wdw1972

Sitting in the priority waiting room at pier 26 - hope to be onboard Eurodam in the next 45 minutes! Sue/WDW1972

I had the same thought Jacqui, but then thought I might need something to ***** about. On my HAL cruises I tend to be happy about everything, lol! Also, I'm curious what they're going to say - what excuse will be offered for this stupidity. In the end, I'll have my refund, but I'd rather have the Rudi's meal. Sue/WDW1972

This is one of the annoying things about HAL. I booked Rudi's as a pop up on my Eurodam cruise that begins Wednesday (3-4 days). When I saw the mention on cruise critic that they were no longer doing that as pop-us I checked my booking and sure enough it's not available to book. However, HAL hasn't canceled it - my itinerary still shows my reservation for Rudi's. If it's going to happen, great, but I assume it will not and I'll have to request a refund onboard. I don't want it changed to a Pinnacle dinner since I already have that booked and once is enough. Wish HAL would get their sh** together - this isn't rocket science. Sue/WDW1972

Yes, they should probably modify it to say "make dining reservations at some point, probably close to embarkation day when you've given up on checking to see if it's friggin' available yet" 😉 Sue/WDW1972

That offer would be $398 total for the cruise. Sue/WDW1972

It also doesn't change the square footage - the stateroom will be the same as a non-quad stateroom except for there being a pull-down bed from the ceiling (usually right over the main bed, which is ridiculously stupid) and the sofa being convertible to a single bed. Although I'd never consider it, there are people who don't mind cramming 4 people into a single stateroom to keep the cost down, which is why there's a limited number of staterooms that accommodate that many. The only negative I can think of is perhaps if it's for a Thanksgiving or Christmas/New Years cruise you'll have LOTS more families onboard and many of them might choose those staterooms so you could experience more noise than usual. If it's not during that time, then it shouldn't be an issue. Sue

Another option is to work with your healthcare team to make the cruise happen, by scheduling treatments accordingly. My first time having cancer I had a cruise to Alaska booked and told my team I'd do what they recommended, but I needed them to work with me on this cruise. They did, and I went/had a great time, then resumed the cancer crap after getting home. In my case it was only radiation therapy and not chemo - so it was much easier to accomodate. My 3rd time with cancer I was coming up on final payment for a cruise a few months away. I sweated that one a bit, but got assertive with the surgeons, oncology group, etc to get appointments soon enough to know my prognosis/treatment plan prior to final payment. I decided to keep the cruise. I was solo on that one and had lifting restrictions still and was just started on the reconstruction process, but I made it work. Somebody else probably would have canceled, but cruises bring too much joy to me to let one go without a fight! Good luck to you, whatever you decide. Sue/WDW1972

Looks like Rotterdam is making her approach. Sue/WDW1972

Missing HMC wouldn't bother me (I stay in the Retreat) but I'd be sad at missing Curacao. We missed it last cruise (for the first time ever) because we were slated to dock in town and the wind/currents wouldn't let us safely enter the waterway. Looking forward to getting back there on the Nov 30 sailing. I imagine the passengers onboard are chomping at the bit to get docked so they can hopefully make it to their flights. That's assuming the airport is open, of course. Sue/WDW1972

A shore excursion booked through HAL would be refunded. A shore excursion booked independently would not be their responsibility. That's why people booking independent shore excursions generally don't prepay - they make arrangements with the tour provider to pay in person. I also got an email last night changing Key West to Nassau. Nassau is an armpit, so it's definitely a stay on the ship day for me. Chances are I would have done the same thing in Key West, unless we docked at the very convenient piers. When docking at the Navy pier I don't bother getting off the ship. And yes, it's been known for many months (possibly years now) that Key West doesn't want cruise ships and although I think some law prevents them from banning ALL ships they're able to maneuver around & it seems pick & choose who they let in. The bigger the ship, the less attractive that cruise ship is. Sue/WDW1972

I saw MCO is closing 4pm (Wed) and of course the airlines are free to cancel specific flights at their whim 😉 It's 9pm Tuesday now and Disney hasn't updated any closures - I'm assuming what one does the others (Universal, Sea World) will follow. We should definitely know more "for sure" by Wednesday afternoon. Wed/Thurs look poor for chances of flying into MCO. Beyond that I would think it should be business as usual (except for the backlog of stranded passengers). Hopefully Rotterdam can dock safely in Port Everglades on Thursday, which is what HAL is expecting. It sucks for the people booked to sail on 11/9 but beyond anyone's control. As someone who's primary home is in SW Florida (Ft Myers) I have had enough tropical storms/hurricanes at this point! Sue/WDW1972

Not true. Disney updated at 3:45pm today 11/8 that the water park and mini golf was closed but theme parks are open. They're continuing to monitor the storm. I wouldn't be surprised if they closed on Thursday but that's not been announced. Friday it's supposed to be mostly sunny, with isolated showers, so no reason to have theme parks closed. Seriously doubt the airport would be closed on Friday either. Sue/WDW1972

You do not - only Retreat cabana guests can use anything within the Retreat. FYI, there's no hot tub in the Retreat on Nieuw Amsterdam - only Nieuw Statendam & Rotterdam. Sue/WDW1972

Typically, no. It's never been the case with my last couple cruises where my reservation was linked with 2 others since we were traveling together (including arriving & departing at the same time). Sue/WDW1972

Thanks for the update. Have a great cruise! Sue/WDW1972

Wow - that's disappointing that they're charging the same price as parking at the port. The advantage w/Park n Go would be they drop you at the terminal and then pick you up from there and drop you at your car. But, that means potential wait & transportation time. The disadvantage to parking at the port is if you're not on ground level you may be waiting for space in an elevator to get to your floor. Also, if you've got a bunch of luggage you're dragging it a further distance. I've used Park n Go for years, and have been very happy with them. I've got them booked for my 10-day Nov/Dec cruise. When I looked at my 7-day March 2023 cruise the difference in price was around $14 so we're going to give parking at the port a try. For $14 savings I'm not sure it's worth booking w/Park n Go. If the price was equal, I'd definitely pick the port and be done w/Park n Go. Sue/WDW1972

I didn't hear them either. I was at a standing happy hour/lunch with a friend and brought my ipad so we could watch the sailaway. The video part worked fine, but I didn't have the volume set I guess - although being inside a restaurant having a ship's horn blowing 23 times might not have been as welcome to the other guests 😉 Sue/WDW1972

In this case it was a mudslide that blocked the only road. Since it was an excursion through the cruise line, HAL put the people up at a Marriott hotel (on *that* side of the mudslide) and flew them to join the ship at a future port a day or 2 later. Had it been an independent excursion, those passengers would have had to make their own arrangements, at their own expense, and since their passports would have been left at the pier they may have been further delayed until the mudslide was cleared. Problems are rare, but they do happen. Sue/WDW1972

I've been told if both parties have had HAL enter a note that they're "traveling with" the other party then assuming specialty reservations are made for the same date/time HAL will automatically seat them together. Despite doing that I still stopped by the podium at embarkation day and let them know we (3 staterooms) wanted to dine at the same table - wasn't willing to risk it 😉 Sue/WDW1972

Generally the Retreat is blissfully quiet. The exception would be if you have multiple couples traveling together who each book a cabana - then they can get boisterous as the afternoon wears on & the alcohol flows 😉 I book a Retreat cabana every cruise (twice a year) and have really only encountered that once. People tend to be friendly but respectful of it being a "retreat" and act accordingly. Sue/WDW1972

LOL - but not true 😉 The petite filet was 6 ounces, which is still a bigger portion than most people need to eat. The regular was 8 ounces. On the new menu there's only one choice - an 8-ounce filet mignon. My husband's coming on my next cruise we can make it work by him ordering something seafood and then getting at least half my filet to make it a DIY surf & turf. On future cruises when I'm solo I'll be wasting a lot of beef unless HAL can still provide the smaller one by request. I also hate wasting food - and hope to get a smaller filet. Sue/WDW1972

The Pinnacle menu I've seen online, on the app & in person all have the soups, salads and appetizers listed in one section as "Appetizers". I agree it's tacky to limit a person to soup OR salad OR appetizer, but we'll see how it works for people actually onboard. My next cruise is Nov 30 on Eurodam and thus far the menu on the app hasn't been updated to indicate any extra charge for extra "appetizers". The only extra charge is $15 for an extra entree and $20 corkage fee (plus the usual upsell items that have been on the menu since the restart). I'd swear that bacon used to be 4 slices but now is 3. That's a great choice to share at the table, but if the extra charge thing is true then in order to avoid an extra charge somebody would have to do without anything else. For me not a big deal, but most people eat more than me! Sue/WDW1972

There will be more 3pm sailings this season. My 11/30 Eurodam sails at 3pm. I assume my March Nieuw Statendam will as well but thus far they haven't changed the itinerary from 5pm. Sue/WDW1972

The port's website has been updated to reflect a confirmed departure of 3pm for Nieuw Statendam. Eurodam is still 5pm. Sue/WDW1972

Because if it's not required, it's optional. It's up to the passenger to decide whether to do it or not - very simple. Sue/WDW1972