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1 hour ago, crystalspin said:

This has always been true (since 2009 at least, and on all HAL ships I've sailed). I call them "air cakes" and don't even bother trying. Cookies and ice cream are good, though!

I found the ones in the MDR to be quite good though. Which doesn't really mesh LOL.

On 7/7/2023 at 5:38 PM, PCruzer said:

Thank you to everyone who took the time to respond.  The negative reviews I read were in the *Reviews* section of this site.  Everything from “the ship was dirty” to “the food was inedible!”  We haven’t cruised at all since 2019.  I found it hard to believe that the Eurodam had gone downhill so rapidly.  But almost every review was negative.  So, thank you again for your responses and restoring my faith in HAL.  We have booked the Eurodam! 😀

We sailed on Eurodam on June 24th. First time with HAL, and only second cruise. The ship was very clean and I was pleasantly surprised that it didn't seem worn out/old, given it's age. We ate in the MDR, the Lido Market, Dive In, room service, and the pizza place (all free). The only food that was lackluster were the desserts in the Lido Market - not really sure why but they didn't have much flavor. The food in the MDR was quite good and service was excellent. The one complaint I've seen that is somewhat true is small portion sizes in the MDR. Yes, they are small, but they were more than enough for me when you consider several courses. Around mid-cruise my 19 yr old son would sometimes order two appetizers if two things struck his fancy, and he frequently helped me finish my food. I generally ate about 1/2 to 3/4 of each of my plates. So, if you're a "big" eater, just order more than one thing.

22 hours ago, CruiserBruce said:

Been discussed here frequently the times don't matter. By the way, those are check in times, not boarding times.

I cannot find anything after going through several pages of posts. Lots of questions about port valet but zero describing how the embarkation process is handled.

We got our assigned times today for our family of 5 in 2 cabins: group A, 11 am and Group D, 12 pm. I assume we should just both plan on the 12pm slot? How early should we arrive? We’ve only cruised once before out of Orlando. I seem to recall there you just got in one big line and they didn’t let you join the line until you’re assigned time so arriving earlier wasn’t needed. Is that how it will work in Seattle too?

1 minute ago, Cruise Suzy said:

 

Anytime diners will enter the MDR on the second deck. In a few rare instances the third deck tables have been used for overflow. Groups of 5 can be seated at tables for 6 or 8. When I look at the MDR diagram on halfacts.com, I see quite a few such tables on the lower level. I know there were many groups of 6 passing by us while we dined on our Eurodam cruise this spring.

Thanks, I'll have to look at halfacts again. I thought I saw most of the 6 tops on the 3rd floor, but it was a while ago that I looked, so maybe I'm misremembering.

We have anytime dining for our trip on Eurodam this summer. Is that only on the 2nd floor dining room, or can we be seated on the 3rd floor as well? Just wondering as there aren't a lot of tables on the 2nd floor for a family of 5 (and we will not be sharing with strangers).

1 minute ago, lindsay0526 said:

Yup, we just got cancellation for Skagway in July and I'm not happy about it. We are going to Icy Strait Point that day instead... and it does not look appealing.

ISP is well known for excellent whale watching. so you may want to switch plans around if you were whale watching somewhere else.

If this is the small boat tour into Tracy Arm, everyone has said it is 100% worth it. There are many posts about it including some incredible pictures. We booked it based on that advice. And it was painful as a family of 5 LOL

Great, thanks! I tried googling and saw mixed responses. I don't see anything noted in the app on our itinerary.

I wasn't sure if I could find this somewhere or not? The ports we're visiting: Ketchikan, Juneau, Sitka, Icy Strait Point, and Victoria.

I wanted to update this topic. I am happily booked in our SS since mid-March, but I've continued watching the inventory available (and pricing) almost daily. I did see lower pricing on our inside cabin, but not on the suite. HAL would not give us anything for the lower priced inside cabin, nor even move that cabin to a higher grade (that was priced lower than what we paid). I did end up paying $40 to move the inside cabin so it's only a few doors away from our suite.

But in regards to suite inventory, yesterday, there were still 15 SS rooms available on deck 6. Today, those are all gone, and there is only one SS available on the cruise and it's on deck 10 forward. We are about a month and a half from our sail date.

1 minute ago, teacherman said:

I did not know about this "perk" for retired teachers until I read it on this chat.  So, I applied by sending them the original letter from my state retirement board (2007) informing me of what my pension would be, when it would begin, etc.  I received an email approval at 1:18 pm, and then received my booking confirmation at 1:30 pm.  So, since it was approved before I booked, I would expect to receive it.  Of course, expectations are not always met.

It generally takes a few days to apply to your account so I’m guessing that it will not be applied to your booking. However, keep your time stamped proof and they should apply it for you!

2 hours ago, alwaysfrantic said:

Can this be added to a booking we just made? My husband qualifies it appears. 

Some people have gotten them to apply it but many have not been successful. If your deposit is refundable, the easiest thing to do is once the OBC shows in your profile, cancel and rebook your cruise and it will automatically apply.

I have a funny update on this. I was tired of arguing with HAL so I just decided I didn't care enough to bother. We just wouldn't use my husband's $100 credit.

Then today, I noticed that a midship, inside cabin on deck 6 suddenly became available, which in addition to being better for motion sickness, was also closer to our SS cabin. The rate was less too so I figured they would let us move cabins. I called my TA to ask to move. She called HAL and was told that rate is only for new bookings so to move our cabin (from a K cabin to an I cabin) would be a total of $40. OK, super annoying, but worth it to me to have the cabins only a couple of doors apart. She put me on hold, and then comes back on the line saying yes, they were able to move it, and she charged me $40...but, suddenly we now have $150 OBC from HAL instead of just $50 OBC. So that was great! Then I went online to make sure everything looked good, and my husband's educator credit is gone from his profile now. So, I suspect that when we moved cabins, they did apply that credit and that's why the OBC went up.

Did you follow all that drama? LOL...either way, we have a better cabin and the additional OBC more than made up for the additional $40 I had to pay.

On 4/11/2023 at 11:27 PM, quack2 said:

I'm only aware of two ways to do TRACY Arm.  First, is for your ship to arrive in Juneau at 7 a.m. or earlier and stay until at least early evening.  Its a 10 hour trip through Adventure Bound leaving at 8 a.m.  Second, is on a northbound itinerary that arrives in Juneau at 1-ish.  The ship deboards passengers for the TRACY Arm Excursion near the entrance to TRACY Arm and then continues on to Juneau.  The excursion visits TRACY Arm and then meets up with the cruise ship back in Juneau.

 

Others may know if this excursion is possible on certain southbound itineraries out of Juneau.  Same idea, but in reverse.

 

If you get the chance, TRACY Arm is a beautiful excursion.

 

P.S.  Repeat after me:  TRACY Arm, not Tracey Arm.  Icy STRAIT, not Icy Straight.

Allen Marine also does a tour for a 1PM docking that leaves from Juneau. That's what my HAL cruise has available and I confirmed it with AM too.

6 hours ago, AFNavigator said:

If any or all of you have cruised on any Carnival Corp ship(s), let HAL know your frequent user number from the other line.  Everyone with points from another Carnival Corp cruise will board the HAL ship as a 1 Star mariner versus getting 1- Star status AFTER their first HAL cruise.  1 Star doesn't get you much in terms of perks but it's still better than nothing.

I wasn’t aware they did this. We have all been on one Carnival cruise before. I did get one star from HAL, and I wasn’t sure why, but no one else did.

7 hours ago, oakridger said:

 

I'm curious, privacy from what?  The promenade deck?

 

~Nancy

The balconies below. 

2 hours ago, kazu said:

 

There are very few midship verandah category cabins on the higher decks.  The majority of the midship category cabins above deck 5 on this ship are Signature and Neptune suites which are much pricier than a verandah.  (If you are seeing a lifeboat in your photo they are located mid ship.). 

 

Verandah cabins that are mid ship are the priciest, generally speaking due to their location.  Cabins in the forward and aft area are usually cheaper (excluding the ones at the very back with the wake view)

This exactly. For anyone prone to seasickness, midship, on a lower deck is better. So 5 is quite desirable from that perspective. We booked on 6 so we weren’t directly above the lifeboats. I do think the lifeboats may give you a bit more privacy too

1 minute ago, Mary229 said:

They will automatically be assigned a Mariner number.  All sailors get a Mariner number.  If you mean to use the app, that is up to you. There is a chat feature which is marginal but other than that they may find little use for it

Oh, they need a number to use the app. I should have realized that LOL. They'll need one then. For better or worse, we'll try using the app for texting. I remember last time we cruised (not with HAL) that it was pretty terrible and couldn't be relied upon.

5 of us going on the cruise, and my husband and I have accounts. Should the kids have their own accounts too? Two of them are adults (18, 19) and the other is 13. 

I hope Eurodam gets this before late June....how do people know the install date for some of the ships? Did HAL announce those?

For online chat, were you using Chrome? Their website has been on and off unusable the last couple of weeks with chrome. I used Edge, and it worked fine.

53 minutes ago, iceman93 said:

What is the theoretical item/contaminant/whatever that people are afraid will be tracked from a flip-flop "worn all over the ship" into the hot tub, and what will be the ultimate impact of said item getting into the temperature- and chemical-controlled water?

I mean, the birds never poop in those pools...never! And people never pee in them either. Nope.....

If you want to take a heating pad, there are thermacare stick on pads that do pretty well.

Having not been on a HAL cruise yet, I can contribute little to this conversation except...in a bar, waiting for waitstaff to notice you and come over if usually a recipe for long wait times. I get that might be different on a ship, but in a busy bar, if you want a drink, you go up to the bartender and order them, and take them yourself. Perhaps this is part of HAL wanting to bring in somewhat younger crowds. It doesn't seem odd to me to go to the bartender directly, unless I'm somewhere that also serves food. Yes, the waitstaff eventually come to your bar table, but it may take them longer than you'd like.