Just off Eurodam (june 17-24), loved it. New to HAL thoughts.

[cheeto]

We just had our very first cruise with HA and first to Alaska. We are a family of 3 in our early 40's and daughter is 13. We absolutely enjoyed it and we even booked a future cruise deposit for all 3 of us on our last day of the cruise. This being a 7 day cruise in the Summer to Alaska, I understand that the demographics are a little different but we did not feel out of place or think it was a cruise exclusively for an older crowd at all. We really really liked the mix of guests and really enjoyed HA's "feel". We have cruised Disney, Royal Caribbean, and once with Celebrity many many years ago before our daughter was born.

We were in a neptune suite so I am not sure if that skews our thoughts on HA's service or not. Also my daughter has never used the kid's clubs on any of our cruises and prefers to be with us which is just fine with us. So this might also be important to families who do want to partake in the kid's clubs.

 

The negatives we did have about the cruise:

1. Smoking on balconies - We had 2 close smokers to our balcony and we had booked a corner wrap aft neptune suite specifically to spend as much time as possible looking at the amazing views and searching for animals. I would not say it was ruined but we did have to put up with smelling cigarette smoke and one time cigar smoke during Glacier Bay and other days. I would have reported it but I wasn't exactly sure who the offending balconies were. I did mention in my survey to HA that a simple "no smoking" sticker on the balcony door would help deter the offenses. We do not normally book suites but we do prefer the very aft/stern location on our other cruises and HA only has the corner suites available for 3 guests, the other stern cabins are only for 2 guests. After a lot of consideration we decided to pay the higher cost in order to be able to maximize our balcony time in Glacier Bay and views of Alaska; so we were a little disappointed with the smoking smell. But in all honesty, when we booked smoking WAS still allowed and we knew going in the risk. We were super thrilled to find out about the policy change starting in January, but it didn't help us at all. Hopefully HA will do more to inform guests about the new policy.

2. Hard Sells - Both my DH and myself did feel that virtually everywhere we went the first few days that we were given the hard sell speech. We enjoyed dinner at the Tamarind the first night and before we left the waitress or maybe hostess (I am not sure) came to our table and asked us if we had enjoyed our dinner and we of course all agreed at how good it was. We thought she was merely asking to know how it went, but her next comment was if we would like to come back and of course I was assuming she meant some time on a future cruise. I told her that we would definitely come again and she then proceeded to ask what day could she book me for our next dinner during our cruise. I then realized what she meant and told her that I wasn't sure and I would make arrangements later if we decided to come again. This happened with the Photography as well. And yes we got suckered into the Black Label complementary session. I had no idea it was going to be several thousand dollars for the package. We ended up purchasing only 7 pictures for a whole of money. I had asked for time to decide since we had NO plans of spending 1k on family portraits on our cruise that was already costing us a small fortune. She told us no that we only had the few minutes during our appointment to make a decision. My DH did not like that at all. She did the tactic of "asking her manager" for a small discount and guess what? He said yes. uh-huh. Any ways I did purchase the pictures because they came out nice and I have no idea when I would do it back home, yes I over paid but I wanted family pictures and now I have them. It will take 8 - 10 weeks for delivery because she said they "touch them up". I hope in the end they look as good as they present the portraits to be.

 

Other than those two negatives, which really are minor, the cruise was amazing and we are excited to plan for our future cruise with HA. We really did enjoy the Tamarind, more so than the Pinnacle. We did find the MDR a little hit or miss and we did not enjoy eating at the lido the few times we had no other choice available. I am not sure if I will be able to talk my DH into cruising on a ship without Tamarind which maybe limiting us somewhat.

 

I am waiting for my DH to work on our pictures so I can try to do a photo review.

 

This board was completely essential to all my planning and my family benefited from everything I learned here about both HA and Alaska. Thank you!

Nancy

[mllewis48]

We just had our very first cruise with HA and first to Alaska. We are a family of 3 in our early 40's and daughter is 13. We absolutely enjoyed it and we even booked a future cruise deposit for all 3 of us on our last day of the cruise. This being a 7 day cruise in the Summer to Alaska, I understand that the demographics are a little different but we did not feel out of place or think it was a cruise exclusively for an older crowd at all. We really really liked the mix of guests and really enjoyed HA's "feel". We have cruised Disney, Royal Caribbean, and once with Celebrity many many years ago before our daughter was born.

 

We were in a neptune suite so I am not sure if that skews our thoughts on HA's service or not. Also my daughter has never used the kid's clubs on any of our cruises and prefers to be with us which is just fine with us. So this might also be important to families who do want to partake in the kid's clubs.

 

 

 

The negatives we did have about the cruise:

 

1. Smoking on balconies - We had 2 close smokers to our balcony and we had booked a corner wrap aft neptune suite specifically to spend as much time as possible looking at the amazing views and searching for animals. I would not say it was ruined but we did have to put up with smelling cigarette smoke and one time cigar smoke during Glacier Bay and other days. I would have reported it but I wasn't exactly sure who the offending balconies were. I did mention in my survey to HA that a simple "no smoking" sticker on the balcony door would help deter the offenses. We do not normally book suites but we do prefer the very aft/stern location on our other cruises and HA only has the corner suites available for 3 guests, the other stern cabins are only for 2 guests. After a lot of consideration we decided to pay the higher cost in order to be able to maximize our balcony time in Glacier Bay and views of Alaska; so we were a little disappointed with the smoking smell. But in all honesty, when we booked smoking WAS still allowed and we knew going in the risk. We were super thrilled to find out about the policy change starting in January, but it didn't help us at all. Hopefully HA will do more to inform guests about the new policy.

 

2. Hard Sells - Both my DH and myself did feel that virtually everywhere we went the first few days that we were given the hard sell speech. We enjoyed dinner at the Tamarind the first night and before we left the waitress or maybe hostess (I am not sure) came to our table and asked us if we had enjoyed our dinner and we of course all agreed at how good it was. We thought she was merely asking to know how it went, but her next comment was if we would like to come back and of course I was assuming she meant some time on a future cruise. I told her that we would definitely come again and she then proceeded to ask what day could she book me for our next dinner during our cruise. I then realized what she meant and told her that I wasn't sure and I would make arrangements later if we decided to come again. This happened with the Photography as well. And yes we got suckered into the Black Label complementary session. I had no idea it was going to be several thousand dollars for the package. We ended up purchasing only 7 pictures for a whole of money. I had asked for time to decide since we had NO plans of spending 1k on family portraits on our cruise that was already costing us a small fortune. She told us no that we only had the few minutes during our appointment to make a decision. My DH did not like that at all. She did the tactic of "asking her manager" for a small discount and guess what? He said yes. uh-huh. Any ways I did purchase the pictures because they came out nice and I have no idea when I would do it back home, yes I over paid but I wanted family pictures and now I have them. It will take 8 - 10 weeks for delivery because she said they "touch them up". I hope in the end they look as good as they present the portraits to be.

 

 

 

Other than those two negatives, which really are minor, the cruise was amazing and we are excited to plan for our future cruise with HA. We really did enjoy the Tamarind, more so than the Pinnacle. We did find the MDR a little hit or miss and we did not enjoy eating at the lido the few times we had no other choice available. I am not sure if I will be able to talk my DH into cruising on a ship without Tamarind which maybe limiting us somewhat.

 

 

 

I am waiting for my DH to work on our pictures so I can try to do a photo review.

 

 

 

This board was completely essential to all my planning and my family benefited from everything I learned here about both HA and Alaska. Thank you!

 

Nancy

 

 

 

Glad you had a great time!

 

One comment though, HAL stopped smoking on balconies months ago, I would have reported it to the Front Desk.

 

 

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[vicd1969]

Thank you for your review, glad you and your family enjoyed the Eurodam. Unfortunately, some of the services provided by contractors such as the spa, photography, or art sales can be a bit more aggressive in pushing their product.

[freestyling]

Glad you enjoyed your cruise. Sorry that you had cig and cigar smoke while on your veranda. What deck was your Neptune suite and is there a chance it was coming down from the sea view deck where smoking is allowed?

I ask this because I would think all guest have been notified about no smoking on verandas. Understand some guests feel rules do not apply to them

[Johaz]

Thank you for your review, glad you and your family enjoyed the Eurodam. Unfortunately, some of the services provided by contractors such as the spa, photography, or art sales can be a bit more aggressive in pushing their product.

 

 

 

No is an easy word to say.

 

 

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[nannie70]

Booked on Eurodam 2/14/2018 and want to know if Luggage Valet is available at end of the trip?

[dee2673]

I have a probably silly question. We are also booked on the Eurodam 2-4-18 in an aft wrap Neptune Suite. I'm glad you enjoyed it despite the smokers. My silly question: was the taco. bar still out by the Dive in ? Love that taco bat

 

 

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[Krazy Kruizers]

Thank you for your review. Looking forward to your pictures.

Glad you enjoyed Alaska.

I would have reported to the concierges that you knew there smokers all around your cabin.

[mllewis48]

I have a probably silly question. We are also booked on the Eurodam 2-4-18 in an aft wrap Neptune Suite. I'm glad you enjoyed it despite the smokers. My silly question: was the taco. bar still out by the Dive in ? Love that taco bat

 

 

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It was not on our last Eurodam cruise at Christmas, I would suspect primarily due to sanitary reasons since HAL has been poorly rated by Health Dept. for having food items away from cooking stations, I.e. Luau on pool deck. The station is inside the Lido Restaurant.

 

 

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[Gail & Marty sailing away]

Thanks for the info.

[cheeto]

Glad you enjoyed your cruise. Sorry that you had cig and cigar smoke while on your veranda. What deck was your Neptune suite and is there a chance it was coming down from the sea view deck where smoking is allowed?

I ask this because I would think all guest have been notified about no smoking on verandas. Understand some guests feel rules do not apply to them

 

We were on the 4th deck, port side. I know for sure there was one smoker to the side of us, not the next door cabin but either the one after or 2nd after. My DH took a quick picture of her hand on the railing with the cigarette. At the time while trying to enjoy the view, looking at the little small screen on the camera I could not tell exactly which one it was and I didn't want to break away to report it.

I did wonder if any of the smoke was coming from the smoking section because we did smell it and seemed to be coming from above and not the side wind. I wasn't really sure.

[cheeto]

No is an easy word to say.

 

I agree, and we did say NO several times. We don't remember feeling this way on any of our other cruises so it was new to us and it was a negative feeling for us.

[Old As Dirt Mom]

I agree, and we did say NO several times. We don't remember feeling this way on any of our other cruises so it was new to us and it was a negative feeling for us.

 

I'm sorry you had to deal with this. There are three non-HAL contract vendors I absolutely loathe on board the HAL ships, and I try to avoid them like the plague: the photographers, the art auctioneers, and the port shopping ambassadors. If I can't avoid them, I'm polite but elusive. I actually feel sorry for some of the photographers; they are expected to "bring in the business", and some of them really aren't on the ship to do aggressive sales pitches, but are merely hoping to travel the world while acquiring new photography skills, and making a living. However, there are also the photographers my sister and I label as the "piranhas". They are nasty. The sales staff in the shops and the spa are also outside contract vendors, but I find them generally, although not always, less aggressive, and more human.

[erewhon]

Thank you for reviewing your cruise.

I would have informed the concierge of the smoking situation.

[ger_77]

A word to the wise - keep your Black Label photography contact information handy; several others have posted that it has taken much longer than the 8-10 weeks to get their photos. You may have to call them several times to get action, but persevere.

 

Smooth Sailing! :) :) :)

[kazu]

We were on the 4th deck, port side. I know for sure there was one smoker to the side of us, not the next door cabin but either the one after or 2nd after. My DH took a quick picture of her hand on the railing with the cigarette. At the time while trying to enjoy the view, looking at the little small screen on the camera I could not tell exactly which one it was and I didn't want to break away to report it.

I did wonder if any of the smoke was coming from the smoking section because we did smell it and seemed to be coming from above and not the side wind. I wasn't really sure.

 

I really hate rule breakers.

 

You shouldn't have had to endure that. I would be so tempted to send that pic to HAL.

 

And, I am "evil" now and then, but I don't break rules.

 

It sounds other than that and your Black Label that you had a really good cruise.

 

I put the Tamarind aside as they were doing a courtesy (I think) if you wanted to come back before they were booked up? Just my best guess.

 

thanks so much for sharing and glad that it was a good experience overall :)

[GradUT]

Glad you enjoyed your cruise, but I'm surprised by the "hard sells" you got. I've cruised on 5 different cruise lines and I find HAL to be the least pushy when it comes to those kinds of tactics. Our Alaska cruise on the Noordam last month was probably the best cruise I've been on when it comes to "pushiness". I think we got asked for photos one time and that's it.

[mllewis48]

We ran into a very cute waitress on the Eurodam over a year ago in the Tamarind that wanted us to adopt her, she called us Mom and Dad, very sweet. We saw her again last December on the Eurodam and she remembered us from the Tamarind. We didn't eat in the Tamarind but I saw her almost every day in the Canaletto area of the Lido, she spoke to me and asked about Mom Linda. She was a very sweet gal but we felt a bit uneasy.

 

 

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[easyboy]

Glad you enjoyed your cruise despite some negatives.

Thank you for your feedback.

[RMLincoln]

The spa contractors on most of the cruise lines are Steiner employees and most will give you a hard sell when you are relaxed and maybe naked. About 10 years ago I met a woman who wound up purchasing $1200 worth of seaweed after a massage. Luckily her husband was able to give it back for a refund,

 

I hope you enjoy your Black Label portraits, they can be quite stunning, along with your good memories of the Alaska cruise trip you shared together. Thanks for reporting back to us. m--

[puppycanducruise]

Thank you for taking the time to post your review.

Glad you enjoyed your cruise.

Too bad about the smokers and the hard sell, fortunately, those are not common on HAL cruises (at least, in my experience)

[Katie333]

Thanks for posting your review.

 

We have experienced some element of hard-soft sell on every cruise we've ever taken. Frankly, it's why I am now somewhat curt or evasive to the staff in the areas such as art auctions or the spa,and why I've never spent money in either. It's a shame because I can understand how this somewhat dampens the experience of a cruise - they know they have a captive short-term audience whose purse strings may be looser because of vacation-blindness, and they are sometimes pushy to try to capitalize on it. In most other areas of the ship, the staff are wonderful, and the experience is that of relaxation and enjoyment.

 

Agree with you on Tamarind, we go there at least once for lunch and usually once for dinner as well.

[cheeto]

The spa contractors on most of the cruise lines are Steiner employees and most will give you a hard sell when you are relaxed and maybe naked.

 

:'):') I am so happy I was not sipping my coffee at this moment.. i thought it was too funny!

 

I really only mentioned those 2 negatives because we noticed them and a review should mention both the good and the bad. But really in all seriousness we considered them to be very LOW and they did not take away from our enjoyment of the cruise / Alaska. We really liked the Eurodam and HAL. One thing we are turned off by Royal Caribbean is their addiction to building MAMMOTH ships. We almost felt the Eurodam to be too large or maybe we are too lazy on vacation and don't want to walk from one side to the other all the time. I knew we would be far from the Neptune Lounge being AFT 4th deck but it was our first suite and I had no idea my daughter would fall in love with the chocolate covered strawberries there and that she would ask to go there every day multiple times a day to "see" what new snacks they had. I think HAL fits what we are looking in a cruise ship, I do wish they sailed the Caribbean in the summer. We have a RC cruise booked out of San Juan next June and I think we are going to miss HAL. With my daughter starting HS and being in the Marching Band, we are limited to early summer travel for the next 4 years.

[jaxonboy]

Glad you had a great time!

 

One comment though, HAL stopped smoking on balconies months ago, I would have reported it to the Front Desk.

 

 

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The staff can watch from the bridge wings and correct the smoking.

[cheeto]

The staff can watch from the bridge wings and correct the smoking.

 

They do watch because on Glacier Bay day they called out a specific cabin on deck 7 for feeding the birds over the speakers. That would be funny if they had called out the cabin numbers of the smokers too. It is hard to hear the speakers from the balcony though so I am not sure if everyone can hear the announcements.