tymike

Hi all, Just off the Rotterdam partial transit. We stopped at Aruba instead of Curacao and Falmouth Jamaica instead of Key West. For the transit, we entered the new locks, did a donut in the lake and came back through. All excursions were cancelled in the canal. We were told it was because of protests (which we saw no evidence of) and no mention of drought. But this was about a week ago so things may have changed.

Thank you! I thought I had heard/read that but wasn't able to confirm. I appreciate the information!

Hi all! Just made final payment on a February Meraviglia cruise and was told that my E ticket would therefore be available. I can't seem to find it on my account so am unsure if it's there. Any tips for where to access it? Thanks as always!

Hi all... Just adding my two cents as I'm currently on the current Rotterdam sailing.... No excursions in the Canal tomorrow, no anchoring, no tendering. Our excursion was cancelled as was everyone's as I'm told by staff. Definitely disappointed but we will still travel the partial locks so that is a destination in itself. Hoping that the civil unrest in Panama can come to a peaceful ending somehow.

Thanks to all! 🙂

Thank you! I just got nervous because we are less than three weeks from sailing.... How soon before embarkation date does HAL typically assign boarding times?

Hi all... Very excited about our upcoming first HAL cruise on the Rotterdam later this month out of Fort Lauderdale. I'm confused about when I will get a boarding pass with a boarding time and a bar code from the website. We are in a Neptune suite which I don't think matters for this question but not sure. I think (?) we can board at leisure because of our stateroom, but the boarding pass is supposed to have a barcode which isn't on the one that we get from the website. Any insight/suggestions/advice about this will be greatly appreciated. Thanks to all!

Hi all... I am new to HAL and have my first two cruises with the line booked! I've always pre-ordered flowers on NCL and Celebrity until...and with no advance notice....Celebrity discontinued the service. I was not happy and brought a pop up paper bouquet on my final cruise with Celebrity. That is one of many reasons that I'm looking to sail different lines. I pre-ordered flowers for both HAL cruises (one isn't until about a year away) I guess because I'm afraid that they will discontinue the service as Celebrity did. Maybe pre-orders will be honored? Obviously I have no idea but I love fresh flowers in the stateroom... Happy sailing to all!

Thank you one and all for the warm welcome to HAL and all the fun facts! Our sailing is also over Halloween but don't know if that's even a 'thing' on HAL. Makes it easy to find orange 'gear' before the cruise though! 🙂

Hi all.... The title kind of says it all! Sailing on the Rotterdam at the end of October and am interested in understanding more about the Orange party. Does it still happen? Is it only about just wearing orange or is there more to know and plan for? Looking forward to a new cruise line after many sailings with Norwegian, Celebrity and a couple on much smaller lines!

For the first time in many years and many cruises (started on NCL then changed to Celebrity) we have NO cruises booked with Celebrity going forward. Can't trust the product, the changes or the cost. Next cruises booked....HAL, MSC, and A&K. Sorry to say goodbye to Celebrity but in my opinion, they brought this on themselves.

Hi Bo.... I'm a long time admirer of your posts and tone. Yes...you are correct. I struggled while on the latest cruise with many things that have changed over time. Blue Chip has varied with both their offers and their phone wait times on the phone over the years but I 'lost the bet' tonight in trying to call them; both in wait time and being disconnected with no call back. I feel Celebrity defeated at the moment. And I have no cruises booked with them for the first time in many, many years. Sad. Sigh.....

Hi all... Just off the Summit and got a new offer in the mail for a Blue Chip deal. I called and was on hold for nearly 2 hours. I expected this so that is not my gripe. When I finally spoke to a human I told him that I wanted pricing to upgrade to either an Aqua Suite (I had the suite number showing available on the website) or any number of available verandas that I wrote down from the deck plan. He initially said there were no aqua suites available (even though it was available on the website) and then tried to say that a regular sky suite was available. The only problem was that the stateroom number he said was NOT a sky suite at all! To top it off, I tried to say that I literally looking at the deck plan and I was confused about the cabin number he mentioned. Please know I was totally polite and appropriate in my conversation with him. Yup. Got disconnected. And no call back. Sigh..... Long time Celebrity cruiser but getting weary over kind of everything at this point. Our most recent cruise was a mix of really great (some staff) and really disappointing (food, most service, cutbacks) Like I said....sigh. I won't call back to try and book an offer. Sad.....

I quoted your post above but failed to post. Apologies. I wanted to share that I just disembarked the Summit today and had followed your live review through all your posts. Your post about Pheliesia was so moving that I wanted to find her and share how much she meant to you two weeks ago. Long story short....I saw her several times in the buffet but then she disappeared. I shared my goal with my amazing bar server and he went and got her!!! But....I couldn't show her your post as the internet was glitchy. Fast forward, we found out she was in the MDR so we went there to again try and tell/show her the impact she had. While waiting for the hostess to find her (she loves Pheliesia as well!) we were able to share how important she is to you with TWO of her managers !! 🙂 We got to talk to her and she remembered you and was very, very moved by your sentiments. I told her....."you matter". Thank you for posting this very important event in your week. So inspiring and like a pebble in a pond. At least 7 people I either travelled with or interacted with as staff were very moved. Take care!

This is the exact email I got this afternoon in response to my email. I agree...they are refining their response. Hopefully because they have to based on all our (and everyone's) feedback.

I emailed last night and received a reply this afternoon. Interesting that the line about no ''negative impact" was missing from the reply I received. Perhaps enough negative feedback is being received that even they know they can't continue to claim that. Still hoping......and still glad I only have one cruise booked in three weeks on the Summit. I won't book more until this issue is settled.

I sent my email. The more the better in opposition to this craziness of the deciders! Thanks to all for your efforts and the email contact. Let's hope!

I'm new to HAL (first cruise this fall). I booked Have It All and am in a Neptune suite. Obviously when I booked the drinks in the Neptune lounge were part of the HIA program. I'm guessing there's no chance folks who booked it before the change can be 'grandfathered in" so we get what we expected upon booking?

Sooo.... I cancelled and rebooked my premium drink packages on an upcoming Summit cruise for four people. Yes, I 'saved' some money but I did this during the price hike so not as much as I would have with the original (aka: normal) price. Is there any chance I can call and get them to honor the 'real' price instead of the inflated price? I doubt it but I'd love people's thoughts on this. It comes down to the FACT that my 'sale' price was not the actual sale price. Thanks all....

Yay! Got it! Many thanks!!

I got to the circle containing my initials but there is not order history there. Maybe they did away wit it due to the price hike on the drink package after the sale?? Just a thought!

Thank you! Is cruise planner the same as manage reservation or manage trip? Those seem to be the options on the website (where I am logged on). Again...thank you very much for your help!

Hi all, I know this has been asked and answered on CC before but I searched and can't find any threads. I wanted to know how to see my order history for the two cruises I have coming up. I've looked on the website several times and literally can't find it although I know it exists! I've cancelled and rebooked several things due to the Memorial Day 'sale' (hoping I didn't lose out too much by not rebooking my premium drink package before they jacked the price). Thanks for any help!

Thanks to all for the information. I'm going to keep a daily eye on the excursions.....