Toofarfromthesea

You can have a great cruise or you can have a lousy cruise.  The biggest determining factor is your state of mind.  If you go on a cruise expecting to be disappointed you surely will be.  Don't focus on the thing you can't have, focus on what you do have.  

I booked a single Oceanview on Koningsdam and was then able to get a free upgrade to a larger double Oceanview via Club Orange.

5 hours ago, Red Haired Lady said:

Yes they do.  I was on the March 30-Apr13 Westerdam cruise in Japan.  According to posts on our roll call it was oversold by 52 cabins.  People received offers to take other cruises. I did not hear of anyone actually being refused, but I know of one who booked an unobstructed OV guarantee and got an obstructed OV.

 

This is the roll call link. Most of the discussion starts with post 501. 

 

 

I just booked another HAL cruise while onboard the Westerdam and the future cruise consultant told me that HAL overbooked 52 rooms on the March 30 cruise. She doesn’t know the reason why. But she did say fhat she has to move from a regular stateroom to crew quarters. 

 

I don't see the relevance.  She was not a paying customer who selected a guaranteed cabin, she was an employee who apparently is given a perk of a regular stateroom, apparently on an 'as available' basis and this time one wasn't available.

26 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

Hmm, With that logic why not only have cleaning 3 days a week. serve 2 meals day, etc.  Cut-backs are simply that....CUTBACKS.  As some cruise lines continue to cutback (and this includes HAL) they are not passing along the savings to passengers.

 

Hank

They need to have cutbacks to reduce the debt load they assumed due to the pandemic.  The point I was making was that they seem to be making cutbacks that least affect passengers.  No one NEEDS to have their room cleaned twice a day.

If they 'passed the savings to passengers' they would be defeating the purpose of using the savings to pay down debt.

18 hours ago, TheMichael said:

 

I do see the cutbacks though. One cleaning per day means fewer stewards needed. 

Just curious, how many times a day do you clean your house?  Is just one cleaning a day really such a hardship?

6 hours ago, sparks1093 said:

Of course it can, which is why the main stream lines offer all of the add ons. Passengers then decide which items they want. A fare that includes specialty dining, for example, would do nothing for us because that's not something we pay for anyway so having it included in the fare would not be an enticement. 

The other issue is that if it was free everyone would have it, usage would go up, and more usage on the ship's fix bandwidth would degrade performance for everyone.

Buh bye.

"I want it so it should be free" is not the compelling argument you think it is.

On 5/13/2024 at 4:21 AM, Honolulu Blue said:

Probably not, but I DO select itineraries (and their cruise ships, and cruise lines) based on where they sail from.  All else equal, I prefer to sail from ports with better terminals.

Better in what sense, efficiency or aesthetics?

5 hours ago, ecs66 said:

Or Bill Gates bundling MS Office free with new PCs at the beginning of Windows. 

Or, going waaaay back, including solitaire with the first iteration of Windows to train users to use the mouse.

No one selects a cruise or a cruiseline for the ambiance of the terminal.

1 hour ago, ldubs said:

 

Thanks.  Apparently different rules for State vs Federal courts may apply.  

 

And federal court rules do not vary by state, so the original contention that the age 70 exclusion was a Colorado thing was wrong.

FWIW, this was one of our favorite excursions.  The meal was one of the best I ever had, and I'm not much of a salmon person.  The view of the glaciers from the seaplane was spectacular.  We even got some unplanned entertainment.  While we were eating, a bear came out of the woods and ambled up to the outdoor grill they cook the salmon on.  He proceeded to scoop the grease from the bottom of the grill and chow down on it.  Good times and great memories.

33 minutes ago, albingirl said:

I consider lunch in the Pinnacle to be a very special occasion.  The filet with creamed spinach and mashed potatoes are really something I'm not having on a regular basis where I live.  Bring it on.  I will happily leave my coveted lounge chair and book to enjoy a very fun lunch complete with a great glass of wine. 

I was a big fan of the carpaccio.  One of my best bites all cruise.

2 hours ago, Petronillus said:

 

I think OP was hoping that in a joint billed as "fine dining," his/her comfort food would be raised to a new level. Getting the same old same old was a letdown. I get it.

Lots of fine dining restaurants serve mashed potatoes.  They may call it something fancier but it is what it is.  IAC he didn't say anything about the quality of the things he ordered.

7 hours ago, nannygoatjunction said:

I understand it is a steakhouse. I didnt say i didn't enjoy the food. 😬 and, yes, it was part of the hia package.  It is promoted as fine dining, which I guess I think of as something that takes skill to prepare, not something my kids can cook up and we eat every week.  I will eat mash taties till the cows come home.  If its offered, I can't help myself!  Hence, why I chose it.  I know many are happy, I had hoped for a little bit of exceptional. 😆 

To get exceptional you have to order something exceptional, not your same old same old.  There are exceptional things on the menu, you just chose . . . differently.

15 hours ago, nannygoatjunction said:

We had our meal last night on our embarkation day.

Seriously. Fried onion rings and mashed spud with steak? Not my idea of fine dining thats for sure.  😂

 

 

Isn't that what you ordered?  Didn't you have other choices?

On 4/23/2024 at 8:06 AM, 9tee2Sea said:

Try looking into MSC.  Very different feel than NCL.  A very European crowd on board.

I was going to ask if they just want to cruise around Europe or if they want a European experience.  If the latter I completely agree with you.  Particularly, but not necessarily, in the Yacht Club.

7 minutes ago, Mary229 said:

They are slow to process all refunds. There is another thread about onboard spending account errors and that is likely also just slow paying 

Oh, OK, I guess that makes sense, thanks.

20 hours ago, Mary229 said:

I am sorry that happened but it does sound like an honest mistake.   I hope you enjoy the cruise 

I agree, but the one thing that puzzles me is why HAL is holding onto the upsell money instead of just refunding it

11 hours ago, Sea42 said:

But 10 days for a confirmation isn't really a drop everything situation or an unreasonable expectation.

I was talking about this: "Like you, we have had trouble finding ones that meet all three of your criteria"

The 3 criteria encompassed more than getting a confirmation in less than 10 days.

6 hours ago, Torquer said:

@CafeBruno I think what you are looking for is very reasonable.  We are in a similar situation, that when we book a cruise we know exactly what we want and the only reason we use a TA is for the discount/rebate we get from them.  We always book the top suites on our cruises, so the TA gets a much bigger commission from the cruise line than someone who books an inside cabin for no more work than their booking, so we think we should get a large discount/rebate.  Like you, we have had trouble finding ones that meet all three of your criteria and we have changed TAs several times and now use a couple different TAs based on the best discount they can give us for that specific cruise.  The only point I would quibble about is your expectation of a 10% discount.  We have looked around a lot and have not found that recently.  8% or so used to be pretty common and one time we got a 9+% discount, but post-covid the best we can find is a 6-7% discount.

Sounds like you want it both ways.  You claim that you only want the best deal, but the next minute you seem to want 'drop everything to take of me' service.

6 hours ago, SusieKIslandGirl said:

@dockmanI'm not sure I understand your question. It seems the main point is getting a faster reply, so how does that reduce the agent's commission?

Because the NEXT booking takes priority over your existing booking.

8 hours ago, Steerpike58 said:

Thanks for the detailed replies to my message; I'll review and digest the info and probably come back with more questions shortly.   In the meantime, I did a sample booking and was surprised to see the very high premium associated with choosing your own room!  For a basic 'ocean view' room on a 14-day cruise, the difference between choosing my own room vs letting HA assign it was $700 - 

(and I think the premium was higher if I chose a better room class).  Is this always the case and why do they charge such a premium?  

 

The more I go through the details, the more I see the 'value proposition' eroding between HA and Viking!  The 'starting price' for HA is much lower, but - Viking include specialty coffees, sparkling water, basic wine/beer with meals, basic WiFi, specific room choice, one excursion per port, (some) specialty dining, and probably more I haven't figured out yet!  It's still hopefully going to be cheaper, but not by as much as I first thought. I guess that's somewhat obvious! (not trying to turn this into a Viking vs HA debate, just making some observations!). 

 

If you get Club Orange and book the lowest class 'guaranteed' cabin I'm pretty sure you can use the Club Orange complimentary upgrade to upgrade to a specific cabin in the highest class within your category.

21 hours ago, neutral333 said:

 

So, I contacted my TA. He sent an updated confirmation with the $100 added. Should I show that at the moment of sailing or it's going to appear automatically during the cruise?

 

Thanks 

It should happen automatically, but on my last cruise it didn't.  It was simple to get it added by Guest services.  Just be sure to bring your documentation.