Expo67

HAL imo could learn from Celebrity with regards to reserved main dining. It was a bit convoluted on the VOV last month on the Zuiderdam. Probably because they had over 1200 in Open dining and only 600 in the early/late traditional dining. We opted after 3 failures to switch to late traditional and what a difference. Different strokes for different folks but have the same waitstaff each night and them learning our preferences by the second night for the remainder of the cruise best the mayhem in open dining. Just my opinion.

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Thanks Hank for the info. I remember you mentioning it but forgot all the requirements. 👍

So Hank I know you told us awhile back (actually quite awhile back) that one could get the same perk status for the YC on MSC if they had perk status on other lines. Could you again enlighten this forgetful elder what line or lines they were?

I believe for a true comparison you would need to broaden your numbers to include more than just a 7 day Alaska cruise less than 2 weeks out with reduced pricing to reduce inventory. Whether it may be due to inflation or price gouging if you compare future pricing out 6 months or more the prices in general have gone up between 20 - 25%. Example … the same cabin that I booked on the Koningsdam for the 35 night S. Pacific cruise last March for travel 2 months ago is now 25% higher in cost for the 2024 S. Pacific cruise with fewer perks. 🤔

Hmm sounds like the North Cape and Longyearbyen cruise we have scheduled for June on a Carnival Sister (Princess). They decided to wait until after final payment to notify all bookings that the ship would not be going to the Svalbard Archipelago even though they knew months and months in advance that they were never going there. They so generously offered a $50 OBC per stateroom. After many letters to Princess corporate some of us but not all received and additional $250 OBC. Yes most of us know all to well the paragraphs in the cruise contract about cruise port cancellations and substitutions. That being said when a cruise is being promoted and priced as an exotic voyage and added in the fact of the deception involved it just makes you cringe with a bit of anger. 😡

Good point which is enhanced by one main reason. While in Sitka last year our friends who have lived there for 35 years picked us up for the day. He has run a fishing/crabbing business with multiple boats for about the full 35 years. When it came to lunch discussions came around to finding a nice place with crab legs to treat them for their generosity. He laughed and said to us that he seriously doubted their touring us around could come close to the pricing required for a crab lunch. 🤣 He then went on to expand that the crab legs would be their treat as we went by his business and picked up some fresh catch from that morning. During the steaming he and I talked with an Anchor Steam in hand. The price increases and loss of stock in his estimation began about 8 years ago when the majority of boats in Alaska were bought by the Japanese and therefore most of their catch went directly back to Japan. The smaller local quantity therefore doubled in price and then doubled again over the past 4 years. Sad for crab lovers but brought on by business decisions of the industry. More than likely that also has play in why the Pinnacle no longer has crab legs on their menu.

Well if the replies from my last 2 letters to Gus are any indication my feeling sadly are they are thinking … do not let the door hit you in the the back

If you order more than one appetizer in any of the specialty dining venues you will be charged an additional $7.00 + 18% gratuity. As I stated on our cruise and earlier on this thread the main issue I have with this is that I do not consider soup or salad a appetizer. Unfortunately someone in corporate HAL does. If I want a shrimp cocktail and crab cakes then I understand the extra charge but not for soup and salad. Soon there will be an extra charge for more than one side. 🤔

I think you are absolutely correct with degrees of variation depending on what line is being discussed. 👍

And your point? Their original statement and promise was to leave Holland to operate the way they always had. As for 30 years does the number really matter whether it was 5 years or 30 years? Point is they obviously changed their view on this and yes it will eventually go away when those of us cruised then and heard it are no longer alive to remember it.

You are absolutely correct as it is throughout the entire Carnival Fleet. It is the Carnivore fear we all felt would eventually happen when they gobbled up all these other lines and placed them under their umbrella. They promised not to alter the different lines but of course we know promises are not meant to be broken but usually are. I know that these same cruise itineraries never experienced these shortages in the past as we have done 4 S. Pacific cruises in the past decade on HAL. I know that Covid has caused supply issues but with the knowledge of these ships and their past inventory needs that excuse is wearing thin. Supply issues are beginning to surface throughout the entire cruise platform from crew staffing cuts, entertainment deletions, food & beverage shortages, etc. Add into that the increasing changes to exotic itineraries with deletions to expected ports of call after final payment has been made and the fish start to stink a little more. I would love to give Carnival the benefit of doubt but somehow as time passes and I continue to read of more and more of these instances I sadly am losing the ability to pull the wool hat over my eyes and ignore what the facts truly are. It is one thing to add more ala carte priced items, add additional charges for additional appetizers in specialty restaurants, or add tier levels of pricing to wifi and drink packages. It is not ok to continue to make excuses and place blame on items that as a supplier you should have recognition and control over.

lol Considering the issues they seem to have throughout the fleet I am pretty sure I could do a better job than is being done now. My guess is Gus would not be happy however as I am sure the company balance sheet would suffer. 🤭 As my original point was if you are going to offer a SBP at a price then you best have the stock intended to be included in the package. Ex. If Villa Maria Sauvignon Blanc is on it then stock it and yes I know it can be had as we purchase it almost every month from Total Wine. Even worse is having a Dutch Cafe that regularly uses dark chocolate syrup not having sufficient stock.

Quite extensive. For SD they were Out of the 6 Cognacs they had 1 that was $38 a per shot. They ran out of dark chocolate syrup in the Dutch cafe 10 days from the end of the cruise. They had 1 Sauvignon Blanc for the last half of the cruise. No Cabernet Sauvignon for the first 7 days. No olives for the last 8 days of the cruise. 5e lettuce the last 9 days was rationed and even then was not the nice healthy green fresh lettuce looks like. For the last 5 days they were very limited on beer as well. So I stand on my quite extensive comment.

And as recently as last month on the Koningsdam out of San Diego as well. So that sounds like another great cover it all band aid being used by HAL. 🤔

One of the major complaints from our 35 night Koningsdam S. Pacific cruise a few months ago. I have no problem paying for a SBP but do NOT run out of stock on the first night of multiple items on the SBP list and then substitute trash in their place. lol on the Pong Game at the Guest Services Desk. 🤭

If they are looking in the direction of younger I think they best look at changing their late night options. 😳 Perhaps they might want to take a look at Celebrity. 🤔

I hope Chef Jacques Torres special dinner was a whole lot better than our overpriced ($105pp) Chef Erik Stowell dinner on the Koningsdam in Feb. I will say his cooking demos were entertaining though. 👍

Hank … those were Baby Langastino Lobster not shrimp. 🤭

Sounds very reminiscent of the Koningsdam 35 night S. Pacific when they combined the Orange Party with the St. Pattys Day for a whole 45 mins and not one officer. Guess they were too busy during their smoked old fashions in the Ocean Bar. That was about the only place w3 ever saw any of them usually for about an hour at 10 pm. The overcharging bit has to be getting a bit old. 😡 Reminds me a few months ago of seeing multiple charges on our bill for my wife’s grape consumption. When we inquired at Guest Services the answer was well you have the SBP and she does not. 😵‍💫 I said excuse me you do realize that we are in the same cabin and not separate cabins and therefore we both have to have it according to your rules. 🤣 After a day the finally got finance to issue a new card with the SBP attached to it for her and reverse all of the overcharges.

Yes we know that very well. 👍 The difference being that they lost billions from Covid and that has forced their hand. Making the $$$ back is not the real issue as much as trying to make it back in half the time it took to lose it. When passengers expect certain levels of service and offerings and pay for it then not providing such is bound to ruffle the feathers. I expect them to have to make some cuts but if I am paying $120 per day for a SBP that is suppose to have a certain list of items on it then it better have them or a comparable alternative.

Unfortunately these shortages were present on HAL last year but most of the ships were sailing at less than 50% capacity so it was not quite as visible as it is now with the ships sailing at near full capacity. As for the Orange Party I can only hope it is better than the one last month on the Koningsdam where they combined it with the St.Pattys Day party and lasted all of 45 mins. Many years ago when Carnivore gobbled up all these other cruise lines most people feared that eventually they would be Carnivalized so to speak even though Carnival guaranteed they would let each manage their own affairs. Unfortunately Covid sped up that process and thus we are where we are at right now. We can hope it will get better but things look pretty grim right now. Of course I would bet the same things are happening with Royal Caribbean right now as well. Most likely the ones that with thrive through this are the ones that cater to the younger clientele with their water slides, wave surfers, etc. Sadly I doubt HAL falls into this category.

lol on the $6 bottle costing 2 drinks. 😵‍💫 As for carrying wine to dinner it is the only way to go. At least you know what you are getting and do not have to wait for the waiter to pass on your order to a bar runner to get it. 👍 Yes we all do try to make lemonade when presented with lemons but HAL is making that quite a chore. 🫣

👍 Well last summer we were on Princess doing the British Isles and then Norway and the Baltic and we had to go off to the city markets that had more than a sufficient stock of berries since the ship did not. Even better was when we were in Scotland they ran out of Single Malt Scotch. 😳 Now go figure that one out and yes I did have a LONG chat with the Beverage Manager. At the Captain Q & A one individual asked if he could get the funds from Guest Services from his unused portion of the SBP and go procure a couple of cases of different Single Malts that were on the beverage menu but not available. 🤭 Needless to day the next day we had single malt scotch. 👏

I will answer and am sure Hank will follow up. The small 8+ Oz bottles were $5.35 and with the SBP you were required to pay the full $5.35. If you upgraded to the premium package they were included. Somewhat mystified how a $5.35 drink was not included in the $11 SBP but that is what is was. Now if they were out if stock of Perrier then I certainly would of been all over the Beverage manager to substitute the Pelegríno for the out of stock Perrier but thats just me. 😵‍💫