taxmantoo

A "beer bucket" without beer? Never heard of it 🤣

12 hours ago, albingirl said:

Every one of us lol.  Do not ever underestimate people posting on cruise critic to offer a helping hand. Pure love.

    😉

57 minutes ago, RuthC said:

My feeling is if HAL can't get its IT Dept. to provide the tools they want us to use for embarkation, they can't insist we use them. 
I give it one shot, in the correct timeframes. If it works, fine. If not, also fine. Not my problem---it's theirs.

I see no reason to frustrate myself, nor use my time to load, remove, reload, or keep printing until HAL decides to provide what they want me to have. 
Somehow, they let me board anyway. 

Exactly.  Lots of people still do not have a cell phone or choose not to use one for their cruise.  Whatever system worked before will still work.  Most often, no one even looks at your boarding pass other than the port personnel.  

While you are sitting there listening to their sales pitch, you do not have to sit at the complimentary art auction to listen to their sales pitch !!! 🤣

I like to believe that a company with 150 years of sailing history would already know what itineraries are the best sellers 🙂 

Your recent experience on the Koningsdam pretty much sums it up as far as the entertainment on all HAL ships.  Lincoln Centre Stage/Rolling Stone Rock Room/BB King/Billboard Onboard constitute the entertainment on HAL other than the Main Stage which has now been diluted into showing BBC Movies, several versions of a dance show and, lately, a 30-45 minute HAL infomercial on their history.  I agree that Princess offers much more entertainment but HAL still remains a good choice for more diversified itineraries.  

20 minutes ago, SeaCapt said:

It's been been hit or miss- for us:

Koningsdam last October, no ceremony

Rotterdam this March, no ceremony

Koningsdam this June, yes ceremony, but no parade to lunch

Zaandam this Sept, yes ceremony, no parade

Very much HAL-like ... no consistency AND this has absolutely nothing to do with a pandemic or penny-pinching.  It is simply the result of shoddy work practices and a "whatever" attitude.

Sadly, Princess is not different from any other cruise line.  It has become quite evident to all that passengers are much more loyal to their cruise line of choice than cruise lines are loyal to their passengers.  The pandemic is a poor excuse used by most of them to justify their cutting back on a multitude of services.  The pandemic will never be justification for a clear lack of class!

13 hours ago, RuthC said:

IIRC, that took 2 or three trips to the Front Desk before it was finally straightened out. They didn't even understand how I believed I was short-changed, as if they had never heard of that particular 5* perq. 
This was not when 5* was new, either. 

And I will bet you ONE Pinnacle Dinner that they blamed it all on the "night auditor" 😁 That person, whoever they are, seemed to be responsible for most on-board account problems we have encountered. 😁

WOW ... Probably their idea of making all those nostalgic cruisers happy by bringing back the "glory days of cruising" 😁

1 minute ago, cruzsnooze said:

Yes and in addition there was a 10-15 minutes many nights for Club Class if we went to dinner around 6 PM. 

We quickly found out on our August cruise on the Caribbean Princess in Club Class that when Princess advertises "Dine My Way" they really mean "Dine Our Way", where and when they decide... They had trouble accommodating guests every night.

13 hours ago, CruiserBruce said:

Making a profit (which HAL is not doing right now, and hasn't since at least March of 2020) is not against the law, unethical or immoral. Not making a profit, however, is frequently fatal to a business. Not sure why people have a problem with that.

 

I am sure there are cruise lines out there that don't charge corkage.

Absolutely... and, quite often, HAL is one of those cruise lines.  It depends on the ship, the security personnel, the embarkation personnel, the beverage staff being available to check or not, and even the wine stewards in the dining room.  So many variables!

I'm sure somebody will disagree 😁

Does anyone tip the laundry people at home?  Why would it be different on a ship? 🙄

3 hours ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

In the past there was countless posts about people slapping a luggage tag on wine.  This was before corkage was charged.  I have zero problems with people paying corkage and dragging it n themselves.  I guess you didn’t notice that I was referring to the past.

Countless posts were often overrated and exaggerated by folks who were opposed to this process.  A dozen passengers bringing on a case of wine while following the posted rules on a 1500-2900 passenger ship is still a lot less than the 2 or 3 hundred going through the wildest subterfuges to bring on their favorite alcohol bottles.  

2 hours ago, rkacruiser said:

Billboard on Board has the same potential to be as good, but, the interaction with guests needs to improve.  Some of the artists take requests.  Some don't.  (Some sight read music better than others?)  

I could hardly believe it one night when one of the piano players got p'''d off at some guests for taking a picture of her (one only) while she was playing and proceeded to tell them so. She also complained to the staff about it, as if it were their fault and were responsible for stopping it.  Most artists we've seen all over the world actually encourage picture taking LOL.  We even saw Shania Twain in Las Vegas come down into the seats at Caesar's Palace and walk among the fans for selfies while she was singing.

Don't forget about "Origins Story" the new 45 minute HAL infomercial guaranteed to knock your socks off  🙄 on the first night of the cruise. zzzzzzzz

Head straight to the Dining Room.

1 hour ago, LMaxwell said:

So it is allowed; but each bottle is $20 corkage fee at time of boarding? And the number can be greater than one, but up to them how many? 

Nobody knows.  They do mention a "reasonable" amount but nobody has ever come back and said they were denied "x" number of bottles.  We have often brought on in excess of a case.

Our Travel Summary for two cruises booked before the introduction of the "Premier" package also showed "Premier" drinks.  One of them was changed to "Plus" today (as it should be, can't complain) and I imagine the other one will change soon also. 😪  I thought for a while, as did my travel agent, that we might get away with it.  Oh well ...

3 hours ago, BobbiSox said:

To my knowledge, the 'suite' that qualifies for double points is the Neptune Suite only. It hasn't mattered, in my experience of 25 years with HAL, how you booked it, or how it was discounted, you will get double points. You also get extra points for spending onboard. 

Sorry, but you are wrong on both counts.

If it has the word "Suite" in its designation IT DOES qualify, so Pinnacle, Neptune, Signature and Vista Suites all qualify AND it does matter how you book it.  Points are only allocated if you originally book a suite; if you are complimentarily upgraded to a suite or purchase an upgrade to a suite, you will not get double days counted in your Mariner status.

1 hour ago, JimmyVWine said:

The general rule of thumb is that aged red wines go in old shoes.  Whites and recent vintage reds should be consumed from new shoes. 😁

And flip-flops should be avoided at all times ...

39 minutes ago, emerald sea said:

I noticed that Koningsdam has changed the lounge to Rolling Stone already. ?????

The Koningsdam has always had BOTH the BB King Blues Club AND the Rolling Stone Rock Room in separate locations since its inauguration. 

13 hours ago, rkacruiser said:

 

Your question can apply to many, many, many changes that have taken place in recent years!  

 

I have a possible answer.  Job justification to the question as to "why are we employing you?" for some executives.  

Let's just all agree that the last two Holland America Presidents are not quite ready for prime time 😉 I was under the impression that Jan Swartz would surround herself with better than Gus when she let Orlando go...