4 minutes ago, VitaminSea53 said:

Not the “exact same issue” - read my original question .... I am not asking to debate the issue. I AM ASKING FOR FEEDBACK FROM CRUISERS WHO HAVE DIRECTLY EXPERIENCED THE NEW TEST POLICY. 

I asked the question of a current cruiser on the Eurodam.  She said their waiter on day one said there would be a charge for an additional entree.

4 hours ago, OlsSalt said:

Surcharge for second entree, by choice, is fair.

I would like to disagree with this.   This has been the standard in cruising industry for every ship I've been on (Carnival, RCL, Celebrity, Princess, HAL).   The brochure mentions charging for Specialty Dinning, not the MDR.   Very few people abuse this (at least as far as I've seen).  If you are hungry, you should be able to order more.   

Those that abuse the extra entree most likely won't pay for the new surcharge, but they will go ahead and order 5 appetizers, 2 soups, 1 entree, 5 deserts and a cheese plate.   Makes no sense to me

Many people order a pasta to split between their party whether it be 2-4 people.   If this happened every night for a 20 day cruise it would be $200......that's absurd

Lastly, for this to be thrown on a couple of ships as a "TRIAL" is unfair to those passengers that knew nothing about this.  It should either be fleet wide or not at all.   Of course, I'm ticked as I'm sailing on NA shortly.

Charge for each plate full of food in the Lido

Of course you have to pay to see any entertainment

I'm sure charging for early embarkation/debarkation has to be in there somewhere

I am glad I brought my lanyard and I should have left my purse at home!

It's funny, cuz I almost drool at food waste......that means I've got a good compost pile.   They need to give the food waste to countries that have bad soil....seriously!!

52 minutes ago, seamist said:

Yeah, it is currently active on Eurodam for at least this cruise.  However, as mentioned previously, if you happen to not like what you ordered, then the waiter will bring you another one at no charge (this according to our waiter - who happens to be one of the best we’ve had btw!)

 

I think this is a crack down on those who would order several entrees in order to blog about them or sample each one, taking only a bite or two of each and wasting the rest.  My husband ran into one lady who did this:  ordered every single entree, took a bite of each entree, and left the rest.  Smh.

Now that I think back about it, I DO remember you saying that.   I guess I read so many in the other thread regarding this that I forgot you posted it here.   Thank you for taking the time to respond.....enjoy your cruise!     If you run into these 2 fellow cruisers....they are my parents 🙂

I hope you didn't answer this question previously, but I was wondering what you are hearing about the additional $10 per entree in the MDR.   There is a thread on CC that is going nuts about it, but I haven't heard from anyone that has 1st hand knowledge.   

I believe the Eurodam is one of the ships that is currently under the trial period but I may be mistaken.   It looks like it says that on your dinner menu but I had a hard time reading the fine print 

I'm on NA in a couple of weeks and it is also one of the "trial" ships.

Any insight?

I've read about 30 pages of comments, but finally decided to just chime in for whatever it's worth.

I don't care if you order one item or 5, I don't care if you count calories or choose not too.   I cruise knowing I will eat too much (and I usually do)....if I cruised more than once or twice a year I would probably be more concerned about my calorie count.   

But here is the part that upsets me.    I booked my cruise on NA with the anticipation of ordering more than one entree if I wanted....that's part of cruising for me.   NOT being told in advance this was being done I think is unfair.....Call it discrimination or whatever, but why my cruise and not others?   If this was fleet wide I would still be upset, but more understanding of the trial.    

For instance, if HAL made a blanket statement that on Jan 1, 2020 they were going to make this move across all ships, then we could all complain equally.   But to choose only a few ships is very unfair to those that booked without knowing this was going to happen.

Stupid move on HAL's part......

That's why it's better not to read the fine print 

We were on NA and the stewards would get us ANYTHING we wanted virtually from anywhere.   They were practically begging us to get something to eat/drink.   A couple of times, I asked them to surprise me with something from the Lido.....I just said I didn't want any walnuts but anything else would be fun to try.   It was fun eating what they brought back.  They would tell me which items were their favorites.   I got a kick out of what they would bring.   I looked forward to the variety.    Booked another Cabana for 4/7 Mexican Riviera.....unfortunately the family cabanas were both spoken for.   I'm a cabana lover 

My parents rented a cabana (family) but when we got on board, HAL admitted they made a mistake.  We sucked it up,  cried for a couple of minutes and then me moved on into one of the smaller cabanas.  They removed one of the lounge chairs for us and put in a larger table with 4 chairs.  We wanted to play board games, etc.   The service is wonderful and I found the cabanas to be a bargain.    You basically have full time waiters that will do anything for you.   Get you food, drinks, fruit, etc.   We tipped them well.  If one of the family cabanas are available I would snag it in a heartbeat.  Basically, it's like having an aft wrap around balcony at a fraction of the cost.....views are incredible. 

So.....being that I have a lobster fetish I thought I should ask.   Do they serve Maine lobsters on the gala night or the smaller lobsters like Australian?   Can't believe I just asked that question but after seeing those lobsters, I have to know 

4 minutes ago, VennDiagram said:

 

I would expect you would get a limited list to choose from.  Don't expect that list to include the entire wine list or every liquor  😉

 

 

You can buy that for a 7 day cruise in North America for $49 for the cabin.

 

I've never been able to find any real value in the Suite Amenities package.

I think there would be value if I could truly get my "favorite" liquor....Knowing now that mine would be a 2 for 1, I can't see the logic behind it.

2 minutes ago, Iamthesea said:

Does this mean that bathrobes are no longer provided onboard unless you are in a Suite or order this package?

 

And the Pinnacle Grill for breakfast on the last morning...when most are rushing to get off the ship and catch a flight?  If it was room service offered (which most lines do not offer on the morning of disembarkation) we might be tempted.  

I'm not sure about the bathrobes, but I agree with you on the Pinnacle Grill on the morning of departure (it would be wasted on me).

Kazu,

You are correct about my addition...   I proofed my spelling but not my math.   The confusing part is the "favorite" liquor.   What's a favorite to me is likely not to be included.   Guess I will call tomorrow and get some additional answers on this.

I've already purchased 2 Pinnacle Dinners $70 and Bailey's $56.25 then I stumbled across this pkg and it made me reconsider.   I know I'd use the $50 beverage card (probably on day one), so now I just need to find out what liquor/wine is included.

Thanks for taking the time to respond.

Would someone please clarify this for me?   Below is what is listed on the HAL website as an option for purchase.   Current price for a 7 day cruise is $419 for 2 people:

I'm trying to figure out if this makes sense.  We are booked in an aft facing cabin and not in a suite.  I'm trying to calculate to see if this would pay for itself.  The offer indicates 2 bottles of wine of your choice and 2 bottles of your favorite liquor (does that mean anything?  It says "favorite" but that sounds too good to be true).  Any insight on this package would be greatly appreciated.   I calculated my items below.

$50 Beverage Card

Silverado Cabernet Sauvignon $106.25 x 2 = $112.50

Grey Goose Vodka $85

Bailey's $56.25

Pinnacle Grill Dinner $35 x 2 = $70

Bathrobes.....don't care, so no value to me

Breakfast at Pinnacle on day of departure - don't care

Fresh Flowers - Nice, but I wouldn't pay for them separately

Laundry & Pressing - Nice, but probably won't use on 7 day cruise

Total of items that interest me are:  $373.75

That means we would in theory be upside down if we purchased this pkg by $45.25.....BUT, if I had to buy cocktails instead of making my own with my Vodka & Bailey's I would make up this difference in a matter of 4 drinks.    

SUITE AMENITIES PACKAGE, DOUBLE, 7-10 DAYS

With a Suite Amenities Package, you'll receive in-suite beverages upon embarkation with two bottles of wine of your choice, and two bottles of your favorite liquor. In addition you'll enjoy a $50 beverage card, a monogrammed bathrobe to relax, fresh cut flowers, complimentary laundry and pressing*, a daily high tea or cold canap¿s delivered to your stateroom, and an elegant dinner for two at the Pinnacle Grill. This package includes special disembarkation privileges, enjoy a relaxing breakfast in the Pinnacle Grill before leaving the ship at your leisure. Pinnacle Grill dinner reservations to be made by the guest on board. A 15% service charge is included in the price of the item. You must be 21 years of age or older to order and receive alcoholic beverages. *Charges apply for dry cleaning. Price applies to double occupancy on voyages 7-10 days.

Following along....my parents are on with you!

I've done the panama canal cruise 3x now, and all I can tell you was it was HOT and MUGGY!! The rain will come quickly and leave just as quick. 90% of the time it was normal sailing....10% was a little rough (or rockin' and a rollin'), which I find to be rather enjoyable :-)

If you have two "side by sides" can you raise the canvas on the two inside "walls" and make it more like one big cabana?

I'm not sure if you can or not....the pictures look like they are solid partitions. It looks like the Lido cabanas can be opened up, but I'm not sure about the retreat.

Do any of you know the answer to this?

Well, here is what we've decided to do.

1. We've called Ship Services and were supposed to receive a call back from a Supervisor (that never happened)

2. We've written a letter to Ship Services and cc'd our TA along with the person that made the original reservation.

3. Since it's a weekend, we can't do anything further.

We definitely won't confront the people that are assigned to the Family retreat cabana. We will however take this as far as we can until we can go no further. Had they notified us right away of the overbooking we wouldn't be nearly as upset, but for them to take over 3 months to notify us, this is totally unacceptable in my opinion.

I guess I'm going to go down fighting on this one.....

I guess my biggest frustration lies in the fact that they told us there was only 1 family retreat cabana available and we jumped on it immediately. With today's computer systems, they "would" or "should" know when a cabana is sold out. Also, it shouldn't have taken over 3 months to figure out that they "overbooked" the cabana.

It's not going to ruin my cruise, but it's kind of like booking an aft stateroom and when you get on board they tell you "by the way, we over booked the room but we have an indoor stateroom for you".

We were diligent about getting a receipt and confirming the cabana over a month ago, so I don't buy the fact that it just "happened" to be an oversight.

We have had our Family Retreat Cabana booked since June 21st. We paid for and have a receipt for the cabana.

When my mom booked the cabana, she was told there was only one left.....Yay for us! She paid for the cabana and we have been anticipating it for 3 months now.

Well, we are 2 weeks out from sailing and my mom received a letter stating that HAL was sorry but they overbooked the Family Retreat cabanas and they now want to give us 2 of the smaller cabanas. Has this ever happened to any of you?

I'm so bummed about this I can hardly think. We have planned for over a year for this vacation and then this happens. Do they overbook staterooms too?

This is our confirmation of booking:

When I was in my early 30's, my DH and I got "Stuck" at a table with 2 very old ladies. I was SO bummed at the time because I was ready to P-A-R-T-Y.....

After my initial frustration of not getting a table for 2, I started chatting with these 2 women. One was an Auschwitz survivor and she had lost her entire family during the war in both Auschwitz and Treblinka. She had the tatoo on her arm that she showed me. To this day I feel completely blessed to have had to sit at a table with "old people". I never would have met "A....." and I would have never been able to pass on her story to my children.

In a blink of an eye the OP will be old and HAL won't be so bad

Since this is a casino related question, I thought I might ask this one as well.

Does the casino stay open all night when at sea? I believe the table games close, but do the slots stay open? I'm a late night person and can easily stay up until 3-4 in the morning playing a slot machine :o