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Billthekid

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Everything posted by Billthekid

  1. Living in Vegas I have always been surprised by the quality of the seafood served around town. Seafood trucks making deliveries are seen all over the area. And you would be surprised to find a major shrimp farm just 10 miles from the Strip providing "fresh" shrimp to our visitors.
  2. It did not look like that but more like very large pork rinds, puffy and needed to be broken into smaller pieces to dip into the three sauce bowls.
  3. Actually, we were not served chips, but a bowl of 10-inch wide kroepek we had to break apart to dip them into the three little bowls and they lacked any shrimp flavor. Tarimand use to serve a much better before dinner "snack" back in the day.
  4. So .50 becomes .59 and .75 becomes .88. Look at it this way, it all adds up to becoming 5*
  5. Curious. Is there an 18% service charge on each of those .50, .75, etc
  6. I love the pork rinds they serve before the meal.
  7. Everyone, including Santa, is cutting back on everything.
  8. Your the first one to notice of all the readers of the post. Thanks for being alert. On cupid and blitzen, etc
  9. Customer Service through your agent of cruise planner. $3.95. It should be in your cabin when you board or shortly thereafter.
  10. 2019 I started a Topic about the menu listing a Boiled Maine Lobster at Rudi's and receiving just a tail from a warm water lobster. Based on the comments above, nothing has changed. You don't get what you pay for seems to be a theme with Holland.
  11. Thank you for the explanation. Some I get on my own and others are just wag.
  12. I order distilled water for my cabin for my CPAP machine. It is delivered in a one-gallon plastic bottle as of December.
  13. I need distilled water for my CPAP machine and it is delivered to the cabin in a one-gallon PLASTIC bottle.
  14. Our holiday cruise drink coupons were dated on the NS,
  15. THIS IS NOT A COMPLAINT: Out of curiosity has anybody received a refund, or a credit to their account for a meal at the Pinnacle, or any other specialty restaurant, that was not satisfactory and was unacceptable? I don't think so myself. But...........
  16. On the 12-17-23 NS Caribbean sailing the ports included Private Island, Grand Turk (port built by Carnival for shopping), Samana (Tender and mile walk to town) and the ABC islands with shopping and water activities is the objective. Nothing historic or cultural exists. We did a Cultural Exposure excursion which consisted of looking at cactus, goats, donkeys, and trees while driving around the island. Stopped at a nature park and learned how to plant a cactus fence. This was the cruise we selected and bad on us. It appears the future will be privately built ports with a shopping concourse and a swimming pool.
  17. We cruised with HAL over 25 trips. Each time some of the enjoyment has been stripped away, little by little. On this cruise, for example, The Pinnacle food was terrible, the arrival of Santa was marred by the absence of a verbal exchange with Santa, the Mariners Luncheon was not conducted, wine tasting on the last day, lack of interaction with officers and staff, ship activity limited to sales pitches, and the ports were just shopping stops with beach activity. After each cruise, I question what I experienced and appreciate input from fellow cruisers. If they are experiencing the same thing, maybe it is not me after all. HAL continues to erode the joys of cruising. To answer your question, We did not enjoy this Holiday Cruise, but we did enjoy all our previous festive Holiday cruises.
  18. We just finished a Holiday Cruise on NS. One night we went to the Pinnacle for dinner. My wife and I ordered the 8 oz Filet ordered Medium. It was flavorless, difficult to cut because it was not tender, blackened on six sides, and lacked any moisture. The baked potato was hard and not cooked. The server and manager apologized and offered a lunch the next day for our troubles. We expected a prime steak at dinner and the steak served was nowhere close to that quality. So I looked at the menu again and nowhere does it mention the steak grade, be it prime, choice, or utility cut. The lunch listed a Prime Loin cut and that steaked lacked flavor. It did not mention USDA Prime, just a prime loin steak. Then I started to look at images of previous Pinnacle menus and noted the Double R Ranch (previous provider) steaks were choice cuts. Then another menu mentioned a USDA Prime Delmonico steak, and then the Delmonico steak was just listed without the USDA Prime terminology. So the question is should we expect a prime steak or a choice cut when we go to the Pinnacle? And when it is listed on the menu, is it USDA inspected prime , Or HAL's defined prime cut?
  19. I started this topic more to discuss the absence of the verbal exchange between Santa and the kids being broadcast from the stage. The photographer has always been part of the presentation. The kids were the show. Their comments, questions, wishes, tales, and being awestruck had the audience oohing and awing, laughing, and saying things like cute, precious, etc. There were many Art Linkletter moments. The visit from Santa I saw, was have the child sit on Santa's lap, take a picture and move on, next! Sorry, the subject became about photography. PS: Still have my visit to Santa Claus picture. Also, the egg nog was not spiked.
  20. Holiday Cruises are enjoyable and we just finished one on the NS. Back in the day, one of the better moments was Santa greeting the kids in the main showroom on stage. The Captain would announce an object in the sky, then a sleigh and raindeers, and a video would be shown of Santa on the ship and finally entering the theater. The kids would line up and approach Santa who would go through the routine of asking them if they were good and what they wanted for Christmas. A gift would be provided to each kid. Santa had a microphone and you could hear the questions and the responses which ran the gauntlet from world peace to an x-box. Egg Nog and cookies would be provided. It was enjoyable and fun, plus seeing the joy in kids' faces. This year it was completely different. Captain announced an object in the sky, then a sleigh with eight raindeers. On the stage, they showed a video with Santa and just two raindeers, Vincent and Cupid I think. Finally, Santa arrives, and what song is played; "All I want for Christmas is you." A child's favorite. They could have played "Here Comes Santa Clause", but no. So now the children are lined up by age group. There is no verbal exchange between Santa and the kids. Just sit on his lap, have the ship photographer snap the picture, give a token gift from the dollar store, and next in line, please. No wish list, no HoHoHo, no good little boy speech. Not one daunting parent was allowed to snap a picture with their cell phone. The photographs were hung in the photo center with care. And were sold to the parents for $29.95. It is all part of the commercialization of the holidays.
  21. Our "Mariner's Cocktail Coupon" was in the cabin on the desk, but what was interesting it was date-stamped indicating it was only good for the length of our particular cruise. Use it (for drink #16) or lose it.
  22. This was our first cruise in a long time because of the pandemic, we ventured forth for a 10-day Holiday Caribbean cruise on the Nieuw Statendam. We are 4* close to moving up to 5*. We board in the first group at 11 AM, find the cabin, do some exploring, and wait for the announcement about the welcome luncheon for the Mariners. No announcement ever came, but we stumbled on to the lunch being served. There are only about 40 individuals having lunch compared to previous cruises where the number was much higher. Back to the cabin and finally at 5 PM, our luggage shows up. There is nothing for the Mariners for the next six days. A one-hour reception is announced at the Lido Deck indoor pool. A gauntlet of eight uniformed personnel greet us and we have no idea who they are since they don't talk or say hello, just nod their heads. Sixty minutes later, the place is cleared out. A Wine tasting (free to Mariners) is held on the last sea day, for anyone who wishes to order a wine package for the one day left, I guess. On the next to the last sea day we leave laundry on the bed for pick up, but the cabin boy hands it back the next day because the laundry room is overloaded with others they can not get to ours. And last but not least, the Mariner's Luncheon with awards and meeting the Captain is not held. There is no mention of why, no apology. I guess during the 10 days there was no time available. The good news was the tiles were delivered to the cabins. The disregard for the Mariners Members is not a deal breaker, but it is more of the reflective attitude towards all the passengers in my opinion.
  23. Talked to HAL today and was told the volume runs from 40-100%. Alaska generally runs at 100%. With kids back in school some of the 7 day cruise out of Florida run a little lower. With the holidays coming up they anticipate higher volume, but the advance booking are a little slow. Inflation is providing a headwind.
  24. I was curious as to the volume of passengers on cruise ships these days. Are they full? or at a lower level? I could see how Alaska cruises would be full in the Summer, but what about other cruising areas. I don't see any reports in the news, so looking for first hand reports. Just curious.
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