Cuttersmom

We went last week to Sebastian’s. We rented a golf cart and took us about an hour to get there. doing the counter clockwise southern route. Probably 1/2 hour the other direction and quicker if you take a taxi. It’s not really a swimming beach as it’s very shallow but we had a great time. 

3 hours ago, islandwoman said:

Will the prices of "Early Booking Bonus Have It All" and drinks packages also be going up on February 1 to take into account the more expensive crew appreciation?  Or have they already gone up for all cruises sailing after February 1 ? 

If a cruise sailing after February 1 is booked now, will the cost of the Early Booking Bonus Have It All and drinks packages reflect the current cost or the new rate?  If the same cruise is booked after February 1 or a drinks package is added to an existing booking after February 1, will the new crew appreciation rate be charged as part of those packages?

 

Not really sure where you’re going with this but 1) the increase takes effect February 14 2) the Early booking bonus HIA that includes crew appreciation is all part of your cruise fare-you had to have booked it when you booked your cruise so the price won’t change 3) the have it all package that doesn’t include the crew appreciation recently increased $5/day to $55/day 4) crew appreciation is separate charge from any drink or drink package gratuity. That remains at 18%. I think you’re confusing the two. 

25 minutes ago, kazu said:

 

I thought the same thing she said that pre-paying would lock it in until I saw some contradictory posts.

 

Curious to see what she replies.

 

It’s strange that your PCC is calling them rumours and a couple of people have received notification from their TA’s while the rest of us have not.

It’s very strange. Last year the gratuity increase was announced in December, effective 2/1. So on the one hand it’s weird that other than the TA email there’s no mention of it anywhere. On the other hand, I don’t think they made any announcement for drink price increase or the price increases for retreat cabanas or HMC cabanas. So I don’t know!

2 hours ago, Native Floridian 26 said:

HAL website still doesn't reflect this increase and my major cruise TA doesn't have any info on it yet.

I received this email response from my PCC. 
 

I cannot confirm the rumors but I do suggest that if you want to lock in the current crew appreciation rate you can prepay that through Ship Services 

When I replied that last years increase was not locked in by prepaying them, she said she would message that department and let me know. Haven’t heard back yet. 

23 hours ago, mamiamjo said:

What's the difference between the Golf Carts and the Premium Carts? It appears that the Golf Carts are sold out on our cruise date, was thinking of just renting the Premium Cart but didn't really see anythingon the site that describes what the difference is

The premium carts are supposed to be faster than the regular golf carts. They’re more like utility carts with a bin in the back that can hold your stuff. 

So our cruise is 1/26-2/4. Will they start charging the new rate on 2/1? Or will it stay the same since the cruise commenced before 2/1?

There’s also shorter ones, like 11 days, starting in Rotterdam and ending in Iceland or vise versa. Ports are in Greenland and Iceland. 

Have you checked if any retreat cabanas are even available. We’re on the 9 day at the end of January and they are fully booked at last check. As for HMC cabana- the price that they’re charging now, plus the cost of the butler service, will run you almost $1k. For my dollar, it’s absolutely not worth it. Used to be, but not anymore. On the flip side, if you can find 12 people willing to go in on the Private Oasis then that is 1000% worth it. 

The price including the HIA is typically a refundable fare. The first is non-refundable. You can book that and then add HIA later at the $50pd   

I’m also mobility challenged so I know how awful the sand can be. The tram does run all the way around. But it’s an uneven, sandy walk downhill from the road to the back of the cabana (at least to 6, 7 & 8 which are the ones we’ve always booked). You may be able to find someone with a golf cart able to get your person to the service path that is directly behind the cabanas. Then it’s another downhill walk in the sand to the stairs of the cabana. If you don’t feel you want to book the accessible cabana, another option is they do have beach wheelchairs with the big tires. Book #2 or #3 and use the wheelchair to get your person there. Best option would be find 12 people willing to split the cost of the Oasis and book that!! Works out cheaper and it makes for an amazing day!

The cabana rental price just jumped from 499 to 699, along with the increase in butler service. Ridiculous! It was worth it previously, but for 699 I’d rather stay on board. You can get butler service at any of the cabanas. Unless you book the accessible cabana, you will have to traverse sand which may not be easy with a walker. Pick one close to the restroom, which is still not an easy walk or make friends with folks in a villa and see if they’ll be willing to let your mobility challenged person use their restroom. 

I just was looking at ours for early November. HMC cabana-699, villa-999, oasis-1999!!!  They were 499, 699 and 1399. Just ridiculous!

Must be canned water-can find on Amazon. And yes you can bring a case of it between 2 people, 12 each. 

They just had $25 deposit. 

You should be able to refare but will probably lose the OBC you have. So if you have more OBC than the difference in the price it’s not worth it. Otherwise yes pursue it. 

In the fall, NA was scheduled for dry dock during this time and the cruises were cancelled. That’s obviously changed but they may have cancelled their port space as well and when the dry dock plans changed they might not have been able to get space back. 

3 hours ago, Banditswife said:

 

7) Looking at HIA pkg, it shows $490 for all guests instead of the standard $700, is this an error or are we being offered a discount?  I don't want to buy it at $490, then have them turn around & charge us the difference.  On our previous cruise they mistakenly gave us too much shore ex credit, then deducted the overage once onboard.

We have an upcoming cruise and one in our group has the HIA showing as $490 too. Not sure why but same situation, she doesn’t want them turning around with full charge since HAL, in our experience, doesn’t honor anything that is their mistake. 
 

and I 1000% agree with you about HAL website vs carnival. Carnivals is easy to understand, any and all offers you’re eligible before are spelled out. 

On 12/4/2022 at 2:29 PM, cwd79 said:

This was the first cruise in about four cruises where we didn't get a free stateroom casino offer at the end of the cruise and only got free play casino offer. I will say I spent more time and money in the casino on this B2B cruise we were on than any other cruise. I know it's a mystery as to what triggers what but we are glad we got something, so that was nice. We cruise again on Dec 20th, and not going to spend as much time and money in the casino this time so we will see happens. 

My cruise last month I was the only one in our group that didn’t get a come back and play offer. I’ve had to ask for it before when it wasn’t at my door so when I did this time the host checked and told me I needed to accumulate minimum 1200 points by the 2nd to last night to get something. I usually play more towards the end of the week as the slots seem looser to me and our 2nd to last night was a late departure from Cozumel so didn’t even go to the casino. Lesson learned. 

It’s a joke. My niece booked an inside cabin for a 2024 cruise for 1100 with have it all. Checking today PCC is saying the prices that come up for the verandah or ocean view reflect the lower category price for the upgrade. Inside cabin still costs 1100. Oceanview which should be priced as an inside is over 1700. 

14 hours ago, mcrcruiser said:

Not on the AMX Blue Cash Card

It’s on my blue cash card 

This is from western Caribbean. Missing Friday but that was a late Cozumel day so there wasn’t a lot going on

We did 10 a couple weeks ago. Called in advance and there’s a form to submit. You most likely won’t get prime dining time. Our choice was 5:00 or after 8:00. 

We were on the same week and had an amazing time. I agree with the HMC and HIA beverage nonsense but I would venture to guess because HMC is used by both HAL and Carnival they’d have to figure out a way to merge the POS system for it to work for both companies. Just spitballing. We rented the Private Oasis for our group of 10 and it was fabulous! We only ate in the MDR once for breakfast and it was atrocious-food and service both. Waited forever and didn’t get half of what we ordered. We chose to do Lido or specialty for dinner to avoid that mess. I will also say I saw people (men) in shorts in the specialty restaurants. Except of course when my son walked in his shorts because he forgot (he’s 22 and has a memory as long as his arm!), he was sent back to change. 

Florida last week - Open Water Still Water cans and metal bottles 

6 hours ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

Exactly.  It’s not a matter of misunderstanding.  It’s clear as day.

Actually it’s not “clear as day”. If it said “Mariner fare” that would be clear as day. “private fare” could be a casino fare as well. I’ve wondered myself as my PCC has told me I can use my mariner rate for a 2nd room but not my casino rate. I’m assuming if it says private fare it’s whichever is lower.