YXU AC*SE

So there is this thing called Google ? 🙂. Scott. https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/viewer?mid=1v5LeiIHjfK69h7YZPaIGPDdUYqCoe-4&ll=13.170220842231057%2C-59.57509987235552&z=12

Not at all. HAL provides GAP (Group Advantage Program) amenities based on the cumulative number of cabins booked per voyage. Tour conductors generally earn a spot with every 16th lower berth booked -- and depending on the number of cabins booked, GAP menu amenities can include things like additional OBC for booked pax; a wine cellar package with one bottle of wine per stateroom; bon voyage sparkling wine; Internet package; photo credit; sparkling wine and strawberries; a cocktail party with hors d’oeuvres; and a Cruise With Purpose charity donation. The amenities are awarded as points to the booking agency / consortia, and they can deploy as they see fit. Scott.

No, it is generally the large(r) agency consortia who will have an agent / agent couple on board for their consolidated bookings, consequently you won't find on HAL's website. It is a perquisite(?) of booking through their TA group. Scott.

Wind conditions are 16mph steady from SSE and gusts to 23mph -- not exactly the easiest to be navigating with the sail area of a cruise ship.

Verbatim from Josh Weinstein on CCL's last quarterly results call. "Turning to capital expenditures, we actively manage down our spend by over $500 million during 2022, and we've taken a hard look at 2023 and beyond and reshaped investment spending by $300 million annually for a cumulative reduction of $1.7 billion. We have reprioritized project lists and hurdle rates to reflect the current environment while absolutely maintaining our commitment to excellence, compliance, protecting the environment, and the safety and well-being of our guests, team members, and communities we serve. Going forward, we are committed to using our expected cash flow strength to repair the balance sheet over time, and we'll be disciplined and rigorous in making newbuild decisions accordingly. "We have just four ships on order through 2025, plus our second incredible Seabourn luxury expedition ship to be delivered in 2023. This is our lowest order book in decades. We don't expect any new ships in 2026 and anticipate just one or two new builds each year for several years thereafter." Scott.

Ginseng body lotion (pre-Elemis) Elemis 'Sharp' body wash that actually was sharp Cæsar salads or flambé desserts being prepared and served tableside MDR Chilled fruit soups Waiters de-boning fish tableside MDR Dutch night dinners Deck parties / dinners out-of-doors Higher-quality merch -- I don't mind advertising your brand HAL but let's put some design thought into things ? Crow's Nests pre-EXC that were a pre-/post-dinner destination (even if I wasn't always fond of every single HAL Cat combo) Entertainment that wanted me to hurry through late fixed seating dinner to make sure I got a seat. Ocean bar trio, and watching ppl dance pre-dinner Being truly disconnected - no / sporadic satellite TV, no onboard internet, only news was NYTimes eight page tabloid, or the Canadian [or insert your country name here] one-pager Scott.

You can order online yourself ? 2.95$/gallon. -- login into your booking and select << purchase beverages >>. Scott.

If booked through HAL you can contact your PCC (if you have one) or Ship Services -- and you can set something up. 1(800)541–1576 or HAL_Ship_Services@HollandAmerica.com If booked through a TA, he/she can directly update POLAR Online (HAL's GDS) with your celebration annotation. For my upcoming Rotterdam cruise, we have two birthdays to celebrate that actually both occur the day before embarkation -- I've requested we do something the first gala night to celebrate. Easy peasy, lemon squeeze-y. Scott.

tbh, there really isn't a lot new on this list -- more like a re-branding / packaging of existing cruise itineraries, with perhaps the exception of an Alaskan Arctic Circle run. Scott.

Actually, I think it was opened as the Culinary Arts Centre on both Koningsdam and Nieuw Amsterdam. They had two alternating menus, 'Lavender' and 'Basil' ... across the way was rather utilitarian-ly named Blend - the Ste-Michelle winery custom wine blending venue. One of the cool upsides of CAC, was your wine (Ste-Michelle) by the carafe was unlimited and included in the cover charge. I liked the concept, but with only two menus the witty repartée of the chef / animator / microgreens farmer got to be pretty repetitve. After ppl got tired of the two menus and stopped going, they tried to turn the space into a 'gastropub' whose name I have forgotten, before landing on the Club Orange concept and private dining venue. On Rotterdam, the venue was purpose built as Club Orange. Scott.

If I were to hazard a guess, a slightly-upsized Pinnacle class. Fincantieri is delivering Queen Anne to Cunard in 2024 which is really a slightly-stretched Rotterdam by 75' with 2' added to the beam. Tonnage would increase to 113k (https://www.cunard.com/content/dam/cunard/inventory-assets/ships/QA/0/decks/QA_accessible_deckplan_apr2022a.pdf) and pax count would be just under 3000 based on double lower berth occupancy. Scott.

I find it garage band level loud -- generally will sit across in Billboard Onboard and enjoy them from a distance. Scott.

Late dining fixed always -- usually a pre-dinner drink (or two) in the Ocean Bar -- although one of the annoying drawbacks of the Pinnacle Class is that the Ocean Bar is bifurcated into two with a bulkhead. One some of my last cruises there has been a piano player tinkling away playing your typical lounge music. Spend some time being glared at by at least one of your fellow guests who think that someone playing Autumn Leaves deserves recital-level rapt attention and absolute silence. Leisurely-paced dinner -- lots of fun conversation, right @Divi? -- sometimes being one of the last tables to leave. If the show seems compelling on the main stage that night, might make an effort to go to that, otherwise check out Music Walk and Billboard Onboard. Have seen all of the RWS - Step One shows, so until they come up with something new ... On a two-week cruise, set list can be a bit repetitive though. Mebbe have a nightcap if the music is okay and the next day is a sea day, but generally not? Run through the Lido to get tea -- see who has fallen asleep on the loungers for Movies under the Stars -- then up to the cabin. Prefer upper decks and forward. Have gone up to EXC / Crow's Nest, but generally by 23h00 they're shut down. I do sometimes miss the Hal Cats playing up there when there used to be a dance floor space there. If it's a clear night, might go up to Sky Deck to check out the celestial night sky. Back to the cabin, time for a bit of reading, confirming plans for the next day, and then lights out. TV never goes on. No casino ever. I'm a morning person, so on a sea day usually you will find me by the Lido pool w. a stack of saved NY Times crosswords, whatever book I reading, and a coffee, waiting to be joined for breakfast. Scott.

I am bit biased to the PInnacles now -- so much so that my last five cruises have only been on them. Have a thing for TAs, timing generally works out well in my work cycle, so the ship becomes a destination unto itself. Variety of dining options on board -- Tamarind and Grand Dutch Cafe are excellent additions, plus some of the smarter things like pre-made grab and go stuff in the Lido are welcome additions. Music Walk and the immersive World Stage experience (albeit under-programmed) are also nice adds. Would find it very underwhelming now to go to a R-class ship -- even though I have cruised 109 days cumulatively on that class of ship as a not-yet-retired person. I do agree w/ @cruisemom42 -- for me the ship, regardless of size, is simply a means of conveyance, transporting me from interesting place to interesting place in the night -- whereupon we independently maximize our time on shore. TAs for us represent an additional week to truly unplug / recharge -- get caught up on some good books and forget about the grind. Scott.

Hey I'm a bit confused by your comment? It is interesting what visual cues that a viewing audience can pull from creative? How is HAL targetting 20-yos? The only young(er) persons in their creative is the Billboard Onboard / piano bar player? Or the server placing drinks in front of our protagonist couple ? T-shirts and jeans is their evening dress of the day for The Music Walk. And a rough guide to generation cohorts? I'm an early gen x (1967), which made me 55 on my last birthday, and I would think pretty much in line w/ the sweet spot of customer that HAL would be trying to swing over to their brand and retain (time and time again -- from the narration), like Julie and [presumably] her husband, having the time of their lives? Greatest generation -- 1901-1927 Silent generation -- 1928-1945 Boomers -- 1946-1964 Generation X -- 1965-1980 Millennials -- 1981-1996 Gen Z -- 1997-2012 Gen Alpha -- 2013-today Scott.

Flight Ease® is the airline interface to POLAR / Onesource which is the GDS for HAL / Princess / Cunard / Seabourn. The wordmark is owned by 'HOLLAND AMERICA LINE N.V. CORPORATION CURACAO 450 THIRD AVENUE WEST SEATTLE WASHINGTON 98119'. So short answer, yes. Scott.

On our second to last KDAM cruise it was because we had booked that space in lieu of being a deck above -- but that was well pre-covid so I can't say what current practice is. Scott.

Spa Interiors are IQs and are on deck 10 fwd on the Pinnacle-class ships. They have a dedicated access (private staircase) to the spa / gym on deck 9. Location is quite handy I find, but the upcharge for access and spa amenities (a desktop water fountain/feature thingy, yoga mat, six vitamin waters (or similar) and a bluetooth wireless Bose soundbar) is a little steep. Nil increase to real estate from the K-cat interiors on deck 11 directly above. Scott.

@mariner is this the creative in question? Scott.

Additional con -- the FCD must be used in the currency in which is purchased -- not always a bad thing, but if you wish to arbitrage exchange rates based on HAL book price versus floating conversion / market price you could potentially be upside down. If that happens, take advantage of the four-year shelf-life of a FCD. Generally, I find booking on board to be of no advantage (pricing or otherwise) ever, unless you are dead-set on securing a particular cabin Scott.

By my read of the T+Cs yes ... Scott.

The referred friend is a plus one on your booking and not their own? You are the 'referrer'. The 'referred' would be your nephew's gf -- but she would have to be on her own booking. Perhaps I am misunderstanding ? And per the terms of the programme you get FCC for your next booking only when she is paid in full / past final payment, while the referred party gets 50$ OBC for their current booking. Scott.

The mechanics: "4. How to refer a friend. Visit the Site and follow the on-screen instructions to fill out the “Refer a Friend” web form on the Site with all requested information. Then, HAL will verify if the referred friend is eligible and, if so, will distribute an email to such individual that invites them to participate in the Program."After being deemed eligible, the referred friend must book an eligible HAL voyage [my emphasis added] and, while booking, must enter the referrer’s first name, last name, and email into the webform. Once the referred friend creates a booking on an eligible voyage, the referred friend shall receive a $50 USD onboard credit (“OBC”), with a limit of $50 USD OBC per stateroom booked in connection with the referral. When the referred friend booking hits final payment date or full payment is received, whichever comes later, the referrer will receive a $50 USD Future Cruise Credit (“FCC”). HAL shall not be responsible for honoring the Program if the referred friend does not successfully input the referrer’s Mariner number when booking. OBC and FCCs are promotional credits and are subject to the additional terms set forth herein and in Section 6." source: https://refer.hollandamerica.com/zone/terms And the programme itself is third-party provisioned -- Extole -- which is likely why no one internal to HAL is able to assist. https://www.extole.com/powered-by-extole/ Scott.

https://www.hollandamerica.com/en_US/deals_CAD/teacher-appreciation-offer.html (in CAD) Scott.

K-cat -- Sun deck (11) is my goto. Preferably aft of the elevator lobby. Close to the gym, Lido / Lido pool / Crow's Nest EXC -- but admittedly other than evenings (or the occasional lunch stop to the Grand Dutch Café) we're very much biased to the upper decks of the ship. Have done four TAs (two on KDAM, two on NSDM) and an upcoming booked on RDAM, so even with all those sea days have never felt it to be too small, but other than afternoon naps, don't spend much time in the room. Scott.