oceanmom

Very frustrated that a one-way Business ticket on Delta this summer is just over $9,000 and the same flight as part of a round trip ticket is just under $3,500. Ridiculous-- they've lost my purchase of 3 Business tickets.:mad:

How is this handled when there are only two persons in the cabin and both have complimentary gratuities? Are there debits and credits on the account?

Yes, each day the gratuity charge shows up on your statement and then a matching credit. The same thing happened with the free internet--we were told to sign up for the unlimited, were charged for it, and had a matching credit.

TWELVE DAYS!! Including travel time in the mail from the west coast! Printed the form from the travel.state.gov website, picture taken at Walgreens, mailed it at noon on 10/24, received new passport 10AM on 11/4.

Any purchases you make on the HAL website for specialty dinners, excursions, indulgences, spa, etc. that you reserve and pay for before your cruise are included in the additional cruise day calculation. You cannot use OBC for reservations/purchases you make before boarding. We usually reserve and pay for dinners that we want on a specific night or for excursions that we don't want to miss.

I agreed about renewing early and losing months of good "passport time" until I realized that the passport cost is less than a dollar a month. It is worth the extra few dollars for peace of mind by renewing early.

Those booking suites (including Vista Suites) with Explore4 also receive $200 internet credit and prepaid gratuities. Our experience is that HAL OBC is used first, non-HAL OBC is usually refundable.

We were on the Westerdam last month and I can assure you that it was fresh squeezed orange juice at the Pinnacle Grill breakfast based on the number of seeds I found in the bottom of the glass on several mornings. And the room service mimosa was nice and bubbly.

Two weeks ago, our PCC added the Cruise Month promo to our Explore4 for our July 2017 cruise. The only caveat I would suggest is that the fare we booked is the current published fare. (And, just had an e-mail this morning that taxes and fees will go up since Greenland now requires an Ice Pilot with "extremely high tariff rates".)

PS. Originally booked the cruise May 2016, added Explore4 in July 2016 for an additional $300 pp, added Cruise Month October 2016.

Sorry, cannot help with that decision. Perhaps look at the itinerary and direction of travel, but realize that the ship may dock in either direction at the port, and what might seem to be scenic cruising might all happen at night. Good luck!

We are booked in a Neptune on the Rotterdam next summer. Check the deck plans on the HAL website to see what is on the Lido Deck above. The Lido restaurant juts out so the roof on the balcony extends 3 or 4 feet farther out on the cabins underneath from about #7030 on up. The lower numbered cabins will be underneath the Lido pool area which might be a little noisy when the area is cleaned. We chose a cabin near the center elevators to avoid the overhang and the pool area.

In September we found that the Anniversary Sale prepaid gratuities, $100 beverage card, and internet minutes must have been included in the Mariner days calculations. We figured that our total for the Anniversary Sale benefits plus a prepaid tour and PG dinners was just over $900 and we received four days credit for that spending.

I'm sorry you're having problems. We have a PCC but all our communications are via e-mail. It might take a day or two but she replies. I don't like to talk on the phone where an immediate response is assumed. I like to get the information and think about it.

Our first cruise was on Carnival where we needed two cabins which I could not book on-line. I called the 800 number, talked to a customer service person, and it worked out great. Just go the 1-800 phone route if you don't need someone to hold your hand or provide special services.

This has been discussed extensively in the thread This Thread Is To Be Used For All Discussions About HAL's On Board Smoking Policies (1 2 3 ... Last Page)

Just wanted to update this information a little.

 

We had the anniversary promo with the prepaid gratuities.

 

I checked the account a few days later, and saw that the $135 credit had been taken off. But, each day showed the 13.50 per person debited and then immediately credited. I guess the gratuity credit got loaded the wrong way and they fixed it. It looked a little confusing on the printout, but it all came out right at the end.

 

We had 100 free internet minutes, and that worked the same way. We bought it, got charged $55, and then immediately credited $55.

 

And to answer a question that came up in another thread a while ago (I looked but can't find it), it appears that you do get Mariner day credits for these prepaid items. I just checked my account, and it shows more credits than our onboard spending would give. So it appears that everything on the account, including the prepaid items, counted toward Mariner day credits.

 

One other funny thing about OBC. The last day, I checked the account and saw that I had $3.81 OBC left. That evening, the front office called to remind me that I had OBC left, and that if I didn't spend it, it would be lost. I asked the amount, and yes it was $3.81. I let HAL keep it--the only way to use such a small amount would have been to spend more than that!

We were on the Westerdam to Alaska in September. The prepaid gratuities showed as a debit/credit. The 100 internet minutes: we were told to sign up for unlimited at $99 and a credit for $99 showed up. We were also surprised that our Mariner days total was more than expected and assume that yes, the promos are included in the calculation. Our only difference is that our mysterious $3.94 ending credit balance (from the $300 HAL OBC) was credited back to our credit card on file. Great respect for the overnight auditors who have to figure everything out.

It is marketing strategy. Just like the grocery store, buy one get one free. The cruise we booked for next year went up exactly $500 pp for both the vista suite and the neptune suite. The vista suite has now gone down by $250 still with E4 included. Since the E4 benefits not including the beverage package total $375 in our situation, it was a no-brainer for us BUT each cruise/stateroom/personal preference will vary. Do the research.

Last week on a 7-day Alaska cruise, unlimited was $99 on the Westerdam.

Staff captain Anton Rijkeboer

chief engineer Jarm-Jan Veenhoven

Security Paul Haggerty

Environmental Paul Baldwin

Culinary Oper. Yanko Ivanov

Beverage Lisa Salmons

Event Reggie Anthony

Purser Ruseno Hadi

Housekeeper Milind Kakohkar

Executive Chef Owen De Souza

Dining Room Hadi Prayitno

Guest Relations Eduardo Portero

Shore Excursions Lori Hammond

We don't do many of the shows or other events. Sarah was bubbly yet not overwhelming when we did see/hear her with a nice voice. Did not seem to be overbearing like some cruise directors could be. Jake ? who was an activities director or something was everywhere all the time. He did a nice tour of the ship.

There was no embarkation lunch in the MDR and the Behind the Scenes Tour was cancelled. Found out on the last day that the annual USCG and Canadian inspections happened last week and the ship "passed with flying colors."

Captain Vincent Smit, Hotel Director Santhosh Nair, and Cruise Director Sarah Koster-Claxton. I also have a listing of the other managers if anyone needs to know.

Also, Anniversary Sale 200 internet minutes translated to unlimited internet for the week.

Wishing I was still on-board.......doing laundry, grocery shopping, and cooking is such a let-down.

In a Neptune two doors down from Moriah (we were the ones with the balloons on the door courtesy of our daughter's purchase of the BonVoyage package--certainly made it easy to find our hall and door).

Wonderful cabin stewards (HOHO and ?) who told me they had 21 cabins to clean.

Loved the Pinnacle as always, especially the maitre d' (whose name I now know thanks to Moriah). In the PG, we were pleased with Didi, Mr. Kim (aka energizer bunny) is a kick to watch, be your server, and talk with, and also Juli this morning. It was nice to have breakfast in there most mornings.

Yes, the Adagio soloist was pretty bad, finally had a violin back on the last night I believe.

I found the main dining room menu to be much improved from our last trip on the Maasdam last year. Very little wait time for open seating and very timely service as well as nice menu choices. (But the guy on the last night in a t-shirt, jeans, and baseball cap was :eek:) Should have gone back to PG for a 4th time.....

Glacier Bay was fabulous, the weather was usually mostly cloudy with occasional little sprinkles no matter where we were. Only time we really felt ship movement were the first evening and the last day.

And lots of sales in the ports.

Did not get off in Victoria as the Princess ship had docked before us so we just watched the hoards disembarking from that big ship.

Went to the Captain's virtual bridge tour in the Vista Room, it was so informative and funny. Loved it.

All in all, great trip. (And really spoiled by the Neptune upsell we took!)

I'm getting packed to board Westerdam on Saturday. So excited. I've been sailing on her (and her sister Vistas) to Alaska for the past 10 years and it NEVER gets old... Well, I mean sailing to Alaska never gets old.. the Westie, unfortunately, can't help but age..

 

 

Eagerly awaiting the responses as we also board on Saturday, first time in Neptune Suite. Excited!!

Booked a guarantee signature suite on Westerdam 9/10 to Alaska. Three weeks before departure received a $499 upsell e-mail to Neptune. Two weeks before departure $399 upsell to Neptune, and the next day assigned a signature suite. Five days before departure offered an upsell at $299 so I called and was given my choice of four different Neptune suites. It's nice to book directly with HAL and get the e-mails, but for the longer cruises with substantial OBC from the big boxstore TA I'll go that route.

(PS. Booked a signature suite at the beginning because the price differential from a veranda was less than $300pp. I figured it would be a chance to try out the SS.)

Not sure how/where it shows up on the website. We were already booked and added the Explore4 for an additional $500 pp for 18 days so it showed up in our new booking confirmations.

I go along with KAKcruiser's advice which I've also heard from others. If the stateroom title has "suite" in it, it gets suite bonuses. If it doesn't say suite, it doesn't.

We have a Vista Suite booked with Explore 4 next year and it does include prepaid gratuities and $200 internet credit per our Guest Booking Confirmation. (I was pleasantly surprised to see it included!!)

We are on the Rotterdam next summer with B Vista Suite including the gratuities and internet credit.

We have a Vista Suite booked with Explore 4 next year and it does include prepaid gratuities and $200 internet credit per our Guest Booking Confirmation. (I was pleasantly surprised to see it included!!)

18 day cruise next summer, increases in fare ($250-500 for Neptune and Vista suites) are covered by Explore 4 pre-paid gratuities and internet minutes. In essence, beverages will now be free and there will be little if anything on our bill at the end of the cruise. And once we transfer to the big-box TA next spring, we'll have a ton of refundable OBC. And fares tend to be stable for this particular cruise. Nice!!