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I have just rebooked our flights through EZ air at lower price than what we originally paid. As a result, our Cruise Personalizer now shows a negative booking balance under Payments & Credits, i.e. Princess owes us money. (It is after the final payment, so the previous cruise + EZ air balance, including the previous higher airfare, was paid in full).

Will Princess automatically issue a refund to the credit card  used for the final payment? Will they send us a check? Will the balance be applied to our onboard account?

In what form will we get this negative balance refunded to us? We booked directly with Princess, if it matters. Thank you.

So did you try this and did it work for you?

Yes, I tried this and it worked. Thanks!

I tried booking Celebrity shore excursions for our cruise departing in 7 weeks, but was not able to add any to the cart on celebritycruises.com. I am logged into our reservation and everything else seems to be in order. But when trying to add shore excursions, the date/time/language selections are simply not available. Since it is hard to believe that ALL excursions for this sailing are sold out, it must be a website problem.

Any advice? Wait a few days and try again? Go with independent tour operators who have competent programmers working for them?

Regarding the suggestion already given to me by the not-working Celebrity website: thank you, but no, I would rather not do it over the phone. This is the 21st century and I much prefer to see the details of what I am booking on the computer screen, rather than rely on voice-only communications.

We are on a Millennium cruise that end with an overnight in Hong Kong. The ship docks in the morning of Jan 6, but disembarkation is not until the following day, Jan 7.

Will we be allowed to disembark the ship at 6 am on Jan 7 in order to catch an early flight out of HKG? We can carry our own luggage.

Thank you!

There is no tab for Flight Ease. HAL is a prehistoric cruise line that believes in what they foolishly think of as "personal service". That means that you are supposed to call them and ask about Flight Ease, after you book your cruise. If you happen to have booked the cruise through an independent travel agent, HAL will not even talk to you about flights (that's personal service for you!). They will tell you to call your travel agent. When you do, the travel agent will put you on hold, so that they can call HAL on your behalf on another line. They will then come back to you half an hour later with some flight options. If you want any changes or have any questions, they will have to put you on hold to talk to HAL again. Who thinks this is a good or efficient way to do business?

Flight Ease offers good prices, but the whole thing is so archaic, you almost expect paper tickets to be delivered to you by a dressed-up courier expecting a tip. I really wish someone at HAL headquarters had the courage to look at the calendar and realize the time of over-the-phone reservations is long gone (and good riddance).

Anyone?

Can someone please post photos of Koningsdam VH cabin 4041 or its mirror image 4042? These two are unusual cabins that have a large floor-to-ceiling window in the front of the cabin and a side balcony (the balcony door is on a side wall of the cabin, separate from the window).

I am trying to picture the inside layout of these non-standard cabins and unfortunately cannot find any photos of them anywhere, including the facts website for HAL.

Thank you in advance!

The Roads Scholars are typically small, unobtrusive groups having little or no impact on other passengers. Originally known a Elderhostel, their programs combine travel and education to provide experiential learning opportunities.

Thank you! The kind of reply I was hoping for.

Hi all,

According to this thread, there will be a "Road Scholars" group onboard Zuiderdam for our cruise starting on Nov, 30, 2016.

(I guess I should be grateful it is not a "Cigar Lovers" group.)

Do you know how the presence of this group may affect the rest of the passengers? How large is this "Road Scholars" group going to be anyway?

I remember reading stories about whole sections of the ship or entire lounges being reserved for group use only, severely (negatively) affecting the enjoyment of the cruise by independent passengers. Are there any such concerns in this case?

Thanks for any insight and/or reassurance.

I say they should eliminate public areas altogether. No more wasting valuable space on theaters and restaurants. Put in more suites instead of the promenade deck. I bet there is enough room on every Princess ship for at least 500 more cabins, not the measly 200 they are adding on the Island.

Cruise ships should be like airplanes: everyone stays in their seats ... pardon me -- cabins -- for most of the duration of the trip. Meals to be served on tiny plastic trays, delivered to your cabin by cruise attendants. No more private bathrooms, either. There shall be two public bathrooms in the front and two in the back of each deck. And no congregating there, either!

I have cruised on the Island before and am going on my last cruise on her in December, over the New Years, before they turn her into garbage. This may very well be my last cruise on Princess. Adios, greedy corporate pigs.

Does anyone have drawings/renderings of how Island Princess will look from the back after the unfortunate drydock in April-May 2015? Will it lose its aft curves and appear more like a floating squarish brick (with all those aft cabins added and the open decks removed)?

Looking at the new deck plans, with all the cabins added where they simply do not belong based on the original design, I expect the ship will become so aesthetically unappealing that Venice should just ban it from entering its port, to protect the city view. Would serve Princess right.

Our Silhouette cruise ends in Venice with an overnight stay there (i.e., the ship arrives in Venice the day before the disembarkation day). How early on the disembarkation morning can we leave the ship? Will we be able to make a 10:40 am flight?

Thank you!

For our upcoming cruise, we booked a VF GTY and got assigned one of the two wheelchair-accessible VA cabins at the very front of deck 6. I called HAL and told them that we do not need an HC cabin, but they said this is the only cabin they have available for us.

Looking at the deck plans, should we rejoice that we are getting a cabin almost twice as large as a standard verandah room for the very low price we paid for our VF GTY? Are there some catches we are not aware of? We do not mind being at the very front of the ship and having both a side balcony and an additional forward-facing window is awesome, IMO. Similar located and similar-sized cabins just below us are SY suites. What am I missing?

Merry Christmas to all!

Please don't lug all of us over 60 year olds into the same sack.

MANY of us who grew up around rampant smoking cannot stand to smell second hand smoke now. It is never good to generalize and put a whole demographic into the same neat little box. :D

 

I agree.

However, when it comes to policy, one MUST generalize, because one policy must apply to all. You can't have one policy for smokers and another, a contradictory one, for those who hate or cannot stand the smell of second-hand smoke.

When I spoke in generalities in my previous post, it wasn't me who was generalizing, but HAL.

What I find more amazing and totally illogical is that HAL still permits smoking on all balconies, the AFT pool, the Observation deck and the Promenade deck. Before my 12/1/13 cruise I read the smoking policy on the HAL website. It stated that smoking was permitted on designated outside decks and then listed the Observation Deck and the Aft pool. I called HAL twice to verify that smoking was no longer permitted on the Promenade Deck. You can imagine my surprise when I saw ash trays placed all around the Promenade Deck. I consulted with Guest services three times, mentioning their published smoking policy and my assurances from the HAL reps before sailing, but they insisted that they were in compliance with HAL policy.

 

Smoking and second- hand smoke are a universally accepted health risk to all, more so to those with allergies, breathing disorders and children. How illogical is it that HAL pretends to be concerned about guest well-being and safety with so many ship policies: hand sanitizing, gluten and lactose- free menus etc., yet permits smoking on all balconies, the open decks mentioned allowing those who continue this filthy habit to pollute and invade the air of everyone near them.

 

Is it fair that your own balcony, the Promenade Deck, and the Aft pool be polluted and rendered a health risk for all? Thus, you the paying health- contious guest are denied the use of your balcony if a smoker is in a near by balcony, the use of the beautiful Promenade Deck, and the Aft pool area.

Smoking is not like other drugs that people inject, snort, or eat - self destructive.

Smoking invades the air and space of those who are near-by.

 

The sail-away party in the Aft pool area allowed passengers to smoke everywhere as the portable ash trays on the railings are moved at will to wherever the smoker wants them. The same is true on the Promenade deck.

 

Smoking is now prohibited in all public buildings, parks, and even

University campuses like UCSD where I live. Some employers require prospective employees to take a blood test to prove that they are nicotine free.

Princess, Celebrity, and now RCI have implemented very strict smoking policies.

 

Smoking is not a matter of preference. It is an unhealthy habit that

invades and pollutes the air of all those around it.

 

It makes NO sense for HAL, to continue with an antiquated and harmful policy that

causes discomfort and threatens the health and well-being of its passengers.

 

I love cruising on HAL and am hopeful that they will soon do the right thing to protect the well-being of all guests with a more restrictive smoking policy.

Excellent post!!!

HAL hangs on to their very liberal smoking policy, because their target demographics are old people. When you step on a HAL ship, it is like walking through a time-vortex and ending up in the previous century. Most of HAL traditionalists did not grow up within a culture where it has become universally accepted that smoking "is an unhealthy (and I would add -- anti-social) habit that invades and pollutes the air of all those around it".

You are then presented with a misguided argument that when in Rome... The smoking policy will change when the next, more modern generation becomes dominant on HAL. The anti-smoking trend is unstoppable.

DutchByAssociation, a former HAL HQ employee, has said that "all else being equal" between two people, the one who paid more will get the upgrade. For example, if one paid full list and one booked on a sale, the full list person gets the nod.

In other words, the former HAL HQ employee essentially told you that the price paid for the original reservation is the last factor in upgrade decisions. You are making my point for me.

Since "all else" is rarely equal, I do believe that the original price is practically irrelevant to upgrades and there is plenty of anecdotal evidence on this and other boards to support this conclusion. Is it unfair? Probably. But HAL is not in the business of fairness. It is all about maximizing HAL's total bottom line, not about rewarding any individual's loyalty.

You're talking about upsells. I was talking about free upgrades.

Not quite.

The first example was an upsell. A very lucrative (read: very cheap, as in almost free), but indeed an upsell. The second was a free upgrade, from VH to VA.

I have also heard that upgrades are given to those who paid higher prices... and in our previous experience, that is true in our case too. Good luck!

I don't think this is true. We always book at rock-bottom prices after the final payment and our experience does not support the claim that "upgrades are given to those who paid higher prices". Granted, this is anecdotal evidence only, but look at our last two HAL cruises:

11 days on Amsterdam -- booked oceanview. Got an upsell to a verandah suite (A-B) for $499pp. Ignored the offer, but made a mental note to self that should they offer the same upsell for half the price, will take it. A week later another email arrived: same offer, for $199 pp. Took it.

14 days B2B on Nieuw Amsterdam. Booked verandah (VH) GTY. Received no upsells. The cabin assignment appeared on the reservation 5 days prior to sailing -- an aft VA. An outstanding upgrade, according to me.

We are now booked on a HAL Nieuw Amsterdam - Celebrity Silhouette B2B (7+7 days) over the New Year's. That will be interesting: walking off one ship, crossing the pier and getting on another. For each leg, booked the cheapest balcony GTY at flash sales soon after the final payment. The Celebrity assignment arrived a week later - a nice unobstructed balcony. With HAL, still waiting for the assignment. I really enjoy the randomness and the waiting game.

Anything goes on CCL.

 

If you've ever been on a Carnival ship take a look at their passengers.

How many Carnival Ships have you been on to make such a remark! As OP said "how rude"! I'm Diamond on Carnival and 3 Star on HAL. So I'm curious, too, as to why you think you differ from me or I differ from HAL passengers!!! :rolleyes: Many Carnival cruisers sail HAL, Princess, Celebrity, etc.

 

Regarding the Dining Room it looks like the Aft MDR which is Assigned Dining. Anytime Dining on Glory is in the Center of the Ship and not as large as the Aft MDR. Maybe the person who took the pic was in earlier than many of the other passengers when he/she snapped it. If you notice in the pic, no one is eating and they are all looking at Menus.

 

I agree with Sail7Seas that people will take so much and then move on. Hopefully, Carnival will not end up like JC Penney!

I could not agree more (with idiebabe)!

I too am a frequent HAL cruiser, with another cruise coming up in less than two weeks. I also happen to be Platinum on Princess, something or other on Celebrity, and don't even know what on Carnival (~10 cruises with them). Only on HAL, out of the four lines I mentioned, I see Typhoon1's kind of unsubstantiated arrogance.

Get over yourselves and at least hesitate before passing judgments on others, often with no basis whatsoever. Cruising on HAL does not make you any better than the average Carnival passenger. It is not a sign of elegance, higher status, education, or class! It is definitely not a sign of having more money, as Carnival costs about as much per night as HAL (unless you are an inflexible HAL traditionalist who insists on booking cruises the old way, i.e. years in advance, in which case thank you for subsidizing my almost always last-minute travel).

I would certainly not like having to bring my own table cloth....I use them at home and would expect HAL to have them on the MDR table....If I want to go cheap...I can always go Carnival....NOT......

 

Bob

Oh, come on! Get over yourself or at least get your facts straight before embarking on Carnival-bashing with this silly I-am-better-than-them attitude.

For the majority of comparable itineraries, Carnival is not cheaper than HAL and in some cases even more expensive. Every time I cruise HAL, I am astonished at the foolish arrogance of some of the passengers who assign themselves to a higher class of society, based on nothing, nothing at all!

So much energy seems to be spent by HALers on comparing themselves to Carnival! At the same time, on Carnival (or Princess), people seem to be busy enjoying their vacations and not give a 'dam' about what the stuck-up conservatives on HAL are thinking or doing.

Please, please please not another drawn out thread about smoking. I'm not a smoker but it really is getting old- yes we know how many feel about it- but over and over and over.....

Is someone forcing you to read every entire thread on the HAL board? Just curious.