Splashduo

We are booked on the Highliights of the Columbia and Snake River cruise departing June 27.  This will be our first river cruise.  

I was surprised at how strong they are!  My husband kept his hooded sweatshirt hanging on one by the door.  We both kept our hats on them too---otherwise, we would forget to take them.  Each day you get a multiple page newsletter from the captain and we put them under a magnet for quick reference.  They are far stronger than a refrigerator magnet.  

We bought these magnet hooks from Amazon for our redent Panama Canal Cruise, and  they were wonderful.  We hung hats, sweaters, and the daily newsletter on the walls of our cabin.  It really kept everything tidy and handy.  They are now a permanent part of my cruise packing essentials!  My daughter also used them on Carnival to hang streamers for her husband's birthday celebration, and she said they worked very well and made decorating a snap.  https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B0787Q54M1/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

17 hours ago, geocruiser said:

Maybe you should post this on the HAL board too.  Some of the HAL's cruises might not view this board.

Actually, this rental agency rents for many lines, so that's why I had put it on cruise critic first.  Thanks for reminding me---I know HAL took it off their "frequently asked questions" as a link to folks asking about formal rentals.  And I'm sure that's why they were so quick to help us---they hadn't remembered to delete it when they got notice of the bankruptcy.

Just a heads up to my fellow cruisers.  Prior to our recent Panama Canal cruise on HAL, I contacted Cruiseline Formalwear to rent a tuxedo and shoes for my husband.  Always before, the tux would be waiting for us when we got to our cabin, but this time it was not.  They had confirmed my order when I placed and and verified his measurements by email, plus the rental fee of $160 had been paid by my credit card company.  I waited to see if the tux would arrive later in the evening, but it did not, so I went to customer service on the ship and they informed me that the company had gone into bankruptcy.  I have disputed the charge with my credit card and they've reimbursed me, but I thought I'd give notice to all of you in case you, like me, have reserved a tux way in advance.  We were fortunate that somehow HAL was able to loan us a tux or my husband would have been sorely under-dressed when I was in my fancy duds on gala night!  All's well that ends well, but be aware so you don't have the hassle we've had.  Happy cruising!

We had no problem carrying on our own non-alcoholic mixers with our one bottle of wine each in a wine six pack bag.  We DID, however, encounter a problem with the two cases of water we were planning to carry on.  The porter in the parking lot outside the ship INSISTED he was supposed to take our cases of water, even though I argued with him about it and tried to take it back from him.  As a result, we never received our water---we found out that those porters are third party --- not HAL employees, and only take the luggage as far as the ship's porters.  As I had been told, the ship's porters are not supposed to carry on liquids.  HAL customer service was very kind and comped us six liters of water to compensate our loss and said they would discuss this with the third party porters that they have to use at the pier. Therefore, be certain you carry on your own non-alcoholic beer or mixers and don't let the porters take them from you.

On 1/2/2015 at 2:09 PM, kazu said:

 

right now it can technically be in your checked luggage. However, rafinmd just reported on his live thread that he was called to the "naughty" room so they could open up his suitcase to see his soda.

 

If you are not bringing a lot on, I would be tempted to carry it on. Otherwise check it and be prepared.

 

Remember, you don't have to bring it all on at embarkation. Depending upon your ports of call and availability of you soda, you can bring all the soda you want at every port of call - no problem at all.

 

hope this helps 😄

I phoned HAL about this question and was told I could bring my own non-alcoholic mixers and water/soda, but that I was not to give it to the porters to carry and must carry it myself.  We're bringing two cases of water, plus our allowed wine and two bottles of MaiTai mix.  Instead of a drink package, we opted for  a less expensive option of purchasing spirits by the bottle in advance from HAL.  We ended up buying two vodka and a rum, plus two eight bottle wine packages and it cost about a third of what a drink package would have.

We don't drink bottled water at home.  We have a whole house filter.  I just don't trust the sources of water when I travel and I don't want to get sick and ruin my trip.  We leave in 8 days and I'm beyond excited.  Happy cruising, friends!

We're bringing two cases of water for our upcoming 18 day cruise.  We are both big water drinkers and want to have it in our room to consume on our balcony.  We also bought our liquor by the bottle from HAL (vodka and rum and two wine packages) instead of the beverage package and are saving lots of money that way.  We're bringing our own olives for martinis and our own Mai Tai mix (non-alcoholic) on board.  We phoned HAL in advance and found that it was allowed.  We're putting our two bottles of wine (allowed is 1 per person) in a grocery store wine carrier bag that has six slots, so the bottles of olives and mix will fill the other slots and be easy to carry.  Also, I'm buying our cases of water at Target where I can request a peel and stick handle be affixed to the side of the cases for easy carrying.  The one stipulation HAL made was that these items could not be carried by the porters---we have to carry them ourselves, but we'll drop all of our bags at check-in and will only be carrying those three items.  Easy peasy! 

My favorite part of cruising is that I can get dolled up on formal night!  I'm so sad that many lines are doing away with it.  I'm looking at HAL for a Panama Canal cruise in November, and hoping there will be at least two "Gala" nights.  I've lost some weight too, and I join you in hoping to find something colorful and sparkly!! 

Thank you!!! That is really good advice, and I promise to take it! We're already booked for a dinner at Share for the last night, so it would help the budget if we can get half off on the first night! Thanks for your kindness!

If you don't find one in the cabin ask your steward for one.

They have extras.

That's why I was asking when the coupon books were distributed---my daughter and I will be celebrating both of our birthdays and it would be fun to go to a specialty restaurant on embarkation day! I hope we somehow get one. We have been waitlisted for our cruise and finally got cleared. We'll be on the Ruby Princess next week for the Pacific Coastal itinerary. :cool:

I just used the BOGO at the Bayou Cafe on embarkation day on January 20. No restrictions that we encountered. I didn’t pay attention to the bottled water coupon or would have used it at that time. We made a reservation by going to the Bayou when we boarded.

I'm not willing to mail it. DW may still want to use one or two coupons.

 

However, I would be willing to give away unused coupons to people on my March 18th Circle Carribean cruise on the Carribean Princess. I will probably wait to see if I meet someone at embarkation or at lunch that I want to invite to join us at Sabatini's on embarkation evening. I just posted in my Roll Call to see if anyone wants to join us.

How did you get the coupon book? Did they just mail it to you, or hand it to you as you boarded?

oops---the earlier quote from the nude beach in St. Maarten was supposed to be quoted here! I'm so technologically retarded.

I thought the nude security guard who wore nothing but a belt with a billy club was pretty funny----oh, and he had a fanny pack with change (besides keeping the peace, he rented lounge chairs. This was years ago---is he still around? He sure had a great tan . . .