terrydtx

You are so correct, I retired on my 70th birthday in March 2020 at the start of Covid lockdowns, and we had 2 cruises for that summer and fall that got canceled. We had 2 more in 2021 that also got canceled so we crammed those cruises into last year and this year. We look at it as we lost 2 of our prime retirement years of travel. Our first, first was booking a Retreat cabin on the Equinox in late 2021 with the 125% FCC we got from the canceled cruises.

That is why we book Signatures Suites only on deck 6 on Vista Class ships, it costs a little more but worth it. We sailed for 14 days last August in SS 6061 and never heard a sound. We have an aft cabin booked on the Koingsdam in November.

On Vista Class ships we really prefer Signatures Suites on deck 6, very quiet and above and below only other cabins.

I use this site before I book any cruise to see cabins and pictures, a lifetime membership is around $35 and worth the cost. We sailed on the Oosterdam last August from Venice in a Signature Suite number #6061.

This is why we always buy travel insurance to cover expenses like medical on the ship or worse having to be medevacked off the ship. Most travel insurance companies will cover the medical expenses on the ship's infirmary. I had norovirus 10 years ago on a cruise but, I was not confined to the infirmary, and my travel insurance covered the cost of the ship provided meds. You can't really blame HAL for the few cases onboard, blame passengers who do not adhere to common sense sanitizing standards, like washing hands and using sanitizer before dinning.

We are booked in a Sky Suite on the Apex, September, and Edge next January because we hate the IV fake balcony on the E Class ships. We did an Edge IV cabin in 2019 and never again but loved the ship. That is one thing HAL has over Celebrity in the newer ships, no horrible IV cabins. We are considering a HAL 2025 Alaska cruise if we can do one on a Pinnacle class ship.

My wife got Covid on the Oosterdam last August and spent the last 5 days in isolation plus 3 nights in a hotel in Venice. We got the same letter about getting a per diem FCC for the missed 5 days and reimbursement for the hotel and food. When we finally got home my TA filed with our travel insurance company for the missed 5 days and all of our out-of-pocket expenses. The travel insurance reimbursed us for the 5 days of isolation on the ship for both my wife and I plus the expenses for food and hotel in Venice. The only expense not covered was the $42 for a bottle of cough syrup for my wife on the ship. We were totally satisfied with the insurance settlement. On January 31st, this year, we received an email from HAL saying that we had been given a FCC for the missed 5 days for my wife and the 3 days of hotel cost in Venice. The total FCC was over $3600, but had to be used by January 31st, 2024, so, we used it to book a 7-day cruise in November on the Koingsdam. The FCC covered the cost with HIA, so we are looking at this as a free cruise from HAL, and it restored our faith in them enough that we also booked a NE/Canada Volendam cruise for August 2024. The unexpected, and unasked for FCC kept us as a customer of HAL. BTW for the OP, since it was my wife who was in covid isolation the FCC showed up in HER HAL account, not mine. When we looked in her account the reimbursement for the hotel in Venice was posted to her account on Dec 20th over a month before we got the email about the credit.

We love aft facing cabins when we can find one, our next is on the Koingsdam in November. I have never had any problem with smoke or soot from the ship.

We are booked on our first Pinnacle class ship, K'Dam in November, it will be interesting to compare with Celebrity's newer ship class, Apex in September.

We cruised on her last August from Venice in a Signature Suite and the cabin was updated and in great shape. The rest of the ship was in good shape, the only place I noticed any signs of her age were in the hallways to the cabins which were full of dents and scratches and badly needing paint and rehabbing. We book a cruise first for the itinerary, then the cruise line and then the ship, the Oosterdam last year had the best 14-day itinerary of the cruise lines we considered.

We were on the Oosterdam last August for a 14-day cruise of Greece from Venice. We also chose this cruise for the bucket list itinerary. Other than getting Covid the last 5 days of the cruise, it was a great cruise. This cruise followed one we did from Rome on the Celebrity Reflection which we also loved. Both had pros and cons but accomplished what we wanted to see and do.

From reading the above it looks like we made a good choice in booking the Volendam for August 2024 Boston to Montreal. We looked at similar cruises on Celebrity, Oceania and Viking but the Volendam had the best itinerary, and we got a great deal by booking early with the premium HIA promo. The Volendam was our first HAL cruise in 2007 and we loved the ship then.

You should know that if you had booked directly with AA and the price dropped you would not have received the refund if you moved the flight. You were also wanting to make the change after final payment if you were only a month from departing and FBC had already ticketed the flights. If AA offered to change the flight to Miami for only $50 that could have been done only by canceling the FLL flight regardless of what your husband thought. I fail to see why you blame FBC.

Why didn't you pay the $50 and make the change with AA?

We are 205 days out from our Nov. 4 Koingsdam cruise and cannot yet reserve our specialty restaurants with our HIA dining credits We got the same 90 days out answer from HAL, I do not remember pre cruise SR bookings that close to sailings in the past with HAL.

I remember there was a lot of discussion about this on CC late last year. However, I have checked on HAL's website this morning and I could not find anything that confirmed this. I know it was not available on our Oosterdam cruise last August.

That was my thought too, HAL cruises from Trieste. Last year we sailed from there with HAL and there was a huge difference in cost to fly to Venice from the US over flying directly to Trieste, the difference was about $500pp.

On our 3 post covid cruises, I never saw anyone handing out glasses while boarding and we were in Suites, but with the drinks package we could get a glass at any bar venue.

We did a 14 night Greek cruise last August on the Oosterdam in a Signature Suite. The cabin was in great shape and the crew we found to be awesome. The food in the MDR was very good every night and service was excellent. We loved the Lido and compared to Celebrity's OVC it was so much better. My only complaint is that in some common areas like the hallways to cabins shows the ships age with scratches and dents everywhere, but that is very minor overall. If you want nightly big productions shows in the main theater, you may not get any, we didn't on our cruise plus we had no comedians or magicians. We do not cruise for the shows and entertainment so this was fine with us. We cruise for the itinerary and if the Oosterdam meets that for you, I would recommend you book the cruise. We chose the Oosterdam for the itinerary last year.

I believe this policy has been fleetwide since last October or November.

We do the same thing and use them for the same reasons. We just booked our flights for January to Sydney Australia and we were able to book American Airlines to SYD and Air New Zealand back to Houston non stop for about the same as booking American or United RT direct. No payment for the air until final payment in October. We picked the flights, airlines and our seats by calling FBC. We can also change at anytime if we find a better deal before final payment.

I would too.

The MDR is only open on sea days for lunch.

If Celebrity had only made one deck with IV cabins, they would have been better off, for some who love them and those like me who hate them, by providing a choice for both camps. Without ever testing the concept, Celebrity committed to 5 of these ships. and the current CEO is responsible for that decision. The magic carpet is another poorly conceived idea as you stated.

Actually Celebrity has a 5th E Class ships scheduled to join the ill-conceived IV fleet in 2025. The current CEO was in charge when this new concept was designed and built, which I think will be the ultimate downfall of celebrity. Celebrity is stuck with the concept for the next 15-20 years. I hate the IV cabins, did one and was done with them, I love the E Class ships but will ONLY book a suite to get a real balcony, not a window that opens. Now with current high pricing for Sky Suites on E Class ships we are moving on the competitors. As, I have said many times if it was such a good idea why hasn't one competitor copied them?