chisoxfan

Like the US debt, a billion there and a billion over there and now you are talking real money. 😜 The question is whether it is a good investment (CCL) for somebody based on OBC they anticipate. For some it is and perhaps for those that bought in at 40 or 60 dollars it was not so good. I have heard many arguments that a new product/ subscription is only 50cents a day or whatever. Just because I can afford it doesn't make it a smart investment. JMHO

Yes. I am not sure we have ever had lunch in a cruise ship dining room and I am not sure what to expect in Club Orange..... not anticipating Luminae quality but also not paying for it. This dining is what HAL suite passengers get so I am thinking it can't be that bad. We are on Nieuw Statendam which does have dedicated dining room.

I guess my middle name should be 'scammer'. Does CCL say you need to own stock for x days to get OBC? If I buy and hold for two weeks is that legit? One month? Since CCL management sells shares frequently that they pay little or nothing for I am not going to confession because I bought and sold CCL stock for the 'minimal' OBC offered. To date I haven't stolen any towels or bath soaps, but have been eyeing the laundry bags.☺️

Glad you enjoyed it and hope you have a great cruise on your balcony. I did see an interesting YT video from a frequent cruiser who enjoyed her IV with bed by door but felt it was much less favorable with bed by balcony. Just thought it interesting and something I would not have considered.

My point was that I get the OBC also without any risk. So in that sense have an infinite ROI. The value of CCL is in the eye of the beholder but the question was if it was worth buying (and holding for OBC) and my only comment would be that a stock should be purchased because one believes in the soundness of the business.

We thought Luminae was solid not spectacular on Ascent and Apex. For us the service on Apex was superior. The hostess was so accommodating on Apex less so on Ascent. The tables (2x) just seemed tighter on Ascent and on both ships the two tops were tiny and required a balancing act at times. We tried Blu on Ascent and thought the decor was amazing but service a bit slow (maybe because we weren't regulars). Our take away is that we liked Luminae but frankly do not feel it was fully in keeping with the 'luxury' Retreat prices. We just booked a 7N Princess Sun cruise in their new suite area (basically the Retreat style- lounge, restaurant, pool) and will go afterwards on HAL balcony with their Club Orange dedicated dining. We are looking forward to trying these venues. Price for 14 days (both cruises) was the same as APEX 7 days with a non refundable fare. We would gladly cruise again on E class if pricing was more reasonable but it isn't that amazing of a product that I am going to sit around looking for 'deals' which ultimately are at the same suite price as other mainstream lines. JMHO

They have over 30b debt and equity is under 7b so I think debt is their problem. Anyway commenting to original poster why would you buy this stock long term for a small OBC. Buy it, record in account and sell it and you get your OBC without rolling the dice on this one. JMHO

Yes buy it and sell it immediately. It is cheap because they are drowning in debt with liquidity drying up and high interest rates- but all of us like OBC.

Agree... we loved BB Kings and experienced it on Eurodam and Westerdam previously. It is a reason for us to choose a ship and we are doing Nieuw Statendam upcoming. Looking forward to Rolling Stone also. HAL seems to be unique in how they present good live music.

Don't be confused. I said E class and mentioned Ascent. My last cruises were on Ascent and Apex in balconies. So I have your blessing to sleep with the balcony open?

Infinite Veranda = Inflation Reduction Act or Patriot Act. 😉

Good point. It isn't a veranda and it isn't infinite. How about 'small sunroom with large window that opens'? I have to admit, the name initially got me excited as a dedicated S class X cruiser. Wow, 'an infinite veranda'.... sounded great until I learned what it really was. JMHO.

I will be sure to seek out the Environmental officer on my next cruise. He is the guy (on Ascent) who decided you cannot drink in the Retreat Pool because he was afraid pool water might be tainted when he does his testing. On E Class balconies I know the air is shut off when balcony is open. There is a prox switch at door. I am sure the temp of the room is higher and there is some very small air exchange to outside from cabin door. Our evening room temp on last cruise went up to maybe 70/71 F. So if this is causing a drastic temp situation with nearby rooms trying to stay at 67? then the air system is improperly sized, or air flow/insulation between rooms is a problem. Bottom line is I don't think I need to feel like a 'culprit' to have a drink in the pool (non glass container) or have my balcony open in the evening if I choose. JMHO

Just weighing in having sailed on all three ships. Caribbean Princess (10 nights balcony) was a negative for us. Reflection is a great ship (AQ) but Enchanted (aft balcony) is a newer ship and I would take the extra two days for sure.

I would be pretty upset after explaining clearly what you were after. I think that after spending that time I would try and speak to a supervisor. I applaud HAL for the CO concept but in a way they may have created a friendly 'monster'. Like you I would not book without it on a Pinnacle class ship.

Just sharing my recent experiences which do baffle me. We looked to book a two week Arctic circle cruise through HAL and initially was told flatly no Club Orange available. Called a few days later and was told I had to book the cruise before availability was determined.... OK I thought although a bit of a hassle. Somehow we were disconnected. When I phoned back a different agent said, no problem, it was definitely available and we booked. Yesterday, similar scenario on a Carib cruise. Agent said not available. Called back an hour later and no problem. This was done through random agents not PCC's. While I am enthusiastic about the CO program (especially on newer ships with dedicated dining) I am confused by the inconsistency of info. So if it was me I would make several calls depending how critical this is to you. Frankly for us it became a 'big deal' ......nobody likes knowing there is an offer out there and then being denied it. On our Carib cruise CO offered benefits and at the end of the day cost us about 800 bucks less than a 'straight' booking because of cabin upgrade. Good luck.

Thanks for the updated info! I booked a cruise yesterday through HAL and the agent could not give me any info on cabana pricing and said we needed to call special services. Maybe they could distribute this PDF to agents. We enjoyed our (ancient history) Lido cabanas on Eurodam but have opted for a cruise on Nieuw Statendam. We loved the cabana close to pool and feel the NA cabanas will be too much of a hike but will still investigate further.

Actually we are very active in the climate movement and try and do our small part by not using AC in the evening.

Not assigning fault just stating that some are unaware of the situation.

Non starter for us. We like a real balcony and typically keep doors open at night. Love balcony for morning coffee and allowing one to feel part of the ocean. Plus where are going to put your damp swim suits to dry on an IV. Have been on Apex and Ascent and they are attractive ships but we stayed in SS (maybe the diabolical X plan is to get balcony lovers to 'upgrade') because SV's weren't available. Our sweet spot for years on X was AQ on SClass. In part the IV has caused us to migrate to other lines (MSC, Holland, Princess). Beyond IV's the main issue for us is X pricing but as they say, that's a story for another day. ps. I do think many/most IV passengers know what they are getting but we have spoken to people prior to cruise who tell us they have balconies and clearly aren't aware of the different arrangement.

Room service was fine on Ascent and Apex (SSuites) for us but we really liked Princess Room Service (Enchanted Princess) aft balcony as you could order off tv and drinks were delivered as part of their drink packages.

As I ponder more on this I was initially thinking that the vouchers with their bar codes identified the user. Likely, this is not the case and my wife was locked out because her first slot machine played under the 50% threshold. If the bar code identifies you that would potentially follow through the chain of machines played. So tapping your card to machines appears to be the only way you can be identified as you suggest (and mentioned by the attendant during our cruise). Maybe big brother isn't so intrusive (but guessing they still have the eye in the sky?) The only possible issue of not tapping your card would then be receiving slot play 'credit' which some value. The take away seems to be that as long as you load up initially there is no play required and you can cash out (or play) the voucher at will. This is logical as there (currently) seems no way that you could load a machine and or voucher with NROBC (or reg OBC) and they could refuse to pay you. However, if you cashed out of a machine without playing as you did I still think your card would lock?The only problem with this (card locking) is inability to add more dollars (OBC) to your play. Ultimately I can't believe the attendants would not simply 'unlock' the card and allow more $$$ added if one asked. Also a couple has the option of using two cards. At the end of the day any confusion seems to be generated by the cruise line. They don't want NROBC cashed out quickly in the casino although within the guidelines discussed this is something any passenger can do. Sounds like the chip betting is different but my brain is taxed thinking about the slot side. I am sure experienced cruise gamblers are rolling their eyes at this discussion and this is 'old news'. Hopefully for those 'neophytes' that want to cash in NROBC this is of interest.

Frustrating that there is no simple answer to this question as it seems somewhat ship dependent based on age/ tech of slots? Here is what we found after posting for info on boards and being on Ascent a few weeks ago. My wife was (for some unknown reason) initially locked on her room key for slots. This was unlocked and she put in 100 dollars and played maybe 40 and cashed out. She was locked out again from adding more and we approached attendant/mgr. type. He gave us a voucher for 200 (charged to room) and said we could 'do anything' with it. In general, he said you needed to play 50% of NROBC on a slot or would be locked out from adding future money. He also stated (I think he was wrong) that this was 'per machine' and suggested that we play small amounts on each machine? He added that you needed to tap your card to receive credit on each slot which my wife did not do to that point. Having the 200 dollar voucher I said 'let's cash this out and see what happens'.... no problem cashing out but this locked out wife's card (so card info must have been on bar code). Interesting.... so my conclusion is that the voucher(s) from machine or cashier are coded with bar code to users room. In theory this should give your information to each machine for slot play credit. Understanding this not sure why attendant insisted that card needed to be tapped for each machine. With my wife's card blocked I was able to use mine and we(my wife) played with the 50% play rule in mind. Bottom line is we probably cashed out 500 on 600 non refundable OBC and my wife enjoyed playing so all good. So as I think about this there is nothing to stop one from loading the limit (500 I believe) of NROBC on card and cashing out after one play. They can't refuse to cash you out but can lock you out. So if your goal is to cash out NROBC you would be good. You could use each room key which should cover 1000. Ironically, at time of booking cruise I told my wife she could gamble all our NROBC which she wound up not doing since at different points she had cash in hand and did not want to gamble 'real money'.

We were midship/aft in SS and one night heard distinct 'banging'- very intermittent (maybe every 15 minutes) and initially thought it was a bathroom or patio door hitting (we were on deck 11). Then thought it could be some balcony furniture moving.... after checking, none of the above. Strangely I only noticed it one night and not during any weather event. My wife did not notice and it did not really keep me up. Like a hotel issue one wonders if is worth the hassle of reporting and/or moving to a different cabin. That said it is difficult to access and document (like my sudden Xfinity data overages). I agree that you should not be afraid to complain about anything that keeps you up. Best to complain early and often if it is so bothersome.

Hope everyone has a wonderful cruise! We elected not to do this itinerary and cancelled today. We had an aft VS balcony on 8 if anyone has an interest.