me-shel

Great info, thank you everyone! Sounds like this will be an easy one to take care of - both with carrying on and using the minibar. 

Prepping for my 7th cruise, but first on HAL! We're getting down to the little details and are a little stumped on a couple things. I don't see any options to pre-order cans of soda for our room. Can we carry on soda at embarkation like other lines? Bring it on from port stops? All I can find (pre-cruise, online) are soda/drink packages fulfilled at the bar, by the glass.  

We've ordered some liquor to be delivered in-room for pre-dinner cocktails or nightcaps on the balcony ... but it's not going to work if we can't get some kind of mixers! 😧

On ‎1‎/‎6‎/‎2019 at 12:05 PM, c-leg5 said:

 

More than likely since HAL is part of Carnival corporation you will dock at  Puerta Maya.

 

if you google there are several sites which give cruise port schedules -  none are 100% accurate since they are often written a long time in advance and things change. I generally use 

http://www.cruiseportinsider.com/cozumelschedule2019.html#jan

for Cozumel since it is one site that splits up piers, but again not 100%.

 

Keep in mind Cozumel is now EST-year round. Not sure why you are planning to rent a car, or where you are renting from, but remember places on the east side close at dusk as there is no electricity.

 

One if our favorite late things to do in Cozumel is Happy Hour and sunset dinner as John suggests.There are great places to catch sunset on the west coast - Money Bar or places in town, Eg Rolandiis but both would require taxi from Puerta Maya. If you are returning rental car to Puerta Maya you could stay at one of the bars at the pier or you could walk (long) or taxi to Turquoise Bar, or Blue Angel.

 

Personally I would just use taxis all day to save having to back track.

This is great thank you! 

Like renting golf carts in Grand Turk, when we don't have something specific we're interested in we love to just run around without an overly committed plan - including probably taking a lap around to the "wild side" on the East. Given our arrival time that's where we'll probably begin. Car drop-off will be in town, so Rolandi's,Turquoise Bar & Blue Angel look like they're on the way back to Puerta Maya (if that's where we land) so all contenders! 

Thank you! Very helpful to work on some plans knowing we're set for 7:45 or 8:00. 

I'm still not sure how we ended up designated at a table for 6 but that'll work just fine. The only one that was 'too much' was having two of us seated at a 10-top. It was a table of groups of 2-3 and we were constantly waiting for people who were late or just never came that night. 

23 hours ago, JohninDC said:

7 ships is only slightly more than average for Cozumel; 5-6 ships per day is normal.

That's reassuring that they're used to handling that type of load on a regular basis! 

We'll be in Cozumel Feb. 15 with a total of 7(!!) ships. Is there any way to know ahead of time where we'll dock - or at least which pier? We're the last ones in at 11am on Nieuw Statendam. Full load is: 

0700-1700: Carnival Dream

0800-1900: RCL Harmony of the Seas

0800-1700: Norwegian Getaway

0900-1700: Carnival Vista

1000-1800: MSC Armonia

1000-2200: Regal Princess

1100-2300: HAL ms Nieuw Statendam

I've never been in a port with SO MANY ships at once! That's potentially over 25k people. 😜

And we're also out late: 11pm. Any suggestions on what to do in Cozumel after dark? We'll get some time in at the beach while the sun is still shining, but are at a loss for what to do/see in the dark. We'll have a car but have to return it by 6pm. 

I sail with a friend in the Nieuw Statendam in 39 days, first time on HAL. We're going through and double-checking all our details but CANNOT find our dining selection. We *think* we have late dining, but don't even recall what that time is. Our boarding passes only show this: 

Confirmed Dining: Main, Table of 6 on request

Not even sure what that means? When I've cruised as a party of 2 with set dining in the past we've been seated anywhere from a 4-top to a 10-top with other people but we don't know what the "on request" means.

Am I just missing details on our dining somewhere? Or would we have to call or wait until we board? 

Good Morning Holland America fans!

 

My family and I are going to branch out and try Holland America, and we are very excited. We are looking at the Mexico sailing on March 24 - March 31 (2019) on the MS Nieuw Amsterdam.

 

Every category that I pick says "Your stateroom is guaranteed. You will receive your stateroom details prior to departure." Does that mean it's close to being sold out and I can't pick a stateroom or, more likely, I'm unfamiliar with the website and I'm not doing it right?

 

Thank you,

Robyn

I'm new to HAL as well so I thought I'd give this a shot! Here's what I got, starting at the home page:

• Chose Sail to: Mexico; Departure date: March
  
• One listing is shown for March 17 departure. Chose "More Dates & Fares" to see all 3 March departures and room types.
  
• Chose March 24 Ocean View price and hit "View Itinerary"
  
• It defaulted to "Fully Obstructed Ocean View", which I switched to "Ocean View"
  
• Book Now!
  

Now we're getting into the selections.

• Defaults to 2 adults. Fine. Continue.
  

Bingo! Here we go with the "YOUR STATEROOM IS GUARANTEED. YOU WILL RECEIVE YOUR STATEROOM DETAILS PRIOR TO DEPARTURE."

Next to that message, there is a link to "Change Stateroom." Clicking that, I now get the options of "Let us Select Your Room" or "You Select Your Stateroom." With the second choice, I can edit each option to get the exact area/deck/room I want.

Seems like the "You Select Your Stateroom" option should've come earlier, but you can still get there on the website. My upcoming booking (first time on HAL) was done by my friend over the phone so I can't speak to how anything used to work... but at least you can fumble your way through all the options you need online.

Thanks everyone! We can work with the split. I'll just prep her ahead of time that she'll get to make a couple purchases for her little sister. ;)

Our girls' room has a $50 OBC from a promo rate. We're covering the expenses for our 16-yr-old and she's connected to our account. Our 22-yr-old is on her own as far as spending money (we paid for her cruise!) and has her own account. What happens to the $50 OBC for the room? Do I get any say in how it's allocated...? I'd like to have it assigned to the 16-yr-old if possible.

We'll be on the Sunshine in a month and my mom wants to send us to the steakhouse for our anniversary. She'll be on the ship with us, but not at dinner. When I asked the best way to handle this when making the reservation Carnival said we could settle the payment any way we wanted at the end of the meal. I clarified she actually would be at the dinner - but they never responded again.

What's the easiest way to cover this? Does she really have to show up at the steakhouse with us (or after the meal)? Can she set something up ahead of time?

I'm guessing she can just put cash on our account to cover the charges if needed, but she wanted it to feel more 'gift-y', something that we didn't have to worry about. It all works out the same for me - free steak! ;p

We had a flight after noon from FLL (12:30? 12:45?). There were issues with customs and it took forever to get off the ship. No fault of Carnival, the line through customs was crawling - we barely made our flight running through the airport like lunatics. They closed the doors behind us.

Before: I would have been fine with the relatively low risk of an earlier flight.

After: Nope. I'd rather book later, take my leisurely time and not stress about what could/might/may go wrong (even though it'll probably turn out fine). Especially since we have to get all the way back to the left coast.

I love the idea of the bar glasses. My DH got a Red Frog pint glass onboard and it's one of those things that makes him happy every time he pulls it out of the cupboard to use it. And he jokes if it breaks we'll just have to book another cruise to replace it. ;)

Lucky guy to have you spoiling him, have fun!!

We have our first cruise with Carnival soon... they let you bring on a bottle of wine each per cabin?

Almost - it's per person, not per cabin. One regular 750mL bottle of wine per person 21+.

Cheers doesn't pencil out for me - plus I'm the type that would take it as a challenge and order more than I would without it.

I've ordered bottles in the past and have them ordered for our upcoming cruise (3 different bottles in 3 rooms). Even at 1L bottles, it's more expensive at home - but ounce for ounce it's still cheaper than at the bar. I cringe at the price when I'm putting in the order... but it's ended up working out well for us. 3 sea days and a balcony make it worth it. Or 4 girls on a 4 day getaway. ;)

We've ended up with a wait, but that was the exception. Only once we waited long enough that I stepped back up and asked "is there a table ready yet?" and was immediately seated. And that may have been formal night?

An upside was we were once seated at a table we didn't like (high traffic area) so we asked to be seated elsewhere with no problem. It also let us split up if people wanted to go at different times. YTD would be my go-to choice.

One downside might depend on how many people you have. We have a larger group on our upcoming cruise so we did early, just because we don't want to have to keep checking in with everyone about "what time to have dinner" each day. Instead, it's just "See everybody at 6:00!"

So can these gift cards be used to pay off your cruise or only for the on board account?

I've used them for both.

You can use them to make a payment on your booking.

You can hand them over when you board to have the money available on your account.

I have few questions and I've been searching it here but it's not so clear yet.

 

1) The room service, which they normally ask if you want once or twice a day, morning or afternoon, is about cleaning? If so, is it normal to get twice a day? Why? For me once a day (morning probably) would be enough, that's why I'm wondering if it's only about cleaning or if it's about getting food/drinks in the room.

 

2) Do people always go to shore excursions? Is it fine to not book any? I'm finding the excursions a bit expensive and I would rather chill at the beach near the port than going on these 4-5 hours excursions. Is that a normal thing to do? (I'm going to Ocho Rios and Grand Cayman) - or will I feel like the only one not going to any excursion?

 

3) Is there any Karaoke at the Carnival Sensation? Not that I'm a good singer but my girlfriend likes it, so she asked me if there is any.

 

Thanks, guys!

• Having Room Service = enjoying a tasty treat delivered to you if you call for it.
  
• Having your Room (Cabin) Serviced = clean up, beds made, fresh towels, etc. Once or twice a day.
  

Two separate things that I miss equally when I'm at home.

As others have said, no need to sign up for any excursions if it's not what suits you.I'm a big planner but let my hubby be in charge of Aruba since he'd been there before. Big mistake. We got off the ship and he started reading signs, looking around to see what there was to do.... We ended up taking a very loooooong walk on the beautiful beach, and eventually back to the ship. I am a fan of beach days, but that's the last time he was in charge of research. ;p

If the new rate has a regular deposit, you have to pay up the full deposit in order to get the price drop.

We'd booked Early Saver with $50pp deposit.

I saw a price drop, but now the deposits had to be $250pp.

I had to pay up the extra $200pp deposit to get the price drop.

Paid money to save money, but ended up with a lower price overall.

It was kind of in the 'fine print' of the price drop, if I remember correctly I could've missed it if I hadn't heard and expected this would happen.

We were on the 10/22 sailing and are getting the full refund plus 100% FCC. My question: 100% of which amount?

There's a difference between 100% of the base fare (like you'd see in the Carnival Fare viewer) and the "all-in" total when you do an actual booking that includes port fees, etc.

 

Hypothetically speaking: what happens if we find a replacement cruise for EXACTLY the same rate? Will we potentially still pay the taxes/fees out of pocket? We've got 9 people / 4 rooms, so it'd be nice to know as we're researching our options.

Well, I got my own question answered by the PVP that contacted us to help with rebooking. FYI:

100% credit will be for the base fare.

If base fare is less than what we booked: We forfeit the difference.

If base fare more than we booked: We will pay the difference.

We will still need to pay for taxes, fees, gratuities, etc.

Now, to find another sailing..... ;p

We were on the 10/22 sailing and are getting the full refund plus 100% FCC. My question: 100% of which amount?

There's a difference between 100% of the base fare (like you'd see in the Carnival Fare viewer) and the "all-in" total when you do an actual booking that includes port fees, etc.

Hypothetically speaking: what happens if we find a replacement cruise for EXACTLY the same rate? Will we potentially still pay the taxes/fees out of pocket? We've got 9 people / 4 rooms, so it'd be nice to know as we're researching our options.

Harris - I couldn't have asked for a more perfect response! I'm emailing them right now, thank you so much.

Our ports have been shuffled after Hurricane Maria. We were planning to do scuba (me) and DSD (15yo daughter) in St. Thomas since we found a shore dive there, which seemed a little less intimidating to her. The rest of the fam could also hang out right at the beach.

Looking at Antigua v. Grenada, I'm trying to find something similar but with so many last minute changes to this trip (...new flights! new hotel! new islands!...) and only 9 days until we leave it's overwhelming. Any recommendations or comparisons? She's wanted to try diving with me for years, so my emphasis would be on making sure she has a great DSD experience. It would be nice if we didn't have to separate from our family entirely, but we'll go off on our own if we have to.

I spent almost all day trying to find an air bnb in old san Juan. Every one that replied said "no power yet". Did not find one.

I had emailed some places and finally got a response yesterday from one that was available - after we'd already re-booked out flights. He said it's harder to get things ready right now (obviously) so was asking for a 2 night min, but you could give it a try. It's HomeAway property # 883207.

Link here.

One suggestion I might add is that you should still try to avoid connecting flights day of sailing.

 

Still fly out the day before as you planned, but overnight at or by your connecting airport and catch book the first direct flight in for day of sailing.

 

You may have to call the Airlines to get this or you can select the multi-segment option on the website to book the three flights and you may end up with an extra set of bag fees. But I’d feel a lot better avoiding a connecting flight day of sailing.

 

 

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This is exactly what we did. We were supposed to arrive a day early and stay at the Sheraton OSJ 10/21 but they'll be closed and we haven't even been able to get through to places we heard might be open.

Because we have to re-book with the same airline (United) the 'normal' flight to arrive the day-of only had a 1 hour layover. After all this, I didn't want to stress about our first leg getting delayed! We're still leaving home Friday night, will have a 25 hour "stayover" in Newark, and then a "direct" flight from EWR to SJU on Sunday morning at 7am.

The people at United were great with the change - she made sure we'd still have no fees breaking the two flights apart. Our cruise-mates are on JetBlue and they were really friendly and updated them with no trouble as well.

Now I just have to figure out what to do with a day in Jersey.... :confused: