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23 hours ago, nanlaur said:

FYI, on another blog for this cruise: "He works for ATT and filled us in: our T-Mobile, which has provided us service all over the world, wasn’t going to do squat for us in Alaska.  ATT has a monopoly there."

Unless something changed from July 2019, TM worked fine for us up and down Alaska. Could be a roaming agreement but it was no problem for phone and cell data in towns.

Enjoy your cruise!  Happy to be following along on consecutive cruises; it's almost like a 3 week cruise now! 😁

50 minutes ago, mcrcruiser said:

We know that RCL ships are $29 per day per couple & Carnival is at that  tip cost or slightly lower . HAL  now has the highest tips in the mass line cruise industry , We are not looking at the luxury cruise lines here .

I will not be surprised that the other lines follow suit before long in raising their tips to HALs now slightly higher cost.  Cruise lines seem to be like air lines in that respect.  With it going to the crew directly, no sweat for me; I usually add to the standard charge anyhow.  When it's hidden in the fare there's less transparency as to how much goes where.

I'm not sure I buy the taxes argument though.  Assuming crew are already paying taxes and whatever to their home countries I don't see how it costs HAL more to send more.  Might even be more efficient if they no longer have to report tips differently from base earnings.   

1 hour ago, Brentt_M said:

Good morning from Glacier Bay!

Sure hope you caught that plate of food before losing it!  😁

2 hours ago, mcrcruiser said:

why doesn't HAL just include the tips in the cruise price  & any one can give more if they are inclined to do so .

 

 With the increase in tips HAL also decreased the benefit of the future cruise deposits  .Fact is the other lines like Princess ,Carnival ,Royal Caribbean still have the same tip levels 

The other lines were generally already slightly higher than HAL and are now more inline with them.  There are still those who decline to pay tips, whether because they don't want to give them or they like the old fashioned way of giving them to the those they want, something I don't condone doing myself.  Perhaps HAL is moving in the direction of including tips in the cruise fare by renaming it to "Crew Incentive" to move away from the whole "tips" mindset, as tips are generally considered optional and variable.  Additionally, some like to see that there is money going directly to crew which you would not see were it included in the fare.

7 minutes ago, NCTribeFan said:

Booked through my PCC.  I know it was there after I booked.  I just didn't pay for it then.  Thought I had plenty of time.  If it doesn't show up again in the next couple of months, I'll just email my PCC and ask him if he can handle it.

They'll pass you to the Ships Services department, likely.  I got an email late last week that there was a problem with the charge for it (from 3 weeks earlier) and that while it said I had bought them and had the HAL receipt, the charge on my CC never appeared (so I suspected a problem.)  I called the number on the email and got passed to Ships Services almost immediately.  They said there was an issue with processing the charges where it would go "pending" and then drop off without processing.  Wonder if that might have anything to do with it?  Again, seems everything is just a wild swing with guessing these days.... 🙄

8 hours ago, liam1965 said:

Possible, but I somehow doubt it.  They weren’t wearing these N95s on embarkation day, when 1588 people were coming from across the country and possibly world.  And they weren’t for the first three hours that people were ashore and returning, the fact that they all changed at about 5:30 (shore trips started at 1) seems suspicious to me.

That timing could also be when the ship got them and distributed them.

9 hours ago, canadianbear said:

I heard they were building a new “shelter” for the eagle.  Wonder where they’re keeping her until it’s done.  

They were nearly done with the new shelter back in July 2019.  I hope it's done by now.

Great reports, @Brentt_M and @liam1965!  Always loved the RDS and stop there every time we are in Juneau.

4 minutes ago, NCTribeFan said:

Nope.  Still not there.  Even tried using a different browser.  Under Travel Planning, I only see Pre & Post-Cruise Travel, Check In, and Make Payment.  Looked under Make Payment, just for fun, and that only shows that I'm paid-in-full (had to do when I booked since it was a casino offer).

 

Seasick Sailor - yes, my December NA sailing Have It All included gratuities, premium internet, signature beverage pkg, and signature dining pkg. 

Very odd.... 🤔  And I already the prepaid tips with this cruise, that I purchased 3 weeks ago at the lower rate.  Did you book with HAL or a TA?  I've seen that sometimes can make a difference as to the access you have to do things in the bookings, like making a payment on your cruise for one.  Wonder if it's tied to the casino offer somehow?  Wouldn't make sense, but what does these days?

This is what I get when I click "Travel Planning" > "Pre-pay Crew Incentive".  I did book these with a HAL PCC, might make a difference?

16 hours ago, srpilo said:

 

But are those part of a promo (Have it all, ect )? or did you purchase them 

 

Can I ask where on the booking page you see them ?

.

They are actually both.  Purchased after booking and with the promos.  I have 4 booked cruises.  They are on the page reached that has the tabs across the top of the page (Itinerary, Shore Excursion, Cruise Activities, Travel Planning ) that opens when any of the "Manage My Cruise" buttons for each booked cruise is clicked from the "My Bookings" page.

I see the "Pre-Paid Crew Incentive" option under the Travel Planning tab as well as along the left hand side on the first page.

43 minutes ago, srpilo said:

Also Interestingly on one of my booked cruises, in the recent past I could see my included gratuities from the original HIA promo under the "Itinerary" icon at the top of the itinerary listing, now that's gone too, absolutely no reference at all to any of the HIA perks to be seen anywhere now on the booking page (?)

 

Does anyone see any listed HIA perks anywhere on your bookings ?

I have the same things as before, dining promotions, excursions and pre-paid grats all showing on all bookings.

It sure shows on my "Manage My Cruise" front page.  Just like above in "Seasick Sailor"s post.  All of them and I've either gotten them with the promotion or already pre-paid them on all 4.

I'm impressed at how well embarkation went; sounded like a delight rather than the usual rigamarole.

We've loved our aft Neptunes in the past.  Sounds like y'all are off to a great start!

3 hours ago, Copper10-8 said:

 

Can I ask you when this was, because it would indicate a major change in HAL's policy! After the Dutch restaurant staff left the co. in 1970, the first Indonesians came in and they have always shown their talents in the main dining room, among other places onboard. Rule of thumb has always been:

 

Indonesians:

Housekeeping Dept.; Stateroom stewards, laundry staff

Restaurant stewards incl. Lido/Canaletto and Tamarind

Deck Dept; sailors, quartermasters, lifesaving attendants/boatmen, bosun/asst. bosun, storekeeper, florist

Technical Dept/Engine room guys in various positions

Human Resources Dept. clerks

 

Filipinos:

Beverage staff, incl. bartenders, wine stewards, bev stewards in the bars, baristas

Front Office staff; all sorts of admin positions, I.T. officer, printer, sanitation/garbage room attendants

Security staff, stage crew, crew physician

Galley staff; chefs, cooks, asst. cooks, kitchen assistants, baker, butcher

 

Deck Dept., fire safety attendant

Plumber, carpenter, upholsterer, tailor, locksmith (these guys double as firefighters) 

 

Prob forgetting some.............

 

Bac around 2017, HAL started hiring Thai young ladies (no males as of yet) for restaurant service and housekeeping

 

The Pinnacle Grill has always had an international staff with stewards from the Netherlands, Hungary and other Balkan countries, Belgium, Indonesia, etc.

 

 

We had a Thai dining steward in Sep/Oct/Nov 2018 on Zaandam.  Also have noticed several Indian chefs on our last few cruises.

Thanks, Rich!

Such a cute little doggie... she'll be so happy to see you in a week or so.  🐕

Best wishes to you and your children on your return to cruising; I hope your excitement for a great time with them is exceeded by your experience.  Looking forward to reading your thread!

2 hours ago, DonahCBrown said:

Just heard about massive earthquake in Aleutians and tsunami warning for Alaska.  You folks okay?

 

One can always check here: https://www.tsunami.gov/ for the latest.  Evidently the warning has been dropped.  Hope NA peacefully moved through any disturbed waters.

1 minute ago, lstrong said:

Lisa, thanks for trying to get the bar prices!  We all here appreciate your time and efforts. I am surprised though that we’ll need to scan it

Guessing the bars themselves will have prices printed but they may not be placing the folders on all the tables like they have in the past.

2 minutes ago, Tennessee Titan said:

Note that on the Captain's COVID notice Van Donslaar signed it. anthough  Copper 10-8 said Baiians was the captain. Clarification please?

John later corrected himself when he stayed for this week.

1 minute ago, VMax1700 said:

Meanwhile I will put it down to 'first night nerves' 🙏

I'm thinking "first night, first cruise back" might explain at least some of the odd sounding activity.  Perhaps also with the stock in the shops and maybe even the wines not being completely refreshed and set yet?  

Thanks again Lisa for all your efforts at keeping us up to date!  I do believe those are new elevator doors you pictured earlier, I don't remember those in December 2019, but there's a lot I'm sure I've forgotten about BC!

Happy to read that everything is going so well to this point.  Wishing you and all passengers and crew aboard NA the very best.  I would have a hard time myself trying to catch my breath being on that cruise, I would be so excited! 😁🤪

Bon voyage! 

Best wishes to you and all the brave, excited cruisers heading to Alaska!

On 7/13/2021 at 6:41 AM, richwmn said:

Another thing to consider is if the On Board Credit is refundable and most TA supplied OBC is. If that is the case all else being equal I'd rather have the OBC.

Agreed!  The OBC must be refundable.  However, it likely wouldn't sway me unless it was a considerable amount. 

A good, responsible TA is not so easily found.  It's not the 99 cruises that go as we expect that matter, it's the 1 cruise that falls apart that does matter and a good TA will handle that well for you.