rodndonna

Are all bookings through any agency (all non-Celebrity direct bookings) exempt from MoveUp?

I could have sworn ours (purchased 3 weeks ago) said "90 days" , but I just looked at out certificate, and it clearly says 6 months (which I would much prefer to see more 2025 options come out.

We're Canadian and have booked a few Marella cruises with and without flights pre-Covid (would sometimes fly and leave from London as had family living there). We also had our first Marella cruise this side of the pond out of Jamaica packaged with our TUI Canadian air partner (was cancelled due to Covid). I don't see why you wouldn't be able to book the US departure "cruise only" rate , but can't be sure.

Devils advocate here - when I read this - I suspect HAL may have done the right thing and were concerned about being able to treat her on board with a head injury. Certainly a hospital is much better equipped to deal with any complications that might have arisen from a head injury. Who knows - perhaps that day or 2 at a local hospital was required to save her life (or at least monitor it to ensure the best outcome).

ah well - bummer. thank you.

Yeah - When I was a kid, I did not even know anyone (other than our army fathers) who ever flew anywhere - let alone "cruised". Holidays for us (and anyone we knew) was limited to an annual "pile 5 kids in a smoke filled car for hours driving to visit our relatives". They were great holidays though and I wouldn't have traded them for anything. 😀

We purchased a Future Cruise Deposit on our recent Celebrity Cruise (just filled in the form) and are now looking to use it. I have read through the pdf we received - but I don't really see apply it if booking on-line. Am I missing something or do I need to call it in?

When I watched Love Boat growing up (relatively poor on a Canadian army base), I thought cruising was something rich people did - and I never actually imagined I would one day be on a cruise.

Or Liam the Lion (other nickname for William) if they wanted an 'L' name to go with Lion?

We were on the Millennium out of San Juan (7 days) over this past Easter. We didn't realize it was Easter when we booked, There were more families and kids than I expected (until I realized it was Easter). The captain said the ship was close to capacity. We never saw/had any issues with kids running amok, they all seemed well behaved. The only thing was we did notice they had hours (4-7?) where kids were permitted in the Solarium. Didn't affect us though as we never used it anyway, and not sure if that fluctuates depending on the cruise clientele.

It's that darn Tux thing. Not sure if Cunard rents them onboard (is that still a thing) but buying a tuxedo for one cruise (would not be hubby's preference for normal Gala nights) is a but of a kicker.

I neglected to mention we keep a US$ account as well, and are always trying to add in (dollar cost averaging and taking advantage of fluctuation conversion rates) which we use to pay for the US Visa all with TD, so that makes the US Visa easier for us.

I somehow think if we are going to do a TA, it really should be Cunard QM, but I still have to beef up our clothing ( Covid didn't help) before we can make that commitment 😉 Generally not a fan of worrying about what I wear beyond a Gala night or two, but seems might be worth it to experience the QM2 TA cruise.

We have a TD US$ Visa, but that was largely decided based on the fact that we have other TD products (including Canadian Credit cards). If there is a bank you deal with primarily, might be worth looking there as a start and see what they offer.

We are Eastern (no longer Coastal although originally were) Canadians, so Asia is a long trip for us as well. Our "shorter" bucket list options - all of which can fit in under 2-3 weeks for us - Full Canal transit cruise (have visited Canal on land holiday and did a Partial cruise transit just after Covid, but never full transit) Euro river cruise Egyptian Nile cruise (we have done this many years ago but want to do it again) Train across Canada and/or US (did this in my youth across Canada, but would now like to repeat it with hubby) Golf themed cruise (we both golf) Transatlantic cruise (preferably from New York) and of course always looking for more options ..but we do have a few to pick through in the next few years before we tackle Asia.

You have nailed our conundrum .... as "first" (possibly "only") timers to Asia - do we In 2025 - do a shorter cruises (something like the options I mentioned above) wait until 202..? when we can do longer holidays and do something similar to you 28 day itinerary (which looks fantastic BTW). Kinda leaning to the option of waiting a few years for Asia .... and taking something else off the "annual bucket list checkmark" holiday that can be done within shorter timeframes.

Thanks OlsSalt, Jetlag and travel are certainly issues with us and more me as I am not a good sleeper (one of the reasons I like cruising, saves readjsuting to new surroundings). For a shorter itinerary we would allow maybe 3-4 days pre cruise to try to adjust (so a 2 week cruise becomes a 3 week holiday). Probably what intrigues me most about Asia is it is an area of the world I have yet to venture, but have been so heavily exposed to throughout my life (sheltered childhood as an army brat watching TV and movies and then throughout my life working and becoming friends with many Asians. There is no area of the world I have met so many people from, heard so much about, but have yet to have been. It's really quite overwhelming when I start to look at options for itineraries, and it sounds like you have travelled Asia extensively so I really appreciate your input. For a first cruise - would we be better to start in Singapore, cruise a bit of China and then on to Vietnam/Cambodia or start in Singapore with a bit of China and then on to Japan. I've ruled out Singapore round trip with exclusive China ports of call (maybe a mistake?)

If it is the Reflection it doesn't appear to be a crazy long balcony like the Millennium Sunset balconies (they are almost the same size of the main living/sleeping area of the cabin), but regardless can't beat the views from an aft balcony and I would say consider it if you have never been in one. We have a Sunset balcony booked on the Edge next year - we are almost in the category of "if it is a balcony, make it an aft!" so perhaps biased -haha.

Not sure what ship or class you are looking at, but we had a Sunset Balcony on the Millennium and loved it. It was huge with 2 loungers, 2 chairs, a table and still tons of room. It had 1/3 solid overhang, 1/3 sail type cover and 1/3 open (no cover) so was great if you were looking for or avoiding the sun.

My apologies for hi-jacking this thread - but I have a related question- Like the OP we have Asia on "the list" for us and would be our first time, but we are looking at fall 2025 at the earliest (vacation dance card is full until then). I have only been looking at itineraries of 15 nights or less (like the 14 day circle Japan HAL cruises). The reason to sticking to "shorter" options is largely driven by the fact we have a dog that we don't like to leave that long (that trip would push the boundaries) Is a first cruise to Asia something we should just push off until the inevitable time after which our dog has "left for the farm" (he is just 9 now). I weigh getting more of these "bucket listers" in sooner rather than later while we are still in good health ourselves, even if it means shorter trips. Should we just wait a few years for an Asian cruise until we can do a more extensive trip, or take a shorter one when we have the availability and better health?

I'm not sure what this post was in reference to, but I expect pretty much everyone on here knows there are multiple options for travel/holiday experiences. and most of us have and continue to do many of them. To say there are "better choices than cruising" is just waaaay too much of an overgeneralization.

Like many, we received "free cabin" offers after our first cruise with HAL and while the cruiselines were coming out of Covid i.e., "year of The Omicron". We were thrilled and have not received any free offers since, but really did not expect to. We continue to play the Casino (small slot players) and received discount rate offers which we are pretty happy with. I think the 2 major factors for us to get free cabin offer was being new to HAL and ships being empty with lots of cancellations and issues on sailings to contend with.

Worth reading this article (I am not impact but was curious as to what our rights are and insurance implications). https://milesopedia.com/en/guide/pilots-strike-rights/

If it is for a cruise, have you booked through the cruiseline? That would be ideal, but doesn't sound the case since you are asking. Without knowing where you are going to and from, can't really help ways to avoid the potential strike. I would expect things will be resolved before the Canadian long weekend in May (not like Westjet can affford any more bad PR these days), but no guarantees of course.

I've heard phones are among the worst.