Kazzygirl

Have you had any good mocktails on board HAL?

Does anyone have a menu of what they make?

Hi Fellow Hal cruisers

Question

Thermal Pool vs Spa pols around lido 

What's the difference?

Are they not both heated and bubble jets?

Both sea water?

Thanks K

Hi Fellow Cruisers,

Taking the Norrdam Sydney to Sydney this December 2023

Has been many years since sailing on her so looking for updated info

1) The Quench beverage package has juice. Are these freshly squeezed? And if so where do you buy from? any bar ? breakfast main dining rom ?

2) Mocktails. Do they tase like the real cocktail ? I have had on other ships and could barely taste the difference between the real thing so thinking of going for Quench 

3) What time and where is happy hour?

Any other recent updates or info much appreciated

Thanks K

thanks everyone , dont mind the walk

find it difficult to justify a $50 taxi fare when I have travelled from Gosford for $2.50

quay is so much easier

Looking for public transport to White Bay

Bus goes from QVB to Balmain but not sure if pedestrian access via Robert or Grafton St

Dont want to uber or taxi

Does anyone know the following

1) if Holland America has a shuttle from CBD to terminal ?

2) is there a ferry from Circular Quay to White Bay ?

3) is there pedestrian access from Balmain area ?

Its been many many years since I sailed on Noordam

Does she have this secret deck and I missed it?

Thinking of doing another cruise on her and instead of spending big on fancy cabin thinking to book a cheaper cabin and use the money on spa or other luxuries

Any update on Nordam what she is like these days much appreciated

Does anyone have a current price list for Noordam spa and extras?

I have heard you can book use of the thermal pool and heated stone lounges is a pre board package which is cheaper than on board and dont need to have a treatment

Any suggestions?

15 hours ago, Tapi said:

One thing that helps us keep the pp/pd cost down is because we are a family of 4. I look for cruises that offer either reduced or free 3rd/4th fares which helps bring the average per person cost down . That’s the case with our upcoming Holland America cruise. The 3rd and 4th person in the stateroom are sailing for free. 
 

Also, when we sail on Holland America, we use a website which allows us to obtain quotes from several travel agencies. We’ve learned that Holland does offer considerably better pricing to some agencies so it pays off to go through this process. Our currently booked cruise was over $1,000 cheaper than the HAL website just by booking through one of these preferred travel agencies. 
 

Between the 3rd/4th fare promo and the travel agency discount, we couldn’t find a cheaper cruise departing that same weekend. I looked at all the usual suspects, Royal, Carnival, Princess, Celebrity, Norwegian and nothing came close. 

I know we are not supposed to recommend specific TA or sites but could you give a hint LOL.As a Aussie we often get slugged with higher fees compared to US and European passengers. I have just booked a cruise for December on a US site smart cruser ( incorrect spelling on purpose to avoid being removed) at a great reduction even after currency conversion.

Any leads to get a bargain much appreciated.

14 minutes ago, Sdman36 said:

If your given the standard drink package as a perk, (yes I know you pay the gratuity up front), and your spouse does not drink alcohol, what options does she have if any.

All people in the same cabin have to take the same " freebies" . The package also includes soda or non alcoholic cocktails. The freebies are a bit of a gimmick really eg the shore excursions are all over priced on the ship and $50 goes no where near offsetting them. 

17 minutes ago, julig22 said:

I think we are on the same cruise.  For USA, you can call to reserve excursions and you don't have to pay until your credit card is charged at the end of the cruise.  If you are using a debit card or paying cash, the charges will hit your account on day 1.  If you try to reserve your excursions using the web site, then you have to pay at that time and you will be issued credits as you go on your excursions.  It's a credit, not OBC so it should be OK to use for your DSC if you didn't pay that in advance.  Since it is a credit, you should also be able to get it back at the end of the cruise if you didn't spend it.

 

I don't know why there would be a difference because you are in Australia, but anything is possible.  If it were me, I would call and try to book your excursions - and if they ask for a credit card you can always say oops, not ready for that and then go to plan b, whatever that might be.  Good luck - sometimes just doing with NCL is better than asking first, since you are bound to get different answers.

Thnanyou for that I think I will ring USA NCL not thr Aussie branch

Prdon my ignorance what does DSC mean?

Hi fellow cruisers,

I am from Australia and finding it very difficult to book my shore excursions for my December cruise.

I get different answers from NCL

I have $100 shore excursion credit per port.

If I book now I am told I have to pay upfront in full with my credit card being deducted immediately.

So do I get the OBC credit for the shore excursions back onto the credit card after I take each one or is the credit then only to be used for other things on board?

NCL cant give me a straight answer.

As I have the Fee at sea offer there is not much else to buy on board and I certainly don't want to have to spend " extra"

The only other option is to risk booking onboard and missing out as the excursions are full.

Any help would be appreciated

Thanks Karen

Hi fellow cruisers,

I am from Australia and finding it very difficult to book my shore excursions for my December cruise.

I get different answers from NCL

I have $100 shore excursion credit per port.

If I book now I am told I have to pay upfront in full with my credit card being deducted immediately.

So do I get the OBC credit for the shore excursions back onto the credit card after I take each one or is the credit then only to be used for other things on board?

NCL cant give me a straight answer.

As I have the Fee at sea offer there is not much else to buy on board and I certainly don't want to have to spend " extra"

The only other option is to risk booking onboard and missing out as the excursions are full.

Any help would be appreciated

Thanks Karen

On ‎9‎/‎7‎/‎2019 at 7:20 PM, marinating said:

Just booked NCL Jewel Sydney to Papeete in February 2020.

obstructed window $2350 each for 21 nights.

Flights back to Sydney around $600 so a great priced holiday. 

what site did you book? I cant see for that price , maybe I am too late boohoo

28 minutes ago, lyndarra said:

Forgot to mention. Grats are included.

Wow that is good and not to far from Oz for less flight time than to Europe

I totally get the Single Sup thing as I travel solo too, I can never work out why it doubles when there is only 1 air fare , 1 train fare and 1 gratuities ...math does not make sense to me ???

I have seen this same thing on other packages too

Given the Australian society now consists of many divorced aka singles , there seems very few tours that cater for such

So hey you tourist operators out there, you are missing out on lots of single people who want to travel but are not prepared to be ripped off !

On ‎3‎/‎10‎/‎2019 at 10:46 AM, aussie cruzer said:

There was dinner & show provided with free camel rides and henna tattoos .

 

 

thankyou for the shore excursion tips, I am doing this cruise but next year so any advice would be greatly appreciated. Hope you are having a wonderful time

1 hour ago, SinbadThePorter said:

I find the best time for looking is between when the Alaska ships come back and Christmas. The cruise lines don't seem to get serious about their pricing until then.

 

Solo cruises without the single supplement have become rarer than hen's teeth. I don't know about anybody else, but I didn't see any last cruise season. The closest I could see were a couple of Maasdam cruises through the islands and even those only had a single supplement of about 50%.

So what dates do the Alaskan ships come back ? is it Octoberish? So between then and Christmas you think is the best time to grab a bargain for 2020 is that correct ?

16 hours ago, Iainmac said:

I mentioned this a couple of months ago when Dream Cruises started advertising. The grats. are in Aussie dollars and when converted to NZ dollars the cost is another $300 for a seven day cruise and they are compulsory.  Their cruises are only seven days so only suit people living near Auckland and Sydney.  By the time you add domestic air fares to the trans Tasman fare it is not such a cheap deal.

The various cruise lines have been putting out their 20/21 schedules.  Every possible cruise that interests me has worked out at nz$400 per day for a twin interior and nz$500 plus for balconies.  Interesting that they all say it is a "sale".  With added airfares I'm finding cruises are getting more expensive and think I'll have to wait until further down the track and hope for real sale prices.  I suppose other retirees are finding the same that costs are going up at a much faster rate than their otherwise fixed income so they won't be able to cruise so often.

Iain

I agree re price increases. I was not sure if it was because we are in Oz. I know for the Us and European markets they seem to have always paid less even despite the currency exchange rate. 5 years ago there were often great bargains but I have not found anything for the last 2 years .Looking at next year its just as grim. As a solo traveler cruises are slugging a much heftier single supplement. I have seen some that are actually 100% more than the combined twin price which is ridiculous.

Thankyou so much for your advice, shame I wasn't on this years LOL with you all.

Petra is one reason I have chosen this cruise. You can only see such a small amount in 1 day and is well worth another visit. Having been before on a complimentary tour when on another cruise I realize how far and remote it is so definitely need to make sure back at the ship.

Do you know what the ship was charging for the tour? I will also look at the Jordan Horizns site too. Any more tips would be appreciated.

Happy sailing all

1 minute ago, aussie cruzer said:

We did this year's Dubai to Athens cruise and there were lots of English speakers,the two Pullmantur tours we did had 40 plus English speakers.

 

When the tours met in the theatre,just tell them English tour.

 Which tours did you take with Pullmantur? Would you recommend them?

On ‎4‎/‎25‎/‎2019 at 4:10 AM, jeepndd said:

So, we have cruised on one European line in the past, Costa, and the least likable thing about it were the fellow passengers.  Many were friendly and out going and no matter the line there will always be people who aren't so much but our experience on Costa was an inordinate number of the latter.  Would the guests of Pullmantur, in your experience, be mostly delightful or not so much?  

Having sailed both Costa and Pullmantur I have found they do not cater to the English speaker at all.It has really depended on who else on board spoke English and trying to meet up with them.It was a hit and miss . I had even singed up for supposed English shore excursions only to be told on the bus that it would be in Spanish even though there were 10 of us the required min among the packed bus ! What the ???? But they are cheap so its a hard to resist !

Might be in the wrong place here but as Pullmantur is such a specialty line want to see what others think.

Is anyone planning on doing this cruise? I would like to meet up with other English speakers. I have been on a Pullmantur before and found it full of non English speakers and as a solo traveler this was difficult.

Hi fellow cruisers,

After my first disastrous cruise I have always had a outside with some natural light of some sort even if obstructed as I cant stand the total blackness of a inside. Did that once and NEVR again. 

Looking at cost though as wanting to do longer and longer cruises and with insides so much cheaper with often a better variety to choose from so looking at alternatives such as the virtual option

I am wondering if you still feel like its just a big TV or does it feel natural?

1 hour ago, woodyren said:

Been busy cruising with limited internet lol. 

 

Booked Radiance OTS 15 nights Sept 4 2020 from Vancouver to Tokyo. Inside gty were $951 AUD. 

 

We booked OV gty for $1170 pp. 

 

This sort of links up with Voyager 17 nights Hong Kong to Sydney which leaves on Oct 5th. Balconies were around $2200 or so. 

 

Booking both would allow for two long cruises and a few weeks land travel in Japan China area in between with only a flight to Vancouver and short connecting flights and even train travel within China whike in Asia. 

Oh that looks fantastic...I am going to have a look at that too ! LOL. Being solo often the cost is explosive though

Thanks MicCanberra, I thought stating specific sites would be a no no. Probably could use code of some ort as most of us who are savvy enough to use this site are seasoned cruisers who are looking at deals across the same sites.

Is there another thread that covers deals too?

I did find this if anyone can go last minute, leaving 27 April

14 Night Transpacific Cruise departing from Tokyo, Japan on the Celebrity for about $60pnpp

Happy cruising all

Karen

On ‎2‎/‎18‎/‎2019 at 6:36 PM, windsor26 said:

Found the page again  'tripped over it'   read the small print and found the extras (most mandatory) add up to  around $600 per person    not now such a good bargain

 

I also found elsewhere a similar trip the 13 night cruise being on the emerald Princess 26th October  with $185 obc  not many extras  $3199 from Sydney

Hi there,

I am new to this thread so don't know the rules and how to find the sites or deals people are talking about on here 😟

I have been searching and cant find prices any where near these..can you name he site on here ???

Thanks Karen