SeaMatesNYC

Less offensive than “old people and cruise ship” routines?? I really wish they would replace all these comedians with pianists or even floutists (thinking of Paul Steppien).

If you can produce a statement with you named as beneficial owner then you should be fine. Although you may not be within the window for making a specific cruise OBC request, you can get the stock perks account set up and see how it reacts to your statement. Of course if the cruise is way, way out, you could be asked to re-verify, but you sound familiar with that process per your post above. Have a wonderful cruise and enjoy your PS!

Of course it is a matter of personal preference. For us, the early or late sleeper is less disturbed by the other moving about from desk to bathroom, closet and exit door. When we want to watch the ocean, we move onto the veranda or pull the chair over in front of the glass door if the temps or wind are too much. It’s great that there is variety to meet lots of needs/wants.

Generally the premium is nowhere near the percentage you are seeing, which is artificial given your voyage choice and the likely inventory remaining in the two categories. We have found Vistas for $20 pppd over veranda. A veranda guarantee can easily yield an obstructed view while it would not for a Vista. The layout of the Vista we find much more appealing on Pinnacles than the Veranda (arrangement of sitting and desk closer to entry door rather than bed). More storage too. The extra space, although small, feels large in context. Plus the benefits of location noted above.

I guess since she’s early, the shoreside staff are finishing up coffee and cake?

I see now. Some research showed me that this is St George cross (knew that) and this configuration is the Bahamian civil ensign, flown by privately owned boats at sea. As always, I learn something new when you are around, sir. Thank you.

Looks like Bahamas sitting in Denmark.

Are you sure? This sounds like Princess with that Medallion thingy. Never seen this on HAL, but hey, I don’t order alcohol any more😆. I would like it if I could summon a Heineken 0.0 when there are no beverage servers around. This would make a wonderful cruise questionnaire suggestion, but with the HAL IT that can’t properly run a website, I’m not so sure…🤪

If your land includes Denali (and perhaps at other stops) you will be offered a room upgrade option. I assume it is offered to all cruise cabin categories.

I think confirming with Ships Services is a great idea. And then snapshot a picture of the purchase you choose to make and be sure the bottle size shows and take this with you on the cruise. Ask for a price adjustment if they pull some other trick at product delivery.

But is it $25 on the ship??

My most recent cruise in April, it was slip every time. But where there is not a check presented, it is possibly 1) forgetfulness, 2) inattentiveness, 3) opposition, 4) or some other answer(s), none of which we can know the answer to even were the F&B department (manager?) available to answer. The poster above reports that they were told by a bartender that it is bar manager's discretion whether to present slips to pax for signature, which seems a reasonable reply, The more interesting question for me, which you brought us to in post #4 above (and has been the topic of discussion for the remainder of the thread), is signing versus not signing, when a slip is presented along with a pen. This we each can answer for ourselves with our own reasons, as opposed to guessing (as I was doing ad nauseam in post 18 above, that being the point; there are as many reasons why the slip is given and why maybe it's not as our creative imaginations can come up with, none of which may be true). For me, I am now ready to sign off on this thread. Bon voyage and sign your chits! 😉

That’s a good theory. And in fact one can do so. One can also put one larger tip on a check near the voyage end. Another theory is that the accountants want it. A third is to provide proof when someone reaches 15 drinks. A fourth is that there is no function on POS terminal to omit the printed receipt and bartenders/servers are just in the habit of presenting the check. I’ve seen many people waste their breath and vacation time arguing with staff about why they need not sign. Good entertainment on a slow day on a barstool.

And the non sparkling wine won’t clear potential bathroom sink drain clogs (I’ll get me coat…)

Tap to pay from Navigator would be great! With signed slips as a backup.

It’s on the boarding pass.

Or Make the reservation for 3, redeem two credits (assuming they are HIA credits) from your account, and then have podium staff add her voucher once you are onboard. I’ve only made rezzies for two with a credit redemption for each of us, so not sure 2 redemptions on a three party rezzie will work but it should.

I believe the point was if you sign then a slip with no sig will be easier to dispute. A drink that falls under HIA incorrectly charged is not the experience that shows the wisdom of signing. The expensive bottle of champagne showing up once on New Years on my shipboard account is the instance where I was happy to be signing and the powers that be could see the chit for the champers was signed differently. I think they still thought it was me and I had signed funny. But I was asleep at the time of the purchase and my spouse backed me up on that! And I suppose they could have checked the logs seeing me having keyed into my room.

This sounds like the Hubbard glacier catamaran (when the cruise ship discharges the tour participants onto the catamaran as a tender type operation). We have done the Tracy Arm (on a Southbound from Juneau) and you get off the ship at the dock (or tender to the dock as the case may be) and walk a short ways to get on the excursion boat from a nearby dock. This is not akin to tendering. This happens on and off shore side docks. Perhaps northbound does it different? On Tracy Arm tour, there was ample inside seating for all. But being outside was the true pleasure. It was the best tour for us of the cruise portion of our cruise tour. Worth.Every.Penny.

Another thing to remember is that in these few ports, it is often easy to garner extra onboard credit by using the “best price guarantee.” A simple Google search for shore excursions in Alaska will give you tour operators, some of which are the same ones that HAL uses, down to simply copying the tour description into the HAL system. If you take the time to do a little sleuthing and fill out the form, you can get 110% of the price difference (for 2025 season, you may have to wait to get the next year pricing, but if it’s lower this year will likely be similar next). On an upcoming voyage, we are netting about $140 in OBC from excursions in 2 ports (taking the HAL offer but using best price guarantee versus a major shorex operation). Good luck to you! Oh and I agree, if you like it, book it right away, especially if it is via your HIA credit. Even if it’s credit card charge, you are likely to experience fast credits in cancels. We have gotten them same day onto our cards on recent cancellations when we swapped “placeholder” tours for clearing-waitlist, preferred tours.

Any departure in 2024 should work. If you put in 2025 cruises, you will be asked to return and request in November.

Ok, so may I suggest you try again and contact shore excursions? 1-888-425-9376

This part is true. Did you talk specifically with shore excursions or merely the regular reservations team?

Perhaps try this: in website booking, look to upper left hand corner and click on Itinerary and should show booked and waitlisted excursions for each day as you scroll down.

We had them in our most recent Vistas on Rotterdam (10/23) and Koningsdam (04/24).