Don Kehote

I enjoy food. Like, a lot. One of the foods I like best is a hamburger, sometimes a cheeseburger. If I had to guess, I've probably eaten more burgers than, well, most members of the human population have. In many cases, significantly more. Sometimes, if I'm feeling a little peckish, I'll pop over to McDonald's (in a pinch), and get 5 McDoubles and a Big Mac, and go to town. That both soothes my cravings, and reminds me that McDonald's is kind of awful. Other times, I'll just ride over to Burger King, get a couple of Whoppers and fries, and just put that away to fight off the pangs. I've eaten burgers in most every state, and a whole lot of non-cruise related countries. From wagyu burgers in Colorado (wagyu burgers are kind of nonsensical to me), to some kind of burger that might actually have been made out of ham beachside in Bibione. Heck, I've eaten burgers on CCL before and after the Guy's burger rollout. When I make burgers at home, I take my time and cook them very precisely to order, depending on the tastes of the individual who is going to be partaking of my beefy generosity. Thick and rare? I gotchu. Smashburger on the grill? Say no more fam, I have a griddle on the top rack nice and hot and ready to sear. Well done? If you insist, I guess. What this is all leading to is that as a very experienced glutton, and radical devotee of the divine treat that is a burger, I find Guy's Burgers to be very underwhelming, and sometimes sub-par. Kind of wish the seaside grill was still in operation, but with more toppings/condiments like are currenty (previously?) offered. You know, like they have at Fuddrucker's. I want you to all have good hamburgers and cheeseburgers.

This must be what being touched by an angel feels like.

To preface: I have been on only 8 cruises. Every single one, a Carnival ship. After our last CCL Cruise, we were feeling a little bit let down. I mean, any cruise is a good cruise (ymmv), but it just felt like....blah. So, we cancelled our next trip, and switched over to a HAL cruise as the timing and price were both right. Last week, the stars aligned just right, we performed the incantations, and found ourselves booked on Scarlet Lady. We're literally getting off the HAL ship in Fort Lauderdale, and heading right down to Miami to board Scarlet Lady just a few hours later. Question 1: Will We Die? I am thinking that this will be a rather drastic change of pace. Question 2: Will they attempt to push me back into the sea? I'm already a "Big and Tall" shopper, and over 50 now. Should I expect to join Poseidon in the murky depths, or can I count on feeling like I belong there? Question 3: I see lots of people mentioning making new friends, or how the ship is intimate and conducive to conversation. I'm ordinarily pretty quiet, but I do like to have fun. At the same time, I can have a great time without saying a word. Should I get a T-shirt that says something like "Quiet, But Fun" to make things clear; that I'm not a jerk, I just don't talk a lot until I'm off-guard? We're terribly excited. We watched a few videos (Where's Walter did a FANTASTIC food tour), and are almost a little afraid that this is going to ruin the cruise experience that we always loved by being...a LOT better. Thanks!

Do they have any robes yet that will fit the more NFL-sized of us?

That's the long and short of it. We're doing complete polar opposites - from HAL to Virgin. I just don't see a great way to get from port to port aside from an Uber. Any ideas?

MY travel agent (that's me) finds the booking process relatively simple and straightforward. However, he (again, me) does NOT enjoy placing calls to VV for things that need to be resolved; the hold times are just out of control right now.

I'm betting they realized that it was turning into a toxic mess, and decided to stay out of it. Wish I had!

Sometimes the maps are unclear. Nieuw Amsterdam, for instance, there is a venue listed as Queen's Lounge and Culinary Arts Center. You wouldn't know that it becomes BB King's Blues Club at night unless you were told. Some newer maps now show this to be BB's I guess (I had to download a PDF map directly from HAL), but many more show the Queen's Lounge/Culinary Center.

I'm commenting here before this thread is rightfully nuked into oblivion. I don't mind testing, and I'm *poor* compared to most of you.

On our last 5 cruises, which were all CCL, we did book through our PVP (same thing I guess), But realistically, I e-mailed him sailing and a couple of cabins in order of preference, and would just wait on a call to remit. In our case, I didn't really need him, but I booked with him because I like the guy. It sounded like OP was just done with HAL altogether, and that's what I super don't understand.

I don't understand this. Why didn't you just either book with someone else on the general reservation line, or use the internet? Was there a reason you needed a supervisor when calling the PCC line? I suppose I just don't get what the benefit is of booking through a PCC instead of booking through reservations - the end result seems like it would be the same to me, but I'm new to HAL.

I don't really know what to make of this post but I sure hope you're happy.

Thank you for these replies! This will be around our 10th anniversary, and I've always said that although I'm incredibly happy to be married to my wife, I want to marry her even harder. It would be somewhat of a miracle were we to make to to 50, but I'm going to try my best.

We're all the way out in December, but I saw the option today while poking about in my reservation, and started looking into it. Suffice it to say that someone started cutting onions nearby, and I seem to have booked it. Have any of you folks participated in this ceremony recently? I'd love to know more about how it's running these days!

I'd explain it, but you're just not interested in any other viewpoint other than the one from your navel.

Thank you for this HAL promotion.

I certainly hope your room was *exceptionally* clean!

The best rule of thumb would probably be that if HAL *wants* to sell it onboard, you probably can't bring your own. That being said, I absolutely intend to bring some "water enhancers" on board with me next time; I like the flavors, I like the zero calories, and I like making my drink as light or heavy as I'd like it to be.

How pleasant. Anyway, I'm just here to say that if I gave one of CCL's new Strip Loin steaks to my dog, I'd apologize to him for it. And he's been dead for two years.