Florida_gal_50

Recommended = optional to a lot of people. It’s not the same. I have no idea why and have been chastised by posters for saying this. Thank you for the update.

Have you looked at your boarding pass? It should be listed on there the amount of gala nights.

That’s exactly what I thought 😛. For the op, Roger Jett’s sight has lots of information. A 24 day cruise is not going to give a good indication of menus. That was a pricy cruise. This one not as much. Since this cruise only happens twice a year, back and forth it will be near impossible to find menus. Here is a link to Rogers site which might be limited help. https://rogerjett-photography.com

I’ve done multiple canal cruises. The port tax is always very high. I assume you are talking for 2 people.

I’m thinking there would be 3. If you are close enough to the cruise to print your boarding pass it will be on there.

I would have done the same. When people start expecting or asking for things that is a huge turn off for me.

That may happen but I sure wouldn’t want to count on that. With so many people claiming they only travel with carry on that shouldn’t even be a problem. I know I’ve been belittled on this board for admitting I travel with a suitcase plus a carry on.

Nope. You pay $15.50 a day if I recall per person. That should satisfy any tipping. If a person says nope I’m not paying anything or I’m going to take care of “my people” that’s a whole different discussion. To say people should be giving above and beyond is just wrong and this is coming from someone that over tips rather than under.

Have a wonderful cruise. Looking forward to hearing more.

Love this for San Diego. Thanks for posting.

Sing it 👏👏. My vote for post of the day. If I could get that price for water on hal I’d be all over it. I like to take a few bottles ashore. I’m a water drinker (about 3 litres a day). I generally don’t drink that much on vacation because it’s not easy if you are ashore but I try to get 2 litres in a day. I have no desire to bring a reusable water bottle with me. That’s just precious space I can use for something else.

Absolutely they are. There was a picture taken by someone (I’m not going to bust them) and posted on this board. Iirc that person (crew clearly) was carrying a few large bottles of water back on to the ship. I don’t begrudge the crew. That’s not the point I’m trying to make but clearly it’s not a problem.

Unfortunately I can’t find any deals like that. My next cruise is $5000 plus for 2 weeks for a balcony, not a suite. Like I said this is why I get a bee in my bonnet about the suggestion that cruise prices should be raised or making the pinnacle $200 a pop.

There actually was another thread a while ago with people stating they were getting free cruises (not related to the casino). Frankly I wish they would just give no free cruises out a lower the cost of cruise unilaterally. For those that feel they are so low already 🙄 they can offer to pay a higher fare. This wouldn’t put such a bee in my bonnet if they would stop things like charging for extra apps in the pinnacle then giving cruises away to other to finance operations.

Then they need to hold everyone to this standard. They certainly aren’t holding their crew to this. This is more about a money grab then anything else so they can charge ridiculous prices for water. I tire of companies that do things to “appear” to do environmentally proper things with one hand and disregard it with the other. Like I said earlier I think they should prevent people from bring their weight on in bottled water, but one or 2 bottles make zero difference. Feel free to give up your water bottle for me.

Definitely do it that way. Buy the cheapest room in the category and you’ll be able to upgrade to the best available within that same category. That said, if you were to buy a cruise a week before or wait until the last minute to buy club orange the choice will likely be less.

They don’t have it posted at any restaurants but generally they will mention it at restaurants. Just for further info the only place you can wear shorts at night is in the lido. I’m surprised that this wouldn’t have come up before if you have sailed hal like it sounds you have. I would have thought the cruise would have been on the cold side so I’d be wanting to wear pants pretty much everywhere. At one point I believe you had to wear a button down shirt and pants. Hal keeps making the dress code less and less stringent but it still seems hard for some to obtain. If they don’t draw the line somewhere will the next thing be shorts and tank tops for men because a shirt is too restrictive?

I assume you’d have to call hal to cancel. We have transit trains where I live and I have no idea what tap out means. While I don’t live in Vancouver I have no desire to take transit anywhere. I do that enough at home and it’s gross. I don’t get on it without disposable gloves and a mask. It’s bad enough with a purse and a bag. No way would I do it with a purse, a carry on and a suitcase to save $20. My comfort is worth more than that. Good luck to you Roz.

Thanks for your review. I’m pretty sure the dress code does mention long pants are required. I can tell you every pair of pants I have is just as comfortable as shorts. I think it’s a pretty low bar to obtain. Did he wear shorts in the specialty restaurants? I’m surprised that he was short shamed since hal never likes to offend anyone. I find it so bizarre to have colouring as an activity. I know that was a thing years ago but it’s just odd to me. I love the nieuw statendam. It’s definitely my favourite.

Was the op looking for summer cruises? It was my impression they were looking for spring and fall 2023. You’d think hal would have something for fall 2023 by now. It’s only a year away. It appears that the koningsdam is staying on the west coast as there is a longer cruise planned for Feb 2024. I just hope it won’t be doing all long cruises when the zaandam could easily be used for that. I’d rather sail hal but if the choice isn’t there it will be Princess or celebrity for me.

No it most certainly was not. To me next fall doesn’t mean 2022. I doubt it would to most others either.

Copper 10-8 has said otherwise. He has worked for hal and is very knowledgeable. While that may be a secondary reason for it, it doesn’t seem to be the primary reason. There have also been pictures posted on cc of the crew carrying large plastic bottles of water recently on board. While I can see it being a good idea to stop people from bringing cases and cases onboard I don’t see the big deal of bringing one or 2 bottles.

It’s a cash grab for sure. Of course there should be mark up but that is straight up price gouging.

I would say it’s less crowded than the mdr but not by much. Just like the dining room there may be a wait.

I agree. Although it’s not the same I get a cabana on the ship. The stewards do very, very little for me. About the only thing is putting water in the ice bucket and maybe get me some apples from time to time. There are people that get them to do everything for them. They still get a pretty healthy tip from me even though they acknowledge they do very little for me.