BearInStPete

HAL does laundry by the bag for $20 isn, its a small bag but you would be surprised what you can get into it. Alternatively, you can buy laundry for the week - don't know what the pricing is, but may be worthwhile, and you don't have to do it yourself. All the hotels on the land portion have self-serve laundry facilities.

No self-serve laundry facilities on the Vista or Signature class ships, only on the smaller ones.

Questions:

 

Can you make reservations for lunch at these two restaurants prior to boarding the ship? - generally No.

 

Do they both have window views? - available in both venues.

 

Cost for lunch at each of these establishments? Tamarind is complimentary, PG is $10.

 

Of the two, which is your favorite and why? I enjoy both and would recommend doing both for lunch if your personal schedule permits.

 

Thanks for your input

These venues may or may not be open at lunch consistently on your particular cruise, depends upon port schedules, special functions and, number of passengers on a sailing.

I have purchased the couples Spa Pass on prior sailings in the Caribbean and have enjoyed the value immensely.

On the Oosterdam, first-time cruise-tour to Alaska North-bound Glacier Discovery, with lots of long shore excursions booked on a port intensive cruise.

I "Think" that I will be spending too much time off the O in ports and on sea days will be more glued to the passing scenery to enjoy a week long spa pass and get the value out of it? Was thinking of maybe just purchasing a pass for the last sea day crossing the Gulf of Alaska to unwind. Any thoughts?

John

Keep in mind this is all general advice for the OP who is looking for deals on Neptune Suites. My experience is that everything being equal, ships book out from the top and the bottom, meaning the cheapest and most expensive categories book first. However, this is not always the case on particular sailings due to lots of factors (time of year, presence of groups, destination, etc). For the OP, the most advantageous deals are going to be on ships/sailings booking from the bottom up meaning suites are not selling well, and these almost have to be watched on an individual basis to identify them.

On my upcoming sailing on the Oosterdam, this sailing booked out from the top-down (Suites from the Pinnacle down sold first), it so happened for a special occasion I wanted a Neptune Suite, so I paid dearly for it - but felt at least comforted that I had been fortunate for some great suite deals on past bookings.

Also, there can be some pricing pressures on of HAL Caribbean sailings beyond mid-January because of full ship charter and large group activities.

Living in driving range from the departure ports gives you the most in flexibility to get last minute deals without having to buy expensive last minute air, particularly from FL to the Caribbean. I envy those who live close to Seattle/Vancouver that can pick up the off season interior cabin deals to Alaska for as little as $299/pp.

PS - once you book, monitor the roll-call for your cruise - oftentimes there will be "chatter" on upgrade opportunities discussed. I ended up in a 10-day on the Zuiderdam in latter october in a SS cabin for $1,250/pp (not a neptune though), and a Neptune on another 10 day for $1,800 per person. If you get an SS for less than $150/day or a Neuptune (SA - SC) for less than $200/day you are doing pretty good. YMMV.

Cheapest Caribbean fares are generally November through the second week of January, excluding the cruises that include a Holiday (although there are some good prices to be had over thanksgiving this year).

One strategy is to book a regular veranda on the cruise you want to go on - let that be your floor (minimum you would accept), then watch the prices up to the week before sailing and upgrade within your budget allowances into a suite. I have done this a couple of times with great success. Many shy away from cruises over 7 days that don't originate or end on a weekend because of traveling/vacation day logistics so they are likely candidates for generating some last minute deals.

General comment when reading cruise reviews here on CC - If you see very strong language either negative or positive, especially without well-laid out support, shy away from the review as it's likely an outlier. Particularly words like "Furious", "Ruined my cruise", and "Food was horrible" etc are dead ringers for bashing. Look for reviews where the poster had a legitimate issue and how it was resolved by the line. Question those who debate an issue that should have been addressed with cruise-line management. Lastly, look at someone's cruise-line pedigree and number of posts on CC - if not balanced/experienced - factor that into your evaluation. Many pontificate that various cruise lines are this or that, but have never personally sailed them.

Alaska is a unique animal for the cruise-line industry, the reason you see older ships in AK is two fold, many of the ships built in the 90s and early 2000s, had one or more of their engines that are gas turbines, which burn a lighter, more environmentally friendly fuel called Marine Gas Oil (MGO), or in the case of several princess and HAL ships, they actually can shut all the engines down in AK ports and run entirely from shore power. The second reason, is that the newest ships (i.e. large > 100,000 GRT) can't transit the Panama Canal due to its current size - Celebrity must have gotten a solstice class vessel there by circumnavigating around the Panama Canal.

I suspect you will enjoy the Oosterdam & happy cruising.

Sorry if this may have been repeated, but if you are doing a partial transit, and getting up early (5 am-ish) to view the inbound transit to Gatun Lake, and then get on a full-day excursion it makes for a very long day. I decided I would enjoy the transit both ways, and look to see the rest of the canal and excursions on a future visit, where I won't be as likely to worry about getting up early on canal day.

Everyone has different measures on how they enjoy a cruise - it's your cruise enjoy it the way you want to! Take this in consideration on evaluating anything you read here on CC, as each poster is going to have a different value system from yourself.

HAL will have LGBT/FOD meet and greets listed on the program the first or second night of your cruise, not all GLBT cruisers will participate, but generally a handful to a dozen couples, just depends upon the mix on board. The meetings will drop off or gain momentum as your cruise progresses. HAL does lots of all LGBT charters so is gay friendly. Your fellow passengers are mostly well educated and experienced travelers and gay friendly. The presence or lack of a GLBT roll-call on CC is MEH, so don't judge it one way or the other.

Thanks !!

The differences seem to be exactly what we are ready for. Stale is a great word to describe our "C" experiences..

 

We chose to cruise at the time we do to avoid kids. LOVE kids, have kids but would prefer not to vacation with them if possible - however we have never had an issue with kids on a cruise they always seem to be entertained really well.

 

I am a sit in the sun most of the day with a good book and a beverage kind of person. My husband on the other hand will spend a good portion of his day in the Casino :) or on our balcony reading. This is why we vacation so well. The one thing I did love on our last cruise was the Serenity deck that had big oversized covered chairs that offered shade and privacy. Anything like that ?

 

We will likely skip formal nights - We dress for work and social events surrounding our business way too much .. I kick off the heels and put on the flip flops for vacation, so we are happy to have a quick dinner on the lido for that evening...

 

We are really excited to go, it's nice to breathe life back into our cruise adventures..

Great;

That gives me an idea how to respond. Yes in the center pool area there are shaded loungers to use. HAL doesn't have the kid load that C does so the Serenity area is not as needed - all the outside decks are pretty serene. For future reference, several of the Vista and Signature class HAL ships have Retreat Cabanas, with more plush furniture and special attendants and menu of nibbles and services for a daily charge. The Westy does not yet have this amenity. But on deck 10 forward of the pool dome, there are some shaded areas that are quiet and less in the traffic flow than the center pool area on deck 9.

If you don't want to go out on formal nights - room service serves the full MDR menu during the MDR hours, the lido will serve most of the MDR menu. The Canelletto restaurant is usually not formal and is part of the Lido so you can use that as well. "Formal" does not necessarily last into the evening - people shed the formal/business attire after meal hours, you will still see it, but not be out of place.

I think overall you will enjoy your experience.

PS - Deck 3 has the wrap-around teak promenade, which is shaded by the lifeboats and has traditional teak loungers that are padded - great place to spend time reading and watching the water go by.

John

Good Morning

So, we have been Carnival cruisers for several years but after our last cruise decided it was time we try a new line. We have chosen HAL.

I just booked the Westerdam cabin V 8066 in January for a 7 day Eastern Carrib.

 

Just my dh and myself - We have been on 6 cruises but only with Carnival and are interested to know if anyone else has made the change from that line and what the biggest differences are.

 

I will say that cost wise this cruise only cost me $225 more than our last CCL cruise so that was a great surprise.

 

Looking forward to meeting new friends here and getting some feedback. Let the countdown begin

PS after seeing you past cruise pedigree, the Legend and Miracle are the same family of ships as the Vista-class HAL ships like the Westy. While floor plans are not the same, the general configuration and size will be similar to your past Carnival ships.

Interestingly, I had this very same cabin on the Westy a couple of years back. It's actually a great location, don't let others spook you about privacy concerns from the glass elevators - it's very limited. As for Carnival vs HAL shipboard life my Carnival experience is stale at this point. But I can tell you that night life is alive and well on HAL, perhaps not as gregarious as "C" but you will find night owls in both the northern lights disco and piano bar on most cruises. In the Caribbean in Jan you should find few kids and those will be well entertained by the cruise staff. Cabin stewards are lower key than C. There will be less pool games (no pool slides), fewer chair hogs, and fewer announcements, and more subdued interior spaces. Formal nights are not that formal in the Caribbean, business casual with a sports jacket gets you by for men. Food will be uniformly good in all venues and caters to a slightly more sophisticated palette than C, but is subjective. You will see Fresh flowers throughout the ship.

To get a more tailored response, comment on what things do you value on your past C cruises and I'm sure people will chime in with tailored comparisons for you.

John

Don't think you will have anything to worry about, only in the event of a full charter would hotel services be adjusted from normal HAL standards. In a CC M&G Mark Pells said that HAL would curtail bar and casino operations for a full charter, or modify menus, but this is all at extra cost for the charter group to cover opportunity costs of HAL.

Forever: my recollection is that it will be quite bright you will have the standard verandah door similar in size to a home sliding glass door at a 45 degree angle facing forward plus the SS size window over your desk/tv area, the 45 degree angle of the balcony door seems to expose it to more light, but this will be directed away from the bed. You will loose just a bit of cabin width in comparison to a SA cabin. This should be an excellent cabin for landscape and marine mammal watching. I watched the transit through the Panama Canal on Z. I have an aft wrap suite on the O coming up at the end of August as a splurge, but as you know there are few discounts on any balcony cabin to Alaska. But it's for a 20th anniversary cruise.

I would also say leverage the technology on today's ships - most have cam views off the bow and stern on the cabin TV so that if you need to spend some time in the cabin, you can monitor your surroundings a bit and be aware when there might be something to be seen on deck.

Keep in mind a couple of things that might have bearing on your decisions:

HAL and Princess have the most ships and more diverse cruise combinations, they also own infrastructure in terms of hotels, rail cars, tour buses (Gray Line Alaska) for land tours in the state.

All HAL ships have retractible covers over one of the pools so they can easily be used in AK.

You will have access to all shore excursions for the most part, I have not found any exclusives. DCL sometimes sends characters out on some excursions though.

There are State and Federal limits to access Glacier Bay National Park and Tracy Arm, some lines may not have full access to these destinations from a permitting lottery perspective so research carefully if these are important to you.

If you choose HAL, stick with the Signature-class (larger vessels) as they have discos (Northern Lights), and slightly larger Club HAL facilities since your group members would likely use these.

Celebrity, HAL, Princess IMHO have more readily comparable food and service levels to DCL, NCL has the most dining venues as an up charge (budget accordingly for this as MDR quality and options are more limited) - but you are constantly juggling for reservations (but some love the freedom).

Entertainment is very subjective, if you a looking for a younger overall demographic and more late night venues, Carnival, NCL, and RCCL will tend to have more, and more "on deck" children's activities weather permitting.

Just wanted to bump this up to see if any cruisers have any information on Vista class SS6117! :)

PS - we have a very similar cruise pedigree! Seeing as you are looking at this cabin for Alaska the sight-lines are definitely the prime factor for this cabin, the only thing that might be better is an aft-corner neptune suite, but they are pricier.

Also, with DCL, RCCL, and CCL in your background don't let others sway you about lack of night-life on HAL, there will always be some night owls in the piano bar, casino, and northern lights disco - just typically not voracious partiers. Alaska cruises by design are port intensive, early days, and excursions run to the longer and more athletic from the caribbean so in general many will turn in earlier.

Any other HAL specific questions feel free to ask!

Essentially you are guaranteed a Neptune Suite somewhere on "Z". In my book there is little risk as I'm not location sensitive. You will find many on CC that are very picky about their cabin location, deck, etc and will debate it forever. Assuming you are OK with any location, you likely got a great value in pricing, and a likely upgrade in your cabin to possibly a SA or SB.

Hi, in case you have not seen it, your aviation interests and Alaska interests might be well entertained by the Discovery Channel series Flying Wild Alaska which can seen on Netflix streaming or purchased on iTunes. They cover the State north of Anchorage. I power watched the entire series over the course of two weeks and the scenery and flying were amazing. Seems that all the port cities have sea planes near the cruise ships and the airports should be fairly close as the towns are no very big.

This author is a bit out of touch with the cruise industry and what I would expect for Faux News.

HAL often runs promo pricing on their larger ships for VH-GTY. Since there are only 4 of these on the ship you stand a good chance of an upgrade. I have booked these 4 times in the past and have gotten upgrades to VB and VA cabins. There are many on the forums that are very sensitive to cabin location and configuration, if you fall into that category you may want to pick your cabin in advance. Otherwise you should be happy with your assignment. Cabin assignments are usually made 7-10 days before sailing. Your experience may vary!

Many of HAL's crew and entertainers are "family" and HAL does many LGBT whole ship charters with RSVP/Atlantis and Olivia. You will meet at least some other LGBT couples on board if you attend the FOD/LGBT mixer, watch for it on the schedule. You will have a wonderful time!

The port is within a stone's throw from the airport, and also close to the beach, so if you are searching for rooms, searching beachfront properties or near the airport will get you where you want to be. Although not cheap the Hyatt Regency Pier 66 is very close to the port and you can watch the ships from your room.

It's not an auto charge per se, they place a hold on your credit card for that amount to ensure settlement of your on board account. You will only be charged your actual charges upon debarkation or you can settle in cash. This is no different than staying in a hotel where they hold the cost of your room plus a per day amount for incidentals upon check-in.