wdw1972

People seem to rave about the osso buco - I've never had that, however. My favorite item on the current menu is the burrata appetizer, which is big enough to be my meal. The meatballs are very good too. My favorite dessert was dropped during the last menu change, but the lemon ricotta cheesecake they added is very good. If the short ribs are still on the menu, they're good too. Sue/WDW1972

That makes all the difference. Anyone sailing in your stateroom would be considered your star level, even if it was their very first cruise. Sue/WDW1972

Darn - not surprised, but I was hoping maybe I just didn't know I should 😉 Sue/WDW1972

Interesting - when a 2-star friend accompanied me to a wine tasting (we have separate staterooms) she was charged full price. She was ok with that - didn't expect to go for free, but it's the first I've heard that I should have a "+1" entitlement. Sue/WDW1972

Since the laundry machines are huge, there's no way they're doing guest laundry individually. I'm not sure they can accommodate hypo allergenic detergent requests either. I've specified temperature (cold water, cool dry), but that's the extent of my special requests. This is a commercial laundry - hundreds of pounds washed & dried in the same machine. Sue/WDW1972

Great idea! Any recommendations as to which one? My "baby" is 37 years old, so my experience is limited 😉 Sue/WDW1972

Pretty sure it won't be long now, but based on recent releases I'm also pretty sure the pricing WILL be outrageous 😉 That seems to be the trend lately. Sue/WDW1972

We're in the NE section of town - actually live at the workplace (real home is in SW Florida). I did hear of downed trees affecting some staff getting to work - that was probably the culprit in your case. Glad it wasn't worse! Sue/WDW1972

Can I ask where in North Central Florida? I'm in Gainesville and our power never even flickered. The rain ended by 5pm and other than oppressive humidity (which isn't that unusual this time of year) there are no active signs of Debby at all. The ground is very wet of course, and lots of tree debris scattered around, but overall this is type of hurricane I can live with. Sue/WDW1972

The exception would be the Vista Suites on deck 8 on the Pinnacle class ships. Those don't have any cover, rendering them useless when it may be raining. Sue/WDW1972

Unless she's Doogie Howser, chances are she's 21 or more since she's graduating from college. 😉 Oops, sorry - just noticed the title said she's 20. This young lady sounds like a high achiever! Sue/WDW1972

Yep - you won't find me doing it either. Life's too short. Two in a stateroom (when hubby cruises) is bad enough! Sue/WDW1972

Sadly, no. Sue/WDW1972

It's happened quite often - it's called a "pop up" dinner. If there are any on your cruise you'll see them listed when you go online to book specialty dining. That, plus the Pinnacle will miraculously have NO available openings for that night - it'll be booked under a different dinner name. For my upcoming Zuiderdam cruise one night will be Morimoto popup, which will be held in the Pinnacle Grill. Sue/WDW1972

What is the usual time for this? My last neptune suite experiences I had no idea about a cocktail party/gathering and so never attended. This was many years ago. We've got a neptune in 2025 and although we have the beverage package so don't need "free" drinks I'd like the opportunity to at least decide whether to bother attending or not 😉 Sue/WDW1972

From my experience a quad is no different than a double stateroom, other than having extra bedding for the 3rd & 4th person (including one that pulls down from the ceiling - ridiculous)! There is no way I'd consider cruising with 3 of us sharing a stateroom, but that's just me. When the 3 of us cruise, we book 3 staterooms - but I realize many people either don't mind sharing or feel they can't afford to cruise without sharing. I agree this booking attempt is odd, and it's the opposite of HAL's recent approach of trying to cram as many bodies onboard as possible. Then again, HAL's not the most consistent entity out there 😉 Sue/WDW1972

HAL is giving your a credit for being an AARP member. AARP is not paying HAL. Think about you - you pay AARP $12/year to be a member. Why would they give $100 to HAL every time you book a cruise??? It's like the healthcare or teacher credits - HAL gives those. Your medical employer or school district doesn't pay HAL for your credit. While the casino organization may pay HAL something for your deeply discounted casino rate, my assumption it's not the full difference between what you pay and what someone booking w/out casino would pay. Most likely it's some agreed-upon amount, similar to what your insurance pays to your doctor vs the crazy high amount the doctor would charge YOU if you didn't have insurance. Sue/WDW1972

In my case they would not refare. TA called Sunday and was told new bookings only, but they could rebook me (final payment is mid August). TA called back today for a pricing specialist - same story, they would not budge. In my case I have one of the two family cabanas in the Retreat booked, tied to my original booking #. If I rebook, that's automatically canceled. I wasn't going to risk losing it, so I'll skip the $187 in crew incentive I would have picked up (solo traveler, 11 nights). Sue/WDW1972

The answer would be No. The category is signature suite - you'd have to book a signature suite in order to "upgrade" to a different signature suite. You cannot use CO to move from a non-signature suite to a signature suite. Sue/WDW1972

Interesting - I believe you, but it's the complete opposite of my recent cruises. Last one was March, so maybe something has changed since then. I can see where people would prefer the plastic resealable bottles. For me it doesn't matter - I bring my metal insulated water bottle, so I have cold water. We always have a cabana in the Retreat (Retreat is not on Volendam/Zaandam), which includes the big glass bottles of water. If I didn't have that though, I'd just fill my refillable with tap water - tap water on a ship tastes as good as bottled water on land! Sue/WDW1972

Haven't seen plastic bottles of water being sold by HAL in several years. You get an aluminum can (included in HIA) or you can pay for a slightly larger resealable aluminum bottle that's not included in HIA. There are also bigger glass bottles of water. Sue/WDW1972

I booked my 2025 Alaska cruise on 7/13/23. That was very shortly after the itineraries were announced, so it should be any day now for 2026. Sue/WDW1972

If all you care about is daylight, stick with deck 4. If you want to actually have a view from your window, do deck 1 but be careful not be directly under the galley or any noisy music venue. Also avoid connecting staterooms, no matter which deck. Also bear in mind in Alaska you'll want to be outside viewing, not looking through a relatively small window (that's located over the head of the bed). A verandah is nice because if you get cold you can duck inside and still have the floor to ceiling unobstructed view. But, with only an oceanview you can still duck inside the ship & then go back outside as desired. You can always look for a seat near a window in a public venue as well. Sue/WDW1972

Nope - that was another troubling untruth or inconsistency from the OP. Unless the ship is in port and makes the decision to keep Lido open later due to late arriving excursions, the Lido closes at 8pm and will reopen for an hour at 10:30pm. Sue/WDW1972

Thanks! I was assuming it was still there and wouldn't disappear until after the 2025 World Voyage. It's such a nice spot, and more casino space seems less important on long voyages. Wish they'd left it alone on the other ships instead of converting it to more slot machines. Sue/WDW1972