KrissyCruises

I just booked Sel de Mer online for N Statendam March sailing. No longer a la carte, fixed price was $40pp. Website indicated online advance purchase is 20% off onboard price. 

I haven't seen that one before from HAL. Did it come on the ship or in the mail? Nice!

2 hours ago, aa7yy said:

I am with cat shepard. I probably wouldn't laugh but certainly shake my head. I think wandering around the Lido in your bathrobe for breakfast is in bad taste. Was that you ? Did you have curlers in your hair ?

I absolutely agree walking around the lido in a bathrobe for breakfast is in poor taste.
My point was that the poster thinks it’s acceptable behavior to laugh hysterically with their ‘gang’ at someone. That’s juvenile and in poor taste as well. 

11 hours ago, cat shepard said:

My travel gang and I would laugh hysterically at one woman who came in her robe every morning. 

Wow. What are you in high school?? Maybe you and your ‘gang’ should worry about yourselves instead of mocking other guests 😑

On 7/15/2019 at 3:02 AM, oakridger said:

Hi dabear!  It's been a year since your last post.  Did you stay at the Avenida Palace?  If so, would you please share your impressions of the hotel and it's location.  I'll be in Lisbon in June 2020.

 

Thank you!

~Nancy

Chiming in...we stayed at Avenida Palace in April and it was amazing! Returning to Lisbon this coming weekend and staying there again. The most amazing accommodations and  service! Highly recommend. 

5 minutes ago, mudscraper said:

HAL usually uses Budweiser to remove rust from the ship's anchors. You were fortunate to procure six bottles for drinking.

Very helpful 😕

Be sure to carry it on. My daughter packed a 6 pack of flavored seltzer (non alcoholic) in her checked baggage and it was taken out and a note left in her suitcase by security. 

We were on Oosterdam for 2 weeks this Nov/Dec. Bought the highest priced package and had constant connection, no issues and better speed than I expected. (though I didn’t do a Speedtest).Streaming wasn’t great but I don’t know if it was the connection or the source. DH used connection for work without complaints. 

25 minutes ago, POA1 said:

What a difference a day makes. The MDR was sparsely attended because we were in port until 10:00 pm. I ordered our wine "straight through" and this is what our table looked like before any of our food courses hit the table. 

 

 

I took a more overhead angled photo, but this one is better. 

Great shot!  My DH orders straight through as well. It let’s the reds breathe as well as having your wines available with their proper course 🙂

18 minutes ago, POA1 said:

 

Not trying to come across as smug, but I simply asked. That's all. I don't normally ask for doubles because we try to cultivate relationships that provide us with value. If we've done our job well, the ice in our glasses melts really quickly and we have to order a "water back." 

Yikes sorry...

Thanks for the research though! I occasionally find it more convenient to get a double and was surprised it was a problem after many cruises w/beverage packages.  I’m thinking it may be up to the discretion of beverage manager. 

4 minutes ago, POA1 said:

Several people have reported that they could not order doubles on the beverage packages. Initially, I wasn't going to answer the question because we've never run into that restriction before. However, times change. Policies change, and it's possible that there is a restriction on doubles. So, I decided to test the problem. While it does not rise to the level of heroism of taking a bullet, catching a grenade, or stepping in front of a sword - - I tried to order a double from various bars around the ship. Call it taking one for the team.

 

I cannot say, with absolute authority, that you can order doubles everywhere, I'm pretty darn sure that *I* can.

 

Conclusion: Doubles are no problem. Just remember that a double counts as two drinks. (This may not need explanation, one never knows. Do one?) 

Lol thanks for taking one for the team! They had a 3 minute rule on Oosterdam 🙄...first I’ve ever heard of that. Once I ‘made friends’ with certain bar staff all was well. Just wondering if it’s now a fleetwide  policy. 

How are you doing on getting double pours with Elite package?  I had a problem with that (for the first time ever with a beverage package) on Oosterdam earlier this month. 

Really enjoying your reports! TY!

26 minutes ago, keeponcruising said:

Poohby Joe enjoys a glass of sparking wine and some chilled grapes, trying to take his mind off the fact that vacation is RUINED because there are no Retreat robes and one of the LED indicators for Deck 2 is out in the interior button panel of a forward elevator.

Probably a good thing Poohby Joe doesn't know there are matching slippers to be had with the Retreat robes.🤫

28 minutes ago, ATC said:

Was the Casino smoke-free?

Yes! We were on until 12/2 and it was smoke free every night. Fantastic ship and crew!

1 hour ago, POA1 said:

The HAL brochure talks about robes, an Evian mister, and a battery operated fan. None of them are here. On the plus side, only nine of the sixteen cabanas are rented for the whole cruise. Only 4 other cabanas have people in them today. There are two cabana attendants, resulting in service beyond compare.

Love the Evian misters. We usually have to ask cabana attendants for them. Had them earlier this month on Oosterdam. There’re especially refreshing if you pop them in your ice bucket. 

We had the mini fan sans batteries but didn’t bother asking for any...

On 12/10/2018 at 12:27 PM, travelinjones said:

No, it appears that suite guests eat breakfast in th Club Orange area.

Thanks for checking. Great Pinnacle dinner report. Can’t wait to check it out! 

Just caught up on your ‘live’ thread. Thanks for posting! 

With Club Orange open, is Pinnacle still available for suite breakfast?

As I understand it, Oceana, Seabourn, RCL, NCL, Cunard, Princess, and many other lines use oceanbooks.com, a cruise ship library service.  I’m curious as to why Holland doesn’t use them as well considering the ship demographics. 

Apologies as well for the thread distraction. 

8 hours ago, POA1 said:

 

I'll test this for you in 10 days. I drink Maker's Mark on the rocks. They always offer me a double because a single jigger of whiskey in a glass of ice is just like sadness. It needs a friend.

Maker’s Mark is my poison as well. It took a few days and finding the right palm to grease before I could get doubles on Oosterdam in ANY bar with my EBP. Either HAL has changed their policy or it really is up to the Beverage Mgr du jour. “Sorry Mum Kris no doubles, 3 minute wait between pours”. I’ll be very interested in your test results!

We were on 14 day cruise thru 12/1 and had an amazing time. Ship looked amazing and staff was awesome. We were in 7059 and had hot water issues as well. We were given another stateroom to shower in, but we were told we were the only stateroom affected. Apparently not. 🙄

Just off Oosterdam and went to Canaletto once. Sad to say gnocchi w/short ribs should have been a favorite, but the gnocchi was fried! What a shame...

We just got off of Oosterdam with EBP purchased onboard. We’ve had all beverage packages on many past cruises including  EBP, SBP and explore 4 packages. We were surprised we couldn’t get ‘doubles’ this cruise. First time ever. We had to wait 3 minutes to get the second pour. New to us, and we’re 5* mariners. Was it just the ship or a new policy?

Where can I find beach towel chair clips in Miami? I live in a cold climate so hard to find at home. I can also use these on balcony to dry swimwear.

 

Sent from my SM-G930W8 using Forums mobile app

I ordered mine from Amazon :)

Beach towel chair clips.

Sorry to be the lone voice of dissent but..

 

The shade/shaming with with the pictures of the Carnival ship was more than a bit disingenuous.We get it.They ruined your day.

 

Unfortunately,because of the hurricanes,and the damage they did,this will not be the first or last time HAL cruisers get shut out.Complain?yes.But do passive agggresive things like post pictures of the other ship?real mature[/end rant]

I didn’t get shade/shaming from the blog, but pics of an empty aft deck for the OP to enjoy! Pictures of Carnival passengers lined up were meant as a good reference to me...

Seems like they made the best of the unfortunate circumstances :)