boze9999

We are all reading about the water concern and the canal - however why would HAL cancel one random canal crossing when they have so many fall / winter / spring ones both through the canal and in/out of the canal Lake Gate? (we're on one that is not the already cancelled 3/24/24 - so yes - all of us want to and need to know if it's across the panama fleet.

It IS indeed one of the worst functioning websitesI have never ending problems with Safari Like others, if I switch to Chrome almost all the problems disappear. 

8 hours ago, guerchino said:

Thank you for your answers.  I spoke to guest services before posting .  The person there “checked” , came back on and told me no limit and no priority for Neptune Suites.  It must be like Rick in Casablanca - she was misinformed.

Hi @guerchino - if you are on the Rotterdam, Nieuw Statendam and Koningsdam, OC is indeed limited as those ships have a dedicated dining room. Any of the other ships merely have a section of the main dining room which focuses on Club Orange Guests. IMO, you would benefit from paying for it on the three mentioned ships, however personally speaking (unless I really wanted priority tendering and boarding and a short que line for guest services, I would give some thought to the true benefits for you and they fit your wishes. 

2 minutes ago, Gail & Marty sailing away said:

Guests must submit the validation form annually to maintain eligibility for the promotion. 

Yes  -  @Gail & Marty sailing awayas all the community partners must...teachers, University of Washington, first responders/military. however I don't see anywhere where it limits guests to 1 p/yr. If so, that should be explicitly stated by HAL.

1 minute ago, boze9999 said:

please show us where it says that @Gail & Marty sailing away

 

This is direcly from HAL website 7/27/23 7:35PM

Terms & Conditions

AARP member benefits are provided by third parties, not by AARP or its affiliates. Providers pay a royalty fee to AARP for the use of its intellectual property. These fees are used for the general purposes of AARP. Some provider offers are subject to change and may have restrictions. Please contact the provider directly for details.

Onboard Credit through this offer is available in the following amounts: US$50 per stateroom for guests booked in an Interior or Ocean View stateroom on a 5-9 day voyage; US$100 per stateroom for guests booked in an Interior or Ocean View stateroom on a 10+ day voyage or Alaska Cruisetour; US$100 per stateroom for guests booked in a Verandah stateroom, Vista Suite, Signature Suite, Neptune Suite, or Pinnacle Suite on a 5-9 day voyage; US$200 per stateroom for guests booked in a Verandah stateroom, Vista Suite, Signature Suite, Neptune Suite, or Pinnacle Suite on a 10+ day voyage or Alaska Cruisetour. Onboard Credit is in USD, is neither refundable nor transferable, and has no cash value. Eligibility for this offer expires one year after validation is approved. Guests must submit the validation form annually to maintain eligibility for the promotion. Onboard Credit expires at the end of the Eligible Cruise and may not be used in the casino or on any other specified fees or items.

Offer is for new bookings only. Offer is available on select voyages. Offer excludes Grand World Voyages. Offer and/or its terms may be modified or withdrawn without prior notice. Other restrictions and exclusions may apply. Ships’ Registry: The Netherlands.

5 hours ago, Gail & Marty sailing away said:

More rules

It could only be used once every 12 months to ONE booking number.

please show us where it says that @Gail & Marty sailing away

19 minutes ago, Haljo1935 said:

So you did get AARP OBC on a booking?

other than asking my PCC to send me a new cruise confirmation, how do you know if you have received one of the community OB benefites (ie: the Teacher, Military, AARP, University of Washington or CCL) According to our PCC - HAL populates it but I can't find where you can find the credit on the website or app - and always have to ask my PCC to send me an updated one.) This has always been cryptic to me!

2 hours ago, prescottbob said:

Reply from HAL ( thru our TA) regarding credit for already booked cruises:

 

“This is only for new bookings made as of yesterday so we would not be able to do this for them. There are no exceptions to the start of the program date. It’s effective from bookings made from July 24^th onwards.”

 

And so it goes…

 

Be well & Safe travels,

 
Bob

We made two bookings yesterday @prescottbobat the same time the PR released - waiting patiently to affirm we ge the bonuses!

We buy FCDs on each cruise @POA1. On our most recent one in July, the consultants must have been extremely busy as we did not get a confirmation (from the form we put in their FCD box). Unless you actually want to book a cruise, there is no need for an appointment.

The current protocol seems that instead of always putting a paper confirmation in your door mailbox, they are more frequently emailing the confirmation of your FCD (which they charge to the CC on file). Usually we do get the confirmation before disemarkation, however on this last trip we received it three days afterwards! Importantly though - we have two more each for future bookings!

We got one of the most recent casino offers this month and when talking to our PCC we were able to add HIA. We did upgrade our room, so don't know if that made a difference @antkipper 

On 5/14/2023 at 10:08 AM, 1teach53 said:

As we begin our next cruise a few observations: 

The crew continues to be the highlight. So friendly and helpful!! They are tremendously over worked and short staffed! I feel bad for them! 

In the Lido no more picking up plates in a timely manner, wiping tables , providing water, coffee or helping disabled to seats & carrying plates etc. Hit and miss cleanliness in the public areas. You don’t see the cleaning & polishing hand rails & tables! ( like in years past) I question how much sanitizing they are doing? 

Rough, sometimes stained, and raggedy linens & towels. 

Food is fair to poor except in the specialty restaurants.

Perrier? Apparently they have never heard of it. Stevia , listed as available but non existent, bring your own, glad I did!!

We are hopeful for a better experience this coming week! 
Certainly not the HAL of yesteryear’s! 

We've been on a handful of cruises over the last year, so for other readers I'll add a few of my comments if I may. 

1. Cleaning / polishing etc...These crew membes were everywhere and each and every time I encountered one, I thanked them and they were excited and very grateful recipients of a tip - so little from a guest brings so much heartfelt gratitude from them!

2. Food - in my experience, always above fair to poor - and generally very good to exceptional. And yes - even in the specialty restaurants, it was sometimes fair, however with honest feedback, the servers were ready to make it right to elevate it to our expectations. 

3. Perrier - we had Perrier at every bar and restaurant on the ship - every day and night. The Perrier are the single serving size bottles. When at a restaurant, we also ordered and received the large Pellegrino bottles for sharing. 

I will add that sometimes, some of the bars ran out of some things during the day/evening, however other bars on the ship frequently still had it in stock. And most commonly the next day brings another round of replenishents.

I do truly wish you a better experience on your upcoming cruise and hope all of your faves are well stocked!

21 hours ago, TheEmerson said:

Is it possible to see who are the hosts for Club Orange?

The CO hosts are Rini and Wilder @TheEmerson

I find wifi when sailing through the inside passageway and the ocean route ok @gizmodog. The big challenge with ship wifi in Alaska is when parking at the ports with massive stone mountains blocking internet signals - that will interfere with ship wifi. Also Remember you're in the US so your cell phone coverage works in Alaska! FYI - you won't get wifi when you're cruising in Glacier Bay. 

As frequent cruisers, our solution is to go to guest services/Neptune Lounge every morning and request a printed invoice (which can vary from the app or tv summary we have found). Even though we shouldn't have to spend the time and energy, I would rather check the accuracy daily and get the corrections daily than argue over the cumulative errors at the end of the cruise. We present the errors highlighted/circled on a paper invoice, we ask them to make a copy so we always have our copy and a clean paper trail to monitor the corrected invoice the next day when we request our new printout. This is our system and has relieved a lot of end of cruise stress for us. 

I really like the new menu offerings and look forward to enjoying them the end of the month!

On our cruise on the NS a few weeks ago, we were surprised to be told we could only order one main p/p. We were a group and really like to do family share, which is challenging when some entrees only includes one or two items and some are too large for just one person.  I'm guessing things other than the price and menu are changing. We'll soon see!

37 minutes ago, Real NHDOC said:

We ate there last night. They are not closing Canaletto on Rotterdam but are introducing a new menu that eliminates the nightly specials. Why they have told you otherwise is beyond me but they probably don’t want people making reservations for certain nights based upon their preferences of the nightly specials. The new menu goes into effect on March 8

we would all love to see the new menu. If you're still onboard on March 8th, would you kindly photograph and post the new menu & HAL rules for what can be ordered. Thanks @NHDOC

We just got off the NS. We dined in the Canaletto and are used to ordering a handful of Mains to "family" share. We were very surprised when told "only one main per person and no extras"! Some sides are too small for sharing, yet some mains are too large for one person to eat. Italian sharing with a group is what it's always been about in the Canaletto! This was definitely a different policy than we've experienced on all of our sailings over the last 6-12 months. I know every ship has their own policies, however this was definitely not a policy we hope becomes fleet wide!

Enjoy Super Bowl on the World Stage and on the Lido Big Screen!!

2 hours ago, Ipeeinthepools said:

Ok not Netflix, but I expected to be able to stream ESPN for sports and probably the cable news networks.  The premium package does say sports.

Sports are hit and miss @Ipeeinthepools - due to the contracts the ship/HAL has with different networks and providers and your personal network providers to stream out of network and/or out of country. And the only thing I can add - there is no predictability on those options! 

it is the 5th one from the mailboxes and door. You can also get into it from the inside hallway (door by the elevator ((0214) and the 208 is on the inside man-door from the hallway. Door is unlocked and push the door opener button to the right and the door will open/close.

32 minutes ago, Crusin-Suzan said:

Errol will not be on the 150th on the Rotterdam!   Sorry to say as we will be on it!   Have sales with him many times over the years!

so sad....do we know if he will be on the 5-day preceding it?

55 minutes ago, Alphen said:

I do not understand the pessimism, just replayed video of the Captain talk on MS Rotterdam VII of our cruise in October last year, and he stated during the "Ask the Captain", that Rotterdam is using Starlink!!

 

Since Rotterdam is the newest of the fleet, I have no knowledge what the status currently is on the rest of the fleet.

We've spent about 90 days on the Rotterdam and the internet was excellent (Premium plan) everywhere we sailed, so that makes sense @Alphen. I also read somewhere that during covid, HAL significantly expanded all the ships' bandwidth which seems quite noticeable on the other ships I've been on post-covid. 

18 hours ago, Lildare said:

I was on Koningsdam 12/22-1/7 in the Mexican Riviera and had amazing internet speeds, I was streaming YouTube live and never ran into a throttle situation I’ve experienced pre 2020 on past cruise.  I purchased Premium internet with 4 devices, was in a cabin on deck 5 all the forward and another cabin deck 4 mid ship and there was no difference in connectivity.  The ship was full with many teens so I was anticipating slow speed.   I think I could have worked and done a video and voice Teams call but I did not try it.  I have cruised many times so I knew the speed was not normal based on being on the same ship 2021 in Mexico and Zaandam 2021 in New England.  I doubt Star Link has rolled out already unless something has changed?  What has everyone else been experiencing lately?  

I was also on the KD in Mexico from 12/29-1/7. I upgraded to Premium and was able to do zoom calls everywhere, whether on the water or at port. Definitely better than past times. I don't know if it was Starlink, but it made my life much better!

We've been on the Koningsdam for 17 days and very limited sporting events - including NFL games - So do NOT count on it depending on the network, your location, etc.