sugcarol

I'm sure you are correct about not being worth the effort for 100.00. I booked online and price came up 2129.10. RCI asked for 500.00 deposit. I called and they overrode deposit to 250.00, but cruise price never changed, it just told me what was due at final, which was 2129.10 less 250.00. I guess that is how they cover themselves because original cruise price never changed.

I guess another way of checking is to book a dummy cruise, get the entire amount due, then deduct the normal deposit. That balance should not change.

For example

7 day cruise for two in balcony cabin=2000.00 including all tax. Less normal deposit 500.00.=1500.00 due at final payment. vs

7 day cruise for two in balcony=2000.00 including all tax. Less 1/2 deposit of 250.00=1750.00 due at final payment.

Both of these scenarios remain the same, Cruise is 2000.00

I call this fuzzy math but it is legal for them to do this, and we are willing to lose the entire deposit if we were to cancel.

These are very pretty as far as lanyards go.

https://www.facebook.com/Unsunken-Treasures-909939595713769/?fref=ts

We are booked under the same 1/2 deposit They really are just deferring the balance of the deposit to the final payment amount, so in essence you are still paying 200.00 deposit. As for canceling under that promo, I understand the 200.00 deposit would come into play and the cruiseline is correct in what they are telling you.

What would have been an acceptable meal for the cruise line to prepare?? Guess I always thought Vegan just didn't eat red meat. What kind of meals are prepared at home that fit the requirements? Seems like a tough task for ship to make something so restrictive with so few Vegans onboard.

I's just amazing that fire departments can figure out that a full blown fire was caused by a cigarette butt that was tossed in a garden 12 hours before. God bless them, we need more fire departments like that.

How helpful is it to mention on the HAL board how black a person's teeth are from smoking cigars and posting about what they experienced on Princess. I don't see the connection.

I think it might be helpful if CC copied a large Disney website that has a huge thread about smoking at Disney. It's been going now for several years and nobody insults anyone or their beliefs. Moderator stated from the getgo that everyone had to be civil or it would be taken down for good. People inform folks what hotels and locations of smoking areas. People not interested just don't click on the thread. Everyone is civil and kind. Maybe people on this board should see how civilized people handle the subject. This thread should give info on what they have experienced on each ship not people just stating their opinions. I don't want Walt to close this, I just want to know what is happening with HAL and this issue.

Dry dock is January 2016.

I found youtube of #1864 on Voyager. NICE cabin!!

I don't believe they have added those staterooms yet, I think they will be added during dry dock. Someone will correct me if that is not right. There are pictures for #1864 on Freedom of the Seas, which will be just like the ones that will be on LOTS, so try doing a search for that on CC or Google.

When we sailed on Emerald Princess last December, they had two nights smoke free in casino. There were only 6 people at the slots and nobody at the tables, on the first night and a couple of people at the slots and 2 people at the Black Jack table. We went in several times during those nights and table dealers were not a happy bunch. Where were all the nonsmokers that wanted a smoke free casino?

I have a Therapy Hamster that I must bring on cruises. It has a little coat it wears, to designate. They don't live a long time, so I have learned to call all of them Harvey.

Wow, no smoking in the casino on a HAL ship. Please tell us what ship he was on, news like that in this thread is important. I don't live on this board like some people do, from now on I will check periodically, but in the meantime it would be helpful to know what ship that poster was on.

I love to cruise, and love HAL, I will still cruise if balcony smoking is banned, I have a choice as everyone does. After all these pages on the subject, it's time to give it a rest and worry about things that really matter. We're darn lucky to be able to cruise at all, I know I am.

I haven't gone through every post, but there seem to be several people complaining about smoking that still have cruises booked, so must not be all that bad. It's still legal and HAL allows it so if folks don't like it, there are many other cruise lines to choose from.

So far HAL is not hurting by anti smokers cancelling their cruises or booking other lines due to their policy. I'm sure they would change to non smoking on balconies if it was directly affecting their sales. There are a lot of people complaining on here, but this website is a tiny portion of the people who are booking HAL. I'm very happy with their decision.

I have been watching prices for the last few days including just now. I have BOGO, plus Diamond balcony and additional 100.00 off for an E2. If the new sale gets me a D1 for same price or a little more I will change, but if they bump prices up to take 30% off then no dice. I will post tomorrow what ends up happening with my particular booking. Frankly the more I read about the way RCCL prices their sales, the more disgusted I become. Celebrity and HAL actually offer true sales and not jack around raising in order to lower

That liquor menu doesn't really help me to figure out what kind of drink can be put together. last RCCL sailing I could order Cosmopolitan and Margarita on the rocks, other than that no other frufru drinks. The sailing before that, we could get Mojitos and Pina Coladas, but they stopped that.

October 12-November 9 For all sailings after November 12/2015

Includes 1600 sailings, Next cruise, Diamond discounts etc will be allowed.

yup, just reading about it. If they jack the price up to knock 30% off no dice. I will watch how this plays out, based on what I'm paying BOGO then the new sale would save me money, you are so right let the fun begin. RCCL has been getting heat from travel agents about the inflated prices prior to discount release, hopefully they realize we are not stupid.

OK that makes sense. It might even be a couple of months before they inform the majority of people on the 2/5/17 that it has been chartered. I just started to put 2 and 2 together when the sailing fell off the radar and when I called HAL it was confirmed.

Boytjie, I see you are doing an RSVP February 2016. On that cruise will they announce the 2017 RSVP on Koningsdam or do they usually announce the next one earlier than that? If so, maybe that is why there is so little info about this yet.

I didn't realize that I could state that. Got AS Suite for 1199.00 PP and 200.00 OBC. We did accept the offer so we will be on Koningsdam afterall

Holland America through online agency made us an attractive offer to sail on 1/15/2017 with a nice OBC to boot as an apology. I know I'm not supposed to mention pricing on this board, but I'm sure everyone who is booked on the 2/5/17 cruise will get the same treatment from HAL when they choose another sailing.

I am also a travel agent but I could not get as big a discount on the cruise even factoring in the commission as the online agency. I called travel agent line at HAL and it happened to be that the person I was talking to was in the next cubicle of the person who handles the charters. She talked to them and came back on the line to tell me that indeed it is an RSVP charter but not posted yet., however the sailing has disappeared from all websites including the online agency that I booked with. I did . post a question on the online agency's Facebook page and they answered immediately about my concern. Facebook is a great place to get info pronto because they don't want bad press to be seen by thousands. I was polite.