VacationCharlene

Yes...I believe you just need to call HAL and ask for your money back on these. Easy Peasy.  Think long and hard on it before you cancel as they are so useful!  Times are hard right now but hopefully it will all turn around.  Good Luck and hope you decide to stay in the game and see you onboard some time 🙂

Really great to hear that people are able to finally get off the ships.  I really hope everyone appreciates, now and in the future, how COOPERATIVE and HOSPITABLE San Diego has been.  So many places turned ships away.  Remember to bring your business back to San Diego and the fine people of this City once things go back to normal.  We who live here have "welcomed" people onto our military bases, while quarantined as well, and port during a very contagious time.  All other ports have turned people away.  As a native San Diegian this is important to me that people realize this.  Safe travels everyone and hope to be on a cruise sailing soon!  We would of been visiting Hawaii today on the Hawaii/South Pacific cruise.

In MY unprofessional opinion, YES she would get all of her money back anyway AS LONG AS SHE BOOKED A REFUNDABLE FARE.  Nothing to do with the current CV-19 issues.  Anyone, who doesn't have a non-refundable fare can cancel anytime UP TO final payment.  Even though she paid early, it is still not final payment official time.  Yes, she should confirm all this, when the phone lines calm down, with her travel agent or Holland America directly.  Hope this helps.

If I understand your post correctly....

YOU could actually CALL HAL yourself since the cruise is not published yet.  We have done that before when we knew a certain cruise was going to come up.  You end up putting a couple hundred down and they assign you part of a booking number.  Am a little surprised that you say a cruise for 2020 has not been published yet...I would think they would be firm in place.  Best of luck to you and give HAL a call to see about posting funds for a Future Dam Cruise.  I do NOT think someone else could buy you certificates on board.

Safe sailing

WELCOME!!  You two are going to have an awesome vacation!

The one thing that I noticed from your post, and wanted to respond to, was I would NOT purchased ANY beverage card or package.  They are usually expensive and are for people who partake more than once or twice a day.  I would take the two bottles of wine onboard and then just purchase the drinks that you are interested in.....as you go along.  You will see a bar menu at any bar so gives you a heads-up to the prices.  You will then just use your room card to change it.  Be sure to go to Happy Hours, which will be posted on your daily itineraries, and take advantage of the buy one and get the second EXACT SAME drink, for $2.00 more.  It is great!  Cheers and enjoy!

Can't remember if they had taxi's or not.  We walked to the City centre which is about a 20 minute walk, for the able bodied.  It is along a very scenic path.  Very enjoyable.  Wheel chairs can do this as well.  For us, avid walkers it was 20 minute walk.

On our VOV cruise this past year we had on Holland America "Going Ashore in Reykjavik"  Shuttle buses into town are available.  Round trip ticket is $20 per person and is charged to your onboard account.  Service will run from 8am and the last shuttle will be 7:30pm from the drop off location at Hallgrimskirkja church.  Shuttle tickets can be purchased through Shore Excursions Desk".   Needless to say people were not happy about HAL charging verses providing free shuttles to downtown.

We also had a private shore excursion that picked us up at the dock, and we all met outside the visitor center.....no cost of course because we didn't need to be shuttled.  Hopes this helps. 

7 hours ago, duquephart said:

We are thinking of doing both but maybe the one will suffice, allowing more time in Bergen. Thoughts?

When you say you are thinking of doing both,I think you are referring to going to Stavanger AND Bergen.  IF you are going to both places I feel I would use Rodne in Stavanger and see the steep fjords and Pulpit Rock from below and the in Bergen go up the funicular if the weather is nice, walk around the town and farmers market etc.  IF you are going to both places I would NOT spend the money on BOTH Rodne excursions.  Bergen was terrific but I think Stavanger is even grander.  Have fun!!

You will not go wrong if you hire Yourdaytours.is  !!  They are the best and we used them to see the Golden Circle and next year we will hire them to see the South Coast.  Tell them Charlene from San Diego says HELLO!!!!  The waterfalls are gorgeous.  We saw lots of Icelandic horses as well.

11 hours ago, duquephart said:

 

Pulpit rock or the one out of Bergen?

We went to Bergen and enjoyed the Fjord excursion very much. Beautiful! We did not have time, and the weather wasn't on our side, to go up the Flobanen funicular.  We had pre-bought tickets also for the funicular but were not able to use them.

The other, Pulpit Rock, is in Stavanger and we have not been there unfortunately.  Looks amazing!  Have fun!

I had arranged for a trip to see BOTH the Titanic Museum and Giants Causeway for about 30 people for August of 2019.  We arrived on a cruise ship and I had arranged a private shore excursion.  We used the AWESOME company McComb's Coach Travel and had a great time.  If I were to do it again, I would go to the Titanic Museum (not far from town) as you can spend so much time there enjoying the exhibits and I would NOT GO to Giants Causeway again.  Both my husband and myself were so disappointed in this UNESCO site that allowed people to crawl ALL OVER the rocks.  It seemed very disrespectful and it looked ridiculous.  We felt it had to be destroying the columns but maybe not?  To answer your question about Paddywagon we have no knowledge of them but did want to pass along the feelings we had on both sites you mentioned.  I also believe that if you did not have a shore excursion, whether a private or cruise line one, picking you up at the port....that they were charging $20 pp rt to get outside the port area to downtown.  I am not 100% sure of this though.  Hope you have a great time!

USUALLY shore excursions booked on the ships, whichever company, is always higher in price and much more crowded.  It is very easy to book yourself for a great fjord cruise using Rodne.... ENJOY!!

We absolutely LOVED IT!  It is a great three hour excursion and the fjord and areas are beautiful!  We did it once and plan on using them again next July.  The ship is very comfortable and easy to get to from the cruise port.  ENJOY!!  You will not be disappointed.  Be sure to check out TripAdvisor's comments. 

19 hours ago, CanEcosse said:

If I buy a bottle (for example, scotch) in the shop on the ship, can I then take it to my room for in-cabin consumption or is it kept and returned to me at the end of the cruise?

I believe you are speaking about buying a bottle of liquor ON THE SHIP, IN THE DUTY-FREE STORE, and I don't think you can take it to your room.  I think it will be given to you when you debark.  Somewhat cheaper for sure for AFTER your cruise but.....

Others are referring to pre-ordering liquor on HAL's webpage, for more money than the shop, and YES that will be delivered to your room and you can make your own drinks.

Hope this helps and happy sailing everyone!

For Reykjavik I HIGHLY recommend Your Day Tours !!  I had booked, in July 2019, four 19 seater vehicles to see the Golden Circle and it was an amazing day with them and everyone loved them!  They were at the port on time and took us to the best spots.  Check them out for sure!  We are going again to the Voyage of the Vikings in 2021 and will use them for Golden circle AND South Coast Tours.  https://yourdaytours.is/

Tell them Charlene send love their way.....

ALSO we used McCombs Coach Travel to see giants Causeway and Titanic Museum.  Was awesome!! Was a great day

Have an awesome time whomever you use.  Safe travels!

Charlene

scubacruiserx2......

here is something to consider doing and that I have been successful at in the past.  If you KNOW that you want to go on the helicopter ride, and KNOW it is now with a particular company AND you have time to cancel without losing any money, in case you change your mind, BOOK THE HAL excursion and then immediately complete the price match guarantee .  Be sure to take a screen shot of the price and description that you see on the webpage.

We went to the Titantic Museum and LOVED it...you can spend hours there also close to the port.  We also went to Giant's Causeway and VERY DISAPPOINTED in how the place was overrun by tourists and everyone climbing all over the rocks.....very dis-respectful to "nature" in OUR opinion.  I would NEVER go to Giant's causeway again.  We used McComb's Coach Travel for an absolute wonderful tour with them!! 

50th Anniversary...WONDERFUL and Congratulations!!

YES I have done exactly what you have described a couple of times and it works out nicely.  HAL assign's you a booking number for a FUTURE cruise that you are interested in, and one that has not been assigned or scheduled yet. 

It helps that you don't have to be as diligent in watching for the cruise. You are SUPPOSE to be called, or an email sent, before the general public and given a price and details on that specific cruise. You then decide if you are interested and want to "really" book. That $200 deposit is then applied to the cruise. I still found myself watching the website for the cruise but slept alot easier 😁  The Hawaii/South Pacific is popular and it WILL work out for you guys I am sure.  Start planning......and be sure to read older rollcalls for that cruise to get great recommendations from your other cruise friends on private shore excursions and other helpful tips.  Safe travels!

We booked the first day offered with this promotion for the 2021 Voyage of the Vikings.  There were only two choices at the time...two.  1)  Much cheaper with non-refundable deposit and no extras or 2) the all-inclusive with all the perks for a steep price but it IS refundable.  We want to go on the cruise and it is a year and a half away SO we booked with the refundable fare and now have a spot on the ship.  We have also plenty of time to re-fare if we chose.  I need to add this all up because for us the airfare (San Diego to Boston round trip) would be great, we love our cocktails and water, we love obc of $500 (yes it really is OUR money) and pre-paid gratuities.  It's ALL included. At time of booking I had asked them what the Advantage Fare price was (normal refundable -no perks) and it was the SAME as WITH ALL the perks. 

We went on the VOV this year and loved it!  It IS pricey but it was our way of seeing Europe without having to fly there.  We love Norway and Iceland ........so beautiful!  This cruise tends to sell quickly and is only offered once a year. Hope to see you on that rollcall a bit later.

Bergen Norway

knittinggirl.....I understand your "Looks like they priced themselves out for us" but remember if you book a REFUNDABLE room and RESERVE a room you can always change.

Seydisfjordur is NOT a tender port :-)

Also added a small place in Scotland.....Scrabster

And another over-nighter in Reykajvik AND Rotterdam!

LOVED NORWAY and Cruising Prince Christian Sound TWICE

We booked today 😁

Have been watching for this one to come out and FINALLY did on Friday.  Europe 2021 Launch Offer and Conditions. It is true the options are poor right now...either a great price but Non-refundable deposit OR the total inclusive with EVERYTHING included i.e. airfare credit thru HA Flight Ease Program (up to $800 pp) prepaid gratuties for 1st & 2nd passenger, On-Board spending up to $500 per stateroom and not able to use in casino AND Signature Beverage Package of 15 drinks per person per day!  You are paying for it for sure but for now we wanted to reserve a room and went with the larger, refundable, package and have plenty of time to change to another promotion, if wanted.  LOVED This cruise this past year. 

Zaandam Saturday July 17, 2021 thru Saturday August 21, 2021 round trip Boston

Hope to see you on board for a great time!!!

I too was hoping for some good deal to show or for Black Friday or Cyber Monday.  I have been waiting for the 35 day Voyage of the Vikings 2021 to show its head and got tired of checking daily SO......today I called HAL's World Cruise Dept at 1-800-522-3399 and put down a $100 per person deposit for the future cruise.  That when it does show up, I will have been notified first before the general public and given the option to go or not.  I am GUESSING that it will be on the Zaandam for 07/17/21 to 08/21/21.  The rep on the phone said she had no information as of yet.

It is such an expensive cruise I need as long as I can get to pay for it lol.  We went last year and LOVED all the cool ports...especially Norway.

Hey Linda!

Thank You for posting HAL's reply regarding your concerns on this past VOV.  Bill and I were bummed to read how disappointed you two had been with the cruise, when WE had such a great time.  Actually, we enjoyed it so much that we are anxiously awaiting the 2021 VOV to show up so we can book!

There have been changes, for sure, as ALL cruise lines seem to be making cuts.  We agree that most people really miss the full blown entertainment "shows" the most. We TOTALLY agree that it is wrong for HAL to ask their guests to pay for shuttles into towns.  The $20 per person, each way, was ridiculous!! That was absurd for sure. Personally, we wish they had better options of beers on board and offered more of the local beers related to our cruise.

Glad to see you have another HAL cruise planned for next year and hope it is awesome!  Even though you did not ask for any compensation from your dissatisfaction, it IS nice that HAL offered you a few perks.  Bill and I hope to meet up with you guys on another cruise in the near future.  Keep in touch please.

Again, Thanks for following up with your recent post.  Hello to Ed!!!!

Happy sailing, Bill and Charlene

Thanks everyone for your participation!  I guess I need to just be patient and continue to watch and follow along.  Hoping to make our reservation for the 2021 VOV soon,  One of the reasons for OUR booking early, is because we then have lots of time to pay for it and make it less painful lol.  We also actually LIKE booking our cruises far in advance.  We like to read about the specific ports etc. Start planning private shore excursions etc.  Get a specific room possibly that might be popular. So for those questioning WHY we are anxious to book....we all have different reasons.

Bummer about the possibility of the 21 day roundtrip San Francisco Alaska itinerary possibly not returning.  We would book that in a heartbeat.

Save travels and happy cruise days to all the cruisers.  Always enjoy reading the comments and opinions of others.

Anyone know....WHEN it will become available to book and WHAT SHIP may be used for the 2021 Voyage of the Vikings?  Bill and I are going to do it again peeps so be ready !!

Also....do you foresee the 21 day Alaska roundtrip San Francisco becoming available again?

THANKS

We just returned recently from the Voyage of the Vikings on the Zuiderdam and had a great time.  All of the ship staff are wonderful and the new tender boats were way better than their older models. 

We had an especially great tour out of Halifax using Les Daurie Owner of Halifax Taxi Tours.com  He takes 6 people for $390 Canadian (or credit card) for the VEHICLE.  We went to see Lindenburg-Mahone Bay tour for 6 hours.  He also does the popular Peggy's Cove as well. 

http://www.halifaxtaxitours.com/   He met us at the pier on time and dropped us off as well.   Have a great trip and safe travels!!!