peaches from georgia

You just go to the App Store on your phone, put in American Express, install the AMEX app, sign in with your AMEX online username and password, and you immediately have access to your account, can pay bills on the phone, and fraud alerts are automatically sent onto your phone.

Um, no.

.........As I stated in my original post, someone tried to make an online purchase totaling $700 - camping equipment from a company in Utah.

As the Am Ex customer service person explained to me, the company monitors accounts 24/7 and knows spending patterns. So the purchase attempts (there were four) were all declined.

Am Ex fraud department called my house several times and left messages, them sent me emails.

I plan to download their app now, which will alert me instantly.............

 

I now only use my AMEX card for all online purchases (and I purchase online all the time). I used my AMEX card for a $20 online purchase, from a small unknown vendor in CA, about a year ago for the first time in a long time. I usually purchase only from Amazon, B&N, Macy's and other large vendors, but took a chance this time. The next day my AMEX card # was used online for a large purchase- very expensive cognac from England, completely outside my usual buying habits! I know it had to have been stolen from this CA website, too coincidental. AMEX picked up on it right away and notified me, canceling my card and sending us new cards.

I immediately signed up for their notification service for all purchases made online. It's great and I only use AMEX now for all online purchases. I get an email immediately when my card is used for any online purchase- if I made it I don't have to do anything, if I didn't I would just hit the reply button that I didn't make it and the purchase is denied or cancelled. Luckily I have had no further problems, but I love this service protecting their customers.

My Caesar Salad was made at the table for regular PG, but for Le Cirque it was weirder than weird:( For Le Cirque it was lettuce laid out flat, layered, and some God AWFUL dressing drizzled sparingly over it... I made sure to remember so I never ever order that again!!!......

 

Joanie

That's just a Deconstructed Caesar Salad. The ingredients in a regular Caesar are in the deconstructed version, either mixed into the dressing or sprinkled among the layered lettuce leaves. It's often served that way now in the best restaurants and evidently at Le Cirque, so you had an authentic Le Cirque Caesar Salad. :D

Once you give a gift to someone it is no longer yours and the giftee is free to do what they want with it. A tip is a gift and after it leaves our hand it really is none of our business what happens to it.

I wouldn't ever ask, but I understand, kazu, why you wanted the one concierge to get what you wanted her to have.

Actually way back in 2001 or 2002 there were only 4 cabanas on HMC and only PS and Neptune Suites (just called suites back then) were the only people who could rent them -- $50 for the day for either 2 or 4 people.

LOL. I remember it well. You couldn't rent until you were on board and the pink one, for whatever reason, was the one most desired. Our very first HAL cruise was on the Rotterdam and we went right to the Neptune Lounge the minute we checked in to get our name and $50 ( I really think it was $49, KK ;)) on that pink cabana! It was a deal at that price, but not at the prices now, at least not for just 2 people, IMHO.

3 cruises to Bermuda, none on HAL. All 3 had starboard facing Front St. That is our preferred location; so much fun sitting on the balcony watching the activity in Hamilton day or night. :D

Touring the President Harry Truman Winter White House is also very interesting.

HAL needs to update it's technology simply because it is a mass market cruise line.

 

Growing numbers of potential customers view some of these technologies as basic...an entry fee into the hospitality game. This stuff is not rocket science. It is as basic as peanut butter. HAL needs to attract these new customers. It astonishes me that HAL is so far behind the curve on this one. Speaks volumes to me about their management.

 

Failure to adapt/deliver even the most basic of these technologies simply builds on the impression that HAL is a floating retirement or care home. I assume that this is not an image that HAL is trying to portray.

I agree completely. Younger people assume, true or not, that most seniors are not technology users other than maybe a simple cell phone for emergencies. Being so behind the times on even the most basic pax cabin technology aboard ship just adds to this impression that HAL is the old folks cruise line. If you don't want to use it then don't, but why object to it being available? :confused:

For starters an interactive tv to check accounts, make reservations for alternative restaurants and excursions, order room service and movies that automatically come on your tv without a dvd, report cabin problems, etc. Anyone who prefers to go down to the front desk is of course free to do so and probably stand on line or hold on the phone and hope your room service was taken correctly. Other cruise lines have had this technology for years. ;)

The OP asks a terrific question and we can hope that somebody from HAL sees this thread. Given the passenger mix on most of our HAL cruises some kind of "Senior Sitting" program makes a lot more sense then a Childrens Program. This just sounds like an idea that would be a perfect fit for HAL.

 

Hank

The demographics of HAL makes your idea of "Senior Sitters" sound good, but I doubt HAL would take on such a responsibility. Seniors with dementia or Alzheimers, even the beginning stages, are very different than kids and a lot more training and knowledge of their condition is necessary. Their mood can change on a dime, particularly when anxious or with strangers, and they can be very difficult to handle and calm down. Some with early dementia might be fine with a sitter, but I don't know if HAL would want to make that decision and then have to deny a sitter to some.

I like flavored creamer (and flavored coffee), too, though have never thought of bringing it on board. It is nothing HAL sells, so I can't imagine why they would object. What you can or cannot bring on depends on whether HAL is losing revenue if you bring your own, so I would think no problem. They might check that it is creamer in the bottle, though, and not alcohol. ;)

HAL can't see the forest for the trees. They are willing to lose a new customer, who very well might become a lifelong customer, to save a few pennies on a first time booking where clearly the promo mistake was HAL's fault. Instead of cancelling the booking, the prospective customer could have been given a very good impression of HAL before he ever got on the ship if HAL had honored their promo as written. It's a very shortsighted way to do business. :(

We have cruised to Bermuda 3 times on different lines, all on ships small enough to dock in Hamilton. To me cruising to Bermuda is all about docking in Hamilton and only secondarily about the ship. Your ship is hardly more than a place to sleep. We spend most of our time off the ship enjoying Hamilton and St. George, touring the island, shopping, and most often eating off the ship, too. The people are wonderful, the sites interesting and the beaches great. I would only cruise there though if we docked in Hamilton; the Dockyard is way too far away from the rest of Bermuda. Otherwise we would fly over and stay in a hotel. We've been on the Veendam and it is okay.

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-- Cruise Critic's software is not compatible with the new updates. Since all Safari, Firefox, Chrome, and Explorer users have the problem, Cruise Critic needs to update their APIs.

I have Explorer on my computer and Safari on my Iphone and Ipad. I've had no problems on any of these and have never ever had to sign in again. So it isn't everyone. Weird.

Thank you! several posts I have seen people have mentioned "the price is up due to spring break" or "lots of kids onboard due to spring break" We choose HAL because we enjoy the older crowd and less kids on board- definitely not the Carnival party ship types! the last cruise we were on there were only 19 kids on the entire cruise! we could actually get near the pool!

There will a lot more families with younger kids on the ships during spring break though. Unfortunately spring breaks cover a lengthy number of weeks as different school districts have different spring break weeks. We've cruised in February with no problem, but avoid March and early April.

I have never been near someone smoking an e-cigarette so don't know first hand. However, I asked above if they give off a scent given many flavors have been mentioned. The answer was a (qualified) yes. That scent could be an irritant to the person you suggest should be embarrassed. It is common in smoking threads to divert the conversation away from smoking on verandahs to people wearing too much perfume. :D The claim being some smokers are bothered by the perfume.

 

I didn't read anything here I would call a qualified yes to a scent or irritant given off by those who use a flavored e-cigarette. In fact the replies were the opposite. Did anyone say anyone nearby would be bothered much less have a coughing fit? Not even in a car. And not everyone uses anything flavored anyway. If they do it's a mild flavor they can taste, not a scent given off in the vapor from what I've experienced from people vaping right in front of me and from what posters who vape here say.

Sorry, but I don't really get it. A "vape" is intended to be an alternative to actual cigarettes without the carcinogens. But why does it have to look like a cigarette?

 

All that does is create the opportunity for anti-smoking activists to jump into action with the waving and coughing act.

 

.........

Let them start the coughing act and then mention to them they really should see a doctor about that horrible cough. When they start to blame your "smoke" you can tell them it is only water vapor not smoke so it's not you causing their cough. They will quickly leave you alone, embarrassed. :o

HAL might be more successful if the actually provided a reasonable alternative dining venue on formal nights. Not room service, not a very early closing Lido.

 

Cruisers want choice...reasonable choice. It is an example of what is pushing us away from HAL

I don't call the Lido much of a reasonable choice either when it is actually only early dining as it closes so early. :rolleyes: We don't go to early bird specials at home and have no desire to start while on vacation.

This sentence may have saved his wife and mother's lives, we'll never know. Anyone who was capable of doing what he did to a stranger could very well do this to someone close to him for any reason or no reason. It may not even be the first time he used such violence on another person but got away with it.

Have you checked your Roll Call,propwash, or posted on it since getting this news. How are the rest of the regular pax reacting to the dining change?

2 different cruises are getting mixed up in posts on this thread. The cruise with dining for regular pax closed after 6:30 is on Jan. 17th. THIS thread with the Road Scholars group is about the cruise on Jan. 23rd OP says and doesn't have a dining problem.

I knew it had to be a very size able group to take at least one level of the MDR for an entire seating (and possibly both levels). I've never heard of this before. I googled and there is a continuing education convention of primary care doctors on your ship, so that must be your group. You will be offered OBC, but what good is it if your cruise is going to be disrupted and obviously it will be with a huge group like this. Chances are the dining room is just the beginning. So sorry for you. :(

Is there a large group on this cruise that may be taking over the open dining MDR level at 8pm? That's what it sounds like to me. Otherwise that level would be empty from 8pm on after the 5-6:30 open dining diners have finished their meal if no further pax can do open dining. And since it's only this one cruise I will bet that regular pax are again being terribly inconvenienced for the benefit of a group and sent to the Lido. Is anyone booked on this cruise demanding some answers? :mad:

Maybe I'm missing something, but this makes no sense to me. I don't think HAL has told the whole story about what's going on. Is it just this one cruise? :confused:

HAL is not in the health care business. You make your own decisions about your health. HAL's only business is to make a profit for Carnival shareholders.