cbr663

I agree. I also understand why some people may be very upset with HAL as it did post contradicting messages with the need to be within driving distance of the port to passengers receiving notice about 7 days prior to departure. Perhaps this is a case, as so often in large corporations, of one department not knowing what another does? The marketing department may very well had thought that passenger would be notified within 7 days, but the Ship Inventory department simply cannot meet that standard. Any of us who have sailed on ships can appreciate the flurry of activity that is going on with Ship Inventory as sail day approaches with all the guaranteed cabins needed to be assigned, all the upgrades and upsells, last minute cancellations, late arrivals, wait lists and now a standby list. One of the most asked questions on CC is when are guaranteed cabins assigned with many posters noting not receiving their cabin number until 7 days or less of sailing. It's great to read though that for some early adopters of this program that they have had great success.

Yes, I would expect that as HAL has a social media presence that its social media managers monitor social media posts. Social media posts can be very influential with lots of people these days.

It seems like OP is confusing a charter booking with a large group booking. With a large group booking HAL may indeed offer cabins to the public as large groups don't need every cabin on the ship. With a charter though a group books the entire ship. The only way to travel on the ship during a charter is to book a cabin through the group that has chartered the ship.

It seems ironic that it is the cruise lines themselves that are ruining the cruise experience. Edit to Add: Perhaps "ruining the cruise experience" is overly harsh. Cruise lines are certainly changing it and for some of us, not for the better.

We first sailed to Alaska in 2014. It was the Volendam's first sailing, midweek and the ship wasn't full. We were the only ship in port. It was an outstanding cruise and ranks #2 as the best cruise we have ever taken. In May of last year we sailed to Alaska on the Koningsdam. The ship was full. We sailed on a weekend and in every port there were 3 - 4 other ships as large as and larger than the K. It was a terrible sight to behold and it was a very different experience than our previous cruise. The $ spent per cruise passenger isn't for me a great measure. I know why they use it though. I can't un-see all those cruise passengers piling out of the ships and overwhelming these small port towns. The lineup at the Juneau tram never stopped all day. We had tickets for it and said no way. The wooden sidewalks in Skagway were crowded with so many people we had trouble getting around. We enjoyed the cruise, but we both agreed we were so happy that we had sailed in '14 as we most likely will never return. The cruise lines created this over tourism and have, for us, completely ruined the Alaska experience. Our cruise experiences this year have changed our outlook, especially around ocean cruising. We have been wanting to do a Canada/NE cruise for a while now and have decided that this Fall we will drive instead. We are now researching river cruises over ocean cruises and booking more land based vacations than ever before (2 booked already and finalizing 2 more in the coming days). I am one to never say never, yet when I ask my DW about booking another ocean cruise, she just shakes her head and says she has no interest in it.

No. You will be seated in the MDR and should be provided with a Club Orange menu. I write "should" as some people have previously reported when sailing on a Non-Pinnacle class ship in CO they've had to request the CO menu.

Cruise lines have created this problem and sadly, it seems like they continue to add to it. Building bigger and more ships means for most people the ship is the destination. Saving fuel means most cruise lines have reduced their time in port in favour of lower their cruising speed. Less time in port means less time for passengers to spend money. And now, we see more and more cruise lines docking at piers far outside of actual ports so that reduces even more passenger time to spend money in port. Let's not forget the pandemic offered an opportunity for all cruise ports to see what would happen when the ships went away. For many port inhabitants, they enjoyed their communities much more without the cruise ships. Cruise lines don't seem to care much about this. I guess as long as they are selling their ships they will sail somewhere. And they aren't having any trouble selling right now. I just priced a 7 day Eastern Caribbean cruise on the Icon of the Seas for November and it was $12,000 CDN for a regular balcony cabin. That's a lot of money for what is essentially a crowded, floating resort. There are a lot of Caribbean resorts that can offer much more value and a better travel experience than what that ship can offer.

Those spending estimates are high compared to spending estimates in Europe. For many European ports, the negatives far outweigh the positive with cruise ships and is why there is so much strong opposition to cruise ships. https://www.euronews.com/travel/2023/10/31/cruise-ships-erosion-air-pollution-and-overtourism-are-driving-cities-towards-bans Our spend tends to be highest flying to an embarkation port and at the embarkation port itself as we fly in a few days prior to the port. We've also had higher spend after a cruise by adding a few days on at the end like visiting Whistler after our Alaska cruise. We spend more on getting to and from a cruise than the entire cruise itself. We travel very differently since the pandemic. With air travel and baggage issues, for instance, we travel with carry on only. This essentially means we aren't buying much at all to take back home with us. We also refuse to travel on crowded enclosed buses so we find ourselves doing more walking tours than paid excursions.

It happens. Last year I had booked a cruise only fare for our Alaska cruise in a Neptune Suite and I saw that a TA was advertising the same cruise with HIA for thousands less than I had paid with HAL. I contacted them to confirm that the price was correct and it was. It was the quickest time that I cancelled and rebooked a cruise. I was worried that I wouldn't get the cabin that I wanted as there was no guarantee that when it went back into ship's inventory that it would be made available again that I could get it, but the universe shone on me that day and we even got the cabin that we wanted.

Overall, desserts are a miss on HAL. My go to is also the cheese plate. For a premium cruise line with fine dining options there is way too much reliance on ice-creams, sorbets and gelato.

I wouldn't find it charming at all for the simple reason that it is practically impossible to exchange coins.

Difficult to believe with all the conflicting information that HAL has only recently updated its website, isn't it? This is what you need to know:

It's not bad at all. As you wrote, money is money. Just use bills and no coins, so no loonies or toonies. 🙂

Thanks for this. It's under FAQs if anyone is searching. Interesting that for non-suite staterooms that's about a 6% increase and suite staterooms it's about a 9% increase. Having sailed in both categories I have to admit I don't understand why suite passengers pay more. It isn't as if they receive a different level of service.

Thanks for the link. This supports my earlier comment of the secrecy that surrounds crew tips. In this clip a former cruise crew member who is now a blogger can't say that crew members are defiantly getting the tips paid by passengers, but does promote how he continues to over tip.

Ships are indeed full. If only HAL would crew them up to match.

Great review. I agree that HAL has basically given up on entertainment. Years ago we tried sailing on X and while we enjoyed Aqua Class, we found the ships terribly boring. I never watched so much television before on a cruise ship as we did on that cruise. Sadly, we now feel the same about HAL. There is just very little to do on the ships that interest us any more. When the music walk performers are great, it's great. But, HAL can call it whatever it wants it is simply a bar with live music. And like all bars, sometimes the performers are good, sometimes not so much. Perhaps things will change soon. I can only hope. A couple of days ago I did complete a survey from HAL asking my opinions on the entertainment options on its ships and what I would like to see. Keeping my fingers crossed that something may come of it.

The only advantage I am aware of is the onboard cruise consultant has access to all cabins on every sailing. If you are looking for a specific cabin then if it is available you will get it onboard. On line you take your chances that the cabin may not be released yet when you book.

Ask the crew what is the best thing that you can do for them and you won't get the response leave a tip. It will always be leave a positive comment in Navigator or, as my recent cabin steward told us (we had him for both cruises that we took last year and he remembered us from our earlier cruise) the very best thing we could do for him was mention his name in the post cruise survey that we receive from HAL. Written compliments to management generally indicate a points reward system.

I must agree Hank. I find it astounding in this day of social media and hundreds of thousands of cruise ship crews and even former cruise ship crews now with their own YouTube profiles that the whole issue of tipping is such a closely guarded secret. How is it that not one current or former crew member on a ship somewhere hasn't spilled the beans on tipping? I can only think because the current process works so well for them.

I'm a little confused. Will there be 4 passengers in one cabin or a party of 4 with 2 cabins?

Perhaps being a salesperson our cruise consultant told us what we wanted to hear to ensure that we booked a cruise? 😉

Most ships are now sailing at full or over capacity with less crew. The first night dining challenges are certainly an exercise in patience.

When we last booked a cruise onboard this past May the Cruise Consultant told us that all cruises booked onboard were fully refundable. She sold it as one of the advantages of booking onboard.

Your description of the Neptune Lounge as being more like a library is spot on. In our experience the Neptune Lounge is used primarily as an access point to the Concierge and for people quickly grabbing snacks and then leaving. It's a small interior space and it is not very conducive imo for gatherings and conversations. Almost every other public space on board is more advantageous to meeting people.