NCTribeFan

Well, that's disappointing. It's the only place even remotely quiet and, no, I shouldn't have to retreat to my inside cabin to read. Have recently sailed HAL (3x since November) on their Vista and Signature class ships, which are very similar to the Spirit class. At least, size-wise and passenger load. They have padded loungers by the main pool (retractable roof) as well as out on the promenade deck. There are beach towels available out there and last month, on my Alaska B2B, there were also blankets (in both locations). Beautiful ships (no horrid Joe Farcus bad-acid-flashback decor). For those who are gamblers, even "light" gamblers like me are getting fantastic offers. It took me over 30 Carnival cruises before I got my first "free" offer. It took 3 HAL sailings. Anyway, a shame about nowhere to sit out there. Wonder how they'll handle the testing issue for Bermuda. At a minimum, I will want to get off the ship, head to the Frog and Onion and have a Dark and Stormy or three!

I may have missed it (I did read the recent posts about the turnaround/in transit guests). Is Carnival testing those on B2B? My TA just posted on her FB page about the entry requirements for Bermuda. Thing is, we sail from Rome on 10/11. We aren't in Bermuda until 11/7 and it seems we're supposed to have a recent test. Of course, everything may change within the next couple of months. Personally, I think it's stilly to go to Bermuda (sailing is Lisbon-Tampa) to only be there from 8 until 4. That's really not enough time to do anything (other than shop 🙄 ). Bermuda's a place that needs at least two full days. Sorry for the mini-rant. As much as I love Bermuda, on this itinerary, I'd have preferred to go straight from the Azores to a couple of Caribbean islands. Bermuda just needs much more time to enjoy all it has to offer. Anyway, testing on B2Bs?

Of course this could be totally different by the time I'm in Bermuda. I'm on a Carnival B2B2B beginning in Rome on 10/11. I fly on 10/8; not sure when/if I'll test before embarking. We don't arrive in Bermuda until 11/7. So, I'm confused. But I'll wait and see what the requirements may be later this year.

I was on Pride in late Jan/early Feb. I was very disappointed to see that there were NO deck chairs out on the Promenade deck. I didn't even see the occasional bench (that I thought was supposed to store extra life vests). One of my favorite things to do on sea days is to sit out there and read (and it helps keep me out of the casino). It's just about the only quiet place on a Carnival ship. Forget the Serenity area. Unfortunately, there's nothing serene about it. I'll be on the fall TA (as well as the two preceding sailings), and really hope there are chairs out there, although by early November, it may be too cold to get much use from them. Any signs of chairs out there now?

I've started taking a pic of the crew member that shows their name badge. I use that when I do my post-cruise survey. And it's nice to have their photo along with all the others from the trip.

I know a lot of people have dinner in the buffet. That's their choice. Me, I don't get it. Part of the "fun" of cruising has always been to shower, dress, have a before-dinner drink, then a nice, relaxing, relatively-elegant dinner in the MDR. Even when I'm solo. Now that people can do Anytime Dining, you can do that to fit your schedule. But, hey, if you prefer a buffet, I can't help with the food choices or quality. With close to 50 cruises now, I've never had dinner in the buffet and have no plans to start. All of my above comments were for dinners in the MDR.

It shows up on the documents for Carnival. It does not show up anywhere for HAL. I always print the email stating it's been applied and take it with me. Hate all the paper waste of the things I bring when I sail, but I just know the one time I don't will be the time they have no record of anything. That goes for anything pre-purchased and specialty dining reservations.

I was on this ship the first two weeks of June. I thought the food was, for the most part, pretty good. I had breakfast in the buffet most days, usually a cooked-to-order egg with the usual sides, or a made-to-order omelet. I also had room service a couple of mornings, which was on time and as ordered. For lunch, I don't usually do the "usual" buffet. I typically get a deli sandwich and chips, or have a nice salad custom-made to my liking. I was tempted by the pasta bar, but that's just too heavy for lunch, and considering how I'm already eating much more high-calorie meals that I do typically, I stayed away. Dinners were in the MDR. I never have dinner from the buffet. First week, I was solo. Ate in the back overlooking the wake and viewing the gorgeous scenery. Most of the food was good. I had a lot of fish those two weeks! The Club Orange duck entre was disappointing. Tough and overcooked. The shrimp and pasta CO was excellent. The 2nd week, friends joined me and we sat every evening at the 4-top next to where I'd been the first week (same servers; who were excellent). Again, food was mostly good. I was disappointed with the Culinary Council menu. Nothing really appealed to me. Pinnacle Grill dinners both weeks were excellent. Sel de Mer was disappointing. Ordered lobster and got two small, overcooked, oversalted tails. No comparison to the meal I had on Eurodam in November, which was excellent (Dover sole). I don't sail RCI. I've mostly sailed Carnival, but more recently have sailed HAL and MSC. Had my first Celebrity cruise in April. Food was good but can't say that it was markedly better than HAL. It's all so subjective. I might order a meal and be disappointed while the people at the table next to me might order the exact same thing and think it was great. If I have one meal that I really think is underwhelming, that doesn't mean that the same dish is terrible across every ship in the fleet on every sailing!

I'm not that excited about all those sea days in the North Atlantic at that time of year. Hoping for smooth seas. Also not thrilled about the date change. I'm a CPA, semi-retired as of this year, and missed the 4/15 deadline because of a date change for a Celebrity cruise, and will miss the 10/15 deadline because of the twice-rescheduled Carnival Med/TA B2B2B. I was glad that I'd "only" miss a couple of days when sailing 4/15. The partners won't be happy that I'll now miss the last 2 weeks of crunch time. Guess I'll just have to start earlier (if I can convince the clients to cooperate!). Of course people are upset about cancellations and itinerary changes. I'm just happy we're cruising again. I've sailed six times since November (on 4 different lines). I'm not going to postpone anything. Life's too short. A couldn't care less about an overnight in NYC, and would prefer a southern crossing. Aren't there other spring TAs people could book that take that more southerly route?

I'm on the "redone" TA. My PCC said schedules should be updated by next week. Lots of folks on that sailing were on the 21 days (TA + Norway) and have no idea what's happening on that second leg. At this point, just have to wait and see. If the website hasn't updated, and your PCC doesn't know, pretty sure no one here will know yet.

The original email showing the purchase is not what you need. You need to use the link and, as noted, will be taken to the actual e-card. That's what you need to print out and take with you. I used cards I'd redeemed from AARP as well as cards I'd redeemed using credit card points on my Zuiderdam B2B ealier this month. Note that it seemed to take forever at Guest Services to get them applied. It appeared that only a couple of the folks working the desk had the needed info to do the redemption and had to wait for someone else (who was helping another passenger) to take care of it. And then you have to sign a bunch of times. More paper waste.

Well, I was on Zuiderdam 6/1 to 6/15 and they did the changeover between the sailings. I preferred the BB Kings band. There's a thread here already about it.

The Free casino offers are for guarantees only (at least all of mine have been) so that happens when you try to select a cabin. YMMV. The January cruise I was going to book under a casino offer (when I got home from Alaska) is no longer available. I was going to add it onto the front of a Carnival sailing I have booked. Instead, I found a free offer from Carnival (which although I have >30 Carnival sailings, I almost never get free offers; after 3 HAL sailings, I started getting them - go figure). So I added that (even got the same cabin) to make a 6+8 B2B. Keep trying to get away from Carnival, but at least this is on Spirit (which is a similar size/layout to the Vista class ships). And I'm not seeing any HAL casino offers for me right now. That's OK. I really don't "need" to book anything else!

afterI'm on the Rotterdam TA next April. Haven't even thought about air home since my plan is to go to the UK for several days after. Guess I need to think about it. Keep hoping fuel prices will come down and then airfare will follow. HA! I still have to pay for my B2B2B on Carnival Pride this fall! I booked the air to Rome through them for the first time ever. RDU-Rome for $505 on American.

When I was on Eurodam in November, I was pleasantly surprised by the fairly-large selection of books, having read many comments on this board about how the libraries were going away or already gone. So I was pretty disappointed when I boarded Nieuw Amsterdam a couple of weeks later and found there were almost no books. They're sister ships. Why does one still have books and the other doesn't? Was just on Zuiderdam for 2 weeks in Alaska and there were NO books other than large, hardback travel books. I still prefer a real book in my hand but ended up reading several Kindle books on my phone. Glad to read that Rotterdam has a decent library. I'm doing the spring TA on her so will have all those sea days to sit and read and relax.

I did this on Zuiderdam cruise ended 6/15. The charge hit my card separately from my final balance from the cruise. I had an email before disembarking showing the details and when I logged into HAL when I got home, it was showing up as a credit.

As has been noted, the bands in the BB Kings weren't blues bands, per se. They played a great mix of blues, soul, R&B, Motown, etc. I expect the RS bands to play R&R. What I do NOT want is a Top 40 band. OT - It's bad enough to listen to the piano bar duo pounding out awful versions of "popular" songs that they must play (because they're "popular") when the songs don't fit their vocal range or style. MHO. I do so wish there was a wall between the piano bar and the casino. I played very little Roulette the past 2 weeks because I couldn't stand to listen to that din. Yet the venue is full and people cheer for them. But then, I'm of the opinion that the vast majority of people have absolutely no ear and think that because something got a lot of radio play that it must be good. Nope. Anyway, I do look forward to having both BB King and RS options on Rotterdam.

I was unhappy because someone who was obviously unwell didn't feel any obligation to not spread their sickness to everyone nearby. As I said, I was stupid to not mask up as soon as she started coughing all over my head. I, OTOH, immediately masked while in public the minute I developed any symptoms. Forgive me for thinking others should be as considerate. 🙄

There were 8 of us doing the B2B from 6-1 to 6-15. We met at the lounge to be escorted off. While there, staff was covering all the furniture with sheets. I'm thinking, "what is happening here?" When we got back on the ship, I walked past and there were big, heavy drapes blocking off the entire venue and I could hear some sort of machinery going. I was wondering if they were doing a deep-clean because of Covid. Nothing on the Daily for that day for music (so it was very quiet that evening), but for Thursday, it listed the Rolling Stone band. I walked past a couple of times and they sounded like they were good. My friends enjoyed them. I personally preferred the BB Kings and of the first week. I actually was avoiding the club because it was crowded and no one there was masked. Didn't matter, since I contracted Covid anyway! I'm looking forward to my Rotterdam TA next April where there will be both venues.

Just off Zuiderdam B2B. Masks recommended but not required. Guessing <50% of people were masked. I did the White Pass railroad in Skagway the first week. The woman sitting behind me coughed on my head the entire 2.5 hours. Stupid me should've masked up because she wasn't. Come on, people!! We KNOW how contagious this is. And even if it was "just a cold," what makes you think it's OK to just spread your virus around to everyone? Have we learned nothing from all this? By the next evening, I had inflamed sinuses and a sore throat; started coughing by Monday evening and felt mildly feverish. Still coughing just slightly. On the Vancouver tour and airport transfer yesterday, it seemed at least a dozen people were coughing (at least we were all masked, but there were some exposed noses). Took the redeye home last night and feel really rough. My latest pack of free self-tests arrived in today's mail, so I decided to test myself. Just in case. And it's positive. 😡 I had friends join me for week 2. They were going to visit some very elderly friends in Seattle after they disembarked yesterday but decided not to risk it because he had developed a cough a few days ago. So, yeah, I would've happily worn a mask in public spaces, just as I did when I resumed sailing in November. And December. And late January. So thanks to the inconsiderate and selfish pax with even mild symptoms who didn't bother to mask up. Oh, and had they not suspended the testing requirement to fly home, it's very likely I would've tested positive on Tuesday and not been stranded in Vancouver! Now I have to wonder if I infected anyone in the airport when I was sitting having some dinner and a beer before the flight home. At least I kept my mask on for most of the flight (I think I pulled it off at some point while half-asleep).

Just off a B2B on Zuiderdam. I had issues regarding my pre-cruise travel which I stupidly booked through HAL thinking it was be easier and less stressful - it was NOT. Anyway, although not the fault of Zuiderdam's crew/staff, I went to the service desk early Thursday morning (we sailed Wednesday afternoon) and sat and talked to Christine and told her all the issues I'd had. She took many notes and asked what they could do for me. I told her I didn't expect anything (expect maybe do my Covid test to fly home from Vancouver since, when I booked, and up until a couple of weeks prior to sailing, HAL was doing the testing). I told her I was just so disappointed because I NEVER give up control over my travel plans, but the one time I did, and paid a premium to turn over that to HAL, it was not a good outcome. It was just so atypical from HAL. Then I mentioned I was on for 2 weeks, solo the first and had friends joining me for the 2nd week. She wanted to know their names and cabin number. I had added for Club Orange to "ugrade" myself so I could specifically chose my wonderful Large Inside cabin on Deck 1. She came back out and said she would se if she could upgrade me to a verandah near my friends for the 2nd week. She called me late afternoon on the sea day heading back to Vancouver and said she was having me moved but didn't know the cabin yet and they were still assigning guarantees. Late morning on Wednesday, I went down to the desk and asked if they knew where I was moving and I was put on Deck 4 forward, starboard, about 3 cabins from my friends. So, good outcome. They did what they could to make it better after a stressful couple of travel days although, again, it had nothing to do with the ship. One thing I will say is that it seemed the vast majority of people at the service desk the first couple of days are trying to figure out how to use the app and internet. It was the same in November on Eurodam and December on N. Amsterdam. I think they need to set up an area with a couple of people to JUST handle the app/internet setup. That would leave people at the desk to take care of other issues. And, having Club Orange wasn't much of a help at the service desk because everyone behind the desk just kept taking people from the regular line. So, not really a priority line at all. BTW, I still plan on writing to HAL to give them all the details of my pre-cruise issues. I'm just happy my PCC didn't vanish during the shutdown. He's great.

I'm on Zuiderdam now. Haven't paid much attention to the Happy Hours since I have a drink package. I think it's been from 4-5 in the Ocean Bar and Billboard bar.

I'm on Zuiderdam now on the 1st leg of a b2b. Once on the ship, the itinerary for the full 14 days appeared, including my booked excursion but not my Pinnacle Grill.

Well, the bus on Wednesday was freezing cold. ☹️

We have 1000 this week. I've been told various numbers for next week. The highest was 1400. I'm staying on and friends are boarding on the 8th. It was HOT yesterday. And hot again this morning in Skagway but the wind kicked way up this afternoon and it's cloudy now. Rain expected tomorrow morning in Glscier Bay but clearing by noon. I did not expect the hot weather!