BigMattT

In my best Maggie Smith: “Oh I like her.”

Yikes! Hope it works out.

Wow! Congrats! Yesterday we tried to upgrade from our assigned inside guarantee for this sailing and were told we were not eligible. Interesting stuff, these promotional programs.

Ours seemed to get used. It would be what flashed up when we scanned in and out of the ship at ports. A friends photo was SO terrible (he hurriedly took it that morning at the crack of dawn) that we giggled each time (and the crew with us).

We only got our cabin assignments yesterday for our casino inside gty for this sailing… so I’d imagine you’ll know soon.

On our New England Cruise, we waited for over 90 minutes for Guest Services behind passenger after passenger incapable of using the Navigator App. Wild guess… people didn’t follow instructions for uploading the photos that complied with security needs and it’s more streamlined to just take them?

Thank you for your replies about having never uploaded your photos in the past. I have uploaded it in the past 7 cruises and have been able to sail through past the photo part of the check-in thanks to their facial recognition technology. It sounds like this (optional but helpful) step is gone.

For the last few years I’ve been accustomed to uploading a security photo to the HAL navigator app prior to arriving for embarkation. The button seems to be gone now. Did I miss that this was discontinued? (Not unhappy, just want a smooth check-in.)

They’re meant to stub your toes on, giving you that spa-like “I’m alive!” feeling.

While it sounds like you’ve done your research, we don’t do it for Alaska. (We love the retreat and are doing an inside+retreat on a Pinnacle next month.) But with Alaska, it’s the rain and misty fog. As long as your expectations are in line, you’ll probably enjoy “roughing it in luxury” up there on an Alaska itinerary. Just keep in mind that the Retreat on a Pinnacle ship isn’t a great place to be in the rain… and you’re visiting some of the wettest regions in the world in Alaska. I took a Pacific coastal where it rained one day and misted another… and even in mild mid-60’s weather with sun trying to peek through… it was unpleasant. Wet seats, flaps dripping on you. The attendants will all but encourage you to go elsewhere. Truly, the views from the retreat aren’t good. Great as a backdrop to your book while reading or relaxing or bobbing along the sea… but when the plexi-glass that shields you from the wind gets rain on it, it obscures your view even in dense fog/mist. It’s not even easy to stand at the plexiglass wind shield because of the lounger and table configuration. Even if you have a retreat to use other times, you’ll absolutely want to be on better decks (bow deck 5, midship deck 11) to get good views during scenic cruising moments. That wet fast moving air is really punishing. My husband and I are great big bearded fuzzy guys, wore layers and rain gear, and we weren’t comfortable on the bow or balcony for more than 30 minutes in misty low-50’s weather at scenic cruising speeds. For Alaska I agree with @OlsSalt… inside cabin, thermal suite, and then gravitate toward whatever vibe you want in the evening. Seating Aft Lido deck near SeaView Bar is covered and fairly quiet in the evening. Lots of quiet nooks and benches around the ship. But for sure: post back again and report back how it goes. It might be cloud-free weather and a fabulous adventure! It’s great when someone does their homework. I hope it’s a great fit for you!

Yeah, it sounds like they do have you pretty loyal already. What would make you decide to spend more with them than you do now? We pulled way back on travel spending since the pandemic, but HAL has received 80% of our remaining vacation spending because they started to send us offers… versus 0% when they didn’t send us offers. They know we usually buy a retreat cabana, thermal suite pass, specialty dining, and leave a donation in the casino… so they lose $1k on our fare but gain $5k in spending or more. Seems like smart marketing to me.

We only accepted one of the $149 ones and glad we only did one. In addition to no OBC back, we just discovered the $149 fares aren’t eligible for upsell offers or Club Orange while the “free” offers (which we’ve continued to receive all along, but not for the sailings we’d consider) are. (Also curiously the first time we’ve been without a cabin assignment at 7 days out. Not complaining… eager to see where we land. Just feels like those fares are treated quite differently than what we were used to.)

Oh wow I’ve never seen them open deck 6 forward hatches. Wonder if it’s a Panama Canal thing.

R class has a door from the thermal suite in the spa to an awesome little deck. (Great as a "cold air plunge" in those great New England/Montreal itins!) Vista class has a beautiful forward deck in front of the gym. Pinnacles... have... ...lots of great restaurants.

Westy pizza is terrible lido stuff, full stop. Bready and doughy. Signature and Pinnacle class ships have New York Pizza, which ironically does not taste like a pizza from New York, but is far far better than the stuff from the lido on Vista class ships.