recruiter 28

The 100 year old Man Who Jumped Out the Window and Disappeared

Great book with lots of history and laughs

The Lincoln Highway

7 hours ago, DaveOKC said:

Did you get the $50 offer when you reviewed your booking on the HAL website?  We got ones for August Alaska and October Panama Canal cruises.  BOth for 2022.

 

Since we have a really good Mariner rate which includes the signature beverage pkg and wifi, it didn't seem worth going to an $800 more pp rate that included the Have it all and crew appreciation.  Our PCC explained we would have to cx and rebook paying a total of $1600 more for the new booking. Sometimes I find HAL policies very frustrating. She told us we could use our OBC for crew appreciation fees...something I didn't know.

2 hours ago, smlri said:

I called yesterday to ask about this for our upcoming cruise and was told I can’t just add the $50 per person per day for the Have it all.  I have to upgrade to the HIA package which means an extra $1000 above what we paid for our room!  Not a chance……

Same here. We were yold ot would be $800 more pp for our current booking.  HAL and their questionable offers.

8 minutes ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

Why would you want to do this?

As a gift to my spouse...

Is it possible to purchase OBC to use on board?  With the basic Sail Away rate we don't have any.  Thank you

On the Nieuw Amsterdam in February 

1 hour ago, Mary229 said:

I have been collecting YouTube’s for these Pinnacle class ship forward cabins.  Most videos are very short but very helpful, 3 videos of forwards 

 

 

We saw one of these cabins on the Nieuw Amsterdam.  We were impressed with the size. Even though we were told you might feel more sea movement being on a higher deck, we would book one of these front forward cabins in the future.

Just off the Nieuw Amsterdam...word to the wise. Monitor all charges to your account. Big problems in their accounting dept.

5 hours ago, kazu said:

 

Interesting!  We never ordered the bucket of beer but my friend (who also uses beverage cards) did and had no problem.

I don’t understand what difference if it was a promotion or not would make.  A beverage card is just like a debit card - to be used for beverages.

 

Shaking My Head at this lack of common sense 😳 

We were confused...sent the bucket back untouched and bought one beer. It took 2 days to get the bucket and gratuity off our bill! That's when we exchanged the beverage cards for OBC then purchased the bucket!  Ridiculous policy by HAL.  Not happy with their beverage dept.

6 hours ago, kazu said:

 

You are on the right track. 🙂. You can use the beverage card for any drink (and even a bottle of wine) - alcoholic or non alcoholic including coffees 😉 

But not for the bucket of beer. We were told the beverage card couldn't be used on a promotion.  We ended up transferring our beverage card balance to OBC. No more beverage cards for us.

On 2/22/2022 at 12:51 PM, tjcox9 said:

Just was on the Rotterdam and we disembarked Sunday and fresh OJ was covered.

Good to hear. On the October TA it was included until day 12 of 14...many complaints may have helped for those who followed.

And the freshly squeezed oj is not included on the signature beverage package...this was the case on the October Rotterdam TA.

Maybe a President's Day promotion on the horizon?

1 hour ago, Boatdrill said:

 

What is the date of this letter ? 

We were notified by email today

7 minutes ago, Boatdrill said:

HAL"s letter mentions a back- to-back charter that rescheduled to later dates.  Was the Jan. 8 cruise a charter as well as the Jan 15 sailing ?    The next departure, Jan 29th, isn't a charter. 

The January 8 cruise on the Nieuw Amsterdam was a regular not charter cruise. Today we have been given the option to move to the Rotterdam on January 9 or cancel and receive payment returned. We plan to do the Rotterdam cruise.

On 12/14/2021 at 1:29 PM, SusieKIslandGirl said:

Thanks for the info. Just saved nearly $1200. refaring our Feb. 2023 cruise. Was able to keep all the previous perks too.

Were u able to keep the free gratuities?

2 hours ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

Uggggg.  Like most "sales" I see on Hal I will not benefit.  It's too bad you won't either.

Ours would be $430 more pp...disappointing but we could keep the Black Friday free gratuities and gain another $75 pp OBC...not sure paying a total of $860 additional is worth it...happy some are coming out ahead.

We were on the Rotterdam VII TA and had the signature beverage package.   We ordered freshly squeezed oj everyday and it was covered on the package. However, on day 12 we were suddenly charged for it. We were told it was not covered!  Beware all future cruisers...we were not happy.

5 hours ago, 12cruise2 said:

We are on board Nieuw Amsterdam now 10/2-23/21 sailing for three weeks from Seattle to Fort Lauderdale.  It's only two days into the cruise.  Yesterday was our Mariners' luncheon.  As we were waiting for the doors to open, I noticed an attractive mask (turquoise with glittery stones) on a lady and complimented her on it.  She gets right up close to my right ear, puts her arm around my waist and tells me, breathing right into my face next to my cheek "Amazon on sale."  THEN, she proceeds to pull the mask away from her face to say, I can finally breathe, see, it's not really a mask!" She was so proud to show me!  It was like a huge holed mesh window screen, single ply.  You could see right through it!  I was astonished and said, "What are you doing?  We're on a three-week cruise now and need to protect each other.  You realize that that mask is to protect me from your germs, right?"  She says, "Oh, I've been tested."  I reply yes, but that was four days ago; you could have become infected since then.  I said I can't believe you're doing this and I don't want to talk with you at all.  I told her I was walking away from her, and I turned my back and moved several steps away.  

 

Of course I should have walked inside the dining room and told the Captain who, along with the entire "official" crew was standing there waiting to just allow us to see them, no contact, before the Mariners' luncheon.  But I told the front desk later, though I couldn't identify the woman.  The front desk said oh, we can educate, we can advise, but we're not police. 

 

I can assure you my son, a commercial airline captain, would certainly put someone off an aircraft if they misbehaved.

 

Anyway, I wanted to give others a heads up that a mask isn't always a protective mask, though it's being passed off by the wearer as a protective mask.  Beware of folks who want to cheat at everyone else's expense.

 

FYI, we all are being covid tested--using the Abbott Binax covid ag (antigen) at home medically monitored test over the next several days.  Front desk says it's being done for all passengers because the cruise is longer than 20 days.  No charge to us.  No news is good news within 24 hours of taking the test.

Is the ship providing masks throughout your cruise?

October 20, 2021

Rotterdam (Inaugural )

14 day Atlantic Sojourn 

17 hours ago, Lady Chew said:

Our group has always had birthday cakes for the table.  We set it up a few days ahead of time with the head waiter.  Sugar free cake for the birthday boy who needs that, chocolate for the choco-holics, etc.

My husband got a cake and it was delicious!

3 hours ago, Tampa Girl said:

 

What port is disembarkation for this cruise?

Ft. Lauderdale 14 days later

We are booking the Ryndam transatlantic leaving Amsterdam October 2021.  We are keeping good thoughts that it will be a reality...and our booking includes all the promotional perks.  Looking forward is a positive thing...enough of this quarantine.  Stay well.

We are having second thoughts about b2b cruises leaving from Venice and Rome the end of October...not sure Italy will be the place to be this fall.