rover16

Love the sea days....3 TAs, trans-pacific to Japan and Antarctica Read, watch the ocean, multiple laps around the decks. Never bored/

Usually PG breakfast is great. However, on time on the Zaandam, pre-pandemic, my wife had to send the Eggs Benedict back 3 times before getting a egg that wasn't totally cold, as was the sauce. Most time it's great, but even the PG can have issues.

Is there anyway to know if Club Orange is available on any particular cruise? I know it is capacity limited, so it would be helpful to know if already sold out before Iv

We were on the Westerdam last July and night life after the main stage show is limited. There was music in one of the bars, but that seemed to abvout it. Love the. cruise nonetheless.

I had Club Orange on a cruise that HAL cancelled. On my rebooked cruise a month later on the same ship Rotterdam, Club Orange is sold out. Is there a wait list for Club Orange in such a situation?

We have not sailed Princess to Alaska, but have 4 HAL Alaska cruises in the past 10 years on 4 different ships and have enjoyed them all. For us, at least, we would always sail the smaller ship and HAL has great viewing areas inside and out. So, we'll take HAL.

Pretty poor quality sparkling wine...BARELY drinkable in a Mimosa.

Just a different point of view, we almost always prefer to find a nice shore-side restaurant. Better food, more relaxed atmosphere. The lunch may be a perk, but that's not why I book that category of cabin.

We last cruised on Princess in 1989 aboard the old Sky Princess. Since then we've had a dozen or more cruises, but always on HAL or Celebrity. Thinking about 2025 cruise on either Majestic Princess or Emerald Princess. We are an early 70s couple and would like some comments from the CC experts on how we would find Princess after all these years.....dramatic changes I know just like HAL and Celebrity changed after the pandemic. Got lots of time and just looking for some thoughts. Thanks!

I really hate the little slips of paper to track, but with these prices they removed the incentive to buy a beverage package. I'll collect the slips of paper, drink les, and pay a lot less, over time, to Celebrity.

IMO, the wines are still only fair to middling at best and they raised the prices of what we like to drink out of the Signature range.

Ditto RuthC. Did that before the pandemic and it was great.

A total waste of paper!

Just on her in late September, agree the aft end of the lower dining room can be a bit noisy from engine/props. but it wasn't bad enough to prevent easy conversations.

I've see lots of comments on CO, but when Ive booked with my PCC at HAL its never bee n mentioned or offered as a option. I know it's limited but can find nothing on HAL's website on cost or how to get it. Sailing June, 2025 on Rotterdam, in a Vista Suite, never been on that class of ship. Do folks think CO is worth iot?

We've done 1-Trans-Atlantic post-pandemic on Celebrity and 2 Alaska cruises on HAL post-pandemic. The lines are very similar. We pick by the ports for a particular cruise. Not picky cruisers, so for us the 2 main differences are On Celebrity free room service is limited to continental breakfast. A charge for everthing else. On HAL, at least in Jiuly, al;l room service, with a couple of exceptions was without additional charge. On Celebrity, at least back in April, you could bring on 2 bottles of wine each in drink in your room at no charge. On HAL, every bottle is hit with a $20 fee. As a wine lover I find most wine by-the-glass omn both lines to be inferior and overpriced, so I likie HAL for that. I agree Celebrity has better entertainment options. Think food is comparable on either line. I do like HAL's Dive-In (great fries), but felt Celebrity has better pizza. In the end the ports and timing will make the choice between HAL and Celebrity.

I have been on this cruise twice and no Orange Party. But the last time was more than a year ago.

We were there in 2019 an d found it easy to get to the port from our Hilton hotel, the airport was a longer ride, but reasonable cost.

The buffet was better than expected and DW loved the stir fry offerings on our trans-atlantic

I'll join the crowd in wanting X to have a regular schedule out on San Diego. We sail almost every year on a San Diego to Vancouver cruse on HAL, They also have regular Hawaii cruises from SD along with Mexico. Would love to have an option to sail on X. Sailed once from LA and never again. Long Beach is almost as bad.

Have done the reverse, YVR to SEA twice and loved it.

I book a cruise based on 2 factors...the ports and dates of cruise. Was on X transatlantic in April, was on 3 HAL cruises in 2022 and will be back on HAL (Westerdam) next month. I have likes and dislikes on each. For HAL I like that, so far, there is not a fee for normal room, service, at least comparing 2022 to 2023, the food choices in the MDR were better (IMO) on HAL. In general I prefer HAL's itineraries. Prefer smaller ships so have not sailed on any Pinnacle class hjip. I dislike that HAL will charge me corkage for all wine bring aboard while X will allow a couple of bottles with no charge so log as I confine my drinking of them to my cabin. For X, as I said, I like wine policy. From breakfast and lunch I felt the OVC had a better selection and quality than the HAL buffet. My main gripe with X was the worst wine selection for the Basic Drink Package. Even tje premium package was ( IMHO)) barely adequate. X gets a Wine Spectator award for the wine list, but that does not include the drink packages. HAL, at least in 2022, had decent wines by the glass in the basic package. Bottom line, I will gladly sail with either. It will just depend on where and when.

What are the chances if you are in an aft veranda and southbound from Glacier Bay or Sitka in late Sept.?

Was on the Zuiderdam in May and the Zaandam last week, and I'd take the Zaandam. Actually found the music opportunities much better on the Zaandam. We were in a Vista Suite, so can't comment on an OV, but DW and liked the Zaandam better. t was our 3rd cruise since May, and the best ship & cres for us.

What is really bad is, at least last week on the Zaandam, the twist off cans that you could reuse were NOT part of the Signature Bev. Pack. With gratuity added, more than $5 a can. Asked multiple times why the pop-top cans were included, but not the twist off....answer, that's the policy.