MISTER 67

7 or 8 days is all we do now, we liked 10 and 11 days at one time but the older we get we just prefer just one week. That being said, we cruised 5 times this year, all 5 were for one week and we will probably do 3 or 4 a year for the foreseeable future.

Offering lobster at only an upcharge is just another one of HAL's cutbacks. We were on X 3 times this summer and lobster was on the menu the last dressy night on all 3 cruises, on our sailing in June everybody who ordered lobster had 2 tails on their plate. Shrimp Cocktail was one of the appetizers every tonight with no upcharge, one night they brought out 2 to those who ordered it. We sailed with Princess twice at Thansgiving and Chritmas of 2021 and lobster was on the menu one night on both cruise at no extra charge. HAL's chintzy ways have put a real bad taste in our mouths and we are done sailing with them for the foreseeable future.

Can't disagree with anything you wrote and it was freezing on that ship for the whole week.

We were on the Equinox in June and as soon as we boarded I went to guest relations as we were in an inside cabin, I asked if any verandas were still available and what the cost would be, lo and behold the lady put us in a verandah at no extra charge, as you said if you don’t ask, you don’t get. BTW, that nice lady received a nice tip, at first she refused to accept it but I insisted that she take it.

You probably eventually will get an upsell offer.

I thought that was a snarky comment also, some people just can't help themselves. BTW I believed you.

Hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year.

We've had some in Billboard that weren't too talented.

My guess is there will be an classical group in the Explorers lounge as that's what HAL did before they cut some of the Explorers lounges in half and made a Lincoln Center.

Have a great holiday cruise followed by what I'm sure will be an amazing WC.

They will email you.

We sailed on the Equinox 4 times, 2 right before the pandemic and 2 this summer, all 4 have been excellent. We also sailed on the Infinity in October and that cruise might have been even better except that the buffet on the Infinity lacks the variety of the Oceanview buffet on the Equinox.

IMHO HAL is in a bad place right now and they need to get their act together. They can't blame the pandemic anymore and all the cuts they have made is making for a lousy cruise experience. This past year we sailed with HAL twice and Celebrity 3 times and the difference is startling, HAL can't come close to Celebrity when it comes to food and entertainment. Service is still great on both lines but cabin service on Celebrity is still twice a day with mints on the pillows every night. We received 4 mints for the week on our recent Nieuw Amsterdam cruise and the rationing of butter is pathetic. We have noticed the short times in port and scratch our heads, 6 hours in some ports is a joke. What is happening with HAL is sad as we watch a once great cruise line reach new lows.

Brilliance of the Seas sails out of Tampa which is little larger tonnage wise as the Vista Class ships like the Zuiderdam but it's the height that comes into play. My guess is the Zuiderdam could sail under the Sunshine Skyway bridge. We sailed on the Veendam twice and the Rhapsody of the Seas once out of TB, I wish there were more ships based there but since the pandemic it seems like slim pickings.

We always give 10s but they shouldn't be soliciting good reviews, leaves a bad taste in your mouth. Same with going out to restaurants and they have suggestive tips on the bill, we were at a place last night that had 20, 25 and 30% for the suggestive tips which I thought was a bit much, this was not a fancy fine dining establishment, it was a franchise place with decent service, 99% of the time we leave 20% which we feel is a pretty good tip. We also give our waiters and cabin stewards on the ships cash gratuities in addition to the automatic gratuities that are posted your cruise account.

We've never been that early.

We will continue to do what we have for 30 years living in Florida, we have no problem with arriving early and if we have to wait outside until our designated time, that's fine, we aren't going to melt.

We froze also on our recent NA cruise, my guess is that HAL is keeping the ships cold to kill off Covid and Flu germs.

Oh well.

We usually arrive early because we live in Florida and have a 2.5 hour drive to Port Everglades and like to give ourselves some time for accident delays or a flat tire. We have never had a problem boarding the ship before our designated boarding time with any of the lines.

They might go to a 3,000 passenger ship. We have sailed on Celebrity’s Equinox 4 times and at a capacity of 2,900 have never found the ship teeming with people or overcrowded. We have also sailed with the large Princess ships like the Royal and Regal and things were not overcrowded on those ships either but I still prefer the Signature class ships with HAL.

We saw the piano and scratched our heads as is to why no one played it the whole week we sailed which was from Dec 4-11. Maybe an illness but we were on the Rotterdam in April and there was no live music in the Ocean Bar on that cruise either. Bottom line is that HAL has cut back on too many things and we just don't care to sail with them anymore.

I’m amazed, happy times at Happy Hour.

We've sailed on the Equinox 4 times, 2 right before the pandemic and 2 this past summer, all 4 were great cruises with excellent food, service and entertainment. The Equinox is a beautiful ship and we are sailing on her sister, the Relection on April 2nd.

If you like what my DW calls angry dancing with ear shattering canned music, we were on the Dec 4th sailing and we walked out on 2 of the shows. Shame on HAL for not having live music in the showroom except one night when they borrowed the group from Lincoln Center. No live music in the beautiful Ocean Bar is a crime. Food was only fair with small portions. As 4 Star Mariners we were extremely unhappy with our Dec 4 cruise on the NA, probably our last cruise with HAL, we will stay with Celebrity. We did receive our tiles along with a total of 4 mints for the week. Glad you enjoyed your cruise.