erdufylla

It absolutely is a class system. Perhaps not quite as stringent as ocean liners of past eras had, but it’s still very much a pay-for-level-of-access environment. If it weren’t, there would only be one category of staterooms that would all go for the same fare, there would be no add-ons like Club Orange or specialty dining, etc., and there wouldn’t be areas of the ship or services that were only available to people buying into them, like the Neptune Lounge, concierge services, priority boarding etc. Don’t get me wrong — I don’t object to this. It’s the nature of capitalism. But it’s absolutely a class system. (And that’s only looking at the passengers, not even taking into consideration the staff and crew, who also exist within a class structure, with different sets of rules, accommodations, etc. for different types of employees on the ship.)

Your photos are lovely! And it looks like you really had gorgeous weather the whole week!

I always experience that after a cruise, but I also have a really wonky vestibular system and chronically stuffed up ears, so that’s not super surprising. (I’m amazed I never get sea sick.) It wasn’t too bad after this most recent cruise. A little bit of a rocking sensation when I was sitting still, and some vertigo if I twisted my head to look over one of my shoulders, or if I bent over, but nothing terribly disorienting, and it dissipated after about 10 days. I had *major* disorientation after the cruise I took in 2019. That sensation of rocking and rolling, vertigo, etc., where it affected my ability to walk in a straight line, read, or do anything that required visual focus. And it lasted for like 3 weeks. I was terrified it was never going to go away! Thankfully, it did.

One of the room attendants told me that trick on my last cruise! And also, “even” also has 4 letters, so the even # staterooms are on the left / port side.

I know my nephew got a milkshake somewhere on the ship that was included in the HIA package when we were on the Koningsdam a few weeks ago. I’m not sure if that was at the Gelato stand or in the Lido Market, but I do know I wasn’t charged for it. (He said it was excellent. Tiramisu flavored!)

It did for me. It also notified me when I had an event coming up that I’d added to my individual itinerary. Shocked me the first time it happened, because I wasn’t expecting it based on previous experience!

I wish I had saved the daily menus now, so I could compare, and know if we really did have a completely different set of menus that week, or I’m just losing it. I looked at them again earlier today, and I literally recognize almost nothing from them, nor do I see most of the dishes my nephew and I ended up ordering! So weird.

Oh yay!! I’m so glad you get to go! It was one of the best and most memorable excursions I’ve been on. You’ll have such a good time!

I’m so sad for you that that’s not one of the excursion options. We took that excursion on the Alaska cruise I did in 2019, and the park had closed to the public by the time we got there, and our tour bus of like 8 people were the only guests in the whole gardens the entire time. It was the most magical experience. It was definitely a bit of a hike from the port, though, so I’m not sure I would be brave enough to try a taxi there on my own.

You can probably find all or most of those things at the Lido Market, and maybe bring some back to your room to have on hand so it’s more convenient. That said, I think only the suites have mini fridges in the staterooms on Volendam, so unless you’re in one of those, that might limit what kinds of foods you can safely keep in your room. Ordering it from room service might be more difficult, but your steward might have some suggestions.

It’s possible my memory is just bad, but none of those menus look familiar to me from my May 27th 7-day Alaska Inside Passage cruise on the Koningsdam. Is it possible the Seattle and Vancouver routes have different menus?

Is it still called “throwing someone under the bus” when you’re on a ship? 😂

You may have already tried this, but if not, try logging in and accessing your account from a different browser. I’ve found I often have troubles like that with transactional type content on the HAL website when I’m in Safari, but things general start working again if I switch to Chrome.

The dress code topic has, I’m sure, been covered quite a lot on this forum, so I’m sure you can find more extensive answers with a bit of browsing. But in a nutshell, this is their formal statement on dress for the MDR (main dining room) on the FAQ page: How strict they are probably depends on the ship and the person working the desk, but in general, I’d say things have gotten more lax in this post-pandemic world. Jeans will probably fly on a standard night (not formal nights) if they’re nice jeans, but I’d say no to t-shirts. Someone else pointed out in a recent thread that the menu for identical itineraries are the same, so if you can get the Navigator app working on your phone, you can access the daily menus there as they’re posted and know what they’ll be on your upcoming cruise. Barring that, you may be able to find where someone has posted the menus. The answer is “it depends.” Usually it’s pretty quick, but sometimes you might get to your room before your luggage does. It should be there by evening, though. Keep anything you need with you in your carryon. Use the chat function in the app, or go old-school and utilize a post-it note situation in your stateroom. If you can’t get the app working on your phone, try deleting it and reinstalling it. I’m told that sometimes helps — it can be buggy. If that doesn’t work, don’t despair. A lot of people report that it didn’t work at all for them until they stepped foot on the ship. The buffet isn’t open 24 hours, but the hot water units often are kept up. If that doesn’t work out for you, there is 24hr room service. Let your room stewards know you have a need for hot water and how frequently, and they may be able to help you out, either by putting in a standard order or telling you the best way to go about getting the hot water when you need it. (They’ll likely come by that first day to introduce themselves and ask if you have any special requests.) Good luck, and enjoy your first cruise!

On a cruise I was on a few years ago, the set we were listening to in the BB King club was so amazing, I took a video and sent it to my brother, who’s also a jazz musician in Memphis and has occasionally played at the BB King club there. “Oh yeah!” he replies. “I know that guy! He was roommates with so-and-so in college! He’s an amazing musician!” He went on to tell me that a LOT of the musicians in Memphis do cruise tours, especially HAL with the BB King connection, and it’s a pretty small community, so they all know each other, or at least of each other. So if you ever feel like doing a non-cruise vacation, maybe Memphis, Tennessee and the music clubs there on Beale Street might be a tempting option!

They do, and it’s lovely to see. But I think the point was that it’s far from everyone these days, or even the majority from what I can tell. I’m sure it varies quite a bit from itinerary to itinerary — I think I remember reading somewhere that Alaska trips tend to lean far more toward casual dress overall. And the point is that someone who doesn’t want to pack fancy clothes shouldn’t need to isolate themselves away from the MDR for that reason alone, if they don’t want to, as they’ll hardly stand out, as long as they’re not wearing sweatpants or shorts or flip-flops, etc. I even saw jeans on “dressy” night in the MDR on my most recent Alaska cruise!

I think it’s really whatever you want it to be. I didn’t partake in any of the later evening partying down at the music venues, but I thoroughly enjoyed people watching earlier in the evening, looking at all the various orange clothing and accessories. My teenage nephew hung out with his friends on the ship, and I’m not sure where they spent their time, but they were all decked out with orange glowstick necklaces and bracelets, feather boas, etc. and looked to be having a grand time in the photo they had taken. I’d say bring the dress and at least enjoy wearing it to dinner that evening. 😁

Let me tell you, it was so great on this most recent cruise. I mostly ate dinner with just my nephew at a 2-top (his preference, he’s really introverted). But I ate breakfast and sometimes lunch at larger tables with a variety of people, and it was just… one of the best parts of the trip for me. I met so many people from a wide range of countries and other parts of the US, and conversations were always so good. I’ve never done a true solo cruise, where I’m not at least traveling with other couples, etc., and I wasn’t sure if I’d find it isolating, but this most recent cruise, where I was on my own more than not, since the kid was off with the other kids on the ship most of the time, I never lacked for conversation when I wanted it. I even got absorbed into a couple different family groups during trivia a few times! I had such an enjoyable time, and it did a lot to ease my concerns for future solo ventures.

They are! Or at least, links to them are. It opens up a PDF in a browser for that day’s menu. I might be misremembering, but I don’t think there’s a way to see future days’ menus, just the current one.

I, too, was on the Koningsdam a couple weeks ago, traveling with my 14yo nephew, and we had the HIA package. I think he ended up utilizing the drinks package more than I did! He was obsessed with the virgin margaritas (which I admit was really excellent, both better and different from the non-virgin version I received — I think they may have been giving him the yuzu margarita base). He also loved being able to get daily lattes and mochas, and he really enjoyed ordering virgin versions of various cocktails at the different bars, and he at one point got a tiramisu milkshake from… somewhere. Not sure where. But it wasn’t charged to the room, so it must be have been included in the package.

Same for me. I’m often a solo cruiser, or as good as (traveling with other couples or family members who have their own ideas of how they want to spend their time), and for me, getting to sit at a table with a bunch of strangers and talk with them for the 1-2 hours the meal takes is a highlight of my day. 🙂

It seems silly and pointless to me to waste emotional energy worrying about what other people get as a surprise freebie. Since we’re not taking port fees and taxes into consideration in the cost of a fare, I can’t imagine the base cost for operating a 14-day cruise on two similarly sized ships varies so much that one has a $5k/pp fare and another has a $699/pp fare. That pricing is, I suspect, largely due to supply and demand, and the company as a whole knows how low it can offer some fares (see: Alaska, Caribbean) and that more adventurous/seasoned/serious/whatever customers will be willing to pay more for more unique itineraries, so everything evens out in the wash. So that $5k/pp fare might actually only cost the company $500. If it sits empty, that’s what they lose on the room. But they also lose out on the potential for two people spending money on the drinks package, photos, excursions, casino, restaurant upgrades, etc. If they think they can get back more than their base cost of the room in other add-ons, it’s in their best interest to do so. If anything, it’s the low cost of itineraries in high-demand places like Alaska that are being offset by higher fares elsewhere, I would imagine. It’s also worth noting that by giving away rooms, they can drum up both a positive, excited word of mouth (“hey, did you know you might be in the running for a free room if you keep cruising with HAL??”) and some bit of good will and potential loyalty to people who receive the fares, who might be more inclined to book again later, for not a whole lot, if any, real cost.

I thought I read somewhere recently that it was going to dry dock for updates sometime this winter. So maybe that’s it? I can’t find where I read that, though, so I might be mistaken. ETA: Never mind. I found it. Yes, it looks like it’s scheduled for dry dock then. https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2928708-april-2023-update-hal-dry-docks-charters-groups-onboard/

The ones I saw were. The standard $11/$15 limits applied. I didn’t see a lot of announcement about the Orange Party until the day of. Nothing I saw in the app, on any signs, or any other announcements, either before the trip or once on board, and nothing stating which night it would take place until day off. I talked to a bunch of people who simply had no idea the Orange Party was even a thing, and they felt kind of left out because they hadn’t brought anything orange with them.

The marketer in me wonders if perhaps they’re also potentially tracking how much time one spends on the website, browsing different itineraries without booking anything. (You don’t even have to be logged in when you’re browsing for them to know it’s you, as long as you’ve logged in on that browser before and allow cookies.) Offers might go out to people they think want to cruise but haven’t booked anything recently, and if they can get them onboard, especially on itineraries that aren’t selling as well, they can hope to capture some onboard spending.