Jump to content

lcand1923

Members
  • Posts

    1,238
  • Joined

Everything posted by lcand1923

  1. Safe — and Enjoyable — Travels! Can’t wait to read all about it!!
  2. My thoughts are with you, Bruno, during this difficult time. Rest easy knowing you showed your love to your Dad over and over during the years while traveling and being his caregiver. Take a Deep Breath, and a Long Rest, and then start looking at cruises. You know your Dad would want you to take that next one and he will be sharing it with you.
  3. Re the Alaska portion: do the land first then the cruise. You will have busy days on the land portion and can use the cruise to relax. Re the Rocky Mountaineer: all of the options are good. I can’t think of one being better than the other. Re August: since you like scenery and/or wildlife and few children, I would try to schedule your trip towards the end of the month. My trips have been in May/June/Late August/Early September. You will want to see the start of the Autumn Colors, if possible. It sounds like you are planning on one of the longer HAL land/sea journeys, so children should not be a major issue. (The shorter Alaska trips tend to attract more families.) Of course, these are just my opinions and I’m sure you will get many more.
  4. I would choose the HAL vessel. I really like Alaska cruise and have done several on HAL and one on Princess. (I wanted to try Princess because so many of my relatives raved about their Princess cruises to Alaska.) HAL has plenty of outside viewing areas. HAL tends to get the better docking locations in port. I consider Alaska to be a quiet, calm, peaceful place to visit. Princess constantly had activities happening around the ship. These appealed to a lot of people, but I found them a bit disruptive to the calming nature of Alaska. If you are doing a Land/Sea trip, I must admit that Princess beat out HAL a tiny bit on the land portion of the trip. But, HAL won on the Sea portion.
  5. I kept checking the website, saw that I had been approved and submitted my request for the OBC. I got the email that the OBC had been applied THEN got the approval email from Stockperks.
  6. Will I make Page 1? Have a Great Day and an even Better Weekend, Everyone!
  7. I’ve only been on one Pinnacle Class ship, but have found Shower Only cabins on a lot of the other HAL ships. Sometimes they aren’t on my preferred Deck and/or location, but they are there. You do have to study the Deck Plans (l think an Asterisk is the usual key for Shower Only). I also think they tend to be Forward or Aft cabins, but could be wrong since I haven’t sailed every HAL vessel.
  8. I booked a May Alaska cruise as a B2B with the final Panama Canal Cruise of the season. It was quite interesting. Several people were doing B2B with the end of a World Cruise. The ship was not full on the Panama Canal Cruise. When we got to the California ports, a lot more folks boarded for a short Pacific Coastal Cruise. When we got to Seattle, even more boarded for the Alaska cruise. I can’t give actual numbers, but I would say that the Alaska cruise was fully booked, or very close to it.
  9. I have enjoyed and avoided the Old Style Piano Bar on HAL vessels. I have enjoyed and avoided the Dueling Pianos and HAL vessels. In each case it depended upon the skill of the pianists and their ability to “read the room”. Do I sing-along? If I know the song, I do. Do I ask for a mic? No, because I know the pianist and the crowd don’t want to be entertained by me. I react the same way if I am in a performance at the World Stage.
  10. There was an article about the Icon in the Sunday paper. I just couldn’t visual the size of the vessel. Your picture helped a lot. Thanks for posting this.
  11. Wonderful news, Kathi! Enjoy the “test cruise”. I know you will be fine, but it is good to get the reassurance prior to the Pole-to-Pole. Can’t wait to read your reports!
  12. Menus are the same. HOWEVER, just like on land, food varies by kitchen staff that makes it. Even a Big Mac or Whopper will vary from one location to another.
  13. Thank you for the tip. So good to hear that she is cruising again!
  14. I log in to MY BOOKINGS on the HAL Web Page, and click on ITINERARY in the upper left corner. You will see anything that you have booked (Dining, Shore Excursions, Spa, etc.) for each day of your cruise. I don’t know exactly when things get posted to the Navigator App, but I keep getting the message to Come Back Later.
  15. Just want to provide an update to my previous Stockperks/OBC post. I received an email from Stockperks with the heading "Successful OBC Application to Itinerary". It mentioned my Booking # and Departure Date. This came 11 days after the "New Perk Redeemed" email. Four days after the above Stockperks email, I received an email from the CCLSHAREHOLDER email address saying that I have received the OBC. Unfortunately, it had an Incorrect Booking Number, so I've sent a return email asking that they make certain the OBC is applied to the correct reservation. It seems that the initial verification from Stockperks about your "Perk Being Redeemed" comes quickly. The actual posting of the Perk (the linking of the OBC to your reservation) takes much longer.
  16. My normal practice on a HAL cruise has been to book the Pinnacle for the first night of a cruise since I found the LIDO and the MDR a bit of dis-organized mess. I wanted a nice, relaxing dinner. Since I haven’t taken a HAL cruise since before the pandemic, I’m wondering if things have changed. My next cruise has Dining Reservations available and I’m wondering if I should follow normal practice or give the MDR a try on the first night? Thanks!
  17. Yes, I had it happen about 20 years ago (long before Stockperks) and am currently trying to get a Stockperks initiated OBC added prior to taking a cruise. On the 20 years ago situation, I started at the Front Desk, with my paper letter confirmation. (I used to use USPS to submit my request.) The credit was added about the 3rd day into the cruise. They needed to clear it through Seattle. With the current situation, I forwarded the email that was sent over Gus Antrocha’s name saying that I would hear after 5 Business Days, to the old Shareholder Email address. (It had been 9 Business Days.) After three more Business Days, I was asked to submit the same stuff that I had submitted via Stockperks and that I had been sending for many years via email. (I don’t have access to a fax machine and didn’t feel like wasting money on a stamp.) I’m still waiting to see if the OBC has been added. (I’m glad my cruise isn’t until June!)
  18. I got the approval from StockPerks in about three days. My next email from Stockperks told me that they submitted my request to HAL and that would take 5 Business Days. I suspect that things are backed up everywhere due to the Holiday Season and the fact that so many of us are now submitting requests to either Stockperks or HAL.
  19. My Dad spent most of his last cruise either in the cabin or in the Medical Center onboard. He talked about the wonderful time he had until he passed away. (He never mentioned his troubles to any one who asked how the cruise had been.) I learned to enjoy each and every minute of each and every cruise that I am lucky enough to take.
  20. Many years ago I was part of a Travel Agency Group that included a lot of people who were long standing friends. Four women were members of this group. They had booked two rooms. Some time before cruise date, one woman had to cancel the cruise. One of the women was offered an upgrade to one of the top suites, with butler, on this ship. They decided to share the suite. They set-up a cocktail party for all of us to see “their suite”. Naturally, we jumped at the idea. It was amazing. We joked that it was great to see “how the other half lived”. Our total group had about 20 people in it. We did some things “as a group”, but most things were just friends with friends. I started to notice that these three women started doing things solo. I would join the solo person at breakfast or lunch to chat. Towards the end of the cruise, these three women were never together. It finally dawned on me — the suite had just one bathroom! The cruise was a 22 day cruise. Three women can share a bathroom for a short period of time, but not for a long one.
  21. I’ve done this tour twice. The first time was with my Dad, who had mobility issues and used a cane. He had to be careful walking to and from the rest stops, but considered the tour the high point of his trip to Alaska. The second time I was traveling solo, 12 years after that first trip. The only change was the addition of the camera and TV screens. Yes, it is a school bus. But, the trip is worth the slight discomfort that a school bus brings. The guides are outstanding. The scenery is beautiful. The opportunity to see the wildlife is fantastic.
  22. I think I’ve spoken Voice-to-Voice with my PCC once in 10 years. Since then, I’ve done everything via email because I explained to her that I do not like playing telephone tag.
  23. I’ve done both. It depends upon the skill/expertise/willingness of your contact at the line or with the TA. Currently, I’m doing better with the line. They are willing to work the math for refaring for me. My previous TA retired and her replacement isn’t very willing to do anything. If you don’t care about location of your cabin on the ship, I would consider waiting for WAVE season UNLESS you have a good TA and/or contact at the line. If you do, I’d book now and do a refare if the price is worth it.
  24. As a Dear Neighbor used to say, “At least my life isn’t boresome!”
  25. Roy, How are you feeling? How did your Primary appointment go?
×
×
  • Create New...