Florida_gal_50

I’m so with you on this. I’ve been through the canal around 10 times and I’d do another 10. First time around I was in my early 40’s I think and pretty agile. I spent a lot of time on the bow. So many people. Now it’s excruciating for me to stand in one spot for more than 5 minutes. It’s easier to be moving. I’ve spent the last several transits in my cabana or on the balcony and I don’t feel I’ve lost anything through that. To each their own I guess. I just don’t want to be around a ton of people.

It’s for the cabana so $399 total.

Yes it’s still there. That price is probably the correct price. I booked one (not lido) recently and it was the same price as listed here https://rogerjett-photography.com/here/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/HAL-Cabanas.pdf

I’ve been on ships a few times over Easter, generally on canal cruises. I’ve found some decorations and maybe some small chocolate eggs. I don’t remember anything special on the menu. I like lamb so I would have ordered it if available.

Actually I do know that because I’m interested in those cruises. You do know that those cruise are. mostly going to the Caribbean though with maybe a canal cruise here and there. I was thinking about booking one of these but with a recent job change I don’t think it will work. I would love to see hal do this because it’s actually easier for me to get to Houston than San Diego. It rare that I can get a non stop to San Diego and they usually get canceled. That said getting to the port in Galveston is a bit of a challenge as it’s not sure close to Houston and prone to fog at certain times of year.

Yes, exactly my point. It makes more sense to use smaller older ships for these unique itineraries. I imagine at least some people that take the 7 day cruises would look for more amenities. I know I do. If hal is trying to attract a younger crowd I would think it would be easier to do that with the pinnacle class rather than the volendam or zaandam.

I’ve heard that about the prinsendam when it was in service for hal. I know of a couple people that got great deals a couple of months before sailing. I’m not saying grand voyages per say. That said I can’t see the koningsdam or the other pinnacle ships being 100 percent booked for grand voyages or world cruises. I would think ports would be a problem as well.

I think you’ll have better luck. Because you are with a ta and want to “change” the reservation club orange probably can’t do that. It sounds like the others booked with the cruise line directly but I could be wrong. I’ve had to pay immediately for my club orange even when final payment wasn’t due. This was true even when I booked directly. Others have reported not having to. Hal has different rules for everyone.

That went by fast. Thanks for all the information you provided. Have a pleasant trip home.

That’s odd. I bought mine through a ta and have had no problems booking my excursions and using the credit.

I wonder if that is on the non pinnacle ships because you certainly could get them on the koningsdam in club orange. I realize there is no club orange dining room on the other ships.

I’ve had some luck looking at the Princess cruise site. They will usually have similar shore ex. Of course this will only work if it’s a like cruise e.g Caribbean, Mexico, Alaska not if it’s a one off. You can do a pretend booking on their site and right away you can see air, shorex etc. It can’t been too far out though or the shorex aren’t there.

Have a wonderful cruise. I really enjoy your honest live from threads.

Heavily booked? I can see for a world cruise. I wish they’d use the smaller ships since the older crowd prefers them and they are easier to fill and leave the never ships for short cruises. I have zero interest in sailing on the zaandam and I have been on the ship before.

Maybe 7 or 8 years ago bitterballen was served at every cocktail party I went to. Then it went to ground mystery meat on a cracker 🤮. Now nothing. At least there is alcohol 😛.

I can't speak to that because I'm not able to go anywhere at that time. Don't know about super long cruises either as that isn't on my radar any time in the future.

I'm pretty sure the same menu for lunch is offered fleet wide now.

I don't think hal has everything on their website. I see no Mexico cruises as of today for fall of 2023. I hope that isn't the case.

No problem, actually that's where I got it from was navigator. This was the menu that was on the koningsdam and I've seen it posted by a few others as well so I'm assuming it's fleet wide except for the dreaded "express" lunch which I haven't seen thankfully.

That’s what I was thinking too 😛.

Maybe the cut off is 15 days. I do club orange on b2b 7 days (14 days in total) and pay the equivalent of $25 usd per day.

Was it you that asked before you left about doing this? If so I think I mentioned it likely wouldn’t work very well. Personally I’ve never heard of any deals last minute so I don’t think there is any upside plus the cabin selection would likely be slim to none at that point. If that doesn’t matter I don’t know why it would be a problem although they probably wouldn’t know how to handle the accounting side of it.

Forgot to say I love a Bloody Caesar. They make the best I’ve ever tasted but it’s a Canadian thing.

I used a PCC for a very long time. She's been with hal a very long time and still is. She was lovely but she basically told me I could only get a cabin in the same VH category. I pushed the issue and of course I was right.

I had the same experience with the wasabi cocktail but I really enjoy it. Its a fav for sure.