First time on HAL (Oosterdam) A couple of questions.

[Haljo1935]

On 7/31/2024 at 2:47 PM, TheJester said:

Thank you and we will report back. This is our first HAL cruise and we left the booking of flights and transfers to them. I’m a bit upset there is a possibility we could miss the ship and have to join it later in the cruise. This wasn’t what we signed up for. Let’s hope for the best. 

Welcome to HAL! 🤞 and positive thoughts coming your way.

I hope all goes well and you have a wonderful cruise.

[TheBritinLV]

I will be on this same cruise.  Flying in from Las Vegas through Heathrow (long layover) arriving in Athens at 2am the morning of the cruise.  Quite what we're going to do all night in Athens airport is beyond me, but there you go.  We had booked a "tour" through HAL that would have picked us up from the airport around midday with a 3 hour trip around Athens, but two weeks ago they cancelled it through "lack of interest in the excursion". Very disappointing.  Well, at least I should at get to the ship in plenty of time with my 2am arrival!  lol. This is also my first ever cruise, so I'm very excited. 

 

Does anyone know if Athens has some sort of lounge we can pay to stay in for the 10 hours before our pick-up?

Edited August 15 by TheBritinLV
additional comment

[MaisonRose]

On 7/31/2024 at 4:12 PM, *Miss G* said:

I know there is draught beer but someone else will need to tell you what’s on tap.

 

CHANGE YOUR FLIGHT IMMEDIATELY!!!  That timeline is far too tight to make the sailing.  You need to be checked in 90 minutes prior to sailing so, in actual fact, you have 2.5 hours to clear immigration and get to the port.  In Athens traffic… virtually impossible. And that’s providing that your flight arrives as scheduled.  Also virtually impossible in today’s age of travel.

 

This thread is making me nervous.

 

I think the airport isn’t far from the port. Check the map. But how could they possibly book you that tight? Amazing.

check an on line map.

[Sir PMP]

18 minutes ago, MaisonRose said:

I think the airport isn’t far from the port. Check the map. But how could they possibly book you that tight? Amazing.

check an on line map.

Piraeus is a 30 minute taxi ride from the airport.

[terrydtx]

2 minutes ago, Sir PMP said:

Piraeus is a 30 minute taxi ride from the airport.

In good traffic, last year it took us 45 minutes to get to the airport by private transfer at 10:00am.

[debfed65]

On 7/31/2024 at 1:43 PM, SilvertoGold said:

OP: please do report back.  When we use HAL FlightEase we choose our own flights, becasue we want to see all the flight options and times. Can you consider doing this on your next HAL cruise? Best of luck with your flights, but have a great cruise!

 

On 7/31/2024 at 9:59 AM, TheJester said:

I’m starting to stress (slightly) about our flight arrival time in Athens. We have flights and transfers arranged with HAL but the flight they have booked us on only arrives in Athens 4 hours before the ship is scheduled to leave. Say an hour to get baggage and clear customs and an hour to the port, doesn’t leave much contingency for flight delay. Is this too tight?

 

Hello everyone.  I hope everything goes as planned with your flights.  I do have a question....

 

We have booked our first HAL September 2025 & we plan on using FlightEase.  TheJester stated HAL booked their flights for them, SilvertoGold chose their own flights.  We always sail with Celebrity and use Flights by Celebrity without any problems, picking our own flights even if they aren't listed on the Celebrity flight website, and pay for the flights with our final payment for the cruise.  We have never had any problems using their flight department. 

 

If you select your own flights with FlightEase, do you still pay for them with final payment?  I don't understand the difference between TheJester & SilvertoGold experience with getting the flights?

 

If someone can help explain, I would appreciate the feedback.  Thanks!

[Live4cruises]

Yes, you select your own flights on FlightEase, and pay at final payment date. However, if there's a reason you need to be actually ticketed so the airline will talk to you, you will need to actively request that and pay at that time. 

[debfed65]

1 minute ago, Live4cruises said:

Yes, you select your own flights on FlightEase, and pay at final payment date. However, if there's a reason you need to be actually ticketed so the airline will talk to you, you will need to actively request that and pay at that time. 

Thank you for this information.  Are your flights and cost secured by HAL when you reserve them through FlightEase even if you pay for them with final payment? Celebrity puts them on your reservation invoice with the amount they cost which never changes between the time your book them and the time you pay for them.  Is this the same with FlightEase? And if the flight cost goes down, or you find a better alternative, can you change the flight reservation at any time without penalty (before final payment obviously). 

[EarthByShip]

The Gallery Bar “behind” the Casino has Tap beer. 

[Sea42]

4 hours ago, debfed65 said:

Thank you for this information.  Are your flights and cost secured by HAL when you reserve them through FlightEase even if you pay for them with final payment? Celebrity puts them on your reservation invoice with the amount they cost which never changes between the time your book them and the time you pay for them.  Is this the same with FlightEase? And if the flight cost goes down, or you find a better alternative, can you change the flight reservation at any time without penalty (before final payment obviously). 

Yes, that is the same with HAL Flight Ease. Price is locked in and you can check prices until final payment, changing if price goes down.

With our American Airlines flight you could select your seats before we paid for the tickets.

 

[debfed65]

Just now, Sea42 said:

Yes, that is the same with HAL Flight Ease. Price is locked in and you can check prices until final payment, changing if price goes down.

With our American Airlines flight you could select your seats before we paid for the tickets.

 

Thank you  😀

[TheJester]

Update:

 

flight was 40 minutes late into Athens. Cleared customs and collected luggage fairly quickly. 
22 of us on the flight joining the ship. HAL transfer got us to the ship for 15:30. We were the last to board! Ship sailed at 16:45

[Sea42]

1 minute ago, TheJester said:

Update:

 

flight was 40 minutes late into Athens. Cleared customs and collected luggage fairly quickly. 
22 of us on the flight joining the ship. HAL transfer got us to the ship for 15:30. We were the last to board! Ship sailed at 16:45

That's fantastic! Now you can relax and have a wonderful cruise!

[*Miss G*]

So happy to hear that you made it!  Have a wonderful cruise. 

[BermudaBound2014]

Glad you made it onboard. That's just too much stress to start a trip. I was stressed for you and I'm not even sailing.  Ain't nobody got time for that.

 

Would you mind going on a bit of a scavenger hunt for me? Nothing big, but as you walk by different bars can you let me know which are serving draft beer?? So far the only confirm I have is the casino bar. If DH can't get draft on this cruise I need to prepare him in advance. Thank you!

 

 

Edited August 25 by BermudaBound2014

[Lotto2]

On 8/25/2024 at 3:54 PM, TheJester said:

Update:

 

flight was 40 minutes late into Athens. Cleared customs and collected luggage fairly quickly. 
22 of us on the flight joining the ship. HAL transfer got us to the ship for 15:30. We were the last to board! Ship sailed at 16:45

Just to add, everything was organised really well so nothing to worry about in the end.

 

Very impressed with HAL so far.

[EtaC]

Glad to hear you made it there. We may have crossed paths on board and not known it. We just got home from the cruise ourselves. We spent an extra day in Athens which meant we encountered Monday's Athens taxi strike. Fortunately, the van service we booked was not impacted. I have to imagine that anyone depending on a taxi yesterday had to be having a hard time.