djhsolara

Not to sound negative, but I'm sure the OP feels bad enough about missing his cruise. Perhaps a little empathy for him rather than the "I would have done this..." that everyone is saying.

Hi, I'm original poster,I've been sailing out of NYC since Holland American's Noordam left NYC in winter,always had the bus to rely on. This is just such a bad.snowy winter. NJ has 2 major roads closed right now at 5 pm because of accidents. NYC did get slammed with snow,lots of traffic jams. I did not anticipate such serious problems,my friend packed at 4 am this morning,she was going to be a first time cruiser. She was not ready to get it together yesterday.

 

I am thinking of traveling alone since Carnival has special rates for singles on some cruises. It was bad luck and bad planning.

 

Thanks for the support,cruise critic members are people who truly understand,missing the ship is so sad,never had it happen before.

Any chance of you getting a cheap flight to Orlando and drive to Port Canaveral to catch up to the ship? You still have a day or two to get there and still enjoy the rest of your cruise.

Know that if it is cold outside when the cruise starts, the Tandoori may be up there instead until it is warm enough to put it back outside (this is how it was a few weeks ago on Splendor). It was Tandoori for the first day or two.

I know they say it's some one else's rule that you have to be off the ship early.....but I think they just want people off the ship. At Port Canaveral (DCL) they transfer and check the luggage as well (for free) but guests do not have to exit early enmass.

 

 

 

I think it's just the way HAL wants it done.

Different port, different cruise line, different rules. I will not be the one to hold up everyone's luggage so I will be exiting the ship when I'm supposed to when I use LD.

You would never know it by looking at many of the crew on our recent Splendor cruise. We commented several times that many of the crew members never smiled or looked the least bit interested in being there.

Fellow CPAP user here.....

 

And for the extension cords, are you wrapping them up each morning? Tripping hazard at night running across the floor from the cabinet to the bed?

 

Thanks :)

Last thing we do every night is plug in the CPAPs and the first thing in the morning we wrap up the cord so it is not a hazard (because it is usually going across the room).

We had them confiscated on Pride a few years ago, but a few weeks ago on Splendor they went through. There may have been a change in rules since the Pride cruise, but it is the same cord so it isn't based on the condition of the cord. We did, however, pack it right in with the CPAP on Splendor rather than in the checked luggage.

On Splendor there were the spa showers that were accessible in the locker room of the Cloud 9 area, but there were also spa showers in the public locker room where the sauna is located. IMHO, I thought the public spa showers were nicer than the Cloud 9 spa showers because there was also steam in those showers.

We are among those who think the water delicious on all the HAL ships.

 

We always use the complimentary bottle of whatever brand water they provide included in our fare but only occassionally purchase another. I'm happy to fill a glass with ice from the bucket and use tap water and I'm a big water drinker.

 

Agree...I've never needed bottled water on HAL.

We have found that those storage ottomans are where they place the contents of the mini bar if you ask for it to be cleared out.

IMO, those cabanas are enough reason to keep us from booking a cruise on Nieuw Amsterdam or the Eurodam. :(

To each their own, but I'd love to know why.

If you are not exactly sure that you want one, you can take a chance to see if one is available for a sea day during your sailing. On our last Eurodam sailing we didn't book for the week but once we were onboard there was one available and we booked for 2 sea days. It was true bliss and we will certainly be doing it again.

My Mom occasionally travels with us on a Southwest senior fare and we've never had problems printing her boarding pass from home and we've never had issues using Luggage Direct. We just did it off Zuiderdam in October.

I remember when we were on one Carnival cruise everyone prior was talking about how wonderful the CD was on our ship...but we were not impressed at all and it made no difference whatsoever to our enjoyment of the cruise.

We were there a few weeks ago. It was okay, but not fabulous. I much more preferred some of the little candies (fruit flavored gum drops, fudge, etc) that they made over the chocolate desserts.

This was another example of when you should grab your food downstairs and head upstairs for a table. Downstairs was packed but plenty of room upstairs.

Luggage Direct is the only way to go.

 

 

 

If you're looking for a way to kill time prior to your flight, hop a cab over to the Galleria Mall. You can spend the day wandering the Mall, with several places to grab a bite to eat.

That's what we do if we don't have enough time to go to Sawgrass.

I completely understand what you're saying, but if they are in an emergency situation then they must follow whatever procedures they have in place for that situation. I'm sure if I were in her shoes I would not be happy at all about it, but after I assessed the situation a bit further I would perhaps try to understand.

I know this is not a HAL topic but I was just trying to see if anyone else was having my issue.

I access CC through the Tapatalk app, but I also experienced this on the CC app as well. It seems that every day when I go onto CC, the topics in which I've recently participated are no longer on my "Participated" list of topics. The topics that I participated in a month or so ago are there, but the recent ones are not there.

This has been going on for about the last week.

Is anyone else experiencing this?

We don't understand why Carnival doesn't offer options on your booking for table size, but they don't. A few weeks ago on Splendor we went to see the Maître d' on embarkation day (ask someone as soon as you get on the ship where and when they will be available)...my advice is to get there early because a line does form. We were second in line and our request for a 2-top was honored (not sure if the $$ in our hand had anything to do with it either...but it worked).

Sorry...we were in early fixed seating.

I would go to the maître d' when they are available on embarkation day to see what they can do for you. I know on Splendor there were plenty of 4-tops in the dining room. (We do the same thing for a 2-top for us)

Something I forgot to ask in my original post - Are the Thermal suites open when the ship is in port?

Yes. It is open every day from something like 9AM - 10PM. We often enjoy going in the evening after dinner...a great way to relax before bed.

Is this something that's available on all ships? and what does it include?

On the Vista and Signature ships it includes the Thassolotherapy Pool, Heated Tiled Loungers, Aromatic Steam Rooms and showers. More recently, we've found that they've also included a scrub to use in the showers after using the facilities.

I do not know about the other classes of ships, but I don't think they have the large Thassolotherapy Pool.

Hope this helps.

I also think it's a good idea to pre- purchase as they only have 25 passes to sell. Got this from a competent ship services rep that I truly like to deal with.

 

 

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I'm not doubting you, but I find that number hard to believe. I've always heard the number is limited, but 25 just sounds like too few.

It will not be on the list. If you wish to pre-pay you will need to call Ship Services.

It is not everyone in the cabin...it can be one or two, etc.

I believe it was $299 for a couple on our 10-day.

I always tell people this from my own experience. If you do pre-purchase, please check the price once you get onboard. If it is less onboard, you can ask for a price adjustment.

We are in our mid-40s and love HAL. We've been cruising them for about 7 years and just became 3-star. We also cruise other lines but always leave them saying "When is the next HAL cruise?" We enjoy the subtle elegance of the HAL ships (Carnival is nice but to us it is way over the top and provides for sensory overload). We always enjoy the music in the lounges and generally the shows in the show lounge are decent. You are smart in wanting to go to Grand Turk...a very relaxing port. Hopefully your trip also stops at Half Moon Cay. It is (to us) the most beautiful beach we've ever enjoyed.