POA1

When you book with HAL, either on the web or by phone, you'll be assigned a PCC. If you book through a TA, you won't be. The idea is that you'll have someone to help you and that you'll book with them in the future. If you are transferring your booking to a TA, they should help you. We made a website booking with HAL in 2014 and have had a PCC ever since. We never booked with her, but we do get emails. I would not expect her to service our bookings that we didn't make through her.

Quick question. We're 4* Mariners. We're in a suite, but it's Vista, not Neptune. We have Club Orange. Can I line up at the express front desk line or do I have to take off my shoes and belt? Also, can I get a statement of charges or do I have to put all liquids in a one quart zip loc bag?

Second page of the PDF attachment.

Neptune suite passengers are Club Orange by default. (Only without the tote bag, leaving their lives hollow and meaningless.)

There is nothing to prevent you from eating breakfast in the MDR or Lido if you want to dine together.

I should add that I've done flights with this info. I'm guessing that dyslexia is more prevalent than we think.

While I'm at it... Stay aware from the Signature Suites. Nothing to see there.

Cabana prices did go up. The prices are no longer on the HAL site as far as I can find. They're super expensive. Definitely do not book. Windy. Far from areas you want to be. Lots of motion in rough seas. Beware! 🚫

My Mariner birthday has been wrong for decades. (I'm not making this up.) As an international super spy, I like it that way. My real birthday is 04/10. My HAL birthday is 04/01. I always wonder if this is like the movie, "The Sixth Sense," and do I see dead people?

,, That is pretty much it. We bought OBC so we could (totally win and definitely not) gamble on our upcoming cruise. That's fully refundable and can be used in the Casino. If we had Covid cancel, customer service, or refare OBC, we can't use it in the casino. FWIW, if you turned non-paid OBC into cash, it's taxable income.

Our crack panel of experts have voted this the #1 answer. A round of applause has erupted from the peanut gallery.

Can anyone who has been on a recent Pinnacle Class sailing (Koningsdam, Nieuw Statendam, or Rotterdam) with Club Orange tell me what the breakfast hours were in the CO restaurant? (See, I care about more than the most excellent tote bag.)

Yes, but 1 of each flavor per stateroom. So, if you are a military veteran, Carnival shareholder who is an AARP member, try to travel with a teacher who is a volunteer firefighter. Ideally, one of you should have season tickets to a University of Washington sports team. https://www.hollandamerica.com/en/us/cruise-deals/community-appreciation-cruise-offers

I sense a pattern... 🍫🤔

The retreat cabanas have a different robe. Not sure if they sell them though.

I am pretty sure you can get away with DAVE because there are people who have four initials. The monogram is straight and not the big initial in the middle.

There is a full catalog of designs at the front desk. Tip: if you want something special, you can probably talk to florist and let them design something for you. We've done that quite a few times and it's worked out well. The florists are very creative. We just gave them some really basic design parameters (short, tall, color or specific flowers) and a budget. They ran with it and the results were impressive. For budget, I just looked at the catalog to get an idea of what to budget based on the standard designs.

We bought one for my wife and my mother in law a while back. My mother in law liked the waffle version while the heavier Neptune Suite terry cloth was preferred by @Huskerchick We ordered them at the beginning of the voyage so there was time to monogram them. There used to be a discount coupon in the rooms for a few years, but that may be in the past. I think you saved $5 or so with the coupon. You had a standard robe during the cruise and your purchased robe was delivered later. That way you were taking a brand new robe home. DW still has hers and uses it regularly. It's probably 15 years old and it has held up well.

There is a very good chance that the wine selection will be different than what you see online. The online list or Roger's list will give you a good general idea, but you are best off waiting until embarkation day.

There was a brief period when you received it receipt for specialty dining. Then they stopped it and we all just sat around confused and waiting. Eventually someone had to use the restroom and we left.

Under Plan, click My Itinerary. That should show you what you have booked. Once the shorex qr/bar codes show up, I would screen shot them in case you can't connect to Wi-Fi. I screen cap everything, including my airline tix. We only had a Wi-Fi glitch once, but I like to be safe.

Download the PDF of the deck plan. It's much easier to see the larger balconies. Or, use the mother of all deck plan PDFs at the link. Please note that there will be some changes as ships go into dry dock. I compiled this in May 2023. You do not need Dropbox to use the link Just continue in your browser. If you change the zero at the end of the URL to a 1,it will download right away. You can zoom in on the PDF. There are two enormous balconies on deck 4 ,port side. There are some deep ones at the bump outs. And, the afts are bigger. https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/gb1srss4hvexov7y9bg5d/HAL-Deckplans-2023-05.pdf?rlkey=wa1zwl220tj84yx14m2syv54y&dl=0

If you cancel a shore excursion the amount is refunded to the original method of payment. If you are going to cancel one that uses HIA to book one that came off waitlist, call the HAL shore excursions department. You have a limited amount of time to grab the cleared excursion.

Looking forward to your trip and your most excellent reporting!

I chirped. You already answered this. I was behind in the thread.