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I believe so, since it's the first thing we do after unpacking.

We were on the Zuierdam this year. Yes, there are deck chairs on the promenade deck, and, yes, the Lincoln Center had rows of moveable chairs, like a meeting.

After you watch the video you must walk to your muster station and get checked off. In other words, you must do both, in that order.

Those are all good questions. I think you will get plenty of responses if you post each question separately in the main HAL forum. The Cruise Critic format makes it difficult to respond to a post with multiple questions, since that post is intermingled with other unrelated posts in the thread. Everybody is eager to share what they know; you just have to make it easy for them to do so!

If you want a large verandah, I suggest deck four, aft (cabins 4148 and higher). Those cabins have deeper balconies than all the others, along with those all the way forward on deck four. Be aware that 4002-4020 on the forward end have steel panels rather than glass below the railings, obstructing the view. The other cabins in that forward area have standard glass panels. Also, the forward cabins are directly above the World Stage. It's possible that they could get noise from down there, but I don't have any direct experience with those cabins. Hope that helps.

I asked this question recently here on Cruise Critic and got some useful responses: Internet upgrade

They do not.

Interesting question. If you want to purchase specialty dining, excursions, etc. while aboard why not get on to the AARP site from your cabin and purchase gift cards to buy OBC to pay for them? Save 10% with not much effort.

Others have reported switching their excursions from credit card to OBC after they boarded. Perhaps the same will work with appying HIA credit. I wish I had waited and tried that. After buying the HIA promo I canceled an excursion I had made earlier and tried to rebook it with HIA credit, only to find that it was sold out.

I have ordered many martinis on HAL cruises, and I'm sure I never paid more than $11 for one.

Thanks.

We had an Oceanview cabin on one cruise this year. The back of the TV was accessible, but the remote they give you has no provision for changing input. See the pic below. All HAL TVs seem to have this same remote. In all the other cabins we have had for years now, the TVs have been attached to the wall, with no room to get your hand in there, let alone a USB device. There are no ports on the sides. On one cruise I was able to loosen the TV mount enough to slip my hand back there and use the headphone jack for my wife's wireless headset transmitter, but on subsequent cruises they have been too tightly mounted.

Thank you, crunchii and VMax1700.

I have a question about the "Have It All" vs. the Signature Drink Package. In the HIA promo it says "Signature Beverage Package has a daily limit of 15 beverages, which includes all beverages priced at US$11.00 or less and includes beverage service charges." HIA Looking at the most recent bar menu I can find (Bar menu) there are a LOT of under-$11 spirits not in the brochure posted above. Did the prices for drinks go up that much in the last year, or is there some other subtlety I'm missing? Thanks.

I used a TA for our upcoming cruise, and I bought the HIA package on the HAL site two days ago. We all know that HAL is the epitome of consistency.

I am accustomed to paying about three times retail for a bottle of wine in restaurants, but this far exceeds that. I should point out that I live in a small town in Oregon. That $125 wasn't a Costco price. Just to be clear, I have never had any interest in schlepping wine aboard ship to save money. I know that some folks do that so they can drink wines that they like rather than whatever the ship offers.

On a previous cruise we discovered a wine we really like (7 Moons Red Blend). It's part of the most expensive wine package aboard ship, the Sommelier Suite, Cellar 3. $189 for any four bottles in the "cellar". When we got home I ordered a case from our local liquor store. $125 for 12 bottles.

On my October 16-day cruise:

Somebody just told me that this HIA package is always available at this price. I guess it isn't "news"!

For the first time I purchased a Have It All package. Once aboard, what is the process and cost for upgrading to the Premium package? Is the cost simply the published difference between the Surf and Premium package prices? Thanks.

For our upcoming October cruise, HAL is offering a Have It All package for $45/day/person. Note that if you have the HAL Cruise Protection Plan, adding HIA increases your premium, by $220 in the case of our 16-day cruise.

That seems to vary. On our last three cruises (Panama Canal and Alaska cruises), both Wi-Fi Calling and our VPN worked. On previous cruises, neither did.

In my experience, the option is available only once you are aboard and try to use a second device.

We like Deck 4, aft of the lifeboat area (4148 and back). Those veradahs are much deeper than any others on the ship with the exception of those forward of the lifeboats on Deck 4. The first nine rows of cabins on Deck 4 (4002-4020) have steel railings, though, rather than glass, so you can't enjoy the view while reclining. We will be in 4191 later this year.

When the second device on your account tries to use the Internet the user will be given the option of booting off the first device or upgrading to a four-device plan. On our most recent two 7-day cruises, the four-device upgrade with $30 for the entire cruise.