Real NHDOC

They will probably give you two of the "free" steaks in the MDR if you asked. If the only difference were size then that would save you $20. I think you have to take it on faith that the upcharge steak is really any different meat than the "free" one. But there's a good way to find out. Order one of each and compare (blindfolded) and see which you prefer.

Another alternative is to buy a travel router that you can connect to a single user account and then you can share that connection with as many devices to it as you like. The downside is the router has to be near both users so it is best when used in the cabin. But we've also used it on the cabana deck and been able to share the connection there too. It does only have bandwidth of one connection so that is a limitation too but for simple things like checking email or browsing the internet it works OK. I have tried several over the years. The most recent was made by TP-Link. You can google it and find them on Amazon.

Celebrity uses Riedel glasses and on our most recent cruise on Summit we did notice those glasses have a faint line on them which the bartender confirmed is their "fill line". I can't say I have ever noticed it before and only the inexperienced servers seemed to look for it but sure enough it was there.

You can absolutely bring a bottle of wine with you where ever you want to enjoy it on the ship so just order a few to your cabin if you don't want to order one in the bars. We have asked for a bottle from our package in the various bars onboard and were almost always accommodated except one time when the bar was very busy and they were short of servers. I was told because the server has to go get the specific wine which they don't keep at that bar from another part of the ship they could not spare one to do that for us at that time. No problem. But nobody has ever enforced the rule of "not consuming the wine from the package in bars", ever.

When it comes to doing the club orange upgrade I have found it's easier to use a PCC with HAL since they understand the system better than most TA's do. I always ask first if CO is available on the particular cruise (because they do limit the capacity) and if so then book the lowest category (usually a guarantee) in a class then tell the PCC which cabin I want and they handle it all. For example, on a recent booking on Nieuw Statendam I booked a guarantee OV and bought CO and then upgraded to a forward facing Spa OV on deck 10. CO costs less than the published fare difference so we got CO and the highest grade cabin for less than the cost of booking the Spa OV alone. CO is really only worth booking on the Pinnacle class ships, IMHO, because they have separate CO dining rooms. Buying CO on the other ships does get you the "cut the line" at the dining room and the CO entree' but not much more. Having said that, if we're doing a booking that doesn't involve a CO upgrade I usually use a TA because you always get more perks that way (OBC, cash back, etc). But remember to always ask your HAL PCC what group rates are available (those are generally the rates shown by the TA's online) and you can get them through HAL too if you ask. But also be aware that while they can save you money they are often nonrefundable fares. Nothing is for nothing with HAL so you do give up some flexibility when you book the less costly fare.

I can confirm after a call to that number today (the group sales office) that the price is $49 PP/Day for the standby offer. I did mention to them they could make that clearer in the offer since nowhere does it say it's per person and where is says $49 per day (for first two guests in a stateroom) could easily be interpreted to mean it's $49 for both not each. Like everything they do, it's not well thought out and unclear.

On my first read of the offer I assumed it was $49PP per day but in re-reading it I think they are offering it for $49 per cabin (for up to 4 passengers in a cabin) as long as everyone pays the taxes and port fees. If anyone has been able to successfully sign up for one of these maybe they can confirm whether it is $49/Day PP or per cabin?

It's always offered for the $55 per day (it used to be $50 but they just raised it). I assume it would be offered on these standby offers too but who knows?

As others have said you need to call to see what they will do but I would expect that they will match the new price without issue even if you booked a "nonrefundable deposit" because of the change in itinerary. They will probably do that out of goodwill. They have been known, in the past, to allow cancellations of "nonrefundable" deposits and allowed them to be used as FCC too as goodwill so I would think they will do a reprice without any issues. I would point out that the travel industry defines nonrefundable two ways. One is "forfeited if cancelled" and one is simply they won't refund the money but will allow you to keep it as credit for future use. HAL has recently become more strict about their interpretation but they also have been known to make exceptions in exceptional cases. I have found that with HAL (and all of the lines) you never get what you don't ask for and often are surprised by what you do get when you do ask. But it is all very random and not predictable at all.

While on the face of it this does seem like an enticing offer, it's really not that great. For example, if you book any of those cruises during black Friday or one of their other sales and get free tips you will probably be able to get a guarantee inside for not much more than the $49 a day, and sometimes less. For example, we booked the 16 day Zaandam holiday cruise last week and got a reserved J inside (highest category) for $60.50PP/Day including tips, so net of $44.50PP/Day. They are offering the same cruise on the standby list with no choice of cabin and no free tips for $49PP/Day. HAL won't ever give you any cabin that they could sell to someone else so chances are you will get the cabins that are least attractive. By the time they get to 7 or so days out they have assigned all of the guarantees and sold upgrades to the people who have booked cabins and given away all of the casino offers they could give so what's left? With this program HAL lands up being able to sell cabins which would otherwise be empty or resell cabins that people canceled (and bought insurance for, paying at least 20% to cancel) so they will be assured of full ship and not lose money because they already collected 20%. It's more of a win for them than it is for us. You're better off just following some of the TA's "last minute bargain" offers and just booking a reserved spot (which you can do right up to the day before a sailing) and you'll probably get the same deal without all of the unknowns of this offer. Anyone thinking they will get a Neptune suite or even an oceanview for $49 is probably dreaming.

LOL, well, I wouldn't characterize that list of states as "New England". More lie "select northeast states". Last time we checked NH and ME were part of New England and Maryland and PA weren't!

All of HAL's ships (except the Koningsdam) can go through the original locks. The K-Dam had an issue with the placement of the lifeboats which prevented it from being able to go through with passengers aboard but they claimed it was going to be fixed. I don't know if it has or not but know the later Pinnacle ships will go through the original locks.

HAL (and all of the other cruise lines) play lots of games when it comes to their "sales". As others have mentioned they tend to not just add a special perk to the exact same offer but rather change other things (like take away OBC offers and then add free gratuities that offset the value - sometimes the sale price lands up costing more). It's a full-time job to compare all of the offers from the various travel agencies and cruise lines and always seems maddening that right after you book they add something else to sweeten the deal. You just have to accept the fact that under the dynamic pricing models they use you can't be guaranteed to get the best deal and be happy with what you got. Often times you have to pay up to get the cruise you want or the cabin you want that had you waited you could have gotten for less but there's always a chance you get shut out or land up in a terrible cabin. Is it worth saving $5-10 a day to be miserable in the grand scheme of things? On another note - has anyone else noticed that practically any time you book a cruise on HAL and look at the HIA price compared to the base fare it is almost always more than $50/Day/Person more to book it that way? And it varies depending of the category of cabin you choose. It's almost always a better deal to just book the base fare and add HIA if you want it but for people who don't do the math they will almost always overpay by booking them together at the same time. Also, I have learned there are almost always lower loyalty or group rates available than those which are published but you have to ask specifically what special unpublished rates there are when you call to book. Many group rates are exclusive to a particular TA but some are available to anyone from any TA who asks for it.

I never said anyone should expect them to go above and beyond (as they did for me) but I would expect them to at least live up to their written policy which is exactly as I stated it was and which you were emphatic that it wasn't. This all goes back to the OP's post about being able to fly to Hawaii at no additional cost if he should miss the boat in San Diego and I simply put forward that had he booked his air with flight-ease that it would be possible he would receive a flight to catch up to the ship at no additional cost because that is, indeed, their policy in general. I am starting to understand why they wouldn't want to go above and beyond to get you onto a cruise, however, or even live up to their commitments since the last hour has been exasperating.

Obviously if your experience was different it is perfectly valid to state that but the written policy of flight-ease is to do what I have said they will do. I am the last person to defend HAL but in this case we have had experience with this and while it wasn't the most pleasant travel experience it would have been a lot worse had we not booked the air with them. They actually went above and beyond the written policy in our case but the written policy is to get you on the ship at no additional cost to you if your flight to the cruise, booked with them, is delayed or cancelled.

I really wish people who didn't know what they were talking about wouldn't state opinion as fact. I have actually had experience with the late arrival policy and it is exactly as they say. They will book you on a flight to the first port where you are able to pick up the cruise and it will be done at no additional cost. It is the great advantage to using Flight-Ease. We have personally experienced this so it's not only as stated in their policy I have actually had to take advantage of it. They booked and flew our family members to San Juan when Delta cancelled their flights to FLL the morning of the cruise at the last minute. NO charge for the change in flights and their policy is to pay for one hotel night in the city where they pick up the cruise which they did too. They even bumped them up to first class... all free because the flight from Boston the FLL was cancelled and they missed the cruise departure. If we hadn't booked the air through flight-ease we'd have been out of luck or had to depend on travel insurance. This was in the winter of 2023 so it is their current policy. I still had a hard time accepting they had missed half of the cruise so after some intense negotiations HAL agreed to give them FCC in the full amount of the cruise and air because it was only a 7 day cruise and San Juan port was on the fourth day. All in all using flight ease got them a free trip to PR and half a cruise which they would not have gotten otherwise.

Late Arrival Protection If you have booked your air travel through Holland America Line and experience delays on the day you are en route to your cruise due to an airline service disruption, such as a flight delay, cancellation, or re-route, that will cause you to miss your original port of embarkation, Holland America Line will work with the airline to find reasonable alternate flights to the next appropriate port at no additional air cost to the guest. Contact our support line at 1-800-628-4771 to request assistance. Factors taken into account in determining the appropriateness of a port of call include, but are not limited to: where in the original itinerary the port is located airport / port infrastructure visas and other legal documentation that may be required application of the Passenger Services Act to the new itinerary comparability of cost, flight connections, and travel time required (any unused value on the original air ticket will be used to offset the cost of the new air ticket) Note: If you purchase air transportation independently from Holland America Line, you will be responsible for any and all expenses incurred when joining the vessel in progress.

I think I said they take responsibility for "catching you up", not that it was insurance or a guarantee. And actually they do pay for any flight changes and costs associated with catching you up. We've had that experience. I do know that they will hold the ship for flight-ease customers who are enroute if it doesn't create a problem for the ship to leave a little late which they will not do if you don't book through flight-ease. The OP said something to the effect that he could fly to Hawaii and get onboard at no cost - if he booked through flight-ease that is a possibility (please don't point out that it would violate the Jones act). I will also say that we had an experience that after some "cajoling" HAL did give us full FCC for a cruise that was messed up due to a Flight-Ease booked Delta flight problem on the day of departure that caused our family members to miss half of the cruise, so, for loyal cruisers it is defacto-insurance. But they didn't do it willingly.

The casinos know that if they pay for your cabin you are much more likely to "play in the casino more" (lose more). They are not in the business of providing free room and board. They are in the business of separating gamblers from their money. And I have to believe, that on average, it is a winning bet for them to do this. The people who accept those hard to sell cabins often land up losing a lot more than they would have paid had they just booked the cruise and paid for it themselves. This has been discussed ad nauseam here and elsewhere. So, nobody really sails for free. Just pay me now or pay me later.

If the OP booked his flight through Flight-Ease HAL does take responsibility for making sure you don't miss the cruise or catches you up on the first port they can. They know if there are passengers are on certain flights and the ship may even depart late from a port if a number of passengers would miss the ship and it won't impact the schedule too badly. It's the only way I would ever fly into a cruise on the day of departure, regardless of the schedules. You just have no control over the airlines. I know we've got a cruise in January from Fort Lauderdale that they will book flights that are scheduled to land up to 1:00pm when the ship is scheduled to sail at 3:00. So if the OP's flight is through Flight-Ease then he has little to worry about. But, if not, then he's at the mercy of the airlines... San Diego port is so close to the airport that if you had to take a cab you could be there in just a few minutes but still it's not the most relaxing way to start a leisure cruise.

What we're seeing in action here is the subjectivity of different people's food tastes intermixed with HAL's struggles with inconsistency. Like most frequent cruisers we have had both great and poor experiences in all of the restaurants aboard HAL ships, including the MDR and Lido. It's amazing that I can say I have had some of the best meals and some of the worst of my life in the same venue - sometimes days apart! Something as simple as a properly poached egg can seem to be as challenging as putting an astronaut into space. On our last N-S cruise in September, trying to get one with anything resembling a liquid yolk was impossible. There they mastered consistency, consistently overcooked eggs in every venue on the ship. Even in club orange, where I specifically ordered them "soft cooked with liquid centers" (which you should not have to do) they came out hard boiled. I think it just comes down to poor quality control and training of the staff combined with a lot of turnover since Covid. Lots of new faces - some clearly aren't cut out for the job and others just need more time to catch on. It's always frustrating for everyone when they miss the mark because the amount of effort it takes to serve a bad meal isn't that much less than it is to serve an outstanding one and for the most part the crew does try to do a good job.

I just looked...it looks like the latest incarnation of the mariner's discount gives 25% off of the $65 PP charge for 4 and 5* mariners. So it's basically $60PP after the 18% service charge and discount applied. I think originally it was part of the 50% off then was completely removed and now it is 25% off. Still not worth it because IMHO not any better than any other restaurant onboard and amounts to about the same cost as two dinners in Pinnacle (with 50% off) as one in Rudy's and the experience is never worth that much more to me.

I personally have never been impressed with the Sel-de-mer (I have a clever nickname that involves adding de to the end of the name). I was surprised to see the OP mentioned getting the 4* mariner discount on their dinner. My understanding was the Sel-de-mer is not part of the loyalty program, am I wrong about that? My underwhelming past experiences, combined with the lack of a mariner's discount has discouraged us from returning over the past few years.

Even if you book through a TA you can handle the upgrades yourself. If you book through a TA HAL will send the offers to them and you will likely not see them. You can just call the ship inventory office directly, starting around 4 weeks before the sailing date, and ask if there are any upgrades available. Sometimes they will offer you something they haven't even sent out yet. You can call back every few days and check again if nothing is available when you first call in. Just be prepared to act, have your CC and deck plan available because they are busy and the cabins go fast. The number for that office is 1-888-628-8107 or 206-626-7381. We often upgrade all the way from Interior to Neptune suites. Sometimes you have to do it twice to jump more than a category or two but upgrading is almost always less than the cost would have been to book the same cabin from the start. Often times half as much or less.

Being flexible is key. But you can always book a cheap interior cabin early if it is a cruise you really want to get on and then work on getting upgrades after the prices go down, if they do. My experience has been that the interiors don't change as much as the higher grade cabins so your risk is low of overpaying substantially if you get "stuck" with an interior. You just have to look at it as the price of getting onto a ship that would otherwise be sold out or which has high enough demand that you would not get a bargain anyway. Of course if you don't care if you go or not and live close enough to the port to hop on at the last minute you will likely get the best deals - you just have to be willing to accept whatever cabins are left at that point. What I have observed is prices have recently started to be more reflective of supply and demand more than they have been since the post-covid restart began. I think it's because a lot of the future cruise credits have been used up and now people are spending "real money" again and so there may be more downward pressure on fares. At least I hope that's the case.