NengEuis

I look forward to following along as I'm doing a solo to Bermuda in June. After 20 years as a Mom, the family vacation planner finally takes a VACATION. Ha! Finally, only one person to worry about on the ship. ME!  Hope you have a smooth embarkation and find time to take care of yourself - you deserve it. 

On 1/6/2022 at 1:50 PM, ilv4cruising said:

So I guess I'm really tired or not quite following.  Based on the amounts above here are the 2 options I can figure out.

 

1 - Moving from SBP Prepay ($44.95) to EBP Prepay ($49.95) – Difference is $5

2 - Moving from SBP Prepay ($44.95) to EBP Onboard ($59.95) – Difference is $15

 

 

 

How do we get to $10?

 

 

FYI - I phoned HAL to ask what it would be to upgrade onboard and they said $5.  I hope it is $5/per person/day when we try this 🙂

There is a third scenario - the one where you don't Prepay for the SBP to begin with. That was my situation as the SBP was included in the fare as part of Have it All. (Just like Internet, the Shore Excursion Credit, the Dining Credit.)

We got to $10 because I was sitting at a Bar at a HAL ship 20 minutes after boarding and was told the cost was $10 for Have it All fares. If you prepay the SBP, it will definitely be $5. Although I don't know why you wouldn't just prepay the EBP if that is what you are wanting onboard. If you are going to prepay for a package, then just get the one you want. Seems like the easiest and most logical thing to do. 🤷🏼‍♀️

3 hours ago, ilv4cruising said:

Hi there,

 

I'm not sure I followed how much more you paid to upgrade.  Was it $10 per person/day?  Based on the posting the difference in price between the 2 packages is only $5 per person/day.  Do you know why you had to pay $10 per person/day?  Thanks,

Because the SBP I had was "free" - part of the Have it All Promotion Fare. If one wants to buy the package outright as part of a regular fare, that is the per day cost - the difference is $5 per day. 

If I had purchased the SBP as part of my booking, then the upgrade cost would just be $5 per day. 

5 hours ago, Josie201 said:

I see (barely) in the fine print the language about the 15 drink maximum, seemingly including water and other non-alcoholic drinks.  Have you been able to test that theory?  At some point there was a report that on the EBP the non-alcoholic drinks were unlimited. 

I was told that the non-alcoholic drinks were unlimited and did not count toward the 15. Based on my experience, that is true. I got an aluminum bottle of water at a bar every time I walked by one, threw it in my bag, and then kept them in the empty minibar fridge. I'm sure I would have hit the limit on some days if they had counted toward the 15. 

4 minutes ago, CruiserBruce said:

In the menu in the first post it lists several sparkling wines, including Domaine Chandon Brut...

I think the question was whether there is a sparkling wine that would be included in the EBP that is not in SBP. Upgrading doesn't provide you a package that has any additional sparkling wines or champagnes, so a drinker of those would be quite happy keeping the SBP. 

12 minutes ago, ottahand7 said:

We are going to do the same on our upcoming NS trip.   I like bourbon and I probably will be having a few at Notes nightly if not too crowded.  Any idea what sparkling wine is available in the EBP?     I don't know if Roger Jett has updated that yet.  Thanks! 

There really isn't a sparkling wine that is in that EBP window of $12-15. A glass of Veuve Clicquot is $18. So what you see in the SBP list are your choices if you want to order in-package. 

I imagine things will change. We were supposed to be there on 12/21 with the Carnival Sunrise and their itinerary was changed last minute and they came a different day. I think I read in the Grand Turk news that they were limiting to one ship for a while as they slowly reopen and train people. Also, it looked to me that only one side of the pier was dredged deep enough for a ship (the water was a darker blue on the side of the pier closest the beach). I know one of the reasons they delayed opening was because the dredging was not deep enough to accommodate vessels.  

We were there on December 21. Most people stayed at the beach...we were on the Nieuw Statendam, which only had 1400 onboard. The Margaritaville Pool was pretty empty, and none of the Cabanas were rented. I suppose on a day with a larger ship or two ships there it would be more crowded. I noticed that the beach looks much different than pre-Covid - the GT Cruise Center umbrellas and chairs (free) are the only ones on the beach. I think we were the 4th ship to visit since reopening. Everything was clean and beautiful, as you would expect. We saw Jack's Shack as we were sailing away. We chose not to walk down there since the area around Margaritaville was so sparsely occupied. The Flowrider was not running. 

1 hour ago, smlnd said:

What are "Quench Items"?

20 minutes ago, HAL4NOW said:

I think you would be charged the full $14 + gratuity. They don't just charge the difference.

 

Good to know! RCCL just charges the difference. I feel even better about upgrading now. 😄

11 minutes ago, High Flyer said:

No Chivas Regal?  

I see that it's not on there, but I'm pretty sure I saw it onboard. 

On 12/19/2021 at 12:27 PM, Vict0riann said:

How is she going to manage that turn...

This is what the bow looked like from the ship on that turn. It was amazing! 

1 minute ago, canadarocks said:

No for some reason it won't work for me, at least not for the Grand Turk and Amber Cove cabanas. In both cases when I click each of our names it adds a second cabana, instead of taking an additional $100 off of the first.

It must depend on the vendor then. The HMC Cabanas are their own excursion, at Grand Turk they are paying Margaritaville. That's the only difference I can think of.

Before we sailed on NS on 12/19, I had a hard time figuring out the ins and outs/ pros and cons of upgrading a Have it All Beverage Package onboard, mostly because sailings had been paused and there weren't any recent trip reports to refer to. Instead of adding to page 9 of a two month old post, I thought I would share my experience so that others can make an educated decision. 

We are just off the Nieuw Statendam and upgraded from the SBP to the EBP when we got our first drink onboard. It's important that you do that because once you get a drink under the SBP,  you are locked in for the week. I got a little yellow slip that showed the upgrade purchase as proof, and it took about 15 minutes for the cards to be updated, according to the server. 

For a 7 Day Cruise, The cost for Have it All fares is $10 per person/day + 18% Gratuity = 82.60/pp charged to shipboard account. 

The per drink dollar amount covered for the SBP is $11, EBP is $15.  I think it is important to look at what the differences are in what you get when you upgrade and whether you yourself will spend $70.00 before gratuity if you don't upgrade. For us, it was worth it because I like to drink Miraval Rose'  - a $14 glass of wine. Included under EBP but not under SBP (I would pay $3 + 18% for each glass) I also like Oberon Cab Sauv - another $15 glass. My husband enjoys Glenmorangie 18 yr and Highland Park Scotches, and he loves the Smoked Cherry Old Fashioned at Ocean Bar. These are all covered under the EBP and not the SBP. 

Most people are totally happy with the SBP. I had to look at the differences to decide if it was right for us. I'll attach what we referred to when making our decision. I hope this helps others plan for their cruise. I think Holland America does an excellent job using the Seapass cards and making seamless transactions onboard. We were very impressed with Food and Beverage overall on this cruise. 

21 hours ago, landrews said:

Interestingly, the New Year’s Eve party tonight has been moved to the lido decks 9 and 10 and the live music from the rolling stone rock room and BB King’s will be played out there instead of indoors. I personally feel that’s a smart move on HAL’s part. It may be crowded but I suspect they may move all the sun loungers out of the area for the evening. We’ll see! 

That is a good move on their part for sure - I imagine they'll stack and move the loungers for sure. We disembarked on the 26th. I wished there had been more outside live music and the Lido 9/10 is perfect for that, and we had beautiful sunny weather every day of that week! My husband and I liked the Rolling Stone and the Comedy, but that was the one place I felt the most uncomfortable indoors. 

We needed another gallon (I ordered one and should have ordered 2) and the Room steward got us another one. They are charged just like a water package. Just ask him/her to drop off another one. 

We just did. I used both of our $100 credits to take $200 off of a Half Moon Cay Cabana. When I booked it, the website has you check whose credit you want to use and I chose both.

Our boarding time is 12 on Sunday , but our own kids (18,11 - cabin next door, 2nd booking) are at 12:40 - and I checked us in all at the same sitting. Who knows. We're all going to the port together around "noonish" of course.

Whenever I'm in a group situation like that, we always say we board together when the last people in our group board (if that is the goal, then it is no issue, right?) but we have never had an issue on any cruise line getting gathered at the terminal and boarding together in some sort of fun compromise of time - and no one really remembers what time we got on anyway. Viva la vacation! 

We will be renting one with a butler upgrade on our next sailing as a bit of a splurge - 20th anniversary, Christmas.I think if it was a normal cruise I would be okay just being at HMC without one. I think the "worth it" just depends on your reason for cruising and the value you place on experiences on that voyage. It is different for us each time. 

If you are ever looking for the correlation between colors and numbers, here is the thread I refer to: 

3 hours ago, Crew News said:

If the HMC Butler menu does not happen in the next few hours, I will be onboard the Nieuw Amsterdam in a few weeks to keep trying.

I'll be at HMC with a butler on Christmas Day - would be happy to send anything I find to you for your collection of great menus and photos. 🙂 Cheers

⭐️Thank you Roger ⭐️ for all of the great information during your time on the NS. If you have any luck with the Butler Menu from HMC I would love to see it, but I know you've got packing to do, as sad as that is to say. Safe travels back home from your adventure, and have fun preparing for your next sailing very soon. 

I imagine things will continue to change especially with the mystery of travel bans and variants looming around the corner, but the Mardi Gras is due to call on 12/9. The 12/6 call of the Norwegian Gem has been replaced with a Sea Day for those passengers. 

December 7: HAL Nieuw Amsterdam (First ship as of now)

December 8: HAL Nieuw Statendam

December 9: CCL Mardi Gras

https://www.cruisetimetables.com/cruises-to-grand-turk-turks-and-caicos.html

Great Sunset sailaway. That horn was memorable! 

20 hours ago, Crew News said:

I forgot my New Mexico flag to wave for the webcam so I will just be a Deck 5 aft guy in a black shirt with a big camera.

Gotcha! 

The PEV marine radio is extra entertaining this evening. 😅