clivep

On 5/29/2019 at 4:08 AM, Animalgirl27 said:

What did you all do to read the daily newsletter since everything is in German?

We don't speak hardly any German but felt that our trip last year on the AidaAura was one of the best cruises we've been on.

I'd downloaded the Microsoft Translator app for my smartphone and it allows offline translation from the phone's camera. Hey Presto an english version of the selected area of the daily newsletter.

25 minutes ago, phillyguy31 said:

Cruise lines at least allow you to cancel and rebook up to final payment date with no change fees, try that with an airline!

Although not if you are booking in Europe. Over here we lose the deposit. Also the cancellation charges after final payment are usually higher for us.

This is why I like booking through that well known German travel agent. Their normal booking process is to give you an option booking which guarantees your cabin and price for a few days.

You can then get them to extend the option period if necessary. If the price drops you can get them to reprice the option (as long as you haven't yet excercised the option by making payment of course).

There is no P&O shuttle bus from Gdynia to Gdansk.

The P&O shuttle bus info page indicates there is a shuttle from the port but this is to Gdynia not Gdansk. When we were there in October 2013 the drop-off point was the Gemini Center which is a shopping center on the waterfront about 2 km away (about a 15 minute ride). The central railway station is about a further 1.3 km from the Gemini Center.

We were docked at Polska 1 which is about 2.5km from the station.

As you correctly say, the tours department offers an "on your own" tour to Gdansk for a premium price.

We did the Best of Gdansk and Malbork Castle 8 hour excursion which included a nice meal. It was excellent and good value at £58 (less loyalty discount).

It also will depend on whether or not they have moved to a new cruise terminal...

http://www.cruise.co.uk/news/amsterdam-set-to-move-tourists-out-of-the-city-with-new-cruise-terminal/

I noticed that on ports with overnight stays it groups the days together and when opening up the port info then it doesn't give any idea of what time of day the departure is. e.g. "Alta, Norway Arrive early afternoon – *".

I know P&O are reluctant to let you know actual departure times but it would be useful to get some idea!

My apologies, I should have been clearer.

 

You only get the 50% if you book an Adonia cruise in 2017, not 2018, so you haven't missed out. ;)

 

Interestingly, the Svalbard cruise is one I'm very interested in doing. I've always wanted to go to Svalbard. We'll have to look at our calendar for that year...... :rolleyes:

I was happy to see Adonia returning and excited to see it was going to Svalbard in 2018... until the itinerary was released.

We went to Svalbard on Aurora in 2012. It was amazing and we'd like to go again but whoever decided on the 19th June 2018 sailing itinerary has done a poor job.

I know P&O have been slowing the ships down and having less time in ports with more sea days but the end of this cruise is silly. The last 4 cruise days are 2 at sea followed by Belfast then another sea day. A sensible thing to do would have been to do the Belfast stop the day after Dublin. Then near the end of the cruise after Trondheim there could have been a day at Geiranger/Flaam followed by a day at Bergen/Stavanger/Kristiansand and then just 1 day at sea to Southampton.

Thanks for that, it looks like there must be an issue with the NCL.co.uk website as the FAS offer is available via other UK travel agent sites.

When I called a very well known UK TA about the 2nd Feb Spirit sailing they said the Free At Sea was indeed available but then quoted a price quite a bit higher than the NCL site was showing for that particular cabin grade!

I've been looking at the NCL Spirit Med sailings on 6th Jan and 2nd Feb. Neither of these is showing the Free At Sea promotion on the UK site although the Canary Isles ones in these months have it.

You can certainly book through a US TA and may (but not always) get a better price but bear in mind that you need to pay the 18% gratuities on the UBP or SDP promotions. As far as can be ascertained, the UK promotions still include the gratuity. They've changed the wording of the T'c & C's on the UK site and messed this up to make it appear that UK/EU bookings now have to pay the 18% but this does not actually seem to be the case.

It's not easy to get accurate info in the UK...

If I do a mock booking on the NCL UK site then it does not even ask which promotions I want so I can't tell for sure whether or not the Free At Sea is available yet alone see if they are going to be charging the 18%.

Calling a UK TA doesn't help much. I find their websites often have incorrect information/prices and when calling to check I find that they can't actually offer what's advertised.

The website was changed recently and a lot of the T&Cs seem to be generic and not country specific.

 

It has been as quoted for a while now and, if it was chargeable then I'm sure that someone would have reported that on here by now.

 

As stated above, a dummy booking should confirm it, but I'm almost certain that it isn't being charged. I haven't booked for a few months so can't say for sure from recent experience.

The Ts&Cs now cover the promotion for both UK & EU (the US ones are different). It looks like they've copied the US info and made some but not all of the changes necessary hence the reference regarding the beverage gratuities to bookings made through the Australia office.

I've tried doing a dummy booking on the NCL site (all the way up to the payment page for a qualifying cruise date/cabin) but it doesn't even ask which promotions you want so no further information to be had regarding the gratuities on any of the promotion choices.

If you buy the package you pay the 18% extra.

 

If you get it as a 'free' promo, you do not pay the extra 18% (in the EU free means free)

That's how it used to be but I'm quoting from the t'c & c's now showing for the "free" promotion!

I know this was introduced a long time ago for US bookings but it had been thought that it was against EU law to charge it on UK/EU bookings.

I see the UK/EU terms & conditions for the promotion now state:

Guest is responsible for 18% gratuities & service charges on the retail value of the Ultimate Beverage Package and/or Soda Package prior to cruise.

Ultimate beverage package option includes 18% gratuity on the package

When booking through the Australia office, gratuities related to beverage and soda packages are included.

So that's as clear as mud then!!!

For the dining package...

Guest is responsible for 18% gratuities & service charges on the retail value of the Specialty Dining Package prior to cruise.

There have been several references in this thread to free tips/free grats. The DSC is not tips and should not be thought of as such. The D stands for daily, not discretionary.

DSC: D=daily sure enough. SC=Service Charge=tips

It IS discretionary though and can be removed.

Numerous lines are now calling it a service charge rather than gratuities.

For the next time, keep in mind that you also have the option of booking through NCL US if you prefer. NCL seems to be trying to make this harder to do through their website (because of location-based redirection), but many US-based travel agents will be more than happy to take your business.

Or through the .eu site or a TA on the continent.

Both our NCL and HAL cruises we took this year were considerably cheaper booking through a German TA than they were in the US or UK.

Bear in mind that the pricing for NCL in Germany is different and includes the daily service charge, equivalent of UBP package (inc. taxes), speciality coffees in the restaurants and a bottle of water per person/per day in the stateroom. This means it can still work out cheaper particularly as these benefits are all included even if you book last minute and/or a guarantee cabin.

The 30-day restriction was removed back in April 2016. It is not a very recent change.

I wondered why no one else had pointed out the lack of restriction in the US. I've not been monitoring things since January when we sailed on the Epic.

I'm just starting to look at things for a January sailing on the Spirit. It may well be that I book a guarantee cabin in which case I'll not qualify for a promotion wherever I book.

Looking at the latest US t's & c's I see that the previous "5+ day sailings booked greater than 30 days prior to sailing" has changed to "3 nights or longer sailings". The Free Pre-Paid Service Charges remains as an option.

In the UK & EU our terms have got worse not better! Not only do we not get the offer of the Free Pre-Paid Service Charges, but also new bookings only qualify on "5+ (night) sailings departing on or after 01 January 2017"!!!

We were on the Zuiderdam for 24 nights in May/June this year.

There was grinding and painting going on every day that the ship was in port.

We returned from our 24 night Zuiderdam cruise a month ago. One booking reference and on board it was called a collector's cruise rather than a b2b.

A special lunch was offered which we didn't attend as we prefer lunch in the Lido. Nothing else of benefit.

In fact classing it as a b2b would have been preferable... the bottle of wine which I brought on board the first week was not given back until the end of the 2nd segment. I also checked at guest relations and found out that I wasn't allowed to bring on the 2 bottles of wine on the embarkation day for the 2nd segment.

The last time we were on the Zuiderdam, the pizza oven was a part of the Pasta Station in the Lido Restaurant. I will confirm if this is still the case on November 20th.

This is indeed still the case on the Zuiderdam (as least it was a month ago when we were on board). My previous experience of pizza on cruise ships is that it's been pretty inedible with the only exception being on Costa ships. We were pleasantly surprised by the good pizza (by the slice) that was served on Zuiderdam.

LOL

 

Seriously, this could impact ports depending upon arrangements made. Coming from EU countries to the U.K. there will most likely be more requirements to clear the ship and possibly immigration for passengers. uggh!

 

Depending upon the arrangements made with each country, passengers may need more than a passport. Time will tell.

No change required. As the UK is not part of Schengen then coming into the UK from the EU has always meant going through immigration with your passport.

On our recent Zuiderdam cruise this was done at Lerwick when all those going ashore had to present their passports at the tender station and anyone still on board later that morning had to visit a desk with their passport in order to clear the rest of the ship.

Yes, and Northern Ireland also voted to remain. Like Scotland, they have a greater affinity for the EU than for England.

Interestingly, it was the Irish Republic that delayed the Lisbon Treaty by voting against it in their 2008 referendum. They had to have a second referendum in 2009 in order to get the electorate to vote the "right" way.

This was what we found on out 29th May sailing...

Warnermunde - Docked at berth P8 a short distance from town center.

Tallinn - Cruise port is about 1.5 km from the start of the old town and the shuttle bus drop off point. Shuttles are usually provided free but HAL did not have any laid on. The #1 and #2 trams from near the port exit were not operating and I believe this is the case until the end of August.

St. Petersburg - Docked at Marine Facade berth MB-4 about 10 km from the city center. No shuttles as you can only go ashore on organised excursions provided by HAL or other local operators unless you have a visa.

Helsinki - Docked at Oceankajen berth LMA of the West Terminal. This is about 3 km from the city center and the shuttle bus drop off. Shuttles provided by a local company for €5 each way. Alternatively, the #6T and #9 trams go from the Länsiterminaali stop about 1 km from the ship.

Stockholm - Docked at Frihamnen berth F638 about 5 km from the city center. This was the only port of call where chargeable shuttles were laid on by HAL at $9 single $17 day pass. Local buses run from stops near the port exit and tickets can be bought with credit card in the cruise terminal (there's also a credit card ticket machine at the bus stop for single tickets.

Kiel - Docked at Ostseekai berth LP27 a short distance from city center.

Gothenburg - Docked at Arendal berth 751 about 12 km from the city center. Free shuttles were laid on by the port authority.

Helsingborg - Tendered to pier a short distance from town center.

Copenhagen - Docked at Oceankaj berth C330 about 8 km from city center. Buses 25/27 go from next to the quay to Osterport Station during the daytime where you change to the 26 bus (or catch a train). No cruise line shuttles provided but an independently run one was available for €10 single. NOTE that buses 25/27 do not operate in the evenings so if you want to go into the city on the night before disembarking then you'd need to walk 4 km to Færgeterminal Søndre Frihavn to catch the 26 bus.

We've just returned from the Zuiderdam. I'd read beforehand that it was pronounced Zeyderdam but none of the crew seem to have been told this as the captain and others were pronouncing it Z"EYE"derdam.

It souded a bit like the "Zoi" part of Zoidberg from Futurama.

Also rather like the locals in Somerset pronounce Cider.

I emailed HAL_Ship_Services@HollandAmerica.com 2 weeks ago and they told me I could prepay or book on the ship. Both methods are $7 a day for our 12 day Med cruise for the unlimited. Or, it's $20 a bag. I'm bringing the email print outs with me just to backup if the ship doesn't honor the pricing. I've heard that the price changes if you wait while onboard. I'm bringing my evidence!

 

We are sailing in July

 

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$30 a bag on Zuiderdam Northern Europe last week.

As polo shirts meet HAL's requirements for Gala Night, I would hope no one would be turned away for wearing one.

Incorrect.

Polo shirts do not meet HAL's requirements on gala night and not on non-gala nights either for that matter.

From outside the Zuiderdam MDR on Gala night (a similar statement regarding polo shirts appeared on the smart casual night signs):