minimom5

Unfortunately, Fairbanks is not on our itinerary but we are hoping to maybe get over there on our free day in Denali somehow.  

Thank you so much.  This really helps us plan our time there !  Very much appreciated!

We're booked on the Triple Denali Cruise and just wondering if anyone knows anything about the time schedules.  So it looks like we will be traveling from Anchorage to Denali on a train but unsure what time we would be arriving at Denali. The reason we're asking is that we're wondering if we need to arrange a tour on that day or if we'll be arriving too late to do an activity.  We would really appreciate any info so we can make plans if we need to.  Thanks !

We are booked for the Triple Denali Land & Sea tour this summer.  Just wondering if anyone knows which hotel HAL uses in Denali?  We're trying to make plans and it would be very helpful to know where we will be staying.  Thanks!

So, may I ask what is the required dress for the MDR?  Just want to make sure we are prepared and appropriate. Thanks!

Thank you for your reply!  HAL sounds wonderful and we are very much looking forward to this new experience!

Thanks for the replies!  They are very helpful and much appreciated!  

So we are booked on the Westerdam Alaska cruise this summer.  We've never cruised on HAL before and just wondering how it all works on this line.  We're used to Norwegian Freestyle cruising so this will be a new experience for us.  So, I guess we are booked for anytime dining but I'm not entirely sure what that means...do you have to make reservations ahead of time and where can you eat ?  Also wondering about entertainment.  I'm having a hard time finding info about what is available on this particular ship and if reservations need to be made ahead of time for that?  I would just appreciate any and all info or advice on how the HAL system works.  It's a little intimidating to be stepping out of our comfort zone and trying something new!

Thank you !!

So I'm starting to gather items to pack for our upcoming cruise on the Getaway and I'm wondering if it will be necessary to pack a hairdryer.  We will have a balcony room. I have found some older posts that mention hairdryers but nothing recent.  I've also tried to look at some youtube videos that show the bathroom but don't see a hairdryer anywhere in there.  Could someone chime in who has been a recent cruiser on the Getaway and answer this question for me?  I'm trying to pack as light as possible and don't want to bring anything that's not necessary. Thanks!

Oh sorry, I thought I had specified...oops!  yes POM.  Thanks for your help and advice !

Ok thank you.  I'm thinking of going with Hertz because they seem to not have a problem with picking up near POM and dropping off at Ft Lauderdale airport when booking online.  It's hard to find reviews with a positive car rental experience though.  I guess just pick one and go with it.

Actually, next question...So if the ship gets in at 8am. Allowing time for disembarkation, what time would we realistically be able to pick up a car.. they always ask for a pick up time and I have no idea!  

Thank you  I will look into it more.

So our cruise ship will be coming in at 8am but our plane does not leave until evening.  We will have our luggage with us so our thought was to rent a car for the day somewhere near the port and return it at the Ft. Lauderdale airport.  Is this a possibility?  If so, does anyone know the closest car rental agency near the port and how to get there?  We'd appreciate any and all advice and info on how this can be done. Thanks!

Passion Island is one of the  Cozumel excursions that we're thinking of doing from our cruise ship.  Our other choices are Playa Mia and Chanakaab Beach Park.  We don't always do excursions through the cruise line but this time we have a credit that we need to use so we'd like to book through the ship.  We will be 2 adults and 2 teens and re looking for a relaxing day at a nice beach with decent food.  Maybe some snorkeling, maybe some non-motorized water sports.   Reviews are mixed, which makes it difficult to choose.....So, if anyone has any advice , info or experience to share, we'd really appreciate it ! Thanks!

So, we have it down to these two choices of excursions for our day on Roatan . We'll be 2 adults and 2 teens. We'd like to do some snorkeling and relaxing but having a hard time finding good ,current reviews on these two places.  Can anyone give me some insight or advice on  either or both of these ?  Any info will be much appreciated. thanks!

How about redeeming the points? Is it difficult? Some cards that I have looked into seem soooo complicated when it comes time to redeem the points; the process seems overwhelming !

I have been considering getting the NCL Mastercard but am wondering if it really does any good? We have a Hilton Honors credit card and really like it for earning free hotel stays and have thought that if it works the same way it might be beneficial to be able to accrue points (or miles-however they do it) and be able to cruise more often. I see that several of the other cruise lines (RCCL, Princess, Holland America...) also have them. If anyone has any experience using any of these cards, I would really appreciate any insight, opinions,advice. Thanks!

So......did you have to pay the extra fees of $18.00 pp if more than 2 persons and the extra housekeeping fees of $5.00 pp ? Someone said in their post that they checked in & out at the same time to avoid having to pay those fees but I am not sure how you can still get the Atlantis wristbands if you're already checked out?? Very confusing? Also, since you were just there last week, can you tell me how the spring break crowd was? Was it crazy overcrowded? We'll be there in 2 weeks so I am interested to know what it was like! Thanks !

Did you book through their website or call the hotel directly? Did you ask for a day room or just a room for a night? And did you book for the day of arrival or the night before? I would really appreciate any info you can give me on the procedure you went through to do this! Thanks!

Well, I've been doing some digging in the past couple of weeks and this is what I have come up with......sounds like Atlantis is going to be a nightmare if you are there during spring break. Our cruise is going to be the one right after yours, nandosgirl, so I think we're going to get the tail end of it. For that reason, I am very reluctant to do Atlantis, although NCL does offer a beach day excursion to Atlantis that includes the aquariums but not the pools or waterpark. Another thought is to do the Blue Lagoon beach day-which is quite a bit cheaper than Atlantis- although NCL does not offer that (only the dolphin encounter) so you would have to book through a reseller like bestonbahamas.com If you do the BL beach day you can still see the dolphins even if you don't do the encounter. At present, I am also terribly confused and have no idea what we are going to do. Good luck!

I was under the impression that the pools were not included in the day pass at Atlantis. Did I understand it wrong or is the all-inclusive pass something different than the day pass? What kind of prices are we looking at?

Thanks!

We were in Kona several weeks ago and got some great 100% Kona coffee from a flea market right there in town. The booth was from GP Farms, which is a small family owned farm. I don't remember the exact price but it was significantly lower than what we had found at another coffee place in a mall down the road from there and the coffee is wonderful!