dakrewser

The way some characterize the cruise line, every fare is a senior fare...

They had a steel drum class the last time we sailed the Zdam in Dec. it was a lot of fun. Other than some music, I don't remember any other pool activities. Wish HAL would do an officer vs passenger pool volleyball game. We loved that on Celebrity. Even the Captains participate!!!

If that's what makes your cruise, then sail with X. We prefer the relative quiet of a HAL pool-side.

Hello All, we just signed up for an Alaska Cruise in April 2017. We got the Explorer 4 package which includes the signature beverage package. My question is did you find the $8 was enough to cover most alcoholic drinks and other beverages? What exceptions did you find? I know that if it is over $8 you have to pay for the whole drink, not the difference. My concern is that the prices will go up next year and we will be limited to beer and coffee drinks.

We usually drink gin and tonic, wine, Johnny Walker Black Label, Rum and Tequila drinks.

Thanks for any help,

Andrea

Everything except super-premium liquors are covered. And, the last time drink prices were raised, the limit was also raised.

Thank you for sharing this hearsay. However, I place more value when someone is sharing their first-hand experience.

I've done multiple cruises on HAL, X and Princess and I'd say Princess is bland, Celebrity is pretentious and HAL is comfortably elegant...

Sorry (for you) but there are no organized participatory activities around the pool. And most HAL cruisers like it that way.

There may be (usually bad) music during the noon hour, though.

Apparently I give more weight to the idea that people's tastes change as they get older, than you do.

Folks who want more activity when younger tend to slow down as they age. Having quiet places to sit, read, relax, or talk with others becomes more important.

Young folk tend to forget that us oldies were young once (and they haven't yet been old). We know what we were like then (I "came of age" during the 60's - I'll put my experience of life up against any Millennial). The young are impatient: they went it all and they want it now. The old have learned to savor each experience and extract the maximum value. The young will never "get that", nor will they ever believe that we were once "wild and crazy" folks.

It's my belief that the cruise lines aren't making these changes to atract younger folk, but that because they have younger pax they can get away with lowering expectations.

WE've enjoyed the NS on HAL better than similar accommodation on Princess or Celebrity (really, really, disliked the butler - we needed to be on his schedule, not the way I envisioned it!).

But the differences are small - and it's good to get lots of different experiences. Especially if your cruising for a specific itinerary, don't worry about those small differences.

Can you expand on this, please? We're soon leaving on our first HAL cruise and the search for a more traditional onboard experience is what led us to give HAL a try.

You'll be fine, after all you can't miss what you never experienced. As Ruth said, it's those who have cruised HAL the longest that are the most upset with the changes.

But not all change is worse, nor is it necessarily better - it's simply change. And one area we hate to see change is in the places we go to periodically for vacation. It's not just cruise ships.

Where we live, change is gradual: it happens little by little every day, week, month. But the places we vacation we only see once or twice a year (admittedly, some of us cruise more often than that) so those small, daily changes add up.

For sure, there are things I miss that are no longer available on HAL ships (made-to-order sandwiches, table-side-prepared flaming deserts, the crew singing "Love in any language") but there are new things I've welcomed with open arms (Dive-in burgers, the Tamarind restaurant, B.B.King blues review).

Go with an open mind and you'll enjoy your cruise; go bemoaning the "traditions" that have been lost, and you'll be miserable.

Bon voyage!

Thanks, Fouremco, for adding your voice of reason and compassion. If only more people could see the bigger picture in life and realize that not all rules need to be strictly enforced all the time and in all circumstances, this would be a much nicer world.

You mean like wearing a hat in the MDR?

;)

I'm 41... hardly one of the "older generations." If someone has a legitimate medical need to cover their head, it's none of my business. I'm not going to ask someone why their head is covered. But there is a time and a place for everything, and the MDR is neither the time nor the place to wear a baseball cap. There are plenty of other more suitable head coverings that can be worn in that situation.

And who decides what is a "suitable" head covering? A topper? A turban?? perhaps a boater???

What rules did I not follow? The sign said children under 18 must be accompanied by an adult. We paid adult prices for him; he gets to use the adult pool. If he started acting like a child I would have evicted him myself. He was much better behaved than some of the adults we saw. And, as I said in my original post, we were not in the pool that much - maybe 30 minutes for the entire 12 day cruise.

That sign is at the main Lido pool, isn't it? Not at the Seaview pool...

Most white wine comes from white grape varieties, but through maceration, you can get orange wine from white grapes. There are some Oregon wine makers that do it with Pinot Gris. It's also done in Friuli-Venezia, Italy. Think of it as reverse rosė. :)

While it's a truism that all grapes are either red or white, Pinot Gris might be the exception - it really is gray, and fairly dark gray at that. Admittedly, the Italians seem to have bred a lighter clone with Pinot Grigio, but in Alsace it's still fairly dark.

Is it possible that these "little service charges" are actually drinks ordered that were above the $8 limit? In that case the excess over $8 gets charged to your onboard account? Just a thought.

No. If you order a drink over $8 you're charged full price for it.

Yes (that is correct) a lot of little service charges on our account from the beverage package. Our beverage package was from an explorer 4 that was offered almost a year prior to our cruise and our drink cost limit was $7.50 or under. We realized the charges to our account on the second day and kind of took the fun out of trying to go for 15 drinks a day because those charges add up quickly over a week. [emoji15]

Something wrong here. No one else (including me) has ever reported seeing only a service charge posted. Also, doesn't matter when you booked the promo, it goes with the current rules (which is $8 and under right now). This is something you should have investigated while on the ship, but it's not too late to inquire now.

There are quite a few high end Vermouths that could easily pass as wines. If you're looking in the $28+ range, you'll probably find some.

All vermouths are wines - even the $3.99/btl variety. Whether or not you'd want to drink one as an aperitif, though, could be questioned. :)

But singing is what I love doing and my outlet on vacation is karaoke. Darn!

There's nothing stopping you from singing. [the shower in your cabin is an excellent venue]

;)

I can't get over the fact that in the Southwest USA, men drive in cars with their cowboy hats on. Come on yokels, there is a roof 3 inches over your head, you're in the shade

That Stetson is probably worth more than the rest of the man's attire combined (saving his boots, of course). It's safer on his head than anywhere else in the car.

Nope. Cognac is usually 80 proof (40%) same as Brandy. Basically Cognac IS Brandy - just made with white grapes instead of red. Both are distilled alcohol aged in wood barrels much like whiskeys.

All cognac is brandy, but not all brandies are cognac. It has nothing to do with the color of the grapes, but with were the grapes are grown.

How early is the concierge on the Maasdam available on embarkation day? I have a couple of questions.

When you board...

Does this ever happen to people who have booked a guarantee cabin? Where you already know your cabin number? Thanks.

I've never heard of a cruise passenger being "downgraded" under any conditions.

HAL doesn't have an on-line air booking system, AFAIK

Three days before departure day we received notice by HAL that we were upgraded from a specifically booked outside deck 2, to a verandah deck 6. Hurray, this was the first time and no complaints.

Halfway through the cruise however I encountered a couple who booked a verandah deck 6 and were told at embarkation they were downgraded to an outside deck 2 (not our original one though). They were understandably upset, but there were no verandahs available anymore and HAL would not remove somebody from his/hers cabin.

Does anybody have experience with this kind of swap, or have inside knowledge about why HAL would be doing this?

Sorry, I've never heard of someone being "downgraded"

I have a trip booked with a travel agency. If I am interested in getting prices from HAL can I call their flight department or do I have the TA call call to get possibilities?

You need to do everything thru your TA.

There were folks on that cruise that went to the main show lounge one hour before show start time to "scope out" their favorite seats (downstairs plus balcony). I interviewed several of them during the course of business

Interviewed/questioned/interrogated - you say poTAYto and I say poTAHto :)

It's not really a balcony, barely room for two people to stand at once. But the location is terrific...