rj59

They don't advertise embarkation lunch, because they don't want thousands of ravenous people swamping the MDR and filling it with luggage, which only has minimal staff and seating. A lot of people are like me and go overboard with eating the first day, because it's free, so they try to steer people to the buffet, where they can indulge all they want and camp out with bags until their rooms are ready. It's the same menu on every ship, with just basic stuff like salmon that you'll get at dinner or other MDR lunches, so if you're on at 11:30 you might not want to wait until noon and wait for food, especially since they cram you into 2-tops with a foot between the tables on each side of you, which is awkward and uncomfortable for people like me who want space and privacy while dining. Also, Princess now evidently has only a single lunch menu for all sea days, so you might find more variety in the buffet anyway. If it's crowded, I bring a plastic tray in my suitcase and take food outside somewhere, or even to my cabin.

They're salespeople advertising their personal service, to make it sound special, but in reality they're there to lock you in, to upsell you on packages and everything else, and to keep in touch forever to book new cruises with them. NCL ones are very aggressive, so I changed my number on the NCL website to an inactive cell number. I also found Virgin assigned me a personal specialist to leave endless voice mails and emails, so I just blocked the number. Just say "I have a travel agent and don't do business over the telephone and don't stick with businesses that don't respect my time and privacy".

I've been getting really nice canvas ones on Celebrity, and on HAL a few weeks ago I also got a nice canvas one advertising their 150th anniversary. Both are actually capable of carrying a beach towel and other things, and the Celebrity one even has a zipped pouch inside. I have a pile of old Princess and HAL ones I keep in my trunk as shopping bags. It seems like the cost would be more than paid for in free advertising and loyalty, especially with current high prices and demand and so many new people interested in cruising but not sure where to start.

The people with the most insight would be the ones who actually assigned the rooms, a "Ship Inventory Specialist" who sent me the approval email and so would know about availability and how early/late they actually assign rooms or cancel people. Since it's a new program and not well-advertised, most CS people on the phone, at the port, or on the ship aren't going to be aware of it--you can't even find it by searching 'standby' on the HAL website. Having it under the radar is actually good for those of us interested in it, since otherwise it would catch on and overwhelm their ability to run the program, the likelihood of getting a spot would be less with current high occupancy, and god help if some YouTuber or blogger started spreading the cruise hack and put out some "I sailed in a luxury suite for $49 a night!" video. Now we've seen how it works for those who were approved and those who were canceled (since you were booked the entire time, they have to cancel you to get the refund process going). I'm hoping they'll add some Alaska cruises, other than the 5-day Noordam in April, since I'm between Seattle and Vancouver and could get a refundable flight to/from Anchorage for N/S sailings (usually much cheaper and therefore less full than r/t Seattle/Vancouver trips). Standby in Alaska would actually be much more valuable, since weather changes so quickly, and I usually go on last-minute Alaska cruises when I see favorable fares and weather anyway.

There are deals on Celebrity, but you have to look carefully and there haven't been many lately. The same goes with Virgin, like the $900 solo inside for Barcelona-Athens 9-nights in October I got before it sold out, or the 9-nt Caribbean in April 2025 I just booked for $1400 solo inside. I found both fares on the Cruiseplum Hot Deals section, a real gold mine for solo passengers. I cancelled the Virgin promotional emails, because the hot deals were never really deals. They at least have a really valuable search function in searching price per sailer per night and you can search for one passenger. For Celebrity, the way to get around the discriminatory pricing is to search for solo and doubles, and book with a friend/relative for the second person, have them no-show, and then get the second fees/taxes refunded. I did that on a Mexico sailing, but I managed to get sailings on Ascent and Beyond that were below 200%, using a TA website. Silhouette also has some solo cabins, as do many RC ships, so you can get good deals that way. Their stock has doubled in a year, so they have a strong incentive to raise revenue to justify it, and demand for their newer ship allows them to charge what they want on the new megaships, just as Disney can do for their ships, which make Virgin seem like a real bargain, especially with all the onboard spending RC/Disney pick up. The explosion in cruising is getting a little scary for me, for prices and overfull ships and cutbucks and cost increases and overfull ports, so I'm not sure how much fun cruising will be going forward, if those trends continue. Will people get burned out on Virgin, if ships and shows and dining are mostly the same on every ship?

Other cutbacks/annoyances I thought of from recent HAL cruises: Almost all dining room staff are male Indonesians, which is sexist and racist, no matter how HAL fans try to justify it. They cut out lobster, except as an upsell option, and their 'prawns' are just regular shrimp. They cut out creme brulee on the MDR menu, but you can ask for it. They do have scoop ice cream in the buffet, unlike Princess. Smoke gets in the Rolling Stone/Billboard areas on the newer ships, but then smoke on Royal class ships also seeped far out of the casino. Big plus: ships pre-Koningsdam have a wide wraparound wooden promenade outside with chairs, which none of the Princess ones do, unless you count the two-level ones (often with smoking areas you have to walk past) where you have to climb stairs at the front end. I'd say HAL has a much better ship layout, with two inside decks with venues on each sides, whereas you only can go on starboard side from front-rear on Princess ships, which creates bad congestion and weird layouts, like having to go all the way aft and down a deck to get to a rear MDR. HAL doesn't have any central piazza/atrium with activities, nor is there really room for one on the Lido deck, but you do get a retractable roof on them, whereas the wind and cold is brutal on Princess ships on coastal/Alaska trips, and you get a wonderful crow's nest for enjoying front views--I hate that Princess doesn't have that option, except on Majestic. Room service is also still free, and best of all, MDR dinner items are included in room service, so I often order that way if I don't want to deal with a crowded dining room. One thing I hate, hate, hate--HAL tries to enforce boarding times in San Diego, so I showed up at 12 last time and they wanted me to come back after 2, they force people to wait in designated boarding time lanes, and I saw a lot of miserable people sitting in the sun with all their luggage. Not having Medallions also makes everything a little more difficult on HAL, including having to sign drink receipts, which i hate. I think their have-it-all includes an excursion and specialty dining, unlike Princess, which just gets you repulsive candy/ice cream floats and the pizza restaurant that used to be free. I think I'm going to jump ship, too. The new steep rise in wifi cost was I think the last straw, after dropping the free pizza, ocean now delivery, and room service, and the steep fare increases with sold out ships. I get military/shareholder OBC, so there's no need for Plus, but now not having it makes me feel like a second-class citizen. I just couldn't stand the idea of being on a sold-out Crown next month to Mexico, with it's sad old decor and cattle pen buffet stations and the really horrible theater seating design where everyone in a row has to stand anytime anyone ones to get into a middle seat, as well as freezing outside until the ship gets closer to Cabo. I have Elite, but $20 of minibar drinks and free laundry doesn't feel worth it, especially those with Plus get privileges like pizza and Medallion home delivery, which was one of my favorite ways of getting excited about a cruise. I've had more fun on Celebrity lately, whose entertainment and ship design put both Princess and HAL to shame (and their casinos are all smoke-free), and I found a couple of bargains on Virgin, which I suspect I'll love, even if they don't go to West coast ports that I prefer, and they include tips/wifi/soda/usually $100s in free drinks/status matching.

That's disappointing, another advantage over other lines gone. I hated being on HAL a few weeks ago with the same limited lunch menu every day, and like the Princess ones, they have brunch items like French toast or eggs benedict--for all the hundreds of late-night partiers on HAL/Princess who sleep in until noon? It seems obviously a move to cut costs and labor for lunch MDR and the kitchen, making it better for the crew and worse for the passengers. The buffets on ships are already nightmares at lunch time with full ships, so cutting out the option of a varied lunch menu every day isn't a good move, especially with the free Alfredo's option gone. So that puts HAL on top for breakfast, and now Celebrity for lunch, since they have a varied menu with lots of dinner-quality options. I had Princess as tops for dinner, but on HAL they included a lot of Mexican options, as well as in the buffet, so I'll have to compare it with Crown next month to see who's on top for me.

Anything beats the old syrup. I just watched a Ruby video with Lavazza urns out, so no more syrup there. If you have Plus, the IC even has cans of Lavazza cold brew. If you don't like Lavazza, an Aeropress is portable and can make strong espresso-like coffee or regular brew, just bring a thermos and fill it with hot water from the buffet.

Be open minded about it and try different things, since they have daily specials and Chinese options and ramen. Majestic was designed for the Chinese market, thus the noodle bar, you also get the bonus of a covered pool and forward lounge, the only one on Royal-class ships, with a lot of unique topiary and xylophones to play with. If you want pizza and don't have plus, you can order one for delivery for $8.50 or so. Having hot noodles is actually nicer in cooler weather, since on-deck Slice pizza gets stale and cold quickly, and it's less filling than a couple slices of pizza, I've found. Majestic also used to have some cool Chinese murals on the walking track, with dragons and different wings you could take photos in front of, but Princess painted them over.

Personally, I'd just fill a water bottle with some rum and buy a big bottle of Coke/Coke Zero at your first port. If you feel guilty, buy a bottle of rum on board to take home to compensate them. With so much outside beauty and things like whales, and long port days, I wouldn't spring for a drinks package in Alaska, especially since it can get cold so poolside drinking isn't really attractive, with the Crown having no covered pool areas. Crown also doesn't have Alfredo's, which would be another reason to get Plus, and your cell plan might get coverage in Alaskan ports, which would lessen the need for wifi for an entire voyage. If you're solo and able to cruise out of SF/LA easily, you might look at getting up to Elite level through Pacific coastal cruises, which for 3/4-day trips twice or more a year give you double the cruise credits as a solo, so you could get to the Elite free mini-bar after 8 cruises of any length. I live near Vancouver, so I just did two short coastal cruises every fall/spring until I got to Elite. The minibars don't usually include rum, but the vodka, whiskey, and gin they usually give goes well with the non-alcoholic options you can swap for. I also use shareholder credit to buy drinks on board, so that's another option to get 'free' drinks.

I was just on Koningsdam, and they had a Murphy bed in the wall in the desk-storage area next to the bedroom itself, which seems quite idea, since it's a separate room with more privacy. They had a huge non-bed divan next to the bed, which someone could sleep on easily.

You can buy full-cruise, or remainder of cruise. So for a 7-day Mexican, I used an $8 e-sim on my phone for Mexico ports, and then on the 2 sea days home I bought the surf package for the remainder of the cruise for $34, I think. On the good side, it was very fast and much better than the by-the-minute show internet HAL used to have, which also had serious adult site filters. There's no discount for internet, unless you're 5-star. I really like the half-off internet I get at the Elite tier on Princess, and they don't have multiple speeds/access to encourage you to upgrade, everybody gets the same internet.

I received a booking confirmation with cabin assignment, and then a separate email from a Cabin Assignment Specialist congratulating me and inviting me to add HIA. What was weird about it was the updated invoice billed me an extra $24, which after chatting with a HAL rep, I saw was an airport transfer I'd never ordered, so I had it refunded. It was Thursday afternoon, for a Saturday sailing. What was worrying is that the spot for printing a boarding pass online was grayed out the first 24 hours or so, but then I was at least able to print out one with cabin number, but no boarding time, and a boarding pass never appeared on the app. So definitely print out the booking confirmation to show at the port, so you can get inside and they can look you up on the computers. None of the port people or front desk people were aware of the standby plan, so I eventually just said I was a last-minute booking. Then when you get a chance, go to the front desk and give them a credit card or any other info that didn't make it to the ship in time.

Who's on first? Majestic was designed for the Chinese market, so they don't have the poolside Slice pizza that other ships have, but a noodle bar instead, which is quite good, with a rotating list of specials. The free Slice pizza also has specials, and is quite good, especially if you wait until a fresh pie is right out of the oven. I don't know if they still do it, but I remember occasionally older ships with a Sabatani's instead of Alfredo's would open up for free lunch on some sea days, with pizza available. As others have said, ocean now delivery is a way to save on Alfredo's pizza, and there are ways to get paid venues for free/reduced, such as ordering gelato on MDR lunch days that comes from the pay gelato bar.

I've been disappointed in buffet desserts for the past year or so, which seems to be mostly just cut-up cakes or pies, the same approach that Celebrity seems to take, which seem to be a way to cope with fuller ships and demand. In the first cruises after restart on Majestic, I remember individual cups of the pistachio creme brulee, and I got to know a Ukrainian pastry chef who obtained a supply of caramel pot de cremes for me every day from the kitchen, which are just amazing to me. I wish they'd do like HAL, and mimic the evening MDR dessert offerings, with small portions, as well as offer some sort of free scoop ice cream option, which Celebrity, HAL, and NCL have.

More issues on board: I got a letter saying my account was frozen because I hadn’t submitted a credit card. I also was asked for am emergency contact. So it seems check-in info didn’t make it to the ship’s system within 2 days. I also got a more formal denial of military/shareholder OBC, saying they are not valid for this promotion. I wouldn’t risk buying HIA before the cruise, though, in case it also fails to show up in the ship’s system. Future guinea pigs can let us know if the cabins turn out to be as nice as the suites for me and the other poster.

Drawbacks of the process: I never received a boarding pass in the app, only a generic one online with no bar code. So when I showed up at noon with no boarding time, I was told I’d have to wait until after 2, which I ignored and snuck through after luggage drop. Then the face scan didn’t work, and so after waiting in another line, they couldn’t print out a bar code to scan. Fortunately, ship security saw me in the system and let me on. The other system failure was that my $200 in military/stockholder credit didn’t appear, and the HAL rep I called said OBC can’t be applied after a cruise has started. So l’m not feeling real good about the standby program or about HAL now. The stress and uncertainty I’ve experienced the past 7 days are fairly strong and unpleasant, so I’m not sure if it’s worth the cost savings.

I just got my room for the Jan 6 sailing on Koningsdam as well, getting a signature suite. It's definitely stressful waiting, though, since I've been constantly checking email and the app all week, hoping to get a room, and was encouraged when I saw rooms in most categories for sale last night, so there was a lot of emotional ups and downs, ready to be resentful if I didn't make it. At the same time, I think it's pretty awesome of HAL to put standby passengers into suites, instead of upgrading other people and putting standby people into the inside/balcony cabins they vacate. I'm especially grateful to get charged only $49/nt as a solo passenger, with no single supplement. I'm also excited to visit La Paz and Loreto, new ports for me and inside the Baja peninsula, where humpback whales give birth and raise their young, so I'll be glued to my balcony and using the provided binoculars to do whale-watching.

Personally I hated Lincoln Center, because every program on every ship was the same, programmed into iPads. Doing Led Zeppelin, Coldplay, and Peanuts was cute the first time, but after that it got old fast. Adding to that the cacophony of the stage on the Koningsdam and newer ships, it just wasn't ideal for anyone who cared about music. The best choice would be to bring back the Idagio duos they had before, usually a couple of bored Ukrainians shuffling through piles of sheet music, having to deal with people talking loudly coming from dinner or their beepers going off. Sometimes it could be nice and inspired, though, and I talked to performers who fed their family in Ukraine for a year on a multi-month contract. I'm all for getting rid of all the corporate entertainment, and bringing back spontaneity, variety, piano players that take requests and interact with the audience, and real production shows. HAL is still the only cruise line that is too cheap to pay for a cast of singers and dancers and production shows.

If the ship isn't showing it, you can sign up for a trial of the NFL app, which will probably have a playoff package also. I like the app because you can replay a game without commercials, or even showing just the plays. Watching playoffs on the big outside screen is pretty enjoyable too. The widest choice of tv games is on HAL now, I found.

Every line has strengths and weaknesses, and food is entirely subjective. My parents think that prime rib and lobster are some rare delight that are only available on cruise ships, and would never even contemplate anything exotic or unusual, and never tried sushi in their lives. I get sick of the same old thing, so I enjoy trying Indian or Asian dishes. Quality can vary by ship and even by time--if a dining room is packed, then the food might not be the best, and food sitting in a buffet for some time can be awful. Making blanket judgements about a line is foolish, unless you've eaten everything. For instance, as another poster said, HAL has a great variety of breakfast MDR options, but they didn't mention there's only one lunch menu for every day of a cruise, with really poor choices, and they've made other cutbacks like eliminating creme brulee from all menus, unless asked for. I can make a case that Carnival actually has the best food at sea, since I consider Guy's burgers and Blue Iguana Mexican food better than any other deck food I've found, and no other line has Indian vegetarian as a nightly menu option. Their MDR breakfast also has a lot of interesting options, like avocado toast and good granola. Personally, I'm kind of bored by the regular MDR Celebrity options, but on one cruise I skipped it and had everything on the menu of the Sushi restaurant, and I'm sure other specialty dining would also be more enticing, which I suspect is a reason to limit options and quality in the MDR. So for any line, there's great food available, you just have to find a line's strengths and weaknesses, and be adventurous enough to look for the best dining experiences, even if it's out of your culinary comfort zone.

If you add someone later, they're going to price the second person at the current rate, which in this case seems to much higher. The way to avoid that is to book a second person when you book, even if the person has no intention of going, and then simply call them a no-show at the port, and you'll get the second person's taxes/fees back. The fare you originally paid was based on one person, even if was doubled, and was the fare at the time, which they're not going to honor for a booking now. They can also reprice a cabin if two people pay but one cancels, so they can reprice it as a higher solo price at the time. It's unfair, but it's what they do. Even worse now is lines like Celebrity charging 3-4x the double rate for a solo passenger. For future cruises, if you have any possibility of someone else going, just book a second person, because it will end up being the same price, you'll just pay more up front for taxes/fees but will get it refunded when the other person doesn't show.

If you love Cafe Al Bacio, you'll be disappointed on NCL, because they usually only have Starbucks, which isn't covered by their drinks packages. if you book the Haven you might be insulated from a lot of the chaos and kids on ships that are sailing over 100% full, but if you want something comparable to Celebrity, I think you'll be very disappointed. On a sailing on Joy last February, rooms weren't ready until 5 pm on embarkation day, and there were screaming kids everywhere, which you usually don't find on Celebrity, since they don't have go karts or other kid stuff. Also, while NCL has great shows, the theaters aren't large enough to handle all the people, so if you don't make a reservation as soon as you get on the ship, you might not get in to see a show you want, which has never happened on Celebrity. It seems a bit of a strange choice to be disappointed in a drop in Celebrity service or standards and to go for a budget, youth-oriented, nickel-and-diming line that routinely sails over 100% full. Personally, I'd look instead to something like Azamara instead, especially if I were in my 70s.

Indonesian phrases are the easiest for me to learn and use, although the salamat greetings vary by time of day, so can get confusing. Tagalog is too hard for me, although I speak Russian and so could use that when it was acceptable for Ukrainian crew and performers. The biggest change you'll see on all lines now is the growth of crew from Zimbabwe, which I've noticed most on Celebrity, but also Princess and even some on HAL recently. A dining room supervisor on Princess remarked how war and improving economies in Eastern Europe is shifting crew labor from Ukraine/Eastern Europe to Africa now, as well as more Indians, who I noticed on Eurodam in September but had never seen on HAL before. The IMF is calling this the African century, since their population will increase by over a billion in the next 25 years or so, which will be reflected in industries looking for low-cost labor in aging societies.

When I called, I heard the agent saying 'standby' as he searched for it, but after that it was simple, and I'm on standby for Koningsdam on Jan 6, with a refundable flight booked. The most surprising thing is that they only charged me $49/nt, even though I'm going solo, so that would be a wonderful option for a flexible solo cruiser. I'm afraid that by paying half as much as a couple, I'd be at lower priority for when and if they actually have standby spots. The agent rattled off the verbiage about not being able to change your mind if you get a spot, etc, so the procedures and coding are there for agents, but it's unreasonable to expect them to be able to be able to tell you exactly when you might be assigned a cabin or how many people are on a list, just as you never know when you'll actually be assigned a guarantee cabin or upgrade, but it gives the same feeling of excitement. Sticking to 7 days notification would be foolish for them and bad for me, because what if somebody gets sick the day before a cruise and cancels? I'd want to be able to get that cabin, even if it is completely last minute. While I did manage to get shareholder OBC assigned to the standby sailing, there's no option to purchase excursions. With so many of the Mexico cruises already sold out, I'm not holding out hope of getting a spot, and a ship at 100% or higher capacity isn't the best experience, but with the nice solo discount over all other cruises, it's worth a shot and having them hold onto my money for a while.