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The big question is how many are on the new "Retreat Team" that is servicing Sky Suites. Presumably the 3 or 4 butlers are just for the upper suites and then there are a number of people on the team.

No free lobster in Club Orange, or anywhere on HAL for that matter. It is an upcharge even in most specialty restaurants. If I remember correctly Sel de Mer is the only one that has a lobster included in the restaurant charge (there is an exception on long cruises where lobster appears on the 3rd or 4th gala night).

we had 2 on Constellation in February and 2 on Solstice in November. I had just assumed that was the norm but it sounds like it fluctuates some. Totally makes sense the Edge class would get more. I have had a couple concierges tell me they dislike working that class because they don’t get to know all of their guests in the same way.

Holland America has some options out of San Diego also that may be worth considering if you don’t mind the drive or train down.

We got off Solstice on Friday and the menus were all in there for our cruise while onboard

Just finished a delightful Alaska cruise on Solstice - the crew and service were fantastic as always. One change we noted since our last X cruise was that they went down to one Concierge instead of two. We had limited desk hours (about 3 hours in the morning and 6 hours in the PM) rather than being staffed all day. Based on what I could gather the second concierge was sent to another ship and they did not expect them to be replaced. Our concierge still did a fabulous job for us despite being by herself, and the butlers (excuse me, Personal Retreat Hosts) made a point to tell us that they can help with any specialty dining reservations, shore excursions, etc.

That was my thought also, but no the confirmation stayed the same.

I changed from an SC guarantee to SA about two months back and lost the OBC for shareholder. I resubmitted and they applied it again. Maybe I was just lucky.

The one issue I had with the AARP gift cards was that I bought one on the last night of the cruise and for some reason they flagged the transaction and I had to call them on disembarkation day first thing. Once I spoke to them I was able to verify and they sent the gift card. Then due to bad luck there was a system outage onboard and they couldn't apply it so I ended up buying a $500 gift card that I didn't need at the time and a separate $500 charge on my card for my onboard account. Other than that I have gotten the cards within a few minutes of purchase and have had no other trouble applying them. Your TA can apply them to the reservation online through the agent portal just as easily as a credit card, or by phone. The front desk should be able to apply them easily on the ship but definitely having the paper copy will be helpful. The only place I have not been able to use them is online purchases for shore excursions, etc. I would imagine that if you call to book they could probably apply it. Keep in mind that once you buy one you will never get that cash back. If you have a refund it will go back to the card so definitely keep a list of the numbers. I also wouldn't think it is worth it unless you are a frequent HAL sailor and are absolutely sure you will be able to use it.

While both sides are used I find that the port side is slightly less trafficked as the main entrance is the Starboard side. You are closer to the restroom on the port side. I personally like anything from 16-20 with 18 being my favorite. I have always seen 22 used as storage (I think 1 also if I remember correctly).

I agree with what others have said, some things have changed but it is all a matter of perspective. I have had a number of delightful cruises with HAL since the restart. The crew is still wonderful. The food has been good to great. There are definitely some changes in terms of entertainment and menus (no free lobster except on longer cruises, but you can purchase it nightly). No more Live from Lincoln Center, but they have been replaced by a jazz trio. I believe that outside of suites that rooms are serviced one time a day instead of two (someone please correct me if I am wrong on that). I think as long as you are not expecting that it will be just like it was in 2019 that you will have a lovely trip. If you skim any of the HAL live threads in my signature (or some of those that others have posted)I have quite a few daily programs and menus which can help to give you an idea of what to expect.

I used to submit them really early. Now I usually wait until 1-2 months out. I cancel and rebook so much it is not worth doing too soon, plus if you have a category change it will wipe the shareholder benefit out and you have to submit it again.

San Diego is very hit or miss - it really depends on what Customs decides to do. I would be comfortable with a 1:30 flight though.

I will knock on wood then!

The outlets are a sad situation. I was in a Royal suite on Constellation in February In the bedroom - there is a single European plug by the bed on each side which is used for the bedside lamp. There is I believe a single or 2 US plugs under the vanity in the bedroom. There are a couple US plugs in the living room I believe under the TV As I recall that was it.

In 17 cruises with HAL I have never not had my room ready on embarkation even when we are among the first onboard. There is a 99.9995% chance your room will be ready for you. This is one of the things HAL does exceptionally well and is very consistent about.

I usually book flights/hotels on my own. Sometimes I do the HAL hotel - it is pricey but the convenience can be nice. In Vancouver it is sometimes a better deal for the Fairmont than you can get on your own. Most hotels have a 24 hour cancel policy (as in 24 hours before check in) so it may just be the flights you need to worry about. Take a look at an insurance policy through a third party insurer for just the cost of flights and hotels. You may be able to get one (or an annual one) for around $100 which is probably cheaper than the extra to book the HAL hotel. I have done flights through HAL but I don't think I would right now. With various cancellations, possible pilot strikes, short staffing at HAL I think I would rather have the flexibility to work directly with the airline. If you book through HAL and something goes wrong you must rebook through them. And domestically there is not really any savings. If you are looking at a transatlantic or long haul international flights then it probably is worth it because they are often significantly cheaper particularly in Business class.

Disembarkation Day! All too soon it is time to get off. Things moved very smoothly and at 9:15 they were making a final call for people to please get off (although they were very nice about it). I misread the letter and missed the Pinnacle Breakfast so I went up to the Lido instead. Disembarkation was quite easy. I got off at 9:20, there was a bit of a line for the elevator to go down but no wait for the escalator (if you don't need the elevator stay to the right and walk past the line of people waiting). We were next to Royal Princess again and the two share a hall for luggage and customs (separated by a low barrier). While our ship had very few bags left, and only a short wait for customs - the Royal Princess side was still completely filled with bags, and had people streaming down the escalators. I think the wait for a customs officer was a bit longer too. Overall it was another great HAL cruise. I mostly wanted to relax and take it easy and this trip fit the bill perfectly. I skipped the entertainment almost entirely. Jill Kimmel is quite funny but I just saw recently on another ship and the sets are the same so I left after just a few minutes. There was a bit more variety of evening shows which is nice to see. Also glad that Step One finally has another show, although I didn't see it - it is good to know there is at least some change coming. I also noticed that the evening entertainment was very light on the Glacier Bay/Icy Strait Point night. Absolutely nothing going on after people get back on the ship - no casino, no music, no dancing with the hits - nada. The food and service were great throughout the ship. Lido cabana was also lovely. I will probably make a separate thread on them, but a short summary of my thoughts are as follows. Pros: Higher ratio of servers to cabanas than in the retreat - you have 2 beverage runners for 8 cabanas instead of 2 or 3 for 14 in the Retreat or 3-4 for 22 cabanas on the Pinnacle Ships. You are very close to the Lido and Dive in. Food comes much faster and is hotter when it comes. The lido deck is usable the entire cruise thanks to the closing roof. For non-tropical climates this is a huge plus. On my last Alaska cruise we used the cabana exactly 2 times. This time I was there every day. I like the day bed much more than the lounge chairs. Some folks may feel differently and prefer the two lounge chairs that they have in the Retreat. Because you don't have the retreat the cost is lower - $199 instead of $399 for the Retreat. Close to the pool - if you plan on using the pool and want to have reserved deck space nearby this is 100% the way to go. Cons: Less private - the cabana stewards had to shoo people away multiple times. One day as I came up one of our cabana hosts was kicking people out who had made a home in my cabana and were settled under the blankets on the day bed. They started keeping the curtains closed when not in use a lot of the time which helped for the rest of the cruise. The wall between cabanas is just a curtain that does is not fixed at the bottom. On windy days this completely blows up and around the cabana. You can also hear through the curtain and the noise from the lido deck is louder than the retreat area. There are permanent lights that shine on you from above. This can be a bit annoying if you want to take a nap They only have them on Eurodam and Nieuw Amsterdam Would I book it again? Yes - in Alaska or another colder environment I absolutely would. For the Caribbean or Mexico or other warm environments I would probably go with The Retreat instead. Side note - has anyone seen Major Fourth? I skipped both shows and my mom is dying to know what type of music they do.

For dinner I went to Tamarind again. Another excellent meal with great service. I made it back to my room just in time to see us pull into the pier in Victoria, we arrived about an hour early. I had fun watching the port folks get the gangways set up on the Royal Princess. They spent at least a half an hour trying to get it right before they let people off. Our ship had no trouble and people were getting off with no issue long before anyone on the Princess were off. And of course, the dreaded disembarkation letter. I received my cruise sticker - a new update they do not give out the booklet by default any more. They now put a card saying that your stateroom steward has it if you need one. This makes so much sense to me as I think I have 4 or 5 of empty journals in my drawer for when my first one fills up.

Alas the last full day came along much more quickly than I would have liked. I slept in and had lunch at the Pinnacle Grill. I always forget to ask but I love having the burger with the au gratin potatoes. After lunch I relaxed in the cabana - they brought a special chocolate covered strawberries along with cake (the chocolate covered strawberries and sparkling wine are served daily at 3). I also had to have one more orange smoothie before leaving (or maybe I had 2...that will remain a mystery for everyone).

Third meal in the Pinnacle Grill today - the food was very good, clothesline bacon was some of the best I have had (it was a bit sweeter and less peppery than normal). They also finally got the mac & cheese exactly right. Day 7 Menu & Program

An enhancement this year is the Pinnacle Grill is open for lunch in Ketchikan - it was only closed in Seattle, Juneau and Sitka. Ketchikan was another beautiful sail away on another beautiful day!

I finally made it to breakfast again in Ketchikan! The bread pudding was good but missing the pomegranate seeds. I ended up making this a spa day and stayed on the ship.

I went for a late second dinner at Canaletto - I figure this will have a better selection than the late night buffet. Everything was great and the crew did a very nice job. Day 6 - Ketchikan menus & program

We were treated to a scenic sail away from Sitka through Sitka Sound. For dinner I went to Tamarind which was excellent. The Wasabi Crusted Beef is fantastic and not too spicy (tastes more like a mild horse reddish). Also, I totally missed the fact that they converted the screening room into a library! I imagine they got a lot of feedback about taking them out and replacing them with a bookshelf in the crows nest (come to think of it I totally missed the crows nest this cruise, will have to go see what they did with that in October unless someone wants to share a picture.