sunviking90

We booked an upcoming cruise on the Millenium in Aquaclass. It was only a few weeks ago and all lower stateroom categories were being sold as cruise only rate. Aquaclass was “all included”. I am getting nervous as I can’t see anywhere on “manage my booking” where it says that. On my docs it does say tips are prepaid, but nothing about wifi and drinks. I can’t seem to find the original email I got when booking. I do have a screenshot of the booking page before I locked it in (I had to call to book as I was using some credits, and they weren’t working online). So, my question is is Aquaclass now always an inclusive category? Or do you think I should call to get an invoice copy that states that? Thanks!

Thank you posting! We’re on the Millenium next Friday and really looking forward to it. Sorry your family got Covid. We also got it a few weeks ago (finally!). Mild as promised, but still not fun. We’ve been on 4 cruises this year, and were fine, caught it at home and still not sure how.

I looked it up for our upcoming cruise on the Millenium, and there is a “Thermal Wellness” singles pass with precruise pricing of $249 approx USD (mine shows in Canadian dollars, so I did the exchange). This is for 8 days. I guess it would be adjusted depending on the length of the cruise. HTH.

As everyone has said, midship and lower is best. Good news is that the inside passage out of Vancouver is “usually” pretty calm we have found.My DH used to get a little seasick, and found the patches and medications made him feel groggy and “off”. He now uses gravel ginger everyday (it’s too late once you feel Ill) and sea bands as needed.

Really enjoying your posts!

Yes, it appeared after we disembarked when the final statement appeared in the app. I checked it the morning we disembarked and it wasn’t there. The bar staff go into the staterooms the morning of disembarkation and check the minibars. When the customer service rep on the phone said it “happens all the time” it really makes me wonder how many people just don’t notice.

Well, I finally got through after 2 hours and 10 minutes! Gosh, it’s great to be newly retired so I have time for these things! She was very nice, corrected it for me and said it happens all the time, even when people request to have the minibar emptied. Next time, I am not disembarking until I have seen the bar person do the count for our minibar.

I know this has been discussed before, but I just wanted to remind people to watch out for unwarranted minibar charges. This happened to me years ago, and we used to have them clear it out for us, but I guess I got lazy and sure enough we have $35 in minibar charges on our final bill for our cruise which ended Wednesday. We didn’t take anything out of it, but rearranged things to fit in my birthday cake. I have now been on hold for 1 hour and 35 minutes with HAL. Ugh! I think in future, I might demand that the bar people check the minibar while I’m there before we disembark.

There are usually a lot of children on the summer Alaska cruises. It is definitely a younger demographic with lots of extended family groups, etc. They also run the kids programs almost all day, so she won’t be bored. My son used to love cruising with us.

It was available as recently as 2 weeks ago when we were getting ready for our cruise. Unfortunately I don’t currently have any cruises booked with HAL, so I can’t tell you exactly how to find it, but if you log in and go into “my bookings” there should be options there. I “think” it will be under onboard gifts, etc.

You can do that ahead of time, as well as upload your photos, etc.

You’re right then. You would put the 23rd in. I didn’t look at your itinerary that closely. Looks like a great cruise. Enjoy!

Agree. Verifly really expedited things for us.

Yes. I looked up your cruise and it is the 14 day round trip? You will fill out ArriveCAN within 72 hours of boarding. You will enter September 25 as the date you return to Canada in the app. When we boarded the Zuiderdam last week they were making sure people had their ArriveCAN filled out and many people were pulled to the side because they hadn’t done it, or had entered their dates incorrectly.

We have a Mastercard that doesn’t have the 2.5 fee and that’s what we use for USD charges. We have had other cruise lines give us the option of having the charges converted, but we always decline as the exchange is not favorable. What you can do, if you’re at least 4 days before your cruise is purchase onboard credit for at least the amount of the tips, or what you think your charges may come to. These are purchased in CAD so you don’t have to worry about the CC exchange AND right now they are charging $125 for $100 usd, so a bit better exchange than the current 1.30 ish.

Yes, we used them for our Zuiderdam cruise last week. We are in BC so had the free kits from the BC govt (ours were the blue “Artron” brand). Very easy and only $25 for the two of us and we were able to do them at the same appointment. When you book your time, the form will ask you to select which brand you have, and you can enter BTNX.

The itinerary round trip from Vancouver is much more scenic and generally much smoother as it takes the inside route between Vancouver Island and the mainland. Seattle itineraries go on the west side of Vancouver Island, in open seas. We’ve done the itinerary from Seattle twice, and 3 times from Vancouver and IMHO there is really no comparison.

I used to really worry about this, but I have to say that on our last few cruises simply hanging the clothes seems to get any minor wrinkles out. No longer having to bring a suit for DH also lessens the issue. I leave my nicer dresses in the dry cleaning bags and have no issues. In the past I have used my hair straightener for minor touch ups.

Yes! I always bring mine. Works for emergency pressing touch ups on clothing too. We are also boarding today. See you there! 😊

I always bring my Arc’teryx goretex jacket. It doesn’t take up much room and I can layer under it if it’s colder. I never use umbrellas (and I live on the “wet” coast). I like to have my hands free.

As others confirmed, you do need to test. Most people now are doing online proctored tests with their own (sometimes free from the government) kit as it’s the most cost effective way. If you have hotel wifi, it should be fairly easy. If you’re not comfortable doing this, I would contact the hotel where you’ll be staying in Quebec City and see if they can recommend a private testing clinic nearby. I googled and found this company. https://covidtest.santemedic.ca/quebec#contact Their location is about 3 miles from the tourist areas in Quebec City. Hope this helps. Enjoy your cruises! Your itinerary is one of my favourites.

We’ve been in a number of HAL and Princess cruises, but I would pay more for the HAL for this itinerary. HAL ships have the retractable roof over the pool, meaning your family can use it even in poor weather-it looks like you’re planning on May. You’ll also have much more deck space for viewing on the Eurodam. As far as staterooms, HAL veranda cabin will be larger and the balcony will be much larger too. The Standard balcony cabins on the Royal Princess are very small, the deluxes a little bigger, but for most the balconies are tiny. I don’t see your family enjoying time out there viewing wildlife comfortably. We don’t travel with our son anymore, but when we did we took HAL to Alaska and it was nice to have more space. We love the Royal class ships, but I just don’t think they’re suited to Alaska. As far as food, they each have their strengths, and we’ve always been able to find enough that we like. I realize HAL is more expensive in this case, but prices fluctuate. Deals come up all the time. HAL isn’t necessarily a “more expensive” line than Princess. Your itinerary may go down. We used to be able to take advantage of some great “kids sail free” offers with HAL. We used to joke that if they knew how much our son ate, they would never have let us have that offer! Good Luck!

Thank you for the review. We’re on the Zuiderdam this Wednesday for the 3rd time and really looking forward to it. Glad to hear things are still good. Enjoy the Zaandam Montreal to FLL. That was our last cruise before Covid and we loved it!

There is a testing facility at YVR on the departures level at the far end of the US departures. There is also one upstairs in the Fairmont YVR.

This seems very strange to me too. Usually hotels will pre authorize a daily amount on your credit card for “incidentals”, but you’re not limited to that amount of spending. I would think this is an issue of inexperienced/poorly trained employee. Did you book the hotel directly with Marriott? When you say you had to put in your pin that makes me wonder. We usually are only asked to show the card we booked with, but are never required to enter our pin. I would also call Visa and ask why the card wasn’t authorized (as they say) for the additional $25.