FlaMariner

1 hour ago, MaxThrusters said:

because now it seems my upcoming cruise in a category V cabin only has a mini fridge, not a 'no-host mini bar' which seems to be only in Vista suites and above now. Maybe I can ask my stateroom attendant to load it up? How does that even work now?

Wondering if this is very, very new?

In April/Oosterdam, the mini bar in our balcony and inside (B2B cruises, changed cabins) was stocked full of stuff to buy.....We actually do the opposite and have been known to ask the room attendant to take out the stuff in the fridge so we could use it.

I hope others who have cruises since April can pipe in about what's in the fridge now?

55 minutes ago, NCTribeFan said:

I just don't understand why these are so popular.  Seems to me that many good pianists aren't particularly good vocalists.  Or that good vocalists aren't particularly good pianists.

 

But they absolutely must play The Hits, whether those songs are in their vocal range or not, so you often just get a lot of shouting.  And people cheer and clap because, hey, they're playing The Hits!!!  Whoo Hoo!!!!

 

Understood....

.....But we love Billboard Onboard!.....spend most evenings at the seats around the pianos....Fun times.......We are hooting and hollering when they play "the hits". LOL. And "All request" means we will hear American Pie and Sweet Caroline....And Her Majesty will request Wagon Wheel!

LOL.

49 minutes ago, KAKcruiser said:

Don't know if this is true but someone told me that the piano was actually a keyboard and the rest of the piano was a shell.  If so, I guess it would be easier to move around.

The pianos looked pretty real to me...You can see inside them especially when the guy comes around after each "set" and cleans/dusts them. 

1 hour ago, smeesme said:

Thank you all.   I know the dress code says non-distressed jeans are fine but will he look out of place?   Not that he'd really care but I would. 

 

By the way,  I've been lurking here for awhile getting lots of great information from all of you.   You're great! 

He will be fine....I wear khaki pants and a sports shirt/long sleeve every night in the MDR no matter casual or dressy night....

I think the line is drawn at shorts...I've seen those poor souls sent away but that's about it.

As long as I am following the required dress code, I am fine....

1 hour ago, Gail & Marty sailing away said:

Dual piano are coming back....

Yahoo...that did not last too long.....

9 minutes ago, smeesme said:

For formal night,  he'd wear dress slacks. 

And (except for Grand Voyages) it's called "dressy nights" so again, what you have planned fits the HAL rules!

Enjoy the cruise.....

Here is the fine print.....you are good to go with what you have planned....

Enjoy the cruise....

From the HAL website:

Most evenings smart casual attire is appropriate. Shorts, pool and beachwear, distressed jeans and tank tops are not permitted in table service restaurants.

On Dressy Nights we take it up a notch and recommend slacks, skirts, dresses, blouses, collared shirts and jackets.

Jeans, shorts and T-shirts are only allowed in the casual dining restaurants.

2 minutes ago, PSR said:

Isn’t the Mariner discount only for the packages but not single bottles?

Correct. Sommelier Packages get the Mariner discount.....No discount for single bottles.

We "upgraded" to package #2 in April 2024 (Oosterdam) and they had all that was published and they were great.....On another previous cruise, we purchased package 1 and three were not available but the substitutes were from higher packages (w/no additional fee).

Running out of the Sommelier listed wines is not necessarily a bad thing for us.  We are not picky/knowledgable wine people though...but we certainly enjoy drinking wine!

4 minutes ago, kirkc said:

Actually, the waiters will sing Lang Zullen Ze Leven,in Dutch  which is the traditional Dutch happy birthday song.

Thanks for clarifying....

LOL.....Seemed Indonesian and was being sung by the Indonesian waiters.....and it was all Greek to me!

A nice touch though and we enjoyed it...whatever they were singing in whatever language. 

We seem to always cruise during Her Majesty's birthday......

When she is not looking, I ask the MDR waiter or the maitre 'de at least the evening before her birthday for help celebrating.....Then, during dessert on the big day, the waiter brings a very tasty small birthday cake and it is accompanied by several waiters joining in singing the Indonesian version of "Happy Birthday".

It's fun. No surcharge. 

Similar situation for celebrating our anniversary. 

Also, the captain has also a dispatched a birthday card to Her Majesty on her birthday.

Are you referencing the price of the thermal suite?

Our last few cruises (all since the recent unpleasantness/Covid) the price of the thermal suite has been the same pre-cruise as onboard.

We prefer to buy onboard using OBC (during the embarkation day afternoon tour) and it has never been "not available".

Of course, these things can change at anytime......Just passing along our recent experience.

Enjoy the thermal suite....it is our favorite splurge.

1 hour ago, sunviking90 said:

Thank you for your report. Appreciate it as we will be on her next month. Do you know if there is a new style library as was installed on the other ships recently?

The "new" library was on the Oosterdam in April 2024.....It's past the shops....where the Microsoft classrooms once were located.....Very nice.  Found some Grisham novels.  Lots of books. 

19 minutes ago, iowacruiser said:

They are keeping her up as she cruises.

We were on her in March 2023 going thru the canal and the captain made a comment about "we got a few scrapes on the side" going thru and sure enough, they were out painting parts of the hull when we were at the next port of Aruba......She's aging better than I am. 

4 minutes ago, thesmiths said:

For 25 days @ $1769 per person isn't that bad I think.

Bottles of water, Gatorade, Irish Coffee's, wine with dinner, spiked milkshakes, + + +

Gotcha....but the tap water and free coffee works fine for us......We'd never get nearly our money's worth out of "all you can drink" for that long...and if we did, they'd need to bring the hearse to the port to pick us up....LOL. 

14 hours ago, StephPS79 said:

I mean…do you plan on drinking everyday for 25 days straight?  If not, then it might be better to just pay as you go.

It will need to be "pay as you go"....as my liver says "Please, no". 

4 hours ago, DallasGuy75219 said:

You only pay taxes on any bottles you order and physically receive in local waters, not all the bottles in the package. 

Thank you, @DallasGuy75219

Interesting.....Need to go look up Singapore liquor tax.....That's first night. 

13 hours ago, BlerkOne said:

Each adult can carry on one bottle of wine at embarkation. The steakhouse has a first night special where you can buy a bottle at 50% off 

Thank you @BlerkOne

I went online for the steakhouse and it's actually a free bottle of wine for first evening and 50% off for 2nd evening.....So far, first night is booked up until 8pm but 2nd night is wide open!

13 hours ago, pinto18 said:

We get the cheapest package and wines are ..ok if you are not picky . And ya dont forget to bring your 1 bottle each

Thank you @pinto18

I did not know about the one bottle each....w/no corkage.  Will do that...And yes, the cheapest package will probably suffice.

13 hours ago, BlerkOne said:

Decent is subjective, but we often purchase the premium package.

Thank you @BlerkOne

I take it the one they sell online (5 bottles @$149) is the basic package?  Roughly, how much more for premium?

Great review....We love the Oosterdam....great size, beautiful, aging gracefully.....we were on her in April....crew was top notch.

Thanks for taking the time to pass along your experience.

On 9/16/2024 at 4:38 PM, NeepierRoad said:

I just saw that Park n Fly at Fort Lauderdale has permanently closed! That's too bad.

We used them for years...but now, here is where we park.....

https://bookparkngo.com/ftlauderdale2.php

On 7/24/2024 at 9:32 PM, TryinCruisin said:

I just can't stomach the prices.

So we also have no interest in the high priced FLL airport/cruise port hotels.....This is what we do now that those hotels have, in our experience, are sky high. 

We are Marriott points folks so we end up staying at the Boca Raton Spring Hill Suites.  We are paying $132 in April.  Rates are always lower than FLL. There is another Marriott property there also w/good rates...Town Suites, I think. 

When we get off the plane, we take the FLL to Tri Rail free shuttle and then ride Tri rail a few stops north to Boca Raton and walk to the Spring Hill Suites....easy path walkway.

The next morning, all in reverse and we Uber from Tri Rail.  It saves us a couple of hundred dollars...is a minor pain....but for us, $$$ savings is worth it.  

Pre-cruise, the 5 wine package seems reasonable.  5 bottles are around $30 a bottle + gratutity ($148.68 for the 5 bottle package).

I've got a few questions:

1). Is the wine decent?  (we are not picky wine people)

2). Will the price be lower/higher/the same if we buy onboard?

3). Does the MDR waiter benefit (either $$$ or brownie points) if I wait and buy from him at dinner?

4). Is this the best "value" if our goal is to enjoy wine with dinner?

(I just did the math on Cheers and (pre-cruise) it would cost $3,537 for Her Majesty and I for our upcoming cruise...which is more than my cruise fare..that would be a big NO)

26 minutes ago, ninjacat123 said:

Where are you cruising? When DH and I cruised 10 days in the Mediterranean we were allowed to bring liquor and wine onboard at ports. 

That's good!

We are cruising Singapore to Long Beach....Not exactly wine country but that could work out very well...I've got quite a budget to work with....LOL. 

We cruise in 22 days.....just looked online and the Cheers drink package is $70.74 per person per day.

Our cruise is 25 days.

So the tab for us having the "drink package" would be $3,537.

My cruise fare (balcony) is $2,333.

What do I not understand?  Is this for real?  Cheaper onboard?  Do peeps buy this?

(Time to investiagte the wine bottle packages)