laurmac

the Beverage card can be used for any type of non alcoholic beverage, soda, specialty coffees (or those sold at the café) juices etc. It can also be used for cans of soda. The Soda card can be used only for fountain drinks. It is a better value, because you get $50 worth of fountain drinks for $25, where as the non alcoholic beverage card is dollar for dollar.

On my last cruise we asked the on board consultant for one and kept getting excuses - they are in my cabin, I'll send one to my cabin. Of course we never got one. Would love some tips on how to convince the Future Cruise consultant that we are deserving!

I'm having Nasi Goreng for dinner tonight, with a fried egg, sambal, atjar tjampoer and krupuk . Am I ever so lucky :D

Eet smakelijk (sp)

My (dutch) mother used to make a Rijstaffel on special occasions. Our first 2 Hal cruises were collectors cruises and we were invited to Rijtaffel lunches which were wonderful. Our last cruise was not, but I sent a note to, I think it was, the Hotel Director, asking him if there was going to be one on this cruise. At dinner that night, the staff at the podium told us to give them 24 hours noticed and they could make us a Rijstaffel for dinner. I

t was wonderful and much appreciated!

I'd want HAL to match my NCL status, now that I mainly cruise HAL!

Anyone know who will be at the Piano Bar on the Eurodam for its repositioning from Quebec City to Ft Lauderdale starting October 4th?

Many Thanks in advance.

Thanks Ruth for your quick reply.

Just wondering if all ships have fridges only in balcony cabins? We're looking at an inside on the Eurodam - will it have a fridge?

I've done that before, but I always feel bad that I'm making them do extra work on a day when they are already busy. If I can get it right the first time, I'd feel better.

I have been checking my reservation, and cant seem to find where the arrangements for the bed are listed (ie queen or 2 singles)

Can anyone point me in the right direction?

Other than having the gaudiest décor of any ship I have been on (Black and brown faux wood panelling anyone?) it was a great ship!

Thank you so much for posting this. We did the same cruise exactly 1 year before you did (we even ran into the same marathon in Quebec City - I had forgotten about it until I saw your video!)

It brought back great memories - it reminded me that we have to do this itinerary again...and soon!

Oops, meant checkin - not boarding!

Thanks all for your input.

I will go in expecting nothing except priority boarding, tendering and discounts - and am sure we will have a great time!

Our first cruise after Platinum was a 4 day and we did not "technically" get any perks. But... after we asked about them, and mentioned it was DH's birthday, we did get the free bottle of sparkling wine and a bag of logo goodies along with his free birthday cake. So you never know, they might give you something since you are Platinum.

 

 

As for the cruise being enough: a bottle of sparkling wine, 2 specialty dinners and two bottles of wine, chocolates, strawberries, a free ships tour, 2 bags of free laundry.... the "real benefit" is a whole lot more real with the added perks. How could anyone dismiss this?

Thanks for the info Dalgirl - nice to hear they recognized your DH!

Laurmac - we leave in 16 days for a 3 day cruise as platinum. I'll let you know what we experience. I've wondered the same thing.

Thanks - I look forward to hearing about it!

We're looking at a 3 day cruise - it will be our first as Platinum.

Looking at the website, it appears that many of the benefits are only available on cruises 5 days or longer.

Platinum Cruisers - are there any real benefits available on a 3 day cruise?

They will provide you with a mattress topper on request. Its one of the first things i request from my steward once we board.

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Thanks for posting - and I have not encountered any region restrictions in Canada.

We rented cars in all 4 ports from Enterprise. It worked out really well. The Honolulu branch was very close to the port (we were embarrassed to have taken a shuttle!) While the Maui branch was a good 10-15 min drive. Take care in Maui that you are renting from Lahaina and not Kahului - our shuttlemates did that!

Let me know if you have any specific questions.

What is clear is that different offerings appeal to different people.

We are clearly in the "anytime" camp, because we like our tables for 2. That is more important to us than eating at a specific time.

I have had different experiences on different HAL cruises. This past cruise there were long lineups at 5:30, and luxurious attention by all dining staff at 7:30. In the past we have had great success getting a table for 2 right at 5:30. Our takeaway from our recent cruise was that we were going to have a different experience on every cruise and we need to figure it out early to figure out what is going to work best for us.

While trying to figure this out on the last cruise, I jokingly asked my husband how much we would pay to have a fixed table for 2 at our preferred seating time. We got into a long conversation about how that would be the next thing cruise lines would charge for!

Thanks....... so, would you say it is more ketchup based (barbeque sauce) or mayonnaise based?

 

Yes Mayo based. It has some 'zip' - it reminded me of Dutch "fritessaus", but not as thick.

On my recent Zaandam cruise - a man in the Lido asking the Lido Waitress how much money she sent home every month. While my mouth hung open, she politely replied "about half" he then proceeded to ask her why she needed to keep half her money, what could she possible need it for? I was speechless.

Elevators - It generally understood that folks with scooters wheelchairs etc, should be allowed to enter an elevator first, with standing passengers filling in the space around them. What irks me is when the person with the scooter wants to be the 'first off' the elevator, when it is much easier and safer for that person to be last off the elevator so that they have the room to manouver.

My guess is that it is a condiment that they have made for them, rather than something they make themselves - just like they would buy ketchup, salad dressings etc.

I H-A-T-E mustard, and while I could sense a bit of mustard in it, it wasnt enough to put me off having it on my burger. I would not call it mustard-based.

Our preferred line before HAL was NCL.

We are fairly casual people who go kicking and screaming (but appropriately dressed) to formal night, so to us the NCL dress code is a big feature. We were reluctant to try HAL (we thought it would be too formal) but now find that just about everything about the line appeals to us.

We've been on most of the mainstream lines now, and frankly, there are far more similarities than there are differences. We went on our first Carnival cruise over the winter and thoroughly enjoyed it. It was a good choice for us and our group of friends and their teenagers. I have to say that I didn't expect to like it as much as I did. Sure there were partiers, but we sure weren't interested in being in the same places at the same time.

The experience taught me to be more open minded about other cruise lines.

I vote for go!