3rdGenCunarder

An open air taxi might be a flatbed truck with benches in the back. I found them terrifying!

I have been lucky enough to avoid the oneupmanship people. Often, at dinner on the first night, as we're getting to know our table companions, someone will ask "Have you cruised with HAL before?" I've never had someone announce that they're 5-star or in a Neptune suite or anything like that. The closest I've heard to bragging is "yes, several times," but I've never heard someone recite their cruise resume. If someone says yes to have you cruised before, the most common follow up I've heard or said is not "how many?" but "do you have a favorite?" That helps move the conversation along.

I don't remember the amount, but I think they're charging a cancellation fee for any tour your cancel onboard, even if you're outside the refund cutoff, which is usually 2 days. If you cancel within two days of the tour, you lose the entire cost of the tour. I don't remember if they had this fee in the "before times," but I wonder if it's to discourage people from doing the cancel and rebook trick to use OBC.

"I went once and never felt compelled to go again" sums up my response to afternoon tea. I admit, I'm spoiled by Cunard's tea and a wonderful tea shop near me. But the ambiance of tea in the MDR is too busy, loud, and bustling. The first cup of tea was so strong that it looked like coffee! Two women at my table who said they normally don't put milk or cream in their tea used it just to dilute the strong brew! Sandwiches and pastries were nice, but nothing special. If you like tea, be aware that HAL's standard tea is Bigelow. I find their black teas bitter and, frankly, vile. There usually will be PG tips at the Lido. If you have a favorite tea, bring your own tea bags. I try to remember to pack Twinings. If your cruise stops at Victoria BC, you could go to tea at the Empress Hotel. It's expensive. Most afternoon teas are expensive because of the work that goes into making all the little sandwiches and pastries. But the Empress does an elegant tea.

Ohh, you mean the good music I remember from cruises past? Thank you! I might actually stay up past 9:00! 🎵🍹

I had a fight with one of those at a newly revamped Dunkin the other day. Amtrak's Julie can be annoying, too.

I just read that. So what about Volendam and Zaandam? Looks like they don't get any music? I've got 21 days booked on one and 24 on the other. I'll see sunrise every day because I sure won't be staying up late. 🤬

Or until he gets too smart for everyone's own good and says "I'm sorry. I can't make your martini, Dave."

I'm trying to imagine someone singing "It's quarter to three, no one in the place except you and me..." to a robot bartender. Nope, just doesn't work.

I wouldn't say HAL has a "ship within a ship." Setups like NCL's Haven where your cabin, pool, and dining space (for breakfast, I think) are all connected lets you stay away from the riffraff. On HAL and Cunard, you have to venture from your suite to walk the hallways to get to your dining room or lounge or cabana (on HAL). So there are special places, but you aren't sequestered. I think HAL has a good menu of upsell experiences. I like that I can buy what I want (thermal suite) but not pay for things I don't want (cabana). I don't know if many people buy all of the options. As you've said, if you buy everything they offer, that will increase your costs a lot. I do think all the upsells on the MDR menu look tacky. But if they won't spring for lobster for everyone, at least those who want it can get it. I never bother.

I can't recall discussions of star status. On my last cruise, we never talked about star status, although we had all sailed with HAL before. We talked about our cabins, but that was because of interesting locations. The couple who had been in an inside got upgraded to ocean view, only to be disappointed that there was a big orange lifeboat outside their window. The other couple talked about being near the glass elevator. And I told them about watching the wake. Nobody asked whose cabin was more expensive, we were just sharing our experiences on the cruise. Similarly, on Cunard nobody walks around saying "Well, I'm in Queens Grill and..." I have a nice collection of Cunard pins because they changed the design several times. DH would wear one of his diamond-level pins to the World Club cocktail parties, as that seemed a nice way to acknowledge the evening. Usually it was the penultimate design, because it's the nicest (and the newest design looks cheap). One time he wore one of the first pins we got, I guess from 1990s. No level indicated back then, it was just a small pin with their lion and globe logo. When we went through the receiving line, the captain noticed it and commented that we had been sailing with them for a long time. We accumulated so many of those pins that I had cufflinks made for DH and earrings made for me.

When HAL converted Promenade Deck cabins to lanais space and deck chairs that had been for everyone were reserved for the lanai passengers. HAL put cabanas by the midship pool on some of the ships, taking away space for tables and chairs along one of the glass walls. Bit by bit, space for all becomes space for some. It's everywhere.

I wish I could remember where I saw it but there was something recently about a megaship that's going to divide the ship into "neighborhoods." You don't have to walk the length of the ship for anything. You choose the "neighborhood" you want and it's all there for you. So it sounds like they're designing the ship with multiples of everything. Sound like expensive construction.

Okay, my screen name gives me away, but I have to defend Cunard. Cunard always gets mentioned as the ship with a class system. Too many people have seen Titanic and think that kind of class distinction still exists on Cunard. But other ships have more separate areas for the "privileged." They call it "ship within a ship," but it's a class system. Yes, QE2 was built to be 2-class. The Queens Room was for first class, as were certain dining rooms. The stairway and elevators that served the first-class cabins didn't reach all the way down to 'steerage--I remember seeing passengers on the lowest deck trying to find the D elevators. They didn't go to decks that had no first-class cabins. The France (from the same era) was built to be even more divided by class. First class dining room and second class dining room. First class and second class pool. (QE2's pools were never divided by class) There were separate shopping times in the onboard shops. That all ended when she became the Norway. (Basically, as she was run by NCL, she had no class at all. It was a disgrace) This was the traditional ocean liner experience. HAL's ships were like that in the "old days," too. Walk around the hallways with the vintage photos. You'll see references to first and second class kids' playrooms. I think I even saw a photo of a third-class kitchen. Almost all of the class separation went away on Cunard about 35 years ago. And has continued in the same way since then. There are separate dining rooms, depending on how much you pay (not your listing in Burke's Peerage). There is one lounge, rather like the Neptune Lounge (booze isn't free there, either) for the Grills. There is one deck area for the grills. And that's it. No separate pool like NCL's Haven. Grills passengers can stay in their suite and their restaurant and their lounge, but most come out to join the rest of us at the casino, theater, showroom, the various bars with music. Nobody on a Cunard ship walks around with a different tote bag that says "I'm special!" It's like flying. Pay more, get more. The good thing about HAL's system is that you can pick and choose which upgrades you want.

About the only thing "steerage" passengers can't pay extra for is the Neptune Lounge. You can book an inside and buy the CO package to eat in that restaurant (on Pinnacle class ships). You can add a cabana. You can add dinners in Tamarind or Pinnacle restaurants. But the only way to get into the Neptune lounge is a neptune or pinnacle suite.

Thanks for the link. This is a much better commercial than the other one. The park ranger is a good touch. I like the contrast of the couple sipping coffee (or maybe hot chocolate) in deck chairs and the same couple in lifejackets on some kind of adventurous excursion. That says you can enjoy the cruise however you want.

I'll sacrifice a bit of a tree to be sure I can get things done quickly. I had a problem with OBC on QM2 last fall. I had not remembered to take paper copies of that info. Looking at my phone wasn't enough. They asked, "Can you forward the email to us?" No I couldn't, because we had several sea days and the wifi was unreliable. And what if I hadn't bought the wifi package? It took multiple visits to the front desk because I didn't have a paper to wave under their noses.

I was thinking about a work visa as "where you're going," in this case, to a US-based company (or US-based ships), as described above. I've heard stories from people complaining how long it takes to get a passport, so I can understand that these visas do take some time. But this leads me to another question, thread drift here. The ships visit so many countries, some of which require visas. How is that handled for crew?

Hotel Talent Acquisition? Is this "someone to hire stewards and waiters?" Who comes up with these titles?????

Travel visas come from the country you want to visit. Wouldn't work visas be the same? As cruisers, we are told we are responsible for getting our own visas. I would hope a cruise company would help prospective employees apply for visas.

600 kids????? HAL definitely sold more triples and quads than they were prepared to handle. Holiday cruises are always more crowded because of family bookings, but that's crazy! I think the Pinnacle ships have pushed the passenger to space/service ratio too far.

You're more than a year out, so anything could happen. The "development department" won't have started working on your excursions, so contacting shorex won't get you anything. I would just keep checking the website to see if the itinerary description changes. They seem to be pretty clear about departures being "Chicago" (as in really Chicago) or "Chicago/Milwaukee." The actual excursions available are not all the same as the "teasers" in the pre-booking itinerary page. I'm disappointed that the lighthouse boat ride from Mackinac Island isn't running. (Yes, there's the fine print about things being subject to change.) Excursions go "live" 180 days out, so I suggest that you look at your itinerary for 2023, maybe in April. Unlike other cruise line sites, the AQV site lets you see the real excursions and their prices without having to have a booking. I will post about the cruise because there is so little info on this board that isn't just press releases directly from AQV. For my itinerary, the change makes a lot of sense. As it was originally planned, we would go from the US to Canada (Manitoulin Island) and back to the US (Detroit) and then to Canada again (Niagara Falls, docking at Port Colborne). With the rearranged schedule, the ports are all US until we get to Port Colborne. So now there's only one border crossing.

Viking advertises on PBS, Masterpiece Theatre. I love their slogan, "The world awaits." And to answer your comment about gray. I went "covid platinum," and I liked the lovely white hair in the front. But it's salt and pepper (more pepper, my original brown, than salt) on the back. So when I came out of hibernation, I opted for blond. Easier upkeep than something darker.

If anyone is on a Chicago-to-Toronto itinerary or the reverse, the itinerary is changing and some tours are not available. In one case, the vendor isn't available to do the tour for them. Isn't it amazing how one employee can make a company look bad and another can redeem it? Two months after I made the booking, I was contacted by someone who would be my "single point of contact and concierge" at AQV. So that's who I contacted with questions about tours and itinerary. His reply? Contact my travel agent. I know I can't change the booking directly with a cruise line if I use a TA, but it's standard practice on "real" cruise lines to allow me to ask questions about itinerary or services, buy tours, etc directly. I tried chat and the chat defaulted to an email after I typed my questions, even though it had said an agent was available. AQV was going downhill fast in my estimation. But a very helpful person from the tours department replied to my email and was able to answer my questions. I was greatly relieved to find someone at AQV who has a clue! So the upshot is, Manitoulin is out and the new port is Escanaba, MI. I also noticed on the website that some Chicago departures say that the transfer is to Milwaukee. Mine does not, so I'm hoping that means I will depart from Navy Pier and not have the longer bus ride. Interestingly, the transfer and city tour is $99 for either departure. The one that goes to Milwaukee includes lunch. The one that doesn't go to Milwaukee does not include lunch, but appears to have stops along the tour to justify the amount of time given to drive to the pier, less than a mile away from the hotel.

Quote from above: I can see my wife & I in this commercial we're in our mid 70's. But you're right this would not attract the younger crowd. This is more of a, " look what life can be like when you retire" Yes! it reminds me of a commercial for annuities or some other long-term investment. "Instead of champagne, we drank coffee. (video of a couple having coffee in a cozy den) Instead of cruises, we took long walks. (video of a couple on a stroll through a park). And now our future is safe..." or something like that. We used to yell at the TV, Take the cruise NOW! yes, you need to save for the future, but don't put off all of the fun.