Jeff_Lori

2 hours ago, zelker said:

Captain announced at lunchtime that Ensenada has become a Service Call stop to satisfy the Jones Act

So you do a few cruises, and you think you're pretty savvy, and then people start talking about "Jones Act". That was completely new to me, although I had wondered why some itineraries seemed to include stops in foreign ports for no particular reason (Alaska cruises, for example). This is fascinating. Here's a pretty good article from CC in case anyone else is interested: https://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=3363

5 hours ago, sansterre said:

We look forward to setting feet on land tomorrow in Kona, although we have no special plans other than a short walk to the market

The best restaurant in Kona (IMO), right in the middle of the market area, is Bongo Ben's. (Full disclosure: We're good friends with the owners, but we'd recommend it anyway. Definitely a locals' favorite.)

I checked the official web site, and also booked a tour for when we're there (on the next sailing). Looks like it re-opened last September.

1 hour ago, VMax1700 said:

Last night was first gala night of the transatlantic segment. Completely different to when ship was full on caribbean cruise 

Arrived to desk at 6.45. We had decided that if there was more than 15 minute wait we would try for a table in a speciality restaurant or just go to Lido.

We were seated immediately at a four top, sharing with a couple from Florida. Service was excellent and food was good. We sat and chatted for a very pleasant 2 hours. During our dinner I noticed many unoccupied tables.

So, if ship is full, then I think they let too many pax book Anytime Dining. They need to get the numbers right between fixed seating and Anytime.

Aha! Thanks for confirming my hunch (about the MDR, at least). That's also a good observation about dining times. We were on Anytime, as we had been on the Vista class ships. On the Pinnacle ships (I think that's the name of the KDM class), they may need to set a quota for Anytime.

On 4/7/2019 at 8:03 AM, VMax1700 said:

Our Lido server has told us that only 2005 pax will be onboard for the crossing!

That would make the KDM bearable, I bet! We were on the Caribbean portion with you, and were disappointed with our first experience on this class of HAL's ships, compared to our previous cruises on Oosterdam and Eurodam. The infrastructure (MDR, World Stage, elevators) just doesn't support a full compliment of pax (2600, I believe). Unless I'm mistaken, the Vista class ships have four more elevators to support 800 fewer pax. Who was the bright spark making that design decision? The topper was the visit to Half Moon Cay. A beautiful spot, no complaints there--but dumping two fully-loaded KDM-sized ships (ours plus the Nieuw Staatendam--sp?) onto that tiny little spot was another gross overloading of available beach capacity and food service capacity. I guess HAL is pushing the profit side of the equation, to the detriment of passenger enjoyment. They have, and will continue to get my feedback on this point.

Obviously, just my opinion, your mileage may vary, etc., etc.