Maya_C

6 hours ago, Grandma Cruising said:

We haven't had anyone from a port onboard for our Onward Spanish Intensive. There was a port representative at the port gates at Ferrol, and lots of paper information too for all ports. By the way I guess you mean on Deck 4 (Guest Relations deck).

Yes, Deck 4. I hit the wrong key. The Tourist Office reps were onboard at all ports on the France Intensive cruise in June 2024. Maybe we just lucked out. 

5 hours ago, manc said:

Just left Bordeaux on 13th Sept. No taxis available. No taxis willing to come. Would pre book travel to airport. There is a tram stop but don't know ifvitcwould be direct yo the airport. Trams payment wasn't easy for dome passengers due to language, cash shortage etc.

Tram Line A stops near the port (tram stop Porte de Bordeaux) and goes directly to the airport. The trip takes about 45 minutes. You can buy a single ticket that's good for one hour starting from the first time you validate it on a tram. Before you board you can get a ticket at the tram stop from a machine which has directions in English and takes euro coins. If you will be in Bordeaux the day before disembarking, you can buy the ticket ahead of time, and you might want to get a multi-ride ticket because the tram is the best way to get around Bordeaux. Trams come every 3-5 minutes and don't get stuck in traffic like taxis.

The Tourist Info Office will help you with any transport or sightseeing questions you have. On our first day in Bordeaux and all the other ports, Azamara had someone from the tourist office at a desk on deck 3. It was really helpful for us to stop at that desk at each port, get a map, and find out how to get around. 

We flew into Bordeaux for the start of a cruise in June and found the airport easy to navigate.  

~Maya 

15 hours ago, Btimmer said:

If you are booked with Princess, you have a number assigned at the time of booking.  Whether it's the same as your HAL number, I have no clue.  For us, our Princess number is totally different than our HAL numbers which go back a fair number of years.

Thanks for the info. I checked my Princess account and the number is different from HAL's. 

We are tier 2 in the HAL Loyalty program and have cruises booked on HAL next May and on Princess (for the first time) in July 2026. I assume Princess will do what most lines do, assign us a number after we complete one cruise. Should I be proactive and give Princess our Mariner numbers in hopes that the two numbers will be the same? 

4 hours ago, princesspigeontoe said:

Yeah I tried with a Caribbean cruise and no issues. All the Alaska cruises I’ve tried are having this issue. 

I had the same problem with booking an Alaska cruise. I contacted a TA I've used before and he was able to make the booking.

Thanks to everyone for their suggestions. I ended up booking with my usual travel agent, who had no problem reserving the cabins I wanted. ~Maya

Thanks. I've seen the same thing on 2 different websites where I've tried to book. On both sites, I chose rooms, got the total price, but when I got to the last step (complete the booking), a message pops up saying,  "An error occurred while performing cruise search" or "unable to process booking." 

Thanks for replying. I checked and there is no group or charter listed for either of the dates I wanted. The funny thing is that three days ago I went through the process of choosing the 2 staterooms for the family and saw the final cost.  At that time there were rooms in every category. I didn't reserve the rooms then because I needed to check with various family members about the dates. The next day when I tired to book, all cabins on the ship were "Sold Out." Possibly a HAL website update?

HAL's website shows all rooms sold out for a late May date and and early June dates for all categolries. When I tried two different online booking sites, I was unable to book a cabin.  Anyone know what's going on? 

Can someone who is currently on an Azamara ship please tell me what benefits are included for booking a future cruise while on board? I believe they were specified in a flyer we received while on a cruise from which we just returned, and I'm not sure those benefits appeared in my booking confirmation.

Thank you.

1 hour ago, Happy Cruiser 6143 said:

I got off the Silhouette earlier this month.  I had a deluxe balcony cabin.  No footstools.  Did not test the chair recline as I mostly read on my balcony.  I know the chairs recline somewhat.  I doubt fully.

Thank you for the information. We also have a deluxe balcony. Now I know what to expect!

Please tell me if footstools are provided for the balcony chairs in a standard veranda cabin on the Silhouette and if those chairs recline fully. The balcony chairs on the Infinity in October did fully recline and had a footstool, but that was for a concierge room. I have an inflatable footstool, but I'd rather not bring it along if the ship's outdoor chairs have them. Thank you for your help.

~Maya

Can you see what is on the children's menu if you don't have children with you?

On 11/21/2023 at 3:04 AM, Jim_Iain said:

Maya - surprised your agent isn't on top of this.   All they need to do is press a couple keys.

 

If you own at least 100 share of RCL you can also add on the Stockholders Credit

 

$1,000 Onboard Credit per Stateroom on a World Cruise

$250 Onboard Credit per Stateroom on Sailings of 14 or more nights.

$100 Onboard Credit per Stateroom on Sailings of 6-13 nights.

$50 Onboard Credit per Stateroom on Sailings of 5 nights or less.

The agent did come through with the discounts as listed in Jim's message.  Thanks to all who replied. 

Are coffee and tea still available all day in the Hideway? It's been 11 years since we were last on the Silhouette. I enjoyed being on deck 7 near the Hideaway because I could get hot water for tea without going up the buffet. ~Maya

20 minutes ago, lola2013 said:

We received $50 off first leg (4 night) of upcoming B2B and $100 off second leg (10 night).  We are switching cabins after first leg.

Hope that helps.

Susan

Thank you. that's what I needed to know. 

Hi,

We have a 10-day cruise booked and just decided to add a 4-day cruise before it. My TA said that the fare we paid for the 10-day cruise could not be combined with any other discount. We might get the b2b discount on the 4-day cruise, but the TA thought it will only be $25, if anything. Does anyone know what the discount is on such a short cruise and whether I need to stay in the same cabin for both legs to get the discount? 

Thank you for your help.

Maya

1 hour ago, C 2 C said:

We were on Zaandam in May as well.  The MDR was great, the Lido a bit lacking.

I agree that the Lido on that smaller HAL ship left something to be desired. However, I was pleased not to worry about passengers grabbing food and putting it back. With few exceptions, everything was served from behind the counter. 

27 minutes ago, C 2 C said:

We just returned from a HAL B2B cruise on Zuiderdam, and the food was fantastic, both in the Lido and the MDR.  We can't remember a better culinary experience outside of specialty restaurants in more than a decade.  Unfortunately, I am now suffering from dessert withdrawal.

We had the same good experience with food on the Zaandam in May. Over the years we've mostly cruised Celebrity and HAL, deciding between them based on itinerary. Before our May cruise, I'd rarely eaten fish that hadn't been overcooked on either line. The Zaandam MDR offered a different fish every night (grouper, mahi, snapper, halibut), not just the usual salmon. The fish was cooked in a variety of ways and came with different sides every night. None of the fish was overcooked. (HAL has a new program whereby it locally sources fish for its ships across the globe.) The menus included real appetizers, not just salads and soup, and side dishes that varied from day to day. After seeing Celebrity's new menus, I've lowered my expectations for my cruises on Infinity in October and on Silhouette in January, and given similar itineraries, I'll go with HAL for future cruises unless Celebrity's MDR menus change for the better. 

1 hour ago, saffy12 said:

Thank you so much!  I can't tell you how much time I spent looking and trying to figure out how people were finding this!   It makes sense now, but not knowing where to look, i couldn't find it!

I got to the point of choosing a ship and an itinerary and then the app went into an endless loop--black screen with an animated X in the middle and no way to return to a previous screen. I deleted the app, reinstalled it, followed the same steps to choose to a different ship, and the same thing happened. I'm on an iphone 13.  

Thanks so much for the App instructions for finding menus. CC members are always helpful. 

~Maya

1 minute ago, Maya_C said:

 

I have downloaded the app, but I don't see the option to choose any ship. My only options pertain to our upcoming cruise in two weeks on the Infinitiy, and menus are not there, just the option to reserve. How do I get to the menus for ships in the same class? Thanks for your help. 

 When I follow the menu option for the main dining room on our upcoming cruise, I see only the desserts for each night.

23 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

For a sampler -   download the app and choose any ship in class ship you are interested in and a current sailing.   You should be able to pop up the menus and see how they meet your expectation.

I have downloaded the app, but I don't see the option to choose any ship. My only options pertain to our upcoming cruise in two weeks on the Infinitiy, and menus are not there, just the option to reserve. How do I get to the menus for ships in the same class? Thanks for your help. 

3 hours ago, kazu said:

 

That must be because it’s a non Pinnacle Class ship?  

I had Club Orange on the Koningsdam and fresh squeezed orange juice was on the breakfast menu with no surcharge as were the mimosas.

 

When I was on the Oosterdam I was never given a C.O. Menu but I didn’t push it as my table mates did not have Club Orange so I can’t comment on it.

Yes, the Pinnacle ships are the only ones offering no-charge freshly squeezed orange juice on the breakfast menu because Club Orange members eat in a separate dining room, along with passengers in the higher room categories. On the other ships, where CO members eat in the MDR, fresh OJ with no surcharge is only on the room service menu. At dinner in the MDR on non-Pinnacle ships, CO passengers are offered a menu with one extra entree choice. We had to ask for this menu on the first night in the MDR on the Zaandam, but after that the server always handed it to us when he gave out the menus to the other passengers at the table. 

On 7/2/2023 at 11:27 PM, Andi Land said:

Hi! Yes, at dinner we had the menu with the additional entree. After dinner they always asked if we wanted coffee to go with dessert. I’d guess you could get cappuccino. I don’t drink coffee so I don’t know for sure. Breakfast should have had fresh squeezed OJ but we never received it. There was the separate line at Guest Services which was rarely busy and we also had the nicer upgraded robes that we used every day at the thermal suite. 

With Club Orange you get freshly squeezed orange juice only when you order a room service breakfast, not if you eat elsewhere. I knew that before I boarded, so that info is somewhere in the Club Orange write-up it on HAL's website. Freshly squeezed orange juice is on the Club Orange room service breakfast menu. I had to ask for our cabin attendant for that menu on the first day. It wasn't automatically placed in the room every day. This was on the Zaandam.