mcrcruiser

We are also looking for a Van with a scooter platform to take from our home in Encinitas ,SD to the cruise terminal & back after the cruise .any suggestions are well appreciated ,TIA

Now I am able to finally post on the roll calls as well as this general HAL board😃

Can post here but not into the Roll Calls on 7 cruises we have already booked .Some thing just doesn't look right with Cruise Critic .Even clearing cookies for Chrome did not work but screwed up other web sites we use frequently

Still not able to login

Ok OK let us all understand that there are different strikes for different folks We all have our own priorities . For us it is simple .If any cruise line disappoints us we go to another cruise line .If we need to pay more for a upscaled deluxe cruise experience we just cruise less times ,simple decision making process .No hassles

Here is the bottom line . no one really wants to pay more for their cruises . However ,reality is it costs Carnival corporation more each & every day to operate their ships when it comes to fuel going higher ,food costs going higher , dry dock costs going higher ,the salaried people on a ship & land wages going higher . So ultimately , any business has to cut back or raise their sales prices or go out of business . Then it becomes the offerings of the most healthy balance sheet against the balance sheet of the less financially healthy business No one likes or enjoys any cut backs . The reasons we cruise is for their food diversification ,quality of their food , all the services on board & the entertainment value plus the itinerary .If ant one of these lessens which we perceive important we would not sail that cruise line & go else where to even cruise less but cruise on a upscale .pricier cruise line with all the services & niceties . Remember you get what you pay for .

Thanks much for this very important info 😀

So on the Koningsdam the comedian will be in the Lincoln Center on one of the nights ,correct ?

Are those comedy shows printed in the daily paper aboard ship ?

That is good advice as long as that Navigator App is working .I already have it downloaded on my cell phone

All of the comments about why you folks sail on HAL is why we sail HAL as well . Essentially ,we sail from San Diego ,our home port & on occasion we will sail with Celebrity from San Pedro World Cruise Center ,Los Angeles county . If we had known that X would not frequent the SD & LA ports on a regular basis when we started cruising we would have done many more HAL cruises .HAL in just about all areas except the main showroom is equal to Celebrity . Yes there are some differences but not enough to push us to Celebrity 100% . We have enjoyed even HALs smaller ships but now our favorite ships in the HAL fleet are the Pinnacle class vessels .We just hope all goes well in the future for HAL being part of Carnival Corp 😀

No talking about the Navigator app

Perhaps but most people will tip according to the quality of the meal & the service rendered . It is not uncommon that we tip 20% in a very good land based restaurant because the meal was delicious & the service spotless above & beyond .The best restaurants already hire & train their staffs for quality service

I agree totally . I just wanted clarity on the process . When we receive extra special attention we even add to the servers gratuity

That's if the Navigator App is working . We read some where that KAL from time ti time has had problems with that App working well

Did they perform in the main showroom or in another part of the ship ? Did you think they were funny ?

If the discount is applied to the base price & they first add the gratuity to the gross price then the tip would be much higher than 18 % is what we see happening

I can not recall seeing a comedian perform on a HAL ship ;but , that doesn't mean they never have had them perform . What is your experience seeing Comedians perform on any HAL ship ? TIA

Does HAL automatically add a 18 % gratuity which is now included in the total price of the meal ? If that is the way it is now being done , how would 3 ,4 & 5 star Mariners get their respective discounts ? Are the discounts calculated on the net price before the gratuity is added or on the gross price after the gratuity is added ?

Yes that seems logical .Just a pain to see that & not being able to print the final document for the cruises & still wait

For our Dec 10 ,2022 cruise we got "Preliminary Boarding Passes " sent to us on our account with HAL . While reading this HAL says that final boarding passes with a bar code will be coming 'which will make boarding so much faster My question why are they being redundant ? Just send one boarding pass when it is final .We have to read & prepare enough with out this extra no use type of notice

Hank what go me thinking is that they said that they had to pay $18 each for the main show .Seems to me MSC is pushing ala carte pricing . Are they interested is starting a new cruising trend alacarte pricing ? Chargingv for a cup of coffee is ala carte pricing . Regardless of the Yacht Club bot everone has deep pockets to afford that luxury .Additionally NCL has Haven similar to the Yacht Club .All cruise lines have upscale suites like Neptune wirth special perks same with Celebrity ie Some times I get the feeling that you are several cruise lines cheering section that comes here to the HAL board to tell us all about your other cruise line experiences ?

JaL is our Go to line here in the San Diego cruise pier .Never been disappointed with HAL's product

Just got off the phone with my wife's cousin in Florida who has gone on 2 MSC cruises . Yes their ships are beautiful ;but that is where it stops . she said that the food was awful ,People leaving whole meals in plates ,Only thing included in the cruise fare was the MDR & Buffet . Every thing else was charged , The main show room you needed tickets at $18 each .A cup of coffee extra tea extra cost ie ,.The pizza was not as good as Princess pizza . Even if MSC came to the SD or LA market we would not sail with them after she told me their experiences 9 years apart 2 cruises

I do not ever understand why the speciality restaurant management does not post the fact that a change in gratuity has taken place .imo ,by not telling customers in a upfront way is dead wrong . Years back I worked in a 5 star restaurant & every thing we did had to be upfront for our clients .This is the right way . This policy of not telling people up front is tacky .It remind me of dining in a Italian Restaurant in Siena Italy in 2008 ,the waiter never told us that his tip was included in the bill ,but ,i knew to ask at the cashier & yes it was included . This type of not being up front is just another issue that that can tear down the validity of any business . Because we vwere tourists does not mean we are stupid Americans & oh yes I talked with him in Italian