cavecreekguy

You never can tell... I did a North Cape cruise June 2023. It was much warmer than I expected everywhere. For example, it was 32 degrees C ( 90F) at Trollveggen (Åndalsnes). I was glad I packed extra polo shirts and shorts. I really enjoyed having a glass of wine and a snack on my balcony with all that gorgeous scenery passing by.

Last June on Princess, the bus for my cruise line excursion picked us up and dropped us back off right next to the ship.

I just went to HAL website and am seeing "Today only $1 deposit all products."

I tried to redeem my perks a couple days ago. After submitting, I was wondering how they'd know what booking to apply it to as I wasn't asked my booking number. I guessed they'd just apply it to my next cruise. Next day I received this email saying: "There has been an issue with your application for onboard credit on your upcoming reservation (Booking #: departing on ). Holland America Line has shown an error as follows: The name used in applying for this credit does not match the name on the booking. Holland America Line has asked you to resubmit your application through the Stockperks app with the correct details and we will endeavor to process your claim promptly." This email has blanks where my booking number and departure date should be. I wasn't asked for this info when I redeemed my perk so I'm guessing that's why it was denied. I guess that's the glitch. I tried again to redeem my perk. This time I was asked for my booking number and departure date. Hope it works this time!

I think that works out to $42.57/day. It's up to you if it's "worth it." I'm someone who spends time in my cabin, so a balcony for that price is a bargain and totally worth it to me. You can hold out hoping for a lower upsell offer but it may not happen.

How long is your cruise? I got a similar offer many years ago on a 7 day RT Alaska cruise on the Volendam. It was very much worth it for me.

June 2023 Sky Princess docked in Olden. There were three ships that day, but only room for one at the dock. An Amaraza ship was anchored right in front of the Loen skylift. By the time I finished my cruise line excursion in the early afternoon I read that the Loen skylift was sold out for the remainder of the day. So if you want to do the Loen skylift you may want to purchase tickets in advance.

June 2023 I did Molde the Adventurous Atlantic Ocean Road tour with Norway Excursions. It was almost half the price of the comparable Princess excursion. I was very pleased.

I added myself to a waitlisted excursion a few days after final payment on my upcoming May 5 Baltic cruise. I received an email about 3 days later telling me I cleared the waitlist.

I've been on the Volendam a couple times and it's a sister of the Zaandam. As rodndonna mentions, the lower promenade deck (deck 3) has a full wrap-around outside deck. I love the inside or ocean view rooms on that deck because it's so easy to pop outside on either side of the ship. Its a wide deck where there are often nice loungers. It's also covered in case of inclement weather. I believe there's also a forward-facing outside deck under the bridge that's accessible to passengers. HAL also often opens the bow up to passengers during scenic cruising. I wouldn't hesitate to book an inside or an ocean view on the Zaandam.

One other consideration...if you take a ship's excursion, where does it end? Not sure about Princess, but when I was on HAL 2016, all the excursions dumped everyone off in town, so you had to either take the cable car or donkey path back to the ship. There were three ships and the line for the cable car was 1.5-2 hrs to get down and back to the ship. I won't go to Santorini again because of this.

The total cost of the cruise is the total cost of the cruise. If I'm traveling as a solo, my "base fare" is the fare that cruise costs me, as a solo. It doesn't matter to me what two people in the cabin would pay per person, because that doesn't apply to me. All that matters to me is what I would pay for that cruise.

I'm very price-sensitive, which is why I look at how much the cruise costs in total. If the total cost of the cruise for me as a solo is $5,600, I don't see why it matters if that's $2,800 pp with a 100% supplement vs. $4,000 pp with a 40% supplement. The cost to me traveling solo is still $5,600.

I'd find such a list interesting, but as a solo cruiser, I don't see the value in it. When I search for a cruise I look for the itinerary I want, then the price. If it's a price I'm willing to pay I go with it. Doesn't really matter to me what the single supplement % is. Am I missing something?

I've stayed in both deluxe and premium deluxe balcony cabins on Sky. There was no difference inside the cabin. In general the premium deluxe cabins have a larger balcony. In addition to the partial deck plan image in post #7, there are also premium deluxe balcony cabins forward on deck 9 (cabins D145-D225) as well as wake view premium deluxe balcony cabins on the other decks. On the deck plans it looks like some of those wake view cabins may not have larger balconies.