RMLincoln

We went to the MDR for embarkation lunch and made our first night’s dinner reservation then for Open dining. Then about every other evening we’d make a reservation for the next 1 or 2 nights. I think you can do up to nights in advance. You can also make reservations by phone, I think it’s 88. We were told to come to the priority side of the podium to be seated when we had a reservation. Worked great. This was last month on Eurodam, YMMV…. m—

Just to get you an early reply, though we have not made claims, have had Platinum plan multiple times. Others will chime in but reports are that it works great. You must purchase before final payment. If you cancel you will get back 90% of cruise fare. 100% of port taxes and fees will be refunded even without the Cruise Cancelation Plan 0% will be refunded for the cost you pay for the plan. I believe you will also get back 90% of anything paid for that’s on your confirmation such as airport transfers, pre/post cruise hotels. Hope it all works out for the best for you! m—

Wow! We were on Eurodam 11 nights in Dec. Not much on Main Stage- Step One did 3 shows. No Cantare. A very good movie one night- Maverick! The HAL history presentation embarkation night…. maybe also the last night too. BBC nature films were shown 3 nights while the classical musicians played but were drowned out by the soundtrack, hardly could hear them. On the music walk there was a comedian aboard who did a few evening shows in BB King lounge. when they weren’t playing; The dual pianos; Lincoln Center Stage 6 of 11 nights - 2 nights off, 3 playing with BBC. We’ll be on Rotterdam late February. Hoping for better, not expecting it. m—

Thank you for the Daily and further info on LCS. We are encouraged! Hoping they stay aboard for us. In Dec we were on Eurodam 11 nighter Caribbean/Panama Canal. We stayed aboard at most ports, great to have the ship to “ourselves”. Enjoy! m—

Thank you for this thread! We’ll be boarding as you depart Feb 25. As a party of 8, hoping all the family’s flights will connect us together in Ft Lauderdale! DH and I will drive from Maryland. We are most interested in, and somewhat distressed about, Lincoln Center Stage and changes being made. It will be what it will be, but if you can update us on what Rotterdam is doing, at least we’ll be prepared. Also interested in MDR noise - haven’t been on Rotterdam but K’dam was pretty difficult in 2018. 42 days in the Caribbean sounds excellent! Bon Voyage! Maureen

We were on Eurodam Dec 10-21. First HAL cruise since 2018. We are 4 star, probably for eternity. Overall we had a nice cruise, didn’t get sick! We were in a balcony room, sat outside a lot avoiding crowded areas. We go for Lincoln Center Stage music, enjoyed it thoroughly. Got seats early, front corner, wore masks. Did not get a tote bag. Have never gotten slippers. Room steward was attentive but asked if we wanted morning room make-up or evening turndown. Said he would try to accommodate requests for evening if desired. Too many rooms! We didn’t have towel animals except for a double heart Swan for our anniversary, very sweet. Chocolates only on dressy nights, only 2 dressy nights on 11 nighter. Ate breakfast and dinner in MDR everyday, Open dining to work around music schedule, requested table for 2, no problems. Service was decent, not perfect. Breakfasts some food was cold- always cold dry toast, gave up on that. One morning they didn’t have yogurt.. would have to get it out of storage…. would we like to wait or choose something else? Huh? Dive-in couldn’t get an order correct in 3 tries- how hard it is to plate a cheeseburger, no bun, no sauce, no salad…. Ketchup on the side. gave up, used room service sandwiches. Dinner Menus and food quality in MDR seemed noticeably declined. We always ate, but it’s nothing special anymore. It’s great for me to not have to cook etc, and I enjoyed it but struggled sometimes to find something appealing. I ate lunch most days in MDR. Open on sea days and days when we ported after noon. The fish of the day was very good. After a few days the static menu got me to the point where I’d tried everything of interest to me. Afternoon tea looked nice, but didn’t go. Only served on sea days. Went to a couple of Panama Canal documentaries, very sparsely attended. As were EXC talks… maybe everybody has been? I wouldn’t repeat the Marconi talk either. We are going on Rotterdam with family next month, concerned about noisy MDR after 2018 experience on K’dam; and not sure if Lincoln Center Stage will be as a frequent lounge performance or a one-shot main stage show, if at all. But hoping to enjoy the strengths of HAL and Rotterdam… just not sure what those are anymore. Wishing you a happy cruise. Thanks for all your contributions to these boards. Maureen

Was the Atrium a quiet enough venue? m—

We were on Eurodam in December. We chose HAL for the LCS. It’s a 3 day drive to a HAL ship but worth it to us for the music! We were at every set, worked our dinner around them, and met others who did the same. What amazing performances they gave us! The LCS musicians were finishing their 5 month contract with that cruise. They were outstanding musicians from US, Canada and Italy. Well educated, well trained and well disciplined. They said that auditions for these jobs are very competitive. They were all disappointed that they couldn’t renew their contracts. They loved playing their music nightly for people who really appreciated it. The venue was usually packed. They told us the venue would be remodeled and they had heard rumors that LCS might become a Main Stage show. We have a family cruise next month with 8 of us in 4 cabins on Rotterdam. We’ll find out what HAL has for classical music, if any. Our first cruise was in 2003 on Carnival with a classical quartet! We’ve seen the degradation of classical music over time from quartets to trios, duos and singles, then to nothing on Carnival, Princess, Norwegian and HAL. When HAL resurrected classical music with LCS it was a great step forward in improving music entertainment with the Music Walk, and the classical offering was a quartet plus piano so a quintet. We had had a 4 yr break from HAL( medical issues followed by COVID) so it was surprising to see just the quartet last month. But devastating to hear of the demise of the lounge venue. Next month we’ll find out if LCS plays at all on our 11-nighter. I doubt we’ll make the drive to Florida again after the family cruise if LCS becomes a hit or miss offering. We can cruise from closer ports. We’ll very much miss LCS but the rest of HAL is nothing special anymore. The enrichment is nearly non-existent. The computer and photography classes are gone with the pillow chocolates. The MDR on newer ships is too loud to converse, the service is not anything better than the other lines and sometimes worse - on Carnival there are no buzzers to wait for a hamburger at the pool, and you actually get what you ask for, with a broad smile! As 4 star Mariners it’s disappointing but we’re Platinum on Princess and Carnival, gold I think on Norwegian and similar on Celebrity. HAL might not lose much without us, others will fill in behind us, probably buying the HIA package! Nothing stays the same forever. Life is good, we’re grateful we can enjoy it, but HAL is not as good for us as it once was. Maureen

We just received notice about Columbia requirements. Our notice says: “No COVID-19 testing is required for guests who are fully vaccinated. To be considered fully vaccinated a guest must have completed their final dose of an approved vaccine at least 14 days prior to embarkation.” Fully vaccinated is the initial set of 2 Pfizer or 2 Moderna, or 1 J&J type. Those were the vaccines most commonly used in the US, not sure about other types or countries. No boosters mentioned. Boosters are for those who have been fully vaccinated. m—

Thanks for that info. I wasn’t sure if one could do that. Maybe those staffing the scanners for reboarding have bigger concerns than a few bottles of soda. m—

Room Service is another option. I’d rather order a sandwich and a salad delivered to the room while I unpack than fight the Lido! m—

Thank you all! I’m confident I have the best info to pass along. m—

We are booked on Rotterdam for Caribbean. Family member is considering joining us, but drinks large quantities of Mountain Dew. Does HAL carry it? Is it $2.50/can? Covered on Signature Beverage Package? Thanks for the help! m—

Thank you for clarifying. I’ll take it!

Finally! Received the last 2 of 5 TA approvals today, Wednesday before a Sunday departure. So what do we do with them? Are electronic versions on smartphone ok to show at embarkation? Or do we need hard copies? There’s a barcode on the Waiver so I m hoping somebody at the embarkation terminal can scan that. Will bring hard copies too but our printer isn’t perfect, and only B&W. Thanks for all the encouragement here! Maureen

We depart Sunday 28 August, party of 5. 3 have received their approvals, one yesterday. Two of us are still waiting. I’m encouraged to read here that some didn’t get theirs until 4 days out. Thanks for this info! I don’t want to wait until Friday, last business day, to email or call them but I will do so Thursday morning if we haven’t gotten the last two. That would be 3 days out. Still staying hopeful, for the Bermuda TAs and for Friday when we test for COVID! Not sure I’d have booked Bermuda if I knew all this then…. And rules keep changing. But it was a very good price and a time the grandkids could get off work, so again, still hopeful! Living life has risks but not living life is too dismal…. We did too much of that 2020-2021! Happy, healthy cruising all! m—

Is the Platinum benefit one free drink at SeaDay Brunch just once per cruise, or is it once per brunch? Thanks, m—

I have seen suggestions to try using a different browser. Someone recently posted that they couldn’t get it to take their cc. They were using Edge. When they tried a different browser, like Chrome or other, it worked smoothly. Something I never would have thought of. m—

Looking for same info… In later March we had Arrival time in 2:00-2:30 group. It was jam packed! We were in the terminal lines for an hour. Very tight quarters. They were enforcing times and keeping people out until their Arrival time. At least masks were required then but not now… we’re sailing August 28. I’m thinking now of a later Arrival Time slot but could do very first. My concern is if we board with first group it’ll be just as crowded in the terminal, plus the rooms won’t be ready and then we’ll have to sit in crowded areas waiting. I think rooms aren’t ready till 3, later due to the 10:00 am ship arrival time. Oiy… Maureen

Oh Sandancer! I am so sorry to hear of your change! Stuff happens. Enjoy your cruise and let go the disappointments. So much good in our lives! Thanks for your sharing here! m—

Thank you all for sharing this. We are waiting! But now that I know more this helps me be more patient. We sail out of Baltimore 28 August so I apparently have another 10-12 days before I see their email - I’ve been checking twice a day at least, Junk files too! Sailing with 3 “adult” grandchildren, one who I believe hasn’t put in her application yet!! I’ll remind her today! If the 800 number on the Bermuda TA website isn’t the one to call, can someone please post what number worked? Thank you all! Maureen

Fair winds and following seas Miss Dolly! We met Dolly long ago on Amsterdam when we were all younger! But she kept a youthful spirit! I hope I can be like her in some small way! m—

Sorry folks, I posted on wrong forum. m—

Just a follow-up: Yesterday after I corrected my mistake of the email address, I sent requests for two bookings on Legend August 28 departure and received confirmation today that benefits are now applied! They were VIFP pricing but nothing extraordinary. Thanks for the help here. m—

THANK YOU! I feel stupid but better! Thank you!