Tradestock

Thank you for the information regarding BB King/Rolling Stone. The additional twist to this topic, no priest on board, was greatly unexpected. In brief, we travel past 4 cruise ports to sail with HAL and a Catholic priest. Since cost cuts are not exclusive to corporate culture, our cruises with HAL will be much less. Thank you to everyone that provided great information and travel tips. Peace be with you.

Just for clarification, there was no live band in BB Kings?

I think a HIA package purchased after booking does count towards the $300 on board spending. In the past, a HIA purchase would max the $300 per day spending, no questions asked. From this board, it seems there is some diversion from this policy. I have not encountered the diversion and continue to receive the full credit ($300/day) for the purchase.

I have done both, red eye and day before flight. If I am booking a red eye flight, it will be through flight ease and with trip cancellation insurance. Flight ease claims to get you to the next port, if embarkation is missed. The simpleness or complexity of meeting the ship at the first port is unknown because I have never used the service.

You can bring as much as you can hold...in your belly.😂 Couldn't resist. Have a great cruise.

My husband and I have purchased the sommelier wine pacakage through online ordering, indicating stateroom delivery. The mariner discount is given once onboard, but the wine has never been waiting in the stateroom. For us, it takes +hours on embarkation day to have the wine package delivered to the stateroom. Since the wine bottles in the package cannot be selected before the cruise, we have tried utilizing the onboard package sales attendant or the MDR staff for selection and delivery. First, the online purchase has to be verified by numerous people. Next, the selection of all the bottles in the package become a problem because the expectation is we will select one bottle at a time for consumption in the MDR. Once the confirmation and selection hurdles are overcome, a manager (or mutiple managers) has to approve the delivery of the package to the stateroom. Lastly, my husband's stateroom card is taken and we return to the stateroom to await delivery of the wine and the keycard. We were very surprised to encounter the difficult process on HAL. We have purchased the wine package on more than one HAL ship and more than one sailing, in case it was an off day or particular to one ship. The process was problematic each purchase. At this point, we no longer purchase wine packages for the stateroom. In theory, online wine package ordering should be a simplified process for both passenger and ship management. In practice, it is not.

My husband and I lived in a dead zone for decades. Even with the advancement of the cell phone and coverage, cell service was not available to us. We cannot comprehend how a luxury device that was marketed for safety is now indispensable to the masses. Equally, we are dismayed that an Amish buggy moves faster and safer than a texting automobile driver. 😲 To answer the OP's question.. No, we do not need a cell phone on the ship. (or anywhere else for that matter.)

Thank you for taking the time to write a review. Did the cruise director on NCL make a morning wake up announcement, either in the hallway or stateroom intercom, "Come on down and purchase bingo or scratch off tickets?"(paraphrase)

Thank you for the informative replies. I appreciate the heads up for Brazil visa requirements, too.

My husband and I have noticed that on many of the longer length, southerly cruises, Holland America port calls at Devil's Island. Previously, there was a yellow fever vaccination requirement listed for this port, but it appears to be missing from the HAL website now. I looked at the US Dept. of State travel information and it appears the yellow fever vaccination is still a requirement for this country. We are not eligible for waivers to this vaccination requirement, yet. For us, this greatly adds to the cost of the cruise and is not covered by insurance. This has removed any interest in the Amazon Explorer, roundtrip Antarctica cruises from Ft. Lauderdale and similar itineraries. Is this stop related to a ship need or requirement? Please explain from past travels and/or experience what, if anything, would make the additional expense for this port more palatable.

mariner_society@hollandamerica.com I found the e-mail on the HAL website, Mariner Society page, and listed under the Mariner Society FAQs question, "What do I do if I believe my records are incorrect?" The answer also provides additional information to correct the records. https://www.hollandamerica.com/en/us/plan-a-cruise/get-ready-for-your-cruise/mariner-society

I wrote the Mariner Society and received the same response as @CLOUDYTOWN. I waited three weeks to send the e-mail request for credit and included a copy of our boarding pass and onboard spending account attached as .pdf files. The same day I received the technical issue response, the day credits posted to our accounts. The HAL Navigator App included our onboard spending account and was found under Account, then Statement. At the time of my request, the cruise history on Holland's website did not show the onboard spending statement. I suspect the inclusion of the .pdf attachments helped resolve the issue because the credit days are based on sail days, room category and onboard spending.

We appreciate the priest on board and the opportunity to attend Mass at sea. Each of the cruises we have sailed with Holland America has had a priest. We very much appreciated the airing of the Urbi et Orbi blessing that was aired on television for our Christmas cruise in Dec 2023, too. Yes, a priest on board does influence our decision making regarding the line we sail.

Great tip! It overcomes the "no fitting room" problem. The small measuring tape takes up no room and weighs next to nothing in the backpack. It will be added to the emergency sewing repair items I usually carry on the hikes.

This sounds like great fun. We enjoy shopping at the local markets.😀

I had a similar situation happen, too. I parked at the FLL airport and took the HAL shuttle to the Port Everglades cruise port. After the cruise, we flew from San Diego back to FLL to retrieve the vehicle. The check in feature never seemed to retain the "not flying option". I left the flight information blank and printed the necessary documents. I took a copy of my receipt for the shuttle, just in case there was an issue. It went smoothly.

Thank you for the number to Luggage Forward. The pick up for the bag appears to be 8-10 business days. I would need to call them to discuss alternative arrangements or enlist the aid of a neighbor. Also, thank you for the storage fees at the airport. The bag fee for the flight, coupled with the extended storage fees, is the least cost effective option. The option of purchasing clothing in Italy is moving up the list because it negates all of the storage/transport fees.

No worries. I am good at sidetracking, too. Thank you both for the great suggestions. I am leaning toward Luggage Forward because it will eliminate the baggage fees on the airline and the storage fees in Italy, during the first portion of the trip. I was not aware of this service. There are many moving parts left to consider before plans are finalized, so thank you for the input.

My husband and I are considering an extended hiking trip through Italy. We will carry all of our clothes for the hike in backpacks. We are considering a TA crossing for the return trip to the US. I would like to have more than hiking boots and leggings for daywear/dinners on the return cruise portion. I am seeking any input on luggage storage at/or around the Rome airport. I thought the Amazon locker suggestion was a good idea from a different thread and am open to any suggestions to access additional clothing for the cruise portion.

We recently returned from our cruise and can report excellent results with the laundry. We did use a separate bag for everyday items and suits/dressy items. Everything came back ship shape.

My phone stays in the room, too. I can verify that I have used the stateroom card for excursions on our last four cruises on four different ships. I requested paper tickets on our cruise in Dec 2022. I was informed by the excursion desk the tickets are no longer printed, electronic only. I'm not sure if the "no paper" policy is ship to ship or fleetwide, since I only asked one time for paper tickets. The keycard has worked well and no issues have been encountered from Dec 2022 to our last cruise in Dec 2023.

I have not received physical tickets to excursions. The Etickets are located in the Holland Navigator App. Since I typically do not take my phone, the staff are able to verify the excursion with the ship's stateroom card.

Until the last bookings I made in November 2023, I received the invoice. In November 2023, we purchased two sailings and did not receive an invoice for either. I contacted our Hal PCC and was advised the system had a glitch and they would be resent. To date, no invoice has arrived . I have completed the first of the two sailings with no invoice and suspect the second will be completed in the same manner. Not sure how long the glitch will last, but I carry a copy of our account information with us to the sailings.

These are great suggestions. We will ask for two bags. Thank you.

DH and I enjoy dressing up for the MDR. I will wear anywhere from a floor length gown to a shorter, sequined cocktail dress. We are from a background that most definitely would deny entry to dining facilities based on attire..no BDUs at the mess hall on holidays. I enjoy seeing my DH dressed because he is very handsome to me. If we choose not to pack the formal/dressy wear or the luggage is lost, we eat in the Lido buffet.