avian777

8 hours ago, caribill said:

 

I have never received the confirming E-mail. In addition, one time I learned when speaking with a HAL rep that the previously applied stockholder OBC had been removed when the TA had made some change to the booking. If I had the ability to look at the OBC information online, I would have detected that it was missing myself.

Just a WAG, but I suspect our disparate experience may be a function of our respective TA.  Or you may be the exception that proves the rule.

8 hours ago, caribill said:

 

With HAL it shows up online if you had the booking directly with HAL.

 

But if you used a TA, you must call HAL or the TA to find out if it has been applied to your account.

 

 

We have always used a TA and have NEVER needed to contact the TA to find out if the OBC has been applied to our account.  Within a few hours (generally) of FAXing the shareholder credit request, we receive an e-mail message from HAL; and then , a few days later, we receive a written confirmation from our TA.  Have NEVER needed to contact our TA to get confirmation.

12 minutes ago, margar said:

Thanks!  I wasn’t sure if they considered it a “weapon” or not! ...

 

To avoid that problem, I suggest you pack the corkscrew(s) in your checked baggage ... as opposed to your carry-on baggage.

17 hours ago, bmwman said:

I think I know what is meant. They are saying that the food is not Kosher for Passover. I have to say not sure if I am correct

Thanks for your response, bmwman.  I was having difficulty understanding how food could be "appropriate" but "not genuine".  I am not Jewish,  so I thought that you might be able to answer that question since the OP ignored my request for an explanation.  In any event, thank you for responding.

On 10/4/2018 at 2:33 PM, dfish said:

I got the error message on Delta Airlines when I was trying to upgrade once. When I called them, they said it was because the travel agent owned the booking and it had to be done through them. So, this must be a common standard.

Thank you for adding some light to this discussion.  I suspected exactly what you reported but, since I've never had the SAME EXPERIENCE myself, I didn't feel "qualified" to comment.

Thanks again, dfish, and best wishes.

53 minutes ago, frankc98376 said:

Another exciting new revenue opportunity I'm sure.

As a CCL shareholder, I'm hoping you're correct.

2 answers:

1.  Yes.

2.  Yes, but you should understand that whatever you give " to the staff who [you] feel have served [you] well on [your] cruise ..." will be put into the general pool and shared by all who would've otherwise shared in your "automatic" HSC.

3 hours ago, kazu said:

 

Oh for crying out loud.  

I simply reported my experiences ...

 

You can question all you want.  I report facts from my cruises.

Okay, what did you mean when you posted that, "HAL did provide some appropriate food for Passover (certainly not genuine ...)"? TIA

1 hour ago, bmwman said:

This is interesting … The Seder is a religious ceremony and depends on your level of the observance and in the US there are many degrees of the faith. You certainly do not need a Rabbi for the service but you need someone who can lead the service. 

 

Also the food - will they have kosher food and by that I mean supervised. 

 

As the food you eat over Passover is special food ( Matzo and that is kosher for Passover matzo)   and a special level of Kashrut I can not imagine any observant Jew going unless it was run but an organisation such as Kosherica. There are many other customs and keeping them on a ship is near impossible.

 

 

Thanks for your very enlightening Post, bmwman - always nice to have an informed person to turn to.  An earlier Post indicated that "HAL did provide some appropriate food for Passover (certainly not genuine ...), which leads me to ask, What is "appropriate food" that is "not genuine"? Thank you in advance for your answer.

19 hours ago, HamOp said:

BINGO!!

Glad to see you and some others were able to see how my post was intended.

Some people "get it" and others never will.

Safe travels to all.........

👍👍👍  Thanks for this thoroughly delightful Post - always enjoy a good spoof.  I particularly enjoyed the sanctimoniousness of some of the "responses".  Thanks, again ...

We love virtually everything about HAL but the one thing we most love and treasure about our HAL cruises is having daily Mass on ship every day on every cruise.  Only HAL has a Roman Catholic priest onboard every one of its cruises, which allows us to attend daily Mass and recharge our spiritual batteries while enjoying a fantastic cruise.

Just now, Hlitner said:

Just a word about HAL cruisers.  We have met many during our many HAL days and with very few exceptions the HAL cruisers are fantastic as is the crew :).   Does this mean that HAL is perfect?  No way.  But our complaints have rarely been about people,

 

Hank

And our experience mirrors yours to a "T", Hank. Regards.

  👍👌👏

7 hours ago, scubacruiserx2 said:

 

Thank you for your kind interaction and openness to check with the other threads . We agree that Princess respondents could understand what we meant and be helpful . We are glad that you enjoy the travelogues and we hope that they are helpful . Different people have different gifts . For some it might be photography , some like you have a kind heart and some are good with words . I'm going to borrow some words from someone the Celebrity thread .

 

 

  20 hours ago, Hlitner said:

ahhh, so you are trying to define cruise lines by their CC related interactivity.  That is tough and it might depend more on the specific cruise (and length of cruise) then the cruise line.  We go back to the very beginning on CC and our attitude towards Roll Calls has been to generally "blow off" any Roll Call related onboard activities on all three of the cruise lines you mention .  Why?  Because Roll Calls and related Meet and Greets started becoming somewhat juvenile and annoying about 10 years ago (perhaps a bit longer).  At one time Roll calls were pretty much blogs about an upcoming cruise, ports, organizing private tours, etc.  There were also the usual folks that wanted cabin crawls and perhaps slot pulls.  All was fine.  But then we started getting folks who wanted to talk about their sick dog, dying Aunt, etc.  And we also had those who wanted to do such grown up Meet and Greet activities as gift exchanges (like we used to do in Elementary school and are now generally banned), skits, etc.  We also had take-charge folks at some meet and greets who insisted on controlling the conversation (i.e. prohibiting any talk about private tours), etc.  And then there were other folks who would coral attending cruise ship staff and Senior Officers so that they could whine and complain about various issues onboard (even though they had only been aboard 1 or 2 days).  Hence, some cruise lines (such as HAL) started discouraging Senior Officers (and Staff) to avoid Meet and Greets.  It is only on a recent MSC Divina cruise did we see much of the spirit of the old Roll Calls where everyone had a great time, there was lots of socialization, the ship's Captain essentially MC'd the function, etc.

 

We still enjoy making new friends onboard but no longer find the M&G a good place for any interaction.  Most of our newfound cruise friends are now found while sharing large tables at open sitting dinners, joining others in the Lido, and spending time in various lounges and interacting with nearby folks.   You will no longer find us at a Meet and Greet unless we have a reason to meet a specific person and it has been previously arranged online.

 

Hank

 

Thank you Hank , you said what we think better then we did . It's not just juvenile at the M&G 's but take a look at some of the responses to our question . Mostly not constructive .

 

 

We hear you :).  There are some folks who seem content with the current M&G situation and they do a great job explaining why we no longer want anything to do with those functions.  I suspect the folks who are "not constructive" are the very same folks that have convinced me to not waste my time going to M&Gs.  We do see some exceptions and it seems like the Roll Calls for some longer cruises (we are talking weeks) are very constructive.  Perhaps it is because these cruises tend to attract an older (and often well traveled) crowd who enjoy trading info on travel and ports rather then focusing on their cat :).

 

About 2 years ago, right before we were to take a long Princess cruise, one of the Roll Call folks simply posted that he liked going to the International Café early on sea days, would generally be wearing a Hawaiian shirt, and would welcome anyone to join him for coffee and conversation.  On the first day he had about 8 visitors (including us) and the early morning group quickly grew to about a dozen who came and went as they pleased.  There were no "rules," "gift exchanges,"  speeches etc. but simply folks that would get together to talk about anything.  In a sense it was what we used to see at the old Meet and Greets.  Most of us became friends and we all learned from each other.    A few would just sit with their coffee and listen.  Others were very chatty and were generally quite interesting.  If one was unhappy with the group or conversation they could simply walk away...and others who were curious were immediately welcomed.  One Aussie lady actually mentioned that this was the new "Roll Call."

 

Hank

 

 

FWIW I hope you don't judge all HAL cruisers by the negativity of those few who submitted snarky and downright nasty comments.  Based on our extensive cruising history with HAL and our slightly lesser experience on CC, I could've predicted beforehand (with almost 100% accuracy) who would submit negative comments.  Even though it may not be my "place" to do so, I would like to apologize to you for the very unfriendly reception you received - it is certainly not typical of the HAL cruisers whom I've been fortunate enough to meet both on CC and in person.

BTW thanks, Hank, for your kind and helpful insights.

4 hours ago, HappyInVan said:

 

Do you know what are the characteristics of a successful con game?

 

The victim enjoys being con. “I Believe!” Will recruit others. “I heard that so-so made a fortune and retired at 50!!!”

 

What the characteristics of a great con man? The victim will continue to luv the con man after the con game is exposed. “Yeah, he was ripping me off. But, he was such a great guy!”

❓❓❓

For a one-night stay, we like the Hilton Marina.  For longer stays, we like the Marriott Harbor Beach Resort & Spa and the Riverside Hotel on Las Olas Boulevard. 

On 10/3/2019 at 10:10 PM, HappyInVan said:

 

 

I wonder how this works? The stock market would tank in a recession,. Demand for cruising falls. Cruise companies cut prices. Resulting in lower earnings and lower dividends?

 

 

Suggest you consult a competent wealth manager for investment advice.  The questions you asked are so basic that it appears you do not have even an elementary understanding of business and finances, so IMO you need more (and better) advice than you'll find on CC.

1 minute ago, sail7seas said:

Horror of horrors, you had   to share a large ship with persons 75 and 80 years  old.  Yikes    What next?  What nerve  they must have   to  think it was okay for  them to sail on a ship where    there were 'young uns' who did not particularly  welcome

them.

 👍👍👍  Spot on & well said, s7s!

There are many differences between HAL and both RCI and CC but IMHO there is only one significant difference between/among them - only HAL has a Roman Catholic priest (who celebrates daily Mass) on board every one of its cruises.  Since spiritual renewal is an important component of our vacation experience, HAL is our hands-down choice. YMMV

14 hours ago, freestyling said:

The Mariners Dept called me today to explain how the $18.00 corkage fee is dispersed. 

 

They use a fleet wide average wine cost that is calculated by the Food & Beverage Dept in Seattle. It is a rolling 4 month average. Currently the avg is 47.38 per bottle.

15% of this or $7.107 is placed in the wine stewards pool by ship. The remainder is shown in the revenue accounting for the Food and Beverage Dept by each ship.

I asked if this could perhaps increase the per bottle wine average and was told no. Seattle reviews wine sales by bottle and/packages to determine the average bottle amount. 

I thanked them for the return call and they said it was easier to call in case I didn’t understand the math. 

👍Thanks for sharing - always nice to get information from the source.

16 hours ago, Primus said:

I just got off the Oosterdam on 9/29.  For our cruise, the newspaper was called either the USA News or USA Times.  One change I noticed was more sports coverage than the NY Times.  A small crossword puzzle with answers was included daily.  In addition to this paper was something called Today's Games from The New York Times.  It included the regular daily crossword puzzle with answers along with a Sudoku.  The crossword puzzle took up more space on the page so numbers and questions were much easier to read for me.  We usually picked both up in the morning before breakfast from near the front desk and enjoyed reading at breakfast.  I know the newspaper was available in other locations but am unsure about the puzzles. 

The "Today's Games" paper would be a more than adequate substitute for NYT for me.  However, since I am more than competent to not only read "articles written at an advanced reading level" but also to analyze them for myself,  I don't need NYT.  While I have no need for the NYT, I do recognize that for many it is a source for news and fun word puzzles.

And since I can obtain news from many different sources (whether I am at home or traveling), I am wildly indifferent as to whether or not HAL provides NYT on its cruises.  It would be nice if HAL could also provide another non-NYT paper for those of us who are not fans of NYT.

OP, I've never heard of USA News - do you know if it's a digest published by USA Today? Or is it a separate, stand-alone  newspaper?

On 9/27/2019 at 8:24 AM, ricka47 said:

I just sent my information off to Seattle today for our new CCL stock purchase.  Do they confirm with you that your information has been received?

We use a TA for our HAL cruises.  However, I always handle the CCL Shareholder Benefit request myself via FAX.  In my request, I request an e-mail confirmation and have always received confirmation within a couple of days and sometimes within a few minutes.  So, if you want confirmation directly from HAL, be sure to request e-mail confirmation in your FAX.

On 9/26/2019 at 7:08 PM, dag144 said:

You can always call HAL.  I did this once even though I had booked my cruise with an on line agent.  The HAL agent was very helpful.

Thanks for confirming that HAL is a good source for info on "things HAL" and that the HAL agent was very helpful.  Newbies (to CC and to HAL) can be mislead by the frequent negative Posts indicating that HAL is the worst source for info on HAL matters and/or that HAL reps are incompetent or willfully non-helpful.  So it's refreshing to see a positive Post about HAL and its reps.

If you don't feel comfortable ordering online, you can also place an order by calling HAL Ship Services - 1-800-541-1576 or 1-206-626-8602 Monday - Friday 7:00am to 5:00pm (Pacific Time).

18 hours ago, Himself said:

Last summer all the Masses were held in the Hudson room at 5PM.  I was Chaplain on the Nieuw Amsterdam the last two weeks of June.

Was Mass on "sea days" also at 5pm? TIA