that day. 

NAAT is a broader term than PCR. PCR is a form of NAAT. NAAT is not a form of PCR. 

I see

12 minutes ago, davekathy said:

Where ARE steamers on the prohibited list!!!! I thought they were but didn't see it listed on the latest  Celebrity link I posted. Not that it really matters to me as we don't own or would take one. 

Under prohibited items, it's the 5th bullet point. They're listed after candles, incense, coffee makers...

After reading this thread, I checked AARP to see if they had Celebrity gift cards at a discount too. They do! I was so excited to use it on the booking I made last week, then I read the fine print. You can only use Celebrity gift cards for a new booking. No OBC, no using it for payment after initial booking and you can use a maximum of $500 per person per cruise. HAL, in contrast, has no limit on the amount of gift card use on a cruise and allows you to use it for OBC and previous bookings. It's a great deal!

17 minutes ago, Tradestock said:

On a different note, is the Amazon/Antarctic round trip from FLL scheduled on a routine basis?  Or, is the 2023 voyage a once only scheduling of the itinerary?  

It's fairly routine. I remember seeing it 10 years ago. Other cruise lines do it as well. 

17 hours ago, Hlitner said:

WOW!  I just assumed train service had been restored.  I imagine all the COVID entry restrictions, ArriveCAN fiasco, and all that is COVID are not helping our wonderful North American train service :).  I guess there is always Greyhound.

 

Hank

Your guess would be wrong.  Greyhound closed in Canada over a year ago.  https://news.greyhound.ca/

There should be a good number of American families with kids on board. The later in June, the more families will be on board. 

We had a Neptune suite on port side for 21 days a number of years ago. I think we were in 7022. Some nights I thought we were under a bowling alley. It was great being next to the Neptune Lounge though. 

My son started cruising HAL when he was 7. HAL is fine for little kids. Club HAL is great. They start at 3 years old. I've cruised with kids on Disney, Carnival, Royal Caribbean and Princess as well. My daughter preferred HAL out of all the lines. My boys preferred Royal Caribbean. Only the 2 year old liked Carnival. The kids club on Carnival was great. Everything else was subpar. My kids didn't particularly like Disney. One of them got food poisoning and ended up in medical with an IV. 

Those experiences were all around 10-15 years ago though. You can check on recent experiences on the Family Cruising subforum. https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/28-family-cruises/

My son has required PCR tests to return to boarding school for the past couple of years. He's done them at Walgreens. 

The results page says: 

31 minutes ago, smarks said:

 

Thank You Nancy for that info.  I think I will  pack for 7 days and have laundry done just once a week.  I would love unlimited but that would be almost $500 for laundry for two.  Ouch.  Something to think about.  Thanks Again.

The $7/day is per cabin not per person. So, for a 35 day cruise, it would be up to $245. Someone else posted on the thread that the cost for their 31 day cruise was $186. 

I'm anxiously awaiting shore excursions to be released for my January 2024 cruise. Does anyone have an idea of when they are typically released? 

My upcoming cruise on HAL is 1.6 the double occupancy cost. It really depends on the cabin and the sail date. 

Volunteer Point in the Falklands had several species of penguins, not just the Kings. That was sooo much better than the Chilean ports. 

3 hours ago, igraf said:

 

HAL may see this situation differently as the problem was caused by the deliberate action of a passenger.  Do people flush down towels at home?

 

igraf

 

If they're toddlers or perhaps have dementia, they do. Not everyone on ships are fully functioning adults. 

On one of the October roll calls, someone posted a letter from HAL stating that the refugees will be gone by mid-September and that their cruise is definitely taking place.  Cut and pasted from October 8 roll call. https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2779081-october-8-2022-14-day-adriatic-ionian-explorer/page/2/#comment-63513558

Dear Valued Guest,

As someone who has booked a cruise on Holland America Line’s Volendam, you likely have followed news of the recent charter agreement with the Netherlands and City of Rotterdam governments for the ship to house Ukrainian families. It has been an important and commendable mission for the government, and we have been proud to play even a small role in helping these families who have been through so much.

We have confirmed that the charter will end September 14, 2022 and as such will not impact your planned voyage with us. In the 10 days following the charter’s completion, we will reposition the ship to Italy where Volendam will be readied to welcome cruising guests once again.

Volendam will be cruising the Mediterranean in the fall, followed by a season in the Americas that includes a 28-Day Amazon Explorer and a 74-day Grand South American and Antarctica Voyage, both round trip from Fort Lauderdale. If you booked a cruise on Volendam for September 24 or later, you will be sailing as planned and do not need to contact us to confirm.

We look forward to welcoming you soon on your Volendam voyage.

Sincerely,

Gus Antorcha
President, Holland America Line

1 hour ago, Cruise Suzy said:

Are you using Navigator or looking on the Website? Sometimes they aren't the same. The Website usually has Internet available as soon as you book.

I'm using the website. 

6 minutes ago, gilboman said:

you don't see it under indulgences/gifts in manage your booking? first time it took me a while to realize internet was lumped into that cateogry

Nope, it's not there. I can buy chocolate covered strawberries, casino chips, onboard credit, flowers, towel creations books, and other things, but not internet. There are more choices available, including for flowers, than where I first started watching the site. 

I'm very eager to check out the shore excursions, of course. It's a 3 month cruise. We do duplicate some of the 2023 GWV and I was able to lurk on their roll call for 60 pages until someone posted the list of shore excursions. 😆

I made a booking several months ago. The cruise is over a year away. I still don't have the ability to book internet or see the pricing, so this info is very useful.  

21 hours ago, richwmn said:

if you have a current booking you can manage the booking, then click on "Packages and Gifts", then internet and it will show you the pre cruise price for the premium package.

although this chart is several years old, it still seems to be accurate for what you will pay if you wait until you get on board.

On 5/16/2022 at 9:21 PM, gmerick said:

I save my tray from Room Service breakfast, and take it to the buffet.  I can get drinks, entree, desert, salad, cutlery, condiments....  and I still have room for my book and sunglasses.  If I don't find a pleasing table with great ocean view, I carry the tray back to the solarium tables.

 

Sure do wish the buffets had a stack of trays.

Do you keep the tray for the rest of the cruise or do you nab the tray from each morning's breakfast?

I used to book balconies or family oceanviews on other lines. Before I had my first HAL cruise, I sailed on Princess to Alaska. Before sailing, I was offered 50% of my fare back if I changed to an inside from an OV. The inside was tiny, but when I realized that I was paying about 10% of what the people across the hall were paying for a balcony, I was hooked. 

On my next cruise, on Disney, I booked an inside guarantee and was upgraded to a balcony. A couple of cruises later, I got an upsell from a tiny oceanview on HAL to a Neptune suite for a 3 week cruise. 

My next cruise is a 94 day on HAL in an inside. If I don't get an upsell, I'll be perfectly happy paying tens of thousands less for my inside than others are paying for higher tier cabins. 

My sleep-wake cycle really isn't governed by the sun too much. It's quite rare that I sleep past sunrise. I'm usually up hours before. 

My last HAL cruise was 8 years ago. I am still finding the little stickies on some of my favorite tops. They handle cotton knits extremely well. I sent out a velvet dress one time and it came back pristine. 

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