sugcarol

If you put a debit card down for charges and you also put cash down too will they use the cash first before using the debit card? I want to bring cash but also use my debit if i need more money so i want to put both down.

Thanks

So tired of the same people posting the same things. I am done with this, I have better use for my time. I certainly won't be missed. Smokers, you have the right to smoke if HAL allows, stand up for your rights and if someone asks you to stop because you are interfering with their balcony use tell them to go to guest services and complain to them, I assure you HAL doesn't give a damn about it.

Walt's message on page one. He states it is not a debate but simply discussion which has unfortunately morphed into this. Am I misunderstanding his post?

Reminders.

1. Our community guidelines continue to apply to this thread.

2. This is a forum for discussions of cruising and associated topics. It is not a forum for discussing the health, economics and public policy aspects of smoking, whether associated with cigarettes, pipes, cigars or controlled substances (marijuana).

3. Discussions of this approach to smoking posts and other board policies are off topic and will be removed. Please post discussions of this approach for smoking posts to this thread: Single Smoking Thread on the HAL Board - a Sticky

Thanks for your understanding and continued participation on the Cruise Critic forums.

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It is 1 free berth for 16 people in 8 cabins. Some TA's do some shady things like converting that free berth to extra commission for themselves. Many do it with guests not familiar with group cruises and pricing and don't know when they have been deceived. If you book 8 cabins as a group but later end up only with 5 you would not get the free berth but you would still get a few perks, ie wine, photo, etc.

So happy for all of you. Good news from Royal, they did the right thing. Anyone who says this is not a big deal, is dead wrong, it IS a big deal.

This really surprises me. Disney Cruise is letting those who need to modify their cruises with no penalty. I just assumed all cruise lines would do the same, but apparently not.

Don't click on the thread if you don't like what it says. I am interested in keeping up with smoking rules on HAL, and this is the best thread to do that.

If you can book way in advance, the BOGO is pretty good with an OBC to boot. Last month I booked Liberty for January 2017, and I was happy with the price.

Downton Abbey season 6 releases 2 weeks from today [1/26]on Netflix. I have always watched the entire season before the general public has only seen 1 or 2 episodes. Once it has finished in UK the entire season is released to Netflix. I see that Amazon is selling it on 1/26/16.

Same here, Diamond balcony discount 225.00 or 300.00 OBC. OBC was better deal of course.

OBC is more profitable for RCCL they still make a profit on whatever you buy. with Diamond Discount we get the money [savings]

I wish we could find the deals many of you get, but in our case, we can only sail Middle of January to end of February, only out of Texas and we don't like Carnival, that only leaves Liberty. The price we got for 2017 is less than we are paying for 2016, and that we booked a year ago, so I was pleased with what we got.

The best deal we ever got was cruising with my husband 11/2001 and got Celebrity Millenium 7 night for 350.00 pp for balcony, we did have to fly to Ft Lauderdale for that one. Cruise lines were pretty desperate after 9/11.

Thanks for the comments, I'm not happy that you all think this was crappy but it's a good deal to me, next time I will be sure to consult with the experts here before I book anything.

1/22/17-category E2 1780.86 for 2 plus 300.00 OBC. Can't have Diamond balcony discount but that's ok, 300.00 OBC is worth more than that discount. This is cheaper than what were are paying for Liberty next month. Booked 2016 cruise Spring 2015 and prices have steadily gone up.

Low prices on RCCL website for January 2017 on Liberty. Balcony cabins get 300.00 OBC as well as reduced BOGO. They did not jack up the price for BOGO. Says deposit is 500.00 for 2 but if you call they will allow a deposit of 250.00.]

Thanks Clarea, I didn't realize it changed.

Just booked a fare on sale and chose My Time dining and looking at confirmation sheet see that they did not charge prepaid gratuities, is this something new?

My cruise is more than a year away, but I will be so anxious to hear all the comments. Not only is it a new ship but a new class as well.

Cruz Chic you've got the right idea. If HAL eliminates balcony smoking then I will book only Ocean views on all lines including them. Why pay extra for balcony if I can't enjoy it. It's all about choices. My favorite line is Celebrity and I'm Elite with them but they are too restrictive, so I'm currently doing HAL.

In today's market how many balcony cabins on HAL do you think would have smokers on any given cruise? If not many than it shouldn't bother that many people, if there are a lot then that is the reason HAL keeps permitting it. I believe not that many people are balcony smokers percentage wise.

A few years ago we booked a room at Comfort Suites and had day access to all of Atlantis. It was much cheaper than paying Atlantis. Not sure if they still do this though.

I think HAL is only getting a small amount of complaining about balcony smoking, most never mention it except the few who post here. It's all about the money, if complaining non-smokers eventually become really common they will change the policy. Currently HAL allows smoking on balconies, if folks don't want that there are other cruise lines to choose from. Seems a waste of energy to complain here when nothing can be done about it.

My friend and I cruise every year and after our Feb 2016 cruise on Liberty we are moving on to other cruise lines. 2017 cruise is booked on HAL. We are Diamond and always went to RCCL to get the balcony discount, but their prices have gone so high, the balcony discount doesn't balance out the price for the cruise. I'm sure RCCL will miss us:rolleyes:

Our neighbors returned from their cruise and onboard they were told the crew for the Koningsdam will be taken from other ships and only the best based on reviews will get to go. Has anyone else heard this?

On the second cruise of Navigator of the Seas post dry dock, the beds were rock hard too. Asked for egg crate but told they were all gone. Sailing this coming February post dry dock on Liberty of the Seas, and hope the new beds will be better this time.

We have sailed out of Port of Galveston many times. Twice we have been held up at sea for hours due to fog, we usually sail Jan, Feb or Mar. If you do a search you will find that Galveston can be a real pain to embark and disembark. You would think by this time they would have it down pat, but it is still a mess. I personally would not do the 9AM, stay on the ship and don't be in a panic should there be a delay. I also fly out of Hobby [we now live in Dallas] and after getting caught twice on disembarkation, I only book flights for after 3P. I don't want a relaxing week capped off with a potential problem getting off the ship. I'll be sailing Liberty 2/28-3/6/16.