Boatdrill

On 5/1/2024 at 2:22 PM, julia said:

That is a website blurb. Reality is what I've witnessed onboard, and I've seen plenty of jeans in the MDR on "dressy/gala/prom" night.

Yes, it's "a website blurb". Not from a travel website, but from Holland America Line, in an attempt to provide guidance to their guests who want to know what to pack, and what is acceptable attire onboard. It's provided by HAL out of respect and as a courtesy for their guests, so their guests will not find themselves in an awkward situation. 

As the saying goes, your mileage may vary (YMMV). Your reality is one thing, mine is another. I have never seen "plenty of jeans" in the MDR on dressy night. Perhaps the seating has something to do with it ? We're late seating, at 8pm.

From HAL website FAQ's:

Q: Are jeans allowed? 

A: Jeans without holes, tears or embroidery are welcome on most evenings in all restaurants, but on Dressy Nights jeans are only allowed in the casual dining restaurants. 

Casual dining restaurant(s) are the Lido, Dive In, Pizza, etc. The MDR is not.   

They seem to start earlier every year.  

I often ordered these to be delivered to the room on embark day, and found them to be very good. The photo is accurate - they're similar to pate or mousse.  However, the price has increased substantially, and unless they've done something spectacular with them, it's no longer a good value for me. Just MHO.

5 hours ago, NotLikeBelleRosen,IHope said:

Disheartening to hear that guest relations is good for robo-response but no follow up. We shall see.

Don't give up. Write them again, and copy Shore Excursions, and Reservations Accounting on  your email:  HAL_Shore_Excursions@hollandamerica.com    and  reservation_accounting@hollandamerica.com

If it was originally a travel agent booking, why isn't the TA calling HAL on your behalf ?

(just curious)   

1 minute ago, CafeBruno said:

Really, is it too much to ask to have an agent send me a booking confirmation faster than 10 days after I paid for it?   

Absolutely not. After your reservation is deposited or paid in full, HAL's confirmation comes to the agent within an hour or two, max. 

4 hours ago, CafeBruno said:

Literally took 5 minutes, and then she's done and collects her commission.  

Not quite.

The booking belongs to the agent, so any changes or payments still have to made by him/her only. And you will have to contact him/her for that .    

He/she will have paperwork to do for your booking, and often will not collect the commission for months after she/he completes your booking.  It depends on the sail date: book a cruise today for next April, and the commission from HAL will come in February. But the agency is paid first, and after they take their share, the agent is paid. So he/she will have waited nearly a year to receive the commission on your booking. Travel agents are the first to be solicited for business by cruise lines, hotels, etc., and the last to be paid. 

If you cancel your reservation, the agent gets nothing from you, unless he/she charged you a non-refundable planning fee, which many do to protect themselves. If the agent has been paid the commission, and you have to cancel, the cruise line recalls the commission and takes it back from the agent.

I can understand why you've been through so many agents. If you just want an order taker, consider joining an agency as an independent contractor, book your own cruises, and earn your own commission.     

7 hours ago, Mary229 said:

Has anyone posted any verified information from HAL regarding this or is this thread carrying on 14 pages o only one PCCs word.

I don't know if this "counts", but on April 18 I checked HAL's travel agent booking portal for availability on two 7 day Alaska cruises on the Eurodam this summer. The itineraries were the same. One cruise was in mid June, the other in early September. All rooms/categories, on both cruises, were available by guarantee only.  For the September cruise, this was not the case just a few months ago. On both cruises, I entered specific room numbers - triples, quads, double, single occ. - to test the system, and as a attempt to find a room to assign. Not one was available. All suites on the June cruise were waitlisted. Everything else, top to bottom, was guarantee only. It didn't matter if it was with or without Have It  All, group fares, or any promotion; 
HAL was not going to show me their hand, not even for a cruise 5 months from now.    

18 hours ago, Noggins said:

Do they go to the Caribbean because they have to, to satisfy demand and accept that prices have to be moderated - or is it a myth and lower prices are compensated by higher passenger numbers (on average) and hence higher profits.

It's where the money is. People on the east coast and midwest tend to vacation in the Caribbean. Tens of thousands of travelers choose ships to get there instead of planes (better value) . 

With Explora's 7 day itineraries + the Caribbean, Explora should do well.   

West coasters go to Hawaii or Mexican Riviera   But most people fly to Hawaii, so that cruise route isn't lucrative, and can't be done in 7 days. 

And Mexican Riviera cruises don't attract the same numbers as the Caribbean.  

18 hours ago, Noggins said:

as we saw, parents put their children on separate tables in the restaurants so they are undisturbed by them - never mind the rest of us!!

Actually this was a very traditional way to cruise in the 1960's. Children's tables were set in a room off of the main dining room. 

My sister and I were initially assigned to the children's dining room during a TA crossing on Italian Line (SS Cristoforo Columbo). My father came got us, and from then on we sat with our parents.   

14 hours ago, If_this_is_tuesday said:

Finally the question is my cruises are pretty much drinking, eating, and watching sports on tv.

11 hours ago, If_this_is_tuesday said:

Shows, casino, ports, spa, lounges etc... i don't care about. 

With respect I ask why do you cruise ?

Everything you like to do, you can do at home. 

On 3/2/2024 at 1:47 AM, uktog said:

As Explora don’t do air they take a very cavalier attitude to making changes. Perhaps if they had to manage the air portion consequences they would understand our frustration.

Just curious as to how much notice they gave you about the itinerary change ?

19 hours ago, Sunshine3601 said:

Does make me wonder if his Brother or Father were providing him with drinks.

Yes, or strangers he was partying with. Reportedly he was only 20. 

It's good that the crew knew exactly when/where he went overboard.   

I hope the CG finds him.

By the way, high praise and many thanks to the captain for his commitment to the safety of his ship, crew and passengers. There is no doubt he was in touch with NCL Marine Operations back in the US and they made the decisions together. If I was in his shoes, there would be no way I would allow an unfamiliar foreign vessel to pull up next to mine to return late passengers in a part of the world known for piracy.  I would have no way of knowing who else is on that boat.  Unless it was SEAL Team Six, no one could change my mind. 

8 minutes ago, dmwnc1959 said:

So, there is some ‘admission of guilt’ by NCL. 

Not at all. It's a goodwill gesture, and the right thing to do.

The passengers were required to get to the next port of call (Gambia) at their own expense, 

and they did so. It wasn't the passengers'  fault that the ship couldn't get in,  and had to move on to the next scheduled port.  

8 minutes ago, dmwnc1959 said:

It has already been reported at NCL plans on reimbursing these passengers for all of their expensive getting back to the ship. 

8 minutes ago, dmwnc1959 said:

“Despite the series of unfortunate events outside of our control, we will be reimbursing these eight guests for their travel costs from Banjur, Gambia to Dakar, Senegal," a cruise line spokesperson said. 

NCL is reimbursing them only for the Gambia to Senegal portion, not their entire "adventure" which began in Sao Tome. This makes perfect sense, 

since the ship wasn't able to get into Gambia, which was the scheduled port after Sao Tome. 

12 minutes ago, graphicguy said:

Makes me wonder if anyone would really try to file suit against NCL (where it would be filed I think would be a big issue)!  

The location for filing law suits against a cruise line is printed on the cruse ticket's terms and conditions. 

1962. Matson Lines.

There have been two responses to the "Gothenburg person" question.

One said it was a typo, another said it was a stereotype of a Swedish person. 

I still don't get it, and I can't be the only one.

Will the OP please explain it ? 

On 3/29/2024 at 11:45 AM, cbr663 said:

Many passengers who have decades of sailing without a cell phone and high speed internet access now suddenly must have it to cruise.  

Thankfully many of us still don't. 

Susan, it won't happen again. 

I'd delete my post, but it's too late.

On 7/9/2023 at 6:10 PM, asebastian said:

I beg to differ, @RuthC and am not attacking you over this. Not sure where or what you've been served. Not to name drop, but Chef Bitta is a personal friend of mine, he's the Exec Chef on the Nieuw Amsterdam now and 15 years on other HAL ships. I just sent him a message about this and he was horrified, said you should have complained and sent your plate back if that was the case!

A few years ago when HAL was still  using the beautiful plates with the HAL logo, my MDR waiter would place the plate in front of me with the logo at the 3:00, 5:00, etc. positions instead of straight up at 12:00.  I finally mentioned it to the Maitre d', and he was also "horrified".

Problem solved, never happened again. 

Another example: serving hot tea without a small pot of hot water, so the tea bag steeps in the pot, not in the cup.  It happened once (ass't waiter), and after I mentioned it to our table waiter, it was corrected. 

Occasionally there's the impression that some waiters think we don't notice if the service is correct or not, or that we won't speak up if it's amiss.

HAL has a reputation for excellent service; if we let it slide, it will slowly erode away.   

Gale warning for southern California waters yesterday, last night, and today.

Maybe it was better for passengers' comfort to stay in port a few extra hours. 

I would like to know too.

Recently a friend had trouble getting the Military Credit applied to his booking. He's been "verified", yet the HAL website said the credit had already been used on his "other" booking. He has one current/active booking. 

The offer is attached to Mariner numbers, and I thought that when a new booking is made, the Military OBC is automatically applied after a few days.