Northshorecruisers

Actually, my dad's going to check into other sailings. He was surprised that HAL didn't say something to him - since he has a Personal Cruise Consultant. He's in his late 80's and remembers the good old days when people's only concern wasn't their commission check. He'll be putting out over $20,000 and shouldn't take a cruise that may be less than his expectation based on his previous cruises.

If he finds something else we might join them. We'll meet up with him in Florida this winter anyway. We can always cruise with him in Fall '16 or Winter '17.

At his age he's still extremely active - more so than I am some days and I'm in my 50's. Still leaves Dec 26 to drive himself from Toronto to St Pete Beach and at the end of April he drives himself back. I hope I can be doing as well when I'm his age.

I'm glad I came across this post. My dad called yesterday to say he had booked the Westerdam on 2/20/16 and wanted to know if we wanted to go. He had booked directly with HAL.

I went to my TA's website to see what prices he was quoting and the cruise wasn't listed. Did a little research here on CC and find that Inspiration will be on this cruise. I have no interest in sharing a cruise ship with any large group - no matter what their affiliation.

The person with the DUI should contact US Customs & Border Patrol - and get their answer in writing.

I've never known a Canadian that had trouble entering the US with just 1 DUI - but I know US citizens that were refused entry to Canada with one. Used to work for a trucking company and it was a big issue if the driver had a previous DUI. There was a way to get it "taken care of" and about 10 years ago it cost about $700 and filing a lot of paperwork.

Went once - that was enough - never again. My vacation time, my vacation dollars - and Jamaica won't see either of them.

We always pre-fund our onboard account from our checking account and give a credit card for anything we might go over. We know what a week on a ship typically costs us. Last cruise I was refunded $1.27 before we left the ship. Anything we do in ports is done on a credit card.

The woman has passed her 21 days without symptoms - I wouldn't have a problem being on the ship or even in the same cabin she was in.

I do feel sorry for her and her husband though. They spent most of their cruise confined to their cabin. I certainly hope they at least had a balcony - can you imagine being confined to an inside cabin????? You can't go to a show, the casino, lay around the pool, the lido or the diningroom. Unfortunate that their cruise hadn't been booked for a week later when her 21 days would have been done.

I never look at the price of cocktails when we cruise....just give them my cabin card. We're looking at a cruise that has the Explore 4. As I understand from above House wine would be under the $7 cost - but I'm expecting that a Lemon Drop or some other cocktail would not - is that correct? What about beer?

Even when my son's friends would come over to dinner as teenagers they were told to remove their hats at the table if they hadn't been taught the manners at home.

Most airlines aren't giving a military fare but the larger airlines will allow active duty to check luggage for free. On American, if the active duty passenger is in uniform and there is space available in first class, they will upgrade them free of charge.

At our home airport, when my son is flying back to base they have him go through TSA in the first class line (and me too when I get a pass to go to the gate), but he still needs to go through the scanner. He can show his military ID in place of a DL.

Maybe they charge you more because of your preconceived notions that are totally inaccurate. You already have a bad attitude and I doubt that even the wonderful crew on HAL will turn you around.

Bottom line, if you don't see the value you are getting for your money, don't book. Plenty of other people would be happy to take your place and HAL won't have a problem selling that cabin to someone who will be happy to be there and pay the price.

We have sailed HAL but not Carnival. Some friends that have sailed Carnival have loved it, other's hated it. None of these friends have tried HAL. We tried Princess and didn't care for it as much as HAL (mostly due to the crew), and I don't ever see us trying Carnival.

What we like about HAL is the more "traditional" cruise experience. Although in trying to appeal to more people, it's not as traditional as it used to be. A HAL cruise can be non-stop activities or total relaxation - whichever you prefer. It's just not in-your-face. My husband likes to take afternoon naps, that's something that says vacation to him. I like to lay by a pool, or join in other activities. Sometimes I just want to sit in a quiet nook and read. We love to explore in the ports and even though HAL has some really great excursions, we tend to book privately.

The crew and food on HAL are excellent, in our opinion. You won't have problems finding numerous choices for vegan. If you want something in particular, ask the staff. They will do their best to accomodate you.

Contrary to what some people might say - the ship is not filled with walkers and old people. There are some older people on the ship - usually people who have cruised quite a bit and I love talking with them and hearing of their previous adventures. There are also families....and I have to say I have not noticed a poorly behaved child. Yes, kids have fun at the Lido pool - but not rude, disrespectful, hyperactive, or screaming children.

Our first cruise was on HAL - we decided to go to spend time with my recently widowed stepfather, who was travelling with his seniors group from church. What a great group! And there were 3 50-60ish women in the group that would put a 20 year old to shame. Fun loving ladies.

We tried Princess once thinking our teenager would enjoy it more and have more people his age - but he said he preferred HAL as well. He also noticed that the level of service just didn't seem to be there.

I have always found a good mix of ages on a HAL cruise. We've only done 7 day cruises, so that accounts for younger people and families. I have never felt that I was on a floating nursing home. One thing I have noticed is that the children on HAL cruises seem to be very well behaved and it helps to restore my faith that there are parents out there teaching their children to have manners and respect.

Very happy with the new policy. Although I preferred the option of taking as many bottles on board for free, this policy is fair. If I have more than 1 "special" bottle of wine, I would be willing to pay the $18. If I bring bottles on board at a port, I'm most likely taking them home so storing them for free isn't an issue.

Thinking of booking a 5 day on Constellation in the Royal Suite. My questions are:

How comfortable is the sofa sleeper in the livingroom? And, is the hottub on the verandah nice to have or is it so small that it isn't usuable for 2 - 3 people?

Thanks!

I just saw this post today and I am so sorry to hear of your loss. We went through something similar with our 8 year old Golden. The vet tried medication for a week but when there was no improvement, xrays showed cancer. The vet was able to give us medication that kept Jake comfortable, but we were informed surgery was of no use. We were happy to have had the last few days with him.

It is so hard to loose a member of the family - and that's what our dogs are to us. They are our children. I work from home and right now I am looking into the spare bedroom and my 9 year old golden is laying on the bed taking his afternoon nap.

Time does make the hurt a little better, but they never loose their place in our hearts.

Personally, I would go with Princess.

Keep on smiling and have a wonderful cruise!! I'm in MN and we might hit a high of 0 degrees today :( So your post did give me something to smile about!

Check with Jay Z and Bey to see if you can go with them next time :p

I have "heard" of US citizens flying to Canada and then taking a tour that originated there as a way to get to Cuba. Can't believe they wouldn't check your citizenship and deny you being able to book the trip.

I'm hoping someone can help me! We are going on our very first cruise in September (23rd) and it's just myself and my four children. I wanted to book the Lido deck on the Triumph room 9270, but after reading all of the reviews about noise, am wondering if that's such a good idea. Would it be better to take a lower floor of the ship? As it is, I can't imagine what it's going to be like with the five of us in one room, but for it to be noisy on top of that, would be torture! LOL

 

I thought the higher up you are, the better the view from the balcony, so that's why I was thinking Lido...

 

Any thoughts???

 

Thank you!!

 

Celine

I don't see any cabins that allow more than 4 people. Have you already booked with Carnival knowing there will be 5 in the cabin?

Several years ago on the Westerdam, a brunch was held for Suite guests only. It was quite nice, featuring many items not normally seen by cruisers.

I went to the Suite lunch last time we were on Oosterdam and it was held in the Crow's Nest. Some new foods I hadn't seen offered and it was done very, very well.

I was reading an excellent review on Celebrity Solstice last night and pictures showed the brunch done in their MDR. Looks very, very nice and appeared to be well attended. As mentioned above, it is free.

But, if I have a sea day, I don't know that we would be interested in getting ready to go to the MDR and then eat all that food. I usually prefer sleeping late, a light breakfast on the verandah, and laying by the pool. Quite often formal nights are on sea days so that would be a lot of food and calories to take in for 1 day.

Although I have to say the displays are really nice. Just couldn't see it done in an intimate place like Pinnacle.

I have spent the entire afternoon...and some of the evening since I just noticed it's dark outside....reading and enjoying your fabulous review!! Thank you so much for taking all the time to do it. I loved your writing and the pictures and video were 1st rate.

Now I have to head over and read your review of the Allure :p

Thanks again. I feel like I've been on a little mini cruise (but without the weight gain from all those great cocktails and food!!

There are many times to have your photos taken on the ship. There's the embarkation photo if you choose, if you leave the ship when it docks there will be someone dressed in a costume for the port that you can have your picture taken with, the photographer will walk through the diningroom on formal nights, there will be the formal portraits, plus there will be several casual photo sessions around the ship as well.

You can buy the photos individually or as package deals. We have always bought some to celebrate our cruise and it's the only time we get a photo of us dressed up. Yes, the prices are high, but it's just one of our cruising costs.

On our 5th anniversary trip, we decided to do one of the casual photo sessions after dinner one night. The photographer spent so much time doing tons of different poses and it really was fun. Have to say they are some of the best pictures we have of the two of us and shows how much we were enjoying the cruise. Really glad we bought a few!

Let them take as many pictures as they want and the second to last or last day of the cruise find your pictures and see if there are any you want. They don't put any pressure on you to buy while you're looking at them and it's fun. You might just find a gem!

We prefer HAL ourselves. If there are children on board the tend to be very well behaved. We find the service and food to be excellent.

HAL has cruises in FL leaving from Port Everglades (Ft Lauderdale) and Tampa.

We haven't sailed Celebrity, but hear they are a good line from friends of ours.

My son just returned from a Carnival cruise and gave me the daily sheets to send to a friend. They are $42.95 per person/per day, not including gratuity.

Having been reading the Carnival board a lot in the last week, several people on that board feel this is a deal. That's over $600 for 2 people for 7 days. Most likely, more than the cost of their cabin. Ouch!!