veryseasonedtraveler

Love walking the deck and try to do 3 miles every sea day. If 97% of the walkers are going one direction for whatever reason, as a walker, that should be the accepted norm. There are usually one or two going the opposite way and that makes it difficult for others at the turning corners. I find myself trying to figure out where the contrarian might be.

We were on the Volendam in April 2015. Many on board were frustrated with issues while overnighting in Beijing such as disembarkation issues. Many passengers were required to get off the ship for some inspection our last day. if touring independently, we were told to be back on board two hours before the ship's tours. Remember hearing rumors about a crew member and officials. We were also 2-3 hours late departing Beijing. Remember the captain announcing the officials were going to release us hopefully at a certain time. There were probably many things going on we didn't know about. My guess is HAL just got fed up with the Chinese situation.

Definitely do not take the HOHO bus while Reykjavik. We use them everywhere, but this one is terrible. When the bus finally arrived in the morning, everyone from the ship piled on. The sound system on the top didn't work. They only had one bus for the route, so wait times once you got off were way too long. Would suggest you take an excursion to Vik. Excellent scenery.

We were on a Costa ship near another Costa ship. The two captains kept trying to outdo each other with their horns as we departed. Loved it. Just like driving in Rome. :)

We are not ship's excursion fans and go independently whenever possible. With that being said, we took HAL's transfer to Seattle for a very reasonable price. When loading our luggage on the bus the driver separated the luggage in two sections. One was for the Airport and one for hotels. He was nice enough to drop the hotel people off their specific hotel near the airport. (This dramatically increased his tip.) If you are staying overnight in Seattle, the light train is very convenient from the airport vicinity. We had three extra days in Seattle and enjoyed every minute of our time there.

Please share more of your experiences. My wife and I are fairly new to the wonderful world of cruising and value the knowledge of veteran cruisers. Do you have a preferred cruise line? Do you have a particular itinerary or place that you never tire of visiting over and over again?

We have learned to stick with one cruise line in order to accumulate the perks offered. With Holland America we are their 5 star status, which gives us laundry, 1/2 price wine packages, some Internet, Pinnacle Grill, a day at the Spa, etc. on Princess, we get less, because we haven't reached their top level, but still nice. Also, take advantage of the shareholder's cruise credit on all ships owned by Carnival. That really pays off. I believe Royal Caribbean has a similar deal. Another perk to take advantage of is calling the cruise line to see what their special airline fare is. Very often it is a lot less than we can get online. We also try to book most excursions beforehand thru roll call on CC. Besides saving $$$, we often make new friends before boarding. Happy sailing.

What a great response!

 

Some CC members post a lot and have given EXCELLENT cruise information (I won't name names because I might leave someone out, but they know who they are!) Some CC members like to reach higher count designations and their frequent posts might not contain such gems of cruising as others. :)

 

Any way you look at it, your 500+ days at sea are very, very impressive and we would like to hear about your cruises!

Don't want to bore you. Would have to say our recent Antarctic was very special. We were overwhelmed by the raw beauty. HAL had an excellent team of very knowledgable people on board, which added to the enjoyment. I saw a lady with tears in her eyes when we were on the bow. Her comment to me was, "I am so overwhelmed with everything around us." Australia, N/Z, the Norwegian Fijords and the Far East were also on the list. Thanks for asking.

Speaking of shoes..... While on the ship I swear by Me Too flat fold up shoes. They are light weight, and take up very little space. They are perfect for shipboard life as the rubber soles grip when it gets a little rocky. Make sure you get the rubber soles as they also have a slippery version. Have them in four colors. As for cobblestones, my favorites are Keen and Ahnu.

We were there last fall on the Maasdam. I arranged a tour with CC people thru Majorca Tours which included Valldemossa and Soller. The scenery was absolutely spectacular. The villages looked picture perfect. After our bus adventure we still had some time to explore Palma with the your guide. (Posted a review on Trip Advisor.)

The arrangements were a little frustrating as they wanted firm numbers. If you have time, it is worth doing. If not, take the ship's excursion. You won't be sorry.

Right?? So true. :D

Thanks:) I only learned about CC two years ago from table mates. I can't imagine planning a cruise without all the input. The "free" advice is wonderful.

The designations sound impressive. We have 500 days and think that is a lot. As we say in duplicate bridge, Please Explain.

Oh for goodness sake. You guys are really exaggerating the matter. Seriously do you want to stand in line for a ling time waiting for a cable car when in ten minutes if you exercise a little caution you can walk up or down? Really I think thieves are just excuses for laziness. As I noted on another thread wear shoes with tread and just be aware of the animals and move toward the wall when they walk by. As to the poop - you can't totally avoid it but it is easy to rinse off the bottom of your shoes.

Am not lazy. Walk 3 miles every day during sea days. While in port my Garmin usually registers 5-8 miles of walking. Thought it would be a fun walk down the donkey path. It is extremely slippery and wanted to give some good sound advice.:)

We took the train and then bus 82 two years ago from the Amsterdam Airport. If you do this on a Sunday, be aware there are fewer busses. We waited a very long time, but one eventually came. It was frustrating when we finally got to the port because of the stairs, but we managed. After checking in, they shuttle you by bus to the ship. Embarkation in Amsterdam is so much nicer.

We normally do not take the ship's tours, but when disembarking we had a late flight. The windmill tour HAL offered was wonderful. It was a great ending to the trip.

Enjoyed the chatter about NC. We sailed with you Sam last fall on the Maasdam. Go Heels:)

Define "reasonable". What you define as "reasonable" may not be in contact with the real costs.

 

Give us a home airport, and at minimum, a month you are looking at flying, so we can do some research for you.

 

Cheap O Air is a consolidator. There are MANY threads here about the pluses and minuses of consolidators.

 

Have you checked with the air department of your cruise line?

RDU in October. Will look at the threads. Our cruise hits many world hot spots.

I like to think there's a sense of amusement in someone called "veryseasonedtraveller" asking about using CheapoAir :D

:) We travel a lot, but try to travel wisely. Always looking for bargains so we can afford to keep going:)

Our cruise starts out of Athens and flights are expensive. Has anyone flown to another city in Europe and then taken a short hop to Athens? Any experience using Cheap O Air? We are flexible.

After visiting Ephesus twice, we branched out and took a dolmus (with the locals) to the hill town of Sirince and had a lovely day- beautiful spot and great fruit flavored wines!

 

The next two times we opted to have a Turkish Bath- once just outside of Kusadasi and once in Selcuk.

Love Cruise Critic. Wasn't familiar with a "Dolmus", so had to look it up. Seasoned Traveller is getting smarter. Thanks for the great advice everyone.

We have visited Ephesus twice. We also visited Mary's house. Does anyone have any other ideas about what to see and do?

You don't want to walk there at all! Filthy, slippery and dangerous because you have to quickly get out of the way of donkeys. If you do it, the adventure will ruin a perfectly wonderful trip to Santorini.

We walk a lot while in port. Can't be without my Garmin fitness bracelet. Really fun knowing how much we walked each day. Record was over 8 miles.

Mmmmmm Mother-in-law' date=' I guess you could make that comparison. But then you could also liken Australia's stance to that of a mother trying to protect her brood. Depends which way you look at it, doesnt it.

 

 

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Wish I had a "like button."

You could attend Happy Hour and buy one glass at regular price and the second is $1. They also have a pairing in the Mix every night, which is a good value. Where there's a will, there's a way.

We have have been 5 Star on two cruises. We had a veranda upgrade last time. We were wondering at the time if it had anything at all to do with our new status.

Stryker. I once overheard someone at the Future Cruise Desk book three HAL cruises just because Stryker was going to be the entertainer. He is a consummate performer.

HAL provides one bar of soap and one lotion at embarkation. I kept moving the soap back and forth between sink and shower thinking the steward would provide another. After a few days, I left a note for another and it was provided. Think the new policy is upon request.