REOVA

1 hour ago, GeorgeCharlie said:

 

 

 

This is the hummingbird statue we purchased. It is about 5 inches tall and is carved out of a single piece of ironwood.

 

Just curious if you have to seal or coat the wood when you get home. I remember Barbara (HALs old excursion host - RIP) used to talk about buying wood carvings around the world and her annual ritual of sealing them. 

17 minutes ago, Mary229 said:

I don’t know.  Maybe the classic model of cruising began when people didn’t t live in urban areas with lots of entertainment and dining choices nor satellite media.   It is a new age.  I can visit fine dining at a reasonable price every night, I can go to 6 or 7 different live entertainment venues, I can go to cooking demonstrations, all at home.  I can also enjoy the very finest performers the world has to offer from the comfort of my home.   
 

I think there was a day when the cruise ship was not only your hotel, it may have been a unique opportunity for fine dining and perhaps your yearly opportunity to see theater or live music.    I think now that people so have access year round the lines may be evolving from this all inclusive entertainment model.

 

HAL has announced they want to focus on the long, exotic cruise .  I assume this also signals they are going to focus on catering to the traveler than the resort seeker.  Maybe that is what they are trying, a hybridized mid-market expedition format.  
 

On  the smallest of ships that populate the high end and the expedition markets  entertainment and food options are very limited yet they are very popular among their clientele. 

Yes. We are Travelers/cruisers not necessarily Vacationers (although they are not necessarily mutually exclusive). HAL lost its way over the years. From the music that used to be by the pool (and removed because people complained because they wanted quiet) to Music Walk (throw in 3 or 4 various music venues within 100 feet of each other and you now have music). They haven't been consistent to be able to be defined, except that now they have limited shows, food decline or experimenting with various music to become "hip-er . They definitely need to appeal to a younger (maybe different) passenger as we age out, but not by hard transition. 

They may be able to make the Pinnacle ships a different niche than the smaller ships and hopefully will offer different activities on each "niche". Those that want the short to medium cruises in Caribbean, Alaska (or wherever) without the amusement park can sail Pinnacle. Those that want the Ocean Liner appeal or relaxed,  longer and unique travel can have the option of the smaller ships (and hopefully some new ones come in fleet). 

But if the longer itineraries are just the same onboard activities as other shorter itineraries (i.e. Pinnacle vs Signature). It's going to be tough sailing with them if other lines go to the same ports and offer port talks or special guests. We'd rather sail a port with a different line than seeing Step One, Cantare or a HAL history presentation for the nth time. 

12 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

I cannot help but wonder how long until somebody decides to eliminate HAL

If they have a Buyer, I'm sure that could be arranged. 

4 hours ago, LMaxwell said:

 

Does anyone know what "later this year" means? Am looking at March for spring break and wife resistant due to lack of entertainment on last cruise. If even less this time, I'll have to sleep in Lifeboat #9

Be careful on Lifeboat #9. That was trouble, at least on the Amsterdam. 😁

23 minutes ago, bz said:

Between the poor food choices and the disappearance of LCS, the lack and qualtyi on the main stage, think it may be goodbye to HAL, hello Celebrity, Azamara, Oceania, maybe Seaborn/Regent, even at the higher prices.  Just as I'm getting to 3 star.

Always good to try other lines to get perspective. We've heard friends try some of these (including Viking) and some prefer them and some don't. The itinerary is key and HAL won't compete with general 7 day Carribean cruises. The hardest part is when you get to be 4* (free laundry) or have been with them for a while at 5* (Although HAL forgets and 5* has no bonus anymore for service and passengers can pay for Club Orange). 

Fair assessments and we also don't mind the little changes they no longer do. (And we prefer Signature over Pinnacle classes and if Dutch Cafe is added we probably would not sail on Pinnacle class 🤣). Our first time on KDam ship (2019) we noticed a difference in service and staff from the smaller ships. They were (and are) overwhelmed and it shows. Whether HAL planned a smaller crew to passenger ratio (and then got double whammy with shutdown and lack of returning crew) is a reason, it would appear they would have pulled things together after so many cruises by now. We know management changes both within HAL and CCL usually changes things so will have to see if any difference is made but for short term, we don't expect anything that causes expenses to rise to be added in the next 2 years (without add 2x revenue generation).

The big issue has been the entertainment. The Music Walk - while providing options for music/bar venue (until BB King and Lincoln Stage goes away) is not a replacement for the shows HAL used to have. Especially the redundancy if on a ship longer than 7 days. I have many venues at home to watch bands and drink, not my idea of vacation. I cruise for itineraries and visiting new Countries, people and destinations so not hard to enjoy being on the water waiting for next destination.

Many of the changes were done (or planned) pre Covid and we've heard complaints even before 2020.   It appears Carnivalization crept in by thinking providing more bars and music will make its mariners happy and hopefully they will rethink when new ship orders go out. CCL has many cruise lines to make each distinct and unique and hopefully their "new" marketing of longer itineraries will bring back some of what HAL had. 🤞🤞

It's a schedule thing now. As of January 2023, 1 ship in port at a time so maybe whoever is scheduled to come in earlier would be on schedule, others would need to find another port. I am sure there is another way the port is assigning who visits each day but it means all cruise lines will have to rearrange their itinerary if Bonaire is on their list. 

4 minutes ago, Tampa Girl said:

 

The reason for having diverse musical entertainment is so that one does not have to sit through "funerary" music if one is not so inclined.  There were sufficiently different music being played in other areas on the ship for you not to have suffered through classical music.

And if they've sat through it, they would have heard various genres of music (yes all on classical instruments but if anyone has seen The Muses - African woman quartet- they don't do "funeray" either) 😁

7 minutes ago, Radbooks said:

But they are also adding this:

 

'Plus, rolling out between February and early Summer, the line will add a music offering in the form of a band at the Ocean Bar on all Vista- and Signature-class ships. The contemporary trio will play pop arrangements, dating from the 60’s through today.'

 

We enjoyed listening to a group in the Ocean Bar last summer on the N. Statendam and would love to have that more frequently.

They've had the Ocean Bar band (in addition to the HAL band on World Stage when music was live). This is nothing new. PR marketing will next say they are having more variety at the Lido buffet. 🙄

1 minute ago, Hlitner said:

We sure hear you and have some concerns on our upcoming 8 weeks in Asia.  That being said, what makes you think it will be any different in 2, 5 or even 10 years?  And as aging seniors we do not have unlimited time to wait around hoping things improve.  There are always risks that impact travel including these darn viruses, wars, unfriendly governments, political unrest, etc.  As lifelong adventurous world travelers we have had to accept these factors as part of travel.  To be honest, I am more concerned about all the reported cut-backs on HAL than the other problems.

 

Hank

 Agree, besides the cutbacks (which continue and is pushing our 5*  status excuse down further on the reason to stay list), we are watching specific ports we want to see and waiting for better handling within them. Not concerned about traveling or getting COVID or flu on longer cruise (been there done that). We are just sitting out on GWC, Africa or others for 1 or 2 years while things flow better (tours, staffing, protocol, etc). You'll be fine on the 8 weeks (and we are jealous) as you are aware of the current situations and experienced enough to roll with anything. 

19 minutes ago, Infi said:

I also wonder if HAL is doing a natural "cleaning house" of their partnerships. On our holiday cruise on Zaandam, I was told the partnerships with Microsoft and Oprah had expired during the pandemic and were not renewed; America's Test Kitchen expired in January 2020 as well. I also heard from one of the entertainment staff that the Port to Table (cooking shows that aren't ATK) is coming back, but the BB King contract expires early 2023 as well - not sure if those are true or just rumors. If BB King contract is expiring, that will be another big loss for HAL as that venue must be a huge moneymaker.

They are rolling the BB King music into the song list for the Rock Band (and hopefully the horn section). 

Won't affect the smaller ships, since they have either BB King (to now be Rolling Stone) or Rolling Stone area but will be interesting on Pinnacle ships if the BB King area will be trivia, games and comedy club only now. 

You probably won't know the actual answer until you get onboard, but whatever it is, it will be per person and both persons in cabin may have to purchase. The cost is also the delta in what you already paid, so having an extra 3 drinks of premium beverage to cover the cost seems about right. 

2 hours ago, CruiserKris34 said:

During on-line Check-In, it said "Your card will be pre-authorized for $420 on the day of departure".  Is that a random amount?  I know that I will owe the tips of 100pp & there are 2 of us.  Thanks!  Kris

It changes depending on length of cruise but won't be a charge, just a hold. But if you are close to your card limit, you may have a problem purchasing items in port. The ship won't charge anything on the account until the final statement. 

1 hour ago, The-Inside-Cabin said:

Port cards are being distributed 

YES! We thought we'd see them on VoV (Nope) or they fell out with paperless protocol and had to be viewed on Navigator 🤪 

Had to use them in Sri Lanka when the tuk-tuk driver didn't speak English nor know where the ships were docked. 🙃

5 minutes ago, Mary229 said:

Perhaps cuts but perhaps also laying the ground work for a different production.   Entertainment  like cuisine is fashion and like fashion is constantly shifting.  
 

I would give it all up for a better enrichment program. It is hard for live entertainment to compete with streaming video, movies and other mass media.  It is a new generation 

Why not have both better enrichment programs and live performance?

So I guess now the BBC movies will have recorded tracks (like the dance and singers now have since they did away with the HAL band). Next thing they'll just have digital music box to sit and listen to. But then they can sell tokens to drop in and select your song from the digital Jukebox. 🤔 

When they talked about cuts in 2019 it was mentioned the onboard entertainers and crew (band, singers, etc) would open cabins they could sell and also switch to cheaper third party entertainment agency. 

2 minutes ago, Gail & Marty sailing away said:

The longer the better. 

Yes. And they usually sell segments for those that want shorter cruises. But they also need to up the onboard activity/entertainment for these itineraries so we don't feel like we are seeing  the same things each segment (like on B2B). Something like "mini" Grand Voyages (which spoils us). 

We book excursions we want ahead of time before they sell out. Then go to excursion desk onboard and ask them to credit back to account and deduct from OBC. We had success in doing that (even on waitlisted if EXC does the rebooking) but need to discuss with them first. "Past performance does not guarantee future results" 😉

Pre Covid we might book private tours, especially in ports we are comfortable in. With changes in times and ports being a norm on cruises now, play it safe and book tour with HAL. You can always do Celebrity or excursion cruise for more detail adventures later. 

3 hours ago, WCB said:

 The flowers designs are nowhere near the artistic quality we got from Eddy and Calista, but they were really talented.  So much so, they opened their own business in the Nederland’s after they left the employment of HAL.  

Yea Congrats to them. They were amazing what they could put together even when supplies ran out and they had to shop in port. 

3 hours ago, WCB said:

 

The Daily Program was full of activities all day which included a watercolor class, 

 

Is Carol and/or Siri still teaching watercolor? 

2 hours ago, Hlitner said:

We would not be surprised if they are sold out of close to full.  Many of us have booked HAL, Asian cruises for the past 4 years only to have them cancelled (year after year).  When HAL cancelled our 2020 Asian cruise (I think it was the Noordam) we rolled over our reservation to a similar 2021 cruise.  When the 2021 cruise was cancelled we rolled it to the 2022 cruise and when that was also cancelled, we rolled it to the upcoming 2023 Westy cruise.  There are many, just like us, who simply moved their bookings forward to the following year.  HAL encouraged this behavior with some price guarantees and enhancements.  I would think that with the large number of us rolling over our bookings and others who simply want to get to Asia that these cruises are in great demand.

 

Hank

Yes. There is great demand for this sector to get back to sailing again.

We are waiting patiently for a Grand Asia/Pacific cruise to come back but also tempered by the rise infections over there and port uncertainty yet. 

56 minutes ago, Sir PMP said:

A couple of Amsterdam size ships will help a lot.

Would be nice but rather have a designated Tamarind than the 1 night pop up in PG. (And a Dutch Cafe would add a cherry on top.) Not sure there is space without affecting (ruin) the Prominade walking deck (like they did on Pinnacle class). 

We sailed Rotterdam in November to all ABCs no problem. Seems there may be scheduling issues in doing ABC now. Cruises has been doing 2 of 3 of them lately(?). Some substitute Bonaire for Curacao. 

1 hour ago, TiogaCruiser said:

Four weeks in Alaska?

I’m so in on that. Just gotta find lodging for His Nibs, our spoiled golden retriever.

We  can take the 4 week golden retriever excursion. 🤣

You will pull through with everyone's thoughts and prayers. Our insurance at home has a travel policy (even though we purchase separate travel insurance) so maybe check with yours  as well. Also credit card used to purchase cruise. 🙏🙏🙏🙏

Not in Port Everglades but in Boston (or maybe San Diego), it helps so you don't have to fumble through documents (even though we bring hard copy back up anyway). In FL we were asked about vaccination and flashed the Verifly "OK" but they didn't really look at it. 

2 hours ago, The-Inside-Cabin said:

Here is a one minute "Short" for 4 January - Block Party Highlights

 

 

 

Who are concierge in Neptune Lounge this year? 

Oh my 😬 Can't unhear that piano singer now.