BigMattT

19 hours ago, esimon said:

I read all of the answers. Thank you very much to everyone who answered. I didn’t explain the situation. Well you don’t understand the complete situation I said thank you very much. Thank you very much and I’m done.
 

 

In my best Maggie Smith: “Oh I like her.”

Yikes! Hope it works out.

6 hours ago, Raybit said:

 

 

Note: we did get an aft vista suite as our assigned room - so the cost savings is pretty significant!  

Wow! Congrats! Yesterday we tried to upgrade from our assigned inside guarantee for this sailing and were told we were not eligible.

Interesting stuff, these promotional programs.

13 minutes ago, The-Inside-Cabin said:

We would always upload the picture, but they never seemed to use them.   Now there is no longer a requirement or option but the speed of check-in seems the same before photo and after photo.

Ours seemed to get used. It would be what flashed up when we scanned in and out of the ship at ports. A friends photo was SO terrible (he hurriedly took it that morning at the crack of dawn) that we giggled each time (and the crew with us).

2 hours ago, Raybit said:

Update - we are on standby for the 6 January cruise out of San Diego.  Have heard nothing from HA even though their web page clearly states that they will notify us of acceptance (confirmed with agent also should notify of non-acceptance) "approximately 7 days before cruise ship departure.  When I checked in today, they said that "approximately" can be anytime up to embarkation.  BIG DIFFERENCE and we would not have signed up under these conditions.  Unfortunately, the only way they have to cancel is to the standard forfeiture of all but taxes and port fees.  Still working but wanted to share with the community...

 

Has anyone cleared the waitlist for the this cruise?

 

 

We only got our cabin assignments yesterday for our casino inside gty for this sailing… so I’d imagine you’ll know soon.

7 minutes ago, foodsvcmgr said:

I wonder why they would get rid of a tech upgrade that saves time?

Both Cunard and Celebrity have you load your own photo.

On our New England Cruise, we waited for over 90 minutes for Guest Services behind passenger after passenger incapable of using the Navigator App. Wild guess… people didn’t follow instructions for uploading the photos that complied with security needs and it’s more streamlined to just take them?

28 minutes ago, Gail & Marty sailing away said:

Not us ever.

33 minutes ago, CruiserBruce said:

It was never required. We have done 4 cruises with the Navigator app...never uploaded a picture.

Thank you for your replies about having never uploaded your photos in the past.

I have uploaded it in the past 7 cruises and have been able to sail through past the photo part of the check-in thanks to their facial recognition technology.

It sounds like this (optional but helpful) step is gone.

For the last few years I’ve been accustomed to uploading a security photo to the HAL navigator app prior to arriving for embarkation.

The button seems to be gone now.

Did I miss that this was discontinued? (Not unhappy, just want a smooth check-in.)

1 hour ago, Ipeeinthepools said:

 

I always wondered what I was supposed to do with that wooden thing.

They’re meant to stub your toes on, giving you that spa-like “I’m alive!” feeling. 

On 12/19/2023 at 8:34 PM, bundtkate said:

Forgive me if this is answered somewhere else. I have tried my best to do my Google and searching due diligence and found plenty of posts about the Retreat generally, but nothing talking about opening hours so I'm caving and asking. What hours is the Retreat accessible to those with full cruise bookings? I had thought I was being clever booking an inside cabin + Retreat cabana for Alaska next June, but I read something (that I of course can't find again) indicating the Retreat hours were fairly limited. Now if that just means that the butlers clock out on the earlier side, that's fine by me. Obviously we'll enjoy the service when it's available, but mostly we just want an available outside space so we can take advantage of Alaska's extended daylight hours and enjoy the scenery at a lower cost than if we had booked a balcony cabin. So long as we can hang out in our cabana when we'd like, we're happy to BYOB and fetch our own snacks outside service hours.

While it sounds like you’ve done your research, we don’t do it for Alaska. (We love the retreat and are doing an inside+retreat on a Pinnacle next month.)
 

But with Alaska, it’s the rain and misty fog.

As long as your expectations are in line, you’ll probably enjoy “roughing it in luxury” up there on an Alaska itinerary. Just keep in mind that the Retreat on a Pinnacle ship isn’t a great place to be in the rain… and you’re visiting some of the wettest regions in the world in Alaska. I took a Pacific coastal where it rained one day and misted another… and even in mild mid-60’s weather with sun trying to peek through… it was unpleasant. Wet seats, flaps dripping on you. The attendants will all but encourage you to go elsewhere.

Truly, the views from the retreat aren’t good. Great as a backdrop to your book while reading or relaxing or bobbing along the sea… but when the plexi-glass that shields you from the wind gets rain on it, it obscures your view even in dense fog/mist. It’s not even easy to stand at the plexiglass wind shield because of the lounger and table configuration. Even if you have a retreat to use other times, you’ll absolutely want to be on better decks (bow deck 5, midship deck 11) to get good views during scenic cruising moments.

That wet fast moving air is really punishing. My husband and I are great big bearded fuzzy guys, wore layers and rain gear, and we weren’t comfortable on the bow or balcony for more than 30 minutes in misty low-50’s weather at scenic cruising speeds.
 

For Alaska I agree with @OlsSalt… inside cabin, thermal suite, and then gravitate toward whatever vibe you want in the evening. Seating Aft Lido deck near SeaView Bar is covered and fairly quiet in the evening. Lots of quiet nooks and benches around the ship.

But for sure: post back again and report back how it goes. It might be cloud-free weather and a fabulous adventure!

It’s great when someone does their homework. I hope it’s a great fit for you!

13 minutes ago, iflyrc5 said:

We are 5 star with 850+ days on HAL and never got an offer for a free/cheap cruise.  I guess they figure they have us locked in already

 

Yeah, it sounds like they do have you pretty loyal already. What would make you decide to spend more with them than you do now?

We pulled way back on travel spending since the pandemic, but HAL has received 80% of our remaining vacation spending because they started to send us offers… versus 0% when they didn’t send us offers. They know we usually buy a retreat cabana, thermal suite pass, specialty dining, and leave a donation in the casino… so they lose $1k on our fare but gain $5k in spending or more. Seems like smart marketing to me.

We only accepted one of the $149 ones and glad we only did one. In addition to no OBC back, we just discovered the $149 fares aren’t eligible for upsell offers or Club Orange while the “free” offers (which we’ve continued to receive all along, but not for the sailings we’d consider) are.

(Also curiously the first time we’ve been without a cabin assignment at 7 days out. Not complaining… eager to see where we land. Just feels like those fares are treated quite differently than what we were used to.)

7 hours ago, rafinmd said:

I don't think anyone has posted views looking forward from Deck 14.  I don't think you can see the bow from there but there are some nice forward views.  These are from sister Rotterdam at the first lock on my Panama Canal cruise:''

 

 

 

 

 

 

This deck was also my preferred location to watch the sunrise on my eastern Nieuw Statendam transatlantic.

 

There is also a little porch on Deck 6 that is accessible at times but it is open to the weather and I think normally sealed with watertight doors although was open for the Panama Canal and might be open at some other times with scenic cruising if the wind is not too bad:

 

 

Roy

Oh wow I’ve never seen them open deck 6 forward hatches. Wonder if it’s a Panama Canal thing.

3 hours ago, St Pete Cruiser said:

The remaining R class have the best forward access. Deck 8 at either edge of the gym even provide views down the side of the ship. Deck 6 has the full width forward view. Also Deck 10 above Crow's Nest is open. 

R class has a door from the thermal suite in the spa to an awesome little deck. (Great as a "cold air plunge" in those great New England/Montreal itins!)

Vista class has a beautiful forward deck in front of the gym.

Pinnacles... have...   ...lots of great restaurants.

Westy pizza is terrible lido stuff, full stop. Bready and doughy.  Signature and Pinnacle class ships have New York Pizza, which ironically does not taste like a pizza from New York, but is far far better than the stuff from the lido on Vista class ships.

7 hours ago, AryMay said:

 

While you are out on your mission, could you head to the front of deck 7 and see what the white spaces are on either side of this deck? Still trying to discover if there is a way to access a public area  overlooking the bow of the ship. 🙂

 

 

 

It’s been discussed these are officer quarters.
 

7 does not have a publicly accessible deck forward overlooking the bow for passengers. You can barely see the bow from 14 forward.

I just reviewed video I took from standing on the bow during K-Dam scenic cruising passing under the Golden Gate Bridge. It is a crowded bow with no one standing forward on any other deck areas overlooking the bow.

4 minutes ago, CruiserBruce said:

Suites don't have any special access to the front of the ship...

Correct, Suites as cabin type/class don’t have special access, but there are two particular suites which do have intermittent access to a part of deck 10 (and maybe 11?) via an openable divider from their verandas. I’d imagine access is inconsistent.

There’s an older thread here that battles this out fairly exhaustively: 

1 hour ago, AryMay said:

Is there a public deck that is accessible that overlooks the bow on the Koningsdam? If so which deck? 

On Pinnacle Class ships, Deck 5 forward is “sometimes” accessible during scenic cruising when the bow is opened. Otherwise, no. The deck areas facing forward are either crew-only or accessible by a Suite only (and inconsistently.) 

On 12/20/2023 at 1:09 PM, DCDragonfly said:

We just got on the Eurodam in a spa balcony.  The chairs don’t have footrests, but there’s plenty of room to sit comfortably without twisting around.  We’re totally pleased with the cabin (especially because we booked GTY), but I wouldn’t spring for the 50% premium HAL seems to charge.

Agree these cabins are some of my favorite verandah cabins, but not for the huge premium to book.

We had juices at Gelato and “freshly squeezed” OJ covered by our packages last year. (Either in error or the exclusion is new.) That change excluding fresh juices would actually tip the scale for the HIA value to “not worth it” for us. We don’t drink a lot of alcohol, so we get our money’s worth from the Signature on smoothies, juices, specialty coffee, etc. 

10 hours ago, elaine5 said:

what is the "vibe" and demographics on HA Caribbean cruises compared to RCI, Celebrity, and Princess? 

We travel HAL when we want a quieter, relaxing getaway enjoying maritime sightseeing. There is a little more drinking/party happening on Caribbean voyages, but not a ton.

The other lines never seem like they want you to enjoy the actual sea while onboard: distractions everywhere between you and the view.

RCI is like a floating theme park— if you’ve never driven a bumper car up a rock wall that is suspended 200 feet in the air… there’s your chance. There are 10,000 other passengers on board with you who also think right now is the perfect time to do that activity on the brochure that can handle a crowd of 5 people per hour.

Princess is HAL + honeymooners, Karaoke, and the cruise director Julie is so fun. I hope they play the theme song. They’re expecting youuuuuuu! Doesn't everyone just LOVE it when the waitstaff sing on the last night of the cruise? I hope you’re hungry for baked Alaska!

Celebrity hopes you brought your wallet.

(You didn’t ask about Carnival and NCL, so I assume you’ve already been to Las Vegas.)

2 hours ago, Billtkat said:

Have an Alaska cruise on hold for next July, sailing on the Westerdam. Currently have an aft room, VB5184 on hold with this reservation -  Never been on this ship before and really picked this cruise because airfare is just crazy so trying to balance a nice cruise with the cost.   Asking to see if anyone that has sailed this cruise, this ship and especially in this room for input.  Good , bad and any tips we should keep in mind would be greatly appreciated. 

Richard & Natacha - 

If you are at all sensitive to vibration, I would steer clear of aft cabins in the middle of the aft on Westerdam on decks 4&5.
 

Some of the cabins have severe shaking/vibration at high speeds (which you’ll be doing on three full days of that itin). Bizarre harmonics from the propeller I guess. Forward a few cabins was much improved.

We’re experienced cruisers, not sensitive to movement or occasional vibration or noises, and have had aft cabins on other ships and lines… but had to get moved from deck 4 Aft in August. Deck 5 a few cabins forward from the aft was perfectly quiet.

48 minutes ago, BobbiSox said:

Dragged husband to his first 'tea' and sorry I did. We were seated next to a table of four tank-topped men. Never saw so much underarm hair, and chest hair peeking out in any dining venue. A dress code of some kind may exist, but HAL being HAL, it's never enforced. We got up and left. If I wanted to see hairy men I would have gone on Carnival. 

Oh no! Why did you have to ‘drag’ your husband to tea? Why didn’t he want to spend time with you? 
 

Thank goodness you were able to excuse yourself and get back to depilating.

58 minutes ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

 

I'm never sure what counts as "mass market," but Cunard does afternoon tea and they do it beautifully. They do offer a champagne tea, held in a separate lounge instead of the Queens Room. 

 

I like the idea of and Asian Tea in Tamarind. It is a lovely venuie. 

The mass market vs premium vs luxury line distinctions are increasingly blurry since COVID. I think HAL is much more of a “serene and steeped in tradition mass market” than Premium or Luxury these days. (Not necessarily a bad thing.)

I haven’t sailed on Cunard, but it strikes me as a premium or luxury line than mass market.

We love that HAL still has Afternoon Tea almost daily. It’s one of the reasons we still choose them.
 

That said, Afternoon Tea can be hit or miss in the Main Dining Room depending on how busy it is, the weather, and if the pastries are fresh that day. (We suspect but can’t prove that they’re made every other day.) When sailing in a Neptune Suite, however, tea is consistently excellent when setup in our cabin using that perk.

In the MDR, you can request whatever type of other tea you’d like instead of the PG Tips from the larger carafes. It just takes longer to receive and refills are uncertain.

While PG Tips is actually a fine choice for an Afternoon Tea, they could very easily offer a second variety in large carafes as a special each day to make the affair feel slightly more memorable at minute additional cost.

If I were HAL, I would double down on the marketing fact they are the last mass market line to have a charming Afternoon Tea. Always puzzling when such a clear a opportunity to differentiate with a well thought-out experience is overlooked.

I’d even suggest they add an option for a $15 upcharge to add a glass of sparkling wine, nice caviar on a blini, foie gras pate, and premium signature dessert bite of some sort to the standard (always better be free) tea service.

On ships with Tamarind, I’m baffled they don’t offer an Afternoon Tea with Asian influences. That gorgeous venue on Pinnacle ships is woefully underutilized during the daytime.