robotpony

The Dutch Cafe does a pretty good pour over too, but it's still an upcharge (or counts against the drink card). The Lido coffee is like office coffee (bad), MDR was hit and miss but generally better.

We had bananas on the NS last month too. I ate one daily (and had more grapes than I've had in years). The fresh fruit was appreciated!

Our Vancouver to Fort Lauderdale Flight Ease flights in November looked a lot like that, except they were both red-eye flights with a 3 hour time change. Total airport time was around 20 hours for what should be a 6½ hour flight (or 9 hours airport time). We're going to book our own flights in the future.

I suspect that incentivizing early payment is more about smart cashflow management rather than a more ominous problem (the later would likely result in policy change versus softer incentives). The incentive has a second value, too, as many people spend more than their OBC anyway to avoid losing it (and it's easy to justify because of "free money"). We do know that Carnival refinanced some of their debt recently, so there is certainly some strong pressure to perform ... but I don't think it's critical (yet). The most likely outcome if they're unable to meet their obligations is restructuring or selling off less profitable units, which likely would not affect many bookings. Generally, when there is a strong brand with a good inventory of rolling stock and strong sales potential, lenders prefer to adjust terms and eventually receive payment versus more severe remedies (where they could take more of a loss).

Rudy's (NS and Koningsdam) is fantastic, including amuse-bouche tasters, and a pre-dessert course. They serve some of our favourite desserts (the berry soufflé is fantastic) Canaletto's is somewhere between good-to-great: starters were fantastic, mains were mediocre-good, desserts were great. Example: on our last visit, I had the seafood pasta and the sauce was thin and underwhelming, but my partner's Braised Beef Short Rib Gnocchi was fantastic. Pinnacle was pretty much perfect for us, at the same level as Rudy's, but more land-based choices. Tamarind was great too, and Nami (sushi by the roll) was also fabulous. Nami has the best miso soup we have ever tasted. Tamarind has a huge selection of pan-asian dishes, all of which have been excellent. The Lido is generally good-to-great, and the MDR is a solid notch below the speciality restaurants (but still enjoyable). Lido selection is great, MDR selection is modest. We were actually surprised by the Lido quality and selection in November, and ate there more than on our previous trip. The rotating menu was fun, and there were some really neat foods (curries, roasted beasts, pastas, sandwiches, classic comfort foods). Desserts in the Lido and MDR are hit and miss, but some of the choices are really nice, especially with ice cream! Dive In can make a good burger and hot dog, but I find they rush the assembly sometimes (which affects quality). New York Pizza can make a good pizza, though quality was spotty for us. New York Pizza sandwiches are pretty great. The room service menu is modest, but the service is prompt and food generally arrives very fresh. Breakfast is super easy to order, and late night snacks are nice. On our last 14 day cruise we did not tire of the food in any way. There were still things we wanted to try, and we're looking forward to eating on the Koningsdam in April.

Pinnacle suites have a microwave, I didn't realize the Neptune suites did not. We haven't stayed in any of the suites, but travelling with friends we were able to tour their Pinnacle suite.

When travelling we generally don't, unless we have a suite. The Lobster Mac is surprisingly delicious cold (as is steak generally).

We thought the same thing so we asked about this and the runner said that the room service coffee was the same, just fresher as they're serving so many rooms in the AM. Likely different coffee machines too (which can matter). Coffee in the cabanas was also better than the Lido, and I think they made that in their small service room behind the main area.

We always take doggy bags from the Pinnacle grill, and store them in the minibar fridge! Haven't tried the burger yet, but last trip we had a bowl of steak leftovers and lobster Mac that made a great late. night snack.

We have a 18 day R/T from Vancouver booked to Hawaii this April and we're looking forward to the extra cabana days on the return leg. We tested this out in November with 3 days at the tail end of a 14 day Caribbean loop to make sure we'd enjoy it. We used the time to finish up a few books, and we explored other food options (like Nami, the Deli, and lunches/breakfasts at the uncharge restaurants), and the other EXC talks, dance numbers, movies, etc. 3 days disappeared quickly!

We’re back this week after a fantastic 2 weeks in the Caribbean on the Nieuw Statendam. This was our first time on the Nieuw Statendam (previously sailed on the Koningsdam). We tried an inside cabin and rented a cabana for both weeks. We were wary about how small and dark the inside cabin would be, but it forced us to spend more time around the ship and in our cabana, and the room itself had more storage than expected. This was a dream vacation for my partner and was her first trip outside of North America. Blue water and sandy beaches were her #1, and #2 as to learn more about each port. We accomplished both! Highlights: Staff was fantastic; friendly, attentive, and they worked hard. Cabana life and service was fabulous, we’ll be doing this again in April. Room was surprisingly large, as we somehow got an accessible cabin. Food was overall better than our Alaska tour on the Koningsdam. Locations were great, and all excursions were enjoyable (and we enjoyed the two visits to Half Moon Cay far more than expected). The music walk was much better than our last cruise. The EXC talks and BBC/quartet shows were great. The dance crew was also great. The first comedian was good, second was much less so (comedy is a matter of taste, of course). We were able to avoid the elevators for the whole cruise! (clocking in at ~25 floors a day). OBC worked well for everything we needed it for (shareholder benefit, TA benefit, and price drop adjustment). The new drink receipt system slowed things down, but it did give us a chance to tip a handful of servers for great service (counting this as a plus overall). One staff member suggested that the signatures were proving helpful for resolving disputes.. Low points: Thanksgiving week was madness (~2900 guests, tonnes of kids), but was workable with a cabana. Both weeks felt understaffed, but the staff worked hard and were super friendly. Many customers complained about minor things in the first week. We helped a few and ignored the rest. In the first week we also witnessed a number of breakdowns, an altercation, and several medical events. A lot of friction in that first week. Key West was replaced with Freeport, so we made it a cabana day. The Spa overcharged us more than $450 in the first week (so we didn’t go back). We had to return twice to have charges removed. Service was somewhere between okay and good, depending on the treatment. HA guaranteed flights were poorly routed with a number of changes before departure (both were redeyes, and both had 2 layovers). We may book our own flights for our next trip. All of these issues were easily resolved or ignored, but it’s worth tracking where reality fell short of our expectations. Food: We ate in the Lido more than we had previously, and found a lot of good food there (which surprised us, as we usually avoid buffets). The main dining room had much poorer service than previously, so we avoided it. All speciality dining was great, though Rudy’s service was a bit off. Nami was a good place to have a quiet embarkation day dinner (and we had lunch in our cabana). Top desserts: The berry soufflé at Rudy’s was fab, Pinnacle’s key lime pie, and the creme bruleé were both amazing, and The Lido’s banana crisp was weirdly great (with ice cream, of course). Other great bites: Lobster Mac in the Pinnacle is still great, Canaletto also surprised us, though one of our pastas was mediocre, Curries in the MDR were all fantastic, and The food at Half Moon Cay was much better than it deserved to be. The overall experience was fantastic despite the business and chaos in that first week. We focused on soaking up the sun, island histories, and entertainment. We booked a 2024 Mexican Riviera "eclipse" cruise, combining the Black Friday and onboard booking deals. I think this is on the Zuiderdam, and we're excited to experience a smaller ship.

Cabana service is our go-to on embarkation day, or we hit the Lido after the crowd thins out a bit.

We received our full 28 points from our recent 14 day + cabana + HIA trip, with a modest onboard spend.

I was surprised at how not-entirely-bad the bagels were, compared to what we get in the grocery stores on the west coast. The bagels were not overly dense (nor too light), and had a nice thin and almost crackly crust. It lacked the depth of flavour and perfect crust of a Montreal or NY bagel, but it also wasn't the weird dense and chewy bagels we get here 🤷‍♂️

I had a NY deli breakfast bagel (egg/cheese/ham) on the NS last week and the week prior. I didn't see it in the in-app ordering, but the retreat cabana servers were able to get them.

Our servers in the Retreat cabanas offered us extra waters at no cost, and bubbly (and mimosas). There was decent brewed coffee available from the servers (or at the counter), but I didn't see any offers for speciality coffees. We didn't request any sodas, so I'm not sure if they were offering those or not.

There was a vastly different vibe between the Thanksgiving week (~2900) and the next week (~2400) on the NS. In that first week we saw emotional breakdowns, medical emergencies, and a couple of minor altercations. We had a cabana booked for both week, so we spent a lot of time there which was much quieter.

This was a highlight for us, but we were lucky and it was clear and sunny. Glacier Bay was even more impressive and we'd do that over the train any day.

We're on one of the 18 day Hawaii cruises next April too smack dab between my partner's and my birthdays! My partner was initially concerned about the number of sea days, but I compared it to the time we spend at an ocean side lodge (in Tofino) on the west coast here where there is even less to do. For us, the less trips are great as we end up doing some of the most interesting things, even enjoying the smaller stuff more (like card games, walking, reading, movies). Not everyone can enjoy those quieter vacations, but the really work well for us.

The only option for ordering drinks in the app we saw on our last voyage was for in-room service, which we did not use as it was easy enough to walk to a bar and bring back a beverage, which helped get our steps up too. Other lines (like Princess) use a medallion and app to both locate you and let you order drinks to wherever you are. On the larger ships this may be much more useful?

So it is! We added the drink package for our 2 days on HMC about a month ago, but I hadn't noticed it wasn't on the Beverages list anymore. I wonder if it sells out, or if it's phased out?

You can buy the drink package for HMC for a modest price on the website, which is what we did for our upcoming November cruise. I'm not sure we really needed it, but we wanted to make our time there as easy as possible.

We were cruising with some friends this summer and one of them needed quiet spaces to write from. One of their most creative finds was the outside tables by the Nami sushi bar before they opened in the evening, and the staff welcomed her while they were setting up for service. The chairs on the way to the MDR on the lower level were also quiet between meal times, and there were a bunch of quiet deck spaces to be found (we're looking forward to the cabanas in a few weeks for some quiet!).

The comedians on the Koningsdam this summer were both funny, though we heard that some passengers found offence with the funnier one. Both were found in BB King's, and were on the daily sheet.

If you happen not to hear back from HAL within a day or two, assume the email was lost (something that happens from time to time). Send it again, or reply asking about it and you will usually see a response shortly, either automated or human-powered. My last email for shareholder benefits was lost somewhere in the ether, and when I resent it today they responded in less than an hour.