REOVA

Just curious if you have to seal or coat the wood when you get home. I remember Barbara (HALs old excursion host - RIP) used to talk about buying wood carvings around the world and her annual ritual of sealing them.

Yes. We are Travelers/cruisers not necessarily Vacationers (although they are not necessarily mutually exclusive). HAL lost its way over the years. From the music that used to be by the pool (and removed because people complained because they wanted quiet) to Music Walk (throw in 3 or 4 various music venues within 100 feet of each other and you now have music). They haven't been consistent to be able to be defined, except that now they have limited shows, food decline or experimenting with various music to become "hip-er . They definitely need to appeal to a younger (maybe different) passenger as we age out, but not by hard transition. They may be able to make the Pinnacle ships a different niche than the smaller ships and hopefully will offer different activities on each "niche". Those that want the short to medium cruises in Caribbean, Alaska (or wherever) without the amusement park can sail Pinnacle. Those that want the Ocean Liner appeal or relaxed, longer and unique travel can have the option of the smaller ships (and hopefully some new ones come in fleet). But if the longer itineraries are just the same onboard activities as other shorter itineraries (i.e. Pinnacle vs Signature). It's going to be tough sailing with them if other lines go to the same ports and offer port talks or special guests. We'd rather sail a port with a different line than seeing Step One, Cantare or a HAL history presentation for the nth time.

If they have a Buyer, I'm sure that could be arranged.

Be careful on Lifeboat #9. That was trouble, at least on the Amsterdam. 😁

Always good to try other lines to get perspective. We've heard friends try some of these (including Viking) and some prefer them and some don't. The itinerary is key and HAL won't compete with general 7 day Carribean cruises. The hardest part is when you get to be 4* (free laundry) or have been with them for a while at 5* (Although HAL forgets and 5* has no bonus anymore for service and passengers can pay for Club Orange).

Fair assessments and we also don't mind the little changes they no longer do. (And we prefer Signature over Pinnacle classes and if Dutch Cafe is added we probably would not sail on Pinnacle class 🤣). Our first time on KDam ship (2019) we noticed a difference in service and staff from the smaller ships. They were (and are) overwhelmed and it shows. Whether HAL planned a smaller crew to passenger ratio (and then got double whammy with shutdown and lack of returning crew) is a reason, it would appear they would have pulled things together after so many cruises by now. We know management changes both within HAL and CCL usually changes things so will have to see if any difference is made but for short term, we don't expect anything that causes expenses to rise to be added in the next 2 years (without add 2x revenue generation). The big issue has been the entertainment. The Music Walk - while providing options for music/bar venue (until BB King and Lincoln Stage goes away) is not a replacement for the shows HAL used to have. Especially the redundancy if on a ship longer than 7 days. I have many venues at home to watch bands and drink, not my idea of vacation. I cruise for itineraries and visiting new Countries, people and destinations so not hard to enjoy being on the water waiting for next destination. Many of the changes were done (or planned) pre Covid and we've heard complaints even before 2020. It appears Carnivalization crept in by thinking providing more bars and music will make its mariners happy and hopefully they will rethink when new ship orders go out. CCL has many cruise lines to make each distinct and unique and hopefully their "new" marketing of longer itineraries will bring back some of what HAL had. 🤞🤞

It's a schedule thing now. As of January 2023, 1 ship in port at a time so maybe whoever is scheduled to come in earlier would be on schedule, others would need to find another port. I am sure there is another way the port is assigning who visits each day but it means all cruise lines will have to rearrange their itinerary if Bonaire is on their list.

And if they've sat through it, they would have heard various genres of music (yes all on classical instruments but if anyone has seen The Muses - African woman quartet- they don't do "funeray" either) 😁

They've had the Ocean Bar band (in addition to the HAL band on World Stage when music was live). This is nothing new. PR marketing will next say they are having more variety at the Lido buffet. 🙄

Agree, besides the cutbacks (which continue and is pushing our 5* status excuse down further on the reason to stay list), we are watching specific ports we want to see and waiting for better handling within them. Not concerned about traveling or getting COVID or flu on longer cruise (been there done that). We are just sitting out on GWC, Africa or others for 1 or 2 years while things flow better (tours, staffing, protocol, etc). You'll be fine on the 8 weeks (and we are jealous) as you are aware of the current situations and experienced enough to roll with anything.

They are rolling the BB King music into the song list for the Rock Band (and hopefully the horn section). Won't affect the smaller ships, since they have either BB King (to now be Rolling Stone) or Rolling Stone area but will be interesting on Pinnacle ships if the BB King area will be trivia, games and comedy club only now.

You probably won't know the actual answer until you get onboard, but whatever it is, it will be per person and both persons in cabin may have to purchase. The cost is also the delta in what you already paid, so having an extra 3 drinks of premium beverage to cover the cost seems about right.

It changes depending on length of cruise but won't be a charge, just a hold. But if you are close to your card limit, you may have a problem purchasing items in port. The ship won't charge anything on the account until the final statement.

YES! We thought we'd see them on VoV (Nope) or they fell out with paperless protocol and had to be viewed on Navigator 🤪 Had to use them in Sri Lanka when the tuk-tuk driver didn't speak English nor know where the ships were docked. 🙃

Why not have both better enrichment programs and live performance? So I guess now the BBC movies will have recorded tracks (like the dance and singers now have since they did away with the HAL band). Next thing they'll just have digital music box to sit and listen to. But then they can sell tokens to drop in and select your song from the digital Jukebox. 🤔 When they talked about cuts in 2019 it was mentioned the onboard entertainers and crew (band, singers, etc) would open cabins they could sell and also switch to cheaper third party entertainment agency.

Yes. And they usually sell segments for those that want shorter cruises. But they also need to up the onboard activity/entertainment for these itineraries so we don't feel like we are seeing the same things each segment (like on B2B). Something like "mini" Grand Voyages (which spoils us).

We book excursions we want ahead of time before they sell out. Then go to excursion desk onboard and ask them to credit back to account and deduct from OBC. We had success in doing that (even on waitlisted if EXC does the rebooking) but need to discuss with them first. "Past performance does not guarantee future results" 😉 Pre Covid we might book private tours, especially in ports we are comfortable in. With changes in times and ports being a norm on cruises now, play it safe and book tour with HAL. You can always do Celebrity or excursion cruise for more detail adventures later.

Yea Congrats to them. They were amazing what they could put together even when supplies ran out and they had to shop in port. Is Carol and/or Siri still teaching watercolor?

Yes. There is great demand for this sector to get back to sailing again. We are waiting patiently for a Grand Asia/Pacific cruise to come back but also tempered by the rise infections over there and port uncertainty yet.

Would be nice but rather have a designated Tamarind than the 1 night pop up in PG. (And a Dutch Cafe would add a cherry on top.) Not sure there is space without affecting (ruin) the Prominade walking deck (like they did on Pinnacle class).

We sailed Rotterdam in November to all ABCs no problem. Seems there may be scheduling issues in doing ABC now. Cruises has been doing 2 of 3 of them lately(?). Some substitute Bonaire for Curacao.

We can take the 4 week golden retriever excursion. 🤣

You will pull through with everyone's thoughts and prayers. Our insurance at home has a travel policy (even though we purchase separate travel insurance) so maybe check with yours as well. Also credit card used to purchase cruise. 🙏🙏🙏🙏

Not in Port Everglades but in Boston (or maybe San Diego), it helps so you don't have to fumble through documents (even though we bring hard copy back up anyway). In FL we were asked about vaccination and flashed the Verifly "OK" but they didn't really look at it.

Who are concierge in Neptune Lounge this year? Oh my 😬 Can't unhear that piano singer now.