ExpatBride

I understand where you're coming from. HAL's screw up re: my pre-paid crew appreciation didn't bankrupt me nor was I going to remove it entirely to make a point. But how they handled it, which made me feel like they that thought I was trying to scam them, was not acceptable. Apparently, producing an itemized invoice wasn't enough to remove doubt about what I'd booked. That combined with the amount of time I wasted trying to get it sorted out, and the majorly downgraded experience vs. the onboard experience pre-shutdown is enough to make me not sail with them again.

Unfortunately, that wasn't the case for me.

I would't pre-pay it because it opens the door for things to go wrong. On NS last month, they kept adding the charges to my onboard account every day even though I showed them my booking confirmation, which stated that I had prepaid gratuities as part of a promo. I wasted a lot of time trying to sort it out with "Guest Services," who were supposedly trying to sort it out with the head office. Long story short, it wasn't resolved before I disembarked. So I ended up using my OBC to cover it and reduced the total amount by $10-20 (can't remember), which OBC wouldn't cover. That's a big black mark against HAL because it stressed me out, wasted my time, gave me less than I paid for, and affected my holiday. I had and provided documentation of the promo. It's not my problem that there was a disconnect somewhere in their process.

Considering how many Americans are on cruise ships, I doubt you'll be a special case.

He was also there when I disembarked on 2 August.

Have they said how many cases are onboard? I actually came down with something a few days after I disembarked earlier this month. I didn't test, but the symptoms tracked with COVID. I definitely caught it on the ship because we drove to the port and my symptoms showed up before I'd been anywhere but on the ship and in the car.

That's not even close to what was served on NS last month.

On NS last month, they opened one Lido station for "late-night snacks" and it was the oddest assortment. My SO and I started going every night just to see what odds and ends they managed to scrounge up. It looked like leftovers from the crew canteen.

The same thing happened to me with shrimp on "dressy night" 😅 Except they didn't bring me another plate 😑

And for the other people onboard who have the misfortune of being in the vicinity of a bored 5 year old. We were sat next to a table with 3 bored kids (I'd guess ages 5–7) in the MDR one evening and it was not enjoyable in the least. They may as well have been climbing the curtains.

I actually wrote HAL about this and was told directly that the revised itinerary with "scenic cruising" was correct. This was my fourth times sailing a fjords itinerary and it didn't make sense to me, which I explained to them in the email to highlight why I was questioning it.

There's a map of the ship outside every elevator along with a categorized list of venues and their locations 👍

HAL is not a cruise line for kids. There wasn't a kids club on my recent 7-day cruise. There were a few "meet & greets" for teens ages 13-17, but they were at 8 PM. I've just looked through my daily programs from that sailing and I don't see any kid-specific events. There were teens and kids running all over the ship bored out of their minds. We heard one of the teens say that he couldn't wait to go home "because even the music is disgusting." 🤣 Longer sailings usually have fewer kids than shorter sailings, so I think you can safely count on having to entertain your bored 5 year old.

I'm not picky about my cabin location and I find the best deals right around the last payment date. At that point, they're still offering perks (I got HIA, pre-paid gratuities and OBC on my July sailing) and cabin prices are as low as they're going to get with perks. I usually pick 1–2 sailings and then watch prices and book when I feel like it's a good combination of price and perks. I've been using this strategy of over 10 years. With that said, I sail out of a local port, so I don't have to factor the airfare implications into my considerations.

In my opinion, they're all breathtaking. But there's something extra special about Geiranger. I've always chosen my Norwegian itineraries based on whether or not Geiranger was included. There's a reason it's a UNESCO World Heritage Site.