N. Statendam - Oct. 8 -22

[Guardsy]

We were recently on the NS for this repositioning cruise.  First time on HAL since the late 80's when we switched over to Princess. Some thoughts and observations.

 

Beautiful ship and a GREAT layout.  Probably the easiest ship to navigate that we have ever been on.  We had an ocean view cabin, midships, on the Main Deck, just off the elevators.  This location made going virtually anywhere on the ship a breeze.

 

Embarkation was a breeze.  Not having done an embarkation with HAL recently, it was a bit odd not really doing a "check-in" in person, just a check of our vaccination paperwork.  No keys handed out, etc.  Come to find out, you just board and your keys are in your "mailbox" outside your stateroom.  All was fast and simple.  Waited maybe 15-20 minutes to board when we arrived at 11:15 for our 12:30 boarding time.  Cabin was ready (except for the flowers I ordered ahead of time. They were delivered the next day).

 

Lido buffet.  Was adequate, but for breakfast and lunch it was pretty much the same thing every day.  There was some change-up at dinner and maybe at lunch, but basically it seemed to be the same offerings every day.  Adequate, but BORING.

 

Dining rooms were nice.  We enjoyed most of the menu's, though they also became a bit boring.  We did have one night each in Tamarind (LOVED it), Pinnicle Grill (was ok, had to wait forever between courses, don't do the $10 lobster upgrade, ONLY do the $20 12-0z lobster upgrade.  Completely different lobster, taste, etc.) and Rudi's (our favorite.  Would do it over Pinnicle in a heartbeat.  The service, presentation and food was all impeccable.  The size of the 12-ounce lobster tail was just stupid huge and it was AWESOME!  Nice little extras given out between courses).  

 

The rest of our dinners were in the main dining room.  Had anytime dining and had a different table, waiter and seatmates every night.  Overall things were fine.  Given the low cost of our fares, I never expect 5-star dining on a ship.  This was maybe 3-star, or better.  Very efficient service.

 

Shows/Entertainment.  Probably one of the biggest differences between HAL and Princess.  Much, much more to do, all day/evening long, on a Princess ship than on this HAL trip.  Just as pronounced was that shows/musical sets in bars, were only 45-minutes long.  Seriously?  We did see a great signing impersonator, twice, who was very good and also a comedian twice who was good.  Sat in on a couple of other shows (standing room only), left some early.  All three music venues are next to each other and they did a good job switching on and off so as not to cover each other.  The 45-minute sets made for a nice break to stand up and walk a bit, but whether for a show or music spot, they just seemed to get warmed up and it was over.  Sad.  I remember GREAT shows on HAL.

 

Drinks/Drink Package.  Was odd where you could or could not find certain alcohols at bars.  All certainly do NOT have the same selections.  I mostly drank Heiniken during the day, and whiskey/sprite in the evenings.  I prefer Seagrams 7 or VO, but it was rarely found at a bar.  Crown Royal for a back-up, but you had to ASK for it, as they do not display it.  They do, however, display all of the flavored Crown Royals they have.  Thank gosh for Woodford.

 

We had the HAI package, which was fine.  Nice on Princess that your coffee drinks and waters are included for free on your drink package and don't count against your totals.  NOTE - Always use both of your room cards when ordering drinks, even if the server tells you they only need one.  I still have to check our final bill to see if all the extra drinks were credited back or not.  Turns out I drank A LOT, and in the first 4-5 days exceeded my 15 drinks (including water and coffees) many times, while my wife rarely ever drank.  Even ordering dinner wines, the table server would just grab one of the cards.  Turns out I had 7-8 charges for exceeding my drink package, totaling about $140 extra.  Went to the front desk twice about it, but never saw a credit before we disembarked.  I even had a highlighted print out for them.  I was told the front desk was not authorized to make the credit, it had to go to the beverage manager.  Not nice, HAL.  I should have known better, but so should your wait staff.

 

Pools/Hot Tubs.  Pools are NOT heated.  Darn COLD!  It was very pleasant around the middle pool when the roof was in place, but pool was not heated.  We did finally get nice weather as we got towards Florida and the roof was opened.  Lovely place to sit.  Hot tubs were adequate, but I ended up with a bad chemical burn after using them one day (a passenger had a "biological accident (diareaha)" in one of the adjacent tubs early).  We were told it wasn't in the tub we were about to use and that it was safe, but two hours later I had hives on my neck, chest and back.  That night at dinner in Tamarind, we saw a team of 8-10 crew in something short of hazmat suits completely scrubbing and hosing down the entire aft deck of deck 9.  Not good, HAL.  Just close to pools and pool deck and do it right.  Don't let the whole afternoon/evening go by.  HAL did cover my trip to the medical center and the ointments they gave me for my "skin allergy".

 

Cabin.  Cabin was great, steward JAS was even better.  Turndown service if you request it, but we don't need that much attention.  Room always kept up and cleaned.  TV worked only 50% of the time.   On a 14-day cruise, it is nice to relax and nap with the TV, but nope.  Not in that cabin.  We were told by the front desk that there were lots of issuers with their internet & satellite service throughout the cruise, but on the 12th day one of the techs told us it was just a bad TV in out cabin that the ship kept neglecting to replace.  Not good, HAL.

 

On my trip to the medical center on the last day of the cruise, they noted that my temperature was up, so they did a covid test and declared me positive.  Current on all vaccines and boosters, including the latest one a month or so ago, yet here I had covid!  Who knew!  For that I got quarentined in our cabin overnight with strict instructions on what would happen for disembarkation, luggage, etc.  At least they had a plan!  Too bad none of the plan worked the way it was told to us, but we were taken off the ship away from other passengers and basically just waved away from the ship and the pier to wander off on our own.  At least it was easy to find our luggage!

 

All in all it was a good trip.  We now know that 14-days is a bit long for us.  10-days is perfect.  While we enjoyed many parts of this HAL trip, we will likely go back to Princess for the most part, just for a bit more lively time onboard and more activities.  She was a BHB, though!

[doone]

Thanks for your review, I always enjoy reading others perspectives.................

[albingirl]

Awful to read about hot tub. And other things that went wrong. Better luck next time.

[canadianbear]

Thanks for your observations on your cruise.  I enjoying reading reviews from others.  We are not ready yet to get on any ship but sure miss cruising.  Doubt it will ever be back to what we were used to but will give it a try on a shorter cruise before we book a long one. 

[silversneakers]

4 hours ago, Guardsy said:

We were recently on the NS for this repositioning cruise.  First time on HAL since the late 80's when we switched over to Princess. Some thoughts and observations.

 

Beautiful ship and a GREAT layout.  Probably the easiest ship to navigate that we have ever been on.  We had an ocean view cabin, midships, on the Main Deck, just off the elevators.  This location made going virtually anywhere on the ship a breeze.

 

Embarkation was a breeze.  Not having done an embarkation with HAL recently, it was a bit odd not really doing a "check-in" in person, just a check of our vaccination paperwork.  No keys handed out, etc.  Come to find out, you just board and your keys are in your "mailbox" outside your stateroom.  All was fast and simple.  Waited maybe 15-20 minutes to board when we arrived at 11:15 for our 12:30 boarding time.  Cabin was ready (except for the flowers I ordered ahead of time. They were delivered the next day).

 

Lido buffet.  Was adequate, but for breakfast and lunch it was pretty much the same thing every day.  There was some change-up at dinner and maybe at lunch, but basically it seemed to be the same offerings every day.  Adequate, but BORING.

 

Dining rooms were nice.  We enjoyed most of the menu's, though they also became a bit boring.  We did have one night each in Tamarind (LOVED it), Pinnicle Grill (was ok, had to wait forever between courses, don't do the $10 lobster upgrade, ONLY do the $20 12-0z lobster upgrade.  Completely different lobster, taste, etc.) and Rudi's (our favorite.  Would do it over Pinnicle in a heartbeat.  The service, presentation and food was all impeccable.  The size of the 12-ounce lobster tail was just stupid huge and it was AWESOME!  Nice little extras given out between courses).  

 

The rest of our dinners were in the main dining room.  Had anytime dining and had a different table, waiter and seatmates every night.  Overall things were fine.  Given the low cost of our fares, I never expect 5-star dining on a ship.  This was maybe 3-star, or better.  Very efficient service.

 

Shows/Entertainment.  Probably one of the biggest differences between HAL and Princess.  Much, much more to do, all day/evening long, on a Princess ship than on this HAL trip.  Just as pronounced was that shows/musical sets in bars, were only 45-minutes long.  Seriously?  We did see a great signing impersonator, twice, who was very good and also a comedian twice who was good.  Sat in on a couple of other shows (standing room only), left some early.  All three music venues are next to each other and they did a good job switching on and off so as not to cover each other.  The 45-minute sets made for a nice break to stand up and walk a bit, but whether for a show or music spot, they just seemed to get warmed up and it was over.  Sad.  I remember GREAT shows on HAL.

 

Drinks/Drink Package.  Was odd where you could or could not find certain alcohols at bars.  All certainly do NOT have the same selections.  I mostly drank Heiniken during the day, and whiskey/sprite in the evenings.  I prefer Seagrams 7 or VO, but it was rarely found at a bar.  Crown Royal for a back-up, but you had to ASK for it, as they do not display it.  They do, however, display all of the flavored Crown Royals they have.  Thank gosh for Woodford.

 

We had the HAI package, which was fine.  Nice on Princess that your coffee drinks and waters are included for free on your drink package and don't count against your totals.  NOTE - Always use both of your room cards when ordering drinks, even if the server tells you they only need one.  I still have to check our final bill to see if all the extra drinks were credited back or not.  Turns out I drank A LOT, and in the first 4-5 days exceeded my 15 drinks (including water and coffees) many times, while my wife rarely ever drank.  Even ordering dinner wines, the table server would just grab one of the cards.  Turns out I had 7-8 charges for exceeding my drink package, totaling about $140 extra.  Went to the front desk twice about it, but never saw a credit before we disembarked.  I even had a highlighted print out for them.  I was told the front desk was not authorized to make the credit, it had to go to the beverage manager.  Not nice, HAL.  I should have known better, but so should your wait staff.

 

Pools/Hot Tubs.  Pools are NOT heated.  Darn COLD!  It was very pleasant around the middle pool when the roof was in place, but pool was not heated.  We did finally get nice weather as we got towards Florida and the roof was opened.  Lovely place to sit.  Hot tubs were adequate, but I ended up with a bad chemical burn after using them one day (a passenger had a "biological accident (diareaha)" in one of the adjacent tubs early).  We were told it wasn't in the tub we were about to use and that it was safe, but two hours later I had hives on my neck, chest and back.  That night at dinner in Tamarind, we saw a team of 8-10 crew in something short of hazmat suits completely scrubbing and hosing down the entire aft deck of deck 9.  Not good, HAL.  Just close to pools and pool deck and do it right.  Don't let the whole afternoon/evening go by.  HAL did cover my trip to the medical center and the ointments they gave me for my "skin allergy".

 

Cabin.  Cabin was great, steward JAS was even better.  Turndown service if you request it, but we don't need that much attention.  Room always kept up and cleaned.  TV worked only 50% of the time.   On a 14-day cruise, it is nice to relax and nap with the TV, but nope.  Not in that cabin.  We were told by the front desk that there were lots of issuers with their internet & satellite service throughout the cruise, but on the 12th day one of the techs told us it was just a bad TV in out cabin that the ship kept neglecting to replace.  Not good, HAL.

 

On my trip to the medical center on the last day of the cruise, they noted that my temperature was up, so they did a covid test and declared me positive.  Current on all vaccines and boosters, including the latest one a month or so ago, yet here I had covid!  Who knew!  For that I got quarentined in our cabin overnight with strict instructions on what would happen for disembarkation, luggage, etc.  At least they had a plan!  Too bad none of the plan worked the way it was told to us, but we were taken off the ship away from other passengers and basically just waved away from the ship and the pier to wander off on our own.  At least it was easy to find our luggage!

 

All in all it was a good trip.  We now know that 14-days is a bit long for us.  10-days is perfect.  While we enjoyed many parts of this HAL trip, we will likely go back to Princess for the most part, just for a bit more lively time onboard and more activities.  She was a BHB, though!

Agree, not much to do during the day. We enjoyed the food in the Pinnacle, had room service most of the time for breakfast. I liked the offerings on the Lido for dinner most of the time.  I liked that fact that you can look at menus on Navigator.  We enjoyed the cruise, port intensive even with one port being skipped. I would probably do this itinerary again now that I know the "lay of the land".....

[Ilovesailaway]

If you have HIA and order non alcoholic beverages like a specialty coffee or a bottle of water it counts against your 15?

[Guardsy]

18 minutes ago, Ilovesailaway said:

If you have HIA and order non alcoholic beverages like a specialty coffee or a bottle of water it counts against your 15?

On HAL, yes.  On Princess, no.

[fatcat04]

We upgraded to the Elite pkg at $10pp/pd plus 18% grats on our Sept 24 NS cruise and got unlimited non-alcoholic beverages. We thought it was a good investment. Gotta do it before you buy your first drink. We did it at the Lido bar. 

 

We also found the Music Walk to be crazy amazing at night. The BB Kings group was tight and just awesome. Lots of dancing and packed venues. Wish it could have gone on until later. 

[PMGS247]

Thanks for the review!  DW and I are princess regulars trying HAL for the first time.  You hit on a couple things I basically expect to be underwhelmed by at this point.  Your insight does make me glad that we are sailing entirely in southern Florida/Caribbean from a pool standpoint! Hadn't thought about that before.

 

I probably know the answer to this but how did you find the movie screen on the Lido as compared to Princess's movies under the stars?

[*Miss G*]

32 minutes ago, PMGS247 said:

I probably know the answer to this but how did you find the movie screen on the Lido as compared to Princess's movies under the stars?

 

HAL does not play movies during the day.

The roof on HAL’s Lido deck opens and closes so you can still watch movies during inclement weather.

The quality of both screens were the same, IMO, along with the sound and size.

[Bxianesq]

We were also on the October 8th-22nd repositioning cruise.  This was our 6th HAL cruise and 8th cruise overall.  In general, I agree with @Guardsy's observations (although fortunately, we were never exposed to the "biological incident").  Some additional observations:

 

1.  The "Mariner's lunch" was not advertised as such.  We always have lunch in the MDR upon embarkation.  When we arrived there after embarking, we were asked if we had ever sailed with HAL before and were allowed to proceed after confirming that we had. I was later told that this was the Mariner's lunch-even though there were no HAL or captan speeches. 

2.  Agree that the ginormous lobster tail in Rudi's was awesome and loved the Tamarind as always.  I was disappointed that there was not very much north Atlantic lobster on the menu given our port stops.  Much of the time, the upcharge offering was that awful "warm water" lobster with the orange glop.

3.  Happy hour is now buy 1, get 25% off of the second.  FYI, we ordered a bottle of wine at Rudi's and it had a bit of a petroleum aftertaste, which is not a good sign.  I asked to see the sommelier, who tasted it and immediately said to the waiter, "This wine is corked." The sommelier responded to the issue very professionally and got us another bottle immediately.  I also had an issue with a white wine bottle later in the cruise-once again, the sommelier agreed with me after tasting it and got me a replacement bottle. It makes me wonder about the wine storage conditions during the time period when the ships were wandering around without passengers. 

4.  Turn down service is only upon request.  We declined it, but still got 3 towel animals and some chocolates in the morning.

5.  Captain Noel was wonderful-his daily updates about travel time, sea conditions, and the little creaks that you might hear on the ship were very informative.

6.  We had done a 6 and a half week Midwest driving tour this past spring in an attempt to work towards our bucket list desire to visit all of the major league baseball stadiums.  Since I am the travel planner, I planned that entire trip (wonderful, but lots of planning).  As a result, while I normally plan independent excursions while on cruises, I had planner fatigue and relied on HAL's excursions for the most part.. We chose to do the HAL tour of Peggy's Cove, Lunenberg, and Mahone Bay-each stop was very pretty, but we were more than ready to flee the bus after our tour guide droned on nonstop for 7 hours. If we are ever back that way, I'd love to do a walking tour of Halifax-looked like a cool city.

7.  We also did the HAL tour of St. Martins and the Bay of Fundy (which we really enjoyed), as well as the Kennedy Space Center tour.  The space center excursion takes all day.  I was somewhat skeptical about spending so much time there, but there is so much to see that it was worth it.  We particularly enjoyed the astronaut talk-the website says that there is an extra charge, but it was included in our excursion for free. Our PEI tour was also a HAL excursion-it went out to the Anne of Green Gables house and a national park on the ocean, but was not the full day "Anne fanatic" tour.  We liked this tour, as it gave us a nice PEI overview but allowed us to wander around Charlottetown for a few hours,  We attempted to get into the popular Water Prince lobster for lunch.  It was packed, and after 10 minutes of being ignored, we walked 5 minutes to the Merchant Man Pub where we had warm friendly service and excellent lobster rolls.  We also tried Cow's ice cream, which was great.  If you are a book lover, Charlottetown has at least 3 bookstores on the main drag.  

8.  We spent 3 days in Quebec City pre-cruise, with one night in the iconic Chateau Frontenac and 2 nights at Auberge Sainte Antione, a smaller boutique style hotel.  CF offers a free walking tour of Quebec City to its guests, but you have to ask the concierge desk about it. Highly recommend. Auberge Sainte Antoine had wonderful service.  There is apparently a cab/Uber shortage in QC, but our hotel bellman sprang into action when we asked about port transport and whisked us away in the hotel van. We also visited the Museum of Civilization (great "Oh, Merde" exhibit as well as a great exhibit about Canada's First Nations people).  Had great food and wine pairing dinners at Champlain in the CF and at Chez Muffy in Auberge Sainte Antoine-we are foodies, but be advised that both are spendy. The ship docked overnight in QC, so we took an Uber out to the multi-vendor farmer's market located a few miles outside of downtown. It was a cool place, with a number of vendors and places to grab a takeout unch.  We had trouble getting an Uber to get us back to the port, but fortunately, we were able to flag down a cab to get back. As a final QC note, Creperie et Cie at 102 Petit Champlain has great crepes, and the Maison Smith coffee chain has great maple lattes. 

9.  In Saguenay, we took an independent  tour called  "Back Country of the Fjords and National Park" with Saguenay guided tours. They did a nice job, although I would have liked a little more time to hike around in the national park. In Sydney, we spent the day with a family member who lives there.  He is the port chaplain, and was able to meet us at the gangway.  Wonderful day.  In Portland, we rented a car at the airport (Ubered there and back) and drove to the towns of Damariscotta and Boothbay Harbor.  I've been to Maine a fair amount, so it was fun to see the beautiful fall foliage there and visit 2 cute towns. In Boston, we did an independent "Boston Pizza Tour" of the North End, which combined a little area history, 3 different pizza slices, and 2 giant cannolis from Modern Pastry. 

10.  We enjoyed playing trivia, although I was disappointed that the times changed daily and that trivia is no longer in the Crow's Nest. We did general, lightening and music trivia and did not win, but it was fun anyway. 

11. Our last pre-Covid cruise was on Oceania.  After enjoying their gorgeous library, it made me realize how pathetic HAL's library is. 

12.  Although we did not engage with the cruise activity director individually, she was a presence throughout the cruise and appeared to be very personable. 

13.  We opted for the laundry package, since the cruise was 2 weeks long and we were disembarking afterwards to spend 3 weeks at our Marco Island timeshare. Our clothing was very well-taken care of, but as the cruise went on, the wait for the return of laundro took longer and longer.  We could not finish packing until 3 hours before having to put our luggage outside of the cabin because our last laundry bag (which had been put out 2 days prior) was not returned until then. 

14.  The Orange Party was fun overall, although the Oarnge vesper drink was not great.  One "gentleman" ran out and pinched the rear end of the female MC , which was obnoxious.  He proclaimed that he was in his late 80's and danced very well-but he did not win the best costume contest. 

15.  Our cabin stewards Gus and Nyoman were amazing.  Gus greeted every single person on our hallway by first name every day!  Dining room staff were mostly good, although the first day or two the meals took quite a while to come out. Mid-cruise, some dining room staff were wandering around with printed seating charts and seemed confused about table locations-not sure why. 

16. @Guardsy, sorry to hear about your Covid issue.  My husband got off the ship and was congested a couple of days later.  Uh-oh....I travel with Covid tests, and thankfully he tested negative.  He had Covid in early August (even though fully vaxxed and boosted), but with this bout of congestion, he did not have the fever, aches and extreme fatigue that he had with Cocid.  So thankfully, just a cold.  I did not hear anything about Covid cases on board other than on our Boston day when the crew had a drill and they announced that "quarantined crew should remain in their staterooms." 

 

 

 

[Guardsy]

3 hours ago, PMGS247 said:

Thanks for the review!  DW and I are princess regulars trying HAL for the first time.  You hit on a couple things I basically expect to be underwhelmed by at this point.  Your insight does make me glad that we are sailing entirely in southern Florida/Caribbean from a pool standpoint! Hadn't thought about that before.

 

I probably know the answer to this but how did you find the movie screen on the Lido as compared to Princess's movies under the stars?

For the most part, the big screen at the Lido Pool was a complete bust.  95% of the time there was nothing showing on it.  They did show 1-2 movies, only once.  Some of the NFL games (Thursday night, Sunday night and Monday night) but not a single baseball playoff game.  In our opinion, an absolute WASTE of such a great system.  The system itself was fine, loud, good viewing, but they never showed anything on it.

[Cruising-along]

14 minutes ago, Guardsy said:

For the most part, the big screen at the Lido Pool was a complete bust.  95% of the time there was nothing showing on it.  They did show 1-2 movies, only once.  Some of the NFL games (Thursday night, Sunday night and Monday night) but not a single baseball playoff game.  In our opinion, an absolute WASTE of such a great system.  The system itself was fine, loud, good viewing, but they never showed anything on it.

That was one of my complaints (we were on the NS October 8-22 also and continue on until November 5). Lo and behold, now we’re getting movies much more often (!). I don’t know why they’re able to have movies more often now but not before. In the 5 days since you disembarked we’ve probably had 3-4 movies already. 

[Banditswife]

7 hours ago, Bxianesq said:

We were also on the October 8th-22nd repositioning cruise.  This was our 6th HAL cruise and 8th cruise overall.  In general, I agree with @Guardsy's observations (although fortunately, we were never exposed to the "biological incident").  Some additional observations:

 

 

3.   It makes me wonder about the wine storage conditions during the time period when the ships were wandering around without passengers. 

 

I wonder about that... wonder how long it will take before they run out of the older stock.  Even soda & other beverages have an expiration.  Not a wine drinker, but wonder if the storage during shut down was up to normal standards.  Same goes for things in the cabin's mini bar.  How long has that stuff been in there?  Carnival's ships have emptied the mini bars & specific items can be stocked upon request.

[FlorenceItaly]

On 10/25/2022 at 11:41 PM, fatcat04 said:

We upgraded to the Elite pkg at $10pp/pd plus 18% grats on our Sept 24 NS cruise and got unlimited non-alcoholic beverages. We thought it was a good investment. Gotta do it before you buy your first drink. We did it at the Lido bar. 

 

We also found the Music Walk to be crazy amazing at night. The BB Kings group was tight and just awesome. Lots of dancing and packed venues. Wish it could have gone on until later. 

We board the NS on November 5, and are considering the upgrade to Elite since we have quite a bit of OBC.  We are interested in the value in regards to wines, bourbons and martinis.  Did you find there were adequate elite package alcohol available?  Also, did you have a favorite bar?  Thank you.

[Suncoastsailors]

59 minutes ago, FlorenceItaly said:

We board the NS on November 5, and are considering the upgrade to Elite since we have quite a bit of OBC.  We are interested in the value in regards to wines, bourbons and martinis.  Did you find there were adequate elite package alcohol available?  Also, did you have a favorite bar?  Thank you.

Were you just on the Volendam Oct 8-22 cruise out of Trieste Italy. I can't say I remember you from the ship, but I do remember the profile. 

[FlorenceItaly]

1 minute ago, Suncoastsailors said:

Were you just on the Volendam Oct 8-22 cruise out of Trieste Italy. I can't say I remember you from the ship, but I do remember the profile. 

No, sadly I was not.  You and I have chatted a bit here on CC.

[Suncoastsailors]

1 minute ago, FlorenceItaly said:

No, sadly I was not.  You and I have chatted a bit here on CC.

We are boarding the Statendam Nov 19th if you still going to be onboard. 

[FlorenceItaly]

Just now, Suncoastsailors said:

We are boarding the Statendam Nov 19th if you still going to be onboard. 

We are only on for the week of November 5.  We are headed to Longboat Key after we disembark.

[Suncoastsailors]

2 minutes ago, FlorenceItaly said:

We are only on for the week of November 5.  We are headed to Longboat Key after we disembark.

Hope you have a great time on the Statendam and Longboat Key!

[Bxianesq]

@Guardsy, agree 100 per cent about the glaring lack of baseball playoff game availability. I remember being on a HAL cruise the year the Cubs won the World Series, Could not find the games on TV or at any outlet on the ship. While we are Yankees fans, I have always loved the Cbs and desperately wanted to see what turned out to be a historic victory. 

 

@FlorenceItaly we did not have a beverage package. We used most of our shipboard credit towards the purchase of individual bottles of wine. Between the shareholder credit, AMEX Platinum credit, and credit from a cancelled excursion and cancelled port charges, we didn't spend much out of pocket while on board.  

[fatcat04]

7 hours ago, FlorenceItaly said:

We board the NS on November 5, and are considering the upgrade to Elite since we have quite a bit of OBC.  We are interested in the value in regards to wines, bourbons and martinis.  Did you find there were adequate elite package alcohol available?  Also, did you have a favorite bar?  Thank you.

If you are a fan of nicer whiskey and scotch, the Elite pays off as Notes has a large selection with several Elite pkg choices. That said, you have to be there when Notes is open and we just got doubles to save the trouble of them needing to open up the case too often as that seemed a bit of a chore. And really I wish Notes was less overpriced whiskey tasting station and more actual bar. Wines, tbh, I am not sure as all our old standards were on the Signature pkg except for the Miraval Rose and the Beringer Knights Valley which are both on the Elite pkg. But I would say we each got enough value everyday to justify the upgrade. 

 

As to favorite bar, well, we probably ordered more drinks and spent more time near the Lido Bar than anywhere, even in the evening. If we weren't at BB Kings (they have some special cocktails I enjoy and dh's High West Rendezvous Rye there), we were in the Lido Bar area. I love the Lido space, both floors. Just well designed, light, airy, open, and lots of comfortable couches and chairs and attentive bar staff (plus snack options nearby).

 

One complication we found was after a couple days of hunting not every bar stocked the same more high end whiskeys and scotch. You expect some of that but it really was so random and none of the bars offered an actual liquor menu so you pretty much just had to ask what they had.. and not every bottle is out on display. I'm easier to please but dh had to travel to get just what he wanted. That was one complaint we had, there was no uniformity in the stocking of the bars and the wait staff oft times did not know what was in each bar without asking. So IF there is something special you like and you find it, that should probably be your go to bar as no telling if any of the others will have it. 

 

But she is a lovely ship and I'd cruise her again in a heartbeat, especially in the Caribbean. I told dh that she or her sisters would be a great ship for a nice relaxing warm weather cruise. 

Edited October 27, 2022 by fatcat04

[FlorenceItaly]

4 minutes ago, fatcat04 said:

If you are a fan of nicer whiskey and scotch, the Elite pays off as Notes has a large selection with several Elite pkg choices. That said, you have to be there when Notes is open and we just got doubles to save the trouble of them needing to open up the case too often as that seemed a bit of a chore. And really I wish Notes was less overpriced whiskey tasting station and more actual bar. Wines, tbh, I am not sure as all our old standards were on the Signature pkg except for the Miraval Rose and the Beringer Knights Valley which are both on the Elite pkg. But I would say we each got enough value everyday to justify the upgrade. 

 

As to favorite bar, well, we probably ordered more drinks and spent more time near the Lido Bar than anywhere, even in the evening. If we weren't at BB Kings (they have some special cocktails I enjoy and dh's High West Rendezvous Rye there), we were in the Lido Bar area. I love the Lido space, both floors. Just well designed, light, airy, open, and lots of comfortable couches and chairs and attentive bar staff (plus snack options nearby).

 

One complication we found was after a couple days of hunting not every bar stocked the same more high end whiskeys and scotch. You expect some of that but it really was so random and none of the bars offered an actual liquor menu so you pretty much just had to ask what they had.. and not every bottle is out on display. I'm easier to please but dh had to travel to get just what he wanted. That was one complaint we had, there was no uniformity in the stocking of the bars and the wait staff oft times did not know what was in each bar without asking. So IF there is something special you like and you find it, that should probably be your go to bar as no telling if any of the others will have it. 

This is very helpful and I really appreciate you taking the time to share with me.  As of this moment I am not sure what we will do, but I am leaning towards not upgrading.  It sounds like a bit of a hassle that could lead to some frustration.  We ran into the same situation on Celebrity in July.  We had the Premium package and he had to go from bar to bar.  And, with wines, they were mainly out of the Premium wines.  Thanks again!

[westcoastsue]

It was the same with the wines too - even if it was advertised it was not always available.