terrydtx

We have been getting the free US government test kits in the mail for months and saving them for our trips this year and next. We will be on a B2B Edge Australia/NZ cruise next January and hope this testing has ended by then.

In August 2021 taxi cost was under $25 with tip for the two of us. Took 15 minutes from airport to Cruise terminal.

We have been on 8 HAL cruises and only made their MDR lunch once, on one cruise we got to the MDR 5 minutes before closing and they refused to seat us. The HAL MDR on embarkation day is usually open from 11:30 to 1:00pm. Last year on the Oosterdam in Trieste we made lunch at noon.

You are correct this has always been an amenity for booking Concierge class cabins. After the restart from Covid in 2021 the embarkation lunches for concierge were canceled, and you should have heard the complaints here in CC. I do not believe the lunch was back until cruises later in 2022, it was available for our August Reflection cruise last August.

The Volendam is a smaller older ship that was refurbished in 2022. We are sailing on her next year for a Boston to Montreal cruise, and because she is smaller, we will visit a couple of ports bigger ships don't. If you want to have a balcony you will need to book at least a Vista Suite category cabin, we did for our cruise next year. The Volendam does not have any standard verandah cabins. Our first HAL cruise was a Panama Canal cruise on the Volendam in 2007.

Find a good local TA that works for you, not the cruise line. My TA allows me to contact her 24/7 by her cell phone and I have been able to book cruises and other trips over weekends too. I have used her for 15 years.

Viking has a very different financing model. Most of their booked cruises both river and Ocean, requires 12 month out final payment which finances their new ship building without adding to their debt.

That is correct, not the cruise line. Richard Branson’s Virgin Orbit files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy | PBS NewsHour

https://youtu.be/Zk0esR2s_P8

Houston or Port Canaveral.

Probably will not be any balcony cabins, all portholes.

How about the first moon cruise in the Sea of Tranquility?

Unless you are booked in either Aqua Class or the Retreat with Celebrity, there is nothing "premium" about Celebrity anymore. On the new E class ships only Suites and aft facing verandah cabins get a real open traditional balcony, everyone else gets a window that opens, IV cabins, which cost more than a real balcony on HAL newer ships.

I am sorry but I have to chuckle at people here complaining about HAL prices. We recently booked 2 HAL cruises for Nov this year and August next year because of the great deals they offered compared to Celebrity. No casino deals for us either. Since 2019, we have been booking with Celebrity almost exclusively, except for one Oosterdam cruise last year. Celebrity has been raising prices by 30-40% and loyal Celebrity customers are jumping ship as fast as they can. We are now, for the future, booking with HAL and Oceania as Celebrity's suite and higher-end verandah pricing has gone to the ridiculous. In some cases for similar cruises, a Celebrity Sky Suite cost is much higher than a HAL Neptune suite. Celebrity Aqua class verandah cabins cost more than a Vista or Signature suite with HAL on most similar itineraries. Celebrity's specialty restaurants cost 30-40% more than on HAL, and room service is still free on HAL. I believe if you think HAL prices are high, every other cruise line is also much higher than pre Covid and all lines are reporting big increased booking numbers

This is really a great itinerary and we compared it with Celebrity, Viking Ocean and Oceania. Celebrity only offers round trip from Boston in same 11 days and has 4 less port stops. Oceania had similar itineraries but at double the cost of the HAL cruise. I am with you we are done with the Caribbean for cruising, after our Equinox cruise in June with our granddaughter. Every cruise after is for places we have not been, and we hope will be interesting. We are retired and spending our kid's inheritance on travel.

HAL doesn't have anything close to the amenities of the Retreat even in their highest suite levels. Size wise, close to a Sky Suite is a Signature Suite or Vista Suite. They do have booking options for "Have it All" (HIA) which includes, a drinks and Wi-Fi package, plus a shore excursion and specialty dining package. If you book early, within 90 days of release of sailings, you can get HIA with premium drinks and Wi-Fi package, tips and a OBC. We booked the Volendam for an 11-day Boston to Montreal Cruise for August 2024 in a Vista Suite with the Premium HIA for $4300pp. That includes the Premium drinks, Premium Wi-Fi, gratuities, $400 in shore excursions, 2 specialty restaurants each and $200 OBC. The Vista Suite is 297sq ft in size and the Volendam is an older small ship with 1400 passenger capacity. HAL charges a lot less for specialty restaurants, drink packages and so far, no charge for full room service, including ordering from the MDR menu.

Have you been on any HAL cruise?

I have an answer to the IV cabin. If I do not want to pay the newer Celebrity outrageous suites pricing and want to be on a newer ship with traditional open balconies, I will book one of the 3 newer HAL Pinaccle class ships. They are modern and overall gorgeous in all their open balconies glory. I have one on the HAL Koningsdam in November.

I had no idea that the food served at the island was provisioned from the visiting ships.

I do not think the terminal will begin processing boarding passengers before 10 or 10:30am. The longer lines are after 1pm as most people flying in day of cruise arrive in Vancouver around 11am to noon.

This is not the first thread on this subject, there has been at least one or two others in the past few weeks. I cannot believe how upset some are over having to pay $2.95 or more for a gallon of distilled water, do you get it free at home? You may need it for a medical device but why expect that HAL should supply it for free? On past HAL cruises I had to pay for premium bottled water which I need to live and relieve my thirst, but I never complained that HAL charged me for them.

The bulk of the shore excursions for our Nov 4 K'Dam cruise was released yesterday and I was able to use our HIA credit to book one today. Still too far out I guess to book the specialty restaurants with the HIA credit.

When you book your shore excursions, book all you want and put them in your cart.(do not check out until this is done) Then go to check out the cart, if all of the excursions total $450 and you have 3 $100 credits, the $300 credit will be deducted from the $450 leaving you a balance of $150 to pay with a credit card. The wrong way to do this from my own experience is to put in the cart a $70 excursion and then check out, the $100 credit will pay the $70 but you will not get the $30 to use elsewhere on another tour. Note the language on the promo, one shore excursion credit up to $100 in value.

Don't forget the never ending dress code threads!!🤢

We boarded there in 2019 and the lines were very long if not in priority boarding and there is a lot of walking as you wind through the terminal. if you have any mobility issues you can request a wheelchair.