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@alyssamma, thank you for a well written, even handed review from a HAL newb.

@pontac, I was referring to something else. I meant accessibility to buildings and transportation when outside the US.

Cruise Critic isn't a court of law or a master's thesis committee. 🤣

Good point. I've encountered a number of people who don't realize the ADA doesn't extend to Europe.

@Got2Cruise, yes, it was Austria Airlines out of Dulles.

I dug through my old records, and I flew from Nashville to Dulles, Dulles to Vienna, and then on to Budapest. I booked through Uniworld, and the fare was far less than booking on my own. Going back from Passau, I flew Munich to EWR, then EWR to Nashville.

@rove312, I've always booked my river cruises over a year in advance for a couple of reasons. Helps me to budget/save for the trip, and I travel solo. Solo fares/spaces are often capacity controlled, so if I really want something, I book it as soon as the solo fares are available.

@CPT Trips, I live in Nashville, so not a major airport like Philly. I think my flight went something like Nashville to Munich or Frankfurt, then Vienna, and finally Budapest. It was not a nonstop from Nashville to Vienna. Anyone flying from the US to Eastern Europe has got to understand it's not like flying to common tourist destination cities in Western Europe such as Paris, Rome, Amsterdam, Barcelona, etc.

Now that you mention it, my first river cruise started in Budapest, and I connected through Vienna. In any event, it's not Spain.

I've found the best and most numerous connections from the US to Eastern Europe are thru Germany, not Spain, Italy, France, etc.

What ship are you sailing?

You wouldn't sail a cruise line just because they don't have room service breakfast on the last morning? How was customer service otherwise?

Only one device may be connected at one time....will that work for your family?

I thought it was crowded everywhere. No way to avoid it.

Thank you for correcting me. In any event, I think the OP's husband may feel out of place in a tux on today's HAL.

@LAFFNVEGAS, HAL is consistently inconsistent. 😁

No tux or an evening gown has been required on HAL for a long time.

@Suzcruz57, I'm not staying at a HAL hotel. The transfers can be purchased on HAL's website independent of a hotel reservation. The morning of the cruise, I'll take the hotel's airport shuttle back to the Seattle-Tacoma airport, and go to Arrivals to find the HAL rep and board the bus to Vancouver. I disagree with @bennybear. Depending on the airline schedule from your home city and your budget, it can make a lot of sense to fly into Seattle.

If I relied on CC reviews, I would have never sailed around South America on the Oosterdam.

@Mary229, I believe it is. The cost is $89 each way.

Just go to baggage claim and look for a cruise line rep. They'll have a clipboard and your name should be on it.

@Suzcruz57, I suggest you book a HAL airport transfer that includes a tour of Vancouver. That will cut down on the time you spend in the airport if you book a later flight.

HAL's hotels are VERY expensive, at least by my standards. If this is your first time cruising, or Vancouver is unfamiliar territory for you and you feel you need a little hand holding, then by all means book everything through HAL. For my September cruise to Alaska, I'm flying Southwest to Seattle and staying in a hotel near the airport that I booked with points. The next day I'm going back to Seatac and taking the HAL transfer bus to Canada Place in Vancouver. After the cruise I'm doing the same thing in reverse. I'm saving over $1,000 by not flying directly to Vancouver and staying there overnight.

@mikebsxm, @Cruise Suzy gave you the correct answer. I don't like to load up my phone with a lot of photos and documents.

@Kate45, is your cell phone a smartphone? If it's not, I'm not sure that you can even download the app. If you put your phone in airplane mode on the ship you won't need a data plan.