ExpatBride

Do you happen to remember his name? I don't want to miss him if he's still performing when I'm onboard next month. He sounds right up my alley!

We're about the same age then! On the recent menus I've seen online, I've noticed that the vegetarian options on HAL seem to be very heavy on "Beyond" products, whereas the last time I sailed with them the only fake meat I encountered was at breakfast, and that was soon replaced by "sausage patties" that were obviously made in-house. The vegetarian menu was really great back then and based on whole foods, but I can see how that's probably more expensive and prone to waste vs, meat substitutes. Still, it seems crazy to me that a fake "meatball" sandwich is considered an MDR-standard dinner entree. I don't really care about lobster one way or another, but it's $15 in the MDR for two 5oz. tails and $15 for a 12 oz. tail in Pinnacle on top of the $50 Pinnacle upcharge. Meanwhile, I have HIA, which equates to a $50 upcharge for me to have some more fake meat or a couple of tomatoes and some eggplant. Make it make sense to anyone but Finance 😂 Times have definitely changed!

I'm prone to swelling when I fly, so I have my SO prescribes Ferusomide, which is a water pill that sorts it right out. I'll be taking some with me when I cruise next month. If you're in the US, I seem to recall mild diuretics being available OTC there. Might be worth considering?

Your opinion is very relevant and I'm curious to know your age. I moved to HAL from NCL because I wanted something a bit more upmarket and I didn't want to have to fight with the crew to get something vegetarian outside of the buffet and MDR (specifically O'Sheehans). I'm in my mid-40s and my SO is 5 years younger, so we're significantly younger than HAL's target market, but with him being Danish, he's not comfortable with the prospect of a luxury experience. It's a cultural thing, so I'm trying to work with it. HAL was pretty much exactly what I was looking for, but that was in 2016 on Zuiderdam. I'm sailing next month on NS and I've found your impressions to be interesting and helpful in recalibrating my expectations for sailing post-shutdown.

That's not usually how it works. There should be a benchmarking period, and then KPIs aimed at incremental improvements. E.g., The baseline is an average rating of "6" in category A and the target for next quarter is to raise that to an average of 7. There might be incentives for getting an individual rating of higher than a 6. Even with NPS, a rating of 9–10 is pretty rare and well-run companies know that.

Thanks for this. This will be my first time sailing on HAL without a Yum-Yum Man onboard. Hopefully the ginger I'm bringing will work as well as what he used to give out. I'm also planning to bring some pharmaceuticals just in case. I was once seasick in the Mediterranean for most of 14 days, and I don't want to repeat that. The wristbands don't work for me.

Do you remember what it was?

The only scenario where I think it would be "ok" is if I complimented a crew member on their work and they asked me to pass it along to management. If someone asked me out of the blue to give them a good review, I wouldn't do it on principle.

Knowing what I know about business processes and particularly staff retention, I'd say "yes." I also suspect that they're more visible to staff behind the scenes via instant notifications, leaderboards, and similar "motivation tools." Everything is metrics-based these days.

I believe there is. If HAL is like most companies, they're becoming more data-driven in their operations. It makes sense for them to want to collect feedback in a digital system where they can aggregate and analyze it. Not that I like this direction – but from a business standpoint, I get it.

This reminds me of the time I was in Krakow and a woman was berating the poor salesperson for not knowing how much something cost in "American money." Lady... you're in POLAND. Install a currency converter app on your phone, or Google it 🙄 How does someone travel to another country without at least having a general idea of the conversion rate for the local currency?

Thanks for posting this, even though it's disappointing. I last sailed on HAL in 2016 on Zuiderdam and veg*n menu was much better than the "current" one I was able to find online, but this one is even worse than the one I found online. They're really pushing the Beyond Meat products! Both the meatball sandwich and veggie burger look like snack bar/buffet options, not something I'd want to eat for dinner in the MDR. Same goes for the pizza.

This is being discussed on FB and it seems to vary by ship and venue (i.e., the gelato place vs. Dive In). It's probably worth asking onboard. There's definitely an uncharge, but some ships/venues are allowing them on the HIA package. I wouldn't have thought to ask because while smoothies are listed on the "included" items, milkshakes aren't.

Just call it a "rum & Coke" 🙄

My niece is currently in beauty school and she's learning how to do perms and the old granny wash & set helmet 'do. Those are more out of date and dying faster than classic cocktails. But it makes sense for people to able to serve their clientele, regardless of whether or not they're on-trend.

That's fortunate considering that 220v is the standard in Europe.

That would be even better!

This is super-disappointing since listening to the classical trio after dinner was one of the highlights of my last HAL cruise, though some decent live jazz could've almost made up the difference. I'll also miss the YumYum man. These were two unique attributes that set HAL apart from other lines for me, and they're one of the reasons I chose HAL for my SO's introduction to cruising. I'm nervous now, and hoping I haven't over-sold the experience to him. I'm sure we'll have a great trip, but I really sold it as "a step back to a more elegant time."

So then he could just sign into my app account? I have a gender-neutral name that's not well-known in the Nordics, and he speaks with an American accent, so I don't think it would raise any eyebrows.

Not if he takes both keys 😅 But that's a good point, thank you. I think I'll just ask at the excursions desk when we board. It's not a big deal, it's just if there were an easy way to arrange it, it would be nice for him to do both excursions instead of "wasting" my credit.

Unless we swap room keys or he signs into my app 🤔

One will probably hear the bells regardless. My ex lived near a cathedral... fantastic location, but there was no peace for the wicked. Once the drunk people stopped making noise, the bell tower took over.

LV is solidly middle class/upper middle class. The upper class doesn't "line up" at Louis Vuitton on holiday. LV has multiple bags around $1000, which become cheaper with the VAT rebate (assuming the "not your average middle class family" lives outside of the EU).

Yes. We both have the HIA package but I'm not interested in any of the excursions and he'd like to go on two of the kayaking ones. It seems silly to pay for the second excursion when I have a $100 credit that I won't be using.

I have the HIA package but I'm not interested in any of the excursions in Norway – I live in Denmark and this will be my fourth fjords cruise. However, my SO is an avid kayaker and there's a kayaking excursion in two of the ports. Does anyone know if I can book one of the excursions online using my HIA credit and then swap the name on the reservation once I'm onboard?