Ipeeinthepools

I'll disagree, there is a difference. Many cruise lines used to offer group rates travel agencies and the fare reduction often approached 10%. In addition you also got the standard amount of OBC from the TA based on the value of you booking. I am a frequent customer of one of the TAs that also sell toilet paper and you get a gift card after you complete the cruise. I stopped using that TA with the other cruise lines because the group rates I was offered and additional OBC was a lot more than the gift card. However with HAL I have not been successful in finding any group rates,

I haven't heard anything about the Upgrade Fairy in a long time. I assumed she part of a witness protection program. I've only seen her evil twin, the Upsell Fairy.

Actually I've found it difficult to get group rates with the big box agencies. The group rates I've found come from TA's that work with other large agencies. Don't most TA's actually work for some large agency much like a real estate agent? The agency gets a block of rooms at a reduced price. I've never sensed this was a reduction in commission for the individual TA. In any case can you send me a link for this other discussion or at least a hint to help my search, because I haven't seen it. Thanks

I'm not asking for any specific TA recommendations. I'd just like to know if group rates exist on HAL. If they do I'll continue my search, but so far I haven't found any TAs with group rates. How often have you been able to find group rates on your HAL cruises?

On the subject of price reductions, do any TA's get group rates. When I've sailed on other cruise lines I have often been able to book at a group rate through the TA at lower price. I haven't seen any discussion about group rates on HAL cruises.

If they are winning your money you must have lost your money. 🤔 So I suspect it's the same money but they have less chance to win your money compared to the odds for you to lose your money. The casino always wins.

Sounds like a suite guest to me. There just isn't much space in a regular cabin.

Maybe part of the problem with scooters is that people have them and don't have an accessible cabin. perhaps HAL shouldn't allow scooter unless you have an accessible cabin. The scooters shouldn't be left in the hall because they are very wide.

Really? Maybe I was eating on the balcony. (I'm not leaving it on the balcony.) Maybe I balanced the plate on my lap or maybe the tray was on a chair and I used the small chair and my DW used the desk. In any case, there isn't room in the cabin for the tray. I'll put it outside, just like I'm told.

Are you telling us that the tray is wider than a service cart? I'm not sure that's the case.

There you go. Some people just refuse to believe that's the policy. Same for every cruise line in the Carnival corporation. I've also never got any card with directions. BTW if people with scooters were concerned about hallway access they wouldn't leave their scooter in the hallway.

Never seen this on any room service order and never seen anything about dishes brought from the buffet. Sorry you don't agree but all of the accessibility issues are the same between cruise lines and apparently Carnival corporation has decided they are not an issue. Please help returning the dishes to the kitchen as soon as possible instead of gathering them in your cabin.

I honestly can't find any HAL policy on the issue but John Heald a Senior Cruise Director from Carnival has addressed this issue numerous times on FB. I see no reason that Carnival's sister company HAL, would be any different. His response has been consistent over the years, here's one of his responses. "we do prefer you to place your room service trays outside of your cabin door as soon as you have finished with them. This way we can get them collected quickly, washed and cleaned and back into service" I'm sorry if others object, but this appears to be the policy.

Please tell me how a few dishes in the hallway are a bigger obstacle than service cart, laundry or other trash bags left in the hall by the staff?

A couple dishes in the hallway hardly make a difference when there are service carts and other items that are left by the staff in the hallway during the day. There isn't much room in a standard cabin and my "desk" has plenty of other items on it and I use it as a "desk" during the day. If emergency evacuation was really an issue the staff wouldn't be permitted to leave items in the hallway.

Or you can just place the dishes in the hallway if there isn't enough room in your cabin. The typical cabin doesn't have a dining room table. The stewards will pick them up from the hallway.

No. There's never any charge to have a chance to lose your money.

After all of this dialogue, tell me again what is the major issue that people are complaining about?

Yep, I've made reservations for the remaining cruises on B2B cruises but it really didn't seem fair to me or fair to the other cruisers on your cruise.

They can't book specialty restaurants or anything else using OBC. Anything else could be booked months in advance and shouldn't be an issue.

So would it really be fair if you could book dining for the second two legs before the rest of the passengers on those legs got on board? It seems like the way HAL handled it was fair to everyone.

My problem with the Collector's cruise is a very limited selection of cabins even though many other cabins are available for the individual voyages. For example, we tried to book a Spa Verandah cabin for a Collectors cruise on the Rotterdam for February 2025. The only cabins that were available for the Collector's cruise were connecting cabins or a couple by the elevator. I'd rather not have those cabins and HAL wouldn't allow me to book any other cabins so I had to book the individual cruises at a higher price for a better selection of cabins. However, I have booked a Collector's cruise onboard and the Future Cruise person was able to convince them to book a different cabin. So the policy seems inconsistent. The other issue I had with the Collector's cruise having dedicated cabins is that it is impossible to book an additional cruise with the Collector's cruise and stay in the same cabin. There are different pools of rooms for the Collector's cruises and individual cruises.

I'll try to get this back on topic; From the CDC: There is no safe level of exposure to secondhand smoke. People who do not smoke who are exposed to secondhand smoke, even for a short time, can suffer harmful health effects.1,2,3 In adults who do not smoke, secondhand smoke exposure can cause coronary heart disease, stroke, lung cancer, and other diseases. It can also result in premature death.1,2,3 Secondhand smoke can cause adverse reproductive health effects in women, including low birth weight.1,3 In children, secondhand smoke exposure can cause respiratory infections, ear infections, and asthma attacks. In babies, secondhand smoke can cause sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).1,2,3 Since 1964, about 2,500,000 people who did not smoke died from health problems caused by secondhand smoke exposure.1 The effects of secondhand smoke exposure on the body are immediate.1,3 Secondhand smoke exposure can produce harmful inflammatory and respiratory effects within 60 minutes of exposure which can last for at least three hours after exposure.4 https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/secondhand-smoke/health.html

If the 88% of cruisers keep telling HAL that we don't want indoor smoking in every available forum and survey, HAL will eventually notice and eliminate indoor smoking.

Remember to bring your own plastic straws unless you want one of those silly paper things.