iceman93

My wife and I are whiskey fans. Not experts, but more knowledgeable than the average consumer. We were very much looking forward to Notes on our NS cruise last summer. Our first disappointment was that Notes never seemed to be open except during their paid whiskey tastings. But that would have been okay if the tastings were enjoyable. We tried the first few and found that the bartender who ran them knew, literally, nothing about whiskey. He had a script he read from, but when guests would ask him questions he would either quote verbatim from the script or just make stuff up that was blatantly wrong. So after that we just ordered our own "wee drams" from bars around the ship, but Notes was one of the few things on that cruise that did not live up to (or exceed) our expectations.

I don't recall if the gym is open 24/7, and it might be even more boring than 12 laps per mile, but you could consider getting your 10k in on a treadmill.

The kids' club is great, at least my two girls have thought so. Our youngest (9) just told me last week she's glad our next cruise is on HAL because she likes it better than Disney (and no one was more shocked by that pronouncement than I was). The MDR dress code on HAL has become very lax. We personally follow the guidelines and consider them to apply to all passengers no matter the age. But I'd be surprised if you would be turned away if your kids wore shorts.

I've thought the same thing as @cruisemom42 regarding expectations of a multiple-course fine dining experience. In my mind, dinner at the MDR should be about two hours from start to finish in order to enjoy each course, our company and conversation, and beverages (which usually include a pre-dinner cocktail, a bottle of wine, and an after-dinner drink). Obviously there are others who want to be in-and-out in an hour; trying to keep all kinds of guests happy must make it extremely difficult on the dining room staff.

While it's dangerous to predict anything regarding travel and tourism that far in advance (as the past couple of years have taught us), my prediction is that Club HAL will remain a big plus factor for you. Based on my cruise last summer, the main differences between today's Club HAL and yesterday's was the slightly more limited hours of operation and the lack of any dining options. But the space was the same, the counselors were as awesome as ever, the activities offered the same breadth, and my daughter loved it as much as ever.

I am on the Westerdam cruise that ends on 1/19, and my understanding is that the ship is going into drydock immediately after. I suppose HAL could have concerns that the drydock will run long, causing them to cancel the cruise you're asking about? Poor customer service if so, and I would share your concerns if *no* shore excursions are available to book on the entire voyage.

Add the spa to your list and that sums it up. Children are welcome in all other venues, and well-behaved children especially so! 😉

I have no evidence to support what I'm about to say, but I have faith that the staff on board HAL ships will apply this policy with the proper degree of common sense. What I mean by that is that if a customer orders two appetizers but no main course, they will not add the surcharge. I even think they will not add the surcharge for a customer who orders two appetizers plus their main course if they're also ordering cocktails or a nice bottle of wine. I hope I'm right that the idea isn't to start nickel-and-diming, but to cut down on the folks who think "well, I'm paying extra to eat here so might as well get my money's worth" and order basically one of everything, taking a bite or two and wasting the rest. Seeing a surcharge written on the menu should dissuade that behavior, and as long as HAL is flexible when the situation calls for it, I'm okay with that.

Honestly, this statement leaves me unable to make any other recommendations as I am flabbergasted anyone could be bored on a Disney ship or find that there was "not much to do". Say what you will about Disney Cruise Line (and people do) but the parent company is in the entertainment business so their ships are jam-packed with activities. Movies, shows, sports, trivia, classes, lectures, spa, bingo, parties, fireworks, live music, lounges. I have found the challenge on a Disney cruise is that there are often two or three things going on simultaneously that I want to do. It sounds like maybe a casino is where you prefer to spend your time? Because that's the one thing Disney ships don't have, and if so, HAL has them.

It may sound silly, but be absolutely 100% sure you're looking at the exact same flights from both sources. I saw an odd situation once like you're describing, and I don't remember exactly what happened but it was something like the FlightEase flights having an overnight layover in the connecting city that I almost didn't notice because I was just looking at flight numbers and arrival dates.

I hope no one here or on board will give you any flack about continuing to wear a mask, sansterre. Such a thing should be a personal decision. Likewise, if one is on a cruise where masks are not required, I would hope no one would look down on or denigrate those who choose not to wear one.

Same happened on my NS cruise earlier this year. All pre-cruise indications were for no masking then BAM! Little cards handed out at embarkation saying masks were required. From some discussions I had onboard, it was revealed that masking requirements are jointly decided by the captain, the ship's medical officer, and HQ in Seattle. Now that the CCL umbrella policy is to make masking optional even for crew, hopefully we'll see more pressure from HQ to eliminate mask mandates on board.

I find that a bit unfair to the crew (although I guess technically you are correct, it's just that there's no reason for them to be THAT curious). "Sometimes there's a loud bang that wakes me up." "Oh, sir, we'll station a team at points all around your cabin 24/7 until we figure this out!" What they asked for, a log of the exact times it happens and hopefully better information on the exact direction it's coming from, seems quite fair before they can do any real troubleshooting.

I honestly haven't seen complaints here about price increases. In general (and of course I might be wrong), I think HAL's clientele is willing to pay a little more to get a little more. Where people complain is definitely in the nickel & diming and cost-cutting. HAL used to be, and still positions itself as, a premium cruise line. I expect them to be somewhere between mass-market (where base fare is what drives purchase decisions, and on-board nickel-and-diming is totally to be expected) and luxury (where overall experience is more important than price, and everything should be included and the overall experience should be seamless). Unfortunately, I think we've seen them make changes to push them closer to the mass-market lines than the luxury lines. Personally, I think there is a huge market for "premium" cruising and HAL is inexplicably walking away from a niche they could dominate.

This would indeed add stress, but the reality is the airline will reasonably hold connections (particularly when the next option is very inconvenient) for late-connecting passengers.

Yes, how could I who have flown over 2 million commercial air miles possibly know how much time is needed to make a connection? 😂 Look, everyone has their own tolerance for things like this. Some check in for their flights 2-3 hours in advance and appreciate that cushion of protection. Some, like me, would rather not spend all that time in airports so cut things much closer. Yes, there is risk to this approach but even two hours may not be enough time if the inbound flight is delayed. How much time are you willing to spend/waste to cut down the risk of missing the connection? To me, 45 minutes of connection time is perfect at any airport in the U.S. and offers the best balance of convenience with comfort. The reason airlines have published their minimal acceptable connection times by airport is because it's the amount of time they have decided is reasonable for a person walking at an average speed to get from one gate to another in the farthest possible corners away from each other. Most times, of course, the gates are much closer together than that. And, if you're getting tight, you can always walk faster or even run. Worst case, you miss the connection and then the airline will automatically put you on the next available flight. I admit, for rarely-served international destinations, this can sometimes be the next day (but that's why I never fly in the same day a cruise departs--to me, it's much more likely flights will be cancelled due to weather, mechanical problems, crew rest, or whatever than that I will miss a 45-minute connection). Back to the OP's situation, like I said I'd be thrilled if a planned two-hour layover was changed to 45 minutes. But if they are uncomfortable due to a different level of risk tolerance, call the airline and see what options they offer. If the answer is nothing, then the OP is no worse off than right now. More likely, they will offer different flight times the OP can choose from at no additional charge.

45 minutes to connect in MIA should be plenty. Why the concern? I would consider that a nearly-ideal layover!

That's great news, @Cruise tech! Is that fleetwide, or are you reporting on a single ship?

It was indeed required on the ship in general, but even in the lead-up to the cruise (where it was advertised as masking-optional), the Club HAL part of the website stated that masks would be required in there regardless of vaccination status. I hope that changes soon!

On our cruise this summer, Club HAL required masking at all times and did not do meals or snacks like they used to (only water for the kids). But as far as I know there were no vax requirements beyond the cruise itself, and definitely no reservations required.

Thanks, @BermudaBound2014, but I don't think the doubter above is going to care about facts. After all, Canadians have just dealt with everything SO WELL while we Americans just complain. Apparently.

You sound like perfect candidates for the HIA package. Having the ability to grab that many random drinks throughout the day and not have to worry about paying for them would seem to be worth more than the raw dollar value of the drinks themselves. If you want to add sommelier suite packages for bottles of wine, that's another good option, but you could also just purchase the occasional bottle of wine and probably still come out ahead. I guess the question is whether you will track every single dollar and cent to see if you're making money, or if you prefer the peace of mind of just ordering what you want when you want.