POA1

Noooooo! It's the whole reason for our trip. 🤩

If it's anything like the past sales, the Grand Voyages & World Cruise will be excluded.

Throw in some of these actual descriptive notes just to mess with people: Lanolin, Cigar Box, Pencil Shavings, and Limpid. Some bad wine description winners from The Underground Wine Letter. 2019-2020, 2018, 2017-2016, 2016-2015..

Thank you. I stand corrected. (Sit corrected, really... but you know what I mean.)

If I understand you correctly, you are getting credited for 15 x $11 or $165 per person per day? And you didn't have any crew appreciation or gratuities? Or. are you credited with the "cost" of what you drank - like $X for cappuccino and $Y for a soda?

Great pairing, and one we've done. However, my lovely bride is really into Pinot Noir so it's usually a single vineyard Ken Wright for us. I'm with you on the Beaujolais Nouveau. It's a great marketing ploy that snares people every year. It's not awful. It just doesn't rate the level of excitement.

No, you would not multiply it. It's 1 1/6 days. If you paid 7 x $350, you'd get days galore. (Perhaps that's the "Have Everything There Is" plan. 😉) Have It All increases your fare basis if you get it "included" with your cruise. In that case, I don't think it does anything. I'm not sure how they handle it when you purchase it as an add on after the fact. If you buy a standalone beverage package, that counts as onboard spend. ("Have A Little Bit") Maybe someone who added HIA after booking can weigh in?

Having lived on the coast in Maine for years, we're a little picky about lobster. We typically wait until we are back for a visit to eat lobster. In DW's case, a lot of it. She's had the tails on the ship if they're cold water, but it's not make or break. When you are used to having lobster that was trapped that morning, you can be a little spoiled. Now that we're in Florida, we see people get excited for lobster and stone crab seasons. My favorite Florida fish is hogfish, but you rarely see it in a restaurant.

You'll have to look at the screen, but I think once you get to final payment you are locked in.

The change button puts you in a sort of preview mode. You can play with flights and nothing changes unless you commit them. Just read the screen carefully and it's pretty straightforward.

If you spent a lot of time eating cold water lobster, the difference is pretty obvious. DW describes warm water lobster as more mealy. I'd be more inclined to say that cold water lobster is firmer & more meaty. It's also objectively sweeter.

It's based on the dollar value. $300 = 1 day credit. So, take your purchase cost and divide by 300.

Can I just say, once again, how glad I am that so many people find the schnitzel to be spektakulär. The Dover sole discussion is a bonus. That's one of my two choices for Rudi's. The other is the Tournadoes Rossini. I'm leaning toward the fish. DW is all in on the lamb.

OK... Now we are definitely going to go on our cruise in December. Y'all have sold me! We haven't been to a HAL wine tasting since 2014, but now it's on my must-do list. I'm pretty good with a wine list, but I always try to learn something. Here is the sum total of what I learned that I didn't know (1). Beaujolais pairs really well with white chocolate. I learned this on the Ryndam in 2005. The excellent wine director, whose name escapes me, did a really nice presentation. I have never had to use this information, but I feel good having it ready to go in case the Easter Bunny invites me over. And, (2) I don't know how HAL manages this, but they always manage to recruit at least one wine snob for my amusement. These people are great. They've "been to Napa," or they decant everything. Top flight entertainment. This year I'm hoping to get someone who wants prattle on about biodynamic wines or their deep, deep feelings about malolactic fermentation. Can't wait! I just hope that the wine tasting isn't up against steel drum lessons.

@FlaMariner While we loves us some half priced wine & specialty dining, our favorite 4* perk is the laundry and pressing. Returning from vacation with the only dirty clothes being what you wore off the ship is a great feeling.** **- I realize that you probably have both what you wore on the last day and what you wore off the ship, but that doesn't sound quite as good. [Editor's Note: Yet somehow adding the footnote makes it read better?]

This made me think of Dr. Seuss. "We star-bellied Sneetches are some wine-tasting beetches."

I doubt it. On CC, my avatar faces right. On the super-exclusive, I'm a fancy person Orange lanyard, the photo faces left. Totally different.

I agree with @CruiserBruce It really depends on how much you are utilizing their services. We have always gotten Retreat Cabanas which are a little bit different. We're more of a tip-as-we-go type of people, but do what suits you best.

Ray, sir - You have achieved "peak HAL cruiser." (Probably referred to as "Pinnacle.") I bet they're not discussing how to smuggle coffee creamer on the Carnival, Royal Caribbean, or NCL boards. 😁

You can put your dietary restrictions on your booking and they'll follow you wherever you go. Ask your TA or PCC to read the whole list to you sometime. It's extensive! Unless you have super unique dietary requirements, like "vegetarian, but no peas," or "sugar free unless it's chocolate," you should be fine.

How long do you think it would take until someone punches me in the throat?

You'll have to do the math on the stateroom cost difference. It's almost always a good deal for singles, and it gets better as you get into the higher categories. Then, factor in the value of the additional entree and expanded room service breakfast. And don't forget the Club Orange tote bag. That, and the fact that you'll have Club Orange room key cards are what really made it worthwhile for us*. 😉 *- In case it's not super obvious yet, I'm doing a long set up bit for my "Live From" in December.

Club Orange is open seating. If you are on a Pinnacle Class ship (Rotterdam, Nieuw Statendam, or Koningsdam) you have a separate dining room. Otherwise, you have a separate check in in the Main Dining Room. Personally, if we were on a non-Pinnacle ship, we'd choose late-fixed dining and just tell our servers that we were had CO so we could get the CO menu item. (We're a late-fixed dining kind of people and if there's no separate CO dining room, we'd prefer to have an assigned table with the same servers every night.) I know that flies in the face of conventional logic, but we've had second fixed seating on every cruise but one since 1994 and there's a certain amount of inertia. It's probably all in my head, but I think it's easier to establish a relationship when you have the same dining team each night.

Yes. It shows on your confirmation PDF in the Special Services section. You'll also see the new stateroom #.

The upgrades are done through Ship's Inventory, so Monday is the earliest you can do it. Go to the HAL site and search for Club Orange. On that page you will find a PDF with their phone number. I'd call them as soon as they open because there can be a bit of a hold. I think I held for around 20 minutes. Your time may be different. Important: Grab the PDF copy of your ship's deck plan and familiarize yourself. You'll have to choose the upgraded room from what's available in inventory when you call. You'll want to know where you are going, what's near you - and importantly - what's above & below you.