SilvertoGold

Don't count on it but you may be lucky with the Vancouver boarding. However our experience is this is early in the season for Canada Place and it is usually not well organized. "No one is the boss, everyone is the boss". Good luck and will watch for your blog to see how it went for you. Which ship are you on this year?

The waiters will tell their manager so he can seat others at your table for that evening. Makes thing easier all around if the know in advance,

Really wonderful writing: I will enjoy your thread ;). San Diego is the only HAL embarkation port I prefer not to have to use but it comes in handy. Last we were there we did not show up early, for a change, and it was smoother than expected. Stay calm and carry on: this is a lovely cruise. Bon Voyage!

Go up to the Tamarind when you board: there will be someone around after about 2 pm. Take a look at the tables and ask for what you would like.They really do aim to please. If you are very loose about the time, you should have no problem getting a table to your liking. If this is the Koningsdam, we do not like having a table overlooking the pool.

Fantastic photos! This ship does a nice job with Tamarind. A bit more fancy than what we have usually seen. Great blog, great commentary. Thanks so much for a very enjoyable thread!

If you can find the Indonesian rice pudding it is excellent! Sometimes on the MDR menu and I have seen it in the Lido at the Asian station. YMMV, however. Have a great cruise!

Interesting to know, Mary. I wonder what is next? We love not being big drinkers and not having to figure out if HIA is worth it to us, whether Happy Hour has the old, new, newer or newest pricing type :)

Agree with this post. Carnival must be putting the screws on HAL to up their bottom line. With fares up in many cases and sold-out ships more noticible than usual, HAL can do the pricing dance with HIA and Happy Hour. I noticed with Happy Hour soon after the ships came back after Covid HAL was giving only 50% off the second drink. There appeared to be a free-for-all among the ships to come up with different pricing schemes. So,this latest Happy Hour pricing is at least better than it might be.

Give them time. HAL should raise the HIA price by $10 - $15 per day. Surprised they haven't yet.

Change the $11.50 to $11 What OP describes is HAL is cutting it too fine, rather silly way of pricing. I can't even see this as deliberate: just one hand not knowing what the other hand is doing. Having an invoice at the end of the cruise with a lot of ,50 , .75 and even $1.00 charges would look ridiculous.

I have to agree that the emergency number is next to useless. We had an international flight to the ship and the ETD/ETA was changed twice within 2 hours of the scheduled ETD. We phoned FlightEase to see we would be changed to a flight with better ETA but they had no idea, told us to phone the airline. Of course the airline wouldn't do anything so we just kept our fingers crossed. Worked out fine but we didn't much appreciate the serious lack of interest by FlightEase.

Nice to hear about this. Those notebooks have been used for a while now and we have seen them look back several pages to find info. They really seem to be trying to improve Guest Services and put it on a more useful and profesional level.

Thank you! Mr Jacob is the best we have had on HAL. Lucky you! Enjoy this wonderful cruise.

0106: Wonderful posts and tantalising photos. Also appreciate seeing your menus. Would you know the name of the Hotel General Manager? Great that you have Chef Schumann, a long term HAL Chef who turns our some real German desserts that are as stasty aas they look good!

Fantastic posts! I love this cruise and will enjoy it immensely though your posts and photos!. Bon Voyage!

Fantastic to read you will posting your blog again. A treat each day to see what you are up to, how you spend your days onboard and on shore. With critical and informative insight into the ship, the cruise, the crew and officers yours is a blog we do not want to miss. Have a safe and quick flight, enjoy your time on what may be an unusual WC.

This happens to us frequently when we book, speical offer or not. Same Mariner status, exact same number of days. A pain and time consuming to have to look up cruises under two accounts. And then make sure TA know which to use. I noticed I receive the mailouts and usually get the best pricing while DH never gets mailouts but sometimes his pricing is better. Ugh!

Wonderful, smart move, this cruise will enhance your GSA for sure. Looking forward to your trip and hope you both have a fantastic time. Thanks very much for your posts!

We have never had a problem with this offer being non-combinable.

These OBCs are attached to your Mariner number, as POA1 says. Good for a specific time to book and receive it. This time varies (in our own experiences) so if you do not receive the email, ask your TA (or just phone HAL) to look up the expiry date.

It can be a mix. For example some Thais and Indonesians in the Pinnacle. Our room stewards have always been Indonesian.

Thanks. Very energetic CD! I like this newish talk by the Captain, who may also be presenting a visual bridge/engine room tour later on.

Phenomenal posts! Very much enjoying your cruise :) In your photos of the Captain's Talk, who was the person almost dancing in front of the large weather charts toward the end?

BON VOYAGE!! Wonderful posts and even more to come! How is that for the best Christams present? Totally enjoying your thread and wishing you a speedy embakation and a truly wonderful cruise.

Tacky, tacky, tacky. Much more suitable for Virgin Cruise Line.