Windsailer

Right now you can bring as much as you want. Tomorrow - who knows. Make sure you read your "What you need to know" sheet online daily so you can keep up with the changes.

HAL should start charging for all entertainment. And renting out the deck chairs. The latter suggestion will cut down on the chair hogs. Double benefit!

End sarcasm.

Copper 10-8 is probably busy today confiscating the excess wines passengers (who had no notice) are trying to bring on board the ships leaving today. So I doubt we will hear from him.

More sarcasm - they can also drain the hot tubs. I never use those. Should cut back on the noro-virus on the ships, thus decreasing the staffing levels required in the MDR and Lido. Thus saving HAL more money!

She got an email Friday.

The revision better come pretty darn quick for us sailing in August in Europe. Assuming I wanted to ignore the policy, which really isn't in my nature, I can't take the chance of the wines being confiscated since I'm not hauling them back to Washington!

Let's see. If I don't take them with me, HAL will just add them to their wine vault, and sell them, making even more $$ for us shareholders.

conceptually I don't have a problem with this change. However I do have a problem with:

1. Lack of notice, especially to those of us who will be crusing in the very near future,

2. Not having an implementation date that is, say, December 1st, so that it won't apply to those cruises where you have already made final payment,

3. Not allowing additional bottled to be brought on in port if you pay the $20 "corkage" fee.

Bottom line, I like decent wine. I have an extensive wine cellar filled with nice wine. Most of the wine on the HAL wine lists is very expensive plonk.

As far as new/potential HAL cruisers, I took my 26 year old son on a 10 day cruise last December. After looking at the HAL wine lists online, he went to Total Wine and bought 5 nice bottles of wine, and drank most in the MDR. I told him about this new policy. He said he won't be crusing HAL again.

The Welcome Back / Welcome Home promo code is ZPM & ZPN

Re the Cruise Contract. That's not the Cruise Contract I agrred to when I booked my next 4 cruises (one of which is in a couple of weeks) or when I made final payment for two of them. You lawyers out there - can they change the terms of a contract just like that?

And is HAL going to be notifying all the booked passengers of this change?

I've never brought a case of wine onboard either, but have been less than impressed with the quality and prices of HALs wine.

I would be very interested to hear from those who currently are on board HAL ships - especially those in Europe - if they have been having the wine they bring on in ports confiscated and if this new policy has been communicated to them.

but based on what I read here on CC (thanks!) I emailed my TA this AM. She was able to add it to my existing reservation with no increase in fare. And was told that I would still have all my OBC (FCC/FCD and Welcome Back). When the confirmation came from HAL the Welcome Back OBC had been dropped off - that led to the long conference call with the TA, HAL supervisor and me. I got it back and the new confirmation shows it.

Even if you are told you won't lose any OBC I suggest you look at the written confirmation to make sure.

:mad:The small print in their Terms and Conditions:

Free Specialty Restaurant dinner: Guests who purchase an inside stateroom will receive one complimentary Canaletto dinner per person; guests who purchase Ocean-view Obstructed category staterooms and above will receive one complimentary Pinnacle Grill dinner per person. Specialty Restaurant offer is not transferrable or refundable. Reservations and dining times will be assigned and a confirmation card for Specialty Restaurant dining will be placed in your stateroom upon embarkation day.

What if I don't want to eat there at 8:30 pm on a Formal Night? Doesn't appear to be any way to change the reservation. I guess we'll see how it works during the roll-out.

I was able to add this to my existing booking - Alaska September 2014, but they intially took away my Welcome Back OBC. After a lengthy conference call with HAL and my TA, they gave it back, since it's listed as combinable in the brochure. HAL also said that the CCL stock OBC will also be combinable.

Thanks for the report. Have they been offering free shuttles in all the Ports?

Do you think it would be an easy walk from the cruise dock?

We had the same experience on 2/14 on the Noordam. Several people didn't show up until after their names were announced several times. And there were a number of people who simply couldn't stop talking. Guess it was too much to ask that they stay quiet for 15 minutes so the rest of us could hear what the crew were saying.

Just what I needed to know. We'll be there in February on the Noordam - and it's supposed to be the first day of Carnivale. But if it's cancelled we'd prefer to go to a beach instead.

How did you find out about the new water taxi to the beach? On the ship, inside the terminal? And did you hear how the water taxi was...did it go to a nice beach area?