Banditswife

Like others have said- All cruise lines are trying to make a come back after being shut down for almost 1.5 yrs. Even after restart they had a bunch of new rules to follow, plus people were/are still afraid to cruise. They have to make cut backs in order to keep sailing. We, as people who enjoy cruising, have decided we still enjoy cruising even though we miss some of our favorite things. Carnival stock has dropped from $27 a share to less than $10, but we hang on to it for the OBC & the hope it will recover eventually. Yes I miss the shows, the live bands, the better food offerings- but being on a cruise is better than staying home doing my own dishes, making my own bed, cooking my own meals.

In Oct 2021, the crew seemed so happy to be back to work. Most went out of their way to make our cruise enjoyable. Was it perfect? Of course not. But it was great seeing so many crew members happy to be at work.

I had never heard the term "real ID" prior to today, I think when we got our stars it was called "enhanced" drivers license.

Thank you Kazu & all others. Love all the pics & comments. Hope your foot is healing & you will be out of that wheelchair soon. An injury is never good, bummer it happened so early in your vacation.

IIRC it was only $10 above the normal renewal fee. We were told that it was a 1 time fee, from then on our licenses would have the star when renewing.

Thank you for your review. We spent 21 beautiful days on her this past Oct. Loved the crew & ship.

We paid the extra to get the star on our licenses when we renewed. I had not heard the term "real ID" prior to this post. As far as cost goes, it is a 1 time fee, you retain your star each time you renew. I am not sure if this would hold true if your name changed though.

we are doing Pinnacle with our HIA pkg. Am I understanding gratuity is included with that. Correct? If we get awesome service, we might tip extra, if not, will leave it as is. We have only dined at Pinnacle 2x, service wasn't horrible, but not stellar either.

Was Wifi good enough to get/send emails? Texts w/photos? I hope to check in with our pet sitter using emails or texts.

Yes you can pre purchase water to have in your cabin from the HAL website. It is pricey IMO. You can also bring up to 12 cans per person----no plastic bottles allowed. The water from lido is good & we drink from the tap in our cabin, glasses are provided in the cabin. You can also bring your own refillable water bottle (empty) from home.

My sail & sign card is usually on a lanyard around my neck, my purse has nothing of value in it nor is the purse valuable. I guess my phone is more valuable, but easy to replace. But I have never had an issue doing this. People are usually respectful of other people's property. People leave their stuff out by the pool area to save their lounger, why not on a table in Lido? My father had a saying: "if someone steals something from me, they must need it more than I do."

Because the muster drill is now less people at each station at the same time, I have found there is less chaos out at the actual muster stations than when we all had to gather at same time, place. We can now find our stations at a leisurely pace.

While I hope to never experience a true emergency while onboard a ship, I am a seasoned cruiser & hope I know what to do in an emergency. I would think or hope that newer cruisers probably do pay closer attention to the safety briefing & know where to go in case of a true emergency.

I guess the chair tipping thing could be a tripping hazard. I just usually let a crew member know I am coming back or leave a phone or purse behind. Silverware still rolled up is another indication the person is coming back.

I believe I get more from watching it on the TV than I did when we stood out on deck with a bunch of people, some sweaty, smelly, some drunk. Less distraction & actually going to the muster station helps us to know where to go in case of an emergency. Crew members have their drills on a routine basis. watching a video & unpacking are similar to cooking dinner & watching TV- I can multi task.

Our turn in 3 weeks. Can't wait

For us, we are on a B2B. The 1st cruise has kept KWest on itinerary, 2nd changed to Bimini. So I was kind of happy with the change after reading reviews on Bimini. It seems like a good beachy option. HMC does have beautiful clear water & is a wonderful beach day. 🙂

Notice the ice cream cone 3rd person from right- LOL

We are so happy they have discontinued this practice. On Carnival, we sat in a dining room for 2-3 minutes while a crew member demonstrated how to use the life jacket. IIRC it was even quicker on HAL.

1)We booked B2B casino offers, the OBC shows up under "special services." 2)We tried to get military & shareholder credit on a previous casino offer & were denied, so we didn't try this time. I don't think they allow it on deeply discounted cruises. 3)No "included" shore ex on ours, so cannot answer. Also curious about HIA & free drinks in casino offers. asked by Atistec

We have the very same itinerary Dec 3-10. Don't be surprised if KWest is changed to Bimini Bahamas especially if there is another ship in port that day. Ours was changed from KW to Bimini. Speculation on our roll call was that KWest doesn't want that much cruise ship traffic. Gr Cayman & HMC are definitely tender ports. Last visit to HMC, tendering went very quick & smooth, seems like that depends on how many ships there are that day. Have fun

Agree with Cruiser Bruce--we have been on 1 HAL & 3 CCL cruises since the restart. Both lines are doing the safety briefing on your in room TV, then you go check in at your muster station where they scan your room card. Both lines made it very quick & easy. We enjoyed being able to unpack our luggage while watching the safety talk. Such an improvement over standing out on deck in a huge crowded group. Just remember, you do need to make sure your key card is scanned- I think they only need to scan 1 card from each cabin.

I am not sure how to figure out the voyage #, sorry. The voyage

Thank you for this review. It got mixed reviews on the HAL web site. We have this tour booked for our Nov cruise. Had been to Amber Cove previously & didn't want another pool day this trip, but also didn't want to break the bank. I am glad you had a good tour.

We do have Tamarind & Pinnacle reservations with our HIA pkgs- 2 bookings on NS Nov 26- Dec 10. But I will definitely get my sweet tooth satisfied with a cookie from Gr Dutch Cafe. And if we are tired from a busy day ashore, we might just do the $15 filet from Pinnacle. But we usually enjoy the company of others in the MDR or Lido.