doublebzz

16 hours ago, freestyling said:

On HAL and other CCL ships I was able to have my spouse enjoy all the perks above EXCEPT comp beverages in casino,  

If your partner is in the casino while you are playing, you can order a drink and give it to him.  I noticed this was happening around the craps table on my recent HAL cruise and there was no objection from casino staff nor is there likely to be.

18 hours ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

 

As always, you get a variety of responses on threads like these. Some HAL loyalists can't bear to think HAL would make the tiniest misstep, ever. Others think HAL can't do anything right. Obviously the truth is somewhere in between. 

 

Perfectly said.  

 

 

The poster wants to know who are the cabin boys for cabin 6112. Does anyone have an answer? This is sarcasm.

I wonder if many of the difficulties in getting seated revolves around wanting a table for two or some other particular desire.  We prefer sharing a table and never had to wait more than a few minutes for a table between 7-7:30 in any of the HAL ships.  When as you wish dining was first introduced in HAL, they would give you a voucher for a half price drink in the adjacent lounge if a wait was required..  

Nightgown and robe would be appropriate dress in HAL lounges and public spaces after 9:30pm.

On 12/18/2018 at 11:12 AM, iancal said:

HAL is not a social club.

 

It is a business with an obligation to it's shareholders to maximize profits and shareholder value.   What they are doing is what every other business would do.   If you think that their offerings are too pricey then simply vote with your wallet.

Particularly true when cruise prices have remained stagnant or decreased for many years.  You can purchase a 7 day Caribbean cruise from HAL in January for less than $500 which is substantially less than my first HAL cruise more than 20 years ago.  

There has been some mention of relaxed or casual dress standards on most of the luxury lines.  This is true, but having sailed multiple times on Oceania and Seabourn, I never saw anyone wearing baseball hats, t-shirts or flip flops outside of the pool area and certainly not in the MDR for evening dinner.  

1 hour ago, catl331 said:

HAL wants all the self-debarkers off the ship before the regular groups begin, mainly because of congestion in the elevators when many people are filling them with baggage while masses of people are trying to use them.

As VMAX has said, there could be congestion in the elevators whatever time you choose to debark.  Also agree with VMAX that if you are in no rush to get off, putting out your luggage the night before is probably most convenient for all concerned.

11 minutes ago, ginger and professor said:

With the relaxation of dress codes, I am at a loss for Gala dress.  Is it proper to have the bill of your baseball cap pointing forward or backwards at the dining table?

Backwards if you are wearing a t-shirt; forward in all other cases.

What's the rush?  Have a leisurely breakfast and debark at will.  Absolutely agree with CruiserBruce about driving around Rome; however, I'm inferring you renting an apartment in Rome' not a car.  If you are, there is at least one car rental agency, I believe Hertz, right in Civatavecchia.

2 hours ago, Tom O. said:

Just thought I would relate my experience I had with this offer.

The offer states that the credit is only for new bookings.

If AMEX can't resolve the problem, than I will see what my TA can do.

Very odd.  I had an existing paid in full booking and then purchased a $500 on board credit on the HAL web site with my AMEX card.  Both the charge and credit went through simultaneously. 

3 minutes ago, travelholics said:

Thank you so much, I pride myself on reading and researching everything but I missed this!We have booked a tour through HAL and will double check requirements two weeks before departure. Really appreciative of all the wonderful info imparted here to us newer cruisers.

 

We already booked the tour.  Looking forward to seeing you on board maybe at the M & G.

3 hours ago, travelholics said:

Please can I ask you where you found this, it is just what we need to put our minds at rest and relax before boarding. Thank you everyone for helping, it is great to have the experience of fellow travellers.

See link :  https://www.hollandamerica.com/en_US/faq.html .  Click on the tab that says "cruise preparation".  Thank you Travelholics - this is really hidden.

14 minutes ago, RDC1 said:

If HAL has stated that you do not need a VISA and are willing to provide you with a letter documenting that fact then you should be set. 

 

Sanya is a fairly unique situation with the presence of two different free Visa programs.  One, the one that has been mentioned here, requires an approved travel company. While this is generally for land tour companies, it is also one that HAL might access in conjuction with their tour providers. The interesting question is if you need to sign up for the tour prior to boarding the cruise (otherwise how would they know if you would be covered under that program) and what happens if you cancel the excursion or if the tour company cancels it prior to arrival at port.  Would that then leave you without a valid VISA. That also raises the question if HAL is the approved tour company or if it is the local tour provider.

 

 

There is no willingness by HAL to put in writing what has been represented verbally to a number of us.  If they would and that is exactly what I'm suggesting in my posts, we wouldn't be having this conversation now.  With respect to your second question, HAL reps have verbally stated if you opt to stay on board, that would also obviate the need for a visa.

5 minutes ago, travelholics said:

We are on the same cruise from Singapore to Hong Kong and our only Chinese port of call is Sanya. A number of us have spoken with HAL documentation department and have been told that if we book a HAL tour we do not require visas. The case we have all read about is now making us uneasy as we are not sure how to proceed. It would be helpful to have some guidance in writing from HAL clarifying that their tours do not require a visa.

Exactly my point.

6 hours ago, chengkp75 said:

 Why don't you go to the source, the Chinese consulate, or a visa service, someone who deals with visas every working day?

Took your advice and emailed my question to the visa section of Chinese Embassy in Washington using the email address on their web site.  The following is the response I received from Yahoo Mail to my email:  

1 hour ago, chengkp75 said:

Sorry, just kind of proves the point.  As others have said, why ask about visa requirements from an anonymous internet forum, or even a travel "professional" like a TA or HAL CSR?  Why don't you go to the source, the Chinese consulate, or a visa service, someone who deals with visas every working day?

One goes to these forums with the hope that someone has experienced the same situation and can provide first hand knowledge of how its handled.  With respect to the Sanya visit, the following guidance is provided on China Embassy web site:

"A foreign citizen holding an ordinary passport issued by any of the following countries is exempted from a visa if he/ she joins a tourist group (of 5 or more persons) organized by an international travel agency registered in Hainan with the approval of China National Tourism Administration to visit Hainan Province and his/her stay is no more than 15 days: Australia, Austria, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Philippines, Republic of Korea, Russia, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, United Kingdom, Ukraine and United States. Citizens of Germany, Republic of Korea and Russia may join an international tourist group (of 2 or more persons) and can stay up to 21 days."  

Only HAL would know if they are "registered in Hainan with the approval of China National Tourism Administration" and thus qualify for the visa exemption.  If so, why doesn't HAL indicate so in each applicable cruise rather than place the onus on each customer.  Of course, the answer is by making visa requirements entirely the customer's responsibility, the hope is to avoid any potential liability.  

What is troubling to me throughout this tread are implications that if someone is not completely aware of the complex and confusing China visa requirements, they are somehow ignorant and/or irresponsible.  

15 minutes ago, kazu said:

 

Have you noticed when you do anytime dining in the MDR that they ask for your cabin number?  We don't eat in the Lido much at night, but the one time we did, they asked.

 

I have a sneaky suspicion that they have a way to allocate more to certain areas based on where you dine, but I'm not sure about that.

 

😉 

I was told that the reason they ask for cabin number is to enable HAL to correlate comments on your critique with dining servers involved.  Who knows?

7 minutes ago, ChinaShrek said:

 

Why not?  They know where we will live (residency) and they know our passport information (citizenship).  Everything is computerized these days.  Once you enter this information at purchase, HAL could easily send you an email with the precise visa requirements for the cruise.  Everyone is harping on personal responsibility.  If I am spending thousands of dollars on a cruise to Asia, the cruise line can send me a link with the visa requirements.  Until they do so, I will not go on that cruise!

Could not agree with you more.  On Post #45, I posted a hypothetical asking if a visa was required in Sanya, China.  To date, none of the mavens on this thread have responded.  In point of fact, it is not a hypothetical but relates to an actual forthcoming cruise.  In researching this question, I have found nothing but conflicting responses from a variety of sources including HAL, my TA and cruise critic members, among others.  I guess I'm just irresponsible and dumb.

11 hours ago, Joken35 said:

 Our TA could not added this to our HAL cruise since it was paid In full , but did on our new booking on Princess for 2020. 

 

Not sure what you are saying here. I also purchased my cruise through a TA, which has been paid in full,  but then purchased the on board credit directly from HAL and received the AMEX credit.  Also, wondering if this is a one time deal or you can can get the credit on multiple cruises.

On 12/2/2018 at 7:47 AM, doublebzz said:

I just made the purchase on Thursday and its still in a "pending" status. Will keep you posted.

On 12/2/2018 at 1:05 AM, scottee said:

 

Did it end up working?

Today my $500 on board credit, which I purchased on the HAL web site, posted along with the $100 credit to my account.

Here's a hypothetical:  Cruise ship X departs Singapore for a 10 day cruise to Hong Kong with an intervening port stop at Sanya, China.  Cruise passenger opts to purchase a Ship X's excursion of Sanya for the 6 hour stop-over.  Is a China visa required?

1 hour ago, terrydtx said:

 The visa fees are a major financial source for China and the advance time required allowed the Chinese Government to do back ground checks on any one entering their country.

Given the billions of dollars in trade surplus China receives from the U.S., I doubt the few millions they receive in visa fees are a "a major financial source for China."  More likely the communist bureaucracy and paranoia relating to foreigners are the culprits.  I can't think of a travel issue more confusing than China visa requirements - in some cases one is needed and in others not the case.  In my humble opinion, cruise lines have a responsibility to clearly define in writing exactly what the visa requirements are for a particular cruise.

6 hours ago, scottee said:

 

Did it end up working?

I just made the purchase on Thursday and its still in a "pending" status. Will keep you posted.

4 hours ago, OlsSalt said:

One of the problems with the Pinnacle may be they are now giving away too many free dinners - either as Mariner perks or as travel agent perks. Back to the question - how does the dinner surcharge get spent?  

 

Does each individual ship have a budget based upon how many free dinners have been given out and how many free Mariner dinners will be offered - the more onboard the less money available to higher quality ingredients and/or numbers of kitchen staff and dining stewards?  Or is there a set fleet wide budget regardless of individual ship surcharge revenues?

Agree.  Also and perhaps the increases in surcharges throughout the years has been to make up for the lost revenues on all these "free" dinners.