alyssamma

Really? I'm not one of those who have sailed 100 times, but I've never heard of another cruise line doing this.. especially without notice. On the other hand, I've read many many instances of MSC doing this. I think you'd be hard pressed to find more than one or two cruise critic posts on this for other lines.

Honestly I hesitated saying anything about Tamarind.bwcause food.is so subjective...and if we came back we might have a completely different experience. I agree the ambience is strange, esp with the sushi place in the middle. And the restaurant is impossible to find. Our waitress was great, but completely understand that is the luck of the draw. As for the app...I didn't really talk about it because all ship apps suck. This one keeps disconnecting and I have to restart it. Menus are downloaded as PDFs instead of just being able to see in the app. Finding hours things are open is for.aome reason under itinerary and not under the venue. If I want to easily see what's open now for food or drink I can't. Also, the hours posted seem to be wrong. But I can say similar things about other lines.

I have an allergy so they will give me the next day menu if I ask, but that doesn't really help. If I'm booking a specialty for a few days from now, or want to know when the special nights are in the MDR. For example, tonight is Gold Gala, but unfortunately I'll miss it because I have Rudi's booked. This is a minor thing. As I said it irks me. But it won't stop me from.booking again.

This is my first HAL cruise...I'm on the 14 day midnight sun cruise. TLDR, happy overall with the product and would definitely sail again with the right price point. In fact, I have the same ship booked.for a TA next April. For background we sail many different lines, only have status on MSC. Our current favorite line is Celebrity, but because of price increases we decided to try HAL. Pros: Club Orange. The room upgrade alone paid for this, but really enjoy eating in the separate dining room. We've never had a wait for more than a minute or two and most times are seated immediately. The extra entree is a nice touch also. Food. While we don't think it's as good as X, it's otherwise the best we've had at sea. We really enjoy the uniqueness of some.of the offerings. The pizza place serves breakfast food, popcorn, wings, sandwiches, etc. The burger place serves hot dogs and sausages. And, IMHO, these are all high quality items...not like other lines where the burgers, for example, are what you'd find in the buffet. Staff. Wow...top marks all around. Bar service. Other than the yacht club on MSC, first time I've never really had to wait more than a couple of minutes to be served. Outstanding attention and the drinks are very consistent and very good. Room. We have a verandah. This will also get a con below, but the pro is the layout...very ergonomical, lots of storage space and huge shower. We also have a massive balcony thanks to the CO upgrade. BB Kings...simply the best band I've ever seen at sea. Tamarind...part of food, but this is the best restaurant I've been to at sea. Still have to do Pinnacle and Rudis, but this was blew us away. Laundry service...my shirts have never been this wrinkle free before. Didn't even realize they could be, lol. Consistently get back next day. Price was 147 for unlimited for 14 days and we were able to send some out on embarkation day. Beware however there will be tiny stickers in them...hard to find sometimes. Crowds...I think the ship does an excellent job of handling a full load of passengers. Are there some places where it's hard to find a seat? Of course, but there are a zillion nooks and crannies...always a place to chill...and never really long lines for anything. Cons: Ship layout. Simply has to be the worst layout I've seen ever. Surprising for a new ship. Very hard to navigate from one place to the next. Some things are tucked away in areas that if you don't take the correct elevator you're screwed, etc. Room...while it uses the space well it is small. And while clean overall, the rug is filthy and needs a good cleaning. Buffet...very poor design. Only.one passage to cross sides and that is where ice cream.is and creates a choke point. There is also a specialty restaurant there which is a weird experience when eating inside of it. Also, some stations are duplicated on both sides, but some are not. Not enough water stations. Only.place to get silverware is on the tables, so if you are taking food to go you have to steal it from a table. Entertainment...like high school productions. Very disappointing. Menu...it irks me I can't see the menu until the day of. This means when I book a specialty restaurant, I'm hoping the MDR won't be serving something I like. Events... virtually no notification until right before the event. The orange party wasn't announced until the day of and then no real.details given until the afternoon of. Yes, the app has some.of this, but the app sucks. Seems to be common for all cruise lines so didn't even explicitly list it as a con. As I said above, overall very happy with this cruise and will definitely sail again. But, if the price was the same, I would choose X...but just barely.

So does anyone know what is available in the buffet to drink?

Yes, unfortunately MSC does this. If you read the forums you'll see many cases of this. I would suggest calling...emails will not be that helpful.

Thank you SO much for this detailed answer. It really helps me understand the actual differences. Lol, the whale swimming under the zodiac might make my wife not want to go though 😀

Thanks. I know we get free bottled water (not sure how much tho) but was wondering about the other stuff. I assume you can go an get tap water throughout the day when the buffet is open?

Can anyone tell me what drinks are free on European sailings? For US bookings specifically. It says mineral water at dinner, but are there juices and teas at other meal times? TIA

Thank you for providing specifics...this REALLY helps me make my decision

These are the analogies I hear all the time, but it isn't really the same. It's comparing a very quick sight to spending more time looking. My examples are helicopter over the grand canyon, cruising the Hudson from NYC to Canada, or taking 4 days and driving through Montana. None of these are remotely like looking out a back window.or seeing a single flower. So you are saying in the above examples, you have NOT been to the grand canyon, not visited the continent of north America, and not visited the state of Montana? And, to be clear, this has nothing to do with money. I think @olsalt said it best above. I'm really going these for scenery only. And since I have no desire to go to Australia, I'll never got all 7 continents

So, my real Q was OTHER than bragging rights is there much of a difference? And I specifically made my car an RV so I wouldn't have to get out. We stocked up on potato chips and pop tarts before hitting the border so didn't need to get out, lol. I have done either yet (drive by or expedition) so really am not qualified to speak...but I think for me personally I'll consider it done. I think your NY example would be better if you, for instance, sailed up he Hudson from NYC into Canada and then out to Bermuda. I think I'd say you'd been to North America in that case. Too late to edit my original reply...but add to this a helicopter ride over the grand canyon. I think that would count as visiting it.

Can you give specifics of why you say this? I am.looking at one of these cruises and don't care about seeing the penguins in Antarctica...am happy to see them elsewhere if at all. I really just care about scenery. I haven't heard any specifics of why an expedition is better than a drive by...other than seeing penguins which you can see elsewhere. At one time I wondered if a drive by would be considered as actually being there, but then I thought about taking a drive through Montana where I spent 4 days looking at the scenery, but slept and showered in the car (lol, say it is an RV). I would certainly consider myself as having been to Montana in that case.

I'm on the ship too and agree with what you said except we haven't seen lines at CO...but as a result we've missed out on bagels at NY deli, lol. This is our first HAL cruise and definitely impressed. We are Celebrity cruisers, but are quite happy with this.

I am currently on the same cruise as you. While I don't doubt your experience, to us it is the exact opposite. We find the ship mostly empty and not full at all. Now, we do have club Orange (just purchased...we are not in a suite) so don't eat in the MDR, but we haven't found the Lido crowded and there is the dutch cafe and the dive in and the pizza place to eat lunch in addition to eating lunch in the MDR. We've never had a problem finding space at a bar or finding a quiet place to sit. We did find the area on deck 12 to always be crowded and the nooks with chairs that look out the windows to be full, but mostly the ship feels empty to us.

We are X cruises and on our first HAL cruise right now. We are on the Nieuw Statendam, one of the larger Pinnacle ships. It's a 14 day cruise. Unlimited laundry costs 147 and although they say 48hr turnaround, we have been getting it back the next day. We purchased the Have It All, and as others have mentioned, it includes much of what you are looking for. However, whereas X gives pretty much unlimited everything, HAL gives 15 TOTAL drinks. This means a soda or can of water counts towards that. If you upgrade the drink package then the 15 limit only applies to alcoholic drinks. This is probably not a problem but wanted to mention it. We find the food to be good, but not as good as X. Entertainment is nowhere near as good on X. Crew is friendly and passengers seem older. While these may come across as negatives, they really aren't for us, except for the entertainment. The food is very good...just not as good as X. And the passengers are friendly and very well travelled. We find X ships to be more beautiful than HAL, but the layout of the HAL ship is much better. We would sail X if the prices were similar, but we find HAL to be cheaper and have better itineraries, so will sail them. Lastly, HAL has Club Orange which we love and is very cheap for what you get. The room upgrade basically pays for it alone.

Oh, completely understand and am aware of the limited number. It has to be, otherwise it wouldn't work. My comment was directed to the poster who was having all of the problems getting it...none of which seemed related to capacity. As for Pinnacle, yes the dedicated dining room was a huge plus for us, but the room upgrade was the best. CO paid for itself and then some with that alone. Both times I purchased CO during the booking process and got my preferred room immediately. As for your saying, it is common worldwide with slight variations. Bird and worm.instead of bat and orange in the US.

This is very interesting. I've only booked 2 HAL cruises but both times had no problem getting CO. Both times booked VH and upgraded to VB onceabd VS the other time.

My understanding is the deposit is gone. No FCC. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong

Thanks for an interesting post that isn't about dress codes or chair hogs. I've seen you often on the MSC board. Anyway, for me it's yes. X is my fav line, but I am booking them less because of cost. Yes, my TA occasionally gets me a great deal on a refundable group rate, but absent that, I don't want to pay that much higher for the cruise. I'd be fine if I could take that and roll it into a different cruise but that is now no longer a thing.

Fyi, I booked through a TA and the offer goes to them and they forward to me. I've gotten 4 offers so far on my cruise in the 14th, including one today.

I actually agree with this. I engage with bartenders primarily and then somewhat with room steward and waiters. But my comments above about wanting to know where they are from is strictly for bartenders.

Agree 100%...but beyond fun, I think it's also politeness. You are a visitor in their country and should make some effort to learn their language.

And I *think* you are saying you agree with me and the OP because we def don't think you need to stare at someone's chest before acking gratefulness. So we are all on the same page ...

I think people have given you at least 2 reasons. The OP likes to say thanks in their native languages. I enjoy talking about their native country if it's someplace I've been to. I know mine is genuine and I'll take the OP at their word that theirs is also. Travel is a passion of mine and I enjoy talking about it. I've found that people in general, not just crew on a ship, enjoy talking about their homeland. Not sure where you see the problem, or why you are implying the interest isn't genuine. Are you saying you never make small talk and all of your conversations convey critical info?