FlyingCruiser2

Having read Introducing Holland America Line’s Global Fresh Fish Program - it states that there will be Morimoto Pop-Up venues starting in November. Has anyone been able to actually book one of these?

If it is splurge time, I'd suggest the Beach Villas at HMC. These are the two-story ones that have a hot tub, private bathroom, etc. The butler service is a great add-on. They meet you at your cabin to carry your stuff and escort you the "back way" to the tender boat, and avoid all lines. You also get to pick from a menu provided by Pinnacle Grill to pick lunch entree. With the butler package, it includes drinks on the island too. The butler stays at your villa for the day (except for a lunch break) and will get drinks and food etc. At leaving time, they'll also get you around the lines for security leaving the island. Not a cheap day - plan on around $1400 for the day (but you can have up to 8 people total).

Just a funny story…..my glider Flight Instructor was an old, grumpy(just for show), ex-Eastern Airlines pilot. He flew in the days when it was a nice experience. Back then the Pilot, Copilot, and Purser would be at the door as people deplaned. He told us once that after arrival in MIA, this “tiny older lady my gramma’s age” thanks him on leaving and shakes his hand. By the time he realized she had slipped him a $2 tip, she was gone.

Now there's conflicting information on Holland's site about smoking. From site FAQ's (link: Frequently Asked Questions (hollandamerica.com) on page 10: E-cigarettes are permitted in staterooms, otherwise only in designated smoking areas. Yet if you go here (link: Know Before You Go (hollandamerica.com) it says: Electronic cigarettes are not permitted in staterooms or in other public areas of the ship other than designated smoking areas. Calling HAL's customer service I also got two different answers.

We live less than 4 hours from 4 of the Florida ports and still go down and stay near the port the day before!

The poster I quoted was asking about how you choose what two bottles are in the bar in your room. I know that applies to PH and RS, not sure if also other Retreat cabins too.

On the last two we brought bottles aboard, we were not charged. Both times were FLL.

You tell them what you want. We asked for Mezcal, assuming it was something they normally stocked on board. When we got on board, they had put 2 nice-brand bottles in our room. We noticed, however, that we couldn’t find Mezcal at any bar. When I asked concierge about it, he told me he had sent someone to the liquor store near the port to get our Mezcal.

We had no problems with food temp. It was the only time we had a meal in the room. For our first time on X, we had no complaints about anything.

We were in the PH on Connie in March. Confirming what peanut head says - same on Constellation. There is a "special" room-service menu for all Retreat cabins. One night we went to Sushi on 5 for takeout. Over our protest, they would not let us wait and insisted on our returning to our room and they had the butler deliver it.

We are on Rotterdam at the end of November. You cannot reserve Canaletto at all from the app, but you can reserve for all of the other specialty restaurants. If you want to reserve Canaletto you have to use Holland America website. All of the special dining venues are available every night for reservations, except Canaletto for departure day.

I did get the information about Carnival changing the rate and offering refunds to existing reservations from a poster on another board - I haven't confirmed it is accurate first-hand.

We got an email today about an update to our Villa reservation, telling us the A/C is being removed. What's interesting is that Carnival has lowered the price by $100 and is offering credit to people who have already booked. Confirmed by phone this morning that Holland will NOT be doing the same. Since our cruise is at the end of November - it's not a big deal at all. Would I book on in July/August now? Don't think so.

Not only have prices gone up, but apparently they are removing the a/c units in the villas and cabanas. Saw an article yesterday about Carnival notifying guests that have already reserved villas for after Oct 1 that they can get a discount/refund and they are lowering the price “accordingly”.

when we were on Eurodam last year, they had one night where Pinnacle Grill became Rudi’s - great lobster then.

This was our first time on Connie and first time with Celebrity, and we were in a PH. Our previous comparable cruises have been HAL (Pinnacle Suites), Virgin (Massive Suite), and other lines suites. Have to say we've liked Celebrity the best. The inclusions of the drink package, tips, stocked bar, obc credit, and especially the unlimited Specialty Restaurants made it the best value. The cabin was considerably nicer than the others mentioned above, fantastic balcony that takes up half the width of the ship. Service was fantastic from our Butler (although we asked for very little compared to requests I've read about). Not much interaction with Michael's club and the Retreat Concierge - except for one thing he did that went WAY beyond. Before leaving they emailed us about preferences for the bottles that they provided. One of our requests was for Mezcal, asking for one that was a Joven (least aged). When we got on the ship there were two bottles of Mezcal (plus our other requested spirit) and both were good brands. As we visited different bars on the ship - only one of them had Mezcal and it was a different brand then they furnished us. I had assumed they would have given us a brand from the ship's normal bar stock. When I asked the Retreat Concierge about this, he told me that he had sent someone off the ship to a liquor store during turnaround to get our bottles - that he wanted us to have a good brand of them. Needless to say, he was mentioned on survey and tipped well. Bottom line is that our experience did change our preferred line to Celebrity, but likely just the smaller class of ships like Connie. Back to Luminae - another difference you'll have on Connie is that you can order from the MDR or BLU menus.

Thanks for the feedback. We are going to do a B2B with the PH on the first leg and the Reflection on the second. Nice to hear about the cabana, but we'll likely not leave the balcony!

We were on in March (hope that's recent enough). We thought the food and service was great - especially the service. For example on lobster night, we heard a lot of people complain about the MDR - small, cooked wrong, had to pay for additional....but in Luminae, we asked when ordering if we wanted 2, and it was butter-poached and perfectly done. Also, one night early in the cruise my wife asked about a recipe for one dish. The final night our Luminae server tracked us down at one of the specialty restaurants to give us the printed recipe.

We are looking at the Reflection Suite on Reflection for an upcoming very special occasion. For anyone who has stayed in that room, or the Signature Suites that are next to it - is there noise from the Sky Observation Lounge? Thanks in advance - Larry

It was open when we were going through Panama Canal - but only that day (on Eurodam).

Meant NCL Site😀

Haven’t cruised on NCL since pre-Covid…do they still stock the Owner’s Suite bar with 3 bottles of your choice? Can’t find anything on RCL site that mentions this.

We got an email about 3 weeks before our Constellation trip. We stayed in a Penthouse Suite. Everything we requested was taken care of. As an "above-and-beyond".......I asked for a joven Mezcal for one of our in-room-bar choices (thinking that the ship would have some kind of Mezcal on board). Arriving in the room, there were 2 bottles of Mezcal - one of which happened to be a favorite brand of ours. However, at the bars on the ship we could not find Mezcal anywhere. I asked the concierge about this, and he told me he sent someone to the liquor store near the port to get our bottles. I was pretty darn impressed!!

We definitely didn't get charged. Maybe because we were in PS?

The wine pairing option is not included, and not covered by drink package. It was $30, and according to DW was more than worth it. On our trip (Connie in March), they had an Indian themed night instead of TPC - best cruise ship meal we’ve ever had and our first experience with Indian food. That was included as part of the unlimited speciality restaurant perk.