1aCruise4wks

We are sailing out of Boston in June doing a B2B Canadian cruise (14 days).  The Boston Cruise Terminal directs you to Lot D3 for cruise parking - they provide a free shuttle to/from the cruise terminal.  The only problem is... you are given a list of "Events" which are basically the cruises departing from Boston.  When I select the cruise we are taking, it only gives me 7 days parking with no way to add days.  The rate appears to be $30 per day.  I called the customer service number and explained my problem, they said that they couldn't help me because they can't change the number of days on the reservation.  They told me to wait because more "Events" would be loaded and they expected that there would be a 14-day option.  I've waited over a month and there is still no 14-day option.  I can book that parking lot via parking.com but the price is $38 per day instead of the cruise rate of $30 per day.  Has anyone found a way to book the necessary number of days with the cruise rate?

Two contributing factors... # 1 Old Age!  # 2 Inexperienced Uber User.  As soon as we exited the port, schlepping 3 pieces of luggage each, we called for an Uber (not realizing that we needed to be on the other side of the street).  As soon as I booked the Uber, the driver called.  So, I'm on my cell phone talking to the Driver realizing that he was across the street.  My wife is mobility challenging having had two knee replacements over the past few years.  She is schlepping her 3 pieces of luggage.  While on the phone with the driver, we are trying to cross the street - heavy pedestrian traffic & heavy vehicle traffic dragging luggage on wheels over an uneven paved surface (picture luggage falling over in the middle of the street).  The whole time the driver is on the phone complaining he is double-parked and can't stay there long - HURRY UP!  We finally figure out where the Uber driver is and get across the street.  Everything then calms down.  If I just would have waited to call the Uber until we were across the street, everything would have been fine but someone told me to call my Uber as soon as I got out of the terminal - big mistake!

Dennis

On 1/17/2024 at 12:16 PM, lx200gps said:

There is indeed a covered parking garage immediately north of the terminal one block away, easily seen on Google Maps. . A few folks on CC have commented that us cruise passengers are not supposed to use it, but the comment in that thread posted above  disagrees. These folks parked in the covered garage, and actually asked the staff if it was OK to park there for a cruise. The response was "...no problem, please park on the upper floor" We will be parking there on our next visit in July.

Can someone post the name of this parking garage and the street address for it?  Also, can you reserve a parking space in advance or do you just show up and go to the office?  Appreciate any help... Boston Cruise Parking seems so confusing!

Dennis

It would be great if you would expand your article to include information about returning from your cruise in New York City.  We recently did a cruise out of Manhattan and I was totally confused upon our return.  Walking out of the cruise terminal, I did not expect what I was about to experience.  If I knew how it was going to be, it wouldn't have been such a nightmare!  Uber can't pick you up at the terminal, the porters only take your luggage to the curb outside the terminal, there are a million taxi's, Uber's, Lyft's, Limo's, and private vehicle across the street from the terminal (which is where you have to go!).  Whew... can't believe we survived it!

Dennis

JimmyVWine, from a physical viewpoint, the Sapphire Princess doesn't have a Crown Grill but they take a back section of the Horizon Court at night and convert that into a "Crown Grill" where they offer the standard Crown Grill menu, along with the "elevated" service level of a Crown Grill.

I should note that all of my bad experiences were with Ribeye steaks.

My recent dining experiences at the Crown Grill have not been good.  Had two experiences on the Sapphire Princess last October and an experience on the Caribbean Princess two months ago - all of them bad experiences due to poor quality steaks.  On the Caribbean Princess, I spoke with a few other passengers who had exactly the same experience with poor quality steaks.  We originally planned to dine at the Crown Grill several times during our 20 day cruise but, after the first bad experience, we cancelled plans for any more.  Now, I'm not sure if I should make reservations for the Crown Grill on our upcoming cruise this fall.  I've noticed a few remarks on this forum about poor food quality at the Crown Grill on a variety of ships.  Is this something that is happening on all of the ships?  Has Princess dropped food quality in the Crown Grill fleet wide?

When is Princess going to post Caribbean cruises for the Fall of 2021?  Other major cruise lines have already posted theirs - including Carnival!  I'm looking to book something for October - November 2023 out of Ft Lauderdale and am getting anxious.  I'm beginning to consider booking on Celebrity.

Dennis

On our 3 cruises in February they had a Rhythm of the Night Event.  They seemed to try hard to avoid calling it a "Deck Party" because there wasn't supposed to be any "parties" to protect against Covid.  But, it was pretty much a deck party.  On two of the cruises, the weather was rainy so the Event was moved indoors (in the Vista Lounge).  The one week when it was on the open deck it was a really fun time.  Considering that the ship was a bit less than half-full, there was a good crowd at the Event - plenty of music and dancing!

Dennis

How soon were you able to select the group?  We are booked to sail in early November - we checked in on the Medallion App but the feature to select a boarding group wasn't available.

Dennis

I recently spoke to someone who just cruised on the Koningsdam and she told me that the Cruise Staff consisted only two people: the Cruise Director and one Cruise Staff. She said that the Cruise Director noticed her line dancing ability and asked if she would "teach" a line dance class to the passengers. She agreed and the Cruise Director filled the role of playing the music. Has the Cruise Staff on HAL been cut that badly? It's been a few years since our last HAL cruise because we were so disappointed with the entertainment on our last sailing.

I'm mainly a meat & potatoes kind of guy. So, I hate the International Menu! My wife is a seafood lover and she hates it, too.

Sounds like the same old lackluster entertainment line-up... just re-named

Kind of like when they announced the Dive In Grill. All they did was re-name the previous grill, offer less options, and complicate the service.

My ranking...

Based on my most recent HAL cruise in February 2015, I rank them...

1. Princess

2. HAL

3. Norwegian

On Princess, the service has gotten to be top-notch. We like the night-life there - lively but not wild. The Pizza is excellent. The other food is decent and available 24/7.

On HAL, the food is a bit better than Princess, especially the Soups. We love the steamer chairs outside on Promenade Deck. But, the service has declined on HAL and there is very little entertainment.

My experience with Norwegian is ancient so I'm reluctant to share my experiences of so long ago.

I read that article and had to laugh out loud. All that HAL is apparently doing is putting a name brand to the entertainment that they already deliver. On all HAL ships that I've sailed on (and that is plenty!), they have the BB King Blues Club, a sing-along piano player, and an Adagio Strings. I don't see that they have added anything new on their new ship.

Hotel Director was Don Habets; Beverage Manager was Andrew Gabrielse.

Whatever beef they are serving under the heading of "Tenderloin" is questionable. I try to steer away from that menu choice. The Tri Tip Roast is iffy. The NY Strip Loin seems to be okay but can be tough. If I'm really hungry for steak, I go the steakhouse.

As mentioned several times, opinions on quality can vary from person to person - so I won't comment on quality. But quantity is not quite as subjective. Based on my recent cruise aboard the Nieuw Amsterdam in February, the quantity of entertainment on HAL has definitely declined. There used to always be entertainment in the Crow's Nest every evening - but there was none on this cruise. There used to always be entertainment before dinner (as well as after dinner) in the Ocean Bar - but not on this cruise - "The Band" played before dinner on most nights but not all and there was never any entertainment in the Ocean Bar after dinner. The Adagio Strings used to be a Quartet, now it is only a Duo. Now, they even use passenger talent as a substitute for a stage show in the Vista Lounge!

Definitely a decline!

We did the 14-day East/West Caribbean Cruise on the Nieuw Amsterdam. I felt like I was witnessing the demise of a once-great cruise line. Before all you HAL-lovers start flaming me, let me say that I, too, have been a HAL lover. I'm a 4-star mariner and have cruised over 300 days on Holland America. But, as much as I like HAL, I must admit that I was disappointed in this cruise. There was very little entertainment on this ship. There was no entertainment in the Crow's Nest either before or after dinner. What used to be called the Nieuw Amsterdam Orchestra consisted of five musicians and was called, "The Band". They provided the entertainment in the Ocean Bar before dinner on most nights. I say "most nights" because any evening where "The Band" was part of the show in the theater, they couldn't play before dinner in the Ocean Bar. So, on those evenings, there was no entertainment before dinner in the Ocean Bar. There was never any entertainment in the Ocean Bar after dinner. The same sort of thing happened to the Adagio Strings - althought the "strings" consisted on one violinist and one pianist. But, again, on show nights, the violinist had to play in the show and wasn't available to play in the Explorers Lounge. After dinner, the only entertainment was the show (if they had one), the Adagio Strings in the Explorer's Lounge, the piano player in the Piano Bar, or a blues band in the BB King Blues Club. After a few evenings, the blues club got old. On some days, a steel pan player performed an hour or so by the Lido pool but not every day.

The bar service was also disappointing. It took a long time to get waited on and then it took another lengthy period for the bartender to make the drink. It seemed that they just didn't have enough staff. One night, we sat down in the Ocean Bar before dinner for a drink. There appeared to be only one waitress in the bar and she was walking around messing with the curtains and clearing empty glasses. She seemed to be ignoring us. A Bar Supervisor walked into the bar, came to our table, and noticed that we didn't have a drink. He asked us if we had been waited on - we replied that we hadn't. He looked around then walked away and began talking to a couple at a different table - we still had no drink! On the first sail-away day out of Ft Lauderdale, we were on the back deck at the rail and ordered a sail-away drink. The waitress took my card and went to get our order. Sail-away was over and we still didn't get our drink. A couple next to us were in the same situation. So, we had to stand there in the same place so that the waitress could find us when, if ever, she returned. About 5 or 10 minutes after the Sail-away Party had wrapped up, the waitress finally showed up with our drinks - and our room cards.

The one thing I always liked about HAL was the personalized service that their staff delivered - this was not evident in the bars or open decks. The servers were not friendly or personable. I would get a beer or two in the Sports Bar every night from the bartender. Every night, he acted like I was disturbing him and every night I had to ask him for a glass with my beer.

On the positive side, the Dining Room service was excellent! And, the food in the MDR was very good. My only complaint about the MDR was the menu on the 7th night and the 14th night of the cruise. It was some sort of "International Menu" and there were four sections that supposedly represented different parts of the world. The choices were very odd - both my wife and I had difficulty finding something worth ordering. On most nights there were several menu items that were always available (e.g., French Onion Soup, Caesar Salad, Chicken Breast, NY Strip Steak, etc.) but these items were not available on the night of the International Menu.

In the Lido Restaurant, you had to fetch your own coffee and juice, even the refills. As is typical on HAL, there were a lot of elderly cruisers. In the past, elderly people who had difficulty getting around were always helped by the staff to get their coffee, juice, and breakfast choices. That was not the case on this ship. Everyone had to fend for themselves. One poor old guy was trying to find a table navigating through the Lido with his breakfast on his walker. He was really struggling. Finally, two other passengers took pity on him and helped him carry his breakfast to a table - passengers helped him, not ship staff.

I didn't bother buying a future cruise credit as I usually do because I'm not sure if I'll be sailing HAL again.

Have others seen a decline in HAL?

We've done the B2B with traditional dining and have always gotten the same table and the same wait staff. Usually, the Dining Room Manager, would stop at our table towards the end of the first week and ask if we wanted the same table/wait staff.

We normally go to dinner some time after 8 PM. We sometimes travel with another couple, so we've had the experience of getting a table for four some cruises and getting a table for two on other cruises. In our experience, it has been easier to get a table for four than a table for two (we are never willing to share). We almost never have a wait for a table for four; we often (about 33% of the time) have a wait for a table for two. The wait is never more than 5 minutes.

We usually go to the Piazza Bar (used to be called the Lobby Bar), which is right outside one of the dining rooms, for a drink or two before dinner. In watching the crowd, it appears that the busiest time (biggest lines, most people standing around with pagers) at the dining room is shortly after 7 PM. By 8 PM, the line disappears.

Is this true for Fall 2015, too?

Dennis

Some help...

We were on the Crown Princess last November. Hopefully, you have a balcony cabin - that provides a good spot to view all the scenic cruising. The Crown does have a walk-around deck but it only has chairs, not steamer chairs. And it only has a few of them. The back deck is a good spot to watch the scenery go by. The upper decks have the tinted glass railings which obstruct your view (unless you're standing up at the railing). If you're looking for an indoor place to hang out for scenic viewing, you could try Skywalkers Lounge (the disco). The bar isn't open during the day but you can go there and hang out. By specialty dinner, I assume you mean the premium restaurant. You should make any reservations for that restaurant as soon as you get on board - especially if you have a specific night in mind. When we were on the Crown in November, the only "drink" package they offered was the Soda Card which you could buy from any bar waiter. We were on the Sapphire Princess last month and they offered a all-inclusive drink package. There was a flyer explaining the package in our cabin when we boarded and it told how to arrange for it. It seemed pretty expensive to me but it all depends on how much you normally drink. I'm sure that there are whole threads on this forum devoted to the drink package. I'm not sure about bringing soda and water on board - I've never done that. You can bring a limited amount of wine on board and you can take that bottle to dinner. There is a corkage fee - I think it is $10. I don't know what you mean about "mystery charges". I've never had any charges on my shipboard account that I wasn't aware of or didn't authorize. If you are referring to the gratuities, they are $11.50 per person per day added to your account. The Sanctuary is place to be pampered - you have a nice comfy, reserved lounge with dedicated service. Whether it's worth it or not is each persons decision. Every time I've gone by one, it is never crowded but some people would love that aspect. Personally, I enjoy being with the crowd - people-watching is one of my favorite past-times. Sometimes when we can't find any lounge chairs in a decent location, we've talked about going to the Sanctuary but, thus far, we've never done it. There is no charge for room service but I always tip the room service waiter. Not sure what else to tell you. We've never been on Disney so I can't say how it compares to Princess. Any other questions, fire away.

Okay, I've read most of the posts on this thread but I'm still a bit confused. We are planning a Transatlantic cruise this fall from Barcelona to Ft Lauderdale. Buying a flight from Phila to Barcelona and Ft Lauderdale back to Phila is over $2,000 per person. The cruise air is $625 (approx.) pp. Following advice from a posting on another board here, I found a web site where I can get a flight to Barcelona for around $700 pp. I assume that ticket would be a consolidator ticket. The advice on this board seems to be... "don't buy cruise air". So, should I use the web site that sells consolidator tickets or this that also not a good idea? I should mention that the cruise line is indicating that in order to fly to Barcelona two days early without booking a cruiseline hotel package we would have to pay a higher air fare (not a deviation fee because we get deviation for free do to our 4-star mariner status). To top it all off, we want to book a Caribbean cruise right behind the Transatlantic cruise (same ship) and the cruise line insists that we must buy another cruise add-on for the return flight from Ft Lauderdale to Phila associated with the Caribbean Cruise. Anybody been faced with this situation?