sunviking90

Welcome to Cruisecritic! We have taken a lot of these coastal cruises back when we were still working and really enjoyed them. As you say they are a good opportunity to try out “cruising” and see if it’s for you. They are different vibe than a 7 day loop or a longer itinerary, but certainly are not “less than”. We’ve had great guest lecturers and generally 1 production show on ours. Get to the production show 30 minutes early if you want to see it. They are popular. Buffet food, Main dining room etc will be as you would have on a longer cruise. Enjoy your first cruise!

Thank you! Changed my iPad back to Vancouver time and all is well. I’ll just leave my phone with the ship time. Interesting that the ship “IT” people don’t know this. It makes complete sense as we are having time changes every day for 6 days!

Sorry if this has already been addressed lately. Did a search and nothing recent came up. We are currently on Royal Princess and I can’t log in to Princess. I’m not getting the “technical difficulties” page, but just getting auto logged out as soon as I log in. Asked at the IT place downstairs and he said it’s been an issue for the last few days. I think it’s strange that there’s been no mention on CC if it is truly an issue. A few days while using an eSIM in port, I had no trouble, but now on ship wifi I can’t log in. The “deals” page also comes up blank, likely as I’m not logged in so it has no location for me. Is anyone else having this issue, or is it an onboard issue?

There is definitely interest from me. I think a lot of us who are usually interested in these threads may be on our own repositioning cruises (‘tis the season!) and not reading the boards regularly. I know I only have internet in port via eSIM right now so am not reading daily like I usually do. Glad that you were able to get into Ponta Delgada. We stopped there in fall of 2022 and loved it. We had the best one euro cappuccinos from a kiosk in a little park at the top of the hill.

I just saw your thread and thought to myself “April 13? How did I miss following @*Miss G*’s trip!” I’m so glad you were able to come back and catch us all up. We are cruising now, and I respect all of you who take the time to do these threads. Really enjoying it so far!

This has happened to me before when logged in. I logged out and suddenly the pricing appeared for the cruise. Just an occasional glitch I think.

Congrats! Glad it worked out so well for you! Is this a 7 day inside passage? Sorry, I can’t remember which itinerary you had.

Well I appreciate you “taking one for the (local) team”, lol. Its is interesting to hear your experience with it.

You’re not missing anything. You’re absolutely right. I can see prices in CAD cheaper than standby currently.

Thank you! You’ve put my mind at ease. 😊

We board tomorrow. Just thought I’d double check our dinner reservations on the app. I had 22 days booked at the same time each day. App now shows NO reservations! Should be fun. They were there a month ago. I did screenshot all of our reservations in the old app at least if there’s an issue.

This. There are no other sailings from San Diego from April until the ships go back down in September/October.

The fees are more related to that particular 5 star hotel than being “Canadian” fees.

This was happening for me too, until I logged out. Then everything was available again.

We are fortunate to have many happy memories of land vacations in Maui. We usually stayed in Kaanapali so we were also able enjoy Lahaina. Our last visit was on the Royal Princess in January of 2023. I was so eager to get out of the heat and back on the ship, sadly not knowing I’d never see Lahaina as it was ever again. We almost went to Kapalua last January but just couldn’t bear driving past the ruins of Lahaina. We docked in Kahului on the Volendam last November and walked about 10 minutes out the gate to rent a car from Avis (in a small hotel). Very reasonable and was really nice to be able to drive down to Paia, Makenna, etc. There are really a lot of options when docking in Kahului. I could be wrong but I think the Royal Class ships are too large to dock there?

Yes, just recently through my PVP. We were also able to keep our hefty OBC.

Bon Voyage! 🚢

Have a great trip! It sounds wonderful, especially having your family with you. We were very tempted in this itinerary, but we’re already committed on another cruise. Love the repositionings, but can’t do them all!

Great advice. Don’t wait for them to call you. Availability can change daily.

Yes, this is where my mind went at that particular word. It wasn’t a positive connotation for sure, but uncertain exactly what they mean.

Thank you for doing this trip report. We are booked on Oosterdam’s return voyage at the end of October, so we are eagerly following along. I’m glad to hear the Step One Dance Company is aboard.

We love the signature suites. I’m not sure if there are bad locations. We’ve always had them on guarantee and always been happy with the location. If you can get one for a good price, go for it. Is that price for 7 days?

Previous answers are likely correct that HAL has group space and that is waitlisted. Ask you TA (or do it yourself) to book separately and it will likely be cheaper. Register for Accor’s loyalty program first and you get 5-10 % off the rate and included wifi. Transfers are not really necessary in Vancouver IMHO. If you are mobile and able to manage your bags, there is the skytrain that goes from the airport right downtown. The taxis are also flat rate from YVR to downtown for about $41 CAD. I don’t know what they charge for transfers, but I’m sure it’s more than that and in USD, and per person. We like Uber, but are not fans of it here since we had a driver falling asleep while driving us to the airport at 4 am. Fairmont Waterfront is closest to Canada Place (across the street). Fairmont Vancouver Hotel is a beautiful classic hotel, but about 4 blocks up from the waterfront, more in the shopping area.

Here are some photos of Zaandam 1877: https://www.cruisedeckplans.com/ships/stateroom-details.php?ship=Zaandam&cabin=1877 It looks quite spacious.

Even checking it before debarking they can muck it up. We had about $25 in port charges refund sitting on ours that somehow had been zeroed out when I got the email final bill. Creative accounting. I called to try to rectify, but I’m sure we can all imagine how well that went these days. In the end decided my time was worth more than the $25. Too frustrating speaking to idiots. This was months ago, so I’m sure there isn’t a check in the mail.