TinaLee

On 5/16/2024 at 11:09 AM, z111 said:

I have been disappointed by the food on Viking. 

Much of it seems bland.

Almost all of it is the taste of disappointment. 

 

Chef’s Table had decent plating but none of it was great. If it were a restaurant and i got a bill for it, I’d have rated it 2 out of 5 stars for the food and 5 out of 5 for the service.

 

i lived in Vegas for a long time and i know that you can provide tasty food at scale. (Vegas has some great buffets that probably easily turn 1000 people in a day.)

 

The crew is so fantastic. And when they ask “how is everything”, i don’t feel like i can say what i think, in part because, i don’t think there’s anything they can do.

 

i’m also wondering if food has gone downhill as it seems people generally like the food.

 

Other than that, everything else is beyond expectation. 

 

 

 

Could you tell us which ship you're on? And maybe which itinerary? Thanks!

1 hour ago, shipboy said:

Be interesting to see where they’ve booked your second leg flight to 😁

It would be from FLL to Orlando and I can drive it faster than flying it! We did our own air. 

On 5/4/2024 at 3:14 AM, Mich3554 said:

Viking will book a one way ticket.  We are on a cruise right now where we only needed one way airfare to Bangkok.  The ship is docking less than 100 miles from our home.  
 
We did not use Viking Air as their business class was considerably higher than what I was able to book our flight at ultimately, so I canceled the air on our itinerary.  However, when I booked this cruise, I mentioned we only needed one way fare and they complied.   

we are doing a TA in December and were told we could not book one way air. We only need the flight to Barcelona pre-cruise, as we're basically sailing home to Florida. Weird that they let some do it and not all. 

Have you looked into ride share? Try the Rome2Rio website as they will list many options. I assume if you're considering staying the night you would have some sort of luggage or a larger bag with you? Keep that in mind as well. You may have to check a larger backpack at St. Mark's (I know you do at the Doge's Palace). 

Sadly, no. If you fly in or out on any day other than the day you embark or disembark they will charge you a deviation fee. and, as stated above, you'll need to arrange your own transportation. We don't use Viking Air, as by the time we pay for deviations and selection of our own flights we can usually book better tickets on our own. We also do self-exploration and arrange our own transfers. 

5 hours ago, kazu said:

And just in case it may apply, HIA is not available for cruises under 7 days.

Yes, it is. We’re doing the little 6 day before Rotterdam repositions and we got the HIA. 

Ahhh… Princess fries - it’s a real thing! We love them. We often went into the buffet to make a cheese plate or get some shrimp before watching a movie and all around us people would ask where we got the food - ummm… the buffet is right there! Happy memory for us! Enjoying your review! 

We’re sailing the “baby” cruise of 6 days in April before she crosses, and we haven’t sailed HAL since about 2005(?), so very interested in your review. We are breaking our own “no short sailings” rule on this one! 🙂 

24 minutes ago, sunviking90 said:

I was also very apprehensive of using Stockperks, but it went very smoothly. I “skipped” all the personal info questions and uploaded our brokerage statement with more personal info (other investments, our address) blacked out. 3 days later got the email that it was accepted, went into the app to redeem credit, and it came through the next day. 

This is exactly what we did - we didn’t grant them access to our brokerage account, but did send a pdf of the cover page with account number, other stocks, etc blanked out. Worked like a charm - now if only I could use it before we board - lol! 

12 hours ago, grandpacobra said:

I applied to Princess a month out and they said they use stockperks now to handle obc. Long story short. My son and i in two cabins on Regal P did not get our obc. Stock perks verified we had 100+ shares. But did not tell Princess. U have to join stockperks and email them back and forth until you see obc on your res. TA said it would appear 2nd day of cruise, never happened. Princess cruise was great, stockperks suk

 

Actually, once stockperks verifies that you do qualify for the OBC it falls on you to hit the "redeem" button to have this applied to your cruise. If you failed to follow this step, that is why Princess did not apply the credit to your account. 

Wow, this thread jumped the shark…

We were there in December, but just for a transit on our way to Prague. The passport control line was nuts, but if your flight is leaving within a certain time frame they let you go to the head of the line - just listen for the announcements. We’ve flown in and out of Schiphol many times and I don’t think it’s any worse than JFK and it’s better than CDG. What I always shake my head over is that you land and you taxi for what seems like MILES, even though you can see the tower “right there!” Don’t stress over AMS, but don’t plan a short connection, and arrive at least 3 hours before your flight. 

13 minutes ago, Kristal Blade said:

Just a tiny point for clarification…

Boiling water actually decreases its oxygen content. That is why cold water fish get stressed in warmer water, it’s a lack of oxygen.

Sorry to be pedantic, it’s the science teacher in me coming out!

But, yes, you need freshly boiled water for a proper cuppa.

Sorry, I guess the point I was trying to get across was that the more often you boil the water the less oxygen it contains, so having it sit there “warming” just makes it worse, not better. Which is why you never reboil water in the kettle. Thanks for the clarification. 

21 minutes ago, Mary229 said:

Since this thread is currently on the HAL board I have to add that HAL’s coffee is barely fit for human consumption 

Well that is certainly bad news! 

I just think I should interject for the non daily kettle users the following - making hot tea correctly means you take fresh water, place it into your kettle, and boil. Once it reaches boiling level and the kettle turns off, you immediately pour the water over your loose tea or tea bag(s). 
 

No water provided in a buffet or at a coffee station is fresh off the boil, so it is not hot enough. The longer said water sits, the more oxygen it looses, again making the brew less than ideal. I get that a lot of people don’t understand the hubbub, but to people to whom this is a daily part of life it is a big deal, most especially when using said kettle is okay “sometimes” on the exact same ship. 
 

stepping off my box now… 

2 hours ago, BobbiSox said:

I am amazed at the number of cruisers on this board who are willing to risk the lives of thousands of people so they can have their perfectly brewed cup of tea. Some even offer an explanation as to why an electric kettle is perfectly safe, when they have no knowledge  whatsoever about the electrical systems on a ship. Any suggestions offered regarding an alternate way to enjoy a cup of tea is flat out rejected. If there is the slightest chance that something could a fire hazard, why on earth would anyone ignore the warning.?

I don’t think anyone is suggesting that rules be broken and lives be endangered, but your premise fails to take into account that the exact same ships which sail out of the UK in the summer (where kettles are provided by the cruise line in the cabins), when they are repositioned to do the Caribbean in the winter,  the kettles are no longer available and “suddenly” unsafe to use? 

1 hour ago, Kristal Blade said:

I’m not sure what sort of kettles you have in Florida but our U.K. kettles all shut off automatically when the water boils.

About 30 years ago you could have a kettle boil dry, but this never happens now, unless you have an old stove top (non electric) kettle.

I abide by the rules too, we don’t bring any electricals with us. Apart from our gadgets that need charging. 

Well, this Floridian has a kettle that shuts off automatically!! 

3 hours ago, Wehwalt said:

We recently bought one of those. We are anxious to put it to the test next time we have a land trip. Agreed that it would be almost undetectable with the cord removed.

 

When we tried Princess last fall by the way for two cruises out of Southampton, they provided a kettle on request and even instant coffee packets. We still have some of it, awaiting same land trip.

Yes, Princess was one I knew provided a kettle on UK originating cruises, but if the same ship sails from FL the kettles are a no go - that’s the part I don’t understand. 

1 hour ago, kazu said:

There have been rice puddings available but it is not every night.  

 

I can’t comment on the other as it is not something I would drink - but there are lots of menus on the current LIVE threads as well as Crew News web site.

 

And remember, the bartenders can make just about anything if you ask for I it as long as the ingredients are on hand.
 

That’s what I’m worried about - Ribena is a pretty specific ingredient I’m not sure they’d have onboard. 

18 minutes ago, cruisemom42 said:

Are you confusing rice pudding with bread pudding? HAL is well known for having varieties of the latter at the buffet.

No, it was definitely rice pudding. I like one and not the other, so I’m sure. Should say I went back and looked and the cruise was way back in 2005! 😳

Very random double question(but this is how my brain works). On our only previous HAL cruise (Zaandam long ago) we had amazing rice pudding at the buffet area. Is that still a thing? 
 

I also noticed they serve Strongbow (we’ll be on Rotterdam and cruise is in April), so I wonder if there is any chance at all I can get a cider and black? I wonder if I could bring my own Ribena aboard… although my gut tells me no.

Thanks!!

On 2/9/2024 at 3:01 PM, Crew News said:

 

 

The following quotation from the HAL website directly addresses kettles as the OP questioned:  "For safety reasons, travel irons, and electric water heaters/kettles may not be used in your stateroom. You may order hot water from our complimentary In-Room Dining service 24 hours a day."

While this is their stated policy, you will find that most if not all ships that sail from the UK and carry many British passengers will indeed have a kettle in the cabins for those sailings. Which is why I have never understood them taking this stance when sailing from other ports. 

6 hours ago, fusion927 said:

Back to the soda question, on the Pinnacle ships (like the Rotterdam), you can get a Coke package that includes use of a Freestyle soda machine.  That will have all sorts of zero sugar (aka Diet) sodas.  Not something I usually select, but I'm pretty sure it will have a sugar free ginger ale...

 

One caveat... Check the machine is working before purchasing the package.  I've been on two cruises where it wasn't the whole cruise so you were sorta limited to what comes out of the soda gun.

 

Mark

 

If we have the regular drinks package does that include the Freestyle machine? 

4 hours ago, RynoWally said:

Not to be the bearer of bad news, but having cruised many times on HAL with a type 1 diabetic, I have seen some posts about ice cream and desserts being sugar free, we have never seen this. We have seen no sugar added Ice Creams and desserts, which I'm sure you know is a little bit different. 

Yes indeed - I’m honestly usually more tempted by bread - but I do know anything marked “sugar free” that contains fruit… isn’t 🙂 

25 minutes ago, Cailey53 said:

16 hours ago, TinaLee said:

My husband is type 1 diabetic— currently on Rotterdam— happy to report that they have added AHA sparkling water to the no sugar offerings! 🙌🙌🙌The flavor seems to vary from bar to bar but so far have encountered 2 flavors. We have HIA so I’m not sure of price but it think it’s the same as Sprite Zero. 

Excellent news! Thanks so much! We have the beverage package as well, but I’m not a big liquor drinker (too many carbs - lol) so that’s why I was questioning the beverage choices.