The-Inside-Cabin

Question about pork allergies- pork not clearly identified on menus. complaint that food labels on menus is occasionally wrong. Noted will continue to work hard to keep accurate Q-Any new ships coming? No Yards want big ships. Charges premium for smaller ships. Gus looking at ship size between Vista and Pinnacle class. All new ships in the industry are huge. Q - about entertainment - exercise classes too early. Wants more activities in the PM. noted Q- more complaints about not getting enough free pinnacke dinners on long cruises. More complaining about mariner benefits. People should realize answer isn't going to change today. Complaining again about Crows Nest More comments than questions Guest wants more plant based food. Mild boos from audience. Noted. 90 minutes in. Attaboy about library and hand washing stations in Lido Compliment that Gus honored commitment that long cruises have classical musicians. Will continue on longer cruises. All around compliment on Canelletos. Need improved decor. like new menu. Compliment that HAL has best ADA accessibility But now Pinnacle ships have cleaning carts in corridors that block wheel chairs from getting around. Carts recently added - they will take another look. Request that movies have subtitles complains about shareholder benefit. Big carnival runs that program. Question - wants to see appetizers sized main course available. Audience shouts. - they are available. Just ask. Ballroom dancing emphasis will continue No new movies in cabins since cruise started. Academy award movies should be available. - Noted World stage events not rebroadcast in cabins. Will take a look. - no quick answer Q Why was sleep timer deactivated. - A - Wut? Q - thanks for changing crafts to 3 sections Q- phone service is bad. Hard to find good people. Looking to do more in Philippines 3 more questions. - 1 hour 45 minutes

Q - compliments about food - HOWEVER- No choir. Gus not aware. Gus will look at. He likes the idea. Comment. - 2024 big improvement over 2023 Another question about Mariner benefits. Repeated same question. I suspect same answer coming. Complaining about American Test Kitchen. Demos only. Cooking classes too hard to pull off. Will be looking at mariner benefits in 2025. Too much wind on Pickleball court. can't do much to fix. Gus agrees to play guest in Tokyo. Q - Not enough handicap rooms on Volendam. Gus thinks Volendam will get ADA remediation package by 2026 1 hour and 20 minutes and counting.

Complaint about 5 star benefits. 5 star benefits watered down. Complaint that priority boarding doesn't start until after security. Then of less value. Gus says: problem with two many people at higher tiers. Will take a fresh look next year. More single supplement comments. Questioner would like single cabins reserved for higher status passengers. Not gonna happen. No change to single program. Q- hard to find cruises where 3rd and 4th passengers are free for 5 stars. Not clear if this is a real perk or just a promotion. we are 1 hour in - still going strong Q - would like to see live entertainment back in crows nest. A. Yes it changed. No changes coming. Q. - Retail shops clothes don't fit well. Need bigger sizes

Complaint about CIBT. - Noted Single Supplement again. No changes coming. Sorry. Question about perks - question not clear. Lots of cross talk. His doesn't understand question. No answer given. why 2025 world and pole to pole same year. A. Overly optimistic. Won't happen again. Q - Account Statements- don't want to see bills again. Pricing is a hodgepodge. Packages accounting is not good. A - Gus agrees. Needs to fix. Q- complaining about unfulfilled promises from 2023 lecture. Food not good. Too much seafood. Crowd disagrees. Clapping that food is good. complaining about mundane activities- complaining about number of free dinners for longer cruises. 2 dinners for one week and two dinners for world cruise. Gus will look at this. gus encourages people to ask for off menu items.

Question about marketing - nothing interesting said question about single supplement- can we get double mariner point bonus. Gus sounds like this may happen. gentlemen host program. - will it come back? they are eliminated. More details will be provided later. Another single supplement question. Don't put single cabins only in bad locations. A. Unlikely. Question about greener fuel - nothing easy. Fuel alternatives are not a realistic option for now.

Q and A I will post answers only where question is obvious. 1) Clergy will continue on longer cruises 2) Attaboys to staff 3) Need to fix corporate customer service. Especially Brazil visa situation. Will you do away with single supplement. Answer. No. more single cabins. Supplement will continue. Four people answer office of the president emails US state department helped change Brazil waiver situation. 4) Comments about theme nights. Need more advance detail about events. ship is involved. - noted

Ship is Volendam - Henk will not be Hotel GM. His last world is 2026

2026 will be on Volendam.

Review 2025 World. Changed coming. Red Sea unlikely Next year is Henks last world.

Review of itineraries no more two grand cruise in same year

Gus started. Opening slides showing video on fresh fish program.

Gus's presentation with the announcement of the 2026 world cruise itinerary will start in one hour. Midnight eastern time. I will post the itinerary as soon as it flashes on the screen. Probably around 12:15 am eastern.

Thanks for sharing. Great pics. Sounds like a really nice time.

People are still talking about 2015. Must have been spectacular

Thanks. I found the Turkey event. 2015. Not sure what they did on 2017. Here is a link to @WCB 's report from 2015. https://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/topic/2059436-come-along-with-bill-amp-mary-ann-going-full-circle-on-the-2015-world-cruise-114-days/?do=findComment&comment=44954583

Last night games were free. You got tickets for participating and more for winning. You then put the tickets in a drum and they pulled winners for prizes. Mainly dinners, sparking wine and spa stuff

I may have that backwards. I think 2019 was Amsterdam and 2017 was Turkey? Maybe it was 2015??

I was off the ship last year. Don't recall seeing any photos. I will check out old blogs Kimberly is a great Cruise and Travel Director. Infectious enthusiasm! All the games were pretty crowded most of the night. They had deep fried Mac and Cheese Balls, mini corn dogs, mini sliders, popcorn, cotton candy, candy apples, mini pulled pork sliders., ice cream in waffle cones. More pics later. deep fried Mac and cheese was a first for me. https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/186033/fried-mac-and-cheese-balls/

Off ship events were always the exception. I think the last one was 2019. All parties from 2016 and 2018 and 2023 were on the ship. I think they had off ship events in 2017 (Amsterdam) and 2019 (Turkey). I was never aware of what was planned for 2020. This was a very nice party, lots of participation- everyone who attended had a great time from my POV. It's always about the people and participation for me - the venue is secondary. I always treat every cruise as if it's my first and last.

Party in progress. Great time. Lots of food Gus is here

The Grand Fair is in progress. Hal President Gus is onboard and will present tomorrow. Here is a preview of tonight's activities

We had a great time on our Nara Bar Hopping Tour. - from 6:30 PM to 11 PM. Highly recommended. HERE is the link to the tour Here is a sneak peek of me trying the Habushu! more later - Was that a real Pit Viper in the jar?

Turn it into Lost and Found - It will be safer for them there than abandoned on the pool deck. Just trying to help them out....

For those who don't want to get a data plan or pay a lot for a phone, I bought this phone a year ago as an experiment to see how well an inexpensive smartphone works: This phone is locked and requires you to buy data cards from Verizon. I never bought any cards since I only wanted to use it with Wifi. It works great without a SIM. It will work MAPS.ME off the ship as well as Google Translate - I connect to the ship's wifi - download the map and the language before I go ashore- and for less than the price of a Pinnacle dinner, I have worldwide detailed maps and a language translator. Plus it works the Navigator App on the ship. For the price of two pinnacle dinners, you can get an unlocked phone, which will allow you to buy data cards from anyone - even from different countries. I haven't used this phone, so I can't say anything about it other than it seems to work based on reviews These phones require some practice and probably some lessons if you have never used a smartphone, but the payoff in your cruising experience will be worth it ten times over. Working a phone is no harder than driving a car with a manual transmission - it took training and practice, but everyone figures it out if they want to invest the time and energy. Plus they have built-in cameras, voice recorders and more....

Here is a YouTube short from today as we enjoy some street food.