Lady Arwen

At one time Princess allowed you to bring a guest onboard for four hours pre-embarkation. The cost was $39.00 per person. You had to get permission and clearance and pay in full well before sail date. However, I don’t think this ever applied to guests at ports of call. Unless someone on these boards has more up to date info, I would say your request is not possible.

You’re welcome! I’m sure you will love it. We have one of these booked for our next cruise on Enchanted and we’re so looking forward to it.

We are those people who love these cabins! No, you are not prohibited from using your balcony at anytime. Nobody locks your doors EVER. Your only restriction is that at night you must keep your cabin curtains drawn to prevent the light from impacting the bridge’s ability to see clearly. Yes, you will feel the wind when at sea. You may want to sit closer to the door under the overhang to feel more comfortable. Yes, there is more motion upfront and high up. We don’t mind it at all. The huge balcony and the view make up for it. Now, as for the obstruction, the front facing wall of the balcony is metal not plexiglass. While seated you cannot see down to the water only out to the water. For some, this is a dealbreaker. We don’t care, we just stand up to look down onto the water. We highly recommend these cabins to those who aren’t prone to motion sickness, who don’t mind the hike to the elevator, who like the proximity of the Lido deck pool, who aren’t worried about the wind and those who realize that there will be rare occasions that you just can’t go out there. Only you know how you feel about it. Good luck and enjoy your cruise!

Wow! This sounds fantastic….a true adventure. Thank you for sharing this experience with us. I’ll definitely be following along!

His girlfriend enjoys wearing it for herself and probably for him. He just wants to assure her that she’ll be comfortable on the ship. I actually think it’s quite sweet that he would take the time to get other people’s opinions. I’m impressed with his genuine concern for her and her feelings. Bravo, young man!

If you’re comfortable showing off your derrière to strangers, then by all means go for it. No judging here. Unfortunately, not everyone’s a$$ets are created equal, butt if you’re okay with it, I’m certainly okay with it. Have fun!

Exactly. You have your own entrance into this part of the dining room, hence no waiting.

You are most likely correct, thank you

Probably on Friday.

I believe the difference is that the beverage package alone does not include any other perks. You can either prebook or book once onboard. However, the HIA package, which includes crew appreciation and others, is more expensive because you get much more than just beverages. We paid the equivalent of $50.00 US pp/pd for the HIA because of our casino discount rate.

Me, too!

I’ve never had it in the MDR nor have I seen it on a menu. However, there is fruit crisp offered almost daily in the buffet. Peach is my favourite.

Same here. iPad on Safari and the “Continue” button is useless. However, I can now access my bookings, so there’s something improved since Friday.

Booked 14 nights British Isles cruise for 2025 last month at the standard rate, no promos with the $25.00 per person non refundable deposit. Yesterday we decided to add Early Booking Bonus+HIA. We are fortunate to receive a special casino rate with HAL for all of our cruise bookings, but I assumed that it would not apply to promotions added after the fact. Happily, I was wrong! Our daily rate worked out to $60.00 pd.pp. in Canadian dollars total of $1690 for the entire cruise. When we originally booked the cruise we were told the addition of the promo would be a total of $2400. We saved $710 by waiting two weeks. And our booking changed to a refundable deposit. So confusing!

Oh, you booked with a TA. Yes, HAL won’t deal directly with you if you didn’t book with them yourself. Sorry to get your hopes up!

Please keep trying that number! I didn’t have any problem at all getting to speak to someone. You could even try early tomorrow. Please let me know how you make out!

I don’t know if you want to try this, but it just worked for me. I called the main number for PCCs 1-800-355-3017 prompt #3. Consultation answered on third ring. Told her I wanted to add the HIA promotion to our booking. No problem! Five minutes later my booking was refared and emailed to me. I’ve been trying to call and do the chat function all day with no success. This was my last resort and I received immediate attention. I’m so relieved!

At least I’m not alone. I feel your pain! I’m done for today, so you can now move up to 19 in line. lol

You are so right! I decided to just call and get pricing to add Early Booking Bonus and HIA to our existing booking for 2025. Tried three times and three times my call was disconnected after identifying myself three times to the robot! Tried the chat feature. Started out at 21 in line and now 18 over 2 hours later. I would give up, but we really want the package!

May I ask which cruiseline you are considering instead of HAL? We sail Princess and Celebrity as well as HAL and I can tell you each line and ship has some type of issue. None are perfect. What you experienced is not our experience with HAL. Unfortunately, there are certain cabins on every ship that are noisier than others, even on the same deck. We try to pick locations that are least likely to be a problem before we choose an actual cabin. We research deck plans and do comparisons. We would not choose deck 4 on a Pinnacle class ship for this reason. Other people have no issues. It depends on your level of tolerance for sound and vibrations. We always enjoy the food on HAL and is, IMHO, comparable to both Princess and Celebrity. Food is very subjective, so my experience may be different than yours and others. Entertainment again is a matter of personal perception. We’ve seen good, bad and awful, but it’s not something we’re really concerned with. There is always somewhere else on the ship to find something we enjoy.

And, we’re back! Well, sorta of. I can access my account and current bookings. I can’t peruse pricing on new cruises. It’s a start, so I’m hopeful!

No luck signing in yesterday and this morning. I actually can’t get any further than the home page and neither can my husband. Both of us using iPads. So frustrating!

Congratulations! We just did the same. Our last HAL cruise was 2018 on Koningsdam and then we sailed mostly Celebrity and Princess. Just cancelled our Princess cruises for 2024 and 2025 and booked with HAL instead. We’re very happy to be back and looking forward to many more terrific HAL ships in the future!

Wow! So inconvenient to just get a coffee. They really need to get their act together. I hope things improve for you.

Yes, I just realized the OP was not referring to a Royal class ship. My bad, too early in the morning. lol. I agree that once you have have a loveseat or sofa with a little coffee table it’s really hard to go back to just a desk chair. Princess is one of very few lines that doesn’t offer a little sitting area in all balcony cabins.