Denali2003

Hello.  I like that HAL has a separate Vegan / Vegetarian menu in the MDR.  Is it the same items each night or is there a different Vegan menu each night?  Thank you.

@0106  Thank you for the links.  Good to know that there are other posts about Vegetarian / Vegan food.  😀

1 hour ago, Real NHDOC said:

The drink package is only for bars and restaurants. If you happen to be quarantined they will extend drinks service to room service. 

So if you wanted to have a meal in your cabin and order room service, you have to pay to have something to drink with your meal?  What about breakfast?  I know you fill out the card and hang on your door, but do you have to pay extra for your coffee / tea?  

47 minutes ago, pmjnh said:

On the Zaandam (February of this year) if you sent it out before 9AM they say it will be returned in 24 hours. We sent a bag out 4 times before 9AM and each time it was returned before bedtime that same night 🙂

 

WOW!!!!!  That's FAST!!!!!  We are looking into sailing on HAL in 2024.  We have been sailing with Princess for 20 years and now looking for a change.  Their laundry service takes 2-5 days to get back.  However, they do have self serve laundry mats on each deck for everyone.  Elite members get laundry done for them for free, but takes a few days to get back.  24 hours, heck even 48 hours is a great improvement for us 🙂

Hello.  My husband & I have previously cruised 16 times (17^th coming in May 2023) with Princess.  We are now looking at HAL for our future cruises.  We have been reading a lot and watching a lot of videos of the Rotterdam.  We are very interested in cruising on her in 2024. We both still work, so 1 cruise per year is what we can do.

I do have a few questions. 

#1 – Does HAL still use a card as your room key & for purchases? 

#2 – Since we’ve never sailed HAL, picking a cabin for us is a gamble.  For the Caribbean sailing we are looking at for early 2024, the most affordable cabins are Aft and Forward.  I heard the Forward cabins have a lot of “rocking & rolling”.  How are the Aft (mid-Aft) cabins? 

#3 – Can you get lunch in the dining room on Embarkation day? 

#4 – What are some of the daily activities like on sea days?  Does anyone have a photo of the event listings? 

#5 – If you are in Billboards, can you hear the music that is playing in the other venues in the Music Walk? 

#6 – Does HAL have a separate Vegan/Vegetarian Menu in the dining rooms?  I see (and love) that they have Beyond Meat options in other eateries on the ship!

 #7 – I heard that if you have dinner in the Specialty restaurants and want to have more than 1 appetizer, that you have to pay extra for more than 1 appetizer (per person).  Is this true?

#8 – If you have the “Have it All” package and order Room Service, are your drinks included or do you have to pay extra for your drinks?  For example, we were looking at Norwegian and while the food was free for room service, you had to pay extra for your drinks, even if you had a drinks package.

Thank you for your help!

How long does it take to get a bag full of laundry back after you send it to be cleaned?

Hello.  For those who are currently on the Island.  I was wondering if you could do me a favor?  When you go to the dining room, can you ask if they have a separate Vegan menu?  We will be on the Island and May and would like to know if they have the Vegan menu.  The Regal Princess had it in 2021.  It's amazing actually.  Just like the regular dinner menu, there is a different one each night.  I did email Princess' Dietary Specialist and they replied that Princess does not have a separate Vegan menu.  I replied that they do / did.  I do have photos of the menus.  Even the non-vegan people we were cruising with and the people at the table next to us ordered off of it because the food sounded good.  They all loved it.

Hello.  Do you have any photos of your meals?  What is your opinion of the quality of food?  Do you have a photo of the pastry display that they have at Good Spirits in the morning?  Thank you so very much for your posts, photos, and answering peoples questions.  

Do they have the English Pub Lunch any other time on the ship?  Either the buffet or in another venue?  Also, do they have different theme nights in the Horizon Court?  Thank you  

11 hours ago, JABTPS said:

Some additional comments on our trip as our opinions:   1.  Premium teas are hard to comeby. Almost all not available and they’re substituted just generic teas.

@JABTPS Hello.  I am also a tea drinker.  I will be on the Island for the May 11th Panama Canal sailing - Los Angeles to Ft. Lauderdale.  I know about the Teas in the Horizon court (Lipton, English Breakfast, Green and a couple of herbal teas)  I know on the other ships in the International Cafe - they have the Earl Grey, Vanilla Bean.  Are those the Premium Teas?  Should I bring my own Earl Grey & Rose tea?

This might sound trivial but, do they have Splenda on the ship? (dining room, Horizon Court, etc).  When we were on the Caribbean Princess in 2022, they did not.  I cannot use regular sugar.  Do not like Equal or Sweet n' Low (nasty aftertaste - to me)  When we stopped in San Juan, I had to buy a box of Splenda and keep some with me.

Are the soda dispensers working in the bars?  Also on the Caribbean last year, the soda dispensers in the bars were not working (yes, in all of the bars), so they had to use cans, but not until the 2nd to last day of the 7 day cruise.  We were on the next 7 day (B2B) and they had to use cans for the entire 7 days.

Hopefully the plumbing is working properly on the Island.  They were not on the Caribbean.  Apparently people were flushing things down the toilets that they should not be.  Several announcements were made on the P.A. System of items that they have found in the tanks below.  Underwear, apple cores, false teeth, face masks.  The toilet in our cabin worked, but the cabin next door did not.  They had to use a public restroom during the night.

5 minutes ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

They do have a vegetarian menu.  As a vegan I’m not sure how much of this you could eat.  See the link

 

https://rogerjett-photography.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/MDR-Vegetarian-Menu-2022-EN.pdf

OMG!!!!!  Thank you!!!!  I like everything.  I am SO excited that they have Beyond Meat!!!  😀 😀 and they have Whole Wheat pizza!!!!  

26 minutes ago, ksmaxey said:

We counted 6 ambulances/ squads leaving the different ships on Saturday morning with passengers.  Rotterdam was first.  Harmony had 2.

As part of the covid crew we were picked up in our rooms and taken to A deck in an out of service elevator.  We were met by the public health officer who noted our cabin (she was not wearing a mask) and escorted off and out of the fence.  Honestly it was easier and faster than going through the cruise terminal.  No customs or immigration and within 20 minutes we were in an uber.

Interestingly all the Covid passengers were sent through the groups lined up for airport transfers.  Once off the ship who you come in contact with isn't a problem!

Did they wait until the ship was back in the US to disembark the Covid passengers?

Do you know if the Island is sailing with 100% crew?  If not, about what percentage?  When we were on the Caribbean Princess last year, the ship sailed with 95% passengers and only 50-60% crew.

Hello.  My husband & I are considering cruising on the Rotterdam in 2024.  This would be our first time on HAL.  We have done 17 cruises on Princess. We have become disappointed in their food & service.  What is your opinion of the food & service on HAL Rotterdam?  I like that there are Vegetarian options on the dining room menu.  Do you know if they have a specific menu for Vegans?  I noticed the Rustic Lasagna is on the menu each night.  Does it have meat?

Princess has been filling their ships 90-100% passenger capacity, but with only 50-60% crew.  Is HAL the same way?

Does anyone have any photos of the food?

Thank you 🙂

17 hours ago, shamrockace said:

The all the time fettuccine has been replaced with momma’s meat lasagna. It is also good. The fettuccine has only been offered once. 

Wish they had a lasagna without meat.  Since the lasagna on the menu has meat and the alfredo is no longer available every night, someone who doesn't eat meat, is left with just a soup and salad.  😔

@Wanderers2 I noticed that the Caesar salad has changed and includes Kale.  That's sad.  The majority of people don't like Kale (me being one of them).  I also noticed that the Alfredo is not available each day.  At least it's not on the menu.

@We_like_to_cruise Do you know if they are doing Arts & Crafts on sea days?  I enjoy doing those on cruises.  I remember back in 2009, they used to do ceramics.  You paint the ceramics and they had a kiln.  That has since been long gone.

We were at Pearl Harbor in Oct 2018.  The video you see before getting on the boat is very emotional.  There were several people crying, me being one of them.  On this tour (while doing the USS Missouri tour - which we did through Princess) I met a woman who was 7 years old at Pearl Harbor that day.  Her father was in the Marines.  He had taken the day off because it was his wife's birthday.  Otherwise, he would have been on one of the ships.  She said she went to get the newspaper, like she had done every day, when the bombing started.  Her father rushed home and got them to safety.  This was her first time back to Pearl Harbor since then.  She still has the newspaper from that day.  She could not go into the tour.  Sadly, her husband did go on the tour and left her sitting outside of the entrance on a bench.  I saw her crying on the bench when we were done with our tour.  She just hugged me, crying "I just couldn't do it".  She was 84.  She herself was a Navy Veteran.  While we were doing the USS Missouri tour, she kept correcting the tour guide.  Apparently he was getting some things wrong.

Last year we became Elite for the first time.  We used the laundry service.  Turn around was about 3 days.  Then again, there were a lot of Elite members.  The ship was 95% passenger capacity and only 50% crew.  They had to pull some of the waitstaff from the dining rooms to work in the kitchens.  Our cabin steward had 23 cabins to take care of.  That's A LOT!  I certainly hope this will not be the norm for them.  The cabin stewards work so hard.  It's not fair to them to have so many cabins to take care of.  In 2010 they only had 10-12 cabins to take care of.  In 2019 they had 18.  In 2022 they had 20-24 (depending on the deck and staffing of crew members).

Is the buffet still self serve, or is the crew still serving you?  It's different on different ships.  Since 2021 - some ships have gone back to self serve and some are still having a crew member plate your food.

Is the Conservatory on the Island a pay place (like the Sanctuary) or is it free?

16 hours ago, We_like_to_cruise said:

16 hours ago, We_like_to_cruise said:

 

We ran into one of the ship staff heading back with two large grocery bags and he gave us directions to the local supermarket (Megasuper).  Ship staff always knows where to get internet and the non-touristy stuff.  Although not considered “Mega” by US standards, the air conditioned market had a wide assortment of foods.  We purchased Costa Rican coffee; prices ranged from $4 to $8 per pound.  This was much less expensive (and probably fresher) than what was sold at the outdoor shops near the ship.

 How far is the grocery store from the ship?  We only have 2 hours of free time after our excursion before we need to be back on board.

Back at the port, we discover numerous booths set up for the Saturday flea market.  Food, produce, fresh flowers, handicrafts, etc. Lucky timing for us.  We walk through and browse and make our way back to the beach.  There are hundreds of tables and chairs with restaurants right on the beach.  All under palapas or umbrellas, nice and shady, although the temps are warm.  But the beers are cold!

We will be there on a Tuesday, do you know if the Flea Market is set up during the week?

Hello.  I heard that Elite passengers can have Tea Time in their cabin.  Has anyone ever done this?  What is it like?  Do you have any photos?  Is it better than tea time in the dining room?

Thank you

We are boarding the Island in California - not Florida.