3rdGenCunarder

I've more often seen extra times for existing excursions added rather than entirely new excursions.

The ship may do a sail-by. I've been to St Lucia on HAL and after we left the port, the ship sailed by the Pitons so everyone could see them.

About 10 years ago, I asked the World Club/Future booking rep if she could check my Cunard history. The printout she gave me was a mess. Some voyages were missing, and some were there twice. The funny thing is the total number of days was very close to what I thought I had. So it wasn't worth looking for old receipts and making corrections. While my HAL history is not as extensive as my Cunard history, it goes back a few years more and it is correct.

I think you have to buy the full pass on board. That's what I did in June. I remember doing that right away because they were selling fewer passes than usual due to Covid, so I wanted to make sure I got one.

I've heard the stories about FLL taxis, so I avoid them. If I'm arriving in FLL (as opposed to a few pre-cruise days in Miami), it's usually Amtrak, and I use Uber. I stay at Embassy Suites, but like @ISLANDFAN, I don't want to wait for other people, so I use Uber to go to the port. My last two FLL Ubers were funny. Former new Yorkers who weren't sure they wanted to stay in FL. "It gets so hot here!"

Loud restaurants have been a trend in NYC for years. It's busy, it's buzzy, it's happening! Aren't you excited to be here!!! No, I'm mostly annoyed by the din.

I've only been on one PInnacle, K'dam. The MDR was noisier than I've experienced on other ships. The worst was the lower level way at the back, in a corner where the ceiling is low. The quietest was the upper level, near an aft corner.

I have been aft on one Signature, one Pinnacle and three of the four Vistas and never had an issue with soot or smells.

Neptune and Pinnacle Suites eat in CO.

I haven't sailed with X so I can't help with your comparison, but I want to clarify one thing. The music walk bands play sets, but they don't play all the time. I was on Koningsdam, and I didn't think the MDR tables were closer together than on other ships I've been on. But the design of the MDR makes it a very noisy space unless you luck out on a quiet corner.

Princess was my back-up plan. But their ships are larger. it's a lot of years since I sailed with Princess, so I suppose I might try again, but I didn't like it. The ship felt crowded and except for a wonderful waiter, I thought service was poor.

I wonder how many hotels have similar problems. Everything I've seen on the news is about the airport.

The two times I was on K'dam, the movies by the pool were not kiddie movies. I doubt a little kid would care about Murder on the Orient Express or something like that. They should make that an adult area in the evening. Movies by the pool are a nice "date night" at sea. Unfortunately, it's difficult to staff up for just a few weeks. Crew work on contracts much longer than that. What HAL needs to do is keep track of the numbers and at some point stop selling cabins to more than 2 occupants. I doubt it will ever happen, but it would be nice.

The same "Legendary" Amazon is on the '25 schedule, so who knows?

PG p I love the wall of shelves. I decorated when we did the Christmas cruise in 2016.

Yes, the ones on QM2 are square, which means a longer outside wall and windows, and a larger balcony.

AQV is still updating tours for this season's Great Lakes itineraries. My cruise is two months away, and they're still adding tours. You won't see all the tours on the initial itinerary page, but if you click on any of the "premium" tours, it will take you to a page where you can see the list specifically for your cruise. When Escanaba was added as a port to replace a Canadian island, I did a chat and was told that they were working on "premium" tours for Escanaba and they would be "really good." Knowing that there are wineries near Escanaba, I have been checking the website every week or two, hoping to see something "really good" pop up. So far, only the "included" tours are showing for Escanaba on my cruise. So I keep checking. A few weeks ago, I discovered that they had added a Motown tour for Detroit. Today, I discovered another Detroit tour. This one goes to a pottery where you get to glaze a tile, and they ship it to your home. This may not appeal to a lot of people, but I googled the pottery and it looks interesting. So check your cruise from time to time and see if new tours appear. For once AQV does NOT ask for money up front. Premium tours go on your onboard account.

The cruise line doesn't control what happens at the port. In Bali several years ago, the line to return to the ship (QM2) was incredibly long because only one tender could dock at the pier, despite the ship having several boats in the water, ready to go. It made no sense, as the pier was long enough to take two, maybe three. But port rules or staffing levels said only one at a time.

This is an interesting statistic. I have always said I never felt crowded om QM2, even on holiday cruises, so I found a list of ships and sure enough, QM2 has 25% more space per passenger than Vistas, with Cunard's Vistas coming out a bit ahead of HAL's. Another difference is that Cunard doesn't cram in as many 3rd and 4th passengers as HAL has been doing.

What port was that?

I missed the amuse bouche in January. I remember the best mushroom soup in a little demitasse cup. I wanted to say, "bring me a big bowl of that!"

I've been in neptune suites twice on K. The one along the side was a good size, and the bathroom was very nice. The corner aft we had the first time was much smaller than any corner aft I've had on a Vista (on a variety of decks), and the bathroom was ridiculous. The stall shower was smaller than a standard phone booth, and no shower over the tub. No way should it have been SB. SX, maybe, but it was inferior to the SA on the side in many ways.

The end of the saga. I was able to transfer the deposit to the 2-week cruise. It took my TA a couple of calls (and several hours on hold) to get someone who could do it, but it's done. BUT I can't transfer the OBC that I had in the original booking. Considering I did not cancel, HAL did, this is a cheap move. And I won't get the meager $100 OBC "bonus" for moving the deposit because I didn't make the change by the deadline. I did not know about the deadline because I NEVER got the notification, nor did my TA. And the cruise I'm booking was not on the website until AFTER the deadline. Despite these arguments, she was told that I couldn't have the $100 OBC. It isn't a lot of money, and I wouldn't normally push on something like this, but HAL has handled this whole thing badly, and I didn't want to let them off the hook for something I think they owed me. But in the end, I let it go. On the plus side, I didn't need to argue for HAL to honor my per diem, because my cabin was less expensive. The HIA was a good deal because it included some OBC, so that sort of replaces the OBC they wouldn't roll over. And, most important, the idiots who answer the phone in Seattle or East Earmuff or wherever will NOT be on my ship. The wonderful HAL crew will be there, and I'm just happy to have this settled.

I sailed on Norway in her later years, when NCL ran her on the cheap. The teak decks were gone or covered over. The promenade deck had some kind of spongy coating to make it soft for running. Upper decks had cheap astroturf. Because they couldn't convert her to freestyle, they treated her like a burdensome unloved cousin. Heartbreaking. The Club Internationale (with the neptune statues) was still one of the most beautiful rooms afloat.

The pass gives you access to the hydropool, the heated loungers, various saunas/steam (I don't use them, so I don't know the details) and other water features, like a wooden bench you lie on that sprays you with water (I couldn't get it to work) and a thing that will dump a bucket of water (cold?) on you. There are some pictures of the spa on halfacts. Koningsdam Lido Deck (Deck 9) | HAL Cruiser Information (halfacts.com)