COTINGEY

On 5/8/2024 at 3:51 PM, Cruise Raider said:

i truly love the Royal class even though we’ve sailed on the Grand, Golden and Star several times.  
Even on the last time we cruised on each one of these ships, they were really showing their age.  
 

Our TA came through - we have a wheelchair balcony on Dolphin with an interior nearby.  I personally don't care for the sideways interiors, so I didn't want Aloha.  She was able to get Princess to price match our Grand pricing. For now, we are all set.

THANK YOU for watching out for me.

Robyn

We will also probably end up canceling our cruise. I had a two cabins on Aloha, a wheelchair accessible balcony with an interior close by. Received my new cruise/staterooms today.  26 day Sydney to Los Angeles in April 2026, which leaves two days later and has two few ports, so similar. However, the balcony is on deck 15/Marina and is not wheelchair accessible while my interior is all the way down on deck 8/Emerald. According to my TA, it appears they are not protecting the price even though I have the letter that says they are. She's going to call Princess and try to get it all figured out.  ☹️

I booked non-stop tickets with EZAir in November, DEN to FLL for a cruise leaving on Saturday 04/13. At that time, I provided them with the power wheelchair specifications/dimensions that we would be bringing. Thursday (04/04), I sent an email to United to remind them about the power wheelchair. On Sunday (04/07) I received a call that the aircraft type (737's) would not accommodate my daughters wheelchair. On Monday (04/08) after discussing how we could get the wheelchair to fit, it was figured it out and we were good to go. Today (04/09) I received another call, that the wheelchair was a no go on this aircraft.  United said I could either take connecting flights to get to FLL or they would cancel the flight and refund my money. They had no way to get me home without it taking over 12 hours and multiple connects to keep us off of 737's.

Short story, we choose to cancel the flights.  Finally my question - these tickets were paid with our final payment and using gift cards. What are your thoughts on my refund? I've already asked United to refund me directly - we shall see. The tickets are cancelled on United but not on Princess, as of now anyway.

TYIA

Robyn

Thank you kindly.😀😀

DH (elite) and I (platinum) will be on a cruise next month. This is his first time as Elite.  I'm okay with embarking with the hoards, doing laundry, not going to the elite gatherings, etc.  I would like to know if he gets the elite mini bar set up.  If not, I'll just grab soda and water in FLL before embarking. I just don't want to buy it, haul it onto the ship to find out it's in our stateroom. I'll be elite after this cruise, and it won't matter going forward.  It's too bad it only one per stateroom/segment, but "them are the rules":)

TYIA, Robyn

1 hour ago, COTINGEY said:

I just returned from doing the inside passage.  I have a good copy of the 2012 Joe Upton book - THE ALASKA CRUISE HANDBOOK, complete with map.  I am willing to send it to anyone who wants it.  I will not be able to send it out until the week or 05/15.  I will send it media mail, as that is the cheapest. I live in Colorado  Send an email to robyn 9699 at gmail dot com.

 

IT HAS FOUND IT'S NEW HOME

 

 

I just returned from doing the inside passage.  I have a good copy of the 2012 Joe Upton book - THE ALASKA CRUISE HANDBOOK, complete with map.  I am willing to send it to anyone who wants it.  I will not be able to send it out until the week or 05/15.  I will send it media mail, as that is the cheapest. I live in Colorado  Send an email to robyn 9699 at gmail dot com.

As a side note - the book by Rachel Cartwright was in the gift shop.  We were on the Sapphire Princess.  It did not appear to be updated.

Robyn

1 hour ago, Coral said:

It is more updated with more color pictures, etc.... More visually appealing.

 

I don't think the Joe Upton book has been updated in years. Princess contracted with both authors to write the book that they would sell on the ship. Both authors have been on Princess promoting their books - I believe Rachel used to be a Naturalist with Princess. Princess ended their contract with Joe Upton years ago and I don't think he ever independently updated his book. Rachel's is more modern looking and more up to date as she has had the contract for quite awhile now.

Thank you....For Rachel's book the publication is 2012. Is there one that is more recent which I can't find?  My Upton book is OLD, so I'd like something fresher.

On 2/13/2023 at 5:52 PM, Coral said:

I have a slight preference to the  Rachel Cartwright book.

Why?  Just curious.

Rachel Cartwright wrote "The Alaska Cruise Companion: A Naturalist's Guide to Alaska's Inside Passage".  Joe Upton wrote The Alaska Cruise Companion: a Mile By Mile Guide OR The Alaska Cruise Companion, complete book and map set.  Both come with a map when new.  Be careful buying used as most do not include the map. Learned that by experience, sadly.

2 hours ago, rnff2 said:

Do you know for certain that these giftcards can be used to pay for the cruise itself?  I plan to check with my TA prior to purchasing but wondering if you have experience using these.  

Bought five gift cards on Monday night.  Sent the numbers and pins to our TA on Tuesday and received updated confirmation showing they had all been applied.

Bummer about the Green Eggs and Ham, fingers crossed, but if not,  it'll be a great trip.

We are on a back-to-back cruise in August.  We have an interior and a balcony and they are across the hall from each other.

We were offered an upsell from interior to balcony on both cruises.  I was going to turn them down since the upsell balcony was on a different deck.  Then I read on Cruise Critic how to see what other staterooms were available and their associated cost.  (For the life of me, I can’t find that post now).

The next-door balcony was available on both of our sailings.  So, I snatched them up.

This will be our third/fourth trip with Carnival and so are relative newbies.  Because of you I also found out about the Green Eggs and Ham Breakfast, and although we are adults, we will be doing it.  Menus, dining options and their pros and cons.  I could go on and on.

I just want to thank the Carnival Cruise Critic community for their help.  You do make a difference.

Have a great day,

Robyn

I booked with a TA - where do I find by OBC totals?  I can't find "View Balance Details" page.  I bought WiFi using OBC and then canceled it to get a better plan.  But the buy page states I don't have enough OBC.

I was pointing out that there was no pre-boarding for her, or any others, that were waiting in their manual chairs.  Family members were assisting during embarkation.  We never saw any assistance staff.

We boarded the New Amsterdam in San Diego in March.  My daughter uses a power wheelchair full time.   We were instructed to board with our boarding group, which was #4.  No priority boarding and no HAL assistance ever offered.  Ship services and access and compliance were both notified of our travel in advance.

Thank you so much for your replies - I'll plan on getting the surf package and make sure that my job knows there may be a time or two when there is no satellite service. 

My error - it's a 22 day cruise (Santiago to Buenos Aires) and the pre-purchase price is $239.99.  A savings of $60 for the voyage.

On 4/4/2019 at 4:31 PM, richwmn said:

Sorry, but that is a really bad answer from your PCC. As of the first of the year all HAL ships are on a 3 tier plan similar to what you describe on Carnival. The cost of the package is based on how many days your cruise is.

There does not seem to be a speed difference, just what you are able to access.

 

Hi,

In January we will be doing a 22 day Antarctica cruise and additional touring.  We will be gone away from home for almost a month.  Due to my job restrictions, I will need to check in with them at least weekly.  Additionally, I will want to access the credit cards website we will be using and our bank to ensure charges are correct and bills are being paid.

My two questions:

Can I use the surf package or do I need the premium?

I can pre-purchase the premium package through the HAL website for $139.99.  Should I or shouldn't I?

Thank you,

Robyn

On 5/20/2019 at 9:15 PM, AryMay said:

I'm so glad you were able to make arrangements and hopefully Frederico will be your guide. He is such a nice guy and a great guide as well!

How did you pay for this tour?  With this being a new start up company, Federico and Giselle have asked that I "deposit funds into a bank account" so that they can confirm the tour.  They gave me no other information on the bank account.  I'm guessing a wire transfer? They are only asking $100 to confirm the tour for the five of us, which is fair, but I'm unsure what they want.  I've asked them to clarify, but hoping for your insight.   Your thoughts, please.

Mary,

THANK YOU so much for the card for about Frederico.  We will be doing this trip in January and have been in contact with them to arrange wheelchair transportation.  We travel with our 23 year old daughter who is in a wheelchair full time.  We would have never known about this option had you not taken the time to post about it and then have the foresight to include a copy of his business card.

With deepest gratitude,

Robyn

I wrote to her "I know that this is a rule on Celebrity - but on Holland and Princess too?"

She responded "Princess was effective Nov 12 and I am sure HA will follow and they did it with no notice to passengers or agents"

On November 12 2018, Princess changed their booking transfer policy.

Effective iimmediately: Bookings may only be transferred within 60 days of booking creation as long as the request is made outside the final payment period & the booking is not paid in full.

I've used her for many years and trust her.  I think she is just giving me a heads up since they are both Carnival Corporation lines

I asked my TA about a booking I made on HAL and want to transfer to her.  It is for a sailing in January 2020.  She responded that sh'e'd look into it and then wrote "Keep in mind the new policy, you have to transfer bookings with in 60 days from creation."  True or not?  The big box that I'm comparing with said nothing of that requirement, just that it needs to be done prior to final payment.

You picked a great ship.

Why do you say that? We picked this cruise based on itinerary and date. I'd love to know what people think about this ship. Is there a thread somewhere dedicated to Nieuw Amsterdam?

Happy days ahead!

Robyn

Thank you - I'm glad to know that I'm no the only one that finds the website hard to use. I had quite a few smiles and a few chuckles with the way seasoned HAL cruisers feel about the website.

Long story short - taking recommendations from here - I got a deck plan and used that to narrow down where we wanted our two staterooms to be. Called HAL and bingo - got what we wanted. I'll turf it to my TA in the next month or so for additional discounts. (Control freak here - I want to manage the booking).

One more question, about the TA, are their any restrictions about holding onto the booking until just before final payment? I've heard that there are some cruise lines that give a defined period of time before it's unable to be transferred to a TA from the deposit date.

As a side note, just like Princess, the first person I called was clueless, ended the call and called back - she was brilliant. Then I had a question about the booking called back, rewind and repeat. Now just 19? days until my first HAL cruise.

Thank you again,

Robyn