Copper10-8

At Cabo, HAL usually hires local Cabo tenders in addition to using their own ship's tenders. Those local boats are faster and usually tend to speed up the tender ops

Yes, 5*'s have priority tendering Yes, that's a hand written note by Laundry Coordinator (official title) I Komang Dana (Komarza), as opposed to a computer generated note. It's something they - the always hard working laundry crew in the bowels of the ship on C-Deck - started doing within the last year Enjoy K-dam with most pax off, take care of your foot, and perhaps, go get a Broodje Kroket at the Grand Dutch Cafe for lunch! Can't wait 😉

Kids love pools! The Holiday cruises have one heck of a lot more kids onboard; everybody knows/should know that when you book such a cruise. Many kids will be in the pools and/or hot tubs on holiday cruises; that's a fact, Jack! Hopefully those under 16 with adult supervision as the signs state. Will it be enforced? Prob not because the only staff permanently assigned to the two pools on HAL are beverage staff who care about doing their (beverage) job and don't get involved with kiddies in the pool. In the not so recent past, HAL reserved the Seaview (aft) pool for adults only - see the attached sign - That has apparently now gone out the window as we are learning from this exquisite daily blog Bottom line; it's up to the parents of those sixteen and under to police them, yeah right! That's called wishful thinking for some! So, until HAL employs pool lifeguards which they've never done in the past, this situation can best be described as a Catch 22

Looks like Rotjeknor

CM should either be Rodel Fernando or Ivica Kolaric. Glad you like CO! It's not the PG for breakfast but on the Pinnacles it's a nice venue with a great crew

Thanks Chief and likewise to you and Mrs. Chief/the Colonel! And when you're married to a child bride born in Cuba, who learned to salsa dance as a 4-yr old standing on her papa's shoes/feet to get the steps down, you, as the husband, better learn the rhythm of the island, as Gloria Estafan sings about, and learn to salsa yourself 😉

Salsa y Salsa! Lots of fun! Learning how to make salsa and dance salsa like you belong on Dancing with the Stars 😉

Nailed it!

HAL still has horse racing but only at HMC.............Btw, thanks a bunch for a very well detailed and informative report!

Those entertainers are considered "regular" crew, so no guest privileges

Forgot to add; K-dam's ship's bell will be removed from it's normal position on the bow, transported to the Lido pool, placed on a specially made stand, and rung at midnight, thereby also ringing in the new year

Yes on the New Year's Eve party at the Lido Pool with the BB King's All-Star band providing live entertainment and the captain present for the final countdown of 2022 when the officer of the watch will sound the ship's whistle at the stroke of midnight. It's always first come/first serve there as far as limited seating and/or standing. There are no reservations for the event/no charge but lots party favors, lots of champagne, as well as a Dutch tradition; "Oliebollen" (kinda/sorta like a Dutch donut) Always a fun event and a very cool way to ring in the new year. We will be there and very much looking forward to it!

Appears to be Diamond Princess at the Broadway Pier next to K-dam at the B-Street Pier

Guest/contract entertainers onboard HAL, and that includes the BB King's All-Star and the rock band on the Pinnacle class ships, but not the Billboard Onboard musicians.) enjoy a somewhat different status as compared to regular crew. They enjoy both guest and crew privileges, in other words, the best of two worlds. In a nutshell, they are allowed to be in the hot tubs in the pool area, something a regular crew member can not do. Having said that, being intoxicated, even for guest and/or contract entertainers, is not allowed onboard HAL ships. Don't know who/which ship's department the officer you described conversing with this "happy" group was and if he formed the opinion that they were in fact inebriated or just loud. Looks like, again as you describe, he gave them a warning to calm it down. If that warning was ignored s you describe, there should have been a second visit, with or without security present, which would have been at the discretion of that officer, and the happy group would have been told to get the heck out of dodge, e.g. said sitz bath, poste haste, and make themselves scarce! The officer should have made a report of the situation/behavior which would have made it to the head of the entertainment dept., the hotel general manager, the staff captain, and the captain. If there were obvious signs and symptoms of being under the influence of adult beverages, there should have been follow up conducted, up and including having the happy group submit to a breathalyzer test (breathalyzer machines, similar to those used by law enforcement, are routinely carried on HAL ships and operated by security who will have received training in their use). Based on the outcome of those tests, there would have been additional consequences as a result of that group's juvenile behavior

The cabana attendants are assigned to the ship's Beverage Dept., confirmed! Their supervisor is the head deck steward while the Beverage Dept. is headed by the beverage manager

Security does not get involved in a guest/occupant of the cabana area bringing in a speaker to start blaring music, unless the situation gets out of hand. Initial response to the situation described would be of the supervisor of the cabana attendants, going up to the dept. head. I have not seen a post describing the behavior of allegedly inebriated entertainers inside a hot tub (perhaps you can point me in the correct direction), but that would involve security, as well as the entertainment director and, if proven to be ETOH, there would be consequences for those individuals. Being intoxicated as a crew member and/or guest entertainer can lead up to a captain's hearing board (basically a captain's mast with all shipboard upper management, the HR manager and the SECO present in the room) and, based on the outcome of that hearing, potential termination of contract and a one-way trip home for the crew/entertainer(s) involved

I hear ya however, there is no F&B department per se! There is a beverage group headed by the beverage mngr. There is a restaurant group (the old food service dept.) headed by a restaurant operations mngr. and there is a galley group (the old food preparation dept.) headed by the executive chef. There is the Hotel General Manager (the old hotel manager and then hotel director) with the ultimate responsibility of the entire hotel dept. Below him/her are the asst. hotel gm and the F&B director who both function as the right hand persons of the hotel gm. Not 100% sure who the cabana attendants belong to but will find out

So, the F&B manager has nada to do with a so-called "VIP" blaring the Cranberries on his boombox inside the cabana area! That goes all the way up to the hotel general manager (new title after HM and HD). Not sure why the OP has/had a meeting with the F&B mngr. since there's neither food nor beverage involved in this/his valid complaint!

Tony, great pic of that "Who, me?" cutie pie! Nutella brings back memories from my youth in Holland 😉

Could be worse! 😉 Could be stuck inside the Shanghai, PRC terminal that the Chinese authorities closed up after a group of about ten of them in full uniform marched up the gangway to go get a free lunch in the Lido. When the SECO (guess who 😉) told the staff captain, the latter refused them permission to board, so the now slightly upset platoon of custom dudes marched off and secured all entrances to the terminal trapping about 75 Amsterdam pax inside! The situation was later rectified after the staff captain reversed his decision and the SECO had to have a meeting with the Chinese head honcho in charge, who didn't speak a lick of English, so the local port agent had to act as interpreter 🙂 The way things work............ See you soon also!

Enjoy K-dam and her crew! Go get a Broodje Kroket at the Grand Dutch Cafe! See ya soon! 😉

Well, you've heard about the slur "Going Dutch," have ya, Meneer uit Den Haag? 🤓