Sea42

It does happen but not with just a weeks notice.

Our May 15th cruise had specialty dinning reservations available on Dec 29th. So, about 4 1/2 months. Our excursions were available in September.

It sounds like there is plenty to do, if the things being offered are things you would enjoy. I can see though that people who cruise frequently would be bored with the same old thing. I would certainly be bored cruising on the same line year after year.

A great resource for your cruise is the Alaska section of Cruise Critic. Have fun, it is a wonderful cruise! https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/33-alaska/

I think with the low staffing levels that I've seen reported on here that the crew really doesn't have the time to do the shows anymore.

Were you on a HAL excursion? Because if you were I would have thought HAL would pay for your flights.

That could very well be. It would be an odd thing for more than one person to make comments about though.

We were on the first cruise after the fire. Crew members openly talked about passengers that had been doing flaming shots (lit alcohol) on the balcony. True or not? I have no idea but it was talked about at the time.

Thanks for the update! I'm glad everything is straightened out.

On the nights we go out - Around 6 or so we share a couple cheese plates from room service and enjoy them with our wine on our balcony. Then it's time to get ready for dinner. Dinner generally starts anywhere from 7:30 to 8:30. If the timing is right we'll catch sunset by the seaview pool with another adult beverage. One of the advantages of not being a regular cruiser is that whatever is on the main stage is probably something we haven't seen before! So we'll go to the show and then find some music (70's or later please!). Most likely back to the cabin by midnight, earlier if there is port day the next day. We do not do this every night. We really don't have the desire to go "out" every night on a cruise. We are much more likely to do land trips and when we do, we don't go out every night for the weeks that we're traveling. It's no different on a cruise.

There are way more high priority updates needed in the Navigator app. The time spent programming this can be much better spent.

I agree it's pretty underwhelming.

For Dubrovnik, we left the ship and took a cab to the gate closet to the wall walk entrance and did that first before the tour groups and crowds arrived. We then took a ferry over to Lokrum island. https://www.dubrovnik-travel.net/lokrum-island/ It was great place to walk around and was a nice change from all of the city visits on our cruise. We went for a swim, enjoyed the beer gardens and played bocce. There were some gardens and the ruins of a monastery. We then took the ferry back and explored the city for a couple of hours before returning to the ship. It was a very nice low key day.

Then Oceania, Regent and Viking are in serious trouble. They send me mailers almost daily with their "special" deals.

I received that message too. I backed out tried again and it worked.

You can see it on the Navigator app under Account/Statement. I can see my statements back to 2018 but it may take a few days to show up.

Please let us know how the situation turns out.

Your frustration was justified. Sometimes you just need to blow off steam. I hope your next cruise is much more fun!

Hair dryer. I imagine it would work, if it works like any other dryer/curling iron.

Yes, report it to guest services. They will notify the people who will handle it.

We have that "problem" too on our upcoming cruise. We plan on using ours for whatever specialty dining is still available, laundry and a couples massage.

I am enjoying your blog so much! I look forward to the mornings when I have an email about a new post. Thanks for taking the time to do it.

Usually OBC from HAL is nonrefundable. You can use for crew gratuities, wine package, laundry etc. The OBC we receive from our TA is refundable. It's nice that HAL uses your nonrefundable first before the refundable!

Is there any value purchasing CO if you are 5* and in a Neptune suite? I thought the CO benefits were already included if you are staying in a Neptune or Pinnacle suite.

Great, thanks for the information!