Real NHDOC

You can call HAL yourself and have the benefit added to existing bookings even if it was booked through a TA, just be polite and insist that it has been routinely added to existing bookings and that if the representative who answers the phone doesn't want to do it ask them to ask a supervisor. Many TA's don't want to waste the hour on the phone so will tell you anything to avoid doing extra work - they already have the booking and there is nothing in it for them to do more work for you. HAL is routinely applying the benefit to existing bookings. I had one for a sailing in early September and got the benefit added to it last week. Fortunately I had booked that one with a HAL PCC and she did the work. She told me she had to speak to a supervisor to get it done.

After spending the better part of an hour on the phone with HAL the benefit is going to be applied to each booking after all. They insisted that the reason the benefit wasn't applied was because I hadn't been verified (even though I have an email from the end of July saying I had been and they had applied the benefit to one cruise already!). Anyway he took my AARP number down and told me it would be applied to every booking...we shall see! I keep hoping HAL will get their act together but it just seems like every day is their first day doing this stuff.

Booked four new cruises and was told that the AARP perk is only applicable to one booking per year! It doesn't say anything like that anywhere and I know other people have said they got it on multiple bookings. This is SO typical of HAL. Everything is always dependent on who you ask and nobody has been properly trained. My TA claims she escalated it up the chain but I am going to call now and get to the bottom of it. If it's a once a year benefit then it should say so clearly in the offer. It specifically says "Offer good for new bookings only" not one new booking. "Bookings" is plural and so it should apply to all new bookings...period.

It was the “POMPEII, SORRENTO & THE AMALFI COAST” tour. I sent a second email expressing my disappointment with the tour with a detailed description of our experience and received an automated response saying I’d receive a real response in 2-4 days. That was last Friday. Today is Wednesday. And that’s the second time I reached out to them. So I don’t think they will bother to follow up.

I would point out that on their website they have a description of the tour that differs significantly from that which is described in the lengthy confirmation email. On the website it reads: “Next, we will depart Sorrento and continue on to beautiful Positano, known as the jewel of the Amalfi coast. Explore the central Piazza dei Mulini, connected to a narrow downhill path and a few flights of steps that lead to the seafront. This must-see plaza allows you to appreciate the magnificent natural surroundings as well as local life and culture. Follow narrow streets leading to the Church of St Maria Assunta, a great example of medieval art. Time permitting we will also include a visit to the Emerald Cave” And in the email it reads: ”Time permitting (depending on traffic), we will go to the view-point overlooking Positano. We do not plan to enter Positano unless stated otherwise in your reservation above. (on the vast majority of tours we manage to cover the Positano view-point but in case we won't, no partial refund will be issued).” So, had we read the email more carefully we would have known that we weren’t going to get what was described in the tour description on their website. Is this a “bait and switch”? Yes. The email confirmation had 15 bulllet points and the section in which the Postiano visit is mentioned is just one part of bullet 5. They also described the “driver-guide” as providing us with advice as to what to see in Sorrento, which she did not do. We took several tours with their sister company in Spain and had no problems. So it appears that this tour is the one which is most problematic. As I had said if this one had been our first experience with them it would have been the last. So, overall I recommend using Italy Tours (and their sister company Spain tours) but don’t rely on the website description for what you’re going to receive. Read everything in the confirmation email (received after paying) and if you feel they differ significantly then cancel.

On our bus there was a guide and a driver but the guide was very inexperienced and her grasp of English wasn’t great. The driver also spoke broken English. My understanding is the bus guide is supposed to give narratives along the way and at the stops but on our tour she was useless.

We did Florence/Pisa and Palermo/Cefalu. Both were very good.

We did a few tours with this company recently. Two were very good but one was pretty bad. It was the full day small group tour of Pompeii, Sorrento and the Amalfi Coast. The young lady who met us at the port was very inexperienced. Our “tour” was basically 5 1/2 hours mostly sitting in traffic with nothing interesting to see and 2 1/2 hours of actual interesting experiences. We spent about 5 minutes overlooking Positano which we were supposed to be able to go to but because we hit so much traffic we ran out of time so just saw it from a distance. Our stop in Sorrento was 1 hour on our own, not even enough time to have lunch and sightsee. No guidance from our guide. She didn’t even know where the bathrooms were. Our first bathroom break was at noon after spending almost 4 hours in a bus. Our tour of Pompeii had to be abbreviated because we arrived 30 minutes late for our appointment. The Pompeii tour was very good. after we left Pompeii the driver and our bus guide had a hard time finding each other resulting in our group crossing several busy streets only to land up back at the exit where we began. Again, a sign of inexperience. The only thing we arrived on time for was getting back to the ship at 4:30. I had sent an email to the company while the tour was going on to inform them of the disappointing service and never received a reply which is surprising since up until then they had been pretty responsive. I would say if this had been our first experience with Italy Tours it would have been our last.

Reportedly it is 25% off all drinks but I cannot personally attest to this as we have not participated in it since 3pm-4pm is too early for us. The navigator app says 25% off the second drink but the daily planner says 25% off all drinks and we’ve asked the drink server and he said it was off all drinks. When faced with the “short pour” situation on other ships (and now on NS) my advice is to make friends with your favorite server and make sure they know you’re not on HIA and would appreciate a full pour. They are usually more than willing to fix it for you and remember that you would like to get what you’re paying for. At the end of the cruise we will give that special service the recognition it deserves in both a small remuneration and shout out in the guest survey.

We ordered a martini last night in billboard onboard. It was not during the 3pm happy hour but at a more civilized 5pm. $12.69 for one drink. Exactly what we had been paying for two on Rotterdam during happy hour at the same time of day. And it was half full to ad insult to injury. So half the booze at twice the price! Seriously, we’ve been averaging 100-150 days a year aboard cruise ships and like to enjoy one cocktail a day. The difference does add up but it’s more the principle of it. Same cruise line, should have policies that are consistent between the ships, especially when the beverage manager on Rotterdam said it was a fleet-wide policy. But the beverage manager on this ship disagrees and says it’s up to the beverage manager’s discretion. So who is telling the truth?

It’s not the second drink that’s 50% off on all of the other ships it’s every drink. So two people can each have a cocktail for under $13 for both. So that’s the difference.

Pleased to report that the energy in the BB King’s band is BACK on Nieuw Statendam. Totally different vibe tonight. Apparently the feedback they received incentivized them to step up their game. They literally had more energy in one set this evening than in the whole week last week combined. And the place was full with plenty of people on the dance floor. Very pleased they have improved.

My response was directed solely to the comments it referred to in the reply. That individual basically said he didn’t care about the happy hour special so I ask why does he feel compelled to follow the thread so closely and troll my posts? If he’s perfectly happy spending $25 for two drinks then this isn’t the thread that should concern him, that’s all.

Last night of this cruise and the band played a more or less normal set but they still seem to gravitate towards slower songs than most BBK’s bands and even when they play faster songs like “Dancing in the streets” and “Band of gold” they seem to play at a slower thsn normal tempo. Maybe it’s just the drummer who can’t keep a fast tempo (since the drummer seems to set the pace for the band). But at least tonight they played three 45 minute sets. I think it’s the first night that they played a normal three 45 minute sets all cruise. They are all very talented musicians but it’s just their style is a bit slower than we’ve grown used to with other BBK bands. We’ll adjust but it’s noticeable in the few people out dancing while they play. Last week on Rotterdam the dance floor was packed even on the last night. Tonight barely anyone was out there.

I meant we’ll probably never know the reason for the most recent issues with this band. The crew member death was widely and openly discussed as you said.

Well, like so much of what comes out of the mouths of HAL employees it just doesn’t jibe with reality. If you don’t care about happy hour then why do you follow this thread so fanatically?

From the replies here and my own personal experience on the other ships all of the other ships have 50% off happy hours and some have multiple hours per day. Only NS offers 25% discount at 3pm.

My experience is that HAL just isn’t so sophisticated as to adjust their happy hour to meet supply and demand. What’s more likely is there’s nobody aboard the ship who knows how to change the system so it’s what it’s always been for the past couple of years and how it will stay until the 12 year old who understands the accounting program changes it.

Well your theory makes no sense because the Rotterdam was also at capacity and yet offered 50% off drinks at a better time of day and the happy hour was always packed. Plus we spent 85 days last year on NS when it was far from full snd the happy hour was the same ss it is now. So it apparently is nothing to do with the liquor sales. It’s just a policy set by the particular beverage manager.

Like I said, I hope they improve. We’re staying on for the next couple of months. We chose these cruises because we enjoy BBK so much usually. The trumpet player we recognize from prior cruises but none of the other band members are familiar.

I think you might be thinking of this ship. It was one of the dancers who died at Curaçao port call early this month. On that cruise they didn’t perform for several nights but that was a couple of weeks ago. While I am sure that was traumatic I can’t imagine they are still so affected by it to be causing this most recent problem. But one thing is for sure, we’ll probably never know the real story.

And to add another thing - I recall reading some recent reviews of prior cruises mentioning similar issues where they cancelled shows or band members just were missing. Something strange is going on.

We’ve been on our first week and were told initially there was a band member out sick (the female singer) so for the first couple of nights they played abbreviated sets of 30 minutes with 30 minute breaks in between. Basically they played two instrumental numbers and three songs with singing per set. Then both singers were on but still short sets and they seemed to stretch out the songs and played songs at slower tempo than normal which is noticeable when trying to dance to them. On Wednesday night they didn’t sing a single danceable song during the entire set we watched. Then last night they skipped the early sets completely because of “participation with the stage show” but in the past this has been limited to one singer and they usually don’t cancel the shows. Their first show was 10pm. This band has noticeably less enthusiasm and energy than the band on Rotterdam who was just outstanding in every way. Hoping things improve but so far the band on Nieuw Statendam has been a bit disappointing.

I have not had any luck getting changes made to the happy hour aboard this ship. We have been onboard for almost a week and not bought a single cocktail so their policy has worked on us! I heard a new beverage manager is coming on soon. Hopefully they will be more receptive to improving the H H but if not we’ll just save money and enjoy our wine package all the more!

Wifi calling with T-Mobile works on both Nieuw Statendam and Rotterdam.