bronzevernis

8 minutes ago, *Miss G* said:

 

By any chance, did you purchase a guarantee room, or do you have an assigned room?

I’m not familiar with the room lingo but I booked a verandah stateroom with a designated number. 

5 minutes ago, Crew News said:

After many Alaska visits, barcoded boarding passes usually do not appear before 8 days or less from cruising.  Often, during the last days, boarding passes will change.

Thanks, that’s very helpful to know. 
Hopefully the digital boarding pass will appear at some point. I won’t have access to a printer in those last 8 days. 

7 minutes ago, VMax1700 said:

Let there be calm!  

They will appear, it's just not an exact science yet (in the HAL world).

Remember that this is a holiday weekend in USA.

When you get to T minus 7 days then start to show slight concern, but providing you have paid in full and the website is showing that checkin is complete for all passengers, then you are good to go.

I didn’t know it was a holiday weekend in the USA. I’m from the UK. 

I have the boarding passes now, just no barcodes and no digital boarding pass in the app yet. 
otherwise all checked in, full balance paid. 

8 minutes ago, Dismomx5 said:

My TA wanted to get them to us last week. She called and was told September 1. I'm not too worried, and if you have it on your Navigator app, you will be fine. You don't have to print them. I take a pic of them on the app, so I have them in my photos in case the app isn't working when I check in.

Unfortunately they’re not showing in the app. My TA contacted HAL to email them to me and I’ve just received them. Also now on website. But no bar codes on the boarding passes - yet!

6 minutes ago, bronzevernis said:

Its our first cruise with HAL.

I've closed the app down and the restarted it without any luck.

I'll try deleting and reinstalling

Which unfortunately hasn't worked!

HAL are a bit rubbish at issuing boarding passes.

1 minute ago, *Miss G* said:

 

Yay!  Try deleting the app then re-installing.  They should show up then.  The app might still be trying to use a previous sailing.

Its our first cruise with HAL.

I've closed the app down and the restarted it without any luck.

I'll try deleting and reinstalling

3 minutes ago, bronzevernis said:

PANIC over. The boarding passes are now showing on the website so I've printed them all off. Still not appearing in the App though 🤷‍♀️ but I'm not going to worry too much about that!

But no barcode on the boarding pass 🤦‍♀️!

Its says not to print off boarding pass more than 15 days before the cruise to allow the bar code to be added in the left hand corner of the boarding pass.

Maybe the bar code will materialise shortly!

PANIC over. The boarding passes are now showing on the website so I've printed them all off. Still not appearing in the App though 🤷‍♀️ but I'm not going to worry too much about that!

9 minutes ago, Dancing Shoes said:

Our boarding passes came a few days later than what they said. I understand wanting your ducks in a row. 

That’s very helpful to know. Thank you!

2 minutes ago, richwmn said:

Just like the airlines, the people checking you in don't really need your boarding pass. They have all your information on their computer and can check you in with just your passport.

 

For the most part they might glance at your boarding pass to get your name. I have checked in where they take my boarding pass and don't even look at it, getting my name from my passport.

 

Your boarding pass may be more important to get into the building, but someone will have access to the manifest and be able to get you past that.

 

 

With airlines it’s no boarding pass, it’s denied boarding. . 
The boarding pass has to be scanned to get through to security. It’s scanned and checked again at the gate. Airport security is extremely tight here in the UK. 
You can get a boarding pass from the agent if you’re checking in luggage with a scheduled airlines. The budget airlines like Ryanair will charge you an arm and a leg to print your boarding pass at the airport. 
 

I don’t like leaving things to chance. I wouid like to know the general experience - are HAL boarding passes usually available 14 days before a cruise or is it often closer to the date?

this would help me ascertain whether there is a problem with our boarding passes. So I can try to sort it out before we fly. 

3 minutes ago, *Miss G* said:

Have you tried downloading them from the website?

The boarding passes aren’t available on the website either. Hence my query and concern 

I am worried because we fly this week and I don’t want the stress of worrying about boarding passes whilst on holiday. 
 

When do boarding passes usually appear in the App? The boarding pass wallet appeared overnight but nothing in it. I don’t know if this is a tech glitch or another problem. 

I've checked in for our Alaska cruise several weeks ago. There's 13 days and 10 hours till our cruise to Alaska. The Navigator App states that boarding passes would be available "approx" 30th August. It's the 31st today. No sign of them in the App or on the website. I rang HAL last night who said to account for the PST time difference and they'd appear at midnight PST which is around 8am here. Nothing today yet. I rang again this morning and spoke to a  unintelligible agent. She didn't know why either but said she'd  email someone who would come back to me hopefully within 24 hours.

The boarding pass wallet has appeared on the home page of the app but when I open it there is nothing. I've attached screenshots.

Do I need to be worried about this? We fly later this week and I don't want the stress of sorting this all out whilst we are away trying to enjoy our pre-cruise holiday. 

I've checked in some time ago. 13 days and 10 hours till our cruise to Alaska. Navigator App states that boarding passes would be available "approx 30th August". No sign of them in the App or on the website. I rang HAL last night who said to account for the PST time difference and they'd appear at midnight PST which is around 8am here. Nothing today yet. I rang again this morning and spoke to a virtually unintelligible agent. She didn't know why either but said she's  email someone who would come back to me.

The boarding pass wallet has appeared on the home page of the app but when I open it there is nothing. I've attached screenshots.

Do I need to be worried about this? We fly later this week and I don't want to be trying to sort this all out whilst we are away trying to enjoy our pre-cruise holiday. 

7. Afternoon Tea at Epicurian

Disappointing. 
We would have like nice dainty sandwiches rather than mini brioche rolls with Parma ham or crab quiche. 
 

No clotted cream. It’s overwhipped cream. The jam was definitely not Tiptree jam. Just  basic supermarket quality. 
 

I didn’t eat the cake pop, instead donating it to the adjacent table. My husband ate his but said it was sickly sweet. I’m not a chocolate fan so didn’t eat the mini chocolate tart either. 
 

Overall, neither of us were particularly impressed with the quality and the selection on offer. 
 

We wouldn’t book Afternoon Tea again. 

Continued…

5. Chef’s Table - Celebration Night

SUPERB! 

We were very impressed with the quality of the food considering it was not additional charge dining. We both had the shellfish starters and mains. We had the fruit salad for dessert. And we’d never have known it was the Horizon buffet either. It had been beautifully and elegantly laid out. 
 

Definitely pre-book the Chef’s Table - totally worth it. 
 

6. Horizon - aka The Buffet

Bedlam. 

Hordes of people, it felt very chaotic and overwhelming. We had a quick look at the food on offer and very little looked appealing. If you want a roast dinner every day, the Horizon is where to get it. The buffet is clearly popular as it was absolutely rammed. 
 

it was nowhere as clean and tidy as the Quays. The buffet felt like a canteen. We didn’t have anything to eat there. 

So, we’re Day 2 on our Iona cruise to the Fjords. Here’s our hot takes on dining so far:

1. Epicurian - our dinner on Saturday night. 
 

- if you’re into seafood like us, the giant Indonesian tiger prawns were stellar. 
- the starters were trying too hard. The snow crab cocktail which contained grated apple and the accompanying  salty cucumber drink shot with lemon foam was a bit all fur coat and no knickers. Style over substance. My husband had the slow cooker in ox cheeks which were presented on a hollowed out bone, or a  “canoe” as the menu referred to it. My husband liked it to a Greggs steak bake on a piece of bone.  
-dessert - we had a lemon meringue tart with looked like a dinosaur - a trail of tiny dots of meringue over the tart “mound”. Tasted good. 
 

We’re going back again later this week to have the tiger prawns again. Sublime. 
 

2. Olive Grove - lunch yesterday

The hanging beef kofta didn’t look anything like what we’ve seen in review videos on YouTube. It was 2 short stubby beef patty-esque tubes on a metal skewer. Well seasoned though and tasted good. It came with a teaspoon of salsa/ salad and flatbread. It just didn’t look very attractive in its presentation. . 

Extra charge : £4.50

Baklava dessert - very generous in quantity and one portion quite easily feeds 2

Afogato - ok. Expresso was good but the icecream was a bit own supermarket brand in terms of quality. 

extra charge: £2

We’ll eat there again later this week to try the paella

3. The Quays - lunch on Saturday and today (Tues) and breakfast this morning 

Lunch

Fantastic! Fish and chips stellar - a lovely light and crispy batter and haddock cooked to perfection. 
 

Katsu curry - of a Wagamama standard in terms of taste. Mine came with noodles which was a bit of a surprise. 
 

Breakfast

Waffles, crispy bacon and maple syrup. Yum! Hubby liked it too. 
 

Free coffee on tap which is if decent quality. Skip the fancy Costa coffee and just go to the Quays. 
 

Staff working tirelessly to clear and wipe tables. Lots of seating inside and outside on prom deck. Ambience is good too. A hit with us 

We’ll be back for breakfast tomorrow. And most likely for lunch as well after we get back from the Loen Skylift. 
 

4. Sindhu 

The emperor’s new clothes. Alas. 
 

Incredibly overhyped. If you’ve been to any Dishoom you’ll be very underwhelmed with Sindhu. 
 

I think Sindhu is trying to be everything to everyone. It tries to “Indianise” British type meals rather than be truly creative with Goan cuisine. 
my starter was nothing like described on the menu. It was a glorified cold chicken salad. The chicken had a curry flavour. I wasn’t expecting a cold dish. Similarly the chickpea puri were stone cold. They tasted like cold crispy poppadum shells not like a puri. 
 

Husband had the beef fillet. He liked it. I had the slow cooked pork shoulder. Mine was very good.

We skipped on dessert as we were just pretty underwhelmed overall with Sindhu. We had a single scoop of sorbet in a pot at Ripples instead. 
 

We also cancelled our Friday reservation at Sindhu. 
 

The decor is lacklustre too, looking much like conference hotel decor. Menus were stained and tatty. 
 

A real disappointment. We just don’t get the hype. 

5 minutes ago, Son of Anarchy said:

What happens if the captain becomes incapacitated and there is insufficient fuel remaining to go to an alternative airfield?

The First Officer is a pilot too and can fly the plane! Flight plans always include alternative airports if plane can’t land at original destination and fuel is calculated for destination airport and for alternative airport plus extra to cover having to do any go-rounds. All part of pre flight checklist done by both pilots. 
 

highly recommend watching Mentour Pilot and 74Gear on YouTube. Mentour Pilot is a commercial airline captain. 74Gear is a commercial freight First Officer. 

3 minutes ago, jeanlyon said:

 

 

In fact I have never heard of a "Captains Only" airport.  Both pilots are always able to do landings.  Apart from excessive crosswinds when Captains might take control.

There are certain very high altitude airports with difficult terrains in South America which are Captain-only landing. Quito comes to mind. However, it is the airlines that impose the rule not the airports and the captain can authorise the First Officer to be pilot flying for landing. 

26 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

Only on sea days. It wasn’t advertised when the dining bookings opened 14 days before. I only noticed it when I logged on to my cruise Personaliser the night before the cruise and it was only available for the last sea day. I think it might have been on the first sea day as well but had sold out before I noticed it. 

Blimey, what a spread! We've booked Afternoon Tea on Iona next Sunday (1st sea day). I think we'll need to have a light breakfast and skip lunch to accommodate all of that!!! 😆

What are those things on sticks out of curiosity?

And is there a dress code for afternoon tea? Can my husband get away with trainers with smart casual attire - chinos and shirt?

1 minute ago, Selbourne said:

Other cruise ships still seem to be making it to Geiranger. I tend to recall our P&O insider saying that there had been a ***** up with Iona being designed to an incorrect brief given by the port. I don’t think I imagined that, but will no doubt be corrected if that’s wrong. 

I didn’t know that. We had notice from P&O about 6 weeks ago regarding the Geirangerfjord itinerary change. 
 

We’ve booked the ferry trip excursion from Hellesylt to Geiranger so we still get to enjoy sailing it. 

23 minutes ago, TigerB said:

Don't say too much as @bronzevernis has booked the tasting menu, but did you like the chicken skin amuse? Our lass left it.

 

 When onboard I had a conversation with the Excursions Manager about why the navigation as far as the Seven Sisters had been dropped; I had initially understood it to be scheduled for after we left Hellesylt in the early afternoon. He said something along the lines of it not being at the optimum time for all guests to enjoy.  I couldn't get my head around that, as the Fjord transit from Olden was during meal times, as was the subsequent one from Hellesylt.  I reckon it was more from a commercial viewpoint, in the they wanted to get to Haugesund early enough to not miss out on refuelling.

 

 

I’ve already had a sneek peek of the Norway Taster Menu 😜

The Geirangerfjord issue is down to it being a UNESCO world heritage site. It’s Norway who has decided that cruise ships (not sure about smaller ship or whether it applies to all cruise ships irrespective of size) can’t sail the Geirangerfjord anymore. 
 

This will become an increasing issue over the next couple of years with Norway imposing strict limits/ bans on cruise ships in certain parts of the fjords. 
 

P&O are being coy about the reason for cancellation of that part of the itinerary. Perhaps it thinks it will put customers off from booking a Fjords cruise. 

19 hours ago, Gumpxyz said:

Do you mind me asking how much these speciality dining restaurants cost? Are they all a set price per person like someone mentioned for Epicurean earlier in the thread?
 

 

If booked in advance:

Epicurean: £24pp  - nothing further to pay

Sindhu: £10pp which is offset against your dinner bill.

Beach House: £7.50 pp 

Afternoon tea in Epicurean: £14pp

Norway Taster Menu: £24pp

I think you can benefit from a further discount if you are a Peninsular Club member. We're not as this is our first cruise

18 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

Well, let's add more grist to the mill!!

 

Following on from Presto2's attempts to book the Retreat in advance look what's just dropped into my inbox!  Needless to say if I click to follow the link to book it says "Enquire on Board".  A swift call - only 25 minutes waiting(!) - to P&O I'm told no you've never been able to book Retreat in advance on any of our ships.

 

The Retreat

 

Your sanctuary for relaxation, this outdoor refuge is nestled in an exclusive, adult‑only deck area. Refreshments including teas and coffees are included in your experience, as well as a healthy eating menu featuring top‑quality ingredients available throughout the day. Numbers are limited, so the atmosphere is serene and sophisticated with luxurious surroundings including panoramic ocean views, The Retreat is the height of grown‑up sophistication and indulgence

 

 

Book now http://emails.pocruises.com/files/amf_blueberry_wave/project_1034/Email_31/button-arrow.png

 

A 7 day pass for the Retreat is showing as available to book for our cruise. It’s been available to book for a while now. £140 for 7 days. I don’t thinks it’s worth doing for a fjords cruise as the weather is quite changeable in Norway. 

1 hour ago, Megabear2 said:

Whilst understanding your sentiments if your cruise has 5,000 people onboard and have the same idea how would you handle that one?

That’s exactly why I booked all our speciality dining bang on midnight when bookings opened!