wombatKY

2 minutes ago, Cruising-along said:

Thank you so much.   I'm very proud of them and will tell them what you said.  Because of our DSIL's job, we haven't hugged our grandsons in over 3 months now.  I know it's hard on them too, but they've been taught so well from their parents, they do understand  even at their tender ages that it's to protect their Nana and Grandpa.  🙂

You should be!. Please tell them that there are people that appreciate their selfless actions.

We came home Feb. 19 after traveling since the first week of December and haven't touched our only granddaughter(turning 8 this week!) since then. She is an only child and she is afraid to make her Oma and Opa sick. I hate that she is living with this burden, but I would hate, even worse, that she would spend her lifetime thinking her actions had caused one or both of her grandparents to lose their life or be very, very sick and on a ventilator for weeks.

We've never been lucking in Vegas and our family motto has always been "Whatever can go wrong, will go wrong". (You can all blame me for the stock price!) We don't usually suffer from viruses very often, but I'm not willing to roll the dice this time.

Stay safe!

34 minutes ago, Cruising-along said:

That is what our DSIL has taught our grandsons to do.  He's a PA in the Seattle area and has taught them well. One day an "older man" saw them and said "you don't have to be afraid".  I'm so proud of our 6-year-old grandson, he politely told the man they weren't afraid, they were protecting him.  🙂  I'm not sure the man "got it" but I hope so. 

Wow! That brought tears to my eyes. He has been taught well and he's learned well, also.

Thank your grandsons and your DSIL and DD for me. 

The only way senors with health conditions will be able to live a semi-normal life in the pandemic days, will be because of people like them. I appreciate their efforts for my health. 

The economy has always recovered. The dead, never have.

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We were on the K-dam for 2 weeks last fall in Europe. We had absolutely no problem with either Gala Night but we rocked up to the podium around 7:15pm each night. 

The only night we had any problem was the first night when we arrived at 7pm.  We had to wait about 10-15 minutes for a small communal table.

Our strategy is to buy bottles for the cabin. We start with 2 and add to that, if we need to, depending on the itinerary. Then we attend the happy hours, usually a couple of times a day where you get a drink and the 2nd is $2. Maybe one day we buy a bottle of wine with dinner. 

We bring on our mixers at embarkation and order limes from room service or go to a bar and ask for them.

We also buy Coffees and the amount is included in the figure below.

With that said, our expenditure is around $70/day for the 2 of us, on average.  We think the happy hours are key to the success, though, and it may or may not fit into your schedule.

4 minutes ago, OlsSalt said:

 

Yours is a very sound analysis. However, I am also not seeing "unlimited food on demand" as cruise ticket expectation. Wonder what their definition of a "meal" is. 

 

Up until this month and depending on which ship you sailed, it has always been whatever you wanted to eat. 

Has anyone suggested that they look at their credit card insurance, if they used one to pay for the cruise?  

I think they have more generous terms on cancellation.

4 hours ago, Alberta Quilter said:

Wow.  That must have been awful.  Why was it canceled at the last minute?  Was it mechanical issues with the ship?  I hope you were able to take that unique itinerary at a later date.

It was awful! I confess to being a little "emotional" for a few days. We did finally get to do the unique itinerary.

It was my first and last experience with booking a cruise right out of dry dock! I had always heard that those cruises were risky and had been prepared to contend with some ongoing work, but I'd never heard of one being cancelled.

They had evidently planned extensive interior finishes on the ship as she sailed back to their US port but hit days of very rough weather and were unable to complete the work. They just waited too long, IMO, before informing their passengers. 

Maybe this will make you feel a little better @CTOM, one year my cruise was cancelled with only 3 days notice! We were within minutes of leaving our home for a 2 day drive to the port. I was only able to find out about the cancellation by checking the boards just one more time as I waited for my husband to get home from work. Probably the only time I've ever been happy he was late as I would have been more upset to find this out sitting in a hotel room that evening.

I did eventually receive official notification and I was offered compensation. The compensation was fairly particular and it didn't quite make up for the unique cruise we missed out on, nor did it cover the cost of the vacation we had to cobble together last minute which didn't come close to replacing that lost cruise. It was very upsetting but thankfully, that's the last time it's happened to me.

10 hours ago, Fouremco said:

Actually, you can. You might want to read this thread, wherein IslandThyme took several cases of wine aboard for her cruise:

 

Good to know. I don't have a wine cellar, though.

Still, I think for your average wine drinker it's too much hassle and expense of schlepping on enough wine for an extended cruise, especially for HAL's mature customers of which I am one.

8 minutes ago, RuthC said:

As my cruising life is winding down, I feel blessed that I was able to cruise so much when cruising was so much different than it is now. Not to mention what it is becoming.

Cruising when I started was a real get-away, with very limited means to get in touch with the outside world. It was a true way to relax. It was an elegant, refined way to spend sea days, with interesting and fun activities. Passengers truly were made to feel like guests. Food was delicious, varied, and there was plenty of it. People were outgoing, friendly, and went far outside the insular groups we see aboard today. The only 'rule' we were given to follow was "There are no strangers on board; there are only friends". People acted that way, too.

Ahhhhhhh, that's more like a real vacation, isn't it? 

9 minutes ago, RocketMan275 said:

Quite frankly, I do not understand the consternation.  JMHO, but none of those wines in either the signature or the elite packages are worth drinking.  If I want decent wine, I will bring my own.

Easier said than done. Fine if its a 7 night Caribbean cruise and maybe you drove to the port. What about the couple doing 14 plus nights sailing from a foreign port or like the OP -28 days in Hawaii, Tahiti & Marquesas?

You can't bring on enough of your own stuff. 

36 minutes ago, Fouremco said:

Good luck finding a cruise line in HAL's class that hasn't adopted similar policies, whether starting to charge for room service or increasing the price of drinks so that they are no longer available with a beverage package.  

I agree that the industry is headed that way, but they can head that way without me. I don't HAVE to go on a cruise. Do I enjoy it? I did for about 40 years but, I'm beginning not to because every time I book one, they tack on another fee or take something away from my experience.   

Surely, most people have a line in the sand?

If you don't, then you have an extra cabin available to invite one of your friends.

9 hours ago, BCCRUSINGCOUPLE said:

I don’t think the 10 bucks will have people move on however I wouldn’t be more concerned on what they will be doing next to get more out of you.


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Sadly, we probably will, especially if it becomes fleet wide. Obviously that's not the only reason, but it's the cumulative effect and I'm sure there are more passenger unfriendly changes coming.

That particular fee makes me pay for something that is supposedly in place to limit waste, but we don't waste food. It penalizes my husband and I because he orders 2 mains but doesn't eat a soup, a salad or a dessert. I mainly eat just the entree and occasionally a dessert. So, we are being asked to financially supplement the couple next to us that ate 2 four course meals or the person that orders heaps of food and doesn't eat it. How is that equitable?

If the fee isn't to limit waste, then it should be just an additional fee to eat, period. Just charge people like they do when you eat in the alternative dining venues. Which, by the way, will be here before you know it, especially if you don't push back when they try to implement things you don't agree with.  

Please leave off the business discussion when you reply. There are plenty of those closing their doors because they refused to make their decisions palatable to their customers. The customer used to be King, but sadly most have forgotten that.

We had just returned to HAL in 2018 after deciding to try them again since they no longer allowed smoking on the balconies. We did 2 14 night cruises last year and purchased 4 FCD but I'm finding it hard to find cruises and ships I want to sail for various reasons. 

Cruising is changing but it's not for the better, in my opinion.

2 hours ago, LMaxwell said:

Corporate understands ONE language:  Money.  Removing $10 from HSC would get much more notice as to disapproval of this program than sending an email.

Removing the $10 from HSC only penalizes the staff who have no control over the situation and have been put in the crosshairs. I would never advocate that. 

An email and/or comments on Twitter and Instagram will be effective. 

16 minutes ago, AmazedByCruising said:

 

That's not very fair is it? "This restaurant has the audacity to charge me extra for ordering extra food, let's punish the waiter". 

It really isn't and I would never do that, but isn't it a shame that the powers that be don't take that into consideration?

1 minute ago, OlsSalt said:

Bingo. Find another cruise line. Problem solved. 

Not a problem for me, but I can see I touched your HAL nerve. 

7 hours ago, Hawaiidan said:

 

Yes  your right ...I think the  complaints posted here  will only serve to allow people to vent. 

In the big picture, I dont think  management will be affected  to any extent. 

 

 Seriously I think the $10 is both minuscule and appropriate to the situation.   Hey don't they charge $15 for Caneleo ( the worst Italian I have ever tasted)  that used to be free?   Don't they charge like $20 on top of  $35  for the pinnacle for some entrees or a second course ?       No one is complaining about  those..... that is my point about $10 ( which people lay down close to that. without a second thought for a happy meal without a second thought)

 

 I will confess that personally, I feel ordering 2 of anything is just plain excessive and poor manners.   In a 4 course dinner I seldom order more than 2 or 3 courses and savor them.  The exception being tasting menus..    That's me, that's where I am coming from...you dont have to agree..that's OK... if you disagree I dont hate you !

Well, I'll complain about them....I don't eat there either, EVER! 

Well, let me tell you our scenario. My husband doesn't waste his time on an appetizer or a salad, he's a meat man. So he's going to order 2 of them. He doesn't do dessert, either. So, now are you calling that excessive and poor manners? Please tell me now, because I can't tell if your last name is Post. If so, let Emily speak.

There are lots of things I can't stand in restaurants and the people that eat in them, but I'm not going to be telling anyone what they can or can't order. I've seen a huge amount of waste, but most of it is in the Lido and if you really want to see waste, see what parents and their kids waste on Disney Cruise Line.

My pet peeve is people who don't chew with their mouth closed. Hey, HAL, how about a fee for that?

The charge for an additional entree is asinine. If people are ordering food that they don't eat, then have the head waiter come to their table and inform them that if they do that again, that there will be an additional charge. 

So, my husband and I don't waste food and if HAL wants to charge us as though we do, we will look into other cruise lines or we will do our vacations on land on our own terms.

51 minutes ago, Hawaiidan said:

Your talking 2 very different companies   Disney VS Carnival  ( HAL  ir really a up scale Carnival)    Also given prices on Disney are among the highest.    AND  Disney raised them more.   They saw a 4-5% decline but a 9% increase in profit.

I really don't see your point.

My point is that the cruisers didn't acquiesce. They made their voices heard and that is relevant on any cruise line no matter how much they make or don't make.

You don't seem to think CC members can have much impact(re your responses to @kazu,) but I think they have to try. I think for every person on these boards, we all have some influence on many other cruisers that aren't here.

Finally, I think the cruisers that are being subjected to this "test" without prior notification are going to let HAL know what they think too. 

11 minutes ago, Hawaiidan said:

The  protest on this board is probably less than .01% of their customer base.     Its a beautiful dream to have.    I live in the real world    Your protests have no teeth  and you have no leverage.      Best to enjoy life and not beat your head against a wall.  Life is too short.  There are many other options to HAL..... put your energy there.

My experience doesn't support your opinion.

Disney tried to implement a charge for a beloved item from their room service menu. There was a huge response from their cruisers! Low and behold the item remains free on the menu today. 

20 minutes ago, AmazedByCruising said:

Thank you! I really thought it was the rich and famous who could afford cruising before, say, 1980. I was envisioning crew with white gloves, men wearing top hats, and ladies wearing a million worth of diamonds. And long sea days, where daily activities would be being playing bridge or shuffleboard and ordering entrees. 

Didn't you see Titanic?

7 minutes ago, Hawaiidan said:

Totaly the best way to look at the situation.  There comes a point when your bailing against the tide.   Good attitude

I'd rather go down fighting than to give up without a fight.

6 minutes ago, AmazedByCruising said:

Another way to look at it is that they try to find out what people really want or dislike, and adjust their services accordingly. And that's precisely what a business should do IMHO, no matter how many people say that the product should still have all the features it had in the 80s, forgetting that almost noone could afford a cruise at the time. 

My husband and I went on our very first cruise only 3 years out of college. It was a short one with a guarantee inside cabin. Very affordable and we were treated like kings, just like those people in the penthouse suite. 

So, I can't agree that no one could afford a cruise at that time. 

We did several short cruises until our income and earned vacation time allowed us to do longer cruises. Now that we have all the time in the world, I can afford to be choosy and more selective. 

4 minutes ago, Hawaiidan said:

At that point, you have 2 choices accept the change    OR, Explore other options, of which there are many. 

First, I'm going to fight the change before I accept the change. I'm not going to just roll over and accept it without giving them my opinion.  I've seen pushbacks that have been successful.

If I have to move on, believe me, I will. I'm not afraid of that. I've been cruising since the early 80's and only have loyalty status on one. As soon as they start doing things I don't like, I'm out of there.