Tom O.

DivotMaker,

Last week I was finally able to make reservations for my August 9 cruise. But I got a similar screen  as you when I clicked on the Available Dates section. However, if I clicked on Buy Now, a screen opened up that allowed me to choose a day and time and complete the reservation.

If you prepay for your dining, you could book an excursion or two after boarding. That would burn up a lot of your OBC. Or you could buy a beverage package after boarding.

We like to eat early and we usually don't have any trouble getting reservations. But we prefer to book ahead of time, because we are real fussy about which days to eat at the specialty restaurants.

3 minutes ago, colbe said:

Look in 'Gifts and Indulgences'. Scroll to the bottom. I can see it here for my October cruise.

Thank You! I found it.

7 minutes ago, ZSandy25 said:

I love this service, DH loves his clothes with a good press and he uses this service frequently... he does all the ironing at home.  The grandsons send their shirts over to him because he does a better job than their mom :):) I enjoy my home service also.  He put a sign in my closet that says, Caution, sharp creases!

I hope my wife doesn't see your post!

4 minutes ago, colbe said:

Log into your account. Go to 'Cruise Activities' and then to 'Packages'. Laundry is down at the bottom of the list.

Have a great cruise.

Thanks, but it is not there for me. Maybe it is too soon, my cruise is not til August. I don't have a Packages under Cruise Activities. I have Specialty Dining, Dining Packages, Spa, Gifts and Indulgences, and Beverages.

Where on the HAL website can I find laundry packages?  Can't find it anywhere. Or is it only offered after boarding?

10 hours ago, crystalspin said:

One thing about the table is that it is adjustable from coffee table height to eating height. Not sure what difference that would make in your situation, but thought I'd mention it.

I have been on several HAL cruises now and have never realized that the table height is adjustable. We often have dinner in our room, and have been bending over all this time! Thank you for this information.

I did the 15 day cruise with Princess. We had the roughest seas, both ways, that I have ever seen. Most of the passengers were seasick. It was so bad it was difficult to walk around. As a result, everybody just stayed in their cabins. Even the MDR was nearly empty every night. The seas were nice once we got to Hawaii, but then we had to come back.

Lots of people prefer the larger ships. And the Pinnacle class ships, like the Nieuw Statendam are the largest of the HAL fleet. But they are still much smaller than the really big ships of NCL, RCL, Princess, and others. This is a matter of personal choice.

It is nice to have the choice of the Tamarind.

Enjoy your cruise, no matter what you choose. 

I would pick the Baltic too. But if possible, you might consider a smaller ship. This is simply because you would probably get to dock in a more ideal location. But this only applies to a few ports and it also depends on how many ships are in port on a given day.

1 hour ago, kazu said:

 

If the cruise line cancels the cruise, they refund you themselves.  Not how this is a benefit other than for airfare or hotels if you prepaid??

This is my original statement from post #5: "If a cruise is canceled because of a pandemic, then any losses you would suffer would also be covered." Those losses would be hotels, flights, etc. Then debshomespun interpreted that to mean, that I was saying if I chose to cancel, then I would be covered, which I never said.

The part you quoted was simply me trying to make it clearer for debhomespun.

So you are correct, this coverage would just cover expenses other than the cruise itself.

40 minutes ago, debshomespun said:

Pandemics are not a covered item, along with Terrorism.   Best to call each Insurance directly and ask just what is and isn't covered, especially with the new Coronavirus going around. 

Also, Terrorism is covered on my policy. Allianz has different levels of insurance, and maybe some don't cover terrorism. Here is what I copied off my policy on covered reasons for canceling:

16. A terrorist event happens within 100 miles of any U.S. or foreign city you are traveling to during your trip, as
indicated on your original itinerary.
The following condition applies:
a. A terrorist event must not have occurred within 25 miles of that city any time in the 30 days prior to your
policy’s Coverage Effective Date

(The effective date is the date I purchased the policy)

13 minutes ago, debshomespun said:

This is NOT TRUE.   If there is a pandemic, such as the Coronavirus, and you do not want to go on your cruise, you are NOT covered with Allianz Worldwide Travel Protection Plan.  If you have Cancel for Any Reason, from what I am understanding from others that have been posting on these boards, again, it is not covered.

I didn't mean to say it would be covered if I chose to cancel a cruise. If the cruise line cancels the cruise you would be covered.

I have the Allianz Worldwide Travel Protection Plan, that I purchased from my TA, but you can also purchase it directly from Allianz online.

It more than covers any medical situation. There is no specific mention of any particular disease, so the new virus would not be handled any different.

If a cruise is canceled because of a pandemic, then any losses you would suffer would also be covered.

How much it costs depends on your age, the length of your vacation, the total cost of your trip, and (I think) where you are going.

There are other insurance companies out there that are probably cheaper, but Allianz has been around a long time and is the largest insurance company in the world.

Not allowed because of possible fire hazard.

6 minutes ago, fatcat04 said:

No, sadly you can not just pay the difference in price. 

That is correct, if you have the SBP and order a $15 drink you will be charged the full $15.

However, there are lots of drinks that fall under $11 threshold. Unless you insist on a premium ingredient in your drink, you shouldn't need the Elite BP.

A comparison between Seabourn and HAL is sort of like a road test between a Rolls Royce and a Chevy.

Sure the Rolls is a lot nicer, but is it worth the extra cost? Getting a Chevy is the smarter choice, but for those who have the means, why not get the Rolls?

The biggest risk is medical, especially medical evacuation. I get a $1 million dollar medical evacuation policy.

If you lost all of the cost of the cruise, flights, hotels, etc., you would be sad, but not broke. After all, you were going to spend that money anyway.

But the plan, I get includes all that cancellation protections as well, but I consider this of secondary importance.

If you have expenses that can be cancelled at the last minute without penalty, there is no need to insure them.

2 hours ago, DivotMaker said:

 

If you use the NS concierge, will your chances of securing a table increase for the MDR during open seating or is the volume such that it wouldn't really matter?

I was hoping someone else would answer your question, as I have no experience with suites at all. But I would think you would have an easier time making reservations. For regular passengers, such as myself, we have to line up at the podium of the MDR after boarding. Sometimes the line is long. This is the reason I usually make advanced reservations at the Pinnacle Grill for the first night. That way I only have to worry about the next couple of nights, and I usually have one or both of those days set so they deliver the dinner to our room.

Ruth is correct, but I will add, that the reservations for open seating cannot be made until after you board.

Does your cruise tour include a day on the train? If not, I would add that, it is a wonderful experience.

Our cruise tour included the train from Anchorage to Denali. It was terrific.

9 minutes ago, geocruiser said:

I can ask for a can and they will then take $2.50 off my card?

They will take off the card whatever the normal charge in cash would be.

According to the Roger Jett menus, the charge for canned soda is the same as a fountain soda. I honestly don't remember what the charge was during my last cruise.

But normally you always get fountain drinks, but as Ruth mentioned above, if you order something out of the ordinary, they won't have it available in the soda fountain and bring you a can instead.

I have never tried asking for cans, as fountain drinks are fine with me.

Just remember that you cannot use the soda card for items found in your fridge (mini-bar). But if you get some cans of soda at the bar, I suppose you could restock your mini-bar, and not get charged for those items at the end of the cruise.

Including the 15% service charge that makes each soda cost $2.88. So that would make a $50 soda card be good for a little over 17 drinks. That also means that you only have to use it to buy 9 drinks to come out ahead.

On 1/30/2020 at 8:14 PM, AtleeH said:

 

The wait is over for us.   Got an email from HAL today.  Our Guarantee VF Verandah was changed to VB 4178, on the fantail.  When we booked, we linked with my wife's sister.  She booked a Neptune suite.  She is in Suite 4180 which is on the corner on the fantail next door to us.  Before, we've always been amidship, either in an inside cabin or in a balcony stateroom.

I think you will love the aft facing cabin. It is our favorite location. And you are lucky enough to be traveling with someone who paid extra for the wrap around suite! That will be great! Kudos for HAL for not putting you in another location.

If you plan on doing any specialty dining, the first night is a good choice. You can make a reservation for specialty dining in advance of your cruise. I find the open dining a bit confusing on the first night, and there is usually a longer wait on the first night than on other nights. Then once you are on board, you can make reservations for the next couple of nights without being rushed.

It seems to me that OBC given by HAL during promotions is somewhat of a sales gimmick.

While shopping for a cruise, a customer will see a promotion that includes $500 in OBC and will jump at it even thought the price may be higher than other deals.

But the $500  can only be spent on items where HAL makes a huge margin of profit. So it really only costs HAL $100 or so. If the $500 is spent on items that the customer would have purchased anyway, then they will come out ahead on the deal. But if the customer has to scramble around looking for things to use the money on, and end up buying things they would never have paid for, then it is not such a good deal.

Using promotional OBC in the casino, used to be a way for clever passengers to sort of launder that money and turn it into cash. I guess HAL has figured out this trick, and is shutting it down.