bigez

No the $20 MDR lobster was not worth the additional. But what's worse is a $10 surcharge in Pinnacle Grill. Are they kidding? You pay to go there and they gouge you for lobster? HAL is losing us as they continue down their cheap/nickel-diming pathway. It's so unnecessary, and it's really unfortunate.

We've sailed (and eaten) on HAL for more than 25 years. There's a steady decline in the quality and portion size of the meals. A new menu doesn't make up for the decline, it simply dresses it up differently. The psotter who mentioned Olive Garden was on point. What could be a distinctive venue is simply a corner of the Lido with extra garlic bread.

3 hours ago, waiting2retire said:

We embarked on the 13th and will remain onboard until Vancouver. The late departure from San Diego on April 13 was due to the captain’s decision to wait for a passengers arriving on a delayed flight from Texas (Dallas I think). We made up time and arrived in Hawaii on schedule. We were unable to dock in Kauai as scheduled on April 21 due to high winds. 

 

The azipod issue arose as we were preparing to leave Kona to sail back to Ensenada. The captain announced that he was in discussions with San Diego on how to proceed . We left Kona a few hours late after the captain said  they had found a resolution. 

 

Over the next couple of days, the captain announced that unmarked fishing lines had become tangled in the azipod, damaging the water-tight seals, which would need to be repaired on the mainland. We arrived early in Ensenada yesterday and docked only long enough to comply with the PVSA, then proceeded to San Diego last night.  

 

Repairs are underway and are expected to be completed in order to sail at noon tomorrow. Unfortunately, the delay means we will not have time to stop in Victoria BC and will sail through to Vancouver to arrive there on schedule Friday morning. 

Actually, the azipod/net issue was known well before Kona, and even before Hilo according to what the captain said and showed at the Q and A. It is hard to get a firm story out of them because they can't/won't detail exactly when the net entanglement happened. He said they sent divers in at Honolulu, and discovered netting. Honolulu was after the first stop in Maui, and before leaving for Kauai. Apparently, the problem was not deemed critical until they lost the seals to a point where the azipod was non-operational, though again, there's no timeline for all of this, at least not one they're willing to cop to… The night the ship left Hilo, there was a tremendous vibration for about 15 minutes before 8PM. This is likely when passengers paying attention knew there was a problem. But since they were not willing or not able to tell us much, we limped to Kona where there was more diving and more confirmation that there was a more serious problem. They could just as likely picked up the netting on the run back from Mexico as Hawaii. We'll probably never know for sure since they probably don't know for sure. The devil in this is in the details…

Eurodam left 8 hours late and arrived back 13 hours early. Seems HAL owes its passengers for the lost day - not to mention all the missed ports. Of course they contend it was out of their control, but the fact remains that the Master of the vessel knew the problem existed prior to leaving San Diego on 4/13...

Last Hawaiian cruise we took from San Diego a few years ago, the ship was delayed until almost 7PM because they waited for some flight delayed travelers. We were practically finished eating dinner before the ship pulled out. Don't bother getting there before 10AM since the Mexico cruise will still be disembarking and you'll just be standing around. We plan to leave home about 11:00AM on Saturday so we'll probably be in line by about 11:30AM.  That's when they've started processing passengers in the past. (unless there's a hold-up with the previous cruise like there was last Saturday) Sounds like Friday might well be a rainy day, so be prepared for that. But Saturday is supposed to be dry. Good luck.

3 hours ago, gigianne said:

I too was on the cruise and I have to agree with the others about the dusembarkation - one of the worst I have experienced and it was because if the chaos on board.  Why would anyone think that you could funnel people through the back of the Queen's Lounge (BB King) - single file is beyond me.  The only 2 announcements anyone heard were for expedited and pink - even though yellow was listed ahead of pink it was never called. A staff member said to those of us who were paying attention - all colours can go now!  

This has been my experience on every HAL cruise that disembarks in San Diego. That's why we've learned to just hang out at the Lido Pool or in the Crow's Nest until later in the morning while the turbulence below decks gets dealt with. For people with tight schedules, this is a real bad way to end the trip. Sorry you had to be a part of it! But as one of the terminal's staff mentioned, this isn't on the Cruise Terminal. I suspect that on these turn-around days, minimal staff is available to disembark. The rest are all busy on "other tasks as assigned" to get the boat "ship-shape" for the next cruisers who start boarding at 11:30AM. (I think that's why we get away with hanging out until practically everyone's disembarked - they're just too busy to notice us). But it makes for an extremely tough experience for those who do have to get to their next destination on a schedule.

56 minutes ago, G&G said:

The problem with late disembarkation off the  Eurodam was:

 

1. 30 minutes late starting customs check of non US citizens on ship

2. So many non US citizens.

3. Once disembarkation started passengers with early flights got in line whether their color was called or not.   The terminal was a little disorganized.

 

Met someone with flight at 9:35 am. I doubt he made it

Maybe if they'd been the first walk-off under perfect conditions - no delays, they take their own luggage and line up before the ship even finishes docking at 7AM - they beat it off the boat, sail through customs, grab a cab or Uber to the airport, and then miraculously get through TSA without a back up. There would be no wiggle room. None. A Saturday morning at Lindbergh can be fairly quiet and it is no more than a 10-15 minute ride from the terminal, but a 9:30AM flight was probably doomed from the start. I wonder who steered them to that kind of fiasco? Or maybe they just figured they'd be off the boat and on their way to the airport by 7:30AM (which would've been plenty of time). Anyway, not at all a pleasant way to end what sounded like a great vacation and cruise.

No sense waiting around in the conga line on A Deck just to get into the mass of confusion in the terminal looking for luggage. We go up to the Lido Pool, get some breakfast, and then hang out by the pool until they start calling colors. They still make coffee drinks at the "Explorations Cafe/Crow's Nest" and sometimes we wait up there. We're never in any big hurry to get off the ship. We stay out of the way, but the later we leave, the less hassle there is all the way around … 

Glad the rain held off for the day …

3 hours ago, seamist said:

Okay everyone, thanks for all the lovely comments, as of midnight tonight no more ship net so will have to catch up at the airport or at home.  It is now up to somebody else sailing on the Eurodam to give us a *live* report 🙂

 

Perhaps in October of 2020 (when our next cruise is scheduled on the Nieu Statendam Mediterranean/Transatlantic) I will do another *live* posting covering that itinerary.

 

In summary this trip had fantastic weather and a great itinerary.  The ports were fabulous and I would encourage anyone considering the Hawai/Tahiti/Marquesas run to give it a go, and keep fingers crossed the weather will be as wonderful for you as it was for us.

 

Happy sailing!!

 

 

 

 

I am still working hard to get rid of the last of the clouds tonight so that you all have a trouble-free day tomorrow! Thanks again for taking us all along with you, and safe travels home!!

It will be sad to have to go for a WHOLE WEEK without ANY Eurodam updates, but we'll be boarding a week from now so I guess I'll manage.

In the meantime, it's cloudy and a little wet in San Diego today - not the best weather for disembarkation - so I will do my very best to clear all of this out of here for you so tomorrow will be a patented San Diego Spring Day! (it's the least I can do after all you've done over the past month! - LOL) Safe travels home, and thanks again for taking everyone along. And ENJOY the last day of your cruise!

Enjoy every last minute of your voyage! You've still got lots of time left on board! 

I noticed in the towel pics that the roof looks all the way closed. I know you've said you spent some time at the spa area during the sea days so have you noticed if the roof was usually open, kinda open, or closed as you've walked through?

And echoing many others, thanks so much for putting so much time and heart into these posts! 

1 hour ago, seamist said:

Finally decided to brave the lido pool 2 for $20 t-shirt sale this morning 😬😳.   Might be easier to swim with the sharks again!! 🙈🙊. Oh my word....lol.

LOL. Every time I make it through the crowd (and the tables) to buy these dumb shirts, I swear I'll never, ever do it again … and then the very next cruise … guess who's in that line again?  I hope you snagged some good ones! 

Hope you will post a few pics of your Fanning Island adventure! 

Completely different quartet plus 1 than the one we saw in January. The group on that cruise was all female. This one looks like it's all male. 

As far as the production shows go, not having them is OK. There were 2 singer-dancer shows during the one-week to Mexico cruise we were on in January, and they weren't that memorable. The best evening program on that cruise was probably the canned program presented one night in conjunction with BBC, the Planet Earth performance by the quartet and the ship's musicians along with video. Outstanding technical work and performance. Maybe the duration of this cruise has something to do the lack of production staff on board. Or maybe this is just the way things are going to be from now on. It'll be interesting to see what happens on our Hawaii junket in a few more weeks.

47 minutes ago, cruzin4us said:

I hope you didn't answer this question previously, but I was wondering what you are hearing about the additional $10 per entree in the MDR.   There is a thread on CC that is going nuts about it, but I haven't heard from anyone that has 1st hand knowledge.   

 

I believe the Eurodam is one of the ships that is currently under the trial period but I may be mistaken.   It looks like it says that on your dinner menu but I had a hard time reading the fine print 

 

I'm on NA in a couple of weeks and it is also one of the "trial" ships.

 

Any insight?

 

 

Looking at the menus posted in this thread, it says a charge of $10 will be added to your check per additional entree. It's just another petty upcharge, like they're doing in just about every other area. I get the motivation, but pinching those pennies until Lincoln starts screaming is not going to make it a better cruise experience. 

We were just on in January, and it hadn't started yet. So there were a few nights when a double entree arrived at the table (for several members of the "crew"). Guess that's going to change for the upcoming Hawaii trip - or maybe not. We'll see. With some $100 OBC cards from the TA, it might not make much difference.

And a part of me wants to ask just how long it's going to take before they figure out they can charge extra for towel animals, too…

Just a bunch of cold, Eastern Pacific air out in front of you now! Bundle up until you get closer to Hawaii. Thermal suite should be your friend for the next few!!

Ditto the thanks. And sorry we couldn't have had nicer weather for you in San Diego when the ship came in. It's been abnormally cold and wet around here this winter - with even more on the way.

On 2/8/2019 at 4:44 AM, Krazy Kruizers said:

Wow -- I am impressed. We have spent many birthdays and anniversaries on board HAL ships -- no cupcakes -- no cards -- nothing.  And sometimes we didn't even get a cake after dinner.

That's too bad! We took a Christmas Cruise a few years ago on HAL - and in our family there were 4 birthdays during the cruise (including a 21st BD). Each and every one of them was a big deal to our waitstaff. Though I'm betting at least a few of them were  probably wondering by the fourth birthday if 4 BDs so close together in one family were for real … indeed they are. One on Dec 22, another on Dec 24, the third on Dec 27 and the last one on Dec 29. Sorry that you didn't get any recognition! 

If the cruise lines make inroads on charging for all of these extras after they've been 'included in the price of the cruise' for all these years, it will make much less sense to take a cruise. A cruiser would eventually be paying for transportation, 3 basic meals, and a cabin.

What's next, charging to walk the deck during daytime hours? Charging to have your picture taken with a crew member? A fee for the daily schedule? Getting dinged for a table by the window? An extra fee for more than one suitcase or one that's over 50 pounds? A surcharge on wheeled assistance devices like walkers, wheelchairs or scooters?

It's a sad commentary on the times.

But then again, no one HAS to take a cruise. Sadly, the cruise industry may eventually end up sinking itself if it continues in this direction.