SilvertoGold

DH is looking forward to knowing how much weight you are packing in the backpack! I am looking forward to all your posts. Have a marvellous time :)

I am beginning to wonder why HAL isn't adding new upcharges to Tamarind, Canaletto and Sel, too. Either that or increase the pricing of all or some of the specialty restaurants. An upcharge for more than one "appetizer" certainly looks strange.

Loved this wine tasting! Glad to hear HAL is still doing this one. When we have done it pre-Covid it was always the same pricing as the regular wine tasting.

Glad you had Jude, the best we've seen on HAL! He also did the Specialty wine tasting and it was mostly food pairings and very well done.

Koningsdam and Noordam as described above but pricing was $25 and $39 pp

Dave: It is not only you :) According to President's Club members WCB's current blog, they were charged for one of their 10 free Specialty Dining meals in the Pinnacle. Yikes! Everyone's account is available on the computer at the desk of the Specialty Dining venues. If they look you up, see what you are entitled to (including TA gift meals) they can see what you have used, what is left and charge properly.

As of two weeks ago the KODM had the petit fillet. It was actually smaller than usual and unfortunately overcooked. I don't take a scale with me :) so never can tell exactly the size, but this one was tiny!

The ship won't be showing that payment, though. They do like to bring in some money, too.

HAL appetizers are usually quite small: I am thinking of the 2 tiny crab cakes, the 3 medium prawns, the 3 pieces of bacon. However, in talking to the Manager of the Pinnacle on our Noordam cruises we learned that on 7 day cruises a large percentage of the pax dining there are on freebies, mostly Have-it-all and 5 stars, with some TA gifts of a complimentary dinner. I guess the profit doesn't add up to much each night, so limiting the number of appetizers limits the loss.

On a behind the scenes tour on a HAL ship pre-pandemic we saw the Housekeeping Office. On the wall was a many-paged clip board titled "Bed Bugs". Looks like they keep track of which cabins have been affected, and presumably, how they are taken care of.

Water conversation was requested on our Amazon cruise and the Captain said later we saved about 30%. Bugs and moths: up on the top deck is a great place to see them. We had a bat on the lower prom (Veendam) and a cricket or two.

Had upsell for FA on KODM a few days out. Excellent stateroom, by the way, for two!

Mariner Lunch was done over two days, on both levels of MDR, on the Noordam in September. Pretzy (from the WC) was the DR Manager and he did a seriously excellent job of arranging this. Excellent food, gracious service. I would note that the Koningsdam didn't do Mariner Lunches during any of the 8 weeks we were on board in April - May and October. Noordam also did extremely gracious Mariner Receptions on first sea day mid-morning in Billboard. Lots of Officers who circulated and talked to many pax. Nice array of drinks and very good nibbles were passed around. Really first class.

Mariner Cocktail varies, as noted. Early this year the Koningsdam had the "real thing" with the elderberry liquor, mint and orange peel. Later, we were given just a glass of champagne. I pointed out what they served before and was given a full liquor glass of the elderberry liquor to mix in. Noordam made it with the elderberry liquor but without the orange peel and mint. Back on the Koningsdam just lately they were doing it "right" again.

Different menu each day, must order night before. Some vegetarian offerings. Present menus may not have as many options as Roger's posted menus, but they give you an excellent idea :)

I am very surprised that you have to be tested. We have an email from HAL and a comfirmation by phone with HAL that to board this cruise to Hawaii on Saturday no testing is needed if you are fully vaccinated. I wonder what is going on?

Cases seemed low for that northbound cruise and the southbound. Some waiters and one of the DR door girls were in isolation for a week starting late in the southbound. Captain noted on the 14 day cruise around Sept 25 that cases were rising so wearing masks was advisable. No big outbreak, but certainly some pax and crew were infected. Coughing was ongoing, not bad but did pick up so you could tell things were changing.

Not sure how relevant this is but we sail on the 8th and do not have the UPC bar code on the Boarding Pass so there is no point in downloading or printing it yet.

I suppose within reason. We did hear the guy behind us order 3 appetizers, 2 entrees and 3 desserts on a recent Alaska cruise. The waiter didn't seem to be blink an eye.

In reading this thread I am struck, anew, how wildly inconsistent HAL can be. No doubt there are criteria such as how many medallions to be awarded, how many high Mariners, etc, but some small semblance of "this is how we do it" would be appreciated. My own feeling is that some of the management teams on board just don't want to bother while others want to do a good job of how they handle Mariner items and proceed accordingly.