dr.dawg

hi, folks. i know this has probably been covered before, so i appreciate your tolerance. i am on a 14day b2b on the nieuw amsterdam. i have pill containers for two weeks, but i will be leaving 2 days prior to cruise and returning 2 days after. do we have to take pills in original bottles? or can i pack up two cell containers and put other pills in a baggie? taking a large bag of pills in original containers is really bulky. i take 14 pills a day; and some come in very large bottles. hope you can help. i cannot do without most of these medications. thanks. dawg

ps. i always take a list of my meds in my suitcase. and i have cruise health insurance.

to jean1946. that is hilarious, of course -- but only up to a point. believe it or not i've met a lot of 'cruisers' who don't know the ship they are on, or are going on, or just went on. duh

to the cont

rary. there are four sea days on this itinerary; and an assumption was made -- maybe wrong -- that these would be 'formal night' days. hence dining at canaletto four nights, and other venues when formal wear was not required. don't be so quick to judge.

If you walked off the gangway, it was a great cruise. If you used the gangplank, it was't.

booked on b2b from 3-23 through 4-6. hope forms re on seadays. four forms, we booked canaletto; other times tamarind and pinnacle. will not do dress for formal nights. if this changes, we'll eat in our room. or get a sandwidch somewhere -- absolutely no dressing for formal nights. it is a charade to pretend to be having decent food. ugh.

my great grandmother could not stand some of the decor on the titanic -- but she signed on anyway. and complained - at least for the first night or sol she tried the piazza once, but it was too salty for her neopolitan taste buds, so she just listened to the music. 'nearer my God to thee' was her fave; i gave up on hal ships when they could not straighten the lamp shades.

maybe, sail, but on my last cruise two years ago i had to have wheelchair help getting to my cabin. for muster drill, i asked for help getting to my lifeboat station, and the front desk just laughed it off -- if you can't get there, you will be tossed off the ship. and i called well in advance. it was a nightmare of pain, i can tell you. luckily another passanger and his wife helped me. hal -- the do it yourself or suffer cruise line.

wow, sounds wonderful, time to time ship to ship again and again over and over on and on more and more better and better and so on and so on. aren't superlatives just grand, especially more and more?

so, dressing in tuxes and gowns makes the mdr dining experience 'premium.'?

all of the costumes in the world won't improve the service, the quality of the food, the quality of the deserts, the quality of the coffee, the wine list, and on and on. it is still slow service, mediocre food, and the rest. why not just dress down to the experience? and no wonder the lido is so popular; it is a more reasonable and better experience for most cruisers these days. there is no reason for lots of folks to gussy up for the mdr; not worth the time, effort, and money. the whole 'code' is a joke. make it 'premium', hal, and they will come dressed.

and just why would anyone pay the outrateous fare r/t boston to sail on that decrepit, rusty, nasty old tub?

chef, rudi? a laugh and a half. food on hal is mediocre or worse, by most anyone's standards. maybe not on the elite, expensive 'chef table'. but just try the gruel served anywhere else. i can deal with 'gruel,' but i cannot deal with outrageous 'awards.' why not advertise that 'if you are among the elite on hal, you may be invited to rudi's table and be served something worth to eat.' otherwise, forget it. poor banquet and buffet food for you. trashy leftovers, overpicked desserts, cold rolls, soups not worth a russian buffet, tough steaks, overcooked lamb chops, and mushy veggies. and little butter or stringly sauces. and wilted lettuce salads. and room service? well, only the chocolate cake seems to arrive in edible condition. i order broth with rice and chocolate cake. that seems to have escaped 'chef rudi.' he's a joke.

oh, forget it, folks. we'll just 'play it by ear' as musicians say. didn't expect much help anyway; just complications and misdirections. that's ok. thanks, anyway

thanks, sail, but i am neither cruise-experienced or wealthy enough, like yourself, to have free dining venues right and left. i still enjoy cruising, and i do admire your means and ability to be 'above it all.'

heaven sakes. i only asked a simple question. scenario; no cancellation, no nothing. booked pre-cruise on credit card. i am the one who booked it for 2 with my credit card. the charge shows up pre- cruise; full price. ok. we show up at the restaurant, reservation fine, meal fine. but i deserve a 50% discount since the meal is on my bill. this has been ok in the past. but now, how do i get my discount? hal charged my credit card pre-cruise for the full amount of the dinner for 2. on my pax 1 account. now if the meal on my charge bill is, let's say, x amount of dollars, am i going to get credited for half of the cost of that meal on obc, which i have in the past, or what? to simplify even more; a night in tamirind is 40 bucks for 2; on my account. but i am a 4star, which means it should be 20 bucks. where does this show up; i already paid the 40 bucks. no cancellations, no nothing, just simple answers from regular pax, not those staying in luxury suites, please. who could not probably

care less.

my post was NOT about cancelling anything; i'm totally happy with the eight reservertions i made. i was asking about getting the 50% rebate. thanks, folks, for your attention to this question. the issues of cancellatins, etc., are not to my question. my question is if i go to the venue with my friend, and we eat there, how is the rebate taken care of. thanks, anyway.

still confused. i mean, if meal charged to my acct. at canaletto, and on my accout i can get 50% off, and the original charge is on my credit card, how can i get $10 off; is that obc? please, this is a simple question, and thanks for helping me with advice.

hi, all. i am a 4-star mariner sailing from march 23 through april 6 on the nieuw amsterdam. i prebooked -- well my ta did it for me -- eight dinners at specialty restaurants. 4 canaletto, two each pinnacle and tamarind. the full cost was put on my charge card. now, my question is how do i get my 50% off? is it through an obc registered for each meal at the time of dining? in other words, i have already paid full price for the meals, so what now? thanks so much for your words of wisdom.

i rarely go to the mariner brunch any more; but if i ask at the front desk, well, voila, they are delivered to my cabin. and sometimes more tiles than i ask for. my usual cabinmate doesn't want his, so i have enough tiles to, well, tile.

mariner brunches are, imho, nothing special any longer -- a crowded 'cattle call.' once, there was good music, place cards, and on and on. now, just a mob scene.

mamaofami, no they don't under many circumstances, but cruise ships which are foreign-flagged must report noro to the cdc if more than five percent of passengers are confirmed with the illness. 114 out of, say, 1200 pax is a lot more than 5 percent. news sources monitor cdc.

simple, sherry. the 'dress code' is 'suggested.' they might enforce it in the mdr, pinnacle, or tamarind, but not in lido or canaletto for sure. and rarely if ever in the show lounge; lots of people change after mdr dinner to attend shows -- like it or not. now, i always wear nice slacks and a dress shirt on 'formal nights', but never a jacket or tie; and eat in the lido or canaletto without any problem. such is the 'state of the art' on hal, i suppose. hope you enjoy your cruise.

and, please, no controversy here. rules are as rules are enforced. and hal doesn't enforce the 'dress code' to any great extent.

i do, indeed, appreciate that fact. i just wonder why no one ever heard of these things when i was growing up. we all ate pbj. i do appreciate your post and am duly educated. thanks.

okay, i'm ready to be educated. what did women or men do in the past century -- on buses, trains, planes, ships? did they all suffer from scent allergies? did they sneeze uncontrolled? did they suffer headaches? did they refuse to fly, or sail, or take a train because of it? did they just stay at home? and how about vacations by car? weren't there fumes? were they all hacking by the side of the road at those little picnic tables? were the kids also sick and vomiting? hmmmmm. i don't know; i never had these problems, but that is just me. help, i need enlightenment.

bet she would have not given you a 'night 2.'

and, pardon me please for adding this. all ports of call and venues have scents, which i would find sad to miss. the incense of the cathedrals, the burning coconut hulls and frangipani in the south seas, the seafood bakes of the northeast and canada, the sea air of the northwest, the spice markets of northern africa and the eastern med, and on and on. let us do away with these, or wear masks to prevent them. not for me. do you think there are not scents in heaven?

heavens, this whole thing is just byzantine. i mean, what next? the soap you use in the bath/shower -- verboten -- your shampoo -banned -- the mouthwash you use -- banned -- the toothpaste -- offensive -- the deodorant, especially the deodorant -- allergic to many -- peanut dust, smoke of any kind, hair spray, shave cream, lots of medications, especially for the skin, and so forth. one could continue the list ad infititum. where does it all stop, and DON'T SAY 'WITH A BIT OF REASON.' there is NO REASON when these things start. none. so, stay at home, in a sterile environment, shielded from the world with whatever, never go anywhere, and enjoy life. but not with friends, because one of them may have dabbed with chanel or shalimar. or patted on some old spice. lordy, my herbs in the garden have begun to sprout out -- there goes the rosemary. hack, hack.

but i must admit, 'white shoulders' always made me gag; but, then again, maybe it was who was wearing it. lollollol

you and your dh will be fine; i haven't taken a coat and tie on a hal cruise in over ten years. i make reservations for canaletto for formal nights -- no formal wear suggested there -- and make pinnacle reservations for non-formal nights -- again, no dress-up. it can work. i don't do the mdr.