OlsSalt

I've seen HAL musters ..................🫣

Once we were leaving one HAL ship, and boarding the next one that was docked right behind the HAL ship we were leaving which was the very same day, not the next day like yours. We wished we could have just tossed the suitcases off the aft deck and on to the next one - only in our dreams. Instead after checking out, a porter wheeled our luggage down to the next embarkation area for the HAL ship docked behind us. Unbeknownst to us, the porter with our suitcases tried to barge in ahead of a line of passengers already waiting their HAL embarkation to open up. This generated loud boos, and the porter quickly retreated. We tried to skulk away from the mess and dutifully took our place at the back of the line, where we belonged. Moral of the story - no short cuts were available at that port - Boston, and the porters were a particularly burly lot. Port security post 9-11 took away most of the prior luggage storage options, including even mail boxes at ports or airports. "Left luggage" is automatically deemed suspicious, but it won't hurt to ask if it can be secured someplace for you.

A long "puffer" hooded zip up coat is handy for being out on deck, in the wind. Easy to pack and quickly put on over your normal layered clothes when the captain announces things to see on deck. I like the ones they have at Uniqlo - maybe also resale online? Head gear, ear muffs/ear-pops, long cashmere neck scarf, and silk glove liners worked for me. It is not as cold as expected, because it is their summer and the 24 hour days reflect a lot of sunshine. Except when it isn't raining.

Very special cruise -we continued to dress up for dinner, including black tie and formal wear on dressy nights, as usual. Why not?

This is meant to be a "retreat" for those who paid the premium costs. So no drop-ins. The other guest paid this price for certain expectations the space would be used only by other paying guests. Entrance is by honor system, no key card but the stewards know who has paid for this retreat space. They will ask you to leave. You might want to think about chipping in and getting a four-person "family" cabana, so there are no issues for anyone and you can all use the space at will..

Enchanted Princess (Mediterranean 21 day) is a much larger ship. I personally would always take the smaller ship, when there is a choice - so that would be the Oosterdam. Where were you reading all these "negative reviews"? Because the almost exact same question was asked here recently, and recent passengers on the Oosterdam reported things were uniformly great. Seacrh the archives for this recent thread.

Plastic bags have long been recommended as a packing tip, since they allegedly allow the clothes to "slide" a bit instead of just getting crushed by what is on top of them. So leaving them on would work for that benefit. However, HAL is trying to reduce plastic wastes so you might want to think about taking them home with you instead of disposing them onboard. Picky, I know. I have also found "rolling" clothes works the best for me, instead of folding and stacking to avoid as many wrinkles as possible. I stack like-kind of clothes together - pants, tops, etc and then roll them up in a bundle to go into the suitcase. Seems like it takes less space too. Unroll shake things out and hang them up, upon arrival. But my best hack is simply not taking clothes that do not pack easily. And believe it or not taking linen which does wrinkle like crazy but smooths out so easily after wetting it a bit.

Looks likes HAL prior premium coffee purveyor, Beukenhorst, created this new brand for HAL - Rotterdam 1873: https://www.beukenhorst-usa.com The best coffee I had on HAL ships was the Sumatra Coffee, served as one of the beverage choices at the now sadly departed Indonesian Tea. (Shout out for the sadly departed Royal Dutch Tea too.)

DH is a coffee nut and he is in a minority, since he likes the Lido coffee. He is such a coffee nut he now routinely imports Argovia coffee, which we learned about on a HAL shore excursions in Puerto Chiapas Mexico. We also imported Shade Lady coffee from Costa Rica, after learning about it on another HAL cruise ship stop in Costa Rica. But they are no longer in business.

We did one of our longest cruises (51 day - old Rotterdam R-class ship ((London Indonesia Singapore) in an ocean view cabin to make it affordable, after also enjoying primarily Neptunes and balconies. This wondrous cruise itself on this smaller ship, more than made up for the change in cabin status. Because it was a smaller ship, outdoor access was not that far away. Others also like being in ocean view cabins near the central atrium doors, which readily access the 360 degree promenade decks. What we also learned is the aft ocean view cabins on this R class ship had ready access to two aft open decks that had loungers and the often coveted aft wake view. Plus it was pretty easy to get almost anywhere else on the ship, so the cabin was just used for sleeping and changing clothes primarily. But at least the cabin had daylight - the real must have for me. Though even inside cabins can now be made more amenable with the use of an imitation daylight alarm clock.

The Classics Hour Cocktail Special.

"Revenue generation" could be the passengers themselves who do sign up, only because HAL ships still offer classical music. Unless they continue to fill the ships up with discounts, kids cruise free and casino offers instead. Maybe a catchy new title - Classics with Champagne -- Pagnini with Prosecco --- Bach with Booze --- Hayden with a Highball ---- Beethoven with Beer --- Shubert with Sherbert Slushes - Chopin with Rum and Coke.......... Classical Ka-Ching

Konigsdam - Dec 2023 Holiday cruises - family special rates, domestic easily-accessed California port - 7 day cruise. Families with 4-6, or more members wanting a larger table together. Wonder how the demographics were on the other Pinnacle ships who apparently did not have the back-ups during the same holiday time periods. The worst early dining room back ups were during the Christmas week - lots of families, younger passengers. The mood shifted more on next the New years week - more older couples, fewer large family groups. But still a holiday and family crowd impact was definitely felt, not typically found on other times of the year. Though we rarely cruise during the middle of the summer when school is out.

You raise a good point I am sure most cruise lines are struggling with: raise prices to offer former service standards; or cut corners just to tread water at prior rates. Actually, that is the choice passengers have too. I personally am willing to take less for close to the same prices myself, understanding the very unique nature of post-"covid" business realities cruise lines are facing. I honestly do know know how or when cruise lines will dig themselves out of this massive operating debt burden inflicted upon them over "covid". But we are doing our own part - continuing to cruise, but a lot less frequently and certainly not expecting what we called "normal" in the past, Just get me there, fed and bedded since we are low demand "destination" cruisers; not high demand on-board entertainment cruisers.

There was a pretty horrific private tour bus accident on the Costa Maya area in Mexico a few years ago, that drove home the value of going on a ship-approved shore excursion. The exception does not make the rule, as most private tours are uneventful. But it was a sober example of how bad it can be ....if ... something really tragic does happen.

I believe insurance costs are added to HAL shore excursions, which is value-added when compared to no recourse if anything happens to you on privately arranged tours or on your own while ashore. Any private tour company insurance claims would need to be handled in that country, where as HAL would be involved in any claims made on their sanctioned shore excursions. Hard to quantify convenience and peace of mind when it comes to HAL shore excursion costs. But for some/many it is worth it. And we don't feel we are being "gouged".

As a former local elected official, we did tend to ignore orchestrated astro-turf letter writing campaigns. However, unique and sincere individually written letters did resonate. But those orchestrated campaign members did and can vote, so it pays to be aware of their sentiments and not reject them out of hand. In this case, the only "voting" is with one's feet- and not sailing HAL ships - by choosing from among all those other cruise lines who do continue to offer classical music onboard. 😵‍💫 The timing for these demands is so poor right now. I have great sympathy for HAL facing the huge mountains of "covid" debt, inflicted on this particular industry. Adagio, lentimento.

I hear Carnival is serving gummy bears instead.

The Lincoln Center groups are only recent. Prior classical groups (quartets or duos) were a mixed bag, some excellent, some a bit strained, and some maybe had not even worked together very long as an ensemble. I suspect this prior inconsistent quality - hit or miss- was why HAL went with the higher end LC branding. But that did make the LC option vulnerable to the current cost-cutting demands many cruise line face post-"covid".

When the choice is jamming up at the entrance at opening hours and waiting, or learning to come later, it can be up to the passenger to chose. Closed system ships -efficient use of limited spaces onboard. Not sure the highest and best use is to accommodate all diners at the opening hours only and then have the space empty the rest of the time? Pace oneself- others learn that too, in order to avoid the crowds when the Lido first opens up. Or when to get the best seats at the onboard events.

I just researched this and it was not easy nor inexpensive - Vancouver to Seattle. There are a number of websites that offer this option: train or bus mainly. Rental car option? - did not explore this - since one would have to cross a border. Connecting to the long-distance busses to Seattle was an issue too -where did they leave from? We first settled on the Amtrak train (or Amtrak bus) leaving from Waterfront station near Canada Place cruise terminal in Vancouver - taking you to the main train station in Seattle. Hotels around the Seattle train station were very expensive - $300-500 a night. Train is much more scenic, but limited departure times. Bus is apparently a long boring four hour road trip. After finally deciding on the Amtrak bus to Seattle and biting the bullet on the nearby hotel --since we wanted to connect to the Amtrak Coastal Starlight the next morning back to Southern Calif. However, we finally decided to cancel it all and take the next seven day segment on the Noordam back to San Diego instead! So now we have a total 21 day cruise, as our way out of Vancouver. If HAL offers a transfer and takes all the planning worries away, I would use that. Odd they do not have a connection unless they are selling a one-night cruise between these two cities?

Thinking about what you might want to bring: recycle, reuse, repurpose ---Wooden pencils, instead of single use plastic pens ---Chalk, instead of flow pen markers ---Paper books ---Wax crayons ---Paper note books, sketch pads ---Small metal scissors, Pencil sharpeners ---Biodegradable natural fabric items, toys ---??????????? I spent some time in remote Fiji villages years ago, and one gift that was the biggest hit was a small globe (plastic!) that was attached to a pencil sharpener. The village chief grabbed that one for himself.

Thank you for the school supply photos - please keep in mind plastic bags may or may not be a good thing. While they can be re-used, they cannot be disposed. Bringing these welcome gifts in a paper bag would be better. Unless they do weave these plastic ibags into their shell basketry. Does anyone know about this? World Bank: Managing plastic wastes on small remote islands: https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/malaysia/brief/technologies-and-solutions-to-manage-plastic-waste-in-small-and-remote-islands

That was my concern, the use of the classical performers for the BBC movie background. Miked, muddled and awful. Just sawing away. No problems with using those movies for "entertainment", but the gimmick of "live music" was not any value-added benefit considering the talent of those performers when they were offering their LC concerts in the more intimate setting.

The Nov-Dec holiday cruises were also heavily impacted by larger numbers of passengers, with many family groups wanting larger tables together. This would impact the ease of simply adding a few unrelated people to tables. As well as many first time passengers who maybe did not know to pace out the timing of their dinner hours and they all showed up with the doors opened. We were on the Konigsdam Holiday segments, and the opening time for as you wish dining was a backed-up mad house. Confirmed. Yet, we had late fixed dining and it was fine.