Real NHDOC

In a slap in the face to all of us who worked to earn priority boarding through the mariner program or who pay for a neptune suite it now seems like casino guests are given priority boarding in addition to their steeply discounted or free fares! This was at our embarkation today in Copenhagen and resulted in combining the typical priority boarding with Casino guests in one line for check in.

It wasn't a full basket left every day it was just what you requested. If you wanted a banana or a pear a day they would bring that. So not a waste issue.

Believe it or not the room stewards all know if you opt out of the gratuities. There is a list they have of those who opt to not participate in the program which is why you have to do it before the cruise starts. Personally, I think they should just build it into every fare and not offer it as an option. Here's my philosophy. Definitely stay in the gratuities program. If someone goes above and beyond recognize them with either an additional cash gift or, even better than that mention them by name in the survey you receive the day you leave the ship. Believe it or not those mentions mean more to them than a few dollars because they will result in merit raises and promotions. And if you don't think they know you did it try doing it on a back to back cruise and wait for them to come up and thank you on the next leg. We've also sent in praises through the app while onboard and know for sure the folks get the recognition. Those go to the guest services manager and will be distributed to the supervisor of the person you single out.

Pinkies out!

The same folks who shower in cologne or perfume so you can't sit within 50 feet of them in the dining room without having your dinner ruined (no offense).

Lots of room stewards don't want to be bothered with any extra work. Many of them will tell you that cabin cleaning service is now only once a day, which it is not, it's up to the guest to decide if they want the cabin cleaned once or twice a day. There used to be a form they left with any special requests and the fruit was on there. I suspect a good steward will get you anything you want if you ask nicely and offer a few dollars as incentive for them not to forget.

There really is no excuse for the way they treated you. Keep in mind you can contact your credit card company and dispute the amount in question telling them it was a charge you never authorized and have already told the cruise line you did not "steal" their binoculars. Let them fight with the credit card company.

If Tamarind is sold out you can make a reservation for Nami Sushi and they will serve you off the Tamarind Menu too - it's the same restaurant. It's also a nice way to get a reservation without having to pre-pay too.

Ah, now I understand. So, if I had them ship the medallion to me before I bought Princess Plus they would have charged me for the shipping but if I had Princess Plus they would waive that charge. But if I paid the shipping and then bought P-P onboard they would refund the shipping...makes perfect sense now, thanks!

ExArkie is right. The water being released has already been filtered and treated to remove what can be removed but from what I have read low levels of Tritium are the only radioactive contaminant that RO and treatment cannot remove. The particular tritium isotope has a half life of 12 years. But the levels are so low they are literally like a drop in the ocean.

I am a little confused about the medallion shipping issue as it relates to buying Princess Plus onboard. Are the medallions only sent out for Princess Plus purchases or would we expect to receive one with our "bare bones" booking? We'll be traveling before our cruises so don't really have a way to receive them by mail anyway but was curious about the comments made about the shipping charges...could you please elaborate??

Whether refundable or not they should have all been treated the same. I didn't expect to get the $2 per cruise back so was pleasantly surprised to see it promptly refunded on three of them...but then it made me wonder why the other wasn't refunded? It's because the only consistent thing HAL does is be inconsistent!

I have a funny "only HAL can do it this way" story. We booked a few when they had the $1 special in July. One booking was direct with HAL and three were through our TA. Subsequently canceled them all. The three we booked with the TA were refunded while the one we booked direct with HAL they never refunded. Go figure. I believe the deposits ALL should have been refunded but will I call and fight over $2? Probably not.

You, like me, probably haven't thought twice about drinking the treated ocean water after the uncontrolled release of highly contaminated water when the plant originally melted down and that stuff went everywhere and was much, much worse than what they're releasing now. The ocean is pretty big and the stuff they're releasing is already very diluted. Plus, when the ships take water in to be treated it is done only when they are far away from land so they won't be drawing water that hasn't already been well mixed with the open ocean water. I'd say there are probably more pressing issues to worry about than that.

You didn't mention when your cruise was but cabins do open up around the time when final payments are due (usually 90 days out) and sometimes as close to the day before departure as people do cancel at the last minute so just because there are no cabins showing available right now it doesn't mean there won't be something opening up before you leave. Those VQ cabins tend to be the last verandas to go because most people won't pay the premium for them so they get given out as guarantees or upgrades.

The wine packages are a great deal, especially if you get the mariner's discount. We usually stick to cellar 1 for a couple of reasons. We like most of the wines in that cellar and because quite often the particular one you want will be out of stock so they substitute something usually from one of the higher cellars or off the wine list and they are almost always better wines. One of our favorites is the french dry rose Domaine Houchart. It is on package 1 and is very drinkable wine with most anything. The french Pinot Noir is also very good. Almost as good as our go-to which is the Evolution from Oregon which they have often substituted when the P-N from package 1 is sold out.

Thanks for the replies. I know they have now made it pretty easy to add it to any booking before boarding (up to 3 days before) which they never used to do so hopefully at some point they will extend that to being able to buy on the ship.

Thanks. That was my recollection but sometimes things do change...Princess even has the option to add it using their app without even having to visit Guest Services. Maybe when HAL's IT person graduates from middle school they can incorporate some advanced features like that into the Navigator 😉

I know some lines let you add their combined packages equivalent to the "HIA" once aboard but was wondering if anyone knows whether HAL does this and if so is it the same $50PP/Day? We just booked some Princess cruises and saw they allow us to add Princess Plus (their "HIA") once onboard and even let you use OBC to pay for it which is great. Wondered if HAL does that too?

When we were on Nieuw Statendam this was offered in the Tamarind bar as a special where the drinks (wines by the glass as I recall) were reduced in price and there were special appetizers served with them. I haven't seen it offered since Covid however and we spent quite a few days aboard the Pinnacle ships since restart. If they are offering it again on any ships it would be nice to know.

I would add one additional thing when it comes to those forward cabins on decks 10 and 11. You do feel more ship movement and vibrations up there than in the lower cabins (the combination effect of being high up and at the very front of the ship) so for people who are prone to motion sickness would be wise to avoid that area. Our favorite cabins are the forward facing ocean views on decks 7, 10 and 11 (there are only 12 in total) and we don't have a problem with the motion but there is noticeably more motion the higher and more forward you go.

V is actually the next lower category to VQ and those are considered the best locations on the ship by HAL. VA, being one step below them will have some cabins on deck 8, under the Lido, not what I would call premium. There's also the VS which are about the same as VQ but are the few rear facing verandas. FWIW, if you have any unobstructed veranda you will be offered the same upgrade price to a Vista Suite if those paid upgrades are offered so my advice would be choose whatever location you want and be happy with it. Those VQs on deck 10 are not, in my opinion, a premium location. HAL considers them premium since they are close to the spa and have some very minor extra amenities and special decor. Nothing worth getting a location you don't want or need for.

Also another tip...stop by the host station when they open and ask them to make sure they have a COLD bottle waiting for you and make sure it is cold before they open it. We were sailing with my brother last spring on Nieuw Statendam and he ordered a bottle of Ruinart in Pinnacle and they served it right out of the display case at room temperature.

The flight offered by the wine stewards is a great way to taste those available on the package and, on our spring cruises they would waive the fee if you bought a package on the spot which was a nice bonus (especially if you were planning on buying a package anyway!).

The link from the navigator works to access the menus, just go to dining and choose view more and pick Tamarind then click on the menu button. Yes, it even works when you are not onboard the ship, before the cruise.