atexsix

I'm not fond of them either, they are always difficult to reach, I'd rather call CS and get issues resolved asap. I can still hear the song in my head.

I can eat soup anytime of the year, always the perfect comfort food, especially if it's been simmering all day long.

And why they would end BB Kings is beyond me. It really makes me question if people that run cruise lines have ever sailed on any of their own ships. While we were not BB King's people, every time we walked by it the place was at capacity, they were packed in like sardines. We sat at the bar during Glacier Bay, since the seats are higher up we had just as good of views as the chair hogs, even from that distance. And we never had to flag down a server for refreshments.

We felt Princess had a younger vibe compared to HAL, especially during the evening hours and that's why we had no plans to return to Princess. We enjoyed it, but it wasn't us. We thought the Sanctuary and the entire bow for that matter wasn't designed all that well for Alaska, maybe it works in warmer climates, but to not have a viewing lounge open to everyone in the most prominent part of the ship was a fail in our opinion. On HAL ships, the Crow's Nest is a favorite venue at all hours of the day. I haven't ever been on an NCL but the pictures I've seen of the huge double deck lounges at the top of the ship look impressive and perfect for Alaska. Instead Princess herds everybody into an enclosed atrium in the center of the ship, there really wasn't much of a promenade, so what's left to view glaciers? Your stateroom I guess, assuming you have a balcony. Or the very top of the ship, which was cold and windy, but pretty much our only choice, we had an aft facing balcony which was amazing, but not the best for glaciers since all the action is forward. The atrium is a concept that I wish would just go away and I pray HAL never goes down that road.

I searched under double and single occupancy and still ran into it. If they are playing games I wouldn't be the least bit surprised.

Your right, I just went to a major online booking company and same thing happened to me.

Great graphic. But so depressing, since the cruise lines would like us to believe it's all about the food and fuel, they fail to mention depreciation and marketing (looking at you wave season-every commercial break and sometimes more than one cruise line).

I guess all we can hope for is a downward trend in bookings when they loosen up these policies, not that I'd hope for a bad economy, but we must admit it's way better for us cruisers when the economic winds are blowing in a certain direction. A friend told me to think of the lost deposit as "gifting" to HAL for all the nice vacations they provided over the years....🤷‍♂️

So do I, but it's not the end of the world, I have two other cruises booked around the same time period, so it's just a matter of picking one.

I've stayed on that deck many times and I'm careful to avoid the tender areas.

That was what I was hoping and I might reach out to my PCC and see if she could help. I could understand the strict forfeiture policy if it was an outright cancellation.

While HAL ships are still the best for me in terms of atmosphere, the only reason I keep coming back is because of the people on this board that I have met on various cruises. However, I am starting to look more in the direction of cruise lines that have smaller ships like Oceania. At least for now, as even their ships are getting larger.

I was going to cancel a booking and move the deposit to another sailing but to my surprise I was told it's nonrefundable. So I went back and looked at the booking confirmation and yes I misunderstood, I did not notice the cancellation fee "begin date" was the date I booked. Going to have to pay closer attention from now on. Had I known this or had the website been more clear and up front, I would have never put down that large a deposit that was nonrefundable. I'm still not sure I will be going on this sailing, I told her to keep it booked for now, either way I'm now out $875. So pay close attention folks. Because I could have sworn back in the day the nonrefundable deposit information was more clearly stated, now it's worded in a way that could very easily be overlooked by anyone new to cruising, I've been on dozens of cruises and I even overlooked it.

I used to get so confused on this question, since government anything is always written as vague as possible. On one cruise we discarded everything before we left the ship, even gum, didn't want to chance it.

Thank you for all the work you do on this. I wish they could pin it because I find that I'm referring to it constantly. It's a nice nifty cheat sheet for everything coming up, and it's often the first I've heard about it on the new itineraries. And it would be less work for you I would think.

How could that be an issue? I can't see the Catholic Priest changing beds or performing the Love Boat Julie thing with her little clipboard at the gangway. That's what I was alluding to, it's like they go out of their way to not heavily advertise it or promote it, even when it's supposed to be open on a collector's cruise. I'm surprised you even stumbled on it, since it never looks like anything going on at all, even the piped in music is off, possibly to hear all the announcements for embarkation? I second this. If you arrive at the pier after 1:00, you can usually just walk right on, within about 10-15 minutes.

Everybody has made valid points. The reason I stick with the website is because of the horrific level of customer service after the restart, reaching CSA's at home while the laundry machine is going in the background and the dog is barking is not professional, and in all fairness to HAL, Princess wasn't any better with this. Similarly trying to get my PCC to return phone calls is like pulling teeth, I need an answer on things NOW, not next week when the staterooms I want may be sold out, this happens a lot with Pinnacles and Neptunes, but especially Pinnacles because there's so few of them, they go fast, sometimes as soon as the itineraries open up. I'm just going to have to go back to what I used to do, pull out my 15 year old macbook that works flawlessly with HAL's 15 year old website; I'm exaggerating, but that stupid old thing has come in handy numerous times and I'm glad I held onto it.

Bad code Bad request Oops, something went wrong Yes, something always goes wrong on your website. So then I call, finally get through, and disconnected mid-way through, they have my number, did the guy call back? Of course not! Back to the website Bad Code Oops, something went wrong Finally gave up I don't know why I don't just look at other lines on a 7 day. I don't seem to run into issues on other cruise line websites. Thanks for the rant.

And that was why we went there, because poor Dad was miserable in the lido, only undesirable aisle seats were available by the time we got there; he couldn't handle his own tray so I had to make multiple trips through the "throngs"; then we'd get butts and bags in our faces as people squeezed by; truly miserable and I felt so sorry for Dad even though he made the best of it. So the MDR was where we took most of our meals throughout the sailing, if not, then we usually would have to depend on room service. As to embarkation day, he really didn't care anyway, I was the foodie among us, the Dive In table area wasn't overpacked at all. I don't know if it was the heat or what, it always seemed balmy out there which I like because I'm cold blooded and usually freezing everywhere they have the AC cranked up.

That was the problem we had in the late night lido. The evening ship employees would gobble it all up, and deservedly so, they need to eat too. But to not replenish even once it's kinda ridiculous.

You have me curious, I'm leaving for the store shortly, I'm going to look for it.

🤣🤣🤣 HAL pizza is where you go at 11 at night when nothing else is available except for maybe room service. It isn't anything to write home about. I'm Italian, I can be biased. However, Princess is outstanding and I found myself there numerous times, especially port days when everybody was packed into the Lido, it really wasn't all that crowded and made for a quick grab and go. And it really IS fast. Not like HAL pizza where you're standing there for 1/2 an hour. They can slow it down and labor over it all they way, it's still cardboard.

LoL, I almost responded and then thought "I better scroll up and check the date first". Don't beat yourself up, we've all been there.

I will say it always seems like the welcome/escort crew deliberately sends everybody up to the Lido and away from the direction of the MDR. Also, the times we ate there the menu was very limited. And the lack of people or music (switched off for embarkation announcements maybe?) made the whole experience like somebody's funeral, we were far happier when we switched to the Dive-In.

I always check first thing, I would have to go there anyway to make sure table assignment wasn't too far of a walk for DD.