wdw1972

I was on the Eurodam during this time and the cakes in a jar appeared there - not necessarily every day (if I recall correctly) and only 1 per day. They were listed on the Lido lunch menu. They were pretty big too - definitely a larger portion than the individual plated desserts on the Lido, but I had a quart size ziplock bag and put it in my fridge to finish later. This is the red velvet cake in a jar. Sue/WDW1972

Ah, too bad. We were more fortunate. We lost Bonaire, which wouldn't have been my first pick to lose, but we have an overnight in Curacao. We're doing a cocktails excursion one night and will enjoy drinks/food at Iguana Cafe for sunset on the other night. An earlier sailing lost Bonaire and got an overnight in Aruba - poor substitute in my opinion. I'm surprised they gave you a sea day with such a short distance to travel, unless they're cutting the engines and using the oars. Sue/WDW1972

When in March? We're on the 3/8/24 9-day sailing and would enjoy meeting you both! Your reports are always entertaining and I look forward to this one. Hope you like Rudi's - our experiences have mostly (all but once) been very good. In fact, we'll probably book it for embarkation day in March, but once we're onboard to use OBC. Sue/WDW1972

Wasn't my experience either - last week on Eurodam. The stewards were everywhere (on deck 2) and there were lots of treats. The chocolate cheerios were a dud but everything else I tried was very good. Sue/WDW1972

I was on the 11/18/23 sailing as well, in a spa oceanview up on deck 10. The stateroom was perfect, I had a pad of paper & pen <g>, and my cabin steward found me late afternoon or on my way to dinner and said he'd been trying to find me to introduce himself - I had been up in the Retreat or elsewhere. I received chocolate 3 nights, towel animals every night (except maybe the first night) despite not requesting it. The service was great - cleaned as soon as I left in the morning, then again once I left for dinner. Agree on the comedian - she was not funny at all. Didn't care for the magician, especially the first night - just too much unnecessary "schtick" in his act. I always enjoy Island Magic, thought Craig Richards' show was nice, and only saw the Step One show that was new to me (the first one). Mostly our entertainment was BB Kings, which was excellent - although that venue was definitely cold! Food was pretty much outstanding. Made the mistake of trying MDR for lunch on embarkation day - never again!!!! I haven't set foot in there in decades except for an occasional wine tasting, and don't plan to change that. We did Canaletto 2x, Lido once, NY Pizza out by Seaview pool once, Pinnacle 2x and Tamarind 4-5 times. Service was excellent in all the specialty restaurants and food quality was great. I'm not a fan of the new Canaletto menu, but that's just me. My travel buddy absolutely loved the big grouper filet at Canaletto (the daily special) and we both found the Tamarind meals to be a lot of food. We had one of the family cabanas in the Retreat - that's a requirement for us. Service on embarkation day was a bit off. Stewards went missing in the afternoon. Most likely HAL deployed them elsewhere during this busy time, but for the price we pay for the cabana this is NOT acceptable. I used the "let us know" feature on the app and told them so. That night at dinner (in Tamarind) a supervisor came to my table to apologize for what happened today, confirmed that was not right and they would fix this immediately. From that point on, service was fabulous - just as it's supposed to be. This was true not just for me (the complainer) but for everyone up there. The three stewards hustled, attended to our needs, tried to anticipate those needs, kept busy straightening up or replenishing when not attending to guests, etc. Embarkation & debarkation was a breeze - very fast. There were a few times where it took a while to get a steward to come take our drink order - typically in Tamarind Bar, once in BB Kings and once in World Stage. That's a minor issues, as mostly we had good experiences. I thought there were more kids than normal and am not pleased with HAL's trend to attract families (kids sail free). Most kids were fine, but it all depends on the parents. There was a set of twins who were nightmares - literally RUNNING (with heavy, stampeding feet in spite of only appearing to be around 7-8 years old) through Lido, Crows Nest, & other public venues without regard to other passengers in their way. Then there was a little bit older girl who would stand but then flop down hard into her seat in the World Stage - over and over and over again (bang, bang, bang). This is all while grandpa was in the seat next to her (probably wishing he had never taken this cruise), mom & grandma ignored the behavior, and dad was so visibly disconnected (looked like he wished he was anywhere but here) from his family it was almost comical. Eventually after I said to mom "are you kidding me?" she may have told the girl to stop. Sad. Yes, there's some rust that needs attention. Elevators seemed to have more challenges than normal remaining in service. One of the big plexiglass panels in our cabana was broken/shattered - and it has been that way since at least last year (we were in the other family cabana then but saw this) and I sure hope it's fixed by November 2024 when we have that cabana again. It will be noted on my survey. Also, the retractable pool roof didn't work most of the time - it remained in a partly open position the entire time except for one overnight. Overall I consider it a great cruise (certainly better than being at work) and realize there will always be some imperfections or things I'd rather see done/handled differently but the positives far outweighed the negatives. Sue/WDW1972

We are moving finally - Eurodam. sue/wdw1972

Onboard Eurodam. Apex still has 2 lines at the bow. Gangway is pulled. Linesman standing there looking bored

Checking the navigator for the menu is entertaining, but not meaningful until the ship is doing YOUR itinerary. In my case I'm on the Eurodam 11-night leaving 11/18/23. Once the first sailing of that itinerary started in late October I made sure to check daily and made a few notes on where/when favorites were listed. I haven't bothered with the MDR in probably close to 20 years, and do mostly specialty dining and a little Lido (and Grand Dutch Cafe snacks when on Pinnacle class ships). I love Tamarind but don't like any of their desserts. If there's something fabulous in the Lido I'll make a note to pick up dessert there. Yes, I can wait until I'm onboard to see that but it's fun to pre-plan - sort like living the cruise before it's actually started. If the menus end up different that night, no big deal. One thing I did notice is weiner schnitzel (but pork, not veal) will be on the MDR menu but not in the Lido during my cruise. MAYBE I'll actually set foot in the MDR - but if not I'll order it via room service 😉 Sue/WDW1972

I live in Florida and once retired in a few years I'll be back home 2 hours from the port, which eliminates any flight or hotel needs. Excursions are not of interest at this point (after many cruises). My big issue would be the inability to get a Retreat cabana at short notice - that's a deal breaker in the Caribbean and why I continue to book 1-2 years in advance. When traveling with friends we want the family cabana, and there are only 2 on the entire ship, so very hard to get close to sailing. If I didn't care about the Retreat, your advice/plan would make a lot of sense for me! Sue/WDW1972

It tends to be very windy up there when the ship is moving - exercise caution! Sue/WDW1972

If it's a "Grand" voyage yes. Otherwise, no. Sue/WDW1972

On a typical 14-day itinerary you'd have a handful of kids. At this time, especially if it's really two 7-day cruises BTB you'll have hundreds of kids on each cruise, making it pretty miserable if "low key adult" is what you're looking for. Thanks to a kids sail free promo last year the holiday cruises seemed to be overrun with kids beyond anything HAL cruisers had seen before, and unfortunately not all were well-behaved little angels. The ship was unable to really provide for them, as Club HAL is very small, so HAL was a big part of the problem. Sue/WDW1972

Mine is hanging from the corner of a framed picture on the bedroom wall. I wore it at the ceremony where it was presented, but that was the only time. Sue/WDW1972

I'm not worried - only 4 stars but only saw a duck once. I actually thought it was trash someone left on one of the pieces of art in an elevator foyer and when I went to remove it to throw it away I saw it was a duck with a tag from the original owner. A friend has a jeep and ducks are a big jeep thing so that's where it ended up 😉 Sue/WDW1972

A child is the last thing I want to see on my cruises 😉 . I have no interest in finding or hiding ducks, but if others enjoy it, so be it. I hope it never gets out of hand with more & more stuff getting left/hidden all over the ship. One thing I've liked about HAL from the beginning was the classic design/decor of the ships. Rubber duckies don't enhance that for me. Sue/WDW1972

Don't touch 4017 - solid steel verandah wall (so when you sit you see nothing) plus noise from decks below! 8188 is at the very back on the ship - great if you want a view off the stern. Many people like that, but some don't. You'd be directly under the sea view pool, so may have noise from them setting up chairs early in the morning. 10037 would be my pick, but that's because I always have a Retreat cabana and that stateroom is very convenient. Oops - scratch that - it's got a connecting door to the stateroom next door and I won't risk having noisy neighbors (plus you lose a closet to make room for that door). None of them are great - but an inside stateroom on Rotterdam is teeny tiny - literally not room for much but the bed. Assuming the $800 ($399x2) is in your budget, I'd probably go with 8188. Sue/WDW1972

Which venue? We're planning to just do the Lido that night, so I'm glad the pop up didn't affect our plans. Sue/WDW1972

I missed the Canadian aspect earlier - that does make sense. Sounds like we both got "deals" when we did it that way 🙂 Sue/WDW1972

Usually when HIA is offered it's been $50/day/person. My March 2023 cruise fare dropped significantly to the point it was well worth losing HIA and perks for the lower price. Then later I added HIA back for $50/day - still saving money over the original booking. I haven't seen people paying $65/day/person for it, but that doesn't seem like a deal at all. I'm on 11/18/23 Eurodam as well, but booked it eons ago with HIA built into the price...not really caring that a better deal might have been had by waiting. Sue/WDW1972

I haven't seen it for the Nov 18 Eurodam (as of this morning), which is fine with me. I don't want to eat there but I was checking just in case it interfered with any of the specialty dining dinners we plan to book once we embark. Sue/WDW1972

You don't have to stay home - you're not in my stateroom 😉 In fact, if you're in your stateroom watching tv all cruise, you won't be taking up a seat in any of the public venues, so that's a good thing too. Sue/WDW1972

One reason I usually don't cruise with my husband is he'd want to lay on the bed and watch tv most of the cruise. I don't want the damn tv on at all. If your priority is watching tv, then I agree - stay the heck home. I don't want to see it - I don't want to hear it. Sue/WDW1972

I'm a solo cruiser, as are the friends I cruise with (each in our own stateroom) but we'd never deny ourselves the nicer dining experiences using your logic. Life's too short. On our upcoming 11 night cruise I think 8 nights will be in specialty dining. I've not eaten in the main dining room in close to 20 years and may never return there for dinners, but it's just fine as a choice for people who like it. Sue/WDW1972

Me too - hope we have such a pretty sailaway day, perhaps with a little less wind. Those Retreat cabana roofs were flapping! Sue/WDW1972

Per person - all specialty restaurant prices are per person. Sue/WDW1972