bigbeergut

20 hours ago, kirkc said:

Went to book a Neptune Suite for a friend today on the HAL site. This person will be joining us on our November cruise. She lives in England and when I began to enter her information I was met with a pick list of countries. None of them was Great Britain or England or any variant there of. In addition the countries listed were shown in Spanish or English. Not both, but one nation in English and another in Spanish. No rhyme or reason. Ended up getting an agent in Seattle. They admitted the country listing is a mess and a bit of a joke. Many complaints, yet no corrections made.

How can a company that has such a wonderful product put forth such a sophomoric presence in IT?

 

Perhaps they expect someone from England to use an EU site.  Perhaps there are regulations and costs that are specific to England

I never eat dead fish.  I wish they would focus on better beef dishes.  There is already a wide variety of fish dishes, no need to spend more in this area

32 minutes ago, calicakes said:

We probably used the same TA, I also had to pay 100.00 for myself and my wife. 

Ok, why doesn’t your TA send a rebate to you for a cruise you didn’t take?  That seems fair.

3 hours ago, calicakes said:

They were going to give us 10 percent back in OBC. 

Is the TA still going to send you 10 percent?   If not why not?   It’s not fair not to send you the 10 percent.  Why should the TA keep the money just because you canceled?   You deserve the 10 percent.

6 hours ago, QuestionEverything said:

100%, mass cruise lines are passe for us and our many cruising friends. The downgrading and constant class separation are main reasons. 

 
I guess you are not sailing in the suite class,  I suspect most in the suite class enjoy the ship within a ship concept and the resulting class separation.

20 hours ago, calicakes said:

Would they even engage with me if I booked thru my TA?  My TA told me she reached out trying to get the move up offer money back to no avail. 

 
Just out of curiosity since we are talking about fairness, I suspect that your TA was going to provide you with some sort of rebate for booking the cruise with her/him.  Is the TA still going to provide you with the same rebate even though you are not taking the cruise?  Is it fair that your TA gets a larger commission because you didn’t take the cruise?  I hope you get some sort of rebate from your TA.

Who will be the first to report that they have received their latest PUP?

3 minutes ago, cruiser man 60 said:

Do people really get dressed up these days, many cruise lines now tend to allow a very informal dress code for all meals with shorts common on every occasion? We went on a NCL cruise and nearly every American male had shorts on with the obligatory baseball cap on backwards at dinner, at the bar , at the shows etc!

Nope.  Don't feel any pressure to get dressed up.

5 minutes ago, Fouremco said:

It doesn't contravene the rules of any cruise line that I've sailed, nor does it pose a problem when flying. I've never been challenged by any security officials.

Never suggested that it wasn't legal and it sounds like it is working for you, but I'm not sure that I understand how it looks any different than a conventional Leatherman on a x-ray machine.  I guess if you carry it with you, your bag won't end up in the naughty room.

9 hours ago, Fouremco said:

 

I switched to Leatherman's bladeless Style PS a number of years ago for flying and cruising. No longer manufactured by Leatherman, perhaps because it was too minimalist (but has the pliers), I still find many uses for it at home and away. 

Seems like a good idea and it's legal but it seems like it would still get detected by security and you would still end up in the naughty room to collect your bag.

13 minutes ago, Altamar said:

You’re welcome dock. I too believe it was generic  since we sailed in June.

Maybe, but if they identified a source on the Ascent, perhaps they decided to send out notices to a larger group.

1 hour ago, RuthC said:

Unlikely, as the OP said the cruise was two cruises before the drydock, not the last one before. 

I have been on two last cruises before a major drydock, including one that was going to include a major renovation of removing the aft pool. 
There were workmen aboard for that final cruise, but you wouldn't have known until the final day when they started covering things (like padding the elevators) while we were enjoying Half Moon Cay, or noticing the steel toe shoes they wore, or that they cleared their own tables in the Lido. 

On the other last cruise before drydock, there was no difference from any other cruise. 

I guess you were lucky.  My experiences are different.

Everything will probably be ok.  You may experience some areas closed off early so they can complete the work during the drydock.  You may also experience areas closed for a week or two after a drydock as well.  If I had a choice would try to avoid cruises either before or after a drydock.

1 hour ago, saltshell said:

Tried it; no need to order again. Flavor was good. Bit of a gimmick, not easy to remove from its "hooks".

I'm with you.  Sure it was ok but certainly not a destination dish for me.  Glad others enjoy it.

34 minutes ago, dreamer321 said:

Me too, but they still owe me 14 point for my Solo cruise back in January. I called them and sent them emails requesting the points but so far nothing.

 

Please give the CC people a little more time, they're swamped because of all of the work adding PUP.  😉  

If I have any non-refundable OBC on the last day, I will start adding it to the bar tab and give it to the bar servers.  I won't let it go back to HAL and evaporate.

2 hours ago, Homosassa said:

Even more fun to join in the conversation....

 

What? You aren't talking to me?  How was I to know that you didn't want comments or suggestions?

Maybe I'll try that next time.

3 hours ago, *Miss G* said:

Verizon has an agreement with the HAL cruise line who have an agreement with Cellular at Sea.  Things which may affect availability are the type of service plan you have and your device.  Roaming needs to be enabled.

 

Editing to add that my experience with connectivity on a HAL TA was fine, but I am not one to be tied to the internet so others may have had a different experience.  I expect it to improve with the rollout of the new service.

idk about any agreements.  FWIW. I did have roaming enabled and still no luck.  I didn't have any problems on Royal or Celebrity.

4 hours ago, VMax1700 said:

Did you have the Premium level?  I have found that wifi calling only works with the premium level internet package.

I had the Premium package.

10 hours ago, Skorpora said:

I remember once in St. Lucia, we were on our verandah admiring the Pitons, and the woman next door to us started loudly exclaiming that they looked just like a woman's b****ts.  She kept repeating it over and over to someone on her balcony.  My husband and I were laughing so hard at her but she never noticed lol. 

I think that's because anyone that is loud on their balcony believes that is all about them.

I just got off an extended cruise on the Rotterdam in the Caribbean.  I was surprised how well the WIFI worked in that region.  However the one limitation for me was that I was never able to get my Verizon WIFI calling to work. Facetime worked fine, but I was not able to make a WIFI call.  Perhaps it was me, but i suspect the Verizon WIFI calling was blocked.  This would be a major limitation for me if I was trying to conduct business.

6 hours ago, rlujhf said:

Do Holland America ships ever offer discounts at specialty dining restaurants after cruises have started, just to fill empty seats?

We just got off the Rotterdam. Unless you want to dine very early or very late, book before you board the ship.  Hopefully shortly after they open reservations.   I did not see any discounts.  The Have it All promotion has filled most of the restaurants.

Welcome Soy.  I've had to cancel several cruises in the last year, some due to medical issues and some due to Covid.  I have always used the Celebrity insurance to cover the cost of the cruise and GeoBlue for Medical coverage.  The Celebrity insurance is relatively inexpensive way to insure the cost of the cruise that is effectively cancel for any reason coverage if you are happy with cruise credits and the cost is independent of age.  I have also cancelled due to medical reasons and received a cash refund quickly.  All Covid refunds have come directly from Celebrity.  The medical and evacuation coverage is a little light with the Celebrity insurance and I supplement that coverage with GeoBlue.  As others have stated, I wouldn't count on Celebrity for any future refunds because things can change quickly.

Good Luck

Unfortunately, I've had to cancel a couple of cruises and shore excursions, specialty restaurants, internet upgrades, hotel costs, etc., do to Covid.  Here's my rule of thumb.  If you don't get the refund in 10 days it likely isn't going to happen and you need to call and bug them.  Several times the refunds have come seamlessly and others have required several phone calls.  I received the final portion of my refund in January for a cruise I cancelled in the beginning of October.    Each cruise is handled separately.  Good Luck.

On 2/21/2023 at 2:15 PM, Ipeeinthepools said:

I currently have a neighbor that enjoys playing music on the balcony.  Does he really think everyone enjoys his music?  Fortunately this is the first time I’ve encountered this type of problem.  Sucks to be me.

Sorry to hear that you had to endure this type of behavior.