aljo66

36 minutes ago, hypercafe said:

Maybe you can stop it through the credit card company just to be sure. I would expect them to be more responsible than Cunard.

Thanks - I think you are right that this is probably the best way 🙂

Our final payment date is 2 days away and was set to be automatically paid via Credit card. I hope that now they have cancelled that they will not take this payment but it seems that they have so many cruises to cancel that the systems may not co-ordinate in time.

Does anyone know how to change the automatic payment on the Cunard website? - I booked directly with them via the site.

13 hours ago, bluemarble said:

Interesting that the message about a "technical glitch" with the voyages through July 2020 not showing up has not yet appeared on the Cunard US website. It's on the UK and Australia sites, but not the US site yet. Consider me skeptical that this is just a technical glitch. Not sure if anyone else has noticed, but it is still possible to find the missing voyages by applying the "Sold out voyages" filter to the search. So if it's a glitch, it isn't that the voyages are missing, but that they are now all marked as "sold out". 

 

I've of a mind to think that this message is similar to the one on the voyage personaliser about no longer being able to cancel anything we've pre-ordered via the voyage personaliser for an automatic refund. That functionality hasn't worked for quite a while now despite the message that "we are fixing it as quickly as possible."

 

My take on that issue with the voyage personaliser is that they no longer intend to provide the functionality to automatically cancel anything ordered in the voyage personaliser for the time being. Instead they've replaced that functionality with a form to submit to have your pre-orders either converted to 110% OBC or else refunded within 60 days.

Just checked the UK site and all the cruises for May, June and July are all now visible again - interestingly the prices have gone up slightly to before the glitch for our Iceland cruise.

Just been to the Cunard site as we have the Iceland trip in July booked on QV which is no longer visible to book - could this be the answer?

Please note that our pause in operations currently includes all sailings up to and including 15 May 2020; we are experiencing a technical glitch today which means a number of our 2020 voyages are not showing and we are working hard to rectify this.

On the UK website this morning

In light of new Government guidance and global restrictions to halt the spread of Covid-19 we are working through our plans for the resumption of sailings and will communicate our initial plans as soon as possible.

I am also looking to do the Blue Lagoon with the BL bus included - how long should we you recommend we plan to spend there as I have to choose a return time for the bus when we book?

We did this 2 years ago and was the best thing we did in Norway. We rented bikes from the top in Myrdal and then rode down but walked the very first part with the sharp turns. All we had to do was leave the bikes at the station in Flam with no-one there to meet you - so very fast. We also booked our seats via the Norwegian railways app and this was easy and smooth.

You can easily do this in 2 hours but to get the best experience I would plan to leave more time.

We were due to be on the cancelled Oceana Christmas and New Year cruise this year but due to the cancellation tried to book the same cruise for Dec 2020 but they have already sold out for 3 person cabins (we travel with our 14 year old son) - so it seems that there is no lack of interest in sailing to Dubai etc!

I do understand why they have cancelled the cruises but do not understand that they chose to announce it but not have the replacement cruises announced until 3 weeks later! Surely they could have done the 2 at the same time so that we all know what the possible alternatives would be and plan accordingly

But surely Oceana will still cruise somewhere - we have the Christmas and New Year cruise and will not be able to book another one at this stage of the year. I would still be happy to stay on Oceana in another part of the world

Our most recent cruises have been on HAL where you can pay a fixed amount per day and have unlimited laundry done - allows us to travel lighter and also we have no intention of doing laundry on holiday 🙂

Does P&O offer the same type of thing?

By this logic there are not many places to travel to - Paris, London, Sydney, Wellington, Sri Lanka, Brussels etc have all had much worse terrorist attacks. These attacks around the gulf are not targeting tourists but as stated oil tankers. I agree that everyone has to make their own choices but this does not worry me at all and will not stop me enjoying a cruise there.

2 hours ago, JudyConno said:

Did you have to pre book the bikes or just hire them when you got there.

We pre-booked them with the cafe - http://caferallaren.no/en/ you then just leave them at the train station at the bottom. We also pre-booked the train as it does get very busy and can easily be sold out. This we did directly via the Norwegian Railways site. You have fantastic views and half way is a goat farm where you can get a drink and some limited food. The first section is very steep which many people walk but after it gets much easier. 

If you are active then taking the train in Flam and then renting Mountain bikes at the top to cycle down again. We booked this independently and it was the highlight of our cruise. If you are scared of wet weather then maybe Norway is not the best cruise for you as there is a good chance that at least some of the days will be wet - just take the right clothing and enjoy the experience 🙂

Beer, coffee etc at the Dutch Cafe are included in the drinks package.

We had cabin 4120 and had a view forward, out and down with no obstruction and a much larger balcony where 3 of us could sit with no problems. Our view aft was obstructed by the larger tenders but overall it was very good. Only downside was that it was a connecting cabin and we did hear some noise from our neighbours.

Our son is 13 and will take his 3rd cruise in July on HAL. We have been on N.A. and Koningsdam and will cruise again on Koningsdam to Norway. He loves Club HAL, has great fun in the pool and always finds friends. Anyone who has not had children on a cruise with them really does not understand how much is available for children on the newer ships. The crew are also fantastic with the younger passengers. Would our son like water slides -for sure, but that would be a bonus and not a reason to choose a whole cruise. He is so excited for our cruise that we have no problem recommending HAL

We are now due to go on our 3rd HAL cruise with our 13 year old son. First was on Nieuw Amsterdam and last on Koningsdam with the next also on Koningsdam. He has loved Club HAL every time and made lots of friends - there have always been plenty of kids but not too many. The staff in Club HAL are fantastic and wherever we have dined the staff have made him feel special. For us HAL gives thdd whole family exactly what we want

If I'm overseas, I wont incur any phone charges downloading the app?

You can download it free of charge onboard the ship using the wifi - there are no charges for using the wifi when using this app

Can you get the after dinner drink in the MDR (7.99) in the keepsake glass?

Yes - we collected the whole set of glasses on the Koningsdam on Explore 4

We have been on cruises on Nieuw Amsterdam and Koningsdam with our son when he was 7 and 10 and have booked Koningsdam for next July. He absolutely loves the kid's club and if we ask him what holiday he wants to do cruising always comes first. There have always been other children on the cruise and he loves the attention that comes from the great staff they have and the activities that they organize.

We have never had complaints from other cruisers and he has joined us at dinner in the Tamarind and MDR regularly.

My recommendation would be go for it - HAL does know how to look after the kids needs.

Does the $69 price include wine pairings? If so, that's great.

yes

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Just re-read my post and realized it was not very clear. The classical music show and BB King are at different times and don't overlap so no noise pollution between the two

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They have shows at different times so no conflict

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We were definitely not one of the first off the ship but about 30 minutes after - still only took 10 minutes as there were plenty of booths and the directions to the least busy ones was good.

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