LAFFNVEGAS

Bon Voyage!!! Enjoy your cruise.

Greetings from my home We are heading out very soon as you can tell very early this morning taking a quick flight down to San Diego to board the Koningsdam our flight leaves at 6:50 am. This will be the Koningsdam's second round trip San Diego sailing but her first was a Charter. This will be her first actual winter season sailing. This will be our first time sailing out of San Diego since November 2, 2019 on the Eurodam and it is only our 2nd sailing on the Koningsdam with the first being April 8, 2016 for her first revenue sailing/Inaugural. This cruise will basically be a relaxing and enjoy the ship cruise for us. As manny will remember this was booked just a few weeks ago while we were on the Westerdam sailing Alaska. We decided since we were so close to reaching our 300 days and 5 Star status we might as well obtain it prior to our December cruise on the Nieuw Statendam. For anyone that wants to follow along I will be playing "What will you be ordering for diner?" every evening. Tonight we will be dining in Tamarind 😄 Thanks for following along.

I agree that I think this is going to happen and go into effect in January. But as we have seen many of the specialty restaurant pricing has gone up with no notice in recent months. HAL is not one to really let everyone know about increases. I will not be the least bit surprised that it will match pretty close to what RCL has done.

Bon Voyage!!! Wishing you an amazing voyage!!

We were there in mid October 2016 and had hoped to see some fall foliage and did not. This cruise went to Akita and we took the Shinkansen several small towns out heading north. Had we gone to Hokkaido I think we would have had a better chance of seeing some color in October. The next trip was in September 2019 we did get to Hakodate but of course way to early, but that cruise also got us to the Southern region of Japan which was quite warm. We want to return and are actually booked for March 2025 but that is peak season and costs for air, hotels and cruises are higher than the September October time period so we are rethinking our 2025 plans.

This is just so sad 😞 I remember being so proud of when we got our 100 day medal. It was truly a big deal and I felt Holland America was amazing. How things have changed. Although I do think there are some HAL Officers left that still care. This is a pic from Feb 24 2008 when we got our Copper.

Yes you are correct, my mistake, I had forgotten that in January this year regular staterooms went up to $20,00 per person and Haven at $25.00. I had a Haven cruise back in February that gratuities were added at the $20.00 and actually have another Haven for NCL coming up for April 2024 that also has the gratuities locked in at $20.00 since I had booked that cruise in 2022. I got bets that HAL will change very soon.

Royal Caribbean just announced today that November 11th they will be increasing Gratuities by $2.00 per person per day. In the past HAL would usually step up as other are doing. Royal Caribbean is making a bold jump to take regular passengers to $18.00 per person per day and Suites up to $20.50 pp per day. We are excited to welcome you onboard for your upcoming Royal Caribbean sailing! As you prepare to set sail, we wanted to notify you of an update to our daily gratuity charges. As of November 11th, 2023, the automatic daily gratuity charge will increase from $16.00 to $18.00 per guest, per day for non-suite staterooms and from $18.50 to $20.50 per guest, per day for suites. The daily gratuity is shared among dining, bar & culinary services staff, stateroom attendants, and other hotel services teams . Currently Princess is the same as HAL as is NCL with exception that Haven is $20.00 per person per day but stand to reason with the service you do get. This price jump seems a bit steep. .

There was a time about 10 years ago when HAL would have a nice Mariner Reception and everyone with their Medallions would wear them, it was actually kind of fun. Many people had numerous other type of Holland America pins and Inaugural pins they would also place on the ribbon. Others would have vests made up with pins placed on them. I am not exactly sure when it stopped but suddenly no one did it anymore. I think a lot of it was due to HAL not having the receptions like they had in the past. It was actually quite popular in 2005 through 2014 or 2015 and some where shortly after it just stopped.

@Ferry_Watcher Thanks so much for taking us along on your Japan cruise, brought back lots of memories of our 2017 and 2019 Japan cruises plus we were recent on the Westerdam in September to Alaska and realized how much we missed the Vista Class ships. We were deck 5 corner aft and yes there is some weird vibrations going on back there but oddly for the most part we slept right through it and considered it part of the charm of the aft cabin. Granted those cabins are not for everyone but we just feel at home in them. Hope you enjoy the rest of your days in Tokyo!!

Our next cruise which is this coming Saturday we will hit 300 actual days sailed with HAL on the 4th day and about that same day depending on our spending but since we already have the HIA and I have booked Spa in advance we will also hit 5 star. We kind of expect to be recognized with our Silver Medallion but know we definitely will not be recognized or see our 5 Star pin till our next cruise which will actually be just 29 days after we disembark the Koningsdam and board the Nieuw Statendam. My understanding it is very rare to be recognized reaching a Mariner status on the cruise you reach it unless you are on a World or Grand Voyage.One must wait till the next cruise after they achieve that status.

Thanks so much!! I look forward to meeting @terrydtx as well 😄 Is everyone ready to play What's for dinner😂?

It really needs to be corrected before you try to board, problem is HAL may not talk to you, you can try though. If not see if someone at your Travel Agents agency can make the call to HAL.

If booked through a Travel Agent just ask them for a copy of you confirmation from Holland America.That will show you your Ship board credit if you have any. It is listed on the first page of the confirmation under Guest Information.

Wishing Everyone an Amazing Voyage!! Bon Voyage!!

I did not see Stevia on our September cruise but definitely Splenda. I did bring my own little baggie of Stevia.

I agree this is what it does but does anyone else find it strange that they disconnect the USB that uses very little power keep live something that takes up more power.

There is a good chance that with that price drop your promotion has changed. More than likely it is no longer the HIA Plus, so you will not have the Pre paid gratuities, Elite Beverage Package and possibly ship board credit. You may also have a larger deposit required. Also many of the new promotions are for new bookings only. But with that being said the only way to find out is to call in to your PCC and see what they say. Just make sure you are not losing anything that is important to you.

Wishing you an AMAZING Voyage!!!

Of current menus/desserts being served it is definitely the Peanut Butter Pie, served ONLY for Lunch on Embarkation Day. Someone mentioned only served on Saturday, that is not true. It is only on Embarkation Day, my last 4 Embarkation Days were Sunday. But I have also embarked on Wednesday Volendam s verbal years ago and that was my first time to have the Peanut Butter Pie and the Hotel Manager told me that was only prepared for embarkation. I think that was in 2016. Prior to the pandemic they also served it for lunch in the main dining room. But since the restart it is only in the Lido. Or at least what I have found.

Bon Voyage!!! Have an amazing cruise!!

Miss G gave a very good overview but I will add if you want to have like Club Mini Suite you will need to book Club Orange ASAP. Then I would booked the lowest level Vista Suite purchase the Club Orange and then select whichever Vista Suite location/category up to AS category. Unfortunately Club Orange has taken off and much like Club Mini Suites it is sold out early. Although I am going to add that some things I think Princess is slightly better. Mentioned was balcony size, There are so many variations of balconies on the Newer Princess ships and those balconies are actually bigger than the regular Vista Suites. Many of the larger Balconies are in the Club Mini Suite. Princess truly does have a much better lay out and feels roomier as well as there is more closest space. Bathroom on HAL does have a great walk in shower but the bathroom itself is slightly smaller with counter top, toilet and shower practically touching. Not a lot of room to move around in those bathrooms of the Pinnacle Class ships. There is ever is slightly more room on Princess. As for ship it is a tie in my opinion, each has lots of pros and it all depends on your likes and dislikes. I like both ships and for totally different reasons.

That is great!!, I would not be surprised they hit you up with another offer in a couple of weeks 😉Your sailing does look like it has some good availability remaining for regular balcony categories. .

I just looked at my offer that is what mine stated and I was able to choose my stateroom Upgrade for select bookings from your Obstructed Verandah Stateroom to the following best available: Verandah for an additional $99pp USD/$124pp Canadian I would definitely call them back, there are no VS available but there are some of those extended balcony staterooms on deck 4 category VB, they have so many call center people working that department now, you need to tell them it stated Best Available and you want to choose your stateroom

If you are on the Nov 18th, I do see quite a few good balcony cabins remaining, there are 2 VS on deck 5. My personal favorite is deck 4 dear aft elevators with the extended larger balconies VB category. There are several of those available, but then there are also numerous deck 11 all the way forward category VBs. Yes, I agree you are still better off with a Balcony, there are OV cabins that are also near the music venues that are not ideal either. You could end up with the offer I had of the Upsell to let you pick a better location within the balcony category. Like I said they are getting creative with their way of increasing revenue.