iceman93

I'm also opposed to upcharges, but it's what we get as consumers where we choose based on price above all else. When many people are booking cruises, I guess they search 7-day Caribbean itineraries (or whatever) and just pick whoever's the cheapest. I'd rather HAL increase the fares a scooch and continue to deliver a non-nickel-and-dimed experience, but I don't choose based solely on base fare. Sadly HAL may no longer have the brand cache needed to convince people they're worth more than other lines; moving to constant upcharges, though, runs the risk of diminishing the brand even further.

On my recent NS cruise, I never found a bar that I liked enough to go out of my way to visit again. They were all adequate, so whenever I wanted a drink I just went to whichever one was most convenient. Usually a couple of days into a cruise my wife and I find a bar (and let's be honest, it's usually an outstanding barTENDER) that becomes our go-to spot.

On our recent Nieuw Statendam cruise, Club HAL operated every day (both sea days and port days) from 9:00am-11:30am, 1:00pm-4:00pm, and 7:00pm-10:00pm. It would have been nice if they had done the extended hours on port days, but I guess they didn't feel there were enough kids on board to do so.

It looks like HAL is having a clearance sale! Maybe they know something about the impending elimination of all mask requirements...

Doesn't it take longer than that from exposure to infection to symptoms?

This is exactly the approach Disney uses. They put their newest ships with all the new amenities and features on the short (3-7 day) Caribbean and Bahamas cruises, which frees up the older, smaller vessels to do more interesting, longer itineraries. Plus their two original ships, the Magic and the Wonder, feel so familiar as a HAL cruiser because they were built by Fincantieri.

Masking on a cruise sucks, no question. But don't think that vaxxing and boosting multiple times is really going to protect you. There are lots of reports here (anecdotal, of course) of folks like that who caught COVID and had to quarantine on their cruises.

I can't speak to a Hawaii cruise in particular, which features lots of sea days in a row. But on my recent 18-day Nieuw Statendam cruise, my experience regarding cruise activities was similar to what you described from your last HAL cruise. That being said, it was fine for us. We like trivia, my daughters enjoyed the art classes, and otherwise we were happy to entertain ourselves. But I suspect you're setting yourself up for disappointment if you book that HAL Hawaii cruise.

This is what I mean by Uber pickup "around the corner". It's a very short walk and totally do-able with rolling suitcases.

I was on the cruise just before yours, and lots of people complained about the wait for a taxi at the pier (one-hour waits seemed to be common). My family walked around the corner and called for an Uber that picked us up in five minutes. HAL also offers transfers that you can book on board. That won't be the cheapest option, but should certainly be convenient and stress-free.

I've always been curious how many of those they actually sell!

When I board my next cruise, anyone who asks is welcome to have my unopened masks! 😄

We were also on the previous 18-day cruise, and had towel animals every night; chocolates only on dressy nights. Whether that was due to us being in the pinnacle suite, having two kids in our stateroom, or just creative room stewards I guess we'll never know.

My guess is that it's difficult to justify all the space and weight a tux (for example) takes up when you're only going to wear it once. But if there are going to be multiple dressy nights on a longer cruise, it's easier to justify.

It sounds like HAL would tick some of your boxes and leave others unticked (as it sounds RCCL and MSC did as well). Have you looked at Disney? Their cruises are expensive but I think would tick *all* the boxes for all three generations in your travel party.

How was the Orange Party? On the cruise just before yours I got to experience my first one, and I have to say it was a letdown. Yes, they offered two orange-themed cocktails (that were both pretty tasty), but otherwise they did nothing special and certainly nothing like the extravaganza that is described on the HAL website!

But the title of the thread says for ALL cruises. So no one's prediction can be deemed the winner just yet!

Dress code (such as it is these days) is only for sit-down dining venues. While some people do enjoy dressing up for the entire evening on ex-formal, ex- gala, dressy nights there will be plenty of people who don't (and that's perfectly okay).

In years gone by, my wife and I played Texas Hold'em at a real table with a real dealer most nights in the casino, and the table was always packed with people waiting to join. A few years ago, the real table with real dealer was replaced with an automated, screen-based table that we still used for tournaments but saw empty most other times. The cruise I just finished had no poker at all, but plenty of unused slot machines and bored dealers standing by empty table games of other types. Hopefully HAL knows more than we passengers do, but it certainly seems like they're leaving money on the table (so to speak).

No poker of any kind on the NS, @ole goat. My wife and I were disappointed as well.

That's a great question, @oakridger! I found it humorous (as one who doesn't believe in masking) how many times on my recent cruise I saw crew members walking around without masks, many of whom would quickly pull it up when seeing a passenger coming. I strongly suspect most cruise ship staff would prefer a masks optional policy that lets them make their own decision regarding risk tolerance.

I, too, miss the days of the kinds of entertainment you just described, @MarylandBob. I just got off the NS which I assume had the same entertainers @The-Inside-Cabin is quite pleased with--we found the shows not to our liking and the talent of the musicians quite lacking. But while we miss things like live music in the dining room and a DJ playing current dance hits in the crow's nest late at night (and believe me, the only way to describe what they're playing now as "current dance hits" is if the ship is actually a time machine back to the 50's and 60's), we still had a great time on our cruise. The casino was another disappointment as both my wife and I like to play Texas Hold 'em poker--in years gone by it was at a table with a live dealer, a few years ago it was an automated machine, and on this cruise there was no poker at all. So we spent our time and money on other things! In so many ways it seems that HAL is a cruise line in search of a distinct identity. They put in the music walk supposedly to appeal to younger cruisers, but it's a half-hearted effort at best that is likely to leave younger cruisers disappointed. We attended a couple of the EXC Talks, which are supposed to be deep dives into relevant subjects of interest, but instead they were just watered-down TED Talks read off a script by the cruise director (who clearly knew nothing about the subjects she was speaking about). HAL's tagline has shifted from "A signature of excellence" to "Savor the journey", but I feel they're not really delivering either way. All that being said, the overall HAL experience is still a good one--they just don't shine in any particular area like they used to. If onboard entertainment is one of your main criteria for picking a cruise line, I'd be hard-pressed to recommend HAL given the other lines out there that seem to be putting specific emphasis (and monetary investment) into theirs. But if you can make do with what HAL offers, then it might be worth giving them another try--just know in advance what you'll be getting (which I guess is exactly why you started this thread!).

Technically you are correct. Technically, "recommended" is also the same as "optional".

They are different. Both are good, but the Pinnacle burger is more fancy in terms of the bun, ground beef, seasonings, and toppings.

I saw plenty of lanyards on my recent cruise, though I don't use one myself as I'd rather keep my keycard securely in my pocket. The only time I ever saw lanyard users looked down upon was on Disney, where a certain subset of the passengers seem to use their lanyard as a way to brag about all their previous cruises (i.e. using the platinum Castaway Club lanyard, putting pins on from previous cruises, etc.).