Haljo1935

Yep, especially since @slidergirl said she was on my ship and got it all week. I was very briefly annoyed when he said that then reminded myself I could make due w/the ice & water so long as I got it 2x day. So I spent water $$ on Vanilla Cappuccino!! But it does highlight different experiences on the same ship, same dates, which is unfortunate.

I've cruised 13 times post-Covid and change of Muster Drill procedures; 2 times on Carnival, 11 times on HAL, various ships. On every one of those, our TV was off when we walked into our cabin, but it did start right up to playing the safety video. Likely depends on the Cabin Steward.

We will be on for some of that time - we're on 13 days B2B Sept 16 - 29. And very much looking forward to pictures and write up of the ship. We're portside aft, so likely no pictures from that vantage point, but we'll happily scour whatever you post. 🥳🤯

Also appreciative of seeing the menu to help make a more informed decision on spending basically $100. While I live in a major Metro area (DFW), I don't have easy access to an abundance of authentic quality Italian restaurants (investors/chefs/transplants take note of an opportunity) so I was excited to hear about the addition of Il Viaggio on my upcoming cruises. Truly wish the price was more in line with Italian specialty dining on CCL other ships.

I mentioned to our cabin stewards that we didn't have any bottled water - one replied "yeah we don't have enough and write down who got it." Since I could do ice/melted water, I just let it go.

US we've been paying $20/bag, $149 7-day unlimited until last week on the Eurodam in AK - it was $159.50 unlimited, that's a 7% increase at one time!! But still a bargain (potentially saves luggage fees) for professionally laundered clothes and a clean suitcase at the end of the trip. We did it by the bag since we did not do excursions and thus were not muddy and wet as usual in AK. They do a great job, take pride and care even leaving personal notes in the returned basket, honor special requests and usually return it ahead of schedule. Remember to include them when you tip out at end of cruise (we put a note on the back of the note they sent us with the tip in the last bag we send out).

@QuattroRomeo you might try reaching out to the HAL excursions desk - they have a different number (which I don't have handy) and specifically letting them know you would like to post positive feedback. If anyone can get you a link to post, they can/will. Good to hear you had a positive experience.

Coins are worse - they're heavier and rattle around in your luggage; cannot be carried neatly in a wallet. Please we need less coins, not more.

Nov/Dec Koningsdam & Feb Nieuw Amsterdam had canned Open Water as well as glass bottled Acqua Panna (small & large sizes) plus Aha cans. Last week Eurodam only option was Acqua Panna, which our cabin did not receive. Amazon sells Open Water. We get an extra ice bucket in our cabin - it will be a large wine bucket, not the small ice bucket - and fill our reusable bottles from it. We get icy cold water for excursions that way with no fear of confiscation. We have them refill 2x/day. The melted ice we just pour into one of our bottles - works great and never run out.

As of May 9, it shows 4.26.0; I'm using Android device. I am always only able to see current day menu. Was on Eurodam last week (April 29 - May 6) and it was that way. Some features only work onboard; designed that way, doesn't mean it's not working/broke, just means it's functioning as designed although we may not like it. Don't like being tied to phone while on vacation but it (and TV) is great for being aware of ships time.

That is my understanding of how it's supposed to work - I just have not been successful in reaching anyone who would do the booking that way for me. Ugh and Grrrr, why am I still loyal to HAL?

Hospital industry buys them - you'll be served jello and oatmeal on one when you have your gall bladder removed next year, lol.

P&O is only cruise line I've heard of that has had them in years...they were removed a looooong time ago. And yet food waste continues.

We consider school schedules/holidays/... when we book, but still find ourselves on EVERY cruise saying at some point to each other "shouldn't these kids be in school?" Usually followed by "there sure are a lot of home schooled children these days" and "how much of this trip is the bottle-feeder going to remember?" With that said, we will continue to book HAL and not book mega-ships with waterparks and other children-friendly venues. Our frustration is with both the ill-behaved child and the "ignore it and it didn't happen" parent who created the behavior. Not anti-child. Pro civilized, well-behaved children and adults who appreciate the difference. Recently (Feb Nieuw Amsterdam) while waiting for our table in MDR - you know the place - it's between the glass doors and the host podiums - an approx 8yo girl in a dress was doing cartwheels. Neither the man nor woman that I assumed to be her parents said anything (to her to stop doing what she was doing or to us to apologize). The woman that I assumed to be her grandmother did say something to her - she told her what an excellent job she was doing, again not a peep of an apology to us or to the MDR staff who had to maneuver around her. This is why I choose to frequent cruiselines that have typically fewer children. Oh and the screamer whose parents didn't see they dropped their bottle in the buffet line about 10 passengers back...

I have tried 3 times to do this exact thing (thru PCC, thru TA and onboard thru FCC) and have never been able to get anyone to do it for me. I booked a VH Gty that worked in my favor w/TA, but that's a gamble I would rather avoid by selecting cabin w/CO. So, do you just stand firm when calling HAL? Is there a special # to call that is answered by people who understand the process? If going through TA, can they complete it in 1 call or do I (or them) follow up w/HAL after booking the Gty? Thanks for your help 🤔

So frustrated about CO - I've tried 3 times to purchase CO with the intent of upgrading to my preferred balcony location and have yet to be successful. 1st time was w/PCC - she said they were discouraging buying CO due to abuse (?) - I ultimately ended the call with no booking. 2nd time was w/TA - he said his deal was better (maybe it's a hassle for TAs?) - I ultimately booked a VH Gty (my first ever Gty [I'm 4 star]) which did pay off with us getting assigned a SS!! 3rd time was last week onboard (the aforementioned SS) w/FCC who said it wasn't worth it - I ultimately booked a VB for May next year but need to figure out how to get it changed. It's as if you mention CO upfront and they shutdown...

Two comments: 1) I did my first ever VH Gty for last week's AK cruise; I'm 4 star, DH is 3 star, so we have some history of selecting cabins. I thought it paid off when we got our cabin assignment - VQ Spa Verandah, until the night before we were leaving when it changed to a Portside Signature Suite, at which time I thought we'd won the lottery! Especially since we never received an offer to upgrade and the ship was sold out. Thank you, HAL!! 2) my 3rd attempt to do CO and secure a lower cost upgrade has failed. Previously tried w/PCC who said they weren't doing it due to abuse (?), with my TA who said his deal was better and again last week onboard w/FCC who said it wouldn't pay off for my itinerary (AK May 2023 - next year!). So, I guess I'm a fan of guarantees (maybe) and how do I buy CO and upgrade to the cabin I want? Help!!

Due to Fiona, PEI was canceled last Oct from our cruise, so both envious of your stop and thankful of the pictures.

B2B on both Koningsdam in Nov/Dec and Nieuw Amsterdam in Feb, the host/ess asked us if we wanted the same server we'd had. We also asked to have a table at 7:15 each night. That puzzled them the first night as 7:15 is not a dining option, but when we told the Maitre D 5:15 was too early and 8:15 (or whatever time the late option is) was too late for us and that the 2 of us would be 4 people the 2nd week, we were all set. Incredible service made up for the occasional iffy menu options. As for the menu, we seemed to always ask for stuff that wasn't on the menu any particular night. So long as it was something that at some point was in rotation, we were obliged.

Would love to see an actual menu. On HAL, the Italian specialty is $19/pp, while the steakhouse price aligns w/Carnival's. However, Canaletto (the Italian place) does not have it's own room - it is carved out of former Lido space, so maybe it's not considered "high end specialty " enough to warrant the higher charge. Or maybe Carnival decided to charge more for Il Viaggio because it's a "new" specialty themed ship. We were able to book for both nights on a B2B in Sept, along w/Steakhouse, Teppanyaki, and GEAH. So they're getting specialty dining $$ from my group (no OBC to use). We will monitor reviews and cancel if they're not favorable, so possibly some last minute openings down the road. 🙃

??

Explain, please, what is/was the great Bacon Plate tragedy?

Gratuities have gone up.

Thanks for the heads-up - we booked for both weeks. Would love to see an actual menu.

Like you, we were cruise first, land last. We never received anything from HAL on meal options, learned through their tip guides there are meal options but not what they were. Our TA didn't have info on them other than pricing and a recommendation to not purchase them but I was successful after multiple attempts in reaching a HAL Excursions (not Guest Services) person who explained the options (breakfast only, dinner only, breakfast & dinner, no lunches at all) - we chose to not purchase any of them and after seeing the limited menu felt we made the right choice. Food was very expensive everywhere but we did have more choices than we would have w/meal plans. We NEVER had an option to book land excursions - TA said we should receive something from HAL and both HAL & TA said a Travel Host would join us when we transitioned from ship to train who would present options. That did NOT happen and if it had would mean we couldn't choose excursions until the land portion had started, which seemed strange. So for us the land portion was an extremely expensive disappointment - not at all HALs usual service nor what they're known for in AK. The only excursion that was booked was in Denali - HAL automatically booked it for us for the night our train arrived. It was canceled due to the delay in our arrival (train broke down, we were 6 hours late arriving) we have yet to see the refund. Dinner that night was at the McKinley Chalet - they kept the restaurant open for us. We did go on a self guided hike in Denali the next morning before we got on the bus to Talkeetna - no charge, rode the provided shuttle (school bus) to park entrance. We write the disastrous catastrophe up to everyone trying to get back to business after Covid but will never do another land cruise; we're sticking to cruises only (just returned 2 days ago from AK 🤤). I suggest you call the Excursion number, not Guest Services, and continue to call until you reach someone who will answer your questions. Do tell them you know your TA has to handle transactions and that you are only looking for info/answers; that is how I finally got answers about meal options. Also, we received an email for upgrading the room at Denali (McKinley Chalet) that had a different number on it - you might try talking to them when you get that email. Good luck - regardless of the upfront pain, it will be beautiful once you're there.