visagrunt

One way voyages cannot involve Seattle/Anchorage because of the PVSA (there's no "distant" foreign port between Seattle and Anchorage). They only operated to/from Vancouver. There are only two ships doing Vancouver-Anchorage this summer (Noordam and Nieuw Amsterdam) and they alternate on Sundays. If you're going to stay on HAL, you need to put the voyages a week apart. Princess has similar cruises on Wednesdays and Saturdays, so you could put Princess together with HAL (or up and back on Princess) with a three or four day stay in Anchorage.

I did 10 days on Edge last year. Entertainment was excellent and there is nothing on HAL that comes close. But this is the only category where X wins in a head to head comparison. I found the food generally good to very good. However, only Eden was on or above a HAL standard. Service was poor (bars and one of the MDRs) to good (housekeeping and specialty restaurants) to excellent (Blu). HAL may be struggling in some bars at some hours--but nothing like the fiasco of Eden or the Martini Bar. Housekeeping was a team of one person who had many cabins to attend to. The cabin was fine (I don't hate infinite verandahs), but storage was a challenge. But I really disliked the ship. The best real estate was handed over to the Retreat, leaving no forward facing public space with general access. There's no sheltered promenade (even Pinnacle class makes an attempt at this). The atrium over the Martini Bar was an acoustic nightmare which invaded all the public areas surrounding it. Public spaces were woefully inadequate for the passenger numbers. And finally the value for money proposition was non-existent. Celebrity was vastly more expensive than comparable accommodations and perks on HAL without providing a corresponding step up for that money. The same group are doing 10 days on Eurodam in February next year and I hope that she show off what HAL is capable of. 🙂

This is to facilitate South Korean entry and the reentry to Japan. Do take note: foreign residents are required to have their passports on their person while visiting Japan. There is a ¥100,000 fine if you cannot produce original identification (no copies) when asked by police to do so, and only passports are accepted for foreign nationals who don't have Japanese issued identification. This means that the ship cannot collect passports at check in. Presenting the physical passports for South Korean entry and exit would mean collecting all of them in a short period after leaving Fukuoka and returning them prior to Kanazawa. The use of photocopied biodata pages is a courtesy.

I suspect that this is, in fact, front and centre in their calculus. An older clientele is going to stop being their clientele in the medium term and that clientele must be replaced. Younger cruisers and multi-generational family groups are the new deep pockets and they are more likely to want/need 3+ berths, and HAL would be foolish to turn them away when there are twos to move people to. And, frankly, from a commercial perspective, the three that they can build a relationship with is a higher priority than the two with an established one. Don't take it personally, this is business and you're as valuable as your contribution to the bottom line.

Another reason for Zaandam is that the venues are on decks 4,5 and 8 rather than 2, 3 and 9 meaning that it is much easier to use companionways instead of elevators to and from your suite.

If you have a cruise booked you can find detail on services and prices is in the "manage my cruise" section on the website or under spa services in the Navigator app. The current version of the brochure is attached, but for pricing you'll probably need to go with the website or the app. There are typically a lot of incentives (20% or 25% sometimes) for pre-booking, which can vary between sailings. spa-ebrochure.pdf

You can't do 7 online, anyway. A party that size has to be booked through Ships Services, so make it a TA problem. The dining credits can be applied and all's good. With six or fewer, you can add passengers from another booking, you just need the booking reference and the passenger names to do.

NA for Tamarind and NY Deli.

Food is such a subjective thing, it's very difficult to answer this question. My general experience has been that the MDR is of a comparable quality to first rate hotel banquet food. Specialty dining, because of the lower volumes, tends to be comparable with good restaurant fare. Dive-In and NY Pizza & Deli are very good, indeed. I find Lido fare to be the least quality, but it is also the fare that comes with the fewest expectations. I've only had one knock-your-socks-off dining experience on HAL (the late, lamented Die Librije pop-up), but I've never had an inedible meal (Seabourn takes that booby prize). I'm never worried about food quality on HAL--but my standards and expectations aren't yours so I'm not sure how helpful that observation is.

Typically the doors from the hydro pool to the Lido (on Vista and larger) are open during embarkation until they are done with the "Spa raffle". I avoid that area until the spa raffle is done and the doors are closed. That's the moment when the peace and quiet descends. The loungers won't be as affected--but there will still be spa attendants taking passengers through on tours which might be disturbing, depending upon your tolerance for other humans (or, just, "humans," if you're a cylon/replicant/humunculus).

Taste of Tamarind and Morimoto pop up both show up as bookable specialty dining, but you will likely have to wait until dining becomes bookable which is usually a few months before sailing date.

We are on Westerdam in April/May this year, and we have a couple of stretches of "Taste of Tamarind" up in Canaletto, and there are two pop up Morimotos--one in each segment of the cruise. I booked Taste of Tamarind almost immediately. I'm not persuaded by Morimoto, especially with the $60+ price tag

May is a good time for large organized tours (especially Australians) who likely hold GTYs. Those empty cabins disappear pretty quick once cabin assignments start.

Your proposed remedy is a pointless and empty gesture. As soon as you remove service charges, your name and cabin number is circulated to participants in the tip pool and they are obliged to remit all tips received from you to the pool. Failure to do so is grounds for termination. It's all in the crew handbook. And you can't opt out of the service charge on beverages--which seems to be your biggest service gripe. I wish you well in finding a cruise line more to your liking, and I'll be happier on board without you to spoil my experience.

I find it to be penny-wise and pound foolish. The incremental revenue is real enough--1000 passengers times 7 days times, say, $3.00 in additional revenue per day is $21,000. However, it adds extra workload to every transaction, because even included drinks wind up producing a receipt (waste paper-don't get me started), extra steps for beverage attendants, micro transactions that have the potential to create work at the front desk, etc. etc. But the bookkeepers only see actual costs, and until extra workload starts to generate extra crew costs, or it starts to hit the revenue side, it's hard to get the attention of finance.

short answer: yes. long answer: how flexible are you about dining times? how much wait time are you prepared to spend? If you are dining quite late you should have no problem securing a two-top, even without a reservation, but at earlier times it can get very busy as these are the tables that are most in demand. If they are all occupied at 5:30 to 5:45, none of them are going to open up for at least an hour (longer on Gala™ nights, perhaps). Reservations through the Navigator App are the best strategy, so long as you're not picky about time.

Very much depends upon the weather and what you expect to get from your cabana experience. Having two cabana attendants to bring you your lunch and beverages is lovely, but on port days you won't be challenged for space in the Lido and on sea days the wind and weather might be against you. Having some relatively private deck space in Glacier Bay is nice--but you can get somewhat better views up on 14. We had one in June last year--and we certainly made use of it (as did a handful of others). For privacy it can't be beat--and you certainly won't be overrun in the Retreat. But you won't be warm, either.

I am just loving the pedantry in this thread. ❤️ I feel like there is a fantastic trivia team if we could ever get on the same 'dam ship at the same dam time!

Because Thanksgiving is so late this year (October 14), a lot of tourism businesses are likely going to shut up shop for the season at the end of September (and even September is dodgy for some as the students on whom many rely for staff will be going back to University by Labour Day). While Parks Canada keeps Green Gables open until the end of October, almost nothing else in Cavendish will be open. I suspect the Oct 12 departure from Québec will encounter similar cancellation.

Now that drink packages are "pay the difference," the only reason to upgrade your package is if you consistently drink top shelf spirits or run down to the more expensive wines by the glass. If you are going to do that more than 5 times per day between two of you, the EBP begins to make sense. ($10 per-person-per-day ugrade, vs. the $4 per beverage difference). Otherwise, the included cocktails/wines/etc are perfectly find to be getting through the day, and then buy up a glass or two at dinner, you'll still be ahead of the game. Have a look at the beverage menus before departure, and you can probably get a sense of what your upcharges will look like.

It's important to remember that insurance is provincially regulated certain insurance products cannot be sold without a license. If HAL is selling from Seattle (rather than through a travel agent in the buyers' province of residence) there's no way to meet that requirement. Working through a travel agent, CAA/BCAA or other vendors, you should have access to third party insurance products that will cover the same risks for competitive prices. however.

When I sailed on Koningsdam's first voyage, my immediate impression was, "this ship was designed to go head to head with Celebrity." In the years since both company's have started to diverge their strategies, and each presents different strengths and weaknesses. Cabins I give to HAL (though K'dam's verandahs feel a bit tighter than Vista and Signature class ships). However, the Suite product definitely belongs to Celebrity--there is nothing on HAL to compare. On the other hand, CO (on the Pinnacle ships in particular) presents a distinct advantage over Aqua Class given that it can be applied to any cabin type and the cost is quite reasonable, especially if you maximize the upgrade. Entertainment I give to X (not even a contest) Dining is a bit of a dead heat (controversy!). Edge class ships probably win over HAL, each of the four 'main' dining rooms feel like specialty venues in their own right. But Millennium and Solstice class ships there's not much in it. Fixed dining has always been my go-to on HAL because a dedicated waiter team really does get to know your wants and needs over the course of a cruise. Public venues, again a bit of a dead heat. However, a special note about how awful the Edge class are if you're not in the Retreat. Edge class have no forward facing venue for non-Retreat guests, no wrap around promenade, and many of the public venues (and specialty dining) are in and around the huge echo chamber around and above the Martini Bar. I have never been on a noisier ship than Edge (though, in fairness, I've never sailed on Carnival). On the other hand K'dam is completely lacking in any dramatic interior space. But it has the Crow's Nest. The real place the HAL takes a win hands down is in value for money. Celebrity is increasingly pricing itself way beyond what is reasonable when comparing with other lines. You can book yourself a verandah with Club Orange, upgrade into a V or a VA, add on Have it All and get yourself a Thermal Suite pass for the full voyage and you still will likely have change from an Aqua Class fare on a similar itinerary on X.

Depends on the itinerary. Warm water cruises, SC's aft may sell because offer a price advantage over the SBs and really only sacrifice the 'wrap' segment of the balcony. Aft wraps almost always sell. If my upsell experience is anything to go by, the Neptunes that tend to be available in the last few weeks are often SAs.

Tamarind Bar is good for virtually zero crowding and some unique cocktails. However, it is out of the way, and not always the best place to get folks to gather. (But that's the reason for zero crowding). Ocean Bar is in the middle of everything and suffers from over crowding at peak hours.

Update, the agent and AZ agree on the amount for each of the four bookings; but in each case the amounts showing due do not reflect what AZ agrees are actually due. There is a disconnect between the Reservations department and either IT or Finance. Some optimism returns--and let's be clear, I never intended to take it out on the crew or staff. Rather, no matter how good the crew and staff on board, it's an open question whether they can redeem AZ from the mess their HQ are wallowing in.