FlaMariner

Agree with the loud talking on all the ship hydro suites....It is not a frequent occurrence but when the party starts, it's very annoying and disapointing. We just label them "obnoxious Yankees" and move on......My previous efforts to "shush them" seem to be unsuccessful.

We enjoy drinking the surcharge free water onboard the ship that comes with ice and a cup....so far, it's worked out fine for us and does not require us hauling bottles, buying special bottles or buying water onboard. I'm glad we all have choices......Enjoy the water....no matter the source or the effort to haul it around.

Ice bucket is required at least once during cruise to see how well your heart is working.....LOL.

This is what we do.....and we head out early in the morning and find the lounge chairs that are under the trees at the beach....pleasant....Also, it's been a 1.5 years since last at HMC but there were also some hammocks (w/no surcharge, LOL) under the trees at that area (Please do not tell anyone). Shady. My suggestion, go early, walk down the beach to the shady spots, go to lunch BBQ when it first opens and then head back to the ship....For us, it's too much of a visual paradise to miss...And you can manage/minimize the sun. Enjoy Half Moon Cay!

Agree.... The Pinnacle class ships (Koningsdam, Nieuw Statendam, Rotterdam) have, IMO, the best hydro suite areas..Along with the pool, there's more stuff (the ice bucket, the horizontal shower) plus it is all in one area (you don't have to go out one area and into another area) to go between the sauna/steam/heated chairs/showers to get to/from the pool. Enjoy....it's a great splurge and Her Majesty requires her spa pass if we are on for lots of sea days.

Good point also......That's another reason to load up on the $100 FCD's when onboard.....If needed, that's not a huge sum to lose.

Good info....That's the key....We are also booking longer cruises and going to "once in a lifetime" bucket list trips so I think I am better off booking early and forgoing the "last minute" route.....Yea, if I was heading to the Caribbean/Alaska for a week, there is not much serious planning to those trips and I'd be fine with last minute booking. Let the early trip planning resume.......

I'd really like to be more like that.... ....we are fine with guarantee cabins but.....do you find that you lose out on: lower airfares booking tours getting tickets to "must see" venues/museums etc? getting the preferred fixed seating other issues because of booking late?

off the top of my head........I'm sure others can add..... faster (don't have to point, explain, say "more", say "that enough", say "thank you") skip certain side items (sometimes they auto add them) get the piece I want get the amount I want place it where I want on my plate less line skippers (it's more obvious with a self service line where to start) don't have to wait for the lady in front of me to customize and discuss everything about their food request w/the lido server...I can be "one and done" and eating before she has even figured out what to ask to order.....LOL

For those like me that did not know......I asked Mr. Internet about Vegemite: Vegemite is a thick, dark brown[3] Australian food spread made from leftover brewers' yeast extract with various vegetable and spice additives.

Self service is preferred but I understand the need for lido servers for certain items either because of price (bacon for example) or the way it has to be served (cutting meat for example)....Noro virus does not bother me....otherwise I would never book passage on a ship if that was my fear. I know it's a germ factory and tight quarters.

A HAL sale is rarely of any value to us.... I do compute the "price per day" no matter whether there is a sale or whatever.....So if there is a supposed "sale" say, with "free tips" then we compute that into the "price per day" and see how it changes the price per day....but usually "sales" only mean they increase the price of the cruise and toss in the benefit....as mentioned earlier "smoke and mirrors". I still do the math when there is a "deal" on HIA but we have yet to conclude that booking HIA is worth it to us. YMMV based on whether you would buy the benefits in HIA in the first place. Not us. We have found, over the years, that booking early gives us the best prices....and the ability to cancel/rebook if the math turns out more beneficial later as long as it is before final payment.

I noticed that also...... I guess they have figure out that if folks are choosing a TA, they are fine with/enjoy sea days.... We go on many TA's and have two booked next year.....We like them because: we go to a few ports along the way (few is fine) we enjoy sea days we are glad we are not flying the price per day is a deal we arrive either home/Europe rested and ready to hit the ground running I'm fine with fewer ports on a TA...just keep changing up the offering....We've seen Port Delgado switched out for Bermuda, the shuffle of Gibraltar mixed in with the Spanish ports and different ports switched out in southern England. It seems each TA has some minor port changes so that keeps us happy...wether 3, 4 or 5 ports we are fine w/that on a TA....If we wanted more ports, we would not choose a TA in the first place. We missed Port Delgado twice over the years...and it made for 9 days at sea....not a problem. This past April, we did the Oosterdam TA to Barcelona and then the next cruise which was 10 ports in 11 days. LOL. We are glad we had the TA prior to being "off to the races". Enjoy the TA's......no matter the port stops!

Agree w/above.... That's the way we roll also....plus, after dinner, you can ask for a bottle "to go" and take it back to your cabin yourself.

Nevermind....I just read the other post on this topic and it does look like Celebrity is not helping with Vietnam Visas......I'm feeling lucky for once that I shop at Walmart. LOL.

My advice.... Ask your TA to reach out to Celebrity and find out if Celebrity is handling visas for all passengers..... We are sailing Carnival and Carnival sent us a nice email letting us know way early that they would be handling our VISAs and they would charge us....I forget the fee but it was not much and well worth them being responsible rather than me. If Walmart/Carnival can handle the Vietnam Visas for all, I'm thinking that the great Nordstrom/Celebrity should be able to handle Vietnam Visas for its passengers. Good luck and let your TA earn their commission by finding out for you. Enjoy Vietnam....

IMO...... That means it is not an assigned check in time...It's a great way for HAL to help spread out the herd and is simply a "reccomendation" and based on our experience boarding, you should choose the boarding time that works for you and not fret the supposed "assigned" time. We have boarded in Seattle, Chile, Amsterdam, Fort Lauderdale & Barcelona since the unpleasantness (Covid) and our supposed "boarding time" has never been monitored (and we were not 4*'s then).... We've found that HAL is ready to welcome you onboard.......

I'm reading that the US dollar is welcome in Vietnam.....We will be touring for just one day (Ho Chi Min City) so thinking I'll be fine with small US bills for tips, drinks, taxi's, buying stuff, etc. Am I thinking correctly?

We too enjoyed lunch in the MDR at embarkation but we've cruised many times since that went away and we've adjusted fine.... We've always been able to find a quiet table at the lido pool area furtherest from the lido buffet (closer to the spa/ping pong table) and we enjoy taking our time w/lunch. Dive In burgers are a hit as is my first salad bar trip of the cruise.....It's fun saying hello to the crew, reading our program and planning our adventure. We still enjoy boarding as early as we can and enjoying lunch onboard to "get the party started".....Plus, most importantly, that lunch is included in my cruise fare thus I intend to partake and enjoy.

We were on the NS for Thanksgiving week a couple of years ago. The ship was full and there were all ages onboard. We got along fine considering it was Thanksgiving week and it was not the usual HAL vibe...obviously....we stayed on the next week (B2B) and even though the ship was full the next week, it did seem calmer because we left the kids and their parents behind. We've never felt crowded on the Pinacle class ships (Nieuw Statendam, Koningsdam, Rotterdam). Things are very well spread out....And the retractable roof keeps allows folks to use the lido pool area even in inclement/cool weather.

Will 12 nights work? Like this one? This is Rotterdam but there are many more. Sunday, October 27 Fort Lauderdale, FL 3:00pm Monday, October 28 Half Moon Cay, Bahamas 9:00am 5:00pm Tuesday, October 29 At Sea Wednesday, October 30 At Sea Thursday, October 31 Curacao 8:00am 11:00pm Friday, November 1 At Sea Saturday, November 2 Cartagena, Colombia 7:00am 2:00pm Sunday, November 3 Panama Canal (Partial Transit) (Cruising) Sunday, November 3 Gatun Lake, Panama (Cruising) Sunday, November 3 Colon, Panama 5:00pm 9:00pm Monday, November 4 Puerto Limon, Costa Rica 7:30am 4:30pm Tuesday, November 5 At Sea Wednesday, November 6 Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands 7:00am 4:00pm Thursday, November 7 At Sea Friday, November 8 Fort Lauderdale, FL (There are plenty of HAL Caribbean cruises that are longer than 7 nights that don't require a FLL port call)

Yes! Prune juice is available in Lido during breakfast at the area where all the juices are located.....self service. all you can drink. Also, prune juice is on the MDR breakfast menu.

A birthday cake with the waiters singing the Indonesian version of Happy Birthday can easily be requested by telling your waiter or maitre D a day or so prior.......no surcharge required. Same situation, different song for Happy Anniversary. Enjoy the celebrations in the MDR.

For those that get the upgrade offers from their TA.....when do they usual arrive? I'm at 58 days until embarkation.

From the FlightEase website: Now available from 330 days up to 4 days prior to departure.