cruz chic

We have noticed HAL prices have not gone up all that much over the past years, so changes in former amenities would be the expected part of this compromise. Concentrate on destinations, room and board and HAL still presents a great travel bargain. We still see HAL as a low cost cruise option that delivers a powerful package for the costs. Always have, so no disappointments for us.

Perhaps you are pricing cruises after final, Hal's prices are quite high. I could easily do an all inclusive at a 5 star hotel for quite a bit less if I enjoyed that type of holiday. My point is that cruising is not really a "bargain".

It was not opened for lunch on Westy embarkation Sat., Feb 6th nor any of the in-port days. On this 7 day cruise, the MDR was opened for lunch only on the two sea days. Just reporting on what I experienced.

The MDR was not open for any of the port days on the eurodam in October either. I've been reading retired mustangs Oosterdam thread. It has not been open on any port days for his cruises.

Didn't know. Thank you all for your input.

You never know what can happen. It's a pain to print all the paper but I have had to refer to mine on a couple of occasions. Luckily not for large claims. Enjoy your cruise.

Yes, of course. I'm curious why you wouldn't.

No need to advise HAL. I have faith that someone there does know what they are doing. ;)

Others may report what they experienced, and I may report what we experienced. We have been on over 15 HAL cruises (four of them in the past year) and have never been refused entry into the MDR on embarkation day.

Yes I also took 4 cruises last year. I've done many more than 15 cruises on Hal. The lunch was available for all of them. I do understand however that things change. I'm hopeful that the MDR will be open fir my April cruise but I'll be prepared if it won't.

Op, I hope it all works out for you. Those upsells do go fast if the price is right.

Ok, this is weird. I haven't done the Meyers Briggs for many years so I just did it again. My type has changed dramatically from my earlier life. Turns out now I'm holland America.

Nobody is going to miss anything ... the MDR is still open on embarkation day for ALL passengers, Mariners or not.

Well you better advise Hal of that. The Amsterdam was not open for embarkation for the world cruise. It was also not open for either segment of the oosterdam's last two cruises. That said for one they were doing a deep cleaning. Others have also reported it not bring open. While this may have been the case before that appears to have changed.

Regent seven seas for me. Too bad my finances don't agree :D. Thanks for the link.

As I fear the Moderator will close down this thread in short order, let me leave you with one final thought. I think there is almost universal agreement that gala nights are nothing special. However, by acceding to HAL's suggestion for more refined dress on these nights, we are only lending credibility to this farce. So, let people dress up or down on any night of the cruise but not feel pressure to do so only on gala nights. In fact, on my next cruise, I may lead a gala night protest by convincing guests to wear jeans and t-shirts on gala nights.

Good luck. I doubt Hal will stop you. I don't bring either jeans or a t shirt on my cruises.

Thanks to CruiserBruce and cruz chic for the advice. I appreciate it! I did go to the HAL Facebook site and posed a question so will be interesting to see if they reply. Bruce, how do you monitor a cruise to see if cabanas can be booked? Is there a simple way of seeing it that I'm missing? Thanks!

 

 

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Could you please let us know if they get back to you on Facebook?It would be good to know. Hopefully it's a "good" answer.

I believe right now the only ships that have them are NA and Eurodam. The Koenigsburg will have only Retreat Cabanas. My understanding is that they are butlered from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., but you can arrive earlier and stay later, just without butler service. I'm not sure that they are available an entire 24 hours though.

They are also on the Noordam and Zuiderdam right now. They will be on the koningsdam.

The standard cabana is meant to be used by two people. Often people will have someone drop by for an hour or so but I have seen the cabana attendants remind people that the cabana is only to be used by two people. (We were on a sailing where four people were using the standard cabana and there was a complaint lodged by another passenger. The loud talking and laughing was a bit much in an area called "The Retreat".)

 

If you want to have four people use the cabana for most of the time, then you should book the family retreat cabana that is specified for four.

Unfortunately there is a fine line there. We had squatters on my Noordam cruise last year. They just came right in and plopped themselves on loungers. You bet your life I complained. Why should others get something I paid for? As far as visitors I've never noticed if people drop in and socialize with others in a cabana.

No, they are not available 24 hours a day. 8-5.

 

Koningsdam, N. Amsterdam, Eurodam, Noordam for sure. Zuiderdam, Oosterdam, Westerdam either have them, or will soon.

I thought it was 9 to 5. I don't remember them being open that early with service. You might be able to sit there but is there service?

Can anyone advise how far in advance you can book a cabana? I did phone HAL services last week to inquire about April 2017 - Panama cruise - but they aren't taking bookings that far out. She suggested calling again in August or so. I'm just afraid of missing it - any recommendations from you folks who have rented them? Thanks :)

 

 

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They get confused. When I booked mine it was about February 2015 for my April 2016 cruise. I believe they had to open the year when I booked. Maybe try again in a week or so. If you have Facebook you might pose the question there on Hal's Facebook page. They seem to be pretty quick to address queries there.

That isn't the point.

 

Sure if someone wants to taxi from their hotel or the airport to the dock, drop off their luggage, check in and go back to a taxi, go to lunch, back in a taxi and back to the ship, they certainly can do that. Doesn't sound all that relaxing to me.

 

The point is if HAL is going to run a Welcome Aboard, shouldn't there be someone in the venue to say "Welcome Aboard"? This is all about money..... as are all things on all cruise ships.

Exactly. If not why eat any meals on board? For those that appeals to that's great. It's not a one size fits all solution.

On about the last cruise where I took a suit for formal nights four in our party were dressed. The other three guests at the table were dressed casually-no ties, no jackets. It was a Celebrity cruise.

 

My thoughts at the time...wish I had not packed my suit etc. all the way down to the Caribbean for a cruise. Did not bother us in the least that they were casual. We very seldom notice or even remember what people are/did wear. We are more interested in them than their clothing.

 

DW looked around and saw lots of sparkly tops and slacks. This is casual attire in our world. No different than a man wearing slacks and a sweater. That was it for her as well.

 

So that was the last time either of us bothered with the pretence.

 

Now that we are retired, travel frequently with carry on only, taking pretend dress up clothes for a few hours is simply not in the cards for us.

So does that mean that anyone that dresses up automatically doesn't care or have any interest in any other person?

When you see the word, long press it. Then click on Add to Dictionary. I think that will fix it for you.

Thx. Sometimes I don't know if it's the incorrect spelling :o. Sometimes it does correct it so that's good.

It sounds like POA1 has successfully altered the English dictionary. We are now using his word "galaicious" and everybody knows what it means. Soon spell check will stop underlining it.

I use safari and my spelling mistakes are never underlined. It's unfortunate for me since I can't spell.

Just sidestepping the topic at hand for a moment - what happened with Celebrity that makes you feel that way?

 

Our experiences have been (overall) very positive. Granted, we never sailed them before they were acquired by Royal Caribbean - so we really don't know what it was like "before".

 

Tom

Every time I'd go to the front desk I'd be there a minimum of 30 minutes for a simple query. Only one line for anytime dining with or without reservations and at least 30 people in front of me every night. I brought wine to the MDR one night. Trying to get someone to open it was extremely difficult. I believe corkage was $25. I didn't drink it all and when he brought it out the next night he slammed it on the table with no ice bucket. Find was very good or inedible. I had one beef dish and I couldn't cut it with a knife.

This is probably very common. For so long we non smokers fought to have smoke free places. In my area, just about every public area is non smoking, including parks and beaches. There is a hefty fine.

 

So to book an expensive vacation and have it ruined or made extremely unpleasant from smoking, folks just will book something else. There are a lot of cruise lines out there.

 

I wrote to HAL after my last cruise, the LRBC charter, to complain about the balcony smoking and the free for all on deck for smokers, even during fuel bunkering and the stage hands in the main show lounge puffing away between sets. It was pretty shocking.

 

For those of us who don't want our air polluted by someone smoking, I can see just not booking a cruise on a ship(s) that allow smoking on verandahs.

 

A designated smoking area is one thing, we can avoid those places.

 

I wonder how many others here have written to HAL about the current smoking policy? Not just a survey. I did not get one after my charter cruise.

At the moment Hal is my favorite line. It's easy for people who don't like the line or have no loyalty to say to go elsewhere. That would be super easy for me if it was celebrity. In my mind that is a worst line afloat. Now I'm booking oceanview cabins and if Hal offers me a reasonable upsell I will consider going to a balcony. Let smokers pay a premium.

Agree, although we prefer the MDR for lunch any day. Disappointed that the MDR appears to be closed now on all port days, too.

 

Our solution to that is the Pinnacle for lunch, which is certainly in HAL's favour, since they make some money on that and not on the MDR.

I go to the pinnacle too but the menu doesn't change everyday like the MDR.

You believe that someone who doesn't dress up needs an excuse! I'm happy to say I do not dress up. I will not dress up, and HAL won't make me dress up. That's one of the reasons I'm cruising on HAL. No apology here. If the only dress that makes you feel special on a cruise is formal, my condolences. There's always Cunard. Don't go away mad...

Thx for admitting that. So many feel they need to offer an excuse. It's refreshing to hear people say they just don't like it. So be it.

Give the guys a break. How is this any different than "sparkly" top, black slacks and sensible shoes you see the ladies espousing here. The female version of Dockers and a Polo.

Not everyone see that as a galalicious :D worthy outfit. I wear a long dress and my shoes are not sensible either.

I agree. I'm happy with the Lido for quick and light lunch most days, but on embarkation day I really enjoyed the peaceful lunch in the MDR. It isn't about the Mariner perks. I don't care if they limit it to Mariners or make it open to anyone who wants to go, I just want the quiet start to my cruise.

I really don't care if they open it to everyone. It should be. I hate the lido.