RuthC

It IS the truth if you are standing when you clear the chair off---THEN sit down. Of course you allow time for them to use the restroom; I said that in my original post. But certainly 20 minutes to a half hour is time enough to take care of those needs.

I love the acupuncture treatments. Make my aching joints feel so much better going out than they do coming in. They are expensive, but they do the job I need doing, and a great way to spend OBC.

Just move their towels (after an appropriate wait for them to return), and if they do return, claim the lounger was clear when you sat down. People in the chairs are, of course, allowed time to go to the rest room, or to get in the pool or hot tub for a while. But holding a chair while they go off to do something else? Ah, no. One 'seat' gets one seat (at a time).

I've been using wheelchair assistance to embark and disembark for many years, on many cruises, now. First, in no embarkation port have I ever found any priority recognized; every port has been first come, first served, as has already been mentioned. So, do plan that you will be waiting, and be patient. Second, in the US, the crew can't come to your drop off area, so in some embarkation ports it's necessary to get to a specific place in the terminal yourself; in others, someone from the port will come to get you. Later, you are transferred to a waiting area to wait for a HAL chair and pusher. Outside the US, you are generally picked up as soon as you can find a HAL rep to get a wheelchair and pusher for you. Bring plenty of patience! Sometimes, once you are onboard the ship, you are dumped in the arrival area, then have to make your way on your own. Other times (most of the time, actually), you will be wheeled all the way to your cabin. ASK for that service; worst that can happen is they say 'no', but they will likely say 'all right'. You will want to confirm disembarkation assistance a few days before the cruise ends. Make sure you are on the list, so that HAL has your disembarkation times, sends the letter to your cabin, and is planning for you. You will have to manage to get to the assembly area yourself! DO NOT count on you being wheeled off the ship when your color/number is called! Allow yourself plenty of time to get to the airport, checked in, and to your gate to make the flight! You will have no control over anyone else's schedule, and are totally at the mercy of others. Again, have a generous supply of patience with you, and a decent attitude. Good luck.

Of the three choices you listed, I would take the 5:00 PM flight. I would not chance missing the 1:00 PM flight, as I would find it too tight. If I didn't want to get in at midnight (and I would not be happy at that hour, with my body on Amsterdam time), I would stay over one night and take an earlier flight the next day. Going through security in that airport can seem to take forever.

Not always. Before the classical musicians were Adagio Strings, or others that were 2 musicians, there were the Rosario Strings, which were groups of 4. The Rosario Strings were excellent! Every troupe was minimum very good, and several exceeded that level.

On Board Credit. You get a set amount, based on number of days in your cruise, to be used on board the ship, for most expenses (casino is excluded). The amount goes from $50 up to $250.

I know it's a short ride, depending on traffic. If you are coming to South Station by train, and not the bus, it's a quick walk outside, where you should be able to find a taxi easily. Then maybe 10-15 minutes to the Black Falcon terminal---tops.

If you look closely at the picture, you will see two columns with two sets of prices. The first column is 'press only', while the second column is 'clean/press'. The price for press only is lower.

I would have my PCC do it now. Early fixed seating is very popular, and there are people who will be shut out of it, or at best have to be on a waiting list and be accommodated after the dust settles. If you take care of this in advance it makes less work for the maître 'd. (sorry, Cruise Suzy, we were typing at the same time. you're just faster)

That wasn't the way it worked, but that doesn't matter any longer. The extra charge for being a solo is no longer! It's all the same per person charge now.

HAL no longer has 'formal' or 'Gala' nights. They have reduced the sartorial splendor to 'dressy' nights now. No jeans allowed in the dining room, and a shirt with collar is the minimum required of men, although you will see some passengers dressed up a good deal more. Women tend to dress a little more.

I haven't enjoyed the entertainment on any HAL ships in recent years as I have say, pre-covid shutdown. There are no production shows as in the past; I am not fond of the dance troupe that I saw on the Pinnacle class ship I was on. There were solo performers who I did enjoy, so evenings weren't a total loss. Sometimes the main stage 'entertainment' is a lecture on the Origins of HAL, or a movie. Hardly exciting, although the Origins story is good to see once. I do not care for the Music Walk on the Pinnacle ships---not my style; nor do I care for the Rolling Stone Rock room on any ship that has it. Too loud!

I've never had any difficulty getting a lounge chair on Promenade Deck whenever I wanted one. However, I was generally by myself, and not with others, so if some or all of you in three cabins are looking for several deck loungers together, that may be a problem. Are you aware that if you have three Neptune Suites in a row, the doors between them can be opened, so you can all get together on that deck? Seats for the late show in the main theatre are plentiful! But, again, if you are looking for several together, that may be a little harder. The early show generally fills up. I can't speak to how crowded the Ocean Bar or Rolling Stone Rock Room gets these days on that ship. Ocean Bar is usually not jammed after dinner, in my experience.

That was because there was an available table in the fixed dining area at the time. Perhaps a table of passengers assigned there had gone to a specialty restaurant, or the Lido, that night. No need to waste the seats, or make you wait.

You're under no obligations to make any recommendations on this forum. That's especially true considering the question at hand---which is would you purchase the stock to get the OBC. As someone who spent more than a few years taking 3 cruises over 14 days each year, getting CCL OBC---$750 after tax income each year (not to mention the dividends paid)---you can bet your cruise budget that if I had it to do over again, even with where CCL is at today financially, I sure would.

It was an abbreviated version of the NYT, but it was 8 pages of current news, delivered daily to every cabin---not just the suites. After the ships stopped delivering, they were available in several public locations, including the Front Desk, Lido, Library, (and guessing) Dining room. The time of day the paper was available varied based on where in the world the ship was at the time. The Times transmitted the data very early in the morning/middle of the night eastern time.

I believe the gray area is where the funnel, and everything that pours into it, is located. It was not noisy when I have walked by. Of the two cabins mentioned, this is the one I would choose. It is close to mid ship, with two elevator banks/staircases nearby, making it handy getting to/coming from any location.

You fail to distinguish between the requirement for near or distant foreign ports under different itineraries. As I and others have tried (apparently in vain) to tell you, there is a difference.

Especially on the R-class ships, I don't find the showers small. True, on the Prinsendam they were real corner showers, but for the most part they are more of a rectangle than a triangle---just with a part of a corner cut off. I'm a generously sized woman, and have never found any of the HAL showers, on any of the classes of ships, to be too small for comfortable use. It's not the the bathrooms are smaller in the insides, as compared to the outside cabins, it's that the shower/sink and tub/sink footprints are reversed. The insides put the sink and vanity where the tub goes in outside cabins, giving the vanity area a lot more storage.

You could not be more wrong with your over-simplified explanation. There are four possible routes, with three possible 'simple' rules: Start outside the US/end in US---no PVSA rule to enforce. Start in US/end in different US city---PVSA requires a distant foreign port. Start in US/end in same US city---PVSA requires any foreign port. Start in US/end outside US---no PVSA rule to enforce.

Just because the ship docks at 7:00 AM, does not mean that disembarkation starts then. Expect it to begin closer to 7:30, with the self-disembark passengers going first. Next, the rest of the passengers will be called to start disembarking, based on the color and number of their tags. Unless you are able to self-disembark, do not plan to be off the ship until around 7:30. If you don't self-disembark, it will be later. Start your time plan from there---and plan for something to go wrong. Personally, I would not risk it.

The one who runs out of toilet paper.

Did you check the tax rules in Indonesia and the Philippines? That's where the bulk of the tipped crew comes from. They are not from the US, so US rules don't apply.

That's my understanding, too. Wages are taxable; gratuities are not. To charge the gratuities as part of the fare, and increase the wages by the same amount would move them from 'non-taxable' to 'taxable' income. It would effectively amount to a cut in pay.