YourWorldWithBill

2 hours ago, Steerpike58 said:

My friends tell me the Noordam has a 'dedicated VIP section' for CO within the main dining room area. So that's why they want me to get CO, so I can join them in that section. Makes sense. 

When we were on the Noordam my cousins had CO, and it's true that it made it easier for them to dine with us, and to enter the dining room ahead of others who were waiting. I guess that would have been different if they were not CO.

2 hours ago, Steerpike58 said:

Since you have experience with Viking, I do have a question for you if I may. Looking at the HA itineraries, it seems like HA very rarely spend an overnight in port. We just got back from a Viking cruise in Asia (Bangkok to Hong Kong), and HA have an almost identical itinerary (Hong Kong to Singapore). But comparing the two in more detail, we had 5 overnights in port, with some of them two nights/3 days (Bangkok, Sihanoukville, HoChiMin City, HaLong Bay, Hong Kong) while HA seem to only have one overnight, in Bangkok (but HA then goes on to two extra destinations). A couple of other quick reviews of itineraries suggested a similar pattern (though I'm still new to their itineraries, of course). Are overnights in port more expensive for the cruise line?  I also noticed, Viking seem to give you two nights in both the start and the end port, while HA just 'depart' on the first day and 'arrive' on the last day. Not sure what to make of this - though it does give you (on the first port) a bit of a buffer in case you have issues with flying in. 

I think you're correct about the one night two night issue. Our HAL cruises were 7 day and 10 day, and our next is a 13 day, and all were/will be in each port only one night. But since both of our Viking cruises were 7 days, there were also one night in each port!

We've also experienced the extra night (on another line), and we liked it at the end of the cruise. As I said, although we liked Viking a lot, and missed the food a bit, we started feeling more comfortable in several ways on each of our HAL cruises, and the cost difference sealed the deal. Part of a decision a couple of years ago came from comparing cruises to the fjords in Norway; we were surprised by the better itineraries on HAL. And that's also really apparent in Alaska. 

9 hours ago, Weelynn said:

Hi all. HAL newbie here. Just a quick question. We have HIA onboard which includes 1 speciality dining. I’m understanding that it’s better to book this online as they get filled up fast. I’m trying to do this both on the app and the website but there’s nothing happening. Is this because they’re full or am I trying to book too early. Our cruise is in August this year. TIA

You're correct: they open up at a certain point, usually 3 or 4 months prior to sailing. I've always booked early online, but on these boards some have said that they keep plenty of slots available for booking onboard.

4 hours ago, CruiserBruce said:

The high forward SCs...based on several comments on CC. 

The main difference is location. We were midships on the Rotterdam and had 2 sinks and a bathtub (which we also didn't need). The Shower was the best I've had onboard.

6 hours ago, Steerpike58 said:

(and I think the premium was higher if I chose a better room class).  Is this always the case and why do they charge such a premium?  

 

The more I go through the details, the more I see the 'value proposition' eroding between HA and Viking!  The 'starting price' for HA is much lower, but - Viking include specialty coffees, sparkling water, basic wine/beer with meals, basic WiFi, specific room choice, one excursion per port, (some) specialty dining, and probably more I haven't figured out yet!  It's still hopefully going to be cheaper, but not by as much as I first thought. I guess that's somewhat obvious! (not trying to turn this into a Viking vs HA debate, just making some observations!). 

We cruised on Viking twice before our first HAL cruise, and once we started on HAL we never looked back. We have the same reason you mentioned - we didn't think the difference in price was justified - but we also like the HAL itineraries and the staff.

Remember, the main benefit of Club Orange is the room upgrade; so, if you pay for the cheapest verandah category you have your agent or HAL consultant while you're making the booking, talk to the right dept. at HAL and upgrade you to the stateroom you want. Nice savings.

You won't have access to the Neptune lounge as they do, but there are several small things that go with the CO are convenient, and some that make it easier for you to be with them otherwise.

15 hours ago, DeeniEncinitas said:

Hi neighbor! We have a home on Neptune Ave. and have a home in Maui Kaanapali where we’ve’ been for several months.

Enjoy the Neptune Suite

Mahalo

Denise

My nephew lives in Maui; previously west of Paia, and now on the slope of Haleakala. I visited a couple of times, but not since he moved.

15 hours ago, POA1 said:

The daily menus are 404 (HTTP code for not found) for me on the Nieuw Statendam. I know that's not the app's fault. It's a bad link.

 

My guess - and it's only that - is that the URL being passed to the app works fine on the ship, but not externally. Otherwise, people on the ship would not see their menus.

That's been my experience in various ways: things on Navigator functioning well on the ship, but not pre-boarding.

18 hours ago, cattman said:

Great responses, all.. 

Nothing quite compares to Glacier Bay(except maybe College Fjord or Hubbard).

Just a note of support for the beauty of College Fjord. We walked away from our dinner to go from side to side on the ship and couldn't get enough of what we saw.

1 hour ago, The4OfUs said:

And Neptune and Pinnacle suites 😊 . We enjoyed it on the Nieuw Statendam and look forward to it on the Rotterdam. 😊 

We're going the opposite way: enjoyed CO on the Rotterdam (and other) and looking forward to it on the Nieuw Statendam soon. I believe that only the Rotterdam was built with CO in mind, and that the space was adapted on the other ships. So my prediction is that you'll really like it on your next cruise!

46 minutes ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

 

Well, there is the Pinnacle Suite...

Maybe that's out new plan! That's the path.....

1 hour ago, HermmyGranger said:

Just a thought for those that use the ginger. It has to have "real" ginger in it. I recently read an article regarding the sodas. If you're having Schweppes or Canada Dry, they aren't made with real ginger, just flavorings, so they will not be as effective for nausea. I'm assuming this would also be the case with candies, so be sure to get something that has real ginger in it, not just flavorings.

Good point. I use ginger tablets that are real ginger and pretty effective.

We also experienced both, and I would agree with @Crew News: walking on the glacier was worth every bit of the expense, but it is expensive. In fact, we found just the helicopter tide getting to, around and from the Mendenhall pretty spectacular, also. A once-in-a-lifetime experience. Perhaps because of the time of year and weather, Glacier Bay, although nice, was not the highlight of our cruise. But we didn't go to Hubbard Glacier.

Obviously I can't comment on other viewing of the glacier. 

I think we have to see how this plays out. As others have said, it's not in HAL's interest to offend its customers. My suspicion is that it won't happen too often.

My PCC, probably stating the company line, said that any move would be to an "equal" or better cabin. All of us who chose our cabins know that we are particular about what cabin we want, so the idea of "equal" may not work; but let's see how HAL actually deals with it.

After all, I'd be fine with an upgrade in most cases, but not all. And as far as your point, @Gsel, I seriously doubt that they would move someone from a Neptune suite.

1 hour ago, POA1 said:

I ran into an issue we were on the Rotterdam a few weeks ago. I was constantly being prompted to provide my login credentials. It took me a day and a half to figure out why it was happening. It turns out that newer versions of Android and iOS randomize your device's MAC address to add an extra layer of security.

 

That's great for most networks, but not for ones with a lot of access points that you're moving between. (Like a ship.)

 

Apple iOS 14 or Android 10 and higher have MAC randomization.

 

I wrote up a little tutorial on how to turn off the randomization and present your phone's or tablet's static, real MAC address. There's a link below.

 

 

I went to that post and copied it. Thanks for that work; way beyond my capabilities lately.

9 minutes ago, POA1 said:

I have my default handler for the Navigator menus set to Firefox. I copied the URL over to a developer's browser, that's how I know that the URL is 404, or HTTP Not Found. We should be seeing the Blue Gala menu, but the file is not there.

I don't do that much, just check things. I use Firefox occasionally on my desktop, but just let my cell use Chrome. It's probably a good idea to use Firefox; I'm using it on my tablet.

Just a quick note to say hello to everyone and thank you for the fleet report, maps, and all the posts.

@Quartzsite Cruiser, I really look forward to your cartoons every day. I restrain myself from posting cartoons, since I'm usually posting fairly late.

@Overhead Fred, thanks for the pictures; we will be visiting Keukenhof in a couple of weeks before our Baltic cruise, so the pictures have us ready!

Nope, the dinner menu won't open, but breakfast worked, and Tamarind worked. I generally don't look until almost time for the cruise, but now it's just doing the usual HAL IT shuffle. Probably too early to see the daily menu.

3 hours ago, POA1 said:

We're on the Nieuw Statendam next and the menus aren't showing. They're 404, so the link is bad.

We are on the NS May 5 cruise.

20 hours ago, leennp said:

I have used both relief band and EmeTerm on cruises, flights and for work when i need to ride in back of an ambulance, I vastly prefer the Eme Term to the relief band, the battery life is longer, is more comfortable and easier for good contact, although both  do work for me for nausea related to motion.  On a cruise you have to either have 2 to charge alternately and rotate wearing one during the day the other at night or not wear one at night and take meclazine before bedtime, at least 2 hours before removing the ere term.    If you have any further questions about the models and options they offer feel free to ask, I have basically used all of them.   I prefer the explore for the EmeTerm models but also have the mini as a back up and to use if go snorkeling since it is water proof.     Out of the Relief band models, prefer the sport over premier, the shape of the band on the premiere makes it loose contact all the time.    

Thanks for the very helpful detail. Since the Explore has a longer battery life, that seems to make the most sense. And because we don't know how she will respond to it, we'll buy one and see how it goes, and use meclizine at night. Good advice to take it a couple of hours before removing the band when at sea.

Since most days we will be in port early morning, she probably won't wear it those days during the day until before disembarkation. How long before leaving port would you suggest? A couple of hours?

5 minutes ago, Quartzsite Cruiser said:

The rain today is tappering off.  We could get a stray shower, but I don't think we will.  Since it started raining in ghe early morning hours last night, we've gotten 1.06 inches according to the fancy rain gauge, and the rain was pretty heavy at times.  There was some thunder, but not much.  I'll check my old fashion rain gauge in the morning.

 

Lenda 

Similar here. Sprinkling very slightly at times, but the rain is mostly finished.

4 hours ago, leennp said:

I have used both relief band and EmeTerm on cruises, flights and for work when i need to ride in back of an ambulance, I vastly prefer the Eme Term to the relief band, the battery life is longer, is more comfortable and easier for good contact, although both  do work for me for nausea related to motion.  On a cruise you have to either have 2 to charge alternately and rotate wearing one during the day the other at night or not wear one at night and take meclazine before bedtime, at least 2 hours before removing the ere term.    If you have any further questions about the models and options they offer feel free to ask, I have basically used all of them.   I prefer the explore for the EmeTerm models but also have the mini as a back up and to use if go snorkeling since it is water proof.     Out of the Relief band models, prefer the sport over premier, the shape of the band on the premiere makes it loose contact all the time.    

Thanks, we appreciate it. We'll probably try the EmeTerm and go with Bonine instead of the drowsy kind.

Greetings all, and thanks for fleet report, the maps, the posts and pictures.

As @Haljo1935said, pretty heavy rain this morning in our area. Dark skies earlier, lighter now but still raining. Many flights are delayed.

One of our dogs, Coco (the newest & youngest), and one of our cats, Parker, are fluctuating between being cuddle buddies and trying to whack each other. A bit dangerous for Coco, so she stays in her playpen when we're not around.

I understand the frustration. This sort of thing is really ridiculous.

Do you have a personal cruise consultant? If not, call the PCC number 800-355-3017 and speak to whoever you get on the line. There are other numbers you can try, but see what happens with that.

If that doesn't work, try 877-724-5425. In fact, maybe try that first! It's "resolution specialist."

44 minutes ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

 I use the insurance provided by chase sapphire preferred, and if I recall correctly the policy itself was nearly 100 pages of technical language. It was no fun to read but I learned a lot. The actual policy directly contradicted information I received from a chase sapphire insurance specialist, so never trust the phone rep.

A bit tragic that probably none of us are surprised by that.