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So glad I found this thread, I am 21 days out from my first X cruise on Solstice in a Royal Suite. Was just starting to wonder if I should be hearing from someone and if I needed to book specialty dining, etc. Sounds like I don't need to poke the bear yet.

If it is a monitored test required, Emed is a great option ($150 for a box of 6). I carry one or two of the kits when I travel and if I need a test I can just connect online (or on my smart phone) and they monitor and the whole thing takes less than 20 minutes and can be done anywhere in the world. Has definitely come in handy on a couple occasions. That being said things are rapidly changing and it is impossible to predict that far out, in general we are seeing a rapid shift back to "normal" with minimal or no testing requirements (or even vaccine requirements) even from places like Canada that took a more conservative approach so there is probably a decent chance you will not even need the monitored test.

When I call the IT help desk at my employer (a very large hospitality company) they frequently will say "xxx is currently not working. We are aware of the issue and working towards a fix. Presently there is no ETA." I think it is very similar to HAL working on some of these issues 🤣. I think what we will see is a shift towards opt in vs opt out both on land and at sea. The vast majority of people just go with the default. By having people request cleaning instead of having it automatically you might have 20-25% of people request service on any given day, instead of 10% of people request to not have service when daily housekeeping was the norm. This obviously adds up to enormous labor savings, but also with current labor shortages coming out of the pandemic allows them to spread the current team out farther. The problem is of course that no one then wants to flip the switch back and add the labor back when things start to normalize. There used to be It is the same thing with airline change fees, it took the pandemic to make them go away - and we have yet to see if they stay gone. It all adds up to billions and billions of dollars for these companies. Just like self check out at the grocery store & self check in at the airport, everything evolves towards what will bring the most dollars to the bottom line.

I feel like this is a Koningsdam thing. On all of my other ships (except a 1 night on Eurodam) it has all been posted by accounting mid cruise, or even on the first night. Every time on Koningsdam I have to have the Neptune concierge pester accounting. I get back onboard Monday so I might keep quiet and see what happens until the end of the cruise. They really need to update their systems so mariner discounts are applied at the time of booking. Or do what they do with spa bookings and just credit the purchase to your account and then apply the charge at the time of service with the appropriate discounts reflected.

IMO getting stock for a $100 discount on a single cruise or even several cruises is a very poor investment (unless you think the stock is going to go up & the discount is just a nice bonus of a stock you would buy anyway). That being said if you cruise a lot on Carnival brands the math changes, particularly with stock prices as low as they are now. I have met some folks who lost $4-5K on CCL but have made more than that back in shareholder benefits because they cruise that much. Also keep in mind that if you buy 100 shares for the shareholder benefit, the stock price changes are basically irrelevant. You have to hold those shares as long as you want the benefit, you will never sell those 100 shares and as long you cruise so as CCL does not go bankrupt it will go up and down for as long as you live. At $7 a share I think it would be hard to pass on for anyone with 5-6 cruises in the next year or so.

The most creative one I had was in the bathroom on Koningsdam as @Florida_gal_50 mentioned. The cabin stewards on this cruise gave me one every day (and I think 2 on one day). Always fun coming back and seeing what they came up with.

If you have an IRA or 401(k) you can get it through the same brokerage you already use. Otherwise there are many online options for trading, but I am not certain the CC terms allow us to post any specifically here.

I absolutely love HAL, but I don't think it sounds like your cup of tea. Below is the daily program from a one night cruise on Eurodam. Given it was a 1 night cruise they had everything going - usually there is no main stage show on embarkation day, there would usually be a single showing of a talk (150 years of Holland America History) or movie along with all the music walk venues. The Music Walk is your main entertainment. BB Kings, Lincoln Center Stage, Billboard Onboard & Rolling Stone Rock Room (Pinnacle Class ships only). If none of these are your cup of tea you will be sadly disappointed. There are 4 live shows done by the Step One Dance Company. You may see 3-4 of these on a 7 day cruise. Primarily it is canned music combined with modern dance and a very fancy background on LED walls. I believe 2 of the shows have performers from the other Music Walk venues come in and do some of the music. The last bit of entertainment was BB Kings which ended at 11:45 PM. It is followed by Dancing to the Hits which is basically a DJ-less playlist of modern music. Each Music Walk group performs 6 nights out of 7 so mid-cruise there will be one day each of them does not perform. Additionally BB Kings & Billboard will have reduced or eliminated performances on the days they perform on the main stage. On most cruises there are 1-2 comedy performances most nights in BB Kings. I will also note that on many of our recent HAL cruises the BB Kings sets which should be 2-3 45 minute sets have turned into 2-3 10 to 15 min sets including about a 5 or 6 minute instrumental in the middle. On this one night cruise they did full 45 minute sets, but I got the feeling HAL was trying to put out all the stops to make sure people felt they got their moneys worth in the 18 hours onboard. Assuming you are in international waters, the casino is usually open until 1:30 or 2 (or maybe later) depending on how many people are gambling. There is usually at least 1 bar that is open about that late also, but if people are turning in early, you may just find that the bar closes early also. Given what you said you enjoy I don't really think HAL sounds like a great fit. It is a very laid back and relaxed atmosphere onboard. A hand full of kids & younger people (a lot more in summer and school breaks and on 7 night cruises). Have always found the kids and teens to be well behaved - no big groups running around the ship or banging on doors.

I absolutely love the Neptune Suites. They are very dangerous though, once you upgrade you will not want to go back. About 10 years ago we did our first cruise in a Neptune, at the time I traveled with my mom & great aunt and we found the balcony cabin was just too cramped for us. We surprised my great aunt with the Neptune - she took one look at the dressing room and said "never again in a cabin." She was right, we have not once gone back. Beyond the space, upgrading to a Neptune is a very big upgrade in terms of amenities and treatment onboard. You get all the Club Orange perks included (and get to dine in the CO if you are on a Pinnacle class ship or have breakfast in the Pinnacle Grill on all other classes - I actually prefer the Pinnacle Breakfast to the CO one). The Neptune concierges are all wonderful. There are many things the front desk or other departments have said no to that the concierge was able to get turned into a yes for us. A few small examples of things they have done above and beyond for us over the years Back when they had the DVDs still they were required to be turned in 24 hours before final disembarkation for inventory. After being informed of this we asked the concierge and they personally went and got us a DVD so we could watch a movie while we were packing. Somehow on every cruise with fixed seating we always end up with a terrible table - either crammed in the former orchestra pit which is half way between decks so you can only see peoples feet while eating, or in a corner where there are no windows and all we can see is a bus station. Even when the Maitre 'd has said there is no room, the concierge has been able to get us either a much better window table, or a fixed reservation in open seating for the duration of the cruise with the same waiters (which is the main reason we like fixed seating). They have handled many billing issues, shore excursion cancellations and rebooks as well as specialty dining reservations. You never need to wait in line at the front desk, you can stop by or call the concierge and they will take care of everything - if it is something another department needs to fix they will take care of making sure it happens so you can just get back to enjoying your vacation. We have rented a wheel chair for my mom or great aunt on several cruises. On two occasions the wheel chair was broken. Unfortunately there is a very dumb policy that HAL is not permitted to switch a broken chair out with one of their stock (from the same 3rd party company, mind you) without the approval from the company. The concierge has taken care of calling the company and harassing them to get the needed approvals and coordinated with housekeeping to have the fixed chair delivered. When luggage direct is not available, the concierge has been able to print boarding passes for us at 24 hours prior to our flight. On one very special occasion they arranged a bridge tour for me with a small group of folks when they learned how interested I was. Additionally the Neptune suite is larger & we have found that we spend much more time in our cabin & balcony with the extra space (bonus points for an aft wrap balcony). The Neptune Lounge is also a great place to grab a cup of coffee or snack during the day, and the concierge can arrange tea or canapés in your suite as well. I would absolutely upgrade to a Neptune over a Signature for ~1,300 but I also exclusively book Neptunes on HAL so take that with a grain of salt.

Off to Vancouver on Monday to board Koningsdam for a short trip down the West Coast. I have booked the pre-cruise hotel which usually puts you in group A & 11 or so. When I downloaded my boarding pass I am in group F at 11:40, which is strange because at 20 minute intervals that would put group A at 10 AM. I am not particularly worried as the pre-cruise transfer always takes care of everything & we depart at 11PM so there is truly no rush. That being said I got this notification asking us to come an hour later than the assigned boarding time and between 11 & 6 and to not leave the ship after boarding despite being in port until 11. I guess the boarding assignments glitched out and gave everyone an hour earlier boarding time?? They also indicate we will go through Immigration (I presume US immigration?) which also is strange as we dock in Victoria on Tuesday. I guess it will be fun to see how this all ends up working out. "Please be advised that guests embarking Koningsdam in Vancouver, British Columbia on Monday, October 24, 2022 are strongly encouraged to arrive one hour after your pre-assigned embarkation time stated on your boarding pass, or to arrive at the terminal between 11:00 AM and 6:00 PM for security screening and immigration clearance. Once embarkation formalities have been completed in the terminal, all guests will be encouraged to remain on board the ship per immigration and security regulations in Vancouver."

Very unlikely to get a reduction I am afraid. I agree, the best to hope for is to upgrade to a nicer cabin.

There is one caveat to this - if you added your cruise to VeriFLY before the new requirements changed on Oct 1, you might need to delete the cruise and then add it again. I had no issues after deleting my cruise and re-adding, once I loaded my vaccination the test was not required.

I have always been able to order 2 appetizers (soup & salad or salad & something else usually) plus one main & one desert for the cover charge. I think many people (most maybe) usually do this for a specialty restaurant. I wish they would just raise the price of the cover charge a few dollars rather than nickel and dime you at every turn. I also notice that the lobster mac & cheese is gone which I always found to be quite good. The big question now is will this roll over to MDR and other specialty restaurants as well.

It is only free in Seattle because the port provides the service. All other ports that it is offered charge a fee which is $25 as I recall.

You should absolutely pre-book if you want it for the full cruise. This can only be done by calling Ship Services at 1-800-541-1576 option 2. Pre-cruise you can only book for the full length of the voyage. You can reserve an individual day onboard based on availability. Keep in mind cabanas are very popular and routinely sell out for the full cruise (in many cases even if the ship is not full).

This is super helpful, thank you so much!

Quick question for the experienced RS folks - how many can you fit for a in a RS on the Constellation for a cocktail party between the living area and the balcony?

IMO HMC is a perfect beach day. While it is a tender port, they have very large ferry boats/tenders at HMC and do not use the life boats. This means they can get people back and forth quickly and there is not much of a wait to go ashore. Additionally they set up a very nice (and free) lunch BBQ on the island. Also as it is their private island there is no one there trying to sell you a tour or goods when you get off. They do have a couple stores selling goods and you can do a tour if you want. Very nice beach which is easy to walk to from the tender area.

On our July 9th Eurodam sailing they told us they were out of stock of the Club Orange bags and did not get anything.

This is so helpful, thank you all so much. We have been sailing with HAL for quite a long time and have always been spoiled as they have rooms ready by the time people board. Good to know what to expect for our first X cruise.

Can't wait to hear all about it! I hope you have a fantastic trip.

Does anyone know off the top of their head if the bed in CS on Millennium can separate into twins?

On Eurodam last week none of the TV channels were working when we checked and the only one they got in the Neptune lounge was Fox. Not sure if this was the whole week or just an anomaly but we ended up being quite busy and only turned on the TV to check the map and the bow cam. OMG the first time I saw this I was so baffled by why they had so much advertising for their own programs. It does get very old very quickly. And I don't get why they do that because I think all the other news channels have regular commercials. It sure does make you aware of how much commercial time there actually is in a normal program.

Given they charged you $50, giving half a refund and 2 cocktail parties and the chance to win a dinner or something is an insult. I would cancel the excursion outright. Most people have the HIA package and get the drinks anyway. We are very sorry to hear about Seth. He was an absolute delight. I will look forward to sailing with him elsewhere once he gets his new business launched.

I always use the chat function for this as I can do other stuff while waiting for someone.If you booked through a TA they will need to do it, and they can actually cancel it in 2 seconds through their online portal if they booked it for you.