Gr8daze

Hey folks, at the last minute Hal said we’d have a chocolate surprise at 9:30 but didn’t say where. We finally figured out from crew that it would be on deck 2. 
 

No display. None. The surprise is that it’s 15 - 20 minutes late (after you search for it) and eventually servers speed walk by you with trays super fast and don’t offer you any chocolate. I don’t know who managed to actually get any but it looked like chocolate covered raisins (maybe 4) and tiny tiny chocolate cupcakes. 

I mean come on, HAL, you really didn’t need anything more to highlight how far you have fallen. 
 

On 9/30/2022 at 2:48 PM, LJProk said:

Was it $99 per person to add Have It All?

It was $50 per day per person on this current *free offer. 

This was a decrease in quota not actual production. They haven’t actually met that quota in a long time. I’m sure it will be used to jack up the prices. That’s the whole point. But it isn’t going to result in an actual decrease in output. 

I was also on this cruise and agree with your assessment. It was a great time, even though we seemed to be about a week too early for the colors. We also had a Neptune near the elevators so probably passed you in transit more than a few times!

Love breakfast in the Pinnacle as a Neptune suite perk. Glad that is still intact. I also want to mention that I was shocked by how beautiful the Zuiderdam ship is. I'm 4 star but had never sailed this ship. It is beautiful. May replace the Eurodam as my favorite. 

I agree with you 100% about the EXC talks. I did point that out on my survey. The devolution of the lectures was a big disappointment to me. Johnathan is a nice guy, but he is no presenter. He sounded like he was just reading off a piece of paper. Bummer. 
 

The only downside for me is that I took $200 in cash out at an ATM at the last US stop so I could give out additional tips, but accidently left it in the pocket of some pants I sent to the laundry. They did not see fit to return the money even though I was pretty quick about letting the concierge know I had accidently left in the pocket. Oh well, my fault and lesson learned. 

Eurodam is my favorite ship.

1) you get one of each per person. 2) I have never asked but I am sure your room steward can adjust the type and quantity to your liking. 3) Yes. Again ask your room steward (or look in the cabinets under where the lights are located. There are usually a few wool lap blankets in there. 4) Pretty large, but not as large as bath sheets. About the same size as a nice hotel (rather than a cheaper hotel like Holiday Inn or Hampton).

Enjoy!!

I'd go with the Noordam anytime. Ships are physically very similar, but I just fine the Noordam more comfy and cozy. Westerdam seems a bit more worn to me.

But more importantly I just think the staff is far superior on the Noordam. Personnel do change ships, but I have still consistently found the Noordam crews to be much better. In fact my only bad experiences on HAL have been on the Westerdam. I have sworn her off since having yet another bad experience in Dec 2016. I don't like to complain or bad mouth anyone online, so I will leave it at that other than to say if all HAL ships were like Westerdam I would not be a 4 star mariner on HAL.

Noordam has always been a comfortable ship for me. It just feels homey.

But I really prefer the Eurodam best of all ships. Better specialty restaurants, recently upgraded, cabanas.

Haven't been on the Kdam but looking forward to trying it out in September!

I'm pretty sure they don't give you a remote that can access the different source ports because they don't want you to get it off the TV port and not be able to figure out how to get it back. And having watched my 80 year old Mom with various remotes I can understand why. LOL!

I've done TA and TP and I like them because they were long cruises that were a very good value. You get a lot of bang for the buck in that regard. And the ports are always decent - at least to my expectations.

On the downside, 3 sea days in a row is about my limit. So depending on the itinerary you might have more than that in a row. My TP had 5 sea days in a row at the end of the cruise and I was about stir crazy the last day or two.

Anyway, more pluses than minuses to me. I recommend them.

Those activities sound really cool. I always struggle to keep up with healthy habits when cruising, so this seems like a great way to encourage that!

(Also, love the new site design. Nice!)

Non-dairy creamer in the room, but good coffee since I don't use creamer (I like it strong and black). One of the reasons I got used to black coffee is that I loathe that non-dairy stuff. LOL! Coffee in the Neptune Lounge is awesome though. Very much like the machine I have at home. Love it.

We usually pick a specific room instead of taking a guarantee but we just rebooked to a Neptune suite with a guarantee on the Eurodam due to a price drop.

I guess I'm going on the thought that there aren't bad Neptune suites. I don't care about being close to the lounge. I like walking. Anything else to worry about? I'm good with paying a few hundred more for a specific room if a guarantee in this category is risky.

Any thoughts?

We had a Panama Canal cruise booked for April (no explore4). We'd booked the 16 day in a signature suite but I looked this weekend and the 21 day in a Neptune is now the same price as the 16 day in a signature was. Wow. Rebooked today!

I did lose $700 in perks (prepaid gratuities and free internet minutes), but the change also means the ship will bring us back home to Seattle, so no airfare needed at the end of the cruise. I'm thrilled to say the least.

Thank you for the responses! Much appreciated!!

I picked up a good deal on a HAL Mexican Rivera cruise that leaves Dec 17th and ends on Dec 24th.

Does HAL do anything different on the cruises leading up to a Holiday?

Actually the documentation I received with my Priority Pass card say guests traveling with me are free.

Okay, I will go back and read through that. But when I was considering the card it said it came with a benefit called "Priority Pass Select." Prior to getting the card I could not find anything that stated what benefits came with priority pass select.

I had priority pass in the past before I settled on a single airline and their club - American Airlines (I traveled a ton on business), and I did have to pay to bring a guest in with me. Awesome if this card does not require that extra payment. It's the only reason I paid the $75 extra to add my spouse with her own card.

Why is this part of your post? It sounds like politics, and this is not the proper forum.

Ditto! Looks like it's part of a signature line and needs to be removed, IMO. Ugh.

Another great thing about this card is that you get a free priority pass, which gets you in to lots of airline clubs for no charge. As a long term traveler I love this perk. So much easier to deal with airport hassles when you have a club to hang out in. And it makes it much nicer when you have to hang out because you booked a long layover so you didn't have to worry about missing your cruise.

A guest, like your spouse, costs extra. A good reason why my spouse and I each got our own card (second card on same account is only $75 per year, so $525 for two of us). If you each have your own chase card you each get a airline club pass of your own, so no charge on entry to club for the spouse.

Also keep in mind that the annual fees don't count toward the $4K required spend in 3 months needed to get the 100K bonus points.

I have one question about the card insurance - if I cancel a cruise for a non-medical reason (for instance a death in the family) am I still covered by the travel insurance?

Nothing worse in the furniture department than a sofa that sinks. :(

I agree with others - just ask them to fix it. We had a terrible TV in a Neptune Suite once. Let it go for a number of days because we didn't want to be a bother. But we did let them know at some point and viola! - it was replaced immediately.

I guess I am just surprised that they don't always proactively fix stuff like that. You'd think the room stewards would notice. But in any case they do seem to jump right on stuff if you notify guest services.

That is awesome! Hats off to HAL. I had no idea you could go and choose your own seats - if that is normal I may use them for airfare at some point! My main worry is getting stuck in a middle seat, away from my spouse, for a long flight!

That's cute. :) But I think the television sets on the Westerdam are even smaller. The computer monitor I am viewing while I type this is larger than the TV in my Westerdam stateroom (about a month ago).

LOL! Luckily I don't care because I am not there to watch TV.

I'm about to find out how good my Citi credit card's travel insurance is. I had to cancel my cruise for this week. I did have insurance, so Citi will only have to cover the uninsured portion--a few hundred dollars instead of a few thousand. Right now, though, I'm thinking more about recovery of my health than of money. I'm waiting on my doctor to write a letter that I'll be sending along with the forms.

Our citi card cancellation insurance is limited to $5K. The chase card has $10K so I signed up today. No more paying for extra trip cancellation insurance since we rarely spend over $10k per cruise. That is a big savings!

We stayed in a Neptune in April and we always waited 2 days for return of laundry. This was a 24 day cruise and we never got it back the same day or even in 24 hours.

PS ... The Pinnacle Grill doesn't open before 8am so if you want breakfast prior, you are in The Lido with a mob, one of the things we really dislike.

Breakfast in the Pinnacle is awesome. One of my favorite perks of having a Neptune Suite. Same food as breakfast in the MDR but awesome service, great views, and such a relaxing atmosphere to start your day.

Where do I start lol! The staff has been closer to rude than helpful (not all, but many). We are traveling with 3 other couples and we all dropped our jaws when our waiter laid into one of our group for asking the most simple and innocent question. He, of all people, is perhaps the most gentle soul that I know so all the more shocking! Communication in general is horrible, no one know what's going on. There are times when all the restaurants are closed .... yesterday we overheard a man begging at the Lido Buffet at 2 or 3pm for anything to eat! The breakfast buffet opens at 7 and is the only game in town; it is a mob scene. My husband waited a half hour in line for an omelet. We are in a Neptune Suite and our shower is smaller than a phone booth. Their internet (which is not cheap) is down more often than it is connected (no refunds). Lifeboat drill was worse than a joke. Didn't even take attendance!! We don't have a lifeboat as ours is in Skagway for service. When asked, we were told that in the event of a real emergency, we should report to this empty spot and then they would tell us where to go. Really? Yes, let's wait for mass hysteria to redirect 75 +\- people to multiple locations. Thats a good start!!

That's so odd. I have been on the Noordam many times - most recently for 24 days in April. And I have never experienced any of what you describe except for the passengers talking during the muster drill (so could not hear any instructions).

Others have pointed out the dining options that are beyond the regular meal times so I won't reiterate that other than to say there is never a time when food is not available in some capacity.

I also have to push back on the staff. They are excellent in my experience. Sounds like you ran into one bad apple.