LAFFNVEGAS "LIVE" from the Nieuw Amsterdam, First HAL Ship to Sail!!

[cruzn single]

I was kind of surprised to see the dinner menu for tonight.  Very heavy on the shellfish. I have a shellfish allergy.  I will be on board August 21, and so I am following the menus very closely, as I am not sure anything will change in this shortened Alaska season.

 

I have already notified HAL Accessibility desk.  I have main seating, so was hoping for a consistent waiter to handle.

[garlictown]

😊Thank you Lisa @LAFFNVEGAS for taking us along on your cruise...I see a lot of 'our people' chiming in with good wishes for your voyage. 🚢 Congratulations to you and Tom! 

Katie

[zelker]

1 hour ago, LAFFNVEGAS said:

Gerry, I agree that I think it is from so many now having the drink package. That is really all HAL is offering. If someone books direct on line your first option is the Have It All. Most don’t realize there are options. 
I had asked again today if there was a package for Wine and they just stated that there were just the drink packages. I do think they have done away with the previous wine packages that Mariners got a discount on. But I am going to dig into this further. For upgrading the package I think it can be done with a bartender but I think they prefer you to do it the first day at one if the tables set up to sell these packages.

But you can order the wine packages online so that hardly makes sense.  Who knows ... am sure they still have a LOT of bugs to figure out.

[LAFFNVEGAS]

1 minute ago, zelker said:

But you can order the wine packages online so that hardly makes sense.  Who knows ... am sure they still have a LOT of bugs to figure out.

I just found this afternoon that there appears to be a wine package although no one has information or pricing. It’s obviously not something they are pushing.

[zgscl]

2 minutes ago, cruzn single said:

I was kind of surprised to see the dinner menu for tonight.  Very heavy on the shellfish. I have a shellfish allergy.  I will be on board August 21, and so I am following the menus very closely, as I am not sure anything will change in this shortened Alaska season.

 

I have already notified HAL Accessibility desk.  I have main seating, so was hoping for a consistent waiter to handle.

I have unfortunately not been impressed with either dinner menu (or the lunch menus for that matter). That being said, the When & Where looks fantastic and much better than I expected. Now planning to visit Canaletto on day 1 and possibly Pinnacle on day 2. I agree these menus are likely to be identical for the whole season. 

[LAFFNVEGAS]

1 hour ago, ksmaxey said:

today was the reception at 11 with the captain and officers for 4 &5 star.  They all came around and thanked us for returning and joining the first cruise.  Clearly working on customer relations which is no surprise with HAL.

 

No wonder only three of us showed up for the Meet and Greet. Have to admit right now I am actually close to tears. This would have been very important to me yet I had no idea. 😭

[Florida_gal_50]

4 minutes ago, LAFFNVEGAS said:

No wonder only three of us showed up for the Meet and Greet. Have to admit right now I am actually close to tears. This would have been very important to me yet I had no idea. 😭

I don’t blame you one bit.  This is one thing that puts me over the edge with hal.  Treat one person one way, treat other person another way.  If you are a 4 or 5 star it should be the same.  I hope they have another party that you’ll be invited to.  It’s very rude.

[Coffeeluvr05]

13 minutes ago, LAFFNVEGAS said:

I just found this afternoon that there appears to be a wine package although no one has information or pricing. It’s obviously not something they are pushing.

I found it in the Navigator app…

[LAFFNVEGAS]

3 minutes ago, Coffeeluvr05 said:

I found it in the Navigator app…

It appears some of the wines were moved around to different cellar numbers.

[oaktreerb]

37 minutes ago, LAFFNVEGAS said:

OMG 😱 that would have been really nice to know about. We were never told nor given an invitation. We are almost 5 star but never hear a word of this. This really makes me sad and sort of angry 😢

Sometimes they have more than one reception if they have a lot of 4 and 5 star.

[aliaschief]

I keep wondering how many of the old crew came back and whether the new cruises have new crew experiencing it’s my first time actually doing this?

 

Obviously, it will take some time and good training to get the team synced!

 

We are experiencing this in local eateries and probably no different aboard.

 

Patience is a virtue and we don’t expect it to be quite the same as our last cruises.

[panamashark]

Just a thought on the 4 and 5 star event that Lisa did not know about.  Sometimes HAL makes invitations based upon actual number of cruise days, not including the added spending days.  We are 4 star and have not always been invited and this was the reason given.  Before we get too upset, please check with HAL to identify the specific requirements for the event.  It could be that you need to have 200 actual cruise days when you may only have 194 plus spending days to get to 4 star.  This is what we are with HAL.  Stay happy and have a great cruise.

[aliaschief]

23 minutes ago, oaktreerb said:

Sometimes they have more than one reception if they have a lot of 4 and 5 star.

I would not be surprised that the guest on board are very seasoned cruisers and there is an abundance of 4 and 5 star Mariners.

[boze9999]

I 

1 minute ago, aliaschief said:

I keep wondering how many of the old crew came back and whether the new cruises have new crew experiencing it’s my first time actually doing this?

 

Obviously, it will take some time and good training to get the team synced!

 

We are experiencing this in local eateries and probably no different aboard.

 

Patience is a virtue and we don’t expect it to be quite the same as our last cruises.

I can't wait to see HAL crew we have grown to love one the years....fingers crossed our paths DO cross as we sail sail and sail!
 

 

[aliaschief]

2 minutes ago, boze9999 said:

I 

I can't wait to see HAL crew we have grown to love one the years....fingers crossed our paths DO cross as we sail sail and sail!
 

 

That would be nice!😁

[cruisegirl]

6 hours ago, LAFFNVEGAS said:

Tonight’s menu

and Thermal Pass pricing which is definitely higher than in the past.

I don’t follow you saying price is higher than in the past. The opposite seems to be the case on what you posted. What am I missing?

[CruiserBruce]

5 minutes ago, aliaschief said:

I keep wondering how many of the old crew came back and whether the new cruises have new crew experiencing it’s my first time actually doing this?

 

Obviously, it will take some time and good training to get the team synced!

 

We are experiencing this in local eateries and probably no different aboard.

 

Patience is a virtue and we don’t expect it to be quite the same as our last cruises.

Plus all these staff haven't worked in 16 or so months. They are going to be rusty. There are some changes. Some here have acted like they should be perfect...

 

[aliaschief]

8 minutes ago, CruiserBruce said:

Plus all these staff haven't worked in 16 or so months. They are going to be rusty. There are some changes. Some here have acted like they should be perfect...

 

So true! Just like a athletic team trying to compete after a couple years off. You can bet the house with Chef Rudy aboard there are lot of debriefs after every meal.

[ger_77]

Lisa, I think a call to the front office is in order to see if there’s going to be another 4 and 5 star reception.  If not, then it’s something to bring to Seth’s attention tomorrow night at dinner.  
 

Smooth Sailing! 🙂🙂🙂

[T8NCruise]

24 minutes ago, aliaschief said:

I would not be surprised that the guest on board are very seasoned cruisers and there is an abundance of 4 and 5 star Mariners.

That's what I thought.  I'm sure they are having 2 receptions to accommodate them all.

[chefestelle]

Thank you so much for doing this live thread! You and some other regulars were so helpful when I first started cruising. Life and the pandemic got in the way after my amuse bouche(s) but I'm planning "this" cruise next August when HAL passes through Canada again. I'm taking my sister and I'm thinking we should do the Tracy Arm Inlet excursion. What do you think?

[LAFFNVEGAS]

53 minutes ago, aliaschief said:

I keep wondering how many of the old crew came back and whether the new cruises have new crew experiencing it’s my first time actually doing this?

 

Obviously, it will take some time and good training to get the team synced!

 

We are experiencing this in local eateries and probably no different aboard.

 

Patience is a virtue and we don’t expect it to be quite the same as our last cruises.

Actually ever we have spoke to have been long time crew. I actually recognize several. 

[LAFFNVEGAS]

53 minutes ago, panamashark said:

Just a thought on the 4 and 5 star event that Lisa did not know about.  Sometimes HAL makes invitations based upon actual number of cruise days, not including the added spending days.  We are 4 star and have not always been invited and this was the reason given.  Before we get too upset, please check with HAL to identify the specific requirements for the event.  It could be that you need to have 200 actual cruise days when you may only have 194 plus spending days to get to 4 star.  This is what we are with HAL.  Stay happy and have a great cruise.

We are well over 200 days, it is 40 something days to get our 300 days.

[LAFFNVEGAS]

52 minutes ago, cruisegirl said:

I don’t follow you saying price is higher than in the past. The opposite seems to be the case on what you posted. What am I missing?

Last time I was on board in November 2019 the Thermal pass was $179 or a couples was $299. I would often share it with a friend so we split it making it close to $150 pp. The on board cost is now higher and much better to buy in advance.

[bluesplayer]

I wonder about the crew as well.  How many have sailed with HA and have returned?  Is the crew mostly all new to HA?    The long delay obviously had a significant impact on who will return.

  My favorite bartender Jerry from the Philippines had worked at HA for decades..  hope to see him again and many of the former HA crew.  The crew made HA special!!!

Hope Lisa a.k.a. Angela Lansbury can get to the bottom of this question of the crew.   

  Thank you Lisa for all your information and sleuthing..