UPNYGuy

agree. I personally do not think the pizza decision is a bad one. It seems like a better use of resources (staff can likely help with breakfast). I dont know about you, but when was the last time you woke up and thought "oh boy, 4am, time to order a pizza!"

DW and I are almost the exact opposite. We are always on the balcony relaxing (or cabana if we have a Havana cabin).

HAL has done this with poolside cabanas since the Eurodam started sailing.

yes. the outside section is private.

DW and I book Havana on the vista ships, so I was hesitant to book this due to the drastic difference.

well...there goes that one...that lasted a whole 6 days 😄. Just booked a Havana cabin, and on a ship I stated I would not book on (Celebration). Figure I need to make my mind up for myself. DW and I are not huge pool people (she uses it, I really dont). But, we LOVE the cabana cabins, private bar area, and private seating area outside. I obviously know the Havana area is not as nice as what is on the Vista ships, but figure if we want to give the new XL class a go, we should try it with the cabin category we like and make up our own mind.

Im not AT ALL surprised. He is an account. He looks at the bottom line first, and does what he thinks will add to it.

controversial... that we wish the Haven complex was adults only (or at least over 12, like the Havana area on Carnival ships).

My comment above won't make me lose any sleep though. Still have 2 cruises booked on Carnival (on non-vista ships). Not to mention, I could go to the MDR and get breakfast if I wanted to.

Same. This actually gave me pause in booking another Havana sailing until we see how things shake out. I enjoyed being able to walk around the corner and grab something to eat. It made up for the lack of a private dining area (like Haven or Yacht Club).

Correct! Especially when you book in the Havana area. you are looking at around $1500 for an interior cabin for a week (and more if you want a cabana or balcony), vs $1500 for a suite on Radiance for a short sailing. Much different experience.

if you want to avoid this type of demographic, avoid the short cruises. You get this on any cruise line because the lead-in rates are low. We just did a 10 day on Carnival and did not see this at all. If you REALLY want to do a shorter cruise, book one on a more expensive ship.

no offence taken. it has worked itself to my least favorite as well

3 star on HAL and don't remember that but could have missed it.

Agree completely with the food comments. Aside from Holland America, we find Royal Caribbean to have the worst food at sea.

considered premium and actually BEING premium are two different things. I wouldn't consider Azamara and Oceania near-luxury either (especially Oceania with the cramped bathrooms and small showers with curtains that stick to you like cling wrap in the the standard cabins). I do like Oceania, but they are solidly premium.

not really. HAL is a mass market line, as are Celebrity and Princess. Oceania, Azamara, and Viking really are the premium tier, and the next step.

Children of the *truly* affluent are usually well behaved. Granted, they are kids and sometimes act as such, but they usually travel with an au pair or nanny. They are raised to be respectful of those around them.

I will also second the observation that the Haven can be loud (especially in the Breakaway under the magrodome. I had a DOS, and was under the public sun deck and heard chairs scraping and people yelling in the pool all week. Not what you want when you pay around $10k. And my issues with HAL are many, but the summary is as follows. Statendam cruise: we ended up holed up overnight in Vancouver due to weather (not a fault of HAL). We watched a good half the ship disembark. After, our cabin proceeded to flood due to plumbing issues down the hall. The purser refused to move us due to the ship being "booked to capacity". This was well before COVID, and I reminded them that I had a view of the gangway and watched half the ship disembark. This was met with many ums and ahhs. I got a comp dinner at Canneletto (cheapest speciality restaurant), which made me even more annoyed. I was outright lied to and given a cheap dinner as a comp. We also had issues on a follow-up cruise on Eurodam, where we were traveling with friends that were renewing vows. The front office had it listed that I was renewing my vows with the woman in the group instead of she with her husband. It took multiple attempts to correct this, and eventually the hotel director had to step in. Same cruise also had a server that substituted a vegetarian dish that had an ingredient my wife is highly allergic to, when she ordered a meat dish. The server than blamed her for this. I went to the front desk and was practically over the counter at this point, and ended up getting the entire spa bill (we saw people getting it on in the thermal pool), vow renewals, and specialty restaurants comped. It was around $1200 of credits. You would expect some of this on Carnival (the spa crap), but NOT on Holland America.

and there is absolutely nothing wrong with this!!! I have posted repeatedly about why I enjoy other lines, but DW and I also repeatedly cruise on carnival.

correct

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to each their own. I admittedly speak to people like that myself. I get asked if I am from New York on a regular basis (without people knowing beforehand) b/c of my intolerance to wait, the fact that I walk fast (and do walk around slow people), and the fact that I can be almost knife-edge direct.

if you mean back when they had a ship sailing from FLL, no. We started sailing from them when they based Divina here.

I thought it was a fitting and very blunt response