erdufylla

One of the things that surprised me (though maybe it shouldn’t have) about the Dutch Cafe when I was on the Koningsdam was that they didn’t have machine-brewed drip coffee ready to go. They did pour over, to order. And it was very good, but very slow, especially when they got busy.

2 hours ago, cbr663 said:

Just wanted to add as a point of reference.  I just looked at a 7 - day Canada/NE cruise for Sept on the Zuiderdam and the cruise only price was $1299.  The HIA price?  $1959 - $660 more for the basic HIA that does not include crew appreciation.  That equates to a HIA price of $94.29 pp/pd.

Right, but the HIA package price includes the refundable deposit, which the lowest-price cruise-only fare on the website does not, so it’s not quite a fair comparison. The Advantage cruise-only fares with the refundable deposit aren’t currently shown on the website — you have to call for a quote — but that’s the one to compare with the HIA package rate if you really want to calculate out what the pp/pd add-on is.

3 hours ago, Mary229 said:

I just saw you were from Huntsville.we are heading that way to spend the weekend after next in the CCC cabins at the state park

Neat! I had to Google that — I had no idea we had cabins like that here! If you need any suggestions for things to do/see or good restaurants in the area, feel free to DM me! I’m happy to offer ideas and opinions! 😊

I don’t have a definitive answer. I know that on my last 7-day cruise (in a verandah), I earned 14 Mariner credits, which, if my calculations are correct, means they gave me bonus credits for $2100 spent “on board.” ($300 spending per extra credit x 7.) Our total onboard spending, including daily gratuity, pre-booked excursions, and some promotional OBC I received, was about $950 ($850 if you exclude the OBC). Nowhere close to the $2100. 
 

We booked the HIA package fare (I don’t have the exact difference in cost vs base fare, but let’s estimate an added $50/person/day, so roughly an extra $700 total), and our FlightEase flights were about $3k total. 
 

If you take all those totals ($4650) and divide them by 2 (because we had two travelers), you get $2325/person in extra spending. That’s the only way I can get close to accounting for that +7 credits. So… not a definitive answer, because I don’t know what HAL would say if you called and asked, but just looking at the numbers from my recent cruise, I’d say yes, FlightEase flights do count toward calculating extra Mariner points.

3 minutes ago, Haljo1935 said:

Or football, I would guess, from Americans. Seems everyone from AL and MS are supposed to.be college football fans...

Football’s easy enough, because I just say I don’t follow sports, and then either they change topics or I tune out. I have opinions on politics, though, and if someone doesn’t take the “let’s not go into that over our meal” hint, it can be very difficult to sit and listen to someone while trying to hold my tongue.

You might also try logging in with a different browser. I often have trouble adding things, changing things, paying for things, etc. when I’m using Safari, but it works in Chrome. If this wasn’t a freebie promotional booking, you should be able to add the HIA package to the booking, I would think.

I really enjoy sharing a table with others, especially when I’m on my own. When I was traveling with my very introverted 14yo nephew, we’d get a 2-top, since he’d just sit there uncomfortably for most of the meal when we shared. But on my own, I love sitting in a group of 4-6 people. I’ve been lucky, most of my conversations have all been wonderful, or at least not irritating. The only time it’s gotten a little awkward and uncomfortable is when people hear I’m from Alabama and want to discuss my thoughts on American politics, especially when they assume I lean a particular way.

One of my pet peeves is the number of transactional functions that don’t work in Safari. And I always forget and have to re-log in in Chrome or Firefox to do whatever it is I was trying to do. The last time this happened, I was trying to pay the deposit on a held booking, and all the credit card fields were grayed out in Safari. Very annoying.

I’m a big fan of the sweet/salty or sweet/savory flavor combo. Maple syrup + bacon. Pineapple on my pizza, yum. Chocolate covered pretzels or peanuts. Salt on watermelon. Cheddar cheese on apple pie. (My Wisconsinite grandparents used to say “A pie without the cheese is like a hug without the squeeze.”) Wendy’s french fries dipped in a chocolate frosty. All delicious!

58 minutes ago, POA1 said:

It's never too late to start the, "Can I take a jar of red cabbage on board?" Don't forget to ask if it has to go in your carryon luggage. 😉

Just as long as it’s not in a plastic bottle! 😂

51 minutes ago, Blackduck59 said:

I buy my red cabbage in foil bags, I buy my sauerkraut that way too. The problem is how are you going to heat it up😉.

These are precisely the types of questions that keep me from falling asleep at night. My first thought is sous vide. The actual cooker probably wouldn’t take up *that* much extra space in your suitcase. Not sure what to do about the water bath container… maybe something collapsible? I’ve also seen someone make a grilled cheese sandwich with a flat iron / hair straightener, which might work with a foil pack. Easier to pack, but it sounds riskier. 
 

Edited to add: Upon further thought, this presupposes that you want to eat your heated red cabbage / sauerkraut in your room. And if you’ve got room service coming, I suppose that’s fine. A little weirder if it’s the only thing you’re planning on eating, but I don’t judge. But what if you wanted to take it to the MDR or another restaurant to enjoy with your meal there? Could you scoop it into a thermos to keep it warm and take it with you? You’d probably get some odd looks, but I can’t imagine it’d be against any particular rules.

I now feel like someone needs to try this and report back.

1 hour ago, Blackduck59 said:

I'm not sure why HAL pays royalties for these names.

BB King passed away 8 years ago, stop paying others to use his name.

Part of this is that it’s the actual BB King club that holds the auditions and contracts out players to the ships. I’m not sure how involved HAL is in the selection process or who the players are actually contracted to / paid by — BB King Club or HAL. But while I’m sure the brand name is part of what they’re paying for, they’re also paying for what is essentially a third-party staffing agency that’s actually qualified to select good players. But it’s definitely not just that HAL is licensing the name only. (I believe this was the same way it operated for LCS players, as well.)

57 minutes ago, cbr663 said:

Just make sure you are awake and in your cabin when they arrive.  We were on our balcony one morning and didn't hear them and they had to call us and then make a second trip.  Our bad 😞

Yeah, it’s worth noting that the time you select can end up being +/- 15 minutes. On our last cruise, we always opted for 6am, and it almost always arrived at 5:45am. That was fine by me, I was awake. But I’m sure it could be jarring to have the steward knock 15 minutes earlier than you were expecting them. (The coffee was always fresh, delicious, and piping hot, though, so very worth it.)

Man, now you guys are making me hungry for jägerschnitzel and spätzle! (And red cabbage, while we’re thinking about it.) 🤤 

1 minute ago, lissie said:

Question on the room service menu here Breakfast-Room-Service-Standard.pdf (rogerjett-photography.com) it mentions milk as a beverage after tea coffee etc. Is that literally a glass of milk?  I hate creamers but I like milk in my tea/ coffee - would ordering a glass of milk and black tea/coffee solve my issue? 

Yes, it comes in a little glass jar.

1 hour ago, LAFFNVEGAS said:

Another way to save is to purchase AARP HAL Gift Cards, I purchase an amount each month to apply on my upcoming HAL cruises. The gifts cards that are under Rewards on AARP saves you 10% discount. A $500 gift card will cost you $450.00. Or a $100.00 gift card will cost $90.00.

Be aware that if you pay by gift card, and you have to cancel the trip, it sounds like travel insurance doesn’t usually cover/reimburse amounts paid by gift card. (I’ve never dealt with this myself, so this info is based on reading through some other CC threads on the topic.)

2 hours ago, Haljo1935 said:

Typically, indication it's not going to work is when price and names are not displayed.

That’s what it looks like on my bookings that were booked with the HIA package rate. (Can’t add it, because the fare already includes those benefits.) I’m fairly sure the answer will be no, since it was initially a free stateroom booking, but is it possible your booking already somehow includes the HIA benefits?

As I stated previously, I was on the Koningsdam May 27 - June 2 and experienced almost none of these types of delays. We ate in the MDR almost every night, usually arriving sometime around 6-7pm. We were seated almost immediately most nights. We were only given beeper one of those nights, and that wait was under 10 minutes. We ate at a 2-top most nights, including the beeper night, and if we’d opted to be seated at a larger table with other people, there would have been no wait at all.
 

Others who have been on board different weeks recently and/or tried eating at different times and/or tried walking in with larger groups may report different experiences.

I was on board late May / early June, and we only had a beeper one night in the MDR, and even then, our wait was under 10 minutes for a 2-top. There would have been no wait if we wanted to join a larger table.

Ooh, I never even thought to do this! I need to make a note to remember to do this on my next cruises! 

1 hour ago, DTtravelers said:

Looking at the HIA list from post 5, can you even get a Maker's Mark Manhattan?  It doesn't seem to be included, even at the Elite level.  Same for any single malt Scotch...

I’m not a whiskey/Scotch drinker, so I haven’t paid close attention to those prices. But even if they’re above the $11 price point (or $15 if you have the Elite package), you only pay the difference + 18% gratuity on the difference. So if the single malt you want is $20, and you have the elite package, you’d only pay $5.90 for that drink.

1 hour ago, DTtravelers said:

Also, since the introduction of HIA, do they still offer separate wine packages so that you could have wine with dinner, even if you don't buy the HIA package?

To the best of my knowledge, yes.

46 minutes ago, DenverSeaDog said:

Yea or Nay on the "all in" package?

Everything @Haljo1935 said above is a good way to figure it. But also consider the refundability of the rate when you’re comparing. When you’re booking, it will show the lowest fare and the HIA Package fare — the latter comes with a refundable deposit, the former does not. There’s also an Advantage fare not shown on the website that you can call to get a quote for that’s just the base fare, but with a refundable deposit. That’s the one I would price compare against the HIA Package fare to get a true idea of how much those perks will cost.

There are lots of posts here (several very recent and still active) discussing the HIA package, either bundled as part of the fare or as a $50/day add-on. Browse through the forum for some of those for a broader list of pros/cons and people’s opinions on the matter. 🙂 Good luck, and welcome!

8 minutes ago, Haljo1935 said:

We did upgrade to a VS aft balcony - paid to go from free inside to verandah. So, they got the money from us on the cabin upgrade plus the CO.

And now to add to my frustration, I just read on another thread where @DaveOKC was able to use a Welcome Back promo on a booking w/other perks. We couldn't use that, either.

Ugh. That’s got to be so frustrating! I’m sorry. 😞 I guess it just sounds like whatever promotion this was, when they were setting it up in the system, they unticked the box that allows combinations with other promos. The only other thing I can think of, besides just accepting it, is to try going full Karen mode and threaten to cancel the entire booking if they’re not able to add the HIA for you or escalating it to someone who can. (To be clear, not advocating being abusive and yelling at anyone. Just threatening to cancel.)

I have no advice to offer on the doctor referral / insurance issue, but as someone who has semi-frequent ear issues and suffers seasonal allergies with chronically stuffed ears, I will offer up this game-changing advice an ENT gave me several years ago.
 

If any of the medication you’ve been prescribed is in the form of a nasal spray, or if not, but you think an OTC allergy medicine like Flonase might help clear things up, this trick works to get the medicine up in your ear canal, where it might combat the congestion there better, rather than keeping it in your nasal sinus passage. Instead of just spraying the medicine into your nose and sniffing it up, bend over at your waist before spraying it, and then once you’ve done that, while still bent over, plug your nose and blow. This will force the medication into the ears, where it might be more effective in your case.

You’ll look ridiculous while doing it, and I was super skeptical when the emergency ENT I visited suggested it. But it works. Just by changing how I took my daily Flonase, it put a stop to my near-annual ear infections and ENT visits.

Regardless of what you end up doing, I hope you’re able to get things cleared up in time to fly home safely! Perforated eardrums are no fun.

I know you added CO, but did you upgrade the room category at all, or stick with the $0 inside cabin? I’ve never gotten one of these offers, so I don’t know how it works, or what other people’s experiences have been, but I wonder if the $0 fare is incompatible with additional promotional credits, but if you upgraded that to an oceanview or verandah, whether that might reset whatever flag in the system is blocking it? It could either be an intentional setting (“free” rooms don’t qualify, but $100 rooms do) or an unintentional computing glitch (null values in a database can sometimes have weird unintended effects, depending on whether that field is filled in as 0 or is simply blank). 
 

Not saying you actually have to commit to upgrading the room, but if you haven’t, maybe try calling and seeing if they can price quote a stateroom upgrade, and then see if that fare is eligible for the HIA package?

On 4/9/2023 at 9:01 PM, oakridger said:

 

Not always the case, unfortunately.  In my experience the Signature Suites are usually around 1.5X more expensive than a veranda cabin but on my upcoming Trans-Atlantic in May 2024 from Ft. Lauderdale to Ijmuiden (Amsterdam) they are asking 2X the price for Signature Suites than verandas!!!  I don't know why the price is so much more than usual other than because "they can" and people are paying for it.

 

~Nancy

The pricing on that itinerary is just weird across the board, at least to my relatively inexperienced eye. When I was trying to decide what type of stateroom I wanted (was willing to pay for), the pricing seemed all over the place. The large insides are astronomically more expensive than some of the oceanviews (I know they’re bigger, but still…), and I cannot figure out why the partially obstructed oceanviews are priced so much higher than the full oceanviews. Maybe it’s down to availability and location, but it seemed odd. (I went frugal and booked a guaranteed inside, since I splurged on the next cruise I’m on a week after the TA. Though if I get a good offer on an upgrade at some point, I might take it.)