akacake

I am booked on the 23 day transpacific cruise Sep 6,2022 Seattle/Hawaii/Fiji/Australia  and there are no shore excursions available yet. Any insight? 

we will be in Cartagena from 0700-1300, a pretty quick visit.

How readily available are the horse and carriages..are they close to the pier or do you catch a taxi to get there? any idea of cost for a carriage tour?

Thank you,Kelly

Thank you. I have contacted Woodwind and 5 of us are going with them as there are varying degrees of experience in our group. They will be able to help the non-snorkelers try it for the 1st time :)

Looking for ONE snorkelling excursion...Aruba or Bonaire? Would rather it be a quieter, non party atmosphere, drinks etc are not important, neither is beach time...just want to get to a nice place to snorkel, either through an onboard excursion or reputable onshore guide...I won't have my own gear with me so will have to rent.

Thanks for the tips, Kelly

(cross posted on the Bonaire site)

Looking for ONE snorkelling excursion...Aruba or Bonaire? Would rather it be a quieter, non party atmosphere, drinks etc are not important, neither is beach time...just want to get to a nice place to snorkel, either through an onboard excursion or reputable onshore guide...I won't have my own gear with me so will have to rent.

Thanks for the tips, Kelly

(cross posted on the Aruba site)

My mom has decided to go with the 21 day Panama Canal cruise (inside cabin) ... I am THRILLED :D:D

The 10 day is on the Royal Princess, goes to the Bahamas, US Virgin Islands, Antigua, Barbados, St Lucia, St Kitts. ALL new ports for me.

The 14 day is on either HAL Nieuw Amsterdam: Grand Turk, Puerto Rico,US Virgin Islands,Bahamas, Fort Lauderdale, Bahamas,Grand Cayman, Cozumel,Key West. I have been to Key West, Grand Turk and Grand Cayman ( loved them) and I have been to Cozumel...it was so~so

the other 14 day is on HAL Eurodam: Bahamas,Ocho Rios,Grand Cayman,Key West, Bahamas, Puerto Rico, St Maarten, Grand Turk.

The only port I don't care for is Ocho Rios on this itinerary.

My mom hasn't been to any of these ports.

so it comes down to Princess and HAL...Ive been on both lines but not these particular ships.

My mother and I are booking a Caribbean cruise for March. My mom is paying :) and wants to do the longest one for the best price that has a balcony. I am worried about the intinerary...Ive done a western Caribbean before and wasn't fond of Jamaica, and not fond of Mexican ports. Puerto Limon is also not a nice port, I spent 5 weeks near there last year, very dirty :( My mom just did a Panama Canal cruise last year so doesn't want to do the same this year.

Would you pick a shorter cruise, 10 days, over a 14 day (2 back to back). The 10 days has a fantastic itinerary but costs more than the 14 day with a so-so itinerary.

My mom wants me to book this now so we can get our return airfare organized. We are booked already to start a cruise no earlier than March 12th, 2016

Thanks for the input

 

 

is this on all routes? We are on the Zaandam to Alaska this Friday.

I have packed my bag..waiting to catch my flight tomorrow..

now I am paranoid that I will :

-have smokers next to me

-not be wearing the right clothes

-not do the best or any excursions

-not get a good table for my "open" dining

-catch a virus

-have too rainy weather

-hit an iceberg

-check in too late and miss the boat

-gain too much weight

Maybe I should unpack and stay home :eek::eek::eek:

I wanted to share a funny. A friend had smokers next to them on the balcony. Used a battery fan to blow the smoke back over to their side. They complained that they didn't want to smell the smoke. Friend did it twice and the smokers went elsewhere since they didn't want to smell their smoke.

hilarious!! now that's fighting fire with fire!

I am very sorry for your loss.

I might get flamed for this comment but if he is not able to or prepared to fly home between now and Friday (the end of the cruise) wouldn't the information just ruin the rest of his cruise?

I only say this as I myself learned of the death of my grandpa while I was cruising and all it did was ruin the rest of my cruise for me :(

IF I had found out the day I had disembarked instead it would have been a lot better...(I still had time to get the the funeral)

you guys crack me up :D

I am allergic to smoke (asthma and severe sinus, lung problems) so I sure *hope* that the balcony next to ours doesn't have non-stop smokers...but if it does then I guess my options are to mention my allergy to them so maybe we can co-ordinate taking turns or just lock my balcony door and pretend that I have an o/v and never use it.

Life is too short to take it too serious! YOLO

I have to say I have some great laughs reading these :)

sorry....I sure hope that you are all not serious with all of the posts...they have had me in stitches laughing..:D

Life is too short to take everything too serious, YOLO :)

Thanks everyone! One day closer to sailing--six more sleeps!!! (can you tell I'm excited?)

I am joining you in excitement!! We fly to YVR in 4 days! I was in YVR on Monday and walked over to Canada Place and there weren't any cruise ships in port that day :( I Always get extra excited when I see other people preparing for what I am about to do...but I didn't get to see anyone :( Maybe I will go down on Wed or Thursday to see whats in port and watch them before the BIG day on Friday :) :) :)

Originally Posted by akacake View Post

You mean to say that I can't wear my cut off's and favourite sports t-shirt into the MDR? That sucks. That means after I finish sneaking my alcohol onboard and drinking it on my balcony with the door propped open, I have to change? :P

Of course not! Its your cruise and you can sneak if you want to! Just be sure and report so we can cheer.;)

This is the 1st cruise that I have ever "pre-ordered" my alcohol and not tried to "sneak" any on...I will try my best to behave the whole trip...promise :rolleyes:

I have just checked the routing of the Zaandam this week and it is sailing up through the Hecate Strait, in the rough water between the mainland and Haida Gwaii, not the protected channels of BC's "inside passage" from Port Hardy to Prince Rupert.

I will update this after my sailing next week and see if the route differs at all.

We are on the same sailing with friends from back east. Hoping for the good weather to continue on into next week and beyond!! We will also enjoy our upsell to a verandah :) Life is good :) :)

Well said! If people enjoy not following a dress code, then presumably they enjoy being noticed for being defiant. bless their hearts.

You mean to say that I can't wear my cut off's and favourite sports t-shirt into the MDR? That sucks. That means after I finish sneaking my alcohol onboard and drinking it on my balcony with the door propped open, I have to change? :P

I have read a few threads about access to the bow on some ships. I am on the Zaandam next week, is the bow only open at certain times? If it is "unlocked" is it okay to go up there anytime?

When I booked last fall it was the last week that the drink package ended

(Explore 4 ?) I didn't book the drink package as it was only for certain categories ( the most expensive for each I think)

The day after the package had ended, the inside and outside cabins dropped by approx $200 pp...so needless to say rather than wait and go thru my TA, I phoned HA immediately and booked an FF guarantee Good thing I did as the prices the next day were back up to the normal price...

I have watched the prices every week since then and never did see the same price that I received...so I think it might have been a mistake...??!!??

now with the $49 pp to get the VA , all I can say is I am glad that I booked when I did and with HA directly :)

why is your stop in Ketchikan cancelled?

Sorry...upsell...paid upgrade...

The email's subject was titled " Preferred Limited Upgrade Special", so even though it was an "upsell" they were still calling it an "upgrade" (which I had to pay for).

I couldn't sleep all night waiting for 0700 PST to roll around so I could call them to "upgrade" myself :)

I was in YVR for the day yesterday and walked down to Canada Place...not a cruise ship to be seen :(

10 more days until I sail....can't wait :) :)

We are set to sail on the Zaandam, May 23, 2014. Booked what we could afford directly with HA in Nov as an FF GUAR and was advised of our room assignment 2 weeks ago in an F - cabin #1827.

Last night I received and email from HA advising of an upgrade from category C-HH to A-BC for $49 pp. I called them 1st thing this morning and we are now in a vista room midship on the verandah deck!

Just curious if paid upgrades like this happen only when you book directly with HA? (This is my 1st time with HA and normally I book with a T.A.)

We are absolutely THRILLED to have a balcony!! What a totally unexpected surprise! I think now I need to go and pre-order a bottle of Bailey's since I will be needing it in my coffee on my deck :)

we are sailing May 23-30 and not doing any excursions.

We will be in Juneau, Skagway and Ketchikan and plan on walking around.

(We have been on a 10 cruises and have only ever done 1 excursion before...we like to do our own thing)