crystalspin

Log in, go to the upcoming cruise, click Itinerary (in top-most left corner). Scroll to the day of the SE -- Under the excursion name it will say: Cancel this Shore Excursion? with a faint underline (because it is a link), click there and complete the dialog. The credit will show up immediately to be re-booked with your desired ShoreEx. At least it was for me last year! ETA: Jacqui is faster than I am!

No wait -- who sends the Bon Voyage TO YOU???

I was reading this whole thread to see if anyone had mentioned just this! (Bruce did mention menus...) Both for lunch and dinner, the Lido's offerings are presented by station. We can split up, grab what strikes our fancies, and meet back to find a table. I admit I will also check the MDR dinner menu and see if anything interesting is also going to be available in the Lido. Sometimes yes, sometimes no. ETA: As far as checking things on the TV -- THAT is the device we do not turn on, after watching the Muster video.

That would be between the passenger and HAL. Now wouldn't it? Welcome to Cruise Critic.

Happy New Year!

I pre-ordered the Catherine (carnations) bouquet last winter for our B2B; it lasted well into the second leg. It did have a spreading "footprint", but there was room in the Vista Suite (tried it in three places!). I plan to pre-order the Charlotte bouquet for the next 35-day cruise, then get more flowers half way through. Charlotte is also carnations, but more upright arrangement. I have heard of people getting tropical flowers ashore and bring them on!

I did not get a total of $250 for my 9- plus 7-day B2B in Dec/Jan with two booking numbers. But OP can ask!

Me too! Actually THREE (b2b2b in the Mediterranean in October).

I confirmed the AARP/OBC on booking with my PCC. If you have already used it once, or are applying it to more than cruise at the time, it needs to be applied "manually" (my PCC's term), which she was going to do. She asked that I forward her my SHEER confirmation email as our AARP number wasn't showing.

Some Verandah cabins will be triples. If you enter "3" adults in the "Find a Cruise" dialog on the HAL website, it will only show you rooms that have the sofa bed. Here is a photo of a room made up for three sleeping on a sister ship of the R'dam. The stewards will put the sofa back to seating arrangement every day (so you can get to the balcony). This particular cabin has a double-wide balcony so keep that in mind! https://halfacts.com/pinnacle-class/4154-koningsdam/

Which ship? Fixed or open seating and MDR or Lido if the latter? I want to say, any and all! If you have a dinner in the Tamarind (Signature and Pinnacle class ships only), there are nice seating areas to have a drink pre-dinner. When we're not dining in the Tamarind, we fairly live in the Crows Nest so I guess that counts as pre-dinner, even though it is not close to MDR.

Hi Rothbear! I recommend Holland America. They have been cruising Alaska the longest (along with Princess), and do it very well. While I have not done a cruise-tour, I have been to Alaska three times on HAL. If you choose the Zaandam or Volendam they are small ships in the current industry, but even the Pinnacle class (Koningsdam, Nieuw Statendam, Rottendam) are smaller than the megaships on on other lines. The Vista class ships (Noordam, Oosterdam, Zuiderdam, Westerdam) would be in the middle. Oh and Eurodam and Nieuw Amsterdam are larger than the Vista class, but laid out like the Vista ships with a couple of additional decks. ETA: congratulations on 49 years and 49 states! I really want you to do #50 in Alaska!

We can only hope that such an outstanding crew member was noticed by others!

There is now also a post-cruise questionaire via email. But it must be filled out quite quickly so if you are travelling after cruising, it could get lost.

https://rogerjett-photography.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Beverage-Package-Contents.pdf courtesy of @Crew News

I believe both our 35-DAY HAWAII, TAHITI & MARQUESAS and our full-length (also 35-day) Voyage of the Vikings have the longer penalty period.

I did take a rainsuit to Alaska in June (we did two weeks on short after a 7-day cruise) -- left it behind at a B-n-B! (it didn't fit very well). For collecting and comparing your sites and ports, use Weather Spark. They have expanded their website and changed format but I bet anything you want to know is on here: https://weatherspark.com/

Let us know if your experience matches Terry's!

If HIA is available to Canadians, you should buy it instead. Currently in US$, HIA is $50pppd, with SBP more than that by itself! So it's sort of on sale when it is bundled...

And yet they will do it with the Surf internet to Premium, and at anytime (pro-rated) in the cruise. As several have mentioned (and I have calculated for ourselves), HAL would make more money if they let people upgrade with the old policy of $11.80 pppd for the entire cruise from day one only. It would take 5 $15 drinks between two people in the cabin, every single day, to break even on the upgrade. Vs paying $4.72 for each of those drinks for the overage.

There are a single example in the two-asterisk footnote: 7- DAY SURF VOYAGE PRICING BEGINS AT $18 PER DAY AND 7- DAY PREMIUM VOYAGE PRICING BEGINS AT $23 PER DAY. PACKAGES ARE AVAILABLE UP TO 135 DAYS. Not too helpful for longer cruises! But it still appears to be that Premium bought (and paid for!) pre-sailing is about the same as Surf bought on board, with Premium being more. What *I* am curious about is the price to upgrade to Premium from the HIA's Surf, on board, for a LONG cruise (have two 35-day booked!).

Those are NOT free cruises! Hahaha

Well, if you want to try -- Find a bartender (who can advance to their supervisor) -- not bar steward -- before either of you has used the HIA at all. That was the was it was alleged to be possible before! Remember you both have to upgrade. But OBC should apply! Come back and let the Board know your experience!

Here is @Crew News Roger's beverage menu (look under the Quench package): https://rogerjett-photography.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Beverage-Package-Contents.pdf

Recent experiences (not my own, but multiple people's) are that it cannot be upgraded, even going up the change of command to supervisors or higher. With the HIA-and-more (and OBC), you will be better off financially just paying the overage and 18%, than paying $10pppd to upgrade -- most likely! Just check your account every few days that you have only been charged the overage+, and not the whole drink.