peaches from georgia

In-laws who have lived in Anchorage for over 30 years always tell us that May and June are the very best weather months.

We know Seattle very well; one of the country' great cities. Everyone should make a day or more there part of their cruise vacation. We always stay down by Elliott Bay, though one time we did stay at the Four Seasons downtown. Lovely city hotel. However, we much prefer being on the watefront at The Edgewater or Inn at the Market.

Nothing to be concerned about. Sometimes pax don't get their cabin assignment until they get to the port to embark. They have your booking and you will have a cabin.

HAL cruisers are moving on to other lines for many reasons, certainly not just balcony smoking. This thread gives a very unrealistic idea of the smoking "problem" because diehard anti-smokers are posting in one place as a group. HAL is no longer a premium line and with cutbacks in so many areas of course many people are moving to other lines.

Exactly how many present or, even more importantly, potential new cruisers does HAL think a new slightly modified logo will entice to book a HAL cruise? I would think exactly Zero, if anyone even notices the change. Pax won't notice cutbacks on the ships because they love the new logo? They have lost their minds.

anyone out there? I have not seen any posts lately.

Maybe there is just no more to say that hasn't been said umpteen times

We had far forward on our first cruise. Didn't know any better. Never again. :eek:

I would love to go to Cuba on a land vacation or cruise. But it would have to be a cruise like a Bermuda cruise where it is your only destination. I wouldn't want to go and have Havana be one stop for a couple of hours and off to another island. And heaven forbid no cruise line-constructed shopping mall. I'd like to see Cuba as it is and not another Diamonds International.

Places like Walgreens, etc. charge for our Flu shots.

There is no charge if you are on Medicare. We have gotten our flu vaccine for years at either Walgreens or Publix and there has never been a charge for Medicare patients and they have always accepted our Medicare card.:)

Sunfarer- PCanal and Costa Rica!

........We always "dress up" for embarkation day so sometimes they just direct us to that line anyway. Whatever. One saves a few minutes; not hours with priority embarkation has been our experience.

If this sounds snarky I don't mean it that way. Just wondering what you wear to "dress up' when embarking and then get preferential treatment at check-in? ;)

I love chocolate and I love hazelnut, so fully expected to love Nutella. But I didn't like it at all and can't explain why. Maybe something about the consistency or feel of it? Can somebody else who felt the same way explain why. :(

That is exactly what did happen. The 15 April 2016 Greek and Turkish Treasures has both Signature and Neptune suites 'sold out.' We had our SC GTD booked as soon as the sailings came out. For me to add Explore 4 my PCC said the cost would be $800 pp. That is even more than the cost of the Explore 4 components. I said no, as he expected I would. But it can be added without a complete rebooking.

 

Dennis

Why would HAL price a package at more than a pax can buy the items separately. Makes no sense to me unless they think most people are really stupid.

I wonder if they could be eliminating traditional fixed time seatings?

My educated guess would be if they are bringing 3 musical groups to play on a holiday cruise, especially over New Year's Eve, it is not a small group or quiet sedate music. NYr's Eve is party time.

I was on this same tour just over a year ago and we were very fortunate to have a beautiful, clear day (unusual for Ketchikan) and the scenery was fantastic.

 

We had tried to do this tour several years back and were cancelled at the last minute due to the weather. Then, in 2013 we had another flightseeing tour (Salmon Bake) canceled as well - same reason. So, they do halt flights when the weather is bad. I am guessing that the weather must have changed suddenly on the pilot, or they would never have gone up. I have been on hundreds of very small plane flights (even in the Grand Canyon) and to be sure the weather is a big issue for them.

 

After this, I think my small plane flying days are done, unless I can be totally assured that weather will not be an issue. This is one negative to booking an excursion ahead of time - you never know how the day will be.

I too was wondering what the weather at takeoff was and what the immediate forecast looked like. According to a map I just saw in a news article the crash site was only 20 miles from Ketchikan so the weather must not have been great to begin with, though I understand weather can change quickly, but that quickly? Tragic for the families.

We would no longer ever book a cabin without a separate shower. Been there, done that on early cruises. The tub is so high on the side we find it not only inconvenient but almost dangerous to climb over

CCL is a corporation whose sole purpose is to make a profit for its shareholders. That's not a criticism, it's just how it is. If they think this will be good for business, which they obviously do, they will try it. If it helps people where the fathom program goes that's a benefit, too, but not the mission of CCL.

I have been chairwoman of our church's missions council for the last three years and this cruise/project is priced very well for an international trip.

We have looked at trips to Haiti, Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador, Peru and I am sure others. They would involve staying in places that do not have a/c, no hot water and in some thankful for showers at all. I remember a mission trip where we went to a public pool and showered every other day. One included breakfast as in Nutrigrain bars and lunch and dinner out of pocket. They all priced more than this.

It would be wonderful to go "home' at night to a nice bed, shower, and meal. The only thing is you feel guilty that some will never have that.

It seems most places charge alot to cover their admin staff and diapers, food for the kids, etc. in addition to your room and board. You also pay for construction materials and we usually bring suitcases of supplies which would add to the cost.

I would love to suggest this to our missions team for our church to pick a week and go together. I wonder if evangelism is allowed. We would not be interested otherwise.

I think this is very exciting!

I doubt evangelism is permitted on the ship with a general passenger mix. Perhaps if a full charter.

 

I'm sure she means evangelism in the areas and with the people they are helping on the island, not on the ship. This is what church mission groups do and their main purpose.

By all means walk the Elliot Bay waterfront and eat lunch in one of the great casual seafood places (we like Anthony's outside) and take the ferry to Bainbridge Island. Fantastic views of Seattle and a nice restaurant for lunch right near where the ferry docks.

Just out of curiosity, what was it about your cruises on HAL ships that convinced you to "never consider" and "never take" your grandchildren on a HAL cruise?

 

Rod

After being on many many HAL cruises I know the teens especially would be bored to death. The younger ones probably would enjoy Club HAL, but going as a family the pre-teens/teens would be much happier on a line with more to offer their age group. I'm certainly not the only one with that opinion and HAL's reputation as a more adult and sedate cruise line didn't begin with me.

And I suppose we are abnormal parents with abnormal very mis-behaved kids who don't like things to do and we take them on a HAL cruise and they like HAL .... but ironically we also like other lines. I guess this makes us very abnormal, according to your "logic". :rolleyes:

That's not what I was saying at all. Sorry you misinterpreted my post

I'm a really lightweight drinker and have taken a liking to sangria......

Me, too! Margaritas and sangria are my favorites! :)