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New to Holland America? This is for you...AKA "HAL For Dummies"


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Thanks again, Jacqui! I'll try emailing HAL.

 

Aaand I got their answer!

 

"The package is refundable should you change your mind. You cannot use it partially, however you can cancel the complete package for a refund."

 

So if you know you'll be going to PG a couple of times and flexible on date and time, this might be a pretty good deal!

 

I also asked them if Dining Packages can be purchased onboard, but they didn't give me the answer for that...

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Aaand I got their answer!

 

"The package is refundable should you change your mind. You cannot use it partially, however you can cancel the complete package for a refund."

 

So if you know you'll be going to PG a couple of times and flexible on date and time, this might be a pretty good deal!

 

I also asked them if Dining Packages can be purchased onboard, but they didn't give me the answer for that...

 

Excellent. :). Thanks so much for reporting back :).

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Hi everyone! I apologize if this question has been asked before, but I can't seem to find it anywhere. What does Holland America call the 5:45 and 8:00 dining times? On most ships I've been on, the 8pm is the late seating. My mom requested late seating for our Holland America cruise in October, but we are listed at Main Seating. Is 5:45 early and 8:00 main on Holland America? Or is 5:45 main and 8:00 late?

 

Also, what happens when we are in port late and we possibly miss our dining time? Is everyone converted to open seating on those nights? We don't leave Rome until 9pm on our cruise and we have an 11 hour excursion, thus my concern.

 

Thanks so much!

Emily

 

RuthC answered the first 1/2 of your question.

 

For late port times you are NOT converted to open dining.

 

Your fixed dining time remains the same. If you miss your time, you can eat in the Lido or order room service. You can order from the Main Dining Room for room service delivery at any time the Dining Room is open, but normally the order has to be placed within a certain time of the dining room opening. It can vary by ship so it might be worth asking once you are on board.

 

For Rome, all aboard will most likely be 8:30 (when everyone has to be on board) so making Main Dining shouldn't be a major problem.

 

For some late ports we have seen buffets, etc. Offered on the Lido with later hours but this doesn't happen all the time and seems to vary by ship and itinerary.

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First Time Cruising and I am heading to Hawaii on the 17 day cruise this December 2017. (Hence the user name) A couple of questions, first do people just buy the sea sickness bracelets, just in case? Never been seas sick, but never been on a cruise, so who knows.

Second, I need to call into work for a meeting while I'm we are at sea. What would be the best way to do that? I'm a Verizon Wireless customer, but locally they haven't a clue.

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First Time Cruising and I am heading to Hawaii on the 17 day cruise this December 2017. (Hence the user name) A couple of questions, first do people just buy the sea sickness bracelets, just in case? Never been seas sick, but never been on a cruise, so who knows.

Second, I need to call into work for a meeting while I'm we are at sea. What would be the best way to do that? I'm a Verizon Wireless customer, but locally they haven't a clue.

We use Mobal.com, and it's dollars per minute. Phone rates from the ship are usually high too. Maybe your boss will reimburse you.

 

They offer free see sickness meds at the front desk (guest relations).

 

You can also get a transderm patch from the doctor, but they keep getting more expensive.

 

Either way you go, it's best to take the meds before symptoms. Usually, the captain will warn about rough seas.

Edited by knittinggirl
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We use Mobal.com, and it's dollars per minute. Phone rates from the ship are usually high too. Maybe your boss will reimburse you.

 

They offer free see sickness meds at the front desk (guest relations).

 

You can also get a transderm patch from the doctor, but they keep getting more expensive.

 

Either way you go, it's best to take the meds before symptoms. Usually, the captain will warn about rough seas.

 

 

Thanks so Much! I'll take a look at Mobal.com. The Company WILL reimburse me, I'm the CFO, Lol.

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First Time Cruising and I am heading to Hawaii on the 17 day cruise this December 2017. (Hence the user name) A couple of questions, first do people just buy the sea sickness bracelets, just in case? Never been seas sick, but never been on a cruise, so who knows.

Second, I need to call into work for a meeting while I'm we are at sea. What would be the best way to do that? I'm a Verizon Wireless customer, but locally they haven't a clue.

 

I do find the seabands work for me but on my last cruise, which was RT Vancouver to Hawaii, I did take the Sea Calm (meclizine) tablets that are free onboard. You can get them from the Front Desk or the medical centre. If the seas are rough, some of the dining stewards may have some handy.

 

With the seabands, just follow the directions in positioning the little ball. Both my acupuncturist and my massage therapist advised that they will work as long as they are positioned properly. If you don't think they're working, try moving them about.

 

You may also want to speak to your family doctor or pharmacist for more advise. HAL also offers green apples to help combat seasickness.

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First Time Cruising and I am heading to Hawaii on the 17 day cruise this December 2017. (Hence the user name) A couple of questions, first do people just buy the sea sickness bracelets, just in case? Never been seas sick, but never been on a cruise, so who knows.

Second, I need to call into work for a meeting while I'm we are at sea. What would be the best way to do that? I'm a Verizon Wireless customer, but locally they haven't a clue.

I have had very good luck with:

 

Sea-Band Wristband from "Amazon"

Be sure and wear both on each wrist. Cost is $8.15

Question email me.

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First Time Cruising and I am heading to Hawaii on the 17 day cruise this December 2017. (Hence the user name) A couple of questions, first do people just buy the sea sickness bracelets, just in case? Never been seas sick, but never been on a cruise, so who knows.

Second, I need to call into work for a meeting while I'm we are at sea. What would be the best way to do that? I'm a Verizon Wireless customer, but locally they haven't a clue.

 

Take a look at this page on the Verizon site. List the cruise ship & go from there. http://www.verizonwireless.com/news/article/2014/09/planning-a-fall-or-winter-cruise-heres-how-to-stay-connected.html

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Scared to Death - don't be! You have such a wonderful trip ahead of you. I'm not a Verizon customer so I won't address that phone question but I will suggest what we use to prevent sea sickness - over-the-counter Bonine. Doesn't make us particularly drowsy and it does work. We take one about an hour before sailing, just in case. BY the next day we have our sea legs and don't have any problem. That's preventative. If high seas are expected, it doesn't hurt to take one before they get too rough. You do have a lot of sea days on the Hawaii cruise. I don't know how well the sea bands work, or the behind the ear medication, but I do know Bonine works real well.

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Scared to Death - don't be! You have such a wonderful trip ahead of you. I'm not a Verizon customer so I won't address that phone question but I will suggest what we use to prevent sea sickness - over-the-counter Bonine. Doesn't make us particularly drowsy and it does work. We take one about an hour before sailing, just in case. BY the next day we have our sea legs and don't have any problem. That's preventative. If high seas are expected, it doesn't hurt to take one before they get too rough. You do have a lot of sea days on the Hawaii cruise. I don't know how well the sea bands work, or the behind the ear medication, but I do know Bonine works real well.

 

No need to be scared - we've done the Hawaii cruise now. DH uses ginger pills (he does suffer from Mal de Mer) and green apples and I take some candied ginger after dinner. I do pack the sea bands and they do work. I still remember being in the Crow's Nest and a friend running up and saying you are green and going to go. He sat me down, put on the Sea Bands and in less than 10 minutes I was fine. Now, I don't suffer from mal de mer much - I've adapted, but both DH and I avoid the medications if we can. The ship's (that makes you sleepy) works fine but we have found that the green apples, ginger,etc. Pretty much do the trick - even for DH

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What do people do for poolside footwear? Are there slippers in room that we can use, or do I need to pack flip-flops? (Westerdam, sailing this weekend)

 

 

 

Flip flops are the best, slippers would get wet[emoji41]

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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What do people do for poolside footwear? Are there slippers in room that we can use, or do I need to pack flip-flops? (Westerdam, sailing this weekend)

I just use my soft slip-on shoes, after drying my feet well. I find the shoes give better support on wet, moving decks.

I believe suites have slippers, but most cabins do not.

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With the Beverage Package how would Happy Hour work? Would the first beverage count on the package and the second be paid separately?

 

Just finished all 70 pages and would like to thank all that contribute to answering all of our questions - THANKS!

 

ALOHA

 

 

 

SBP does not work with Happy Hours, you are better off enjoying the "buy one get one for a dollar" or if you use the SBP you get no HH benefits!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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Hi - just a couple of questions from me - we will be doing an Asia cruise Jan 2017:

- what are the restaurants on the Volendam?

- in general terms - how does the Volendam differ from the Oosterdam (which we've been on)?

- what's the chocolate eating place some referred to? Is that every day/night?

- is there late supper on every ship? Can't remember that on O'dam.

 

Thanks

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Hi - just a couple of questions from me - we will be doing an Asia cruise Jan 2017:

- what are the restaurants on the Volendam?

- in general terms - how does the Volendam differ from the Oosterdam (which we've been on)?

- what's the chocolate eating place some referred to? Is that every day/night?

- is there late supper on every ship? Can't remember that on O'dam.

 

Thanks

 

Restaurants on the Volendam are the same as the Oosterdam (Lido, Dive In, Main Dining Room, Pinnacle Grill & Canaletto).

 

The Volendam is a smaller ship - I actually like it better than the Oosterdam.

 

I'm not sure if the Volendam has the chocolate spot like the Westerdam does as I haven't been on the Volendam in a long time - I hope someone else answers that question that for you.

Edited by kazu
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Hi - just a couple of questions from me - we will be doing an Asia cruise Jan 2017:

- what are the restaurants on the Volendam?

- in general terms - how does the Volendam differ from the Oosterdam (which we've been on)?

- what's the chocolate eating place some referred to? Is that every day/night?

- is there late supper on every ship? Can't remember that on O'dam.

 

Thanks

 

I believe all of our cruises have had the chocolate buffet thing, but it has been about 2 years since we sailed last so maybe that has changed?

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There are no longer any "chocolate nights" on HAL. All of the HAL ships that I have sailed have had a late evening snack at 10:30 PM for ships crew and entertainers. Each snack is themed, e.g. Indonesian, Dutch, French, Mexican, etc. I have collected the late snack menus on my website for a number of cruises.

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If you have to go to the Lido Buffet for lunch (we usually go to the MDR for the Mariner embarkation lunch) it is busy, so be sure to select a table first, if there are two of you you can take it in turns to go get your food.

 

Room service lunch is not usually available on embarkation day as all hands are on deck! (delivering baggage).

 

Also be sure to catch the wine/beer steward as he comes by during lunch that day - you can buy beverage cards at that time.

 

If you do not have a balcony, the aft Lido is a great place for sailaway.

If I buy a $100.00 beverage card can I buy 2 drinks at a time a beer for me and a drink for my wife?

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If I buy a $100.00 beverage card can I buy 2 drinks at a time a beer for me and a drink for my wife?

 

Absolutely. If you have a beverage cards you can buy 2 or 10 drinks at a time :). No problem at all ;)

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