TriumphGuy

Thank you for this information. I will contact the Big Box travel department and see what I need to do.

We gave up on Princess after they removed the cabin barrel chair from standard balcony cabins. You have to upgrade to a higher balcony category to get seating in your stateroom.
I don't know about others but this 69 year old body needs a comfortable place to sit. Not dragging in a chair from the balcony.
HAL wins hands down in my opinion. They have sofas! And the food is better!

We took advantage of the $1 deposit the other day and booked a November 2024 cruise, Fort Lauderdale to Santiago, Chile on the Oosterdam. Got the HIA option and an aft-view stateroom on deck 8. 
I was thinking about transferring this booking to a big box warehouse retailer, as they offer the cruise as well. Is there any benefit to doing so, and can it still be done? Two reasons I'd like to do this: A) possibility of their "shop card" benefit upon completion of the cruise, which is significant, and B) they offer decent travel insurance, much cheaper than other companies with better coverage.
I would have booked with them originally but they weren't honoring the $1 deposit and the stateroom we wanted wasn't available.
Is this possible or am I being greedy? 
Thanks so much.

My pet peeve is there needs to be a dedicated area at the pool bars for walkups. There is no order or organization. You can wait at the bar for 10 minutes to be served and someone walks up and the bartender waits on them first. I can overlook that once but not twice. Then I have to say something. Three bartenders working the pool bar and whoever happened to be in their line of sight got waited on ahead of everyone who had been waiting.
There should be a sectioned off area with pylons and ropes for people to walk up to request a drink. And preferably a dedicated bartender for walkups. On Eurodam it was chaos.
This was truly my only criticism of my cruise. Everything else was excellent.

We so enjoyed our Alaska cruise on Eurodam we decided to try another. Booked the 17 night "Inca Explorer" for March 2024, Santiago, Chile to Ft Lauderdale. Anyone done this cruise? We booked the last remaining aft-view cabin on Deck 8. (we had an aft-view on our Alaska cruise and now I don't ever want to book anything but).
Opinions on the Oosterdam? 
Can't wait!

OP here. We did receive two 150 Anniversary tiles. They were on our bed when we came back to our cabin. 
Our 1st tiles!

We are 1st time HAL cruisers (formerly Princess) and just completed a 7 day Alaska cruise on Eurodam. Almost everything about this cruise was exceptional, but the best thing was the crew. Every crew member was friendly, helpful and enthusiastic about their job. Smiles everywhere. This is a happy ship, no doubt about it.
We had an aft wake-view cabin, which was wonderful. Best of all, it had a loveseat! Princess removed the solitary barrel chair from their standard balcony cabins which is why we will no longer sail with them.
The food was excellent, much better than Princess, as was the variety. We ate in the Pinnacle Grill, Lido Market and the pop up seafood boil. We did not do the MDR, as the food choices seemed to be the same as the Lido buffet and we're not into 2 hour dinners. The Lido was just fine for us. I especially liked being served our choices in the Lido versus the chaotic buffet on Princess. 
My "complaints" are few: there should be a dedicated area at the Lido bar for walkups and they need more staff. The Dive-In, while good, took a LONG time to get our burgers, around 35 minutes. Again, probably a staffing issue.
Our biggest complaint was the smoking area right outside the Lido buffet. The starboard seating area in the Lido Market near the Seaview Bar area stunk of cigarette smoke constantly and we could occasionally smell it wafting over onto our balcony. I don't want to start a war with the smokers here (I am an ex-smoker myself) but I wish they would just ban smoking completely. Just my opinion, I'm sure it won't happen in my lifetime.
All in all though, it was a great experience and we will definitely be booking future HAL cruises.
 

On 5/1/2023 at 7:18 PM, lissie said:

How do you get up off the floor then? Not being able to kneel would make that impossible for me 

When I had my second knee replaced, I told my Physical Therapist I needed to be able to get up off the floor. He worked with me specifically to do that. 
I won't lie, it is difficult. But I have strong legs and my range of motion is excellent. I find it easier to get up from the right side than the left.
Competent PT is crucial. The guy I went to was affiliated with the hospital and surgeon who did my knees. It is essential to go on schedule and do the home exercises. 
I got my life back, Before, I literally could not walk a block without agonizing pain. Now I can do 98% of what I could do before. I had them replaced in 2016 and 2017.

Thank you all for the replies, guess I'll be lugging our pair with us. Can't do Alaska without binoculars!

UMMM-UMM, sign me up! I remember Princess had something similar, The Crab Shack. can't wait! 

Thank you so much for this vlog. We board Eurodam on Saturday, first time to Alaska, first time on HAL (former Princess cruisers) 
Very informative and timely post!

We leave Saturday on Eurodam for Alaska. Can anyone tell me if binoculars are available in cabins (or for rent)? Is it just suites or all cabins? I'd rather not haul our set clear across the country if I can avoid it. 

Thanks.

On 4/16/2023 at 8:54 PM, billco said:

Removal of barrel chairs was a good idea. It caused more people to book deluxe balconies and mini suites. It also made the cabins easier to clean and more accessible.

Removal of the barrel chairs was a last straw deal breaker for us. At 69 and 67, we needed someplace comfortable to sit. Dragging in a balcony chair is ridiculous. Almost every other line has a small settee or chair in their cabins. 
We moved to Holland America where apparently they don't hate their clientele. 
 

We board Eurodam on Saturday! Watching this thread closely!

We picked our own cabin because we wanted a wake view aft cabin. Scored the last one available, Deck 8 on Eurodam. I've always wanted to try an aft view cabin and soon we will! 

2 hours ago, Oakman58 said:

I would choose HAL over Princess because the standard balcony cabin on Princess only has one chair in the cabin to sit on, no loveseat.  When we ordered room service breakfast I had to drag a chair from the balcony into the room.

And this is why we chose HAL over Princess for our upcoming Alaska trip. Princess actually removed the barrel chairs from their standard balcony cabins a couple years ago. 
I was fine with Princess until they did that but  removing the chair was a deal breaker. At 69 y/o I need a place to sit comfortably.
This will be our first HAL cruise. 

I got the Verify email for our upcoming Alaska cruise. Decided to not go through it as it seems unnecessary for this cruise and we have already checked in with photo, etc. Seems like just another place to put personal information that really is not needed. 
We keep our vax cards with our passports anyway so if anyone wants to see them we'll have them.

8 minutes ago, IPB4IGO said:

Last year we took four HAL cruises. On one or more my VPN worked. On others it did not.

 

We had the Premium Internet package on all four cruises, and Wi-Fi calling worked except on occasions when Internet speed was just too slow. That happened occasionally on every cruise.

Aha! That may be the key! Perhaps one has to have the Premium internet package for VPN to work, as well as wifi calling. 
For those who were able to get VPN to work, what package did you have?

We board Eurodam May 6th for an Alaska cruise. First time with HAL, looking forward to a new experience.

1 hour ago, clueless2 said:

Financial sites all use TLS so your communications between your browser and the institution's web server is encrypted anyway.  I guess it's possible there are financial sites that don't use TLS.  I'd find another "bank" if it didn't.

Yeah, but another layer of security doesn't hurt.

I would think they'd be able to block streaming services regardless of whether a VPN is used or not. I'd like to be able to use a VPN to keep tabs on investments and bank accounts. Nothing nefarious.

Hi, can anyone tell me if HAL allows the use of a VPN on their wireless network? I always try to use a VPN when I travel.

Does the HIA package include drinks in the specialty restaurants?

51 minutes ago, CruiserBruce said:

Discussed quite extensively on the West Coast Departures board. Many good threads there. It is very good.

Thank you, there are a lot. I don't know why the search didn't just take me there.

We'll give it Port Valet a try.

I tried to search for any info but the search engine on this site is awful. 
The Port of Seattle offers a complimentary luggage handling service at the end of your cruise, from ship directly to home. No need to haul luggage around or check in. 
https://www.portseattle.org/page/port-valet-enjoy-seattle-luggage-free
It almost seems to good to be true. Has anyone used this service and how has it worked out? Appreciate any responses. Thanks.