Amazon orders delivered to the port?

[DougK]

3 hours ago, kazu said:

 

It is HAL policy.  The question has been asked on their FB page and it was clearly answered by HAL.  That has been copied and posted here several times.  Feel free to search or to ask HAL the question yourself - whether you choose to post on their FB page or write them.

 

I'm sorry, but I find it hard to accept a single post on social media as representing HAL policy. For that matter, nobody has has yet even given a link to that post. I'm not on FB and can't search for myself. But even if I could, what difference would it make?  What's the point of a "policy" that isn't communicated to HAL's passengers? The mere fact that a few posters on Cruise Critic repeat this claim doesn't turn it into policy. If HAL actually had a policy (at least one that they cared about), they'd have it on their web site, or in passenger documentation, or somewhere that passengers would actually see it.

[*Miss G*]

8 minutes ago, DougK said:

 

I'm sorry, but I find it hard to accept a single post on social media as representing HAL policy. For that matter, nobody has has yet even given a link to that post. I'm not on FB and can't search for myself. But even if I could, what difference would it make?  What's the point of a "policy" that isn't communicated to HAL's passengers? The mere fact that a few posters on Cruise Critic repeat this claim doesn't turn it into policy. If HAL actually had a policy (at least one that they cared about), they'd have it on their web site, or in passenger documentation, or somewhere that passengers would actually see it.

 

I believe it stems from the Know Before You Go FAQ:

 

 

[DougK]

7 minutes ago, *Miss G* said:

 

I believe it stems from the Know Before You Go FAQ:

 

 

 

That section clearly states that it applies to alcoholic beverages. It's entirely silent on the subject of nonalcoholic beverages, in either checked or carry-on luggage.

[kazu]

44 minutes ago, DougK said:

 

I'm sorry, but I find it hard to accept a single post on social media as representing HAL policy. For that matter, nobody has has yet even given a link to that post.

 

 

You have an issue then.  Obviously you weren’t on CC at the time as that post was quoted several times.

 

44 minutes ago, DougK said:

I'm not on FB and can't search for myself. But even if I could, what difference would it make? 

 

You don’t need to search FB.  Search CC and do some digging.

 

44 minutes ago, DougK said:

 

 

What's the point of a "policy" that isn't communicated to HAL's passengers? The mere fact that a few posters on Cruise Critic repeat this claim doesn't turn it into policy. If HAL actually had a policy (at least one that they cared about), they'd have it on their web site, or in passenger documentation, or somewhere that passengers would actually see it.

 

No one is turning it into policy and I resent your implication.  As I said previously, if you doubt me, email HAL yourself and ask.  And do post their reply to you.  We all look forward to seeing it.  I simply gave an honest answer whether you like it or not.

 

 

[DougK]

6 minutes ago, kazu said:

 

You have an issue then.  Obviously you weren’t on CC at the time as that post was quoted several times.

 

 

You don’t need to search FB.  Search CC and do some digging.

 

 

No one is turning it into policy and I resent your implication.  As I said previously, if you doubt me, email HAL yourself and ask.  And do post their reply to you.  We all look forward to seeing it.  I simply gave an honest answer whether you like it or not.

 

 

 

I *have* searched CC, and I fail to come up with anything. If it's so easy to find, why won't you post a link?

 

My point remains the same. I'm a reasonably intelligent passenger, but I can't find any statement by HAL even when I diligently search for it. So what's the point of the "policy" if they don't communicate it to their passengers?

 

I don't doubt that you firmly believe that HAL has a specific policy. But all you can point to is your memory of a single social media post from years ago. Surely you can understand why I might doubt that it's actually a policy. As I said before, if you can point me to the actual policy, I will gladly eat my words and apologize. But thus far, nobody has done so.

[*Miss G*]

29 minutes ago, DougK said:

As I said before, if you can point me to the actual policy, I will gladly eat my words and apologize. But thus far, nobody has done so.

 

At this point I doubt that anyone is going to point you anywhere.

[fatcat04]

3 min Google search netted this. Post #6.

 

Edited September 3, 2019 by fatcat04

[57redbird]

[kazu]

34 minutes ago, fatcat04 said:

3 min Google search netted this. Post #6.

 

 

15 minutes ago, 57redbird said:

 

 

Thank you both. 😄 

 

Perhaps now, @DougK will believe the facts & not accuse CC members of creating policy 😉 🙄

[DougK]

Thank you for posting this. It's good to see the actual words of a HAL representative.

 

I still find it hard to consider something a policy when it's not communicated to passengers (e.g., in their FAQ, passenger documentation). But at least now I see where you are all coming from, and I apologize for questioning it.

[przyk]

2 hours ago, DougK said:

Thank you for posting this. It's good to see the actual words of a HAL representative.

 

I still find it hard to consider something a policy when it's not communicated to passengers (e.g., in their FAQ, passenger documentation). But at least now I see where you are all coming from, and I apologize for questioning it.

 

 No need to apologize to me Doug.  I've searched and searched and can't find it in writing either.  On previous cruises with Carnival we often checked in a case of water.  I read it so often on these boards I believed it must be true, but I never did see it in writing.  We ended bringing an empty duffle bag folded into our big suitcase.  We bought a 12 pack of diet coke and 12 bottles of water which we carried on the ship (not checked, carried on).  It was a little awkward, but I just sat the duffle on top of my rolling carry on bag and wheeled it through check in and onto the ship.

[TAD2005]

It doesn't matter if it's stated policy or not, it's common sense.   Cases of soda, sitting in a soft-sided bag (one person suggested a Dollar Store zipper bag), placed in the huge steel cages that are used in most US ports to transport your luggage from the drop-off point to the hold of the ship, by fork lift, have hundreds of pounds of luggage in them.   You have plastic water bottles or flats of soda in your bag, being squashed under the hundreds of pounds of luggage.   What happens when one or more of those cans or bottles ruptures, spilling your precious, sticky soda all over your fellow passengers luggage ?   Nothing more annoying than getting your luggage in your cabin on embarkation day and your bag and clothes are soaked with water or sticky soda, just because you wanted to avoid having to hump it onboard in your carry-on bags.  If you want to avoid the cost of a Quench water & soda package or buying your sodas onboard, then you should carry it on, and not jeopardize other passengers luggage.  It's common sense and courtesy.

[kazu]

1 hour ago, TAD2005 said:

It doesn't matter if it's stated policy or not, it's common sense.   Cases of soda, sitting in a soft-sided bag (one person suggested a Dollar Store zipper bag), placed in the huge steel cages that are used in most US ports to transport your luggage from the drop-off point to the hold of the ship, by fork lift, have hundreds of pounds of luggage in them.   You have plastic water bottles or flats of soda in your bag, being squashed under the hundreds of pounds of luggage.   What happens when one or more of those cans or bottles ruptures, spilling your precious, sticky soda all over your fellow passengers luggage ?   Nothing more annoying than getting your luggage in your cabin on embarkation day and your bag and clothes are soaked with water or sticky soda, just because you wanted to avoid having to hump it onboard in your carry-on bags.  If you want to avoid the cost of a Quench water & soda package or buying your sodas onboard, then you should carry it on, and not jeopardize other passengers luggage.  It's common sense and courtesy.

 

Great post and well said.

 

And why the heck does anyone need to bring on that much soda, water, etc.  You can bring it on any port.

 

You CAN carry on with a bit of common sense if you need to.  I did it with over 12 bottles of wine for a wine tasting for our CC friends (my fellow sommelier had the other 1/2).  If I can do it with a wounded wing, anyone can 😉   And yes,we paid corkage and yes, our roll call reimbursed us and yes, HAL gave us a public area to do the wine tasting in because of our numbers.

 

After all we had a sommelier on our roll call.  We would have been crazy not to take taxmantoo up on his offer 😉 

[mamaofami]

I've never done this before, but am wondering if the water on board isn'[t safe for drinking. If safe, isn't it possible to refill an empty bpttle if one is looking to save money?

[kazu]

2 minutes ago, mamaofami said:

I've never done this before, but am wondering if the water on board isn'[t safe for drinking. If safe, isn't it possible to refill an empty bpttle if one is looking to save money?

 

 

Absolutely  it is safe and yes, you can refill a bottle.  Just don’t put the lip of the bottle to the dispensing thing.  There’s a sign to that effect.

 

We drink the water at dinner (and wine 😉 ) but during the day we opt for bottled water only because I found my ankles swelled and with the bottled water it doesn’t seem to.

But the water is good for sure.

[JESSMANN]

“And why the heck does anyone need to bring on that much soda, water, etc.  You can bring it on any port.”

 

As I stated in my comment, my dear husband drinks 5-8 cans/day. Our first port is 3 days in...so I need at least 24 cans for him alone. I also enjoy a can of soda in the morning.

 

We would have very little use for the amount of wine you carry on...so let’s just agree to disagree on our beverage choice and quantity.

[przyk]

2 hours ago, TAD2005 said:

It doesn't matter if it's stated policy or not, it's common sense.   Cases of soda, sitting in a soft-sided bag (one person suggested a Dollar Store zipper bag), placed in the huge steel cages that are used in most US ports to transport your luggage from the drop-off point to the hold of the ship, by fork lift, have hundreds of pounds of luggage in them.   You have plastic water bottles or flats of soda in your bag, being squashed under the hundreds of pounds of luggage.   What happens when one or more of those cans or bottles ruptures, spilling your precious, sticky soda all over your fellow passengers luggage ?   Nothing more annoying than getting your luggage in your cabin on embarkation day and your bag and clothes are soaked with water or sticky soda, just because you wanted to avoid having to hump it onboard in your carry-on bags.  If you want to avoid the cost of a Quench water & soda package or buying your sodas onboard, then you should carry it on, and not jeopardize other passengers luggage.  It's common sense and courtesy.

 

On Carnival cruises we used to simply bring a case of bottled water in the plastic its wrapped in at the store, not inside a suitcase. Somehow the staff figured out how to get it to us without breaking or spilling it.

[przyk]

26 minutes ago, JESSMANN said:

“And why the heck does anyone need to bring on that much soda, water, etc.  You can bring it on any port.”

 

As I stated in my comment, my dear husband drinks 5-8 cans/day. Our first port is 3 days in...so I need at least 24 cans for him alone. I also enjoy a can of soda in the morning.

 

We would have very little use for the amount of wine you carry on...so let’s just agree to disagree on our beverage choice and quantity.

 

26 minutes ago, JESSMANN said:

“And why the heck does anyone need to bring on that much soda, water, etc.  You can bring it on any port.”

 

As I stated in my comment, my dear husband drinks 5-8 cans/day. Our first port is 3 days in...so I need at least 24 cans for him alone. I also enjoy a can of soda in the morning.

 

We would have very little use for the amount of wine you carry on...so let’s just agree to disagree on our beverage choice and quantity.

 

Hope you saw my previous post, we brought an empty duffle bag and filled it with soda and water.  I hung it over my roller carry on bag to bring it on the ship.

Edited September 4, 2019 by przyk

[przyk]

1 hour ago, mamaofami said:

I've never done this before, but am wondering if the water on board isn'[t safe for drinking. If safe, isn't it possible to refill an empty bpttle if one is looking to save money?

We found the water on the Westerdam fine to drink and I did fill up water bottles.  In the spa they have a water dispenser made for filling reusable bottles. My wife liked filling hers there. I'm not so fussy. I would just fill mine from the bathroom faucet in the cabin.

[SempreMare]

On 9/1/2019 at 10:11 PM, epanchenko said:

I did this while I was sick in a land hotel recently, but they give you a two hour window in which they will deliver. 

 

I've done this about 10 times when on week-long work trips* 

 

With Amazon Prime Now,  I just re-order the same 6 things, and it's really convenient.

 

For nighttime drinking

- 1 6 pack of lemon lime sparkling water

- 1 6 pack of the organic cherry juice boxes, which I mix with the sparkling water

- 1 6 pack of unsweetened black tea

- real half and half for the room coffee 

- 1 6 pack of water

 

For in-room breakfasts before the hotel breakfast starts

- 1 bigger container of unsweetened organic yogurt

-  plums, blueberries, bananas

to mix with my home-made granola.

 

Gotcha #1:    Double-check ALL your order.

2 of the 10 times the hotel front desk has either ... overlooked, or  tried to "keep" something that I ordered and was delivered by Amazon.   My process now if anything is missing:  

 

I walk to front desk and ask where are Amazon deliveries are kept.  [Lots of people do this now]

Front desk person points.

Without asking permission, I walk behind the front desk, behind the door to that location, and immediately locate the missing items in my order.  

This freaks out the front desk person.  

Ask "Why did this not make it to my room?"  [ uncomfortable silence] 

 

* Hilton Home2 Suites is my fave work hotel for the massive amount of horizontal space they provide; desks and drawers covering the entire TV side of the wall.  No sore back from bending over suitcase on floor.

[PhoenixCruiser]

All of this to save a few bucks?

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

[epanchenko]

When I had food poisoning (the week before my cruise) at the land hotel, I stupidly took an Uber to the supermarket to buy foods and an Uber back to my hotel.  It was over 100 degrees outside.  The next day I thought of Amazon Prime Now, and it saved me a lot of hassle and saved me some Uber fares.  I also bought things on regular Amazon and had them shipped to the hotel. 

[SempreMare]

2 hours ago, PhoenixCruiser said:

All of this to save a few bucks?

 

Glad you asked.  I spend just 15 minutes re-ordering the same delivery from Amazon Prime Now definitely NOT to save 'a few bucks'.   

 

(ps: In a hotel with room service, it's A LOT more than just a few bucks as you probably could guess.  In just 4 nights it would be > $200 in room service charges just for drinks 

vs < $50 from Amazon Prime Now and I have it when I want it.

I know this because I've done it both ways - multiple room service calls vs 1 Amazon Prime Now delivery  )

 

Both on land and on a HAL cruise, it's about the huge convenience and time savings of not having to order and wait for room service for just drinks.

 

The only thing drink-wise I want to depend on Hotel or HAL for is ice when in my room.

 

ex:  On my recent HAL Alaska cruise on the Westerdam:

- Room service request for just iced tea took 25 min or more.

- Room service request for ice container refill took > 3 hours one afternoon, so I gave up and went to Neptune Lounge, at a time when I really wanted to be relaxing on the balcony.  

 

 

Edited September 4, 2019 by SempreMare

[sail7seas]

On 9/3/2019 at 11:43 AM, DougK said:

 

I'm sorry, but I find it hard to accept a single post on social media as representing HAL policy. For that matter, nobody has has yet even given a link to that post. I'm not on FB and can't search for myself. But even if I could, what difference would it make?  What's the point of a "policy" that isn't communicated to HAL's passengers? The mere fact that a few posters on Cruise Critic repeat this claim doesn't turn it into policy. If HAL actually had a policy (at least one that they cared about), they'd have it on their web site, or in passenger documentation, or somewhere that passengers would actually see it.

 

Doug, 

 

 

I am sorry but I tried  to bite my tongue and failed.  If you do not want to accept the responses........... Don't 🙂  You certainly  d o not have to.

 

 

 

 

sail.noordam@gmail.com

 

 

 

 

Edited September 4, 2019 by sail7seas

[PhoenixCruiser]

11 hours ago, SempreMare said:

 

Glad you asked.  I spend just 15 minutes re-ordering the same delivery from Amazon Prime Now definitely NOT to save 'a few bucks'.   

 

(ps: In a hotel with room service, it's A LOT more than just a few bucks as you probably could guess.  In just 4 nights it would be > $200 in room service charges just for drinks 

vs < $50 from Amazon Prime Now and I have it when I want it.

I know this because I've done it both ways - multiple room service calls vs 1 Amazon Prime Now delivery  )

 

Both on land and on a HAL cruise, it's about the huge convenience and time savings of not having to order and wait for room service for just drinks.

 

The only thing drink-wise I want to depend on Hotel or HAL for is ice when in my room.

 

ex:  On my recent HAL Alaska cruise on the Westerdam:

- Room service request for just iced tea took 25 min or more.

- Room service request for ice container refill took > 3 hours one afternoon, so I gave up and went to Neptune Lounge, at a time when I really wanted to be relaxing on the balcony.  

 

 

 

Yes, a convenience that comes with staying home.

 

While on vacation one has to budget for some conveniences - time and money.