wesport

After reading so many posts about upsells and ugrades with HAL, I was at a dinner party with a tour agent who seemed to know how its done. Here's what he said.

UPSELLS(several rounds offered depending on space)

4 stars

3 stars

2 stars

1 star

After all the upsells have run the course, 5 star mariners get the first complimentary upgrades.

If there is anything left.

Then the rest of the get the complimentary upgrades 4,3,2,1.

I do know that I was offered three rounds of upsells on my first cruise as a four star mariner last October.

His logic made sense, but only HAL knows. Just thought I would share.

My opinion is its the luck of the draw!!!!!!!!!!!

The only negative was that the elliptical machine in the gym was not as substantial as the gym in my condo, but didn't think that was worth mentioning.

After reading about the spring breakers on the Emerald, we slowly scanned the line at embarkation and were relieved to see a normal variety of cruisers in line.

Embarkation: Left the house in fort lauderdale at 11;00am. In our cabin at 12:15. Had priority embarkation, so it was quick and efficient.

MDR: Food was excellent at every meal. Only had to wait shortly for a table for two at dinner.

Crown Grille: Had dinner here the first night. Was excellent.

Entertainment: Magic to Do!!! Wow. what a great show. The rest was standard fair with a singer and comedian. The other stage production was also very good with the Emerald singers and dancers.

Staff: As usual everyone was superb.

Shipmates: I don't know what it was, but this was the friendliest bunch of cruisers I have ever sailed with. Everyone we came in contact was gregarious and friendly. Made the short trip special.

Only port Grand Cayman. A beautiful breezy day with great shopping.

Didn't try SHARE restaurant, but will try the next time.

Really enjoy these short getaways from Princess.

Does anyone know if you get the Carnival shareholders credit if you take the RSVP cruises on HAL? Just curious. I know you do get credit for the actual days towards your mariner status.

Hi Kendra,

Only found out she was going to drydock after I booked the cruise. Found out from the link on cruise critic. Live in Fort Lauderdale, so just take a cab to the port. Normally drydock is primarily to freshen carpets, curtains, etc. If anyone has any info , let us know. Inquiring minds want to know.

We did a 15 night to Hawaii over a year ago, and had no problems. Actually, it was one of our best cruises. Had an initial problem with the thermostat on embarkation day, but it was fixed in hours.

Leaving 3/10 for a four night on the Emerald. Wish us luck. Will see what happens. Have been on many cruises with many senior like us, so it could be a new experience. We shall see!!!!!!!!!1

According to HAL's website, she has cruises scheduled through October 2017

Just booked a 15 day Caribbean cruise on the Veendam April 9th. Any ideas what is being done. Should I be scared!!! Will have a good time anyway, but just curious.

Everytime there is a health alert such as Ebola, Zika, cruiseline stocks go down big time. Last time we had the ebola crisis, CCL dropped to around $34 I believe. Oil will remain low for many years, so this will affect their bottom line in a positive way. Dividend just raised. Reinvest the divi, take cruises, enjoy the OBC!!!!!!!!!!!!! Just my advise IMHO!!!!

Thanks for the info. We will be on the Emerald 3/10 for a 4 day cruise.

I have been on many HAL cruises and have not seen discounts on the wine packages. Only the mariner discount which has been mentioned. With that being said, on our last 29 day cruise on the Prinsendam, one of the wines that we picked was not to our liking. The wine steward graciously replaced it with another bottle we liked previously. We have found many good wine with the lower priced package.

Just got off the Constellation for a five day cruise. At the time the Classic Beverage package was 25 dollars a day pp. This was in addition to the cruise fare. Took the OBC as the included perk. That's about the cost of two drinks on the ship. I found it beneficial to get the package as part of the promo. Classic worked just fine.

I recently did the transatlantic on the Prinsendam in November of this year. If you go to http://www.halfacts.com I posted pictures of my signature suite. #038. Really loved the room.

Trust me, I thoroughly enjoyed the Classic Package. I drink scotch, and Chivas was included, so no complaints. It just seems to me X is pricing the drinks on the high end so that you will upgrade to a beverage package up front with the original booking. It seems a lot of their cruises have the go big better best promo.

I normally sail HAL and sometimes Princess. Last November I booked a five day cruise on the Constellation for December 12. Just got back and had a wonderful time. Ship was beautiful. Officers and staff were great. I did get the go big promo with the classic beverage package and the OBC. Overall, was happy with the 5 day getaway. I was somewhat shocked at the prices of the beverages on board. If you have the package, you don't have a care. I just thought $6.49 for cappuccino was a bit steep. Martinis at the martini bar were $15.34. Tea at Il Bacio was $5.90. A can of Coke from the MINI bar $4.13. Is their motivation to have everyone buy the package?? Just curious. Knowing what I know now, I probably wouldn't sail a Celebrity cruise unless a package was available.

I am leaving Saturday on the Constellation with a Classic Beverage Package as part of the go Big promo. Is it attached to your seapass, or do they give you a separate beverage card?

I'm sure this has been asked, but what are the showtimes on the Constellation? Doing 5 days 12/12 with fixed seating at 6pm. Just curious if that works with the show times.

Thanks!

Monday!

After the third rounds of up sells on the prinsendam, I finally bit the bullet. Had a vista suite cat A. Three up sells to a signature suite were $1249, $999, and then $699. For 29 days, I took the 699. Ended up with SS 38 which is an accessible cabin. One floor up in the middle of the ship. Originally had 138. Any thoughts on any major differences? It only has a shower which is fine. I know doors will be wider. Would the main cabin be similar to the pictures on the web? Thoughts! With 29 days, I think the extra room will be nice regardless.

Richard

Once in Monte Carlo, we had two Coca Cola Lites. 6oz bottle. Bill was $18 plus tip. It was worth it just for the view!!!!

What are your stops in Greece? I could go back to Santorini and Mykonos many times before I would consider them boring.

I did fail to mention that we also got the Indonesian lunch as well. Not great. Went to the Lido afterwards. I'm not complaining, but a plate of 6 chocolate strawberries would have just been fine. We found the crew and the MDR on the Prinsendam to be terrific.

Richard

In May of the year we did a 28 day on the Prinsendam. Baltic and Celtic Explorer it was called. The itinerary was fantastic. We stayed in one of the dreaded cabins on the back of the ship added after drydock. It actually was great. Large Balcony. The whole experience was terrific. Most of our 18 cruises have been on HAL, but we have also done a couple on Celebrity and Princess. At the end of the first 14 days, we got a letter from the Hotel Manager thanking us for being on a collectors voyage. In thanking us, we were offered 15% off one bottle of wine in the MDR, and thanking us even more, we could get an extra shot( a 50 cent value) in our expressos for the remainder of the cruise. Now, I love HAL, and this is not being negative, but after spending $16000 for two people, I just read this and laughed. I did take advantage of the one bottle of wine. What were they thinking???

Just had to share the story.

Richard

We are currently booked on the Prinsendam from Athens to Fort Lauderdale 10/26/15. Our current cabin is a Vista Suite(Verandah Cabin) class A. Got a call this week to go to either a Signature Suite($1249PP), or a Neptune Suite for $3499PP. Decided for either 2500 or 7000 total, we could take a lot of Caribbean Cruises from Fort Lauderdale. Hopefully some one paid that price and the stock price will go up!!!!!

Richard