SilvertoGold

I have always felt that the Suite pax are paying for (1) extra real estate given that their staterooms are more or less double the size of Vs, and (2) for the Neptune Lounge which could be turned into more insides to sell, with saving for HAL with no amenities to add to their costs.

We saw a guy in the MDR order 3 appetizers, 2 entrees and 3 desserts. He did eat it all, amazingly. Should he have been charged? I think it would have been fair to charge for something there because that must be unusual and quite overboard. But ordering 2 of the starters is not outlandish, especially now that HAL's entrees tend to be on the smaller side.

I consider price as well as 5 star perks which do add up to some savings. I see some ridiculously high fares, some so-so and some reasonable. Pax have many choices. HAL has reduced service/nice additions in so many ways (no chocolates, no towel animals, choose one stateroom service per day, etc) the value is beginning to look debatable. All in all HAL is good value and if they tone down the rush to add-on pricing (MDR, Pinnacle) and this nonsense about paying for more than one appetizer/soup/salad in the Pinnacle, plus put an end to the long string of cutbacks, then HAL can remain a good value (for us, at least).

Way back before the Dive-In existed HAL had a burger bar forward of the mid-ship pool. What was that called? Terrace Grill?? That was where we found a few mostly dreep-fried Dutch treats.

Australia and NZ HAL cruises still require Vaccine (Final dose. Booster is encouraged) and Testing (take viral Covid test and attest to negative result). Anyone want to guess what "attest" means? Email says HAL website page may not be updated for a few days, so the FAQs page which spells out the testing criteria (photo proof) may be out of date.

On the Koningsdam last year over 6 weeks of 7 day cruises + one 18 day cruise it was a mixed bag, sometimes yes, sometimes no. Usually if you do have to participate you have between 3 and 6 m to do so. You will be told in writing the day before.

I can understand that HAL is shoehorning Tamarind into the Asia cruises on the Westerdam. This makes sense and is a nice addition!

Thanks very much. Appreciate this info as I now need to buy some N95. Glad you are enjoying the Noordam!

Thank you. Colin is superb!

Are masks still being given out on the ship? If so, are they the good N95 or only the thin surgical (usually blue) ones? If anyone know who the Hotel manager is, I'd appreciate knowing. The Front Desk should have a comment box with his/her name and photo :)

This is good info, but it looks as if some ships/lines are adding to this list. Passengers on the HAL World Cruise were told nothing off the ship but sealed water. Period, Why HAL is going above and beyond is the question. It was interesting because the blog writer mentioning this was standing near a bar guy who was getting ready to sell that "sealed water" when the announcement was made. He also had pop/soda on his cart to sell and he hastily removed it when he heard the announcement.

Thanks so much for the info. So glad things are going well! Do you know who the Hotel Manager is?

Where do the operators of the shorex come into this? I expect the locals who run shorex for cruiseships would monitor weather reports. They would likely live there and be aware of typical weather patterns for the area. They probably do not want to get caught in this type of situation any more than pax do. Don't they report to the company who arranges HAL shorex?

Thanks for your ideas! I have read through all 12 pages of our last policy. Nothing whatsoever about mode of transport. This has not been an issue in the many years we have cruised, but now we could be asked to show the insurance at boarding and some say you need to show it is good for cruises. Never been an extra cost, never been asked about the what kind of trip, just Canada, US, International? This will be another question to ask when we purchase the insurance!

In Canada I am having a hard time with the coverage for "cruising". All the companies say just "emergency medical travel insurance". Is this good enough? "Travel" is such a generic word: could mean plane, train, car, cruise, bus but no one makes a distinction here.

I hope you are right about this, but HAL World Cruise is saying nothing but sealed water off the ship in ports.

This is true. From what I can see, having cruised out of Canada Place for many years: they keep changing everything. Where the line(s) start, where the Xray is, where the check-ins are for each cruise line, where the lines for US Immigration are, even the area where each cruise line seats pax before they board their ship. It is like starting from scratch each day! They do the same with intransit pax: they keep changing how and where it is done, what you have to do one time is not what happens the next time. We did this last year 5 times and it was unbelievable. Everyone is the boss, no one is the boss. I would swear they have a whole new set of works each day with no training.

Wow! This is MUCH better than the Canadian apple turnover which is just a triangle of pie pastry with a cooked apple filling. Boring!

Fantastic lot of information on sweets. I thank everyone for participating in this delicious thread. I note you have Lindt down there. This is my go-to for dark chocolate and I LOVE the Lindt "Excellence" Dark Madagascar with vanilla. I have never tasted such smooth chocolate and the vanilla gives it a perfect "extra"! I buy these 100g bars on sale of 3 for $10 CND and horde them!

HALLs are the best ones.

You can always show up later that when you are assigned. Usually 2 hours before scheduled departure is best.

Arriving later than 1:30 pm usually gets you on board quite quickly. Going early, even if that is your check-in time, can be horrendous. The number of ships in port has a lot to do with this. Canada Place has always funnelled pax for ALL ships boarding into ONE long line to go through Xray first. Then you separate up to the individual ship check-ins.

OP annnrl: I am amazed that HAL did not cancel other excursions. What was so different about that shorex that is went ahead? Length, distance from ship, number of people signed up? HAL had a choice to make and lost. While HAL put the pax in hotel and fed them, I am amazed that these pax were not compensated for this mess (avoidable, as other shorex were cancelled) with more than a small amount of OBC and FCC. Does HAL not do "goodwill" any longer? OBC and FCC is cheap for HAL. They get it all back when you spend it onboard and the difference between that drink/speicalty dining/etc that you use the OBC/FCC for and the actual cost to the ship is small. HAL really shouldn't be so cheap. And just 41 pax involved! Thanks, OP, for all this info, very cautionary and educational.

No, I refer to the long list of questions I have about what I can bring into the country. For example and consistent with this thread, cough candies. The best ones I buy have honey in them. These are individually wrapped, with menthol and eucalyptus as the medicinal ingredients. Honey for taste. Not sure these will pass, although as "boiled candies", they might.

Thanks to you and lissie for the recommendation for Whitakers. Have list, will travel. This is the kind of shopping my husband actually likes, so we are set!